THE subject of this evening’s address, as already announced, is “The second coming of our Lord and ‘Savior Jesus Christ proved to “be pre-millennial.”
Before I proceed to lay before you the Scriptural proofs of this position—proofs which we shall find ‘to be almost without end—I feel anxious to express one thought, which presses heavily upon me, in connection with the solemn and happy theme which is to form the subject— of our; meditation. How strange, and sad and sorrowful it is, that the “blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the great God and Our Savior Jesus Christ,” should be regarded in our day as a matter not very interesting, not very important, not very “practical,” not of any present and pressing moment; as a matter, on the whole, “better let alone;” an event which it will be time enough to look for a thousand, years hence! Oh, my. friends, where are our hearts affections? Where is our love for Christ? If there be no longing desire to meet him in whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore; what alas! must be the condition of our souls!
But you will say, “Yes, but we meet him when we die; True, we meet, him when we die; but that is not the hope which is Set before us in the New Testament. We shall see this night, that throughout the New Testament the hearts of the apostles and disciples were taught to long, and look, and hope—not for death, but for the glorious personal return of the Lord Jesus himself. This was the expectation of the saints in the earliest days of the Churchapter The clouds and darkness of modern perversion had not settled down upon the question then. The disciples did not hold that the Lord’s return was necessarily distant; nor had the notion entered’ into the minds of Christians of these earliest days, that the death of all believers was a certain thing. No; it was understood that the time of the Lord’s return was uncertain, that for aught they knew, he might return even during the “ first watch” of the night, and that whoever should be then living—living “in the Lord”—should never die, but should be “changed, in, a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Death, indeed, might come. No one could say that it “would not. No one could say that he should not die. But neither could anyone say positively that he should die. No one in that day said, as people now say, “There is only one thing certain: we all must die.” This rashness of assertion was reserved for later ages. Paul had said expressly, “We shall not all sleep.” And although elsewhere the same apostle had also said, “It is appointed unto men once to die,” it was not then the custom to set one passage in direct opposition to another, from the very same apostolic pen.
The latter passage could not really be intended to have a meaning put upon it, which should directly contradict the revelation made as to a solemn and blessed “mystery,” in the other. No; nor did the latter passage even say, “It is appointed unto all men, once to die;” but simply, “unto men once to die;” that is, to men generally, to all—except those spoken of in the next verse, who shall be found alive, and looking for him, when Christ descends.
But let us proceed to the question before us: Will the personal return of the Lord Jesus be pre-millennial? Will that event take place before, or not until after the millennium?
1. The passage which we have read introduces our subject in a way most tender and profitable. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also. “Now the Lord does not say here, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will send for you;” though in the course of the few fleeting years of their earthly pilgrimage, in case the Lord’s return should be a little while delayed, that would indeed be true; for even to this day, the Lord has been calling first one, and then another, and yet another still, of his people home to glory. But that was not the way in which it pleased our loving Lord to address his disciples. His comforting assurance was, “I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” Such then is the blessed prospect that is set before us. Our Lord and Master, our heavenly bridegroom, has gone to prepare a place for us. The Father’s house-made ready purposely for her reception—shall receive the Churchapter This is our, hope. Where he is, there shall we be also.
2. How seasonable then, and cheering were the words uttered by the angels, immediately after the departure of our blessed Lord. The narrative in the first chapter of ‘the Acts of the Apostles, is as follows: “And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was: taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white, apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Whither is the blessed Savior gone? Into heaven. What does he there? He is gone, as he had said, to prepare a place for his people, in his Father’s house: What shall next ensue? He “shall so come in like manner as he was seen to go into heaven.” This is the event next presented to our view. The happy mansion of our future rest and glory shall be prepared by his hand of love; and he will return, in like manner as they had seen Him go away. It will be a personal return. It was in person that he was seen to go away. It was himself, in his own true and proper glorified humanity, that then departed; and in his own personal, and proper, yet glorified humanity, will he return. Indeed, all Christians, on the authority of God’s Word, must admit this. The question then is, when—at what period in the history of our world will this personal return take place? Will it be pre-millennial or post-millennial? Will it be before the thousand years of blessedness or after them? To this inquiry the two scriptures we have just glanced at have introduced us; and that, I do hope, in such a way as to interest both our minds and our affections.
To this inquiry, I am compelled by the testimony of Scripture to reply, that the second personal advent of our Lord and Savior will be pre-millennial: that is, it will take place before the millennium. I may add here (if perchance there be some present who may not know it that pre means before; and that millennial is derived from the two Latin words, milk; a thousand, and minus, a year. Hence millennium means a period of a thousand years duration; and millennial means relating to that period. Pre-millennial, then, simply means, before the millennial period. The second advent of our blessed Lord will, assuredly, be pre-millennial. This, I maintain, is one of the clearest and most unquestionable of truths revealed to us in the Word of God. We have passages proving it, as we have previously said, almost without end. We cannot crowd the whole argument into one address; but we shall endeavor to present the Scripture testimony, as— far as time admits, as simply and as concisely as possible. And may we be favored with a. docile spirit of faith, and with happy liberty of heart, whilst it passes under our review.
3. Let us first refer to a short statement in the Acts. lt. seems to follow, very naturally, those at which we have looked. “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
I ask your serious attention to this passage; I pray that it may rest upon many minds tonight. These words were spoken in one of the first addresses of Peter after Pentecost. Peter had heard his beloved Lord and Master speak of his departure to the Father’s house, and of his future return; and his mind was filled with the cheering truth. So it was with the rest of the apostles. They went throughout the world, publishing not only “the sufferings of Christ,” but also “the glories which should follow,” —the “glory which should be revealed” at his return from heaven. In almost every address this was the prominent theme. On the occasion before us it was so. “Repent and be converted,” said Peter to the multitude be then addressed; “and he shall send. Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive, until “—until when? “until the times of restitution of all things.” What times are those? “The times of restitution of all things which God bath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Mark well this declaration. It is an exceedingly important one. The heaven must receive the Lord Jesus “until” those times. It is not said that the heaven shall receive, or retain, the Lord during those times, or until the end of them; but, definitely and distinctly, “until the times,” that is, until those times arrive. When those times come, then the Lord shall be sent; when they arrive, he will return.
I do not pretend, dear friends, to indicate either the day, the hour, or the year, of the Lord’s return—I deprecate such presumption. No man knoweth either the day or the hour in which thy Son of Man will come. What we learn here is this-that there is a certain period—a period of “which God bath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began;” and that the return of the Lord Jesus with power and great glory will be, not at the end of that period, as in modern days has been most erroneously imagined, but at the commencement, This Peter clearly asserts. What period is it that is here designated “the times of restitution of all things,” and as to which, it is said, “God bath spoken of them by the mouth of all his holy prophets?” Has God spoken of the final judgment at the end of the world by the mouth of all his holy prophets? No. It may be questioned whether he has spoken of that event anywhere in the Old Testament. Certainly, all the holy prophets of the old dispensation have not spoken of it. What times, then, have they all spoken of? Plainly of the millennial times—of the times when all the nations of the earth shall be brought under the Messiah’s sway. These, then, are “the times of restitution,” at the commencement of which the Lord Jesus will return. The word which is rendered “restitution,” means restoration from a state of disorder, brokenness, and confusion. Suppose the building in which we are met were thrown down, and the materials scattered, and that it were subsequently reconstructed, its restoration or reconstitution would be expressed by the Greek word here rendered “restitution.” It refers to the times at the commencement of which all things shall be re-ordered; restored, and set to rights—the millennial times. When these times come, as we have previously said, then will be the time of the Lord’s return.
It is true that “better times are coming.” The general anticipation of a period of universal blessedness is not a fable. The whole Bible is one vast-proof that there shall be such a day of peace, and rest, and glory. But before: that day arrives, a dark and awful page in the world’s history will be unfolded. This the world does not know: this the world does not believe. Still it is true. The revelation of the Lord from heaven; in flaming fire, at a time of trouble such as never has. been, —no, nor ever shall be, will introduce the “better times.”, A “great and terrible day” is at hand;—terrible, do not mean to the saints, but to the wicked who obey net the gospel: (2 Thessalonians 1:8.) There is no ground for fear on the part of those who trust in Jesus-who know Jesus whose feet are fixed upon’ the sure foundation. No; though the earth should melt, and the mountains be removed into the depths of the sea, they may look up with unwavering confidence, as heirs of “a kingdom that cannot be moved.” All will certainly be well with them.
4. But we must hasten on. We will now turn to the parables that we find recorded in the thirteenth of Matthew. They present us with prophetic views or phases of that which professes to be the kingdom of heaven upon earth. We have much there bearing on the point before ‘us. “First, we have the parable of the sower., Read it’ at your leisure. What was the result of the sowing? Was it that the seed sown ultimately produced a universal, crop? Did the sowing go on’ ill all the earth was one vast field of wheat? Does the parable hint at, or even allow Of, any such interpretation? No. Some of; the seed fell by the way side, and the fowls picked it up. Some upon a rock, and ‘the sun burnt it up. And some among thorns, and by them it was choked: Only some of it fell into good ground; and brought forth fruit unto perfection. And that fruit—that wheat when ripe—as we learn from the parable which immediately follows, was gathered out from among the tares into the garner.
5. But the next parable—that of the wheat and the tares—explicitly teaches that there will be no millennium before the harvest. The explanation of it is as follows: — He that soweth the good seed is the Son, of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them— is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers—are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall bather; out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” How clear and decisive is all this. The world is to be a mixed field—a field of wheat and tares—until the harvest. Never, previously to the harvest, is it to, be purely a wheat-field. Where then is there a millennium to be found before that, harvest? There is evidently no place for such a period before the harvest. This parable certainly and absolutely excludes it. To tell us that the harvest is said to be “the end of the world,” will not affect: our position. Were it so—were the harvest properly, and truly the end of the world—still the truth must, he allowed, that according to this parable, the world will be a mixed field of “wheat and tares” until then: There can be no millennium, therefore, before that solemn event.
But let me say to my unlettered hearers, that the parable does not teach that the harvest is the end of the world; that is, of the earth. Christ does not say, “The field is the world, and the harvest is the end of that same world.” What he says is: “the field is the κόσμος, (kosmos,) and the harvest is the end of the κόσμος,” (aiōn.) Two very different words, you see, are used in the original Greek. The latter one, αἱων, means age, or dispensation. The former means. properly the world or earth. Both. of these words occur in Hebrews 9:26. “For then must he often have Suffered since the foundation of the world, (kosmos—earth, properly and literally), but now once in the end of the world. (aiōn, age or dispensation) hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Here the Word αΙών cannot mean the material world. Since the blessed Savior died, more than eighteen hundred years have passed, and the end of the world has not come yet; nor will it come till the conclusion of a still future millennium. The apostle’s meaning, therefore, cannot be that Jesus died in the end of the world; but simply, in the end of the Mosaic age, or dispensation. —So in the case before us: the field is indeed the world; but the harvest is at the end of the age; that is, of the period, or dispensation, during which the Lord Jesus remains absent, at the right hand of God. This interpretation is confirmed by two other Scriptures, to which I beg to refer you, viz., Joel 3:13 to 17, and Revelation 14:14 to 20, where the harvest is clearly placed at the commencement of the reign of the Messiah. Thus, a correct understanding of the Greek word αἱών reconciles all these passages.
This parable then of the wheat and tares, affords, us satisfactory proof that the millennium will not take place before the harvest; that the harvest is the end of the age; and that at the end of the age the Lord will appear in glory. All which will be further proved as we proceed.
6. The third parable in this chapter—that of the grain of mustard seed-points the same way. The seed that was sown was the least of all seeds, (Mark 4:31,) but when it had grown, it became a great tree in the earth, and the fowls of the air came and lodged beneath its branches. The vulture, the cormorant, the night owl, and the bat have made their nest there. Unclean birds have taken possession of it. Am I, my dear friends, misinterpreting the parable? Let me tell you that I rest not this interpretation upon my opinion! or upon any man’s opinion, but upon divine authority. For the Lord himself tells us, in the previous parable, who are the “fowls,” or, “birds of the air;” for it is the same word that is used in both places. As the sower sowed the seed, the birds came and devoured it. This is, explained by the Lord. “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” The Lord thus tells us that by the birds of the air that devour the seed, Satan and his angels are meant: and thus it is that the kingdom of heaven, as it purports to be, or nominal, national Christianity, becomes a vast and monstrous worldly system, as is said in the 18th of Revelation, “the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Such then, and not the world’s conversion, is, according to this parable, to be the result during the present dispensation.
The fourth parable in this same chapter, is that of the leaven and the meal. React verse 33— “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.” We all know how this parable is generally explained. But, dear friends, I cannot allow that interpretation of it to be correct. The leaven does not mean the Gospel. Leaven, everywhere in the language of the Spirit of God, which is always beautifully consistent with itself, means something evil. We read of the “leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy;” of the “leaven of malice and wickedness;” of the “old leaven,” which must be “purged out;” and of the leaven of legality, which in Galatians 5. the Apostle Paul declares “leaveneth the whole lump.” In twenty places we have mention of leaven, and it always denotes evil. In the sacrifices of old, it was typical of evil. Therefore, the paschal bread—type of Christ, the holy bread of God—might not be leavened; whilst a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” from imperfect worshippers must have leaven in it. “Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven.”
(See Amos 4:5.) Further, the Church should be “a new, unleavened lump.” (See 1 Corinthians 5:7.) It was not said, “Put into it new leaven,” but. “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new. lump, even as ye. are unleavened.” Twice does Paul declare of evil, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Even in his day the leaven had been introduced. “The mystery of iniquity (said he to the Thessalonians), doth, already work.” What was it that was working even then? Was it not the leaven? Both at Corinth and throughout Galatia, he expressly mentions the leaven as being at work. Into the “three measures of meal” not into the world, not into society at large—no, but into the new, unleavened lump-into the Church—a leaven—like mystery of iniquity had been already introduced. The “woman,” the seducer, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, as I receive it, had done this. The very hiding of it looks suspicious. Could this hiding mean the public, free, and open preaching of the Gospel?
The whole lump—sad announcement! —was to be leavened. Has not that announcement been fulfilled? Look at that which bears the name of the “kingdom of heaven;” look at Christendom. What do we see? three measures of unleavened meal—a new unleavened lump? No; we can discern scarcely anything on the broad surface of its vast extent, but leaven.
The “kingdom of heaven” itself, so called, for such at first it was, has become unto leaven.” Its whole appearance and character is changed. “Mystery, Babylon,” is its chief, grand feature. And let me ask, has not every one of us more or less admitted the leaven? Is there one single Christian here whose garments are not soiled—in whose heart “leaven” in one form or another is not working? The Lord grant that we may rightly interpret this parable, and profit by meditation on it.
8. The working of this “mystery of iniquity” will be brought to a close only by the personal return in judgment of the Lord Jesus in the clouds of heaven. If this be so, there cannot be a millennium of universal righteousness before the Lord’s return. The proof of this position drawn from 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2. is exceedingly clear and convincing: —Let us turn to it.
Do let us carefully mark this passage. In the first chapter, the Thessalonian saints are instructed as to the revelation from heaven of the Lord Jesus Christ, in flaming fire with all his holy angels. Read from the sixth to the tenth verses. Assuredly, —dear friends, it is the personal return of the Lord Jesus that is here spoken of. “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey riot the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” Such is the description of the second personal advent of the Lord Jesus. ‘Then the apostle goes on to tell us, that the “mystery of iniquity,” then already begun, would end only in the revelation of a certain wicked one, the “man of sin;” and that this man of sin would be destroyed by that very personal presence of the Lord, which he had just de, scribed in the terms that we have quoted. Now I beg you to observe the connection of the whole passage from chapter 1: 7, to chapter 2: 8; for properly it is one undivided paragraph. The mystery of iniquity was working already; that is, even in the apostle’s day. The result of it was to be the revelation of the man of sin. The second personal advent will find that “man of sin,” that “wicked one,” in the plenitude of his power, and will prove his destruction: Can there, then, be a millennium of universal blessing, and of the subjugation of the world to Christ, whilst antichrist is undestroyed? Can the true sovereign reign, while the usurper of his rights holds his unrighteous sway? Impossible! The millennial reign of Christ, therefore, cannot be previous to his second advent, for not until then will he “gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity.” The second advent, then, according to this Scripture, must be pre-millennial.
9. Let us now return to. Matthew’s Gospel. In the twenty-third chapter, we have a record of the conclusion of the public ministry of our blessed Lord. “Woe, woe, woe!” were the solemn words that chiefly ‘characterized that last discourse. His own people had refused to receive him as the promised Messiah, and he finishes the dread series of judicial denunciations, with the following words (ven 38, 39)”, “Your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” The concluding clause of the verse, namely, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” that is, of Jehovah, is the well-known prophetic, national welcome, which will be given to Messiah by repentant Israel in the latter day. (See Psalms 118: 26.) On a previous occasion, a great multitude of people had actually so used the words (see chapter 21: 8-11); but Jerusalem refused her King, and sentence was pronounced by the Lord upon the nation He immediately left the temple, and did not enter it again. He went out, and departed to the Mount of Olives. When seated there, the disciples, full of anxiety as to what had fallen from his lips, came to him privately and said, “Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” That is, of the coming of which he had just been, speaking; when, as he had intimated, the nation should see him once more, and say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Now, the disciples do not ask the Lord respecting the end or destruction of the world, as is sometimes incorrectly and vaguely imagined, but they inquire of him as to the end of the age, for “aiōn” is the word used; that is, as to the end of the age or period when Jerusalem was to be “left desolate.” You observe it is the same word that is used here as in the thirteenth chapter, and, as scholars admit, it has reference to time or duration rather than to matter. Further, the close of the period here referred to, is spoken of by Christ himself as the time of Israel’s conversion, which must be at the commencement of the millennium; and not at the end of it. Now, dear friends, mark what follows in chapter 24. The Lord goes on to answer the other question that had been put to him, as to “the sign of his coming.” “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:’ and then shall appear the sign of the Son of, Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coining in the clouds of heaven, with power and great. glory.” (See verses 29 and 30.) Such is the Lord’s own description of his return, which he himself had declared should take place when the Jewish nation shall repent; that is, at the commencement of the millennium. Do consider well the bearing of this Scripture. Examine thoroughly the whole of the magnificent prophecy of which it forms a part. It is related, not only in this and the succeeding chapter of Matthew, but also in Mark 13 and. Luke 10: 9. Read the whole carefully am aware that it is said, that the advent mentioned here, means, mystically, the coining of the Romans to destroy, the city. But let me ask of any one who may say so, what then, in such case, is meant by the words, “Immediately after the tribulation. of those days, the sun shall—be darkened—and then shall they see the Son of Man coming?” If you say the coming here spoken of, means the aiming of the Romans to destroy the city; and, that the tribulation resulted from the siege and the taking of it by them; how is it that this coming is said to be “after the tribulation?” By your own interpretation you place this coming before the tribulation; but the Lord says it shall be “immediately after” it. Do you not see, then, that since this coming is after the tribulation, it cannot possibly be intended to denote the coming of the Roman armies?
And surely it is a personal return that is spoken of. Words cannot be more explicit. “And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” He comes for the overthrow of his enemies, and the establishment of. his kingdom. The plain and oft-repeated declarations of Scripture are not to be explained away by mystical interpretations. Is not this certainly a personal advent? ill not, what passage is there in the whole ‘Bible which does certainly foretell any future event? Further, if we refer to Luke’s narration of this wonderful prophecy, we shall find that he places the advent of the Lord at the close of “the times of the Gentiles,” the times during Which Jerusalem is to be trodden down by them. (Read Luke 21: 20 to 27.) Mark specially verses 24 and 25. If we supply a few words from Matthew’s account of the same’ portion of the prophecy, those verses will read as follow: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, and (immediately after the tribulation of those days) there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coaling upon the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a’ cloud, with power and great glory.”. Mark well the sum of this testimony. “Immediately after, the tribulation,” when the times of the Gentiles, close; the Son of Man shall personally come. The times of the Gentiles we know are still course: Jerusalem is still trodden down of the Gentiles. But a time shall come—when that treading down shall cease, and the Lord dual come for their deliverance. Israel, in deep repentance, shall see their Lord once more, and, receiving him as their own Messiah, shall believingly say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Jehovah.” That will be the Lord’s second, personal appearing. Till Alien Israel shall be blinded and scattered; yet the “generation shall not pass away”—the race, the natural seed of Abraham shall, through all—those dreary centuries, be miraculously kept distinct; and at the return of their Lord—and not a thousand years previously—shall they be converted, and restored to their own land.
Then follows the millennium. How simple is all this! How clearly and conclusively it supports our position.
10. The parable of the ten virgins, though included in the discourse under consideration, may be taken as a further and distinct proof that, before the return of the Lord, there will be no millennium. (Read chapter 25: 1-13.) “While the bridegroom ‘tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” When did the professing Church—the company of wise and foolish virgins—fall asleep? When did the Church of God begin to say, “My Lord delayeth his coming?” Was it not very shortly after the Lord had gone away? Certainly, within two or three short centuries, the Church at large had fallen into slumber. There is abundant proof in history of this. Even in Revelation 2 and 3; the fatal sleep is seen fast settling down upon the Churches addressed therein. When, then, is the Church to be aroused? Not until the midnight cry is heard. After that cry, the bridegroom’ came; the wise virgins went in unto the marriage, and the door was shut. Surely it is a personal return that is here alluded to. No one can rationally question it. Were any one to do so, let him consider how the parable is introduced. It forms part of the discourse we have just noticed, and it commences thus: “THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” When? Read what goes before. This parable is preceded by the description of the glorious, personal appearing which we have been just considering. (Read specially verses 29-31.) “Immediately after the tribulation of those days........they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.” Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” The slumbering Church; then; will not be aroused, except by that midnight cry, which almost immediately precedes the personal return of the bridegroom. There can be no milieumum, then, previously, to ‘the advent of the Lord; for. there can be no millennium while the professing Church remains a sleep-in worldliness and sin. Such a Church needs to be itself converted. Such a Church I assuredly cannot convert the world but till the Lord, returns, slick the Church will be. This proof too is therefore most conclusive.
11: We will now turn to Luke 17. (Read verses 20 to 37.) The Pharisees demanded, when the kingdom Of God should collie. The Lord replies to them, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation... the kingdom of: God is within! you,” (among you, see the margin). But immediately there upon, the lord turned to his disciples, and told them of a coming which should be of universal observation. “For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of Man be in his day.” Here then a two-fold coming of the kingdom is distinctly intimated; the,’ one not with observation; or outward show; (see margin;). the other to be visible as the lightning, unto all. To the Pharisees the Lord Would speak only of the former: Behold the kingdom of God is among you; —the king stands among you eyed now—already he is, come; but you will not receive him. The ‘kingdom assuredly was not within those Pharisees. Their condemnation was, that they would not receive it. Only by being converted could they enter it. But repent they would not. Therefore, the Lord tells then nothing further as to the kingdom. The disciples however were informed as: to the coining of the kingdom; but the Son of Man must first suffer and be rejected Then would ensue a period which would resemble the days of Noah, and the days of Lot. Until Noah went into the ark, and the flood came, the world went on carelessly in sin. Until Lot went out of Sodom, and the fire and brimstone fell from heaven, the inhabitants of that city. ran greedily in the depths of wickedness. Even thus, said the Savior, will the world do; until “the day when the Son of Alan shall be revealed.” Can there be an intervening period of a thousand years of universal righteousness? Impossible! “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood cane, and destroyed them all. Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they budded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus, shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” During those days, true disciples would desire to see the return of their Lord; but for a while their hopes would not be realized. Then if any man should say unto them, “See here; or see there,” they must not hearken to such deceivers. For false Christs and false prophets should arise, ever and anon, through the period during which the Lord should remain away. But whatever these deceivers might pretend; whether they should say, he is in the city, or he is in the desert; disciples are told not to “go forth,” nor “follow,” them. The advent, when it took place, would be visible to all—visible as the vivid lightning’s startling flash. It would be a revelation through the clouds of heaven in that day, it would be of no avail to flee in this direction, or in that; for whether in bed, or grinding at the mill, or in the open field, the taking and the leaving would inevitably take place. The judgments of that fearful day would as surely take away all those that “do iniquity,” as the waters of the flood took all the guilty inhabitants of the world in the days of Noah. Just as the flood took all away except the few that the ark preserved—preserved in order to the re-peopling of the earth—so will the judgments, like a second flood, at the return of Jesus, take all away, but a remnant, who shall form the nucleus of the millennial population of the earth. Some shall be “left” then, even by the judgments of that great day. The world therefore does not come to an end when the second advent takes place. There is a people “left” still; and the millennium ensues.
But when the Lord had given this solemn intimation, the disciples exclaimed, “Where, Lord?” He had spoken of “two in one bed; one taken, and the other left; two at the mill; one taken, and the other left; two. in the field; one taken, and the other left.” And they ask, Where will this taking and leaving be? The answer was, “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” As if the Lord had said, “Where?” how strange a question! When the eagles seek their prey, where do they go? Wheresoever there is a carcass to be found. When these eagles—judgments are abroad in search of the wicked, where will they rest? Of course, wherever any wicked one is to be found. If he be in bed, or at the mill, or in the field, whatever righteous ones may be his companions, even there shall those judgments go; “one shall be taken, and the other left.”
It is not my view, dear friends, that “taking here, means the taking up of the church to glory. That we shall see hereafter. The taking here is effected by something which comes as the flood in the days of Noah, and as the fire and brimstone in the days of Lot. It must therefore denote judgment: In the one case the family of Noah, and in the other, the family of Lot, were spared—were left. The righteous remnant of the latter day, then, must be meant in this passage, by those who shall be “left.” But more on this subject in a future lecture.
It has been held by many, that by the eagles, the Lord meant the Roman armies, whose standard, it is” said, was surmounted by an eagle. But how untenable is this notion, when fairly looked at. The Lord says, “One shall be taken, and another left.” It is said this was fulfilled when the Christians, forewarned by Christ, — fled from the city of Jerusalem. to Pella, and when the Romans came and took away the rest. Was that, one taken, and the other left? No; it was some fled, and all the rest were taken. These eagle-judgments take some, and leave the rest; but the Romans took all that had not previously escaped. What inconsistencies accompany this mistake!
But throughout this whole prediction there is not the most distant allusion to any intervening period of a thousand years of universal righteousness. The hole tenor of it is against such a notion. Till the revelation of the Son of Mau, the world holds on its careless way. Till then, wickedness prevails as in the days of Noah, and the days of Lot. No millennium, then, before the Lord’s return!
12. I would next invite your attention to the parable in Luke 19, of a nobleman who went into a far country to receive a kingdom, and to return and take possession of it. Jesus “added and spice a parable, because he was nigh unto Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” The parable was spoken to correct that erroneous expectation. They were mistaken. The kingdom of God was not “immediately” to appear. The Lord said; therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” And “when he was returned, having received the kingdom,” he rewarded his servants, each with a share in the government of that kingdom; and the enemies which would not that he should reign over them he slew. Now the kingdom, in such a case, could not “immediately appear.” The nobleman must first go into the far country, and return. Who is signified in the parable by the nobleman? Assuredly the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Whither has he gone? Into the far country into heaven. For what purpose has he gone thither? “To receive a kingdom, and return.” Now how, in what manner, did he go? Merely in some spiritual sense? No. He went away in person. Then so shall he return, when he shall come to take possession of the kingdom which he has gone into the far country to receive. It is a personal return, then, that is here spoken of; and that return is placed as a consequence of the “reception of the kingdom, not, as many in this day believe, as a consequence of his having delivered up that kingdom, his reign having closed. When he has received the kingdom, he returns. He then allots “ten cities” unto one, and “five cities” to another of his faithful servants. The distribution of rewards surely cannot be regarded as taking place when the kingdom has come to its dose, and has been delivered up. We cannot, with any shadow of reason, so regard it. The whole of this passage, like so many others, proves that the personal return of the Redeemer will be pre-millennial. The kingdom will be established, and the enemies put down, only when the nobleman returns.
13. There is a passage in ‘the twelfth chapter of this Gospel which we must not overlook. It may very suitably be referred to here, to crown the mass’ of evidence which the gospels, briefly as we have glanced through them, have afforded us. It will prepare us for a better appreciation of the state of mind and heart which the whole tenor of, apostolic preaching and teaching afterward inculcates. Read Luke 12:32 to 48. The first portion of the instruction therein given we must quote; nothing in the whole Bible is more affecting or more solemn. Even those who greatly mistake and misapply the chief portions of the passage, recognize it as most blessed and profitable. Those who imagine that it refers to death, find the warning given in this most solemn passage continually occurring to their minds. We must read part of it:— Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the king dom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open. unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third. watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of Alan cometh at an hour when ye think not.”
Now there is not one word as to death in this whole passage. Death may come. Woe to him that is not ready when it does come! But death is not spoken of here. It is the return of the Lord in person to fulfill the Father’s pleasure concerning the little flock. Nor is there any intimation as to the conversion of the world at any intervening period. The whole tenor of the passage is inconsistent with such a notion. The faithful are termed a little flock, to which, at the Lord’s return, the kingdom shall be given. “Fear not, little lock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It is a little flock, but the kingdom shall be given to it. This is the character of Christ’s people until his return. It is not said, “Fear not, little flock, for the people of the earth shall shortly be converted to thee.” It is not said, “Fear not, little flock, for all the wolves by which thou art surrounded shall shortly become sheep.” No; the consolation addressed in this passage to Christ’s true followers is, that the bridegroom should soon return, and take the “little flock” here spoken of unto himself. Therefore, all needless treasure was to be disposed of, and laid up in heaven. A stranger, pilgrim course was the one marked out during this present dispensation. The attitude of the disciple was to be that of readiness and expectation. “Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding.” This position was to be maintained whilst the bridegroom was absent. “Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he cometh, shall find watching,” “And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” The passage quoted ends with the emphatic words, “BE YE THEREFORE READY ALSO, FOR THE SON OF MAN COMETH AT AN HOUR WHEN YE THINK NOT.”