^:s5for^f?^|:^ 
 
 BX 8066 .S44 1863 
 Seiss, Joseph A. 
 The last times and the great 
 consummation 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lasttimesgreatcoOOseis 
 
THE 
 
 LAST TIMES 
 
 Wilt (§Ynt ^oimxmwmtm. 
 
 AN EARNEST DISCUSSION OF MOMENTOUS THEMES. 
 
 JOSEPH A. SEISS, D.D. 
 
 I n T B O R O ] 
 
 "THE OOSPEL IN LEVITICOS," "THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIBGINS," "THE DAT OF 
 THE LORD," " LECTUEE3 ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS," ETC. ETC. 
 
 FIFTH EDmON, REVISED AND EXLAKOED. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 SMITH, ENGLISH & CO., 23 NORTH SIXTH ST. 
 
 NEW YORK: BLAKEMAN & MASON. BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. 
 CINCINNATI: GEO. S. BLANCHARD. 
 
 LONDON: WERTHEIM, McINTOSH & HUNT. 
 
 TORONTO : W. C. CHEWETT & CO. 
 1863. 
 
Ovdh avflpuTTG) lajielv nelC^ov, oh ;j;Q!p/CTC!(T0ai few a£/iv6repov, akri' 
 Beiag. — Plutarch. 
 
 " Man cannot receive, nor God bestow, a greater blessing than the tedih." 
 
 I claim that liberty, which I willingly j'ield to others, in subjects of difficulty to 
 put forward as true such things as appear to be probable, until proved to be mani- 
 festly false. — Harvey. 
 
 My determination with myself is, to follow neither men nor their opinions, but 
 God and his word. — Justin Martyr. 
 
 Distinguite tempora, et concordabunt Scripturse. 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 
 JOSEPH A. SEISS, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern 
 District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BT 1. JOHNSON AND CO. 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This book treats of the future destiny of the world and its 
 population, as revealed in the holy prophecies. It was first 
 published in 1856, since which time several editions and re- 
 publications of it have appeared. It was originally designed 
 to bear testimony against certain erroneous opinions exten- 
 sively afloat in the popular mind, and to awaken attention to 
 a subject too little appreciated and too much neglected by 
 modern professors of Christianity. The favor with which it 
 has met, and the blessing of Clod which has so largely attended 
 it in many directions, together with the increased ominousness 
 of our times, and the pressing importance of a right knowledge 
 of what is coming upon the earth, have induced the author to 
 revise, enlarge, and reissue it, and to enter into arrangements 
 to bring it, in its revised form, simultaneously before the read- 
 ing public of England, Canada, and the United States. 
 
 The views which it presents are somewhat in conflict with 
 prevailing impressions and current opinions and prejudices; 
 but they are the writer's honest convictions, produced by 
 faithful study, and uttered under a full sense of the responsi- 
 bility involved. They are also believed to be entitled to sober, 
 candid, and careful consideration. They certainly have the 
 sanction of high authorities, both ancient and modern, and 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 are more and more commanding the belief of devout men of 
 earnest hearts and eloquent tongues in all sections of the 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 A few exceptions have been taken to former editions of this 
 book. Its spirit was thought too positive, dogmatical, and 
 severe. This criticism was not felt to be just. Strong, bold 
 language was indeed employed ; for it would be useless to think 
 of making an impression in any other way ; but as to dogma- 
 tical proscriptiveness, or disrespect to those entertaining differ- 
 ent opinions, nothing was further from the author's feelings, 
 or from the design of his book. Nevertheless, the revision 
 has removed some passages, and modified others, which, per- 
 haps, were liable to misconstruction in these particulars. If 
 any thing remains which might reasonably disturb the most 
 kindly feelings and relations with those who see things in a 
 different light, the author is not conscious of it, and does not 
 so intend it. 
 
 It has also been thought by some, that the book gave too 
 unfavorable a picture of the present condition of the world, — 
 that the moral and spiritual state of things now is not loorse, 
 but hetter, than in former periods. Seven years of additional 
 study and observation, however, have only deepened the 
 writer's belief in the truthfulness of the representations he has 
 given. The difference between him and his critics, upon this 
 point, may also, after all, be more apparent than real. The 
 truth is, that the world is both hetter and worse than at any 
 time since the days of the Apostles, and that it will continue 
 to become better and worse until the "end." As the light in- 
 creases, the shadows deepen. There is upon earth a kingdom 
 
PREFACE. O 
 
 of evil, and a kingdom of good ; and both are expansive and 
 growing. This is distinctly taught in the parable of the Wheat 
 and the Tares. The great Lord of the field has said, "Let 
 
 BOTH GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST J THE HARVEST 
 
 IS THE END OF THE WORLD." Hence, Christ and Antichrist, 
 holiness and iniquity, good and bad, are side by side, each 
 advancing, the conflict between them increasing in intensity, 
 the severest being the last, when the Lord of the harvest shall 
 come with his reapers and make the everlasting separation 
 "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth 
 more and more unto the perfect day," (Prov. iv. 18;) and 
 yet "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and ivorse, de- 
 ceiving and being deceived." (2 Tim. iii. 13.) 
 
 The enlargements in this edition are considerable, amount- 
 ing in all to more than one hundred pages. Some portions 
 have been entirely rewritten. Notes have been added, to 
 explain or further support the original text, and to bring up 
 the work to the author's increased understanding of many 
 important points. Pains have been taken and much labor 
 bestowed to present a full analysis of Scripture References on 
 the entire subject, and to give a full exhibit of the literature 
 of the same from the daj^s of the Apostles to the present. A 
 complete Index to every thing important contained in the 
 work has also been appended; all of which must materially 
 enhance its value. 
 
 To appreciate this book as an argument for the system of 
 doctrines concerning the future which it gives, it will be 
 necessary to read all of it, and in the order in which it is pre- 
 sented. Its force is cumulative. Each part enters into the 
 
 1* 
 
b PREFACE. 
 
 support of all the parts, and in its place contributes to the 
 general conclusions of the whole. It is only by attention to 
 this fact that the reader can do justice to the author, to the 
 subject, or to himself. 
 
 As remarked in the preface to the first edition, the author 
 of this volume does not presume to speak for his Church, 
 or for any party, but only for himself. Nevertheless, he 
 is happy to be able to say, that he speaks with Justin Mar- 
 tyr, Irenceus, Tertullian, and all the great divines of the first 
 ages after Christ, as well as with many of the greatest lights 
 of Protestant Christendom. And if he is to be censured or 
 condemned for what he has here ventured to aflirm, the 
 Church of Christ itself, in the purest and brightest periods of 
 its history, and in some of its most illustrious worthies, must 
 also be censured and condemned. 
 
 With these remarks, the writer again sends out this volume, 
 hoping that it may not be unfruitful of good, and praying 
 that all who read it may be brought to share in the blessed- 
 ness of those who shall have "part in the first resurrection." 
 
 Philadelphia, U. S., 
 
 March 18, a.d. 1863. 
 
 } 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 TWELVE DISCOURSES. 
 
 DISC. PAGES 
 
 i. the subjfct propounded matt. xxiv. applied 
 
 Christ's return proven — importance of the 
 
 SUBJECT 9-35 
 
 II. Christ's coming in relation to other events — 
 
 THE millennium WRONG VIEWS CORRECTED THE 
 
 advent pre-millennial 36-61 
 
 iii. the restitution of all things "end of the 
 
 world" — Peter's conflagration — repeal of the 
 
 CURSE 62-87 
 
 IV. THE RESURRECTION REV. XX. TWOFOLD RESURREC- 
 TION HOPES CONNECTED WITH THE RESURRECTION 
 
 OF THE JUST 88-111 
 
 V. Messiah's kingdom — how presented in the scrip- 
 tures — is not yet set up 112-186 
 
 VI. the judgment DAY OF IS PROGRESSIVE CONNECTS 
 
 WITH THE MILLENNIAL REIGN HOW INTRODUCED 
 
 — ADMONITIONS 137-159 
 
 VII. ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE JUDGMENT UPON NATIONS 
 
 — RESULTS OF 160-182 
 
 VIII. RESTORATION OF THE JEWS OBJECTIONS TO NEW 
 
 TESTAMENT ON ANCIENT PROPHECIES FACTS- 
 EXPLANATIONS 183-208 
 
 IX. THE WORLD TO COME PICTURED IN THE TRANSFIGU- 
 RATION BLESSED CHARACTERISTICS OF 209-230 
 
 X. TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH SUMMARY THE FATHERS 
 
 AUTHORITIES THE REFORMERS CONTRAST BE- 
 TWEEN PAST AND PRESENT 231-258 
 
 7 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DISC. PAGES 
 
 XL WHEN CHRIST WILL COME WITH RELATION TO OTHER 
 
 EVENTS THREE METHODS OF COMPUTING THE TIME. 259-284 
 
 XII. RECAPITULATION SIGNS OF THE TIMES WITH REFER- 
 ENCE TO THE ADVENT OF CHRIST SENTIMENTS OF 
 
 DISTINGUISHED MEN DESIRABLENESS OF CHRISX's 
 
 COMING 285-310 
 
 NOTES AND ADDITIONS. 
 
 NOTE PAGE 
 
 A. OPINIONS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN ON THE DAYS IN 
 
 WHICH WE LIVE 316 
 
 B. THE MEANING OF JSVea "GENERATION" IN MATT. 
 
 xxiT. 34 323 
 
 C. THE AUGUSTAN AND HELVETIC CONFESSIONS AGAINST THE 
 
 MODERN IDEAS OF THE MILLENNIUM 326 
 
 D. DOES THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION CONDEMN CHILIASM?.. 327 
 
 E. MILLENARIAN VIEWS OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF CHRIST'S 
 
 KINGDOM 335 
 
 F. DECLARATION OF THE SAVIOR (jOHN XVIII. 36) IN RE- 
 
 FERENCE TO HIS KINGDOM AND THIS WORLD 338 
 
 G. THE PERSONAL ANTICHRIST IS IT LOUIS NAPOLEON ?. ... 341 
 
 H. THE TWO STAGES OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE SAINTS... 349 
 
 I. LUTHER ON THE MILLENNIUM 354 
 
 J. THE SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD 356 
 
 K. PROBABLE DATES OF THE SEVEN LAST VIALS 362 
 
 AUTHORITIES, BOOKS, AND REFERENCES. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. ANALYSIS OF AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES 365 
 
 IT. REFERENCES TO THE OPINIONS AND AVORKS OF THE 
 
 FATHERS 383 
 
 III. CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO MORE RECENT WRITERS 400 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 433 
 
Clje S'ast Cimts. 
 
 FIRST DISCOUESE. 
 
 THE SUBJECT PROPOUNDED THE TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER OP 
 
 MATTHEW APPLIED — CHRISt's PERSONAL RETURN TO THE EARTH 
 PROVEN THE INTENSE IMPORTANCE OF THE THEME. 
 
 Matt. xxiv. 3 : And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disci- 
 ples came unto him i^rivately, saying. When shall these things he? 
 and what shall he the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the 
 world f 
 
 From these words I begin a series of special discourses 
 upon the holy prophecies concerning '^ The Last Times," and 
 the winding up of the dispensation under which we now live. 
 
 It is agreed, by all believers in the Bible, that very mys- 
 terious scenes await our world. Christians and Jews concede, 
 that we are approaching commotions and changes, such as 
 never have been since time began. Indifferent to the future 
 as we may be., and deep as are the church's slumbers upon 
 the subject, Grod's purposes are fixed, and the wheel of his 
 wonderful providence is rolling us on to the funeral of the 
 ''world" that now is. Every day we are coming nearer and 
 nearer to a period, if we have not already entered within its 
 margin, when the whole present arrangement of things shall 
 be broken up and pass away. 
 
10 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 No one acquaiDted with the existing aspects of the world, 
 can have any doubt, that we have fallen upon very startling 
 and critical times. All society, everywhere, with its politics, 
 its philosophy, and its religion, is in a perturbed condition, 
 indicating revolutions and occurrences which no mere human 
 foresight can at all comprehend. The stream of earthly 
 things is overflowing its old banks, and spreading out in every 
 direction, in wild, disordered, ungovernable, and overwhelm- 
 ing volume. Old systems and modes of thought and belief, 
 which have stood for ages, are everywhere tottering upon 
 their thrones, and many of them reeling as for their final 
 fall. Symptoms of a mysterious metamorphose meet us on 
 every hand, causing some of earth's most far-sighted men, in 
 church and state, to tremble with amazement and doubt. 
 What these approaching changes are to be is differently 
 given, according to the different points of observation which 
 men occupy. But that changes are certainly coming, all 
 admit.* 
 
 I propose, therefore, to enter upon a serious ' and honest 
 effort to ascertain what light the Scriptures throw upon the 
 momentous problem. Our heavenly Father has given us a 
 "sure word of prophecy," and has been pleased mercifully to 
 reveal therein what his great purposes are, and how things 
 are to be ordered until those purposes are fulfilled ; and it is 
 my design to open the book of Grod, and to go with you to its 
 unerring and inspiriting pages, to ascertain what the Lord 
 hath made known concerning those "things which must 
 shortly come to pass." I do not propose to take the prophet's 
 chair, but to take the place of an humble student of the pro- 
 phet's words. I am a learner, not a master — a seeker after 
 what has been revealed, and not a revealer of what has 
 hitherto been unknown. My purpose is, to keep close "to 
 the law and the testimony." I will follow no guides but the 
 inspired writers And I ask of you to test carefully all that 
 
 ■■■■ See Note A, page ?>17. 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 11 
 
 I may present, beseeching yon to reject all that I may by mis- 
 take utter at variance with God's word. I may err. I may 
 not always hit upon the exact truth. All I claim of you is, 
 to approach the subject with a prayerful and teachable spirit, 
 ready to hear and weigh testimony without partiality or pre- 
 judice, sincerely desirous to learn what God the Spirit saith, 
 and determined, at all hazards, to cleave to all that the blessed 
 Scriptures really teach. 
 
 I know that there is in many a strong but morbid distaste 
 for the discussion of these subjects. Soriie have even gone 
 so far as to set it down to some mental defect for a man to 
 touch the study of prophecy. But I suppose that there are 
 among the men who have devoted their time, talents, and 
 learning to this subject, some with quite as much sound- 
 ness of mind and justness of taste as any of those who 
 have decided not to open the seals which inexcusable 
 neglect has put upon the prophetic Scriptures. Noah, 
 also, was considered insane for his concern aboitt what was 
 coming upon the earth in his day. Jesus himself, with all 
 his Divine gravity and wisdom, was pronounced a demoniac. 
 And the apostle Paul, in the midst of some of bis mightiest 
 and brightest intellections, was branded as beside himself 
 and mad. And who would not rather suifer reproach with 
 such company, than to have that come upon him " which is 
 spoken of in the prophets : Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, 
 and perish : for I work a work in your days, a work which 
 ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto 
 you!" And those Christians assuredly have reason to 
 blush and be ashamed to whom apology is necessary for an 
 attempt to bring before them the wonderful and glowing pro- 
 phecies of Scripture concerning things to come "in the latter 
 days." Every thing dear and hopeful in the Christian faith 
 stands inseparably connected with them. They include nearly 
 all the grand motives to faith, obedience, watchfulness, and 
 
12 THE LAST TliMES 
 
 virtue. God also tells us, that ''All scripture is profitahle, 
 for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
 righteousness;" that we have "a word of prophecy toliere- 
 unto we do loell to take Jieed ;" and that "Blessed is he that 
 readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and 
 keep the things that are written therein." Where, then, do 
 men get liberty to ignore one-half of the Bible as useless ? 
 AVho has authorized us to seal and bury in oblivion those 
 grand Apocalypses of futurity which God has given, and in 
 reference to which he says, " If any man shall take away 
 from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take 
 away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy 
 city, and from the things which are written in this book !" 
 Hath " the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to 
 shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be 
 done," and we be under no obligations whatever to seek to 
 find out the meaning of the heavenly communications ? Shall 
 he solemnly proclaim "these sayings faithful and true," and 
 him "blessed" that keepeth them, and we call it piety and 
 wisdom to put them aside as loose fables, and repudiate them 
 as unmeaning riddles which can only addle our brains ? How 
 could we adopt a course more criminally indifferent, arrogant, 
 and unbelieving ? Is not such conduct a placing of ourselves 
 with the scoffers of the last days, who say, " Where is the 
 promise of his coming ?" Shame, shame, to the skepticism 
 of many professing Christians. 
 
 Let me suppose a case. Suppose that the blessed Savior 
 should now appear in this assembly, and take this stand, and 
 begin to discourse to you about the last times. Would you 
 feel justified in stopping your ears to his words because he 
 struck upon this particular theme ? Would you not regard 
 any one who should act thus as under some strange infatua- 
 tion of the devil, and deserving of severe rebuke ? But where 
 is the difference, whether Jesus should thus come in person, 
 
A DIFFICULT THEME. 13 
 
 or come to us in the written word, every sentence of which 
 he has dictated, inspired, or delivered to us for our learning? 
 And if you would feel bound to give him a reverent hearing 
 in the one case, why not feel equally bound in the case which 
 actually exists ? Christ is here with his word to instruct us 
 upon these very subjects; and it would not be worse to stop 
 your ears to his personal voice, than it is to refuse to hear and 
 consider his written truth. 
 
 Prophecy, it is true, is a somewhat difficult theme. Peter 
 tells us, that it is "a light that shineth in a dark place." We 
 must not expect everything to be as obvious and plain as in 
 the noonday when all is luminous. Especially in unfulfilled 
 prophecy, there must needs be some obscurity in the parti- 
 cular details of circumstances, '* times and seasons." But, 
 there are difficulties to be encountered and wildernesses to be 
 traversed just as great and discouraging in other depai'tments 
 of learning; yet, instead of being deterred by them, men are 
 rather the more stimulated to meet them, and are accustomed 
 so constantly to triumph over them, that we cease to be sur- 
 prised at the most astonishing strides of human genius. Does 
 the astronomer cease to study and survey the heavens, be- 
 cause, with all his aids, he never can fully take in the tre- 
 mendous sweep of Grod's universe, or tell what sort of inha- 
 oitants are in the sun, moon, and stars ? Does the geologist 
 ^ease to dig and bore into the bowels of the earth, or give 
 over the study of its rocks and fossils, because he cannot find 
 out all that lies hidden in its unknown centre, or tell how the 
 strata of its crust were formed, or describe the appearance 
 •and habits of those monsters whose bones lie entombed under 
 Its surface ? Does the physician throw aside all further inquiry 
 into the anatomy and physiology of man, because he cannot 
 discover " how the bones are formed in the womb," what life 
 is, and in what part of the body the soul is? Why, then, 
 should the Christian shun the study of the predictions 
 
 2 
 
14 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 which God has given, because there are some depths and 
 mysteries about them which we cannot fathom ? Nay, these 
 very obscurities and difficulties, which deter so many from 
 examining the prophetic word, are not without their whole- 
 some effects. It is a real pleasure to the mind to l^ow that 
 something has been left for it to do. It luxuriates, and has 
 its highest life in the exercise of overcoming obstacles, and 
 bringing up the truth from regions which lie under the sur- 
 face of ordinary observation. Only furnish to the human facul- 
 ties the assurance of success, and it is their highest happiness 
 and purest virtue to labor and to wrestle with difficulties. 
 And so the glimmering twilight which hangs about prophecy, 
 is just what we might expect, and what we need. There is 
 light and plain certainty enough to guide, cheer, quicken, and 
 excite ; and just darkness enough to check the pride of specu- 
 lation and the boasts of confidence, and to make us prayer- 
 ful, humble, and inquiring. The difficulties are not insur- 
 mountable. They are not as great as many have agreed to 
 regard them. They are more imaginary than real, and pro- 
 ceed rather from our slothfulness than from the prophecies 
 themselves. People do not understand prophecy, simply be- 
 cause they do not study it; and then they refuse to study it 
 because they do not understand it. There is no part of Scrip- 
 ture richer or more munificent in rewards for the faithful 
 inquirer. It is a garden of flowers — a cabinet of wondrous 
 jewelry. It is a vast and varied landscape, filled with beauty 
 and grandeur, the horizon of which is fringed with the bright 
 dawning glories of eternal day. Here, and here alone, we 
 can see the real scope and magnificence of man's redemption. 
 Here, and here only, we can trace God's providential plans to 
 their ultimate consummation, and learn the real majesty of 
 his counsels of love. At every step there is something to 
 encourage and comfort us under the fatigues and trials of life, 
 something to confirm our faith and to fill us with glorious 
 
THE SUBJECT PROPOUNDED. 15 
 
 anticipations. And if the limits of our knowledge can be 
 extended, and the sum of human good augmented, by the 
 study of rocks, and bones, and beasts, and birds, and stars, 
 how can it be unprofitable to bend our attention a little more 
 than we have done to what our Savior has revealed concerning 
 " the signs of his coming, and of the end of the world" ? 
 
 That the Lord Jesus, the Son of the Virgin Mary, will 
 certainly return again to this earth, is a docti'iue written in 
 all the creeds, and sung about by Christians every week. It 
 is an event the sublimest in coming time, the most largely 
 treated in the Scriptures, and the most deeply involving all 
 that relates to the destiny of our world. As Christ is the 
 centre of history, his second coming is the centre of pro- 
 phecy, which is history written beforehand. I have accord- 
 ingly fixed upon this final advent of the Lord as the central 
 thought of these investigations, and as the point from which 
 to survey the great scenes of the last times. To attempt to 
 prove to you that the Son of man will really and personally 
 come again to this world, may seem quite superfluous. It is 
 a doctrine which orthodox Christians universally admit. And 
 yet, perhaps, there is not another article of Christian faith so 
 coldly and indefinitely apprehended. Few men embrace it as 
 a reality. Few men lay hold of it as an efiicacious truth. 
 People deny it not, but neither do they feel it. They have so 
 much preoccupied their minds with imaginary figurative 
 comings of the Savior, in providence, in his Spirit, in his 
 word, and in his church, that his only real coming has well- 
 nigh become obsolete — a mere dead letter. It no longer 
 comes upon the heart and conscience with its proper awaken- 
 ing and commanding power. We recite it, and sing it ; but 
 we do not efi'ectually receive it. It is in our creed, but it 
 cannot be said to be our faith. If we entertain it at all, it 
 is at a great distance off. It cannot tlierefore be a matter of 
 small importance for us to review our position, and to ea- 
 
 V 
 
16 THE LAST TI.AIES. 
 
 deavor to ascertain where we stand in regard to this great 
 doctrine. If we have been unconsciously saying to ourselves, 
 "the Lord delayeth his coming," it is time that we should 
 wake up to the fact, lest that day should come upon us un- 
 awares. Christ bids us ''Watch; for in such an hour as ye 
 think not, the Son of man cometh." '' The day of the Lord 
 so cometh as a thief in the night." "As a snare shall it 
 come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." 
 And amid the tremendous heavings of society in our day, we 
 are the most solemnly admonished to look well to our hearts, 
 and to keep close to the directions of our Lord. 
 
 The great original prophecy concerning the second advent, 
 the principal storehouse from which the apostles and first 
 Christians drew their faith and illustrations upon the subject, 
 — is that glorious discourse of the Savior which he gave to 
 Peter, James, John, and Andrew, in answer to the questions 
 propounded in the text. Next to the sermon on the mount, 
 that discourse is the longest and the most momentous of all 
 that has been preserved of the Savior's communications. 
 And yet, there is, perhaps, no part of Scripture that has been 
 so much abused, confused, and obscured by professed inter- 
 preters. Though the Bible nowhere so pointedly, directly, 
 literally, and plainly asserts and describes the final advent of 
 the Lord, there is scarcely a commentary in existence which 
 does not so JerusaleTnize , spiritualize, and allegorize it, as to 
 leave it the most indefinite and unmeaning of all the Savior's 
 teachings. The prevailing impression is, that the twenty- 
 fourth chapter of Matthew is a mixed prophecy, referring 
 primarily to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and, 
 perhaps, by a sort of typical implication, remotely touching 
 upon the scenes of Christ's final personal coming. But what 
 relates to Jewish troubles, and what relates to the transactions 
 of the last times, no commentary in the hands of the people 
 has told. Othei-s, again, apply the whole to the taking of 
 
THE XXIV. CHAPTER OF MATTHEW. 17 
 
 Jeru.salem only, and consider the coming of the Son of man 
 nothing but the coming of the Roman legions into Palestine. 
 
 That there are difficulties connected with the exposition of 
 this important portion of Scripture, is admitted; but that 
 they are of a character to prevent us from using it as a basis 
 of doctrine, or from understanding what the Savior in the 
 main meant to teach by it, I am not willing to concede. The 
 simple reading of it, with a few explanatory remarks, is all 
 that is needed to exhibit its meaning with ample clearness 
 for our present purposes. 
 
 That the passage, in part at least, was intended to foreshow 
 the fate of Jerusalem, with the signs and accompaniments of 
 the same, is not to be questioned. That the predictions 
 which it contains were not meant to be limited to these par- 
 ticulars, but to include the last times and the period of 
 Christ's personal return to the earth, appears to be equally well 
 founded. And that the Savior does not speak first of the one 
 application only, and then exclusively of the other, in regular 
 historic and chronological order, is also pretty clear, from the 
 difficulty of showing exactly where the point of transition is. 
 The true key to the passage, and which relieves it of most 
 of the troubles which expositors have found with it, I take to 
 be this : that the fate of the ancient Jewish economy and its 
 accompaniments was the commencement of a system of admi- 
 nistrations which is at length to involve all nations, — a sort of 
 first-fruits of the end, — the enactment on a limited scale of 
 what is finally and more fully to be enacted on the theatre of 
 the world at large. 
 
 It is a fact that history is continually repeating itself, 
 
 and that the future is perpetually foreshadowed in the 
 
 scenes and occurrences of the past. There is also a " latitude 
 
 which is agreeable and familiar to Divine prophecies, being 
 
 of the nature of their Author, with whom a thousand years 
 
 are as one day, and therefore they are not fulfilled punctually 
 B 2* 
 
18 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 at once, but have springing germinant accomplishments 
 throughout many ages, though the height or fullness of them 
 may refer to some one age." So in the case before us. The 
 close of the Jewish economy was the earnest of a general 
 closing up of the same sort for all nations. The destruction 
 of Jerusalem, and the attendant particulars, constituted the 
 starting-point; but the meaning of the prophecy goes quite 
 beyond these, and grasps a much ampler scene of fulfilment. 
 Both are embraced in one field of view, whilst the sti-ess and 
 fulness of the predictions reach the last times and the great 
 consummation, and presently settle entirely in them. 
 
 The occasion of the discourse is set forth in these words : — 
 
 "And Jesus went out and departed from the temple : and 
 his disciples came to him, for to show him the buildings of 
 the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these 
 things ? Verily, I say unto you, [the days will come in the 
 which] there shall not be left here one stone upon another, 
 that shall not be thrown down." 
 
 ''And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples 
 [Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew] came unto him 
 privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? 
 And what shall be the sign op thy coming, and op 
 the end of the world, or age?" 
 
 I emphasize these last words, because they are the stem- 
 words upon which the whole discourse is framed. Christ 
 had spoken only of the destruction of the temple and the 
 Jewish state. But with this the disciples associated the 
 end of the whole earthly order of things, and the Messiah's 
 entrance upon his glorious and heavenly dominion. Their 
 inquiry, accordingly, had two leading subjects : first, the over- 
 throw of the Jewish temple ; and, second, the coming of 
 Christ in his kingdom at the great consummation. They 
 wished to know two things concerning these subjects ; first, 
 when these things should come to pass, and second, what signs 
 
FALSE CHRISTS. 19 
 
 should mark the time and manner of their occurrence. And, 
 as they asked two questions in one. the Savior proceeded to 
 answer them in the same double form. 
 
 "And Jesus answered and said unto them. Take heed that 
 no man deceive you ; for many shall come in my name, say- 
 ing, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. [And the time 
 draweth near; go,ye not, therefore, after them.]" 
 
 The indication is here given, in the very first words, that 
 the minds of the inquirers were in a somewhat confused and 
 exposed condition. They expected the setting up of the 
 Messiah's kingdom in connection with the fall of the Jewish 
 temple, and hence were in great danger of being deluded by 
 impostors, and of accepting antichrists and pseudo-christs for 
 Christ himself. One of the punishments of the people of 
 Israel for the rejection of the true Christ, was the relinquish- 
 ment of them to false saviors and deliverers. In every period 
 of corruption and consequent calamity, this symptom of lying 
 consolations and promises repeats itself. It was so in the period 
 of the captivity. (Jer. xxix. 8, 9, xiv. 13; Ezek. xiii.) It 
 was so in the period of Jerusalem's overthrow, as Josephus 
 has very fully shown. And it is elsewhere abvindantly fore- 
 told that it shall be still more remarkably so in the end of the 
 present dispensation. Hence the cavition, to guard against 
 deceivers and false hopes, which applied not only to the 
 Christians of that time, but applies equally to us. 
 
 "And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars : see that 
 ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to pass ; 
 hut the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, 
 and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, 
 and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places ; [and fear- 
 ful sights, and great signs shall there be from heaven.] All 
 these are the beginning of sorrows." 
 
 How literally and completely all these things were fulfilled 
 in the periird of Jerusahm's fall, may be seen in Josephus, 
 
20 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 and the commentaries upon these verses. But they are equally 
 predictions of what is to mark the period of the end. Indeed, 
 they are here called ^^ the heginning of sorrows," as if speci- 
 fically to make known that their occurrence in the case of 
 Jerusalem's trouble was but the commencement or first-fruits 
 of a fulfilment which is to be still more amply realized by 
 the world at large. 
 
 " [But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, 
 and persecute you.] Then shall they deliver you up [to 
 councils, the synagogues, and into {)risons], to be afflicted, 
 and shall kill you. [And ye shall be brought before rulers and 
 kings for my sake, for a testimony against them ;] and ye shall 
 be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall 
 many be offended, and shall betray one another. And many 
 false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because 
 iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." 
 
 That these things literally came to pass in the times of the 
 apostles themselves, may be seen in Acts iv. 1-3, v. 17, 18, 
 27, 40, 41, vii. 59, xii. 1-4, xvi. 19-23, xvii. 6, xxvi. 10, 11, 
 xxviii. 30, 81, XX. 29, 30; 2 Tim. i. 15, iv. 10, 14; 2 Peter 
 ii. 1; Jude 4; 1 John iv. 1, ii. 18 j 2 John 7. They are 
 also more or less fulfilling continually, preparatory to the still 
 more complete fulfilment under the Antichrist of the last 
 days. (See Dan. vii. 25; 2 Thess. ii. 3-8; Rev. xiii. 15.) 
 
 "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be 
 saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in 
 all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall 
 the end come." 
 
 There is a threefold "e7id" spoken of in these words : the 
 end of suffering, in the case of the individuals encouraged to 
 endure ; the end of the Jewish polity, as the first point in- 
 quired about; and the end of the whole present order of 
 things, as connected with the coming of Christ, concerning 
 which they also wished to be informed. That the gospel was 
 
EARLY SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. 21 
 
 very generally promiilged before the fall of Jerusalem, is a 
 fact of which we have very reliable testimony. Eusebitis 
 Says of the apostolic age, " Under a celestial influence and co- 
 operation, the doctrine of the Savior, like the rays of the 
 sun, quickly irracliated the u-holc loorld." And if Eusebius 
 should not be sufficient authority, hear what Paul says on the 
 subject. He died years before Jerusalem was destroyed; and 
 yet he writes the Colossians, (i. 16,) "The word of the truth 
 of the gospel is come unto you, as it is in all the icorld." 
 '' Be not moved away from the hope of the (/osjjel which ye 
 have heard, and ichich ivas preached TO every creature 
 WHICH IS UNDER HEAVEN." (i. 23.) "Have they not 
 heard ? yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and 
 their words unto the ends op the world." (Rom. x. 18.) 
 But that was only the type of a publication of tlie gospel 
 which is now ever more and more going on, and which shall 
 receive a still more marked and miraculous fulfilment as the 
 end approaches and the judgment comes. (See Rev. xiv. 6.) 
 
 " [And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with 
 armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then 
 let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let 
 theiu which are in the midst of it depart out, and let not 
 them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these 
 be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written 
 may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and 
 to them that give suck in those days ; for there shall be great 
 distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they 
 shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away 
 captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down 
 of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.]" 
 
 It is remarkable that both the end of the Jewish economy, 
 and the great consummation, are connected with the coming 
 of foreign powers against Jerusalem, and disaster to the holy 
 city ; as also with a flight to the mountains on the part of 
 
22 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 those who are to esca2:)e destruction. (See Zech. xiv. 1-5.) 
 The paragraph from Luke, which I have just given, seems to 
 describe more especially the first, and the following from 
 Matthew seems to describe more especially the second. 
 
 " When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, 
 spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, 
 (whoso readeth let him understand,) then let them which be 
 in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the 
 housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house : 
 neither let him which is in the field return back to take his 
 clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them 
 that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight 
 be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day : for then 
 shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning 
 of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except 
 those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be 
 saved : but, for the elects' sake [whom he hath chosen], those 
 days shall be shortened." 
 
 The quotation from Daniel, respecting the desolating abomi- 
 nation, was understood by the Alexandrine Jews as referring 
 to the profanation of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, as 
 described in 1 Maccabees i. 43-60. And some have sup- 
 posed a corresponding profanation under the bloody and sacri- 
 legious zealots at the period of Jerusalem's overthrow. But, 
 as the passage stands in Daniel, it connects with the scenes 
 of the judgment and the end of the world. The Savior does 
 not seem to quote it, either, in any other sense, or with any 
 other application, than that which it has in its original con- 
 nection . It is therefoi'e altogether safest to understand it as 
 referring above all to the terrible desecrations to be perpe- 
 trated by the Antichrist v/hen his own image shall be set up 
 for worship in the place of the services of Grod ; for it is in 
 connection with the setting up of that image that the great 
 tribulation in its proper fulness is to begin. Hence its name, 
 
THE ELECT. 23 
 
 "the abomination of desolation," or, that maketh desolate. 
 As to "the elect," or "chosen," different classes are perhaps 
 meant. There were some, even unbelieving Jews, saved at 
 Jerusalem's destruction; and not a Christian perished. Both 
 these classes were therefore in some sense the elect. And 
 there will be a corresponding election when these predictions 
 come to their ultimate fulfilment in the great tribulation of 
 the last days. Some shall pass through the terrible affliction, 
 and entirely survive it 5 and others shall be caught up to their 
 Lord in the air at the very commencement of these great 
 woes, and thus entirely escape them, (Luke xxi. 36 ; Rev. 
 xiv. 1-5,) being the elect of God to be the Bride of Christ. 
 And when these straits and sorrows come, — 
 
 " Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, 
 or there ; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, 
 and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, 
 insomuch that (if it were possible) they shall deceive the 
 very elect. [Take ye heed.] Behold, I have told you before. 
 Wherefore, if they shall say unto you. Behold, he is in the 
 desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; 
 believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of 
 
 THE EAST, AND SHINETH EVEN UNTO THE WEST : SO SHALL 
 ALSO THE COMING OF THE SoN OF MAN BE. FOR WHERESO- 
 EVER THE CARCASS [bODY] IS, THERE WILL THE EAGLES 
 BE GATHERED TOGETHER." 
 
 Though the Savior may perhaps still have Jerusalem's 
 overthrow somewhat in view, it is plain that the principal 
 stress of this paragraph falls in the last days, and refers above 
 all to what is to transpire in connection with the false pre- 
 tences and lying wonders of the Antichrist and his minions, 
 (2 Thess. ii. 3-12; Rev. xvi. 13, 14, xix. 20,) from which 
 the people of God shall then be in peculiar peril. The last 
 verses, particularly, do not refer to the Jerusalem troubles, 
 but to Christ's literal and personal return, in contrast with 
 
24 THE LAST TIMKS. 
 
 all pretended saviors and usurjjers of his place, whether 
 coming as his rivals or in his name, in the days of Jerusa- 
 lem's distress, or in the last days. Four things are contained 
 in these verses : first, that false Christs and false prophets 
 shall come ; second, that the true Christ is also to come ; 
 third, that the coming of the true Christ will be after a man- 
 ner and with demonstrations very diiFerent from those of 
 usurpers and deceivers; and fourth, that we need give our- 
 selves no anxiety about making our .way into the presence 
 of Christ when he comes, for that we shall as naturally find 
 ourselves with him as eagles are where their prey is. To say 
 that this coming of Christ as the lightning shineth, refers to 
 hLs providential coming by the Roman armies, would require 
 the invention of a similar fiction to correspond with the 
 coming of the false Christs, and, indeed, divest the entire pass- 
 age of meaning. The gathering of the eagles might be in- 
 terpreted of the coming of an army which bore the eagle on 
 its standards ; but when we compare it with Luke xvii. 34— 
 37, Isaiah xl. 31, Rev. iv. 7, xii. 14, the reference seems 
 rather to be to Him who "was dead" but is "alive for ever- 
 more," and to the gathering of his redeemed people to 
 himself in the clouds at his literal coming, according to 
 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. So Theophylact, Euthymius, and many 
 of the ancients took the passage; and Luther paraphrases it 
 as if Christ had said, "As the eagles are gathered where the 
 carcass is, so shall my people be gathered where I am." 
 
 It is also very noticeable how the subject of Jerusalem's 
 overthrow, with which the discourse begins, gradually fades 
 into the greater and more absorbing theme of Christ's coming 
 and the end of the world. Especially from this on, it is quite 
 lost in the intenser sharpness of the back part of the picture. 
 It is of the judgment period that we now read, — 
 
 " Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the 
 sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 
 
AN AXIOM. 25 
 
 the stars shall fall from heaven ;" — or, as Luke has it, — 
 "[There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in 
 the stars, and upon earth distress of nations with perplexity, 
 the sea and the waves thereof roaring, men's hearts failing 
 them for fear, and for looking after those things which are comino- 
 on the earth;] and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." 
 It is no longer Jerusalem that we see in these graphic 
 words. What is here spoken concerns all the families of 
 man, and relates to the judgment-times in immediate connec- 
 tion with the glorious revelation of the returning Lord. 
 
 "And THEN SHALL APPEAR THE SIGN OP THE SON OP 
 
 MAN IN HEAVEN : avd THEN shall all the tribes of the earth 
 moiirn, and they SHALL SEE the Son of man coming in the 
 
 CLOUDS OP heaven, WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY." 
 
 What a shame, that learned men should spend their pains 
 and talents in attempts to tie down this language to the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem by the Koman armies ! 
 
 I take it as an axiom, — a settled verity which demonstrates 
 itself, — that two events which are specifically described as 
 successive — the one as coming after the other — cannot be 
 the same. But, if this axiom had always been observed in 
 the interpretation of this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, 
 the students of the Scriptures might have saved themselves 
 much inconsistency and confusion, and many a misapprehen- 
 sion of God's word. If we ask most of our popular commen- 
 tators what is meant by "the tribulation of those days," de- 
 scribed in the twenty-ninth and preceding verses, the answer 
 given is, that it means the calamities and suiferiugs of the 
 Jews, induced by the siege and overthrow of their city and 
 state. And if we ask them, again, what is meant by the 
 mourning of the tribes of the earth ''after the tribulation of 
 those days," the answer is about the samej-'the calamities 
 and sufferings of the tribes of Israel in connection with tlie 
 fall of their city and state ! If we inquire of them what is 
 
 3 
 
26 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 meant by the coming of the Son of man as the lightning in 
 the clouds of heaven, with some twinges of uncertainty they 
 nearly all finally agree upon the reply that it means the flash- 
 ing judgments which were brought upon the rebellious people 
 of'Israel by the coming of the Roman armies against Jerusalem! 
 The coming of which the Savior speaks was to be " out of the 
 east" towards the west, and the coming of the Roman armies 
 was out of the west and north towards the east and south ; but 
 the reply is, no matter for that ; we are not to expect all the 
 particular circumstances to hold ! The coming of which the 
 Savior speaks is specifically said to be " a/tef" the tribulation 
 induced by the invasion of Palestine by the Romans, as well as 
 "a/ter" that great unparalleled tribulation of which the Jew- 
 ish troubles were the commencement and first-fruits ; but no 
 matter for that, we are told ; as though effect could go before 
 its cause, and as if priority or succession were nothing in the 
 interpretation of a book such as the word of Grod ! I question, 
 indeed, whether the annals of learning can furnish a parallel 
 to the absurdities which characterize the great mass of our 
 popular disquisitions upon this portion of the inspired record. 
 No wonder that the doctrine of Christ's personal return to 
 our world has lost so much of its weight, certainty, and 
 rightful importance in the minds and hearts of the Church, 
 when its great foundation-text is thus sacrificed to a false and 
 supercilious erudition. 
 
 One of the strangest things in the world is the manner in 
 which some people read the Bible. It would almost seem as 
 if they turned it upside-down, and read it backwards. "Eyes 
 have they, but they see not." They praise it, and hold it in 
 holy regard, and insist that everybody ought to have it; yet 
 they look into it only as some recondite volume, which is a 
 good text-book for preachers, but which is quite beyond the 
 reach of their understanding. They adore it more for the 
 "anknown mysteries which they attribute to it, than from t'heir 
 
THE BIBLE. 27 
 
 personal appi-eciation of what their own eyes have beheld 
 upon its pages. Many seem to view it as a sublime riddle- 
 book, full of mystic poetry and unsearchable wisdom, rather 
 than as a plain piece of information and advice given by a 
 Father to his inexperienced and exposed children. And 
 many who sit down to write commentaries upon it seem to be 
 continually haunted with the idea that thei'e is something 
 recondite in every word, or that the real mind of the Spirit is 
 not to be found in the plain import of the letter, but in some 
 abstruse or mystic analogy which it is their business to dig 
 after. I hold that the Bible is a book for everybody, in 
 which God speaks for the purpose of being understood by 
 everybody; that its language is conformed to the ordinary 
 uses of speech 3 and that it is to be interpreted in the same 
 common-sense way in which we would interpret the will of a 
 deceased parent, or ascertain the meaning of a letter on busi- 
 ness. It was not written to tax our ingenuity, or to test 
 men's skill at learned exposition. Its design is to instruct, 
 and in the most familiar way to express to men the mind and 
 will of God. When Christ speaks of " the Son of man," 
 he means the Son of man, and not the Roman armies. When 
 he speaks of his " coming in the clouds of heaven," he means 
 his coming in the clouds of heaven, and not the sailing of war- 
 ships on the Mediterranean, or the march of soldiers over the 
 fields of earth. When he says '■^ after' ^ the Jewish tribulations 
 are ended, he means ^^ after" those tribulations, and not before 
 they began, or while they were yet in their incipiency. And 
 when he says that all the tribes of the earth " shall see the 
 Son of man coming in the douiJs of heaven ivith poioer and 
 great glori/," expositors might as well attempt to demonstrate 
 to me that day is night, or that white is black, as to attempt 
 to make me believe that he means the march of an army of 
 boorish heathen soldiers. Christ knew what he wished to say, 
 and how to say wiiat he meant; and I feel myself bound to 
 
28 THE LAST TIJIES. 
 
 understand him to mean just wliat he says. And what he 
 here predicts respecting his coming in the clouds at the close 
 of the tribulation no more refers to the coming of the 
 Roman armies into Palestine than to the flight of Mahomet, 
 or the next eclipse of the moon. He is describing the scenes 
 of the judgment-period, and nothing else. 
 
 "And then he shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
 trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the 
 four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 
 
 The elect, in this paragraph, I understand to be the same 
 as the multitude which no man can number, described in 
 Rev. vii. 9-17; the harvest of the earth described in Rev. 
 xiv. 14-16. 
 
 " Now learn a parable of the fig-tree ; when his branch is 
 yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is 
 nigh : so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know 
 that it [the kingdom of God] is near, even at the doors. 
 Verily I say unto you, THIS generation shall not pass, 
 
 TILL ALL THESE THINGS BE FULFILLED." 
 
 Some have groundlessly supposed that this last remark 
 requires the application of this whole prophecy to the times 
 of the apostles, and consequently to Jerusalem's destruction. 
 They take the word ^^ generation" as meaning those who live 
 in the same thirty years; thirty years being reckoned to a 
 generation. But if this be the sense, then how shall we 
 reconcile the prophecy with facts ? Jerusalem was not de- 
 stroyed until about forty years after the Savior uttered these 
 words. And if he meant that a generation of thirty or even 
 thirty-three years should not pass away till all these things 
 should be fulfilled, his prediction cannot be verified. It is gra- 
 tuitous, however, to insist upon that sense of the word genera- 
 tion. The original is y-'^ea. — a race, a class, a family of peo- 
 ple ; as where it is said, "the children of this world are wiser 
 in their generation than the children of light." The plain mean- 
 
MEANING or Christ's prophecy. 29 
 
 ing of the Savior is, that the family of Abraham, the Israel- 
 itish people, should not pass out of existence, as a distinct 
 class or race, before all these predictions should be verified. 
 That the word will bear this sense must be admitted. Many 
 of our most valuable critics and interpreters so understand it. 
 The surroundings also seem to demand .that we should here 
 take it as meaning the Jewish people as a race. They are this 
 fig tree which is to have a long winter of leafless barrenness, 
 but which is to bud again when the summer-time of the kinc:- 
 dom approaches. And in this sense above all have the 
 Savior's words thus fir been most exactly and marvellously 
 fulfilled, showing the truth of what follows, — 
 
 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall 
 not pass away."* 
 
 It is therefore as plain as language can make it, that this 
 prophecy of the Savior runs through all time, from its de- 
 livery down to the end of the world that now is. Men may 
 try to believe that he spoke only of the fall of Jerusalem and 
 the Jewish constitution, but they deceive themselves ; they 
 distort, depreciate, and wrest the clear meaning of his words j 
 and they bring endless confusion into one of the plainest, most 
 literal, and most straightforward prophecies in God's word. 
 The disciples asked him very important questions, and he 
 answered them all that they inquired about. They wished to 
 know when and how Jerusalem and the temple should be 
 brought to desolation, and he told them when and how these 
 things should be, tracing down the consequences upon the 
 Jewish race to his final coming and kingdom. They wished 
 to know what should be the signs and form of his final coming 
 in glory and triumph, and he explained to them the whole 
 matter with a fullness of detail which constitutes the great 
 fund from which his followers ever afterward drew their in- 
 formation upon the subject. They wished to know when, and 
 
 * See Note B, page 323. 
 3« 
 
30 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 amid what circumstauceh!, the end should come; and he an- 
 swered them on that point too, as far as it was for them to 
 know the facts; teaching them to look and watch for hia 
 coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 
 
 In this remarkable discourse, we are accordingly taught, 
 and have the doctrine certified to us in a very peculiar and 
 unmistakable manner, that our Lord Jesus Christ is to 
 COME AGAIN INTO OUR WORLD. It is not Only stated in 
 various forms of language, but it is made the subject of a whole 
 chapter of circumstantial particulars which connect with it, 
 and is the central point in a vast field of predictions, many 
 of which have already passed into historical facts. And one 
 of the prominent reasons, perhaps, why the destruction of 
 Jerusalem and the final consummation were embraced in the 
 same prophetic view, was, that in looking back, and seeing 
 how literally and fully the first part of it has already been 
 fulfilled, we might be confidently assured that what remains 
 to be fulfilled is just as certain as an unalterable fact of his- 
 tory. As part has already become history, so the remaining 
 part shall also become. And thus, with a degree of certainty 
 which excludes all possibility of mistake, the Savior has as- 
 sured his church that HE WILL COME AGAIN to this disor- 
 dered world. It is no mere fancy, — no poet's dream, — no 
 mere fabulous device, — but immutable reality, as sure as the 
 desolations which have been upon Mount Zion for these 
 eighteen hundred years. Though men may think but little 
 of it, and ptit it far away from them, it is one of the infallible 
 verities of Almighty God. As the angels at his ascension said, 
 so we may be satisfied, that ''This same Jesus which is 
 
 TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN SHALL SO COME, IN LIKE MANNER 
 
 AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN." Henceforward, 
 therefore, could his followers say, "The Lord himself 
 SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN," — " Our Conversation is -in 
 heaven, from whence also tee Jnoh for the Savior, the Lord 
 
CERTAINTY OF CHRIST's C03IING. 31 
 
 Tesus Christ." "Behold, HE COMETH WITH CLOUDS; and 
 everi/ eye shall SEE him, and they also ivhich pierced him." 
 Henceforward could the disciples go forth, " looking for that 
 blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God 
 our Savior Jesus Chvist," and beseech men ''by the coming 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto 
 aim," and exhort their fellow-believers "to wait for his Son 
 from heaven," and proclaim the glad " rest, tchen the Lord 
 Jesus shall be revealed from heaven loith his mighty angels," 
 and encourage the fond hopes of the persecuted and despond- 
 ing with the assurance that "when he shall appear we shall 
 be like him, for tee shall see him as he is.'' 
 
 No, no ; " We have not followed cunningly-devised fables, 
 when we made known unto you the power and coming of o%r 
 Lord Jesus Christ." As certainly as the words of Jesus are 
 true, as surely as the pillars of the Eternal throne are stead- 
 fast, Jesus himself, in glorified humanity, shall return again 
 to this very world of ours. All the prophets have predicted 
 it. All the pious, from the foundation of the world, have in 
 some shape expected it. Jesus declared it, both before his 
 death and after his resurrection. And the very last words in 
 the holy Testament which he left us are, " He that testifieth 
 these things saith. Surely I come quickly. Amen." Even 
 apart from what the Scriptures contain upon the subject, 
 with the account of his humiliation before us, reason itself 
 might almost anticipate his return. We cannot suppose that 
 such a glorious personage will always remain under the re- 
 proach and stigma of the cross. Natural justice seems to 
 demand that he should come again, in the majesty that apper- 
 tains to him, in order to sweep away the infamy which wicked 
 men in every age have sought to heap upon him. As He 
 whose right it is to reign, will reign ; and as He whose " is 
 the kingdom, the power, and the glory," will not forever 
 leave his enemies to usurp his place ; so we are driven to ex- 
 
32 THK LAST TIMES. 
 
 pect him yet to come, ''glorious in his apparel, and triumph- 
 ing in the greatness of his strength." 
 
 It must, therefore, be a matter of absorbing interest tc 
 every man, how, and when, and with what antecedents and 
 results, the Son of man shall come. "This," says Charles 
 Beecher, " is the question noio in the providence of God first 
 claiming the solevin attention of the churches." What can 
 be more momentous than the closing up of this whole present 
 scene of things — the passing away of the world's present 
 fashion and administration ? What revolutions in government 
 — what subversions of pi'esent social arrangements — what de- 
 struction of empires, thrones, principalities, and powers — and 
 what shakings of the heavens and of the earth — are involved ! 
 What new and strange experiences shall pass over men when 
 once the glorious King and Judge of quick and dead shall 
 blaze forth his startling presence in the clouds, and summon 
 the earth to answer for all its deeds ! And shall we not seek 
 to understand the revelation of God concerning these amazing 
 scenes ? Shall we not awake from our dreams of peace, and 
 open our eyes to the startling things that are crowding thick 
 around us, and our ears to what God has said about them ? 
 Have we not been allegorizing, and spiritualizing, and Jerusa- 
 lemizing the prophetic word, until we hardly know where we 
 are, or whether there is any thing more to be expected or not? 
 Let us, then, rouse up upon this momentous subject. We 
 have mighty interests staked upon it. There is more said 
 about it in the Scriptures than upon any other single theme. 
 And yet Christians now hardly cast a thought forward to the 
 mighty occurrences which it involves. We say the prayer, 
 "Thy kingdom come!" but so cold and lifeless is the petition 
 on our lips, that we scarcely know what we are asking. Jesus 
 says, "Behold, I come quicMy ;" but we fold our arms and 
 answer. No, no ; it will yet be a thousand years or more. He 
 says " Watch;" but we say. There's no danger that he will come 
 
NECESSITY FOR PREPARATION. 33 
 
 in our day. The midnight, cry is being raised in every region 
 and city of Christendom, ^'■Beliohl, the Bridegroom comcth; go 
 ye. out to meet him !" but multitudes deride, and say, It is the 
 raving of enthusiasts ; it is the cry of fanaticism ; and they 
 heed it not. Alas, whose heart now thrills to the startling 
 announcement, " J'/je Lord eomctli" ? Who looks, and sighs, 
 and prays now, for the return of the Savior to our world ? 
 Who is waiting for, as he is hastening unto, the coming of the 
 day of God ? Who is keeping himself in readiness for its 
 solemn revelations ? 
 
 My brethren, if the Son of man should come this week, 
 this month, or this year, would he find faith on the earth ? 
 Would not the church itself be taken by surprise ? Would 
 not such an event now come upon the overwhelming ma- 
 jority of Christ's professed followers unawares ? And yet, 
 what guarantee have we that the chariot-wheels of the com- 
 ing King are not already rumbli'.ig over the distant worlds ? 
 Has he not said, "In such an hour as ye think not, the Son 
 of man cometh" ? " the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief 
 in the night" ? and "as a snare shall it come upon all them 
 that dwell on the face of the whole earth" ? Who can say 
 that we are not liable to have the great scenes of the judg- 
 ment precipitated up m us at any moment ? And shall we 
 not be concerned to have our minds familiarized with what 
 may any day oecur, and which m.ust occur sooner or later? Is 
 there not something inconceivably dreadful in the thought of 
 having that day come upon us at the very time we are saying, 
 " My Lord delayeth his coming" ? Would it not be better to 
 be a little beforehand with our anticipations, and to bear the 
 taunts that may be heaped upon us for our concern, than to 
 accommodate ourselves to the wisdom and sobriety of this 
 erring world, and be finally taken by surprise and perhaps lose 
 our eternal all ? Jesus says, that " the Lord of that servant" 
 who shall be found faithless, sleeping, or scoffing, "shall cut 
 
34 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 him asunder, and appoint him his portion with hypocrites, 
 amid weeping and gnashing of teeth." Of what avail will 
 his worldly wisdom and his fruitless profession be to him 
 then ? What good will all his knowledge then do him ? 
 Better that we had never known the way of righteousness, — 
 better that we had never been born, — than amid all our high 
 privileges thus to come short of the approbation of the coming 
 Judge. 
 
 And if judgment first begin at us, and many professing 
 Christians lose the honors of the kingdom, "what shall 
 the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God ? If the 
 righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the 
 sinner appear ?" With what surprise and discomfiture shall 
 the day of Christ's coming overtake them ! 
 
 My dear friends, these are solemn thoughts. It will not do 
 to trifle with them. Momentous issues are involved. And 
 we know not how soon the irrevocable decision shall be made. 
 Let us, then, enter upon the study of this mighty subject 
 with serious and prayerful hearts, anxious to know what God 
 has been pleased to reveal, and earnestly set upon preparing 
 to meet our God. And especially let us carefully lay to heart 
 those impressive words of the Lord Jesus himself: — ■ 
 
 " Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels 
 of heaven, but my Father only. \_Luke : Therefore take 
 heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be over- 
 charged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this 
 life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare 
 shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole 
 earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be 
 accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to 
 pass, and to stand before the Son of man :] l_JIark : for ye 
 know not when the time is.] 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 flord, they were eating and drink- 
 
"be ye also ready." 85 
 
 ing, 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. Then shall two be in the field ; the one shall be 
 taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at 
 the mill ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch, 
 
 THEREFORE, FOR YE KNOW NOT WHAT HOUR YOUR LORD 
 
 DOTH COME. But know this, that if the good man of the 
 house had kuowu in what watch the thief would come, he 
 would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to 
 be broken up. Therefore, be ye also ready : for in such 
 
 AN HOUR as ye THINK NOT, THE SoN OF MAN COMETH. 
 
 Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord 
 hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due 
 season ? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he 
 Cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he 
 shall make him niler of all his goods." 
 
 EVEN SO COME, LORD JESUS. 
 
 Yet once again thy sign sliall be upon the heavens displayed, 
 And earth and its inhabitints be terribly afraid; 
 For not in weakness clad thou eom'st, our woes, our sins to bear, 
 But girt with all thy Father's might, his vengeance to declare. 
 
 The terrors of that awful day, oh, who can understand? 
 
 Or who abide when thou in wrath shalt lift thy holy hand? 
 
 'The earth shall quake, the sea shall roar, the sun in heaven grow palej 
 
 But thou hast sworn, and wilt not change, thy faithful shall not fail. 
 
 Then grant us, Savior, so to pass our time in trembling here, 
 That when upon the clouds of heaven thy glory shall appear, 
 Uplifting high our joyful beads, in triumph we may rise, 
 And enter, with thine angul train, thy palace in the skies. 
 
 G. W. DOANE. 
 
SECOND DISCOURSE. 
 
 HOW Christ's coming is related to other events — the millen- 
 nium WRONG VIEWS corrected THE SECOND ADVENT PREMIL- 
 
 LENNIAL THE POINT ARGUED. 
 
 Luke xviii. 7, 8 : A)id sliall iwt God avenge his oicn elect, which 
 cry day and night vnto him, though he bear long with them? I 
 tell yon that he icill avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the 
 Son of man eometli, sliall he find faith on the earth. 
 
 With these words to indicate the general sphei'e of my 
 remarks, I now resume the subject which I. iutroduced to 
 your attention a week ago. I have tried to impress upon you 
 that it is our duty, privilege, and a source of comforting edifi- 
 cation, to study God's gi'acious revelations concerning " the 
 last times." Some have supposed that prophecy is mainly 
 designed for the conviction of those who live when, or after, 
 it is fulfilled, and that the investigation of it does not belong 
 to those who live before that time. If it were even so, I 
 would still insist that we ought to study these things, for the 
 evident reason that we are at this very day in the midst of the 
 incipient scenes of their fulfillment. And, apart from this 
 startling fact, I hold that these revelations are for us, and for 
 our learning, as well as for future generations. When once 
 they have been fulfilled, redemption will be complete, doubts 
 and unbelief will have no more place, the saints will be with 
 their King in their rest, and no evidences from fulfilled pi'o- 
 phecy will be needed to convince people of the existence and 
 jirovidence of Grod, or of the truth and faithfulness of his 
 36 
 
BUT TAVO 0OMIN(iS SPOKEN OF IN SCRIPTURE. 37 
 
 word. All tills will be plain enough then in each one's heart 
 without processes of reasoning upon the past to establish it. 
 And if these impressive predictions are not intended for our 
 "reproof, correction, and instruction," I am at a loss to know 
 for whom or for what they are intended. 
 
 I have also endeavored to set forth the reality and certainty 
 of the Savior's return to this world, by showing you the true 
 and solid Scriptural basis upon which this glorious article of 
 our faith reposes. Some say Christ comes at death, or when 
 he manifests his secret providence by open judgment. Some 
 say Christ comes when he manifests his grace in the conver- 
 sion of souls, the revival of languid churches, and the victo- 
 ries of his truth. But it is very evident that neither of these 
 is that coming of the Son of man of which the Scriptures say 
 so much, and which is so distinctly embodied in all the creeds. 
 Indeed, I very much doubt whether the sacred writers ever 
 speak of these providential and spiritual manifestations as 
 Christ's coming. I know of but two things to which the 
 Bible applies this language : the one is the incarnation, when 
 Christ was made man and born of the Virgin Mary; the other 
 is his return from heaven in the last times to judge the world 
 in righteousness. The New Testament tells of a first coming, 
 and a second coming, and no more : the one was accomplished 
 when "he came unto his own, and his own received him 
 not;" and the other will be, when "he shall appear the 
 SECOND TIME without siu unto salvation." I find in all the 
 Bible but these two personal advents of the Savior spoken of, 
 the one of which occurred eighteen hundred and fifty years 
 ago, and the other is to take place at the end of the present 
 dispensation. And all the passages respecting the coming of 
 the Son of man which have not been fulfilled in his first 
 coming apply directly and only to his next coming at the 
 judgment. 
 
 I proceed now to inquire at what stage in the progress of 
 4 
 
38 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 the Messiah's earthly kingdom his second advent is to be ex- 
 pected. Is it to occur after his kingdom has run its entire 
 mundane course, or does the ultimate consummation of his 
 kingdom in this world depend upon his final coming ? In 
 other words, are we to look for the Savior's future personal 
 advent before or after the millennium ? 
 
 The word millennium is compounded from the Latin, and 
 literally means a thousand years. Its theological import is 
 not very clearly defined. Some use it to denote one class of 
 ideas, others to denote another class, just as they adopt this or 
 that system for interpreting the twentieth chapter of the Re- 
 velation. For the most part, however, it is used and under- 
 stood to denote a future period of universal righteousness, 
 liberty, and peace, during which Satan is to be bound, and 
 Christianity be triumphant throughout the world. The ques* 
 tion which I propose to consider is, whether Christ is to come 
 personally to introduce and establish this glorious condition of 
 things, ov whether this triumph of all that is good is to be 
 realized before he comes ? 
 
 According to the popular belief, the final advent of the 
 Savior is a far-distant event, — a mysterious and undefined 
 something which is to transpire at some remote point in the 
 revolutions of ages, long after the progress of Christian 
 knowledge, the developments of science, and the march of 
 intellect, have made the world universally pious, just, and 
 happy. On the platform and in the pulpit, we hear men 
 talking rapturously and hopefully of some golden, blessed age, 
 which is to be ushered in under the operation of existing 
 instrumentalities. By the preaching of the gospel, the work 
 of Christian education, and the progress of reform, they ex- 
 pect the world to be converted, Antichrist destroyed, Satan 
 cast out, and all the relations, occupations, and pursuits of 
 men purified, ennobled, and regulated with justice. This is 
 the hope which poets sing about, and orators preach about, as 
 
WRONG VIEWS CORRECTED. 89 
 
 the great incentive to missionary eflfort, and the reward of 
 self-denial, liberality, and prayer in the good work of propa- 
 gating the gospel. And when once this glorious era has come, 
 and continued through an indefinite period of duration, then, 
 somewhere down among uncounted ages, the idea is, that 
 Christ will appear in the heavens, join these terrestrial glories 
 with gloi'ies celestial, and close the scene of grandeur amid 
 songs and triumphs that die from us into the fathomless pro- 
 found of eternity. 
 
 Now, all this may be very poetical, and answer very well 
 to touch off platform speeches. It certainly is very flattering 
 to human pride, and very pleasant for the fancy to dwell upon. 
 But is it the tniih of God ? We are not inquiring now for 
 what is captivating, and beautiful, and touching to the natural 
 heart, or even to the Christian's imaginings. We want to 
 know what Jehovah saith — what the Spirit of the Lord hath 
 revealed concerning these things. And I am free to confess 
 to you that my study of the Scriptures has taught me to 
 expect a very different course and order of events. My 
 Bitle tells me of no millennium which existing processes are 
 to bring about. Neither does it tell me of a millennium 
 which is to precede the Savior's second advent. The only mil- 
 lennium I read of in the holy book is that which is to be 
 introduced by the glory and power of Christ's coming, and 
 the chief excellence of which is, his personal presence and 
 reign with his saints upon the earth. It is not the reign 
 of art, science, human culture, or free governments, for which 
 the Bible teaches me to look ; nor yet for the universal 
 triumph of Christianity or the church as we now have it ; nor 
 yet for the reign of justice, holiness, or any mere abstract 
 principle ; but for the personal reign of Jesus my Lord, when 
 "all people, nations, and languages, shall serve him," and 
 shall "come up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord 
 of hosts." And that this millennium may come, and this 
 
40 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 glorious reign be established, the Savior himself must first 
 tome, as he pi'omised, and as the angels declared in the day 
 that he was taken up into heaA^en. 
 
 The advent of Christ, then, for which I look, and for which 
 I would have all men look, is not a^wsjl-milleuuial, but a pre- 
 millennial coming ; not a coming long hence, after an era of 
 liberty and perfection such as orators and poets have dreamed 
 of, but a coming which is to usher in and begin the promised 
 age of gold, and introduce to the world the fruits of a con- 
 summated redemption. It is Christ's coming that is to make 
 the millennium, and not the millennium which is to prepare 
 the world for Christ's coming. Upon this point my mind is 
 clear, and my faith too firm to be shaken. There is hardly 
 another subject in the Bible upon which there is such a mass 
 of varied divine testimony as upon this. And if you will be 
 at the pains to search out and test the observations which I 
 am about to submit, I feel satisfied that you will be obliged, 
 either to repudiate the Scriptures, or to make up your minds 
 to believe as I do. 
 
 1. I have examined the Scriptures with diligence and care, 
 and have had this subject before me as a matter of study for 
 more than a half-score of years; and to this moiuent I have 
 not found one passage, and I do not believe that you can find 
 one, which, by any legitimate construction, asserts a period of 
 rest, triumph, and millennial glory anterior to the great per- 
 sonal coming of our blessed Lord. If there be such a passage, 
 I will be obliged to any one who will point it out to me. 
 
 2. I find the Scriptures invariably representing the church 
 of Christ as afiiicted, persecuted, depressed, wronged, and re- 
 proached, until relieved by the coming and kingdom of the 
 Savior to judge the world in righteousness. Daniel, in his 
 vision, beheld the saints warred with, and prevailed against, 
 until the Aiu ient of days came, and judgment was given : 
 (vii. 21, 22.) The text distinctly identifies the avenging of 
 
THE CHURCH TO SUFFER TILL CHRIST COMES. 41 
 
 God's elect with the coining of the Son of man, and shows 
 that his people shall be a suffering people until that day of 
 avengement comes. And other passages to the same effect are 
 numerous and sti'ong. If we look at the laws and conditions 
 of discipleship, we read, " All that will live godly in Christ 
 Jesus shall suffer persecution." '"■ If any man will come 
 after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross." '' The 
 servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted 
 me, they will persecute you." " In the world ye shall have 
 tribulation." " We must through great tribulation enter into 
 the kingdom of God." If we look at the accounts of the 
 relative strength of the church, we always find it consisting 
 of a depressed minority. " Strait is the gate and narrow 
 is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find 
 it." " Fear not, little flock." " Many are called, but/ew are 
 chosen." If we look at the promises of the gospel, we find 
 them nearly all framed to a condition of suffering, tempta- 
 tion, and afiliction on the part of those to whom they are ad- 
 dressed. " He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall 
 be saved." "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of 
 the hidden manna." ''Think it not strange, concerning the 
 fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing 
 happened unto you ; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers 
 of Christ's suft'eriugs." "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; 
 for great is your reward in heaven ; for so persecuted they the 
 prophets which were before you." Are we to be rewai'ded for 
 our toils and labors in the gospel? It will only be "when 
 the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father." Are 
 we to inherit the kingdom? It is only "when the Son of 
 man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with 
 him." Is the church waiting in hope? It is "for the 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Did Paul look for "a 
 crown of righteousness?" It was only to be given him "at 
 that day." It is only when " he shall appear a second time/' 
 
42 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 that lie will appear " unto salvation." Every thing of glad 
 hope which the gospel gives us points to the final advent. 
 " The whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain 
 until now: and even we ourselves groan within ourselves, 
 waiting for (the resurrection) the redemption of our body." 
 There is no promise of rest, no Sabbath-keeping, for the 
 dwellers upon earth, until our Joshua comes and gives us the 
 glorious laud. Every thing remains disjointed, sickly, afflicted, 
 until then. And amid all these groans, reproaches, and trou- 
 bles which roll and dash upon the church until they break 
 against the throne of the returning Redeemer, we look in vain 
 for that sunny continent of universal peace and jubilee of 
 which men speak. 
 
 3. The Holy Scriptures, so far from promising to us a 
 millennium of universal righteousness before Christ comes, 
 invariably represent the world as ahounduig, if not ever groio- 
 ing, in wickedness, even up to the very moment of his coming. 
 Look at the text. Though in the form of a question, it yet 
 contains the strongest kind of asseveration, that the coming 
 Judge shall find the world awfully apostate. '' When the Son 
 of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" "That day 
 shall not come except there be a falling away first." Many 
 servants shall say, '^ My Lord delayeth his coming ; and shall 
 begin to smite their fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with 
 the drunken; and the Lord shall come in a day when they 
 look not for him, and cut them asunder, and appoint them 
 their portion with hypocrites." '^ Evil men and seducers 
 shall wax worse and toorse, deceiving and being deceived." 
 ''The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some 
 shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits 
 and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having 
 their conscience seared with a hot iron." " This know also, 
 that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall 
 be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, bias- 
 
SIN WILL ABOUND TILL CHRIST COMES. 43 
 
 phemei'S, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without 
 natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, 
 fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high- 
 minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having 
 a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." " Remem- 
 ber ye the words which -vt^re spoken before of the apostles of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be 
 mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly 
 lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having 
 not the Spirit." " Knowing this first, that there shall come in 
 the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, 
 Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell 
 asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of 
 the creation." " The mystery of iniquity doth already work: 
 only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the 
 way; and then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord 
 will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy 
 with the brightness of his coining : even him, whose coming 
 is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, 
 and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unright- 
 eousness in them that perish; because they received not 
 the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for 
 this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they 
 should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who be- 
 lieved not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 
 These are dark and awful descriptions, and they stretch down 
 from apostolic times to Christ's own personal coming. In the' 
 Revelation also, under three distinct streams of prediction, — 
 seals, trumpets, and vials, — we have a series of successive and 
 ever-augmenting defections, revolts, apostasies, and usurpa- 
 tions, which are ended only with the tremendous judgments of 
 the day of the Savior's psrsonal appearing. Where, then, is 
 that glowing period of aniversal righteousness, liberty and 
 
44 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 peace, wTiich some are looking for previous to our Saviour's 
 final coming? 
 
 •i. The Savior's prophetic discourse, which is the fountain 
 of all these prophecies .concerning the last times and the 
 second advent, allows no place for a period of millennial glory 
 anterior to the personal arrival of the Son of man. That dis- 
 course, running through the twenty-fourth and fifth chapters 
 of Matthew, gives us a luminous sketch, by the hand of the 
 great Master of Prophets, of the leading aspects of the divine 
 administrations from the destruction of Jerusalem to the con- 
 summatio!! of all things. The Savior there describes most 
 vividly and plainly all the great signs which are to precede, 
 attend, an.l follow his coming in the clouds of heaven with 
 great power and glory. And if it is true that his second advent 
 is to be preceded by a thousand years of ixniversal righteous- 
 ness and peace, it is impossible to believe that he would have 
 entirely omitted all allusion to it in a prophecy so compre- 
 hensive, and yet so minute in its details. Such an inter- 
 vening millennium would have been a ''sign" so notable that 
 it could not have been passed by. And yet we search in vain 
 through all that wonderful discourse for the smallest hint con- 
 cerning it. Nay, he specifically describes a great and unpre- 
 cedented tribulation, beginning with the siege and fall of 
 Jerusalem, and stretching on "until the times of the Grentiles 
 be fulfilled," and tells us that "immediately after the 
 TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS shall the suu 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 j and 
 then shall appccu- 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 coming." There can be no millennium of 
 peace whilst "tribulation" lasts; but in this account "tribula- 
 tion" only ceases at the point when the signs of Christ's 
 immediate advent appear. The only space between the 
 
PARABLE OP THE WHEAT AND TARES. 45 
 
 tribulation and the terrifying signs of the judgment is 
 described by the adverb £udeoj<; — instantly, immediately, 
 quir.Jdy, without the intervention of any other event. To 
 make that adverb include a millennium would be to contradict 
 its whole meaning, and to adopt a principle of interpretation 
 which would reduce all language to uncertainty. But we must 
 do it to have the millennium before Christ comes. Nay more; 
 as if forever to cut up by the roots all hope of a period of 
 universal righteousness and peace prior to the judgment, the 
 Savior adds, ^'As the days of Noe were, w shall also the coining 
 of the Son of man he." What were the characteristics that 
 marked the last periods of the antediluvian world ? Was the 
 flood preceded by a millennium of righteousness and peace, or 
 a millennium of universal apostasy, sensuality, wickedness and 
 debasement? Let the word of God answer. "And God saw 
 that the wickedness of man was great in th"e earth, and that 
 every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil 
 continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made 
 man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. The earth 
 also was corrupt before God ; and the earth was filled with 
 violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was 
 corrupt : for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." 
 Such is the awful portrait which inspiration gives of those 
 early times; and He who cannot lie says, "So shall it be 
 
 ALSO IN the days OF THE SON OF MAN !" 
 
 5. The Scriptures explicitly teach us that the world shall re- 
 main in a mixed condition, in which the good and the bad shall 
 grow together and mature side by side until the day of judg- 
 ment. Upon this point, the parable of the wheat and the tares 
 is a perpetual demonstration. Much as men have controverted 
 over that parable, no man can separate from its teachings this 
 clear and strong prediction, that the wicked shall live and 
 flourish as long as this present dispensation endures. Jesus 
 himself has so explained and applied it. ^^The field is the 
 
46 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 world." In ttat same field are both wheat and tares, the chil- 
 dren of the Kingdom and the children of the wicked one. 
 'i£oth grow together 'until the harvest." "The harvest ts the 
 end of the loorld." And, until that end comes, no man or angel 
 can uproot or I'emove those tares. There they are, growing and 
 bearing fruit; and there they will continue to grow and flourish 
 until Christ comes with his reapers to wind up this present 
 economy. There is no triumphing of the wheat over the 
 tares ; no monopolizing of the field by the righteous ; no 
 trampling down, subjugation, conversion or eradication of the 
 hosts of the wicked, until then. What could more directly, 
 positively and unequivocally prove, that there is to be no 
 millennium of universal righteousness, liberty and peace, before 
 Christ comes ? In the millennium, the glory of the Lord is to 
 "fill all the earth." ''All people, nations and languages" 
 are then to serve Jesus, "and all dominions shall serve and 
 obey him." The knowledge of the Lord is to cover the earth 
 as the waters cover the sea. "They shall not teach every man 
 his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying. Know the 
 Lord : for all shall know him from the least to the greatest." 
 "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus 
 Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." And yet 
 this selfsame holy record teaches us that the devil will have 
 his children here, and that they shall grow and flourish until 
 the day of Christ's coming to judge the world. Is not the 
 demonstration complete, that the millennium does not com- 
 mence until after Christ comes ? 
 
 6. It is self evident, that there can be no millennium of 
 universal righteousness, liberty and peace, whilst the great 
 autichristian powers, and the confederations of usurpation and 
 wickedness, continue to defile and oppress the world with their 
 foul presence and work. How can there be a millennium 
 whilst "the mystery of iniquity" lives and operates "after the 
 working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying won- 
 
DURATION AND END OF THE MAN OF SIN. 47 
 
 ders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness'^ ? How 
 can there be a millennium whilst the domineering, blasphemous 
 and persecuting power in Daniel, which speaks " great words 
 against the Most High," and wears out the people of God, 
 continues making war with the saints and prevailing against 
 them? How can there be a millennium whilst corrupt and 
 oppressive governments still usurp the prerogatives of God, 
 and array themselves against liberty and truth ? How can 
 there be a millennium whilst nations gather themselves to 
 battle, and "the kiugs of the earth, and the great men, and 
 the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men," 
 continue to make themselves obnoxious to "the wrath of the 
 Lamb"? The thing is impossible. The v6ry idea is prepos- 
 terous. And yet I will prove to you that the Sci'iptures 
 explicitly teach that these autichristian and usurping powers 
 will live on till Christ comes, and that they shall only be 
 destroyed when he shall judge the world. 
 
 Look at what is said of the duration and end of "the Man 
 of sin," in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. The 
 apostle tells us that it had alreadji begun to work in his day. 
 The paganism of the Roman government for a while stood in 
 its way. But the Spirit said, that when this hindrance should 
 be removed, "then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the 
 Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall 
 destroy^' — WHEN and HOW? By the gradual spread of evan- 
 gelical religion ? By the present processes of bringing men 
 to the knowledge of the truth? No, no, no; "with the 
 BRIGHTNESS OF HIS COMING" — (riy STtifa'^eia Zfjq -Kapouaiaq 
 
 auTou ;) literally, by the appearing of his own presence. 
 Here, then, is positive proof from the word of God, that this 
 Man of sin is to continue in existence until Christ's second 
 coming, and is to be consumed and utterly destroyed only by 
 the personal advent and appearance of the Son of God himself. 
 It is useless to tell us that the " coming" here spoken of de- 
 
4» THE LAST TIMES 
 
 notes a mere figurative or providential interposition of the 
 Savior. The whole passage is sternly prosaic and free from 
 metaphors, and the words employed are never elsewhere used 
 figuratively in the New Testament. E-ioavsia is used in five 
 other places, and is in each one universally understood as de- 
 noting a real a2Jpearmg, — a personal and visible manifestation. 
 Tlapouffia is used in twenty-three other places in the Scriptures, 
 and in every one of them denotes a literal presence — a personal 
 advent. Both these words as strongly and directly describe a 
 real, visible, and personal coming as any in the Greek lan- 
 guage; and when used with reference to a person, they cannot 
 mean any thing but a real presence and advent of that person. 
 " The coming of Stephanus, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus," 
 means the personal advent and presence of these men. "The 
 coming of Titus" is the personal advent and presence of Titus. 
 And so ''Christ's own comvng"'is the advent and presence of 
 Christ himself, in his own proper person. And if the words 
 " ajjpearance of his presence" or "the appearing of his own 
 advent," do not mean the visible, literal and personal revela- 
 tion or manifestation of himself, it is impossible to employ 
 terms that can express it, and human language is incapable 
 of being interpreted on any fixed and definite principles. 
 Wherever else the word eirifavcca occurs in the New Testa- 
 ment, all men take it as conveying the unmistakable idea of 
 a real appearing. Wherever else the word izapouaia occurs 
 in the New Testament, there is no disputing the fact that it 
 means arrival, presence, advent ; and when applied to persons, 
 a personal arrival, presence, or advent. Either of these words 
 is held sufficient in other passages to prove a real and personal 
 appearing and presence. And when both are united, as in the 
 case before us, how is it possible that they should mean any 
 thing less than the literal, real and personal arrival and pre- 
 sence of Jesus, with reference to whom they are used ? The 
 Man of sin, then, is to live on until Christ himself shall come, 
 
'^THK LTTTLF, HORN." 49 
 
 and shall be desfroyed only by the appearing- of the Savior's 
 own personal advent. And so the most thorough and able inter- 
 preters have uniformly taught. Luther says, " The}/ (the Man 
 of sin and his rabble) shall, he. jT'eso-ved until the coming of 
 Christ. Let us therefore pray the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that he would hasten that day of the glorious 
 appearing of his Son, which he has promised, in which he has 
 declared that this Wicked one, this Man of sin and son of per- 
 dition, shall be destroyed.'' Archbishop Usher says, "The 
 glorious appearing of the Son of God in the latter day shall be 
 the overthrow of Antichrist, whence we gather that before the 
 last dajj he shall not he utterly consumed." Robert Fleming 
 remarks, " Though the Lord will gradually consume or waste 
 this great adversary by the spirit of his mouth, yet he loill not 
 sooner aholish him than hy the appearing of his own presence^ 
 as I choose to render and understand the words, Thes. ii. 2-8." 
 And Melaucthon, Milton, Wesley, Watts, Chalmers, Bonar, 
 Elliott, and other men of piety and learning, have expressed 
 themselves to the same effect; all showing that there can be 
 no millennium of peace and righteousness before Christ comes. 
 Look next at what is said concerning the destiny of the 
 blasphemous and persecuting power denoted by "the little 
 horn" in the visions of Daniel. Whether that presumptuous 
 power is the same as Paul's "Man of sin," matters not in this 
 connection. Its existence is certainly incompatible with the 
 idea of universal righteousness, liberty and peace; and the 
 epoch of its end is the epoch of the second advent and the 
 judgment. The prophet distinctly states concerning the 
 eleventh horn, "even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth 
 that spake very great (presumptuous) things, whose look was 
 more stout than his fellows ; I beheld, and the same horn 
 made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until 
 THE Ancient of days came, and judgmknt was given 
 TO the saints of the Most High, iclien the time came 
 
50 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 that tlie saints sJioitld possess the kingdom." This language 
 is very plain j but to render it still more unmistakable, an 
 angel interprets the vision to the prophet, and further says 
 of this little horn, " He shall speak great words against the 
 Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, 
 and shall presume to alter appointed seasons and the law, and 
 they shall be given into his hand until a time, times, and the 
 division of time. But THE judgment shall sit, when his 
 dominion shall be taken away, to he toasted and destroyed." 
 (See Wintle's translation.) Let the impious and persecuting 
 power of the little horn, then, be what it may, the word of 
 God says that it will live on till the Ancient of days comes, 
 and the judgment sits, and the suffering saints enter into their 
 kingdom. 
 
 liOok also at the great ten-horned beast upon which this 
 presumptuous little horn grew. Daniel says it was '' dreadful 
 and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron 
 teeth : it devoured and brake in pieces, and trampled upon 
 the remains with its feet." The interpreting angel says that 
 this beast is the fourth great kingdom upon the earth, which 
 " shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and 
 break it in pieces." Surely there can be no universal reign of 
 righteousness, liberty and peace, while such a power remains and 
 triumphs. And yet its end is particularly given as contempo- 
 raneous with the destruction of the little horn, and the second 
 advent of the Son of God. The time when its thrones were 
 cast down, as beheld in the vision, is the time when " the 
 Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, 
 and the hair of his head like the pure wool, his throne the 
 fiery flame, and his wheels the ardent fire. A fiery stream 
 issued and trailed forth before him, thousand thousands minis- 
 tered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand assisted 
 before him ; the judment sat, and the books ivere opened." 
 It was only then that " the beast teas slain, and his body de- 
 
THE TEN-HORNED BEAST. 51 
 
 st}'07/ed, and given to the harning Jlame." And that this 
 judgment and destraction is to take place in the pericTd of the 
 personal coming of the Savior, is also explicitly stated. " I 
 saw," says Daniel, " and behold, one like the Son of man 
 came loith the clouds of heaven, and there was given him 
 dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations 
 and languages, should serve him : his dominion is an ever- 
 lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom 
 that which shall not be destroyed." The prophet here evi- 
 dently refers back to a previous vision, and identifies this 
 kingdom of the descended Lord with that referred to in the 
 second chapter, where it is said, that " in the days of these 
 liings," the very powers symbolized by the ten-horned beast, 
 " shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall 
 never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to 
 other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume 
 
 ALL these kingdoms, AND IT SHALL STAND FOREVER." 
 
 Let any man look at these divine revelations with an unbiased 
 mind, and he cannot escape the fiict that the personal ad- 
 vent of Christ, the day of judgment, and the ultimate de- 
 straction of these great antichristian powers, are all connected 
 together in one and the same great epoch of time, leaving no 
 room for the millennium anterior to the Savior's coming. 
 
 If we look to the eleventh chapter of the Revelation, we 
 again find the setting up of the reign of Christ over the 
 nations, the great day of God's wi'ath, the time of the judging 
 of the dead to give reward to prophets and saints, and the de- 
 struction of them that destroy or corrupt the earth, all con- 
 nected together in the same period. The one is made syn- 
 chronous with the other. And all belong to the epoch of the 
 sounding of the last trumpet, when the whole mystery of 
 God is to be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the 
 prophets. 
 
 So also in the nineteenth chapter of Revelation. The ten 
 
52 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 horned wild beast, which ascended out of the pit, and whose 
 doom is to go into perdition, and " the false prophet that 
 wrought miracles before him," both, with their deceived and 
 infatuated followers, are still found alive and vigorous, and 
 arrayed against the Lamb and his adherents, up to the very 
 time when the heavens open, and the mighty Son of God 
 comes forth to tread the winej^re^^s of the fierceness and wrath 
 of Almighty God. 
 
 Let men dream, then, as they may, the revelations of God 
 are certain and sure. Antichrist shall live till Christ comes. 
 Sin, tyranny and usurpation shall continue as long as the 
 present dispensation. And persecution and iniquity shall not 
 cease until the Son of man cometh to judge the world in 
 righteousness. It follows, then, that Christ will come 
 
 BEFORE the MILLENNIUM. 
 
 7. But let me direct your attention to yet another Scrip- 
 tural consideration bearing vipon this subject. What I have 
 said is enough ; but the point is so momentous as to warrant 
 the fullest accumulation of testimonies. It involves many 
 matters of transcendent interest to the children of men, and 
 we should spare no patience in probing it to its very depths. 
 We can gain nothing by the indulgence of false hopes. It is 
 the truth alone that shall not fail or disappoint us. Vast 
 numbers of people believe that we shall have the millennium 
 before Christ comes. In this I consider them mistaken. It 
 accordingly becomes me to make a full exhibit of the grounds 
 upon which I reject their dreams. I have shown, from the 
 Scriptures, that the church is to remain in a depressed con- 
 dition until Christ comes ; that the world is to abound and 
 grow in wickedness for the same length of time ; that the 
 Savior's great prophecy leaves no room for the millennium 
 prior to the second advent ; that the world is to contain a 
 mixed population of good and bad until the great harvest of 
 the last day; and that Antichrist and the great oppressing and 
 
THE SECOND CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 53 
 
 persecuting powers are to be destroyed only by tlie personal 
 intervention of Christ when he shall come the second time. 
 And I will yet prove to you, by the same divine authorities, 
 that the general conversion of the world to obedience to the 
 Son of Grod, which the idea of the millennium implies, is to 
 be effected only when Christ comes. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no passage that is more frequently quoted 
 in proof of the final and universal triumph of Christianity 
 than the second chapter of Isaiah. God there says, " 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 
 be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. 
 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, 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. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and 
 his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to 
 worship, to the moles and to the bats. The Lord alone shall 
 be exalted in that day; and the idols he shall utterly abolish." 
 This is a grand and glowing promise ; and, as surely as God 
 lives, it will be fulfilled. But when shall these things come 
 to pass? A thousand years before Christ comes? Not at all. 
 It is to be when "/(p shall j\if7i/e among the nations;" when 
 men shall '* enter into the rock and hide in the dust for fear 
 of the Lord^ and for the glory of hh majesty'^ — in "the 
 DAY OF THE LoRD ]" when "■ the loftiness of man shall be 
 bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low ;" 
 
 ''WHEN HE ARISETH TO SHAKE TERRIBLY THE EARTH." 
 
 How strange that men should throw out of this prophecy 
 these plain and distinct allusions to the time, which unques- 
 tionably identify these glorious achievements with the day of 
 judgment and the Savior's own personal manifestation ! Why 
 should men seek the caves and clefts of the mountains to hide 
 
 from the Lord and the glory of his majesty, if he is not then 
 
 5» 
 
54 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 to be personally revealed? What is ^' the daij of the LorcT^ 
 but the day of Christ's appearing for judgment ? What is 
 his rising to shake terribly the earth, and to bring the nations 
 to account, but the coming of tlie great King with his re- 
 wards with him ? And yet it is distinctly stated, that it is 
 only THEN that the Lord's house is to be supremely exalted, 
 and the nations learn war no more. 
 
 People also look and pray for the millennium as a time 
 when Christ shall reign the King of nations, as he now reigns 
 the King of saints. But the kingdoms of this world are to 
 be the kingdoms of Jesus only when he shall really come. 
 Daniel says, "■ I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like 
 the Son of man came ivitli the clouds of heaven, and came to 
 the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him ; 
 and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 
 dom, that all people^ nations, and languages should serve 
 him." Here is a picture of the Savior's investiture with the 
 universal sovereignty of the earth ; but it is specifically con- 
 nected with his coming in the clouds of heaven. John also 
 " heard great voices in heaven, saying. The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, even of Christ; 
 and he shall reign forever and ever." But it was only after 
 the last trumjj had sounded, and the time of wrath, resurrec- 
 tion and judgment had come : (Rev. xi. 15-18.) He also 
 saw thrones, and the martyrs and saints seated on them, Satan 
 bound from deceiving the nations, and Jesus reigning with 
 his holy ones ; but it was only after the opening of the hea- 
 vens, and the personal advent of Him who had on his vesture 
 and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of 
 lords : (Rev. xix. 20.) 
 
 In the twenty-second Psalm we read that the son of David 
 "shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto 
 the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall 
 bow before him. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; 
 
SUNDRY BIBLE AUTHORITIES. 55 
 
 all nations shall serve, liim." But it is only when "He shall 
 judijc tilt people with righteousness;" when " He shall COME 
 DOWN." ^ 
 
 In the second Psalm Jehovah says to his only-begotten, " I 
 shall give thee the lieathen for thine inheritance, and the 
 uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." But the 
 time is also declared to be when "I have set my King xipon 
 my holy hill of Zion.'' 
 
 In the sixty-sixth chapter of Isaiah, Grod says, " It shall 
 come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they 
 shall come and see my glory." But it is only when " the 
 Lord will come YvITH fire, and with his chariots like a 
 whirhvind, to render his anger tuith fury, and his rebukes 
 rvith flames of fire." Zechariah also says, that ''The Lord 
 shall be King over all the earth." But it is only after " the 
 Lord shall GO forth, and his feet shall stand upon the 
 mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the ea>st," — in 
 the great "day of the Lord." 
 
 It is also given as one of the glories of the millennium, 
 and essential to it, that the Jewish race is then to be entirely 
 converted to the Messiah, and made a holy people. Paul says, 
 "All Israel shall he saved." The angel that announced the 
 Savior's first advent said of him, " He shall be great, and 
 shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall 
 give unto him the throne of his father David. And HE 
 shall reign over the house of Jacob forever." And 
 yet it is explicitly stated that this shall be only when he shall 
 finally appear again in our world. Jesus says, " Jerusalem 
 shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, imtil the times of the 
 G-entiles be fulfilled ; and then shall they see the Son of man 
 comiyig in a cloud toith poiver and great glory." " They 
 shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day ichen I make up 
 my Jewels:" (Mai. iii. 17.) When the Lord shall arise and 
 have mercy on Zion, says the Psalmist, when the set time to 
 
56 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 favor her is come, '■'■ iclien the Lord sJudl build up Zion, HE 
 SHALL APPEAR IN HIS GLORY." We read in Micali, " I will 
 surely assemble all of thee, O Jacob ; I will surely gather the 
 remnant of Israel : I will put them together as the sheep of 
 Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold." But when 
 this is to be done, we read, also, that '^ their King shall pass 
 be/ore them, even the Lord on the head of them." Jerusa- 
 lem shall ''arise and shine." "The Gentiles shall come to 
 her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising." But it 
 is only when " the Redeemer shall come," and " the Lord 
 shall arise iqwn her, and his glory shall he seen:" (Isa. lis. 
 60.) The Lord says, "I will pour up(;n the house of David, 
 and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace 
 and supplication;" but, at that same time, "they shall 
 look upon him whom they have pierced :" (Zech. 
 xii. 11.) 
 
 My brethren, is not this enough ? Where is the founda- 
 tion on which men expect a millennium of universal right- 
 eousness, liberty and peace, before the personal return of our 
 ascended Lord ? What do the most noted of scholars and 
 saints tell you upon the subject? Hear our own Luther, 
 whose name has been "ploughed into the hearts of millions, 
 and on the brightest place in the roll of the illustrious dead." 
 " Some say," says he, " that before the latter days, the whole 
 world shall become Christians. This is a falsehood 
 rORGED BY Satan, that he might darken sound doctrine. 
 Beware, therefore, of this delusion." So also thought the 
 great Melancthon. "The true church," says he, "will always 
 suffer persecution from the wicked to the end of time, and in 
 the church itself the good and the evil will continue blended 
 together." He expected Antichrist to live till the advent 
 and resurrection. The intrepid Knox, the champion of the 
 Scottish Reformation, says of this world's universal reform, 
 "//! never was, nor yet shall H, TILL THAT RIGHTEOUS KiNG 
 
OPINIONS or EMINENT THEOLOGIANS. 57 
 
 AND Judge appear for the restoration of all things." The 
 Uiasterlj Coufeasion of Augsburg, the foundation-symbol of 
 Protestantism, and the acknowledged creed of the largest 
 number of the greatest theologians in all the world, " con- 
 demns those Jeuu'sh notions that, PRIOR to the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, the pio2(s will engross the government of 
 the icorhl, and the wicked he everywhere exterminated.'^ The 
 idea of a millennium of universal righteousness, and of the 
 triumph of .the saints, previous to the second advent, is sternly 
 denied a place in that glorious monument to the truth. The 
 noble confessors of the Reformation refused to have any fel- 
 lowship with it. They condemn it. They stigmatize it as a 
 Jewish fable.* 
 
 The author of. that great hymn, "The Paradise Lost," the 
 master as well of sacred learning as of song, says, — 
 
 Truth shall retire 
 Bestuck with slanderous darts, and works of faith 
 Rarely he found ; so SUALL the WORLD GO ON, 
 To good malignant, to bad men benign, 
 Under her own weight groaning, till the day 
 Appear, of reparation to the just, 
 And vengeance to the wicked, at return 
 Of Him — tliy Savior and thy Lord. 
 
 Thomas Hall says of the millennium, "It cannot he hefore 
 the day of judgment, for these reasons: — 
 
 '' The last days will be perilous days. Wickedness will the 
 most ahound toivards the end of the tvorld. 
 
 " The church of Christ on earth to the end of the world, is 
 a mixt society, consisting of tares and wheat, good and bad, a 
 Gog and Magog to molest the saints to the end. 
 
 "It is a tenet contrary to the Judgment of all the church of 
 Christ. 
 
 " It makes the ruin of Antichrist to be a thousand years or 
 more before the day of judgment, when the Scripture Joins 
 them together. 
 
 » See Notes C and D, pp. 326, 327. 
 
68 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 " It makes the church triumphant when Christ comes, con- 
 trary to the tenor of the Scripture." 
 
 Matthew Henry says, '' As long as the world stands, there 
 will still he in it such a mixture as we now see. We long to 
 see all wheat and no tares in God's field ; hut it will not be 
 till the time of ingatherituj, till the ivinnoioiiuj-dui/ comes: 
 both must grow together until the harvest." " Without 
 doubt," says Cotton Mather, " the kingdoms of this world will 
 not become the kingdoms of Grod -and of his Christ, before the 
 preordained time of the dead, in which the reward shall be 
 given to the servants of God." '^Thci/ vjho exjject the rest 
 2)romised for the church of God to he foxmd anywhere hut 
 in the new earth, or aiii/ ha^ipy times for the church in 
 a iDorld that hath death and sin in it, — these do err, 
 not knowing the Scriptures, nor the kingdMm of God." 
 "Christ's church, while in this world," says Whitefield, "will 
 be a bush burning with fiery trials and afflictions of various 
 kinds." 
 
 But I have not time to quote one-half of the testimonies I 
 have at hand. This, however, I will say, that I have not 
 found a respectable or acknowledged creed in all Christendom, 
 from the beginning until now, that teaches the doctrine of a 
 millennium before Christ's coming. I have not found one 
 single passage in all the Bible that sustains the doctrine of a 
 millennium before Christ's coming. But, on the other hand, 
 I have found a long and unbroken line of witnesses from the 
 days of the apostles until now, who testify with one voice, 
 that the hope of a millennium of universal righteousness, 
 liberty and peace before Chri.st comes, is a falsehood and a 
 dream. I have found many eminent divines, who have blest 
 the church and the world with their piety and wisdom, eagerly 
 looking for the Savior's advent as the only thing that is to 
 lift the church out of its present depression and gloom. And 
 
THE savior's advent WILL BE PREMILLENNEAL. 59 
 
 beyond and above all, I bave found the word of God every- 
 where pointing to the same great and glorious event as the 
 only hope of the pious, and as the great link which alone can 
 connect us with or bring us into the joys and jubilations of 
 the millennial era. Arrange it as you will, you shall not be 
 able to put off the Savior's advent until after the millennium. 
 Theorize and speculate as you please, when the Lord cometh 
 he will find the world as now, full of vice, unbelief, sensuality 
 and guilt. All society shall be chequered, varied, mixed and 
 disordered as now, so that ''one shall be taken, and the other 
 left." We may impose upon ourselves, but God is not 
 mocked. V/e may prefer our vague dreams, and set them up 
 against his positive revelations ; but his truth abideth. " He 
 hath magnified his word above all his name." He "is not 
 slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; 
 but the day of the Lord cometh." It is not far off, at the 
 end of thousands of years hence. It is near. We are '' hast- 
 ing unto it." Many years ago already it was said, by men 
 who spake by inspiration of God, " The coming of the Lord 
 draivetJi nigh." "The end of all things is at hand." And 
 Jesus commands all, " Watch, for ye know not lohat hour the 
 Son of man cometh." All through the New Testament the 
 coming of the Lord is spoken of as an event that may occur 
 at any day. From this alone, I know that we have no right 
 to expect a millennium first. It is useless to tell me that it is 
 only a providential, spiritual, figurative coming that is to 
 occur before the millennium. Providentially, and spiritually, 
 Christ is already here. Wherever two or three are gathered 
 together in his name, there he is. He is now and ever at 
 work in his providence, controlling, arranging, overruling, 
 moving every thing; and his Spirit is given to every man to 
 profit withal. Figuratively, he comes every day. Ever}' 
 meal we take, every breath we draw, every new pulsation of 
 
60 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 our life, he brings to us, as it were, by his own hand. And 
 if his coming before the millenuium includes no higher, no 
 more real coming than these things amount to, then I know 
 not upon what ground Christians can hope that he ever will 
 return in person to our world. The Bible has no terms ex- 
 pressive of a literal and real coming, but those which describe 
 his premillennial coming. When we read of the coming of 
 other persons, we never think of allegoiy or figure. We take 
 the language for what it means. But when we read, iu the 
 same connections, of Christ's coviing — the coming of the Lord 
 — the ajipearlng of the Savior's presence — theologians must 
 rack their brains to find out some other meaning for the 
 words; and that just to obscure that great and animating 
 hope of the church, that " the Lord is at hand," and shall 
 ^^ surely come quickly." 
 
 Oh, my brethren, let us beware how we torture and explain 
 away the sacred words which God in mercy has given us for 
 our guidance ! Let us beware how we charge the Holy 
 Ghost with saying what he does not mean. That servant who 
 "says in his heart. My Lord delayeth his coming," the Savior 
 calls an "evil servant." 
 
 How is it, then, with you ? Are you looking for, as you 
 are approaching, the day of God ? Have you made your 
 peace with God ? Have you your lamps trimmed, and burn- 
 ing, and well supplied with the oil of the grace of God ? 
 Have you committed yourselves fully into the only Savior's 
 hands ? Is he your portion, and the fixed hope of your souls ? 
 Do you believe that it is but "a little while, and he that shall 
 come, will come, and will not tarry" ? Or are you saying 
 ''Peace and safety" whilst unreconciled to God, or a Christian 
 only in theory and in name ? There still is hope. The doors 
 of salvation still stand open to you. But, alas, how soon may 
 the startling summons come to call you to your last account ! 
 
EXHORTATION TO THE UNPREPARED. 61 
 
 A-Wake, then, careless one, and call upon yom- God, if so be 
 that He will think upon you, that you perish not. There is 
 no remedy cand no hope but this. " I beseech you, therefore, 
 brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies 
 a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your 
 reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world ; but 
 be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye 
 may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will 
 of God." 
 
 ANOTHER ADMONITION. 
 
 Awnke ! again the gospel trump is blown : — 
 From year to year it swells with louder tone ; 
 
 From year to year the signs of wrath 
 
 Are gathering round the Judge's path : 
 Strange words fulfilled, and mighty works achieved, 
 And truth in all the world both hated and believed. 
 
 Even so the world is thronging round to gaze 
 On the dread vision of the latter days, 
 
 Constrained to own thee, but in heart 
 
 Prepared to take Barabbas' part : 
 "Hosauna" now, to-morrow "Crucify," 
 The changeful burden still of their rude, lawless cry. 
 
 Thus bad and good their several warnings give 
 Of His approach, whom few may see and live ; 
 
 Faith's ear, with awful, still delight, 
 
 Counts them like minute-bells at night, 
 Keeping the heart awake till dawn of morn, 
 While to her funeral pile this aged world is borne. 
 
 But what are Heaven's alarms to hearts that cower 
 In wilful slumber, deepening every hour, 
 
 That draw their curtains closer round 
 
 The nearer swells the trumpet's sound ? 
 Lord, ere our trembling lamps sink down and die, 
 Touch us with chastening hand, and make us feel thee nigh. 
 
 John Keble. 
 
THIRD DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE GLORIOUS KESTITUTION BELIEVED IN AND TAUGHT BY THE 
 
 HEATHEN AND JEWS THIS WORLD NOT TO BE DEPOPULATED OB 
 
 ANNIHILATED WHAT IS MEANT BY "THE END OF THE WORLD " 
 
 THE LAST CONFLAGRATION THE WHOLE TERRESTRIAL SYSTEM OF 
 
 THINGS TO BE DELIVERED FROM THE CURSE OF SIN. 
 
 Acts iii. 20, 21 : And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was 
 preached unto you : whom the heaven must 7'eceive, until the times 
 of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth 
 of all his holy prophets, since the world began. 
 
 This world is a disjointed aud dilapidated fabric. The con- 
 vulsions of sin have reduced it to a sad predicament. When 
 God made it, it beamed with good, and was radiant with glory. 
 Then man was holy, aud every thing was peace. Pure happi- 
 ness and harmony reigned universal. There was no sickness, 
 no pain, no griefs, no fears, no death. There was nothing foul 
 in humanity, and nothing grating or discordant in surrounding 
 nature. Heaven shone benignantly on earth, and earth smiled 
 gratefully on heaven. Man was in sweet companionship with 
 angels, and wore upon his unwrinkled brow the crown of un- 
 disputed lordship over all this lower world. It is not so now. 
 A dark eclipse has come over this mundane sphere. What 
 was once bright in the smiles of its Maker has been blackened 
 with the smokes of the pit. The garden which was fitted up 
 as the abode of immortality has become a place of thorns, cor- 
 ruption and graves. Man disobeyed, and his disobedience 
 has brought in all sorts of disorder, suffering and death. The 
 
 soul rebelled against God, and, as the result, the flesh has 
 62 
 
PRESENT ASPECT OF THE EARTH. 63 
 
 revolted against the spirit, and the whole external creation has 
 been thrown into resentful confusion. Cold, storms, earth- 
 quakes, volcanoes, barren fields, pestilential airs, smiting sun- 
 shine, tearing briars, and noxious things, combine in the 
 terrific accusation against man, and utter the bitter manifesto 
 of protestation against his unholy deeds. What was created 
 to minister to our joy has become a disorderly servant, as if 
 indignant to obey a convict sovereign. Aliens from God now 
 by very nature, it would seem as if all creation around us 
 viewed us with suspicion and abhorrence, and stirred in every 
 part to shake us off, and groaned to rid itself of our torment- 
 ing presence. All the elements seem to have been jarred 
 into discordance with each other, and inspired with a strange 
 antipathy to us. Like Cain in his wanderings, we must now 
 walk this fitful earth in continual fear lest we should find our 
 death in every thing we meet. Plague is in the food we eat, 
 the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Death comes in 
 at our windows, and creeps through all the crevices of our 
 dwellings. And however long or vigorously we may main- 
 tain the fight, the end of each one is to fall at last and to rot 
 in the sepulchre. 
 
 Such is man, and the system with which he is connected. 
 We contemplate the spectacle with sadness. We can find 
 much that is lovely, but it is loveliness marred with sore dis- 
 tress. We see much that is venerable and majestic, but it is 
 in connection with signs of some deep mysterious ailment. 
 Goethe says, "When I stand all alone at night in open nature, 
 I feel as though it were a spirit, and begged redemption of 
 me. Often have I had the sensation as if nature, in wailing 
 sadness, entreated something of me, so that not to understand 
 what she longed for cut through my very heart." "Even in 
 the things of the world of bodies which surrounds us," says 
 Schubert, "there is an element of life, a yearning of what is 
 bound, which, like that Memnon statue, unconsciously makes 
 
64 " THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 symphony wliea the ra}^ touches it from above." And as we 
 behold afflicted niture oppressed, blighted, disjointed, and 
 sending up her deep-toned miserere, we ask. Is there no 
 remedy — no relief? Is there not some deferred deliverance 
 yet to come? Is there not some hope — some ray of promise 
 to shine upon the gloomy wreck ? We know that there is 
 redemption provided for the spirit; is there none for the body? 
 And if there is redemption for the body, is there none for the 
 general system of which the body forms a part ? Shall the 
 sinner be visited with salvation, and that which suffers only 
 for the sinner's sake be left without hope of deliverance ? It 
 cannot be. God, whose mercies are over all his works, in his 
 own good time will bring relief. 
 
 The hope of some future general restitution of earthly 
 things has been entertained and taught in all ages of the 
 world. We meet with it in all the records of antiquity, both 
 Gentile and Jewish. The sibylline oracles are full of it. They 
 tell of the coming of one who shall yet fill the earth with 
 blessing, raise the sleeping dead, restore all things, subdue all 
 enemies, rebuild the city beloved of God, and introduce a time 
 of glory when the East and the West shall celebrate the honor 
 of God, and no more evils shall come. They point to " an 
 age to come," and a "new birth of nature," and link the 
 glorious Kingdom they predict with an exalted personage 
 " from the heavenly heights," who is to "reduce all mankind 
 to a single empire." Plato says, "In the end, lest the world 
 should be plunged into an eternal abyss of confusion, God, the 
 author of the primitive order, will appear again, and resume 
 the reins of empire; then he will change, embellish, and 
 restore the whole frame of nature, and put an end to decay of 
 age, sickness and death." Plutarch gives ifi as part of thf 
 faith of the ancient Persians, that " there will come a time, 
 appointed by fate, when Ahriman (the god of evil) shall be 
 entirely destroyed and extirpated, the earth change its form 
 
TRADITIONS OF A CdMING RESTITUTION. 65 
 
 and become plain and even, and happy men Lave one and the 
 same life, language, and government." According to Strabo, 
 the ancient gymnosophists had a similar-tradition, and believed 
 in a time when "the ancient plenty shall be restored." Vir- 
 gil describes the renovation both of the physical and moral 
 world. The Chinese philosophers entertained a belief in the 
 present corruption and the future renewal of the entire world. 
 (See Hort's Sermons.) It is also said that the Karens in Tavoy, 
 in Asia, have a tradition "that Grod once dwelt among them, 
 and that he has departed to the West, whence he is to return, 
 and assuredly reappear;" and that "when God comes, the 
 dead trees will bloom again; the tigers and serpents become 
 tame; no more distinctiun exist between rich and poor; and 
 universal peace bless the world." Dr. Wolffe relates that he 
 heard a dervish of Ilindostan express the belief that "the 
 world will become so good, that the lamb and the wolf shall 
 feed together; and there shall be general peace and fear of 
 God upon earth; and there shall be no more controversy about 
 religion, no more hatred, and all shall know God truly." Origen 
 against Celsus says that the heathen authors did believe and 
 teach the ultimate renovation of the world. According to 
 Burnet, the Scythians, the Celts, the Chaldeans, the Indian 
 philosophers, all say that the earth is to undergo a purgation 
 and be renewed. And nearly all the heathen authors sang or 
 wrote of some gi-eat year when all things should again i-eturn 
 to beauty, order, and blessedness. The same ideas of future 
 renewal were also entertained by the Jews. They looked for 
 a grand millennial sabbath, in which the world should rest 
 from all its tribulations, and holiness and peace be the portion 
 of all its inhabitants. Philo gives it as their belief, that the 
 earth shall be purified, and appear new again, even as it was 
 when it first was made. 
 
 These, my brethren, are significant faots. What has been 
 so universally believed, and so deeply ploughed into the 
 
66 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 minds and woven with the hopes of the most enlightened 
 teachers of mankind, dare not be rashly discarded as a oround- 
 less fable. There must be some solid foundation for it some- 
 where. As Mede remarks upon another subject, so here, 
 "all this smoke of tradition could hardly arise but from some 
 fire of truth." And when we consider that many of the tra- 
 ditions and prophetic utterances of the heathen world are but 
 the echoes and floating relics of God's own primitive revela- 
 tions, we may safely refer this wide-spread notion of the earth's 
 ultimate restoration and renewal to the same divine source. 
 One thing is certain, that the Holy Scriptures do speak of a 
 ''time of restitution of all things," and assure us that God 
 bath declared the same "by the mouth of all his holj' prophets 
 since the world began." Christ himself refers to a glorious 
 "regeneration" which is yet to pass upon our world. Paul 
 tells us of a "redemption" for which "the whole creation 
 groaneth and travaileth together in pain," when "the creature 
 itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption." 
 And the Old Testament and the New point us to " new 
 heavens and a new earth," which are to be formed by the 
 purgation and change of " the heavens and the earth which 
 are now." 
 
 This terrestrial system, then, is not*an utter wreck — not a 
 hopeless niin. It shall yet be restored. God shall send Jesus 
 Christ, even that same Jesus which the apostles preached, and 
 under his wonderful administrations, Satan, with all his chil- 
 dren and confederates, shall be cast out, and the sons of God 
 shall shout over the complete redemption of a world the crea- 
 tion of which excited high songs of joy. Some have the 
 erroneous notion, that the coming of Christ is to be attended, 
 or speedily followed, by the entire destruction and annihilation 
 of the earth. Some appear to believe verily that every thing 
 in God's material universe is eventually to pass away, and space 
 again become a blank such as they suppose it was before crea- 
 
A COMMON ERROR. 67 
 
 tioa began. It is singular what a deep antipathy some evince 
 towards all associations of materialism with our immortal des- 
 tiny. How fond some have shown themselves of disrobing 
 physical nature, and reducing her to smouldering ruins, as if 
 she, and not man, were the offender ! Indeed, we have all 
 heard so much about 
 
 "The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds," 
 
 that we unconsciously set it down among the articles of our 
 creed, not considering that there is not a word of truth in it. 
 It has been so often repeated, that 
 
 " The great globe itself, 
 Yea, all that it inherits, shall dissolve. 
 And, like the baseless fabric of a vision. 
 Leave not a rack behind !" 
 
 that we are inclined even to contend that it must be so. A 
 certain modern poem, among many foolish things, also has the 
 following : — 
 
 ^ " Behold now all you worlds ! 
 
 The space each fills shall be its successor, — 
 'Tis earth shall lead destruction; she shall end. 
 The stars shall wonder why she comes no more 
 On her accustomed orbit, and the sun 
 Miss one of his eleven of light; the moon, 
 An orphan orb, shall seek for earth for aye 
 Through time's untrodden depths and find her not! 
 
 Her grave is dug ! 
 And, one by one, shall all yon wandering worlds 
 Cease; and the sun, centre and sire of light. 
 Be left in burning solitude. The stars 
 shall pass ! 
 The world shall perish as a worm 
 Upon destruction's path ! The universe- 
 Evanish like a ghost before the sun, 
 Yea, like a doubt before the truth of God !" 
 
 Now, this may be fine poetry, and portray a sweep of fancy 
 and power of diction fitting a better use; but it is nothing 
 
68 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 but sublime Donsense. There is nothing of the kind to which 
 any known laws of nature can lead ; and there is nothing of 
 the kind predicted in the word of God. Suppose that Adam, 
 instead of sinning, had gone on peopling the world with holy 
 generations, as Jehovah commanded him; would not this earth 
 have contisiued to be the happy home of the race, beautiful 
 and "very good" forever? What other opinion will the 
 Scriptures permit us to entertain ? Yet Christ is " the 
 second Ad:im," come dowa into this world for the expressed 
 purpose to arrest the current of things which set in with the 
 fall of the first : his whole mission and work looking to the 
 restoration to the race exactly what the first Adam lost. And 
 if the obedience of the first Adam would have exempted the 
 earth from all trouble, danger and destruction, we may rest 
 assured that the glorious redemption of the second Adam will 
 not leave it in a condition less hopeful, secure, or blessed. 
 
 But the Scriptures have not left us to argue this point upon 
 mere general principles. They have spoken respecting the 
 duration of the fiibric of nature, including this earth, in a 
 manner which should put the question forever at rest in the 
 minds of all believers. Hear what the Psalmist says: — "Let 
 the SU72, and the moon, and a/l the stars of light, praise the 
 Lord : for he commanded, and they were created. He hath 
 
 ALSO ESTABLISHED THEM FOREVER AND EVER." The Same 
 
 inspired singer, in another place, makes these material orbs of 
 creation as permanent as the very promises and immutable 
 oaths of Deity. He singles them out as the perfect emblems 
 of the infallibility of God's covenant of mercy. " Once have 
 I sworn," saith the Almighty, " that I will not lie vxnto David. 
 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before 
 me. It shall be established forever as the moon." " One 
 generation passeth away," says Solomon, "and another gene- 
 ration Cometh ; but the earth abideth eorkver." 
 " God laid the foundations of the earth that it should not he 
 
SCRIPTURAL VIEWS. 69 
 
 removed forever." " God himself that formed the earth, 
 and made it, he hath established it; he created it not iu 
 vain, he formed it to he inhabited." '^ The righteous shall 
 inherit the land, and dxoell therein forever." Daniel, in his 
 vision of the last things, after the descent of the Son of 
 man in the clouds of heaven, saw '' the kingdom, and 
 dominion, and greatness of the kingdom," not in some other 
 world, but " under the whole heaven," which is nowhere 
 but upon this very earth, " given to the people of the saints 
 of the Most High, whose kingdom is a7i everlasting king- 
 dom." And if these holy and divinely-inspired men knew 
 any thing about the subject, and words have any meaning in 
 them, I do not see that there is much ground for the ap- 
 prehension that this orb, or any other, is likely to fall into 
 oblivion. 
 
 Neither does the language of the New Testament on this 
 subject differ from what is said about it in the Old. Jesus 
 says, "Blessed are the meek, for they SHALL inherit the 
 EARTH." But where is the blessedness of inheriting the 
 earth, if the earth is to be totally destroyed ? This passage, 
 as I take it, points directly to the fact, that the saints are to 
 have this world as their final delightful home, when- once 
 the curse of sin has been rooted out of it. As things now 
 are, it is not " the meek," but the proud, aspiring, ambitious 
 and rapacious, who succeed to most of this world's possessions. 
 And if the earth is not to continue, or is not to be the future 
 home of immortality, I am at a loss to find any meaning in 
 this saying of the Savior. Accoi'ding to Paul, (Rom. iv. 13,) 
 the promise to Abraham, and to all his spiritual seed, is that 
 they shall be "heirs of the world." But is it not a poor sort 
 of lieirship which oflfers an inheritance that is to be eternally 
 annihilated ? Peter gives it as the promise of God, and the 
 glad hope of the saints, that the earth, notwithstanding the 
 fires that are to pass over it, is yet to be the home of right- 
 
70 _ THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 eousness, and hence of course also the possession of the right- 
 eous. But this cannot be if the earth is to pass away. Ac- 
 cording to John, the song of the ransomed spirits now in 
 paradise awaiting the completion of Glod's mysterious plans, 
 next to its ascriptions of praise to the Lamb that was slain, 
 takes as one of its loftiest and sweetest strains, " We shall 
 REIGN WITH HIM ON THE EARTH !" What does that mean, 
 if it does not contemplate the earth as enduring beyond the 
 scenes of judgment, and furnishing the theatre for the sub- 
 limest joys and honors of our immortality ? And as John 
 looked down the pathway of futurity, beyond the day of judg- 
 ment, he " saw a new heaven and a new earth," and "the new 
 Jerusalem descending" upon it; and "heard a great voice 
 out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of G-od is with 
 men, and he will dwell with them and be their God. And 
 he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall 
 be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain : for the former things are passed 
 
 Now, what is there in all this that looks like " the wreck 
 of matter," "the crush of worlds," or the everlasting disap- 
 pearance of "the great globe itself!" No, no; creation is 
 not to be destroyed. The vast and splendid mechanism of the 
 worlds is not to be broken up, and thrown aside, and con- 
 signed to oblivion. None of these great products of creative 
 power and wisdom shall ever come to naught, or be forgotten. 
 The footsteps of the Son of God upon this earth have conse- 
 crated it, and made it too sacred ever to be blotted from the 
 page of being. And when I thijik that God hath conde- 
 scended to be manifest in material flesh, and, in the person of 
 Jesus, did actually unite himself with the dust of earth, and 
 wore it on him, my contempt for materiality vanishes at once, 
 and it seems to me like sacrilege to entertain the idea of this 
 world's annihilation. Shall the clay which constituted the 
 
NO WASTE IN CREATION. 71 
 
 body of the blessed Christ pass over into the devil's hands, or 
 go down to everlasting nothingness ? Shall the soil that was 
 saturated with the precious blood of his unspotted heart be 
 consigned to irrecoverable ruin ? Shall the theatre of his 
 great labors, agonies, death and triumphs, di.'^appear, ''and 
 leave not a rack behind" to mark the orb on which his mighty 
 deeds of love were done ? Shall men hold those spots sacred 
 on which great patriots and benefactors lived and died, and 
 the eternal God blot out the world on which his dear Son 
 performed the sorrowful pilgrimage of human life, and accom- 
 plished the stupendous work of the redemption of its in- 
 habitants ? I do not, I cannot believe it. It goes against all 
 my deepest conceptions of God and his great purposes of love. 
 Aside from all this, it seems to be a settled law of the 
 divine operations, always to work out what is to be, from what 
 already exists; and to bring in no new creations beyond what 
 are absolutely necessary. You remember the miracle at the 
 marriage in Caua. Jesus could just as easily have filled the 
 waterpots with wine without requiring them first to be filled 
 with water. But he preferred to take an existing element, 
 and from that to develop the cheering fruits of his marvellous 
 power. So in feeding the five thousand in the wilderness, 
 he could just as easily have dispensed with the few scanty 
 loaves and fishes ; but he chose to take what they had, and to 
 make that the basis of his wonderful provision. It would not 
 be more difiicult for him to create a new race of men upon 
 earth than to redeem its pi-esent inhabitants ; but it seems 
 best to him to take the old materials, and out of them to eff"ect 
 his great ends of goodness. He is not prodigal in the use of 
 his power, or wasteful of his creations. Every little fragment 
 must be gathered, "that nothing be lost." He always takes 
 the sinner to make a saint, and the dying and corrupt body to 
 make an immortal and spiritual one. No matter how humble 
 or unpromising the basis may be, so long as there is a basis on 
 
72 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 whicli to proceed, he invariably adopts it, and works from it, 
 in preference to an entirely new creation. I do not know a 
 single exception to this rule. I argue then, as he brings " the 
 new man" out of "the old Adam," and the glorified body 
 out of "the natural body," and the new harvest out of the 
 old seed, so he will also assuredly bring the " new heavens 
 and new earth" out of the old heavens and old earth, and 
 thus make a paradise of God out of this very wilderness of 
 our present dwelling-place. My faith is, that these very hills 
 and valleys shall yet be made glad with the songs of a finished 
 redemption, and this earth yet become the bright, blessed 
 and everlasting homestead of men made glorious and immortal 
 in body and in soul. 
 
 And why should we start back from such ideas, or wish 
 that it wei'e different? There is nothing essentially" corrupt 
 or degrading in matter. It did not detract from Adam's good- 
 ness or happiness that he stood in connection with a material 
 system. It did not render Christ less pure, exalted, or adorable, 
 that he took up his abode upon earth, and was manifested in 
 the flesh. After all, there is much in this world that is beau- 
 tiful, attractive and good. Though it has been much dis- 
 figured and disordered by reason of the sins of its inhabit- 
 ants, we may still trace upon it the footprints of Deity, and 
 behold in it many lingering relics of the smiles of its God. 
 "Look/' says Gumming, "at the floor on which you tread, 
 so exquisitely carpeted with verdure, with fragrance and 
 with blossom • look at the sky that is above you, where worlds 
 are subservient as lamps and lights to ours ; look at the whole 
 economy in which you live, the ocean of air you breathe, the 
 infinite provisions for your comfort; and why should you 
 want this world destroyed ? Go to some of its fair glens, its 
 lovely scenes, its bright panoramas, and you will be constrained 
 to say, Take away sin, take away corruption, take away head- 
 aches, heart-aches, envy, malice, uncharitableness, and all the 
 
MEANING OF "THE END OF THE WORLD." 73 
 
 evils that sin has given birth to, and I could wish no lovelier 
 heaven to dwell iu forever and forever." Jesus himself points 
 us to the humble lilies of the field, and tells us with emotion 
 that "even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one 
 of these !" Just take from earth the curse of sin that has 
 marred it; let its pristine beauty be renewed; plant in it the 
 throne of the Redeemer's glory ; consecrate and sanctify it with 
 his holy and perpetual presence ; and fill it with the happi- 
 ness, love, peace and righteousness foretold in the Scriptures; 
 and there certainly can be no reason why we should wish any 
 better heaven, or ever think of its annihilation. 
 
 But some will be disposed, at this point, to remind me that 
 the Scriptures do certainly speak of an endimj of the loorld. 
 The disciples asked Jesus what should be the sign of his 
 coming, " and of the end of the ivorld." The Savior says " the 
 harvest is the end of the loorld ;" that, "as the tares are 
 gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of 
 the world;" and that he is with his ministering servants 
 " always, even unto the end of the world." I had not over- 
 looked these expressions; nor do they present the least em- 
 barrassment to the doctrine of the earth's eternal perpetuity. 
 The word "world" often has no reference to the material 
 earth, much less to the general material universe. When 
 Jesus said that the ivorld hated him, and that the world would 
 hate his disciples, he certainly did not mean the inanimate 
 globe. The word toorld, you will thus perceive, has different 
 significations; and it is used in our English Bibles where 
 very difierent words are used in the original Greek. The 
 proper Greek word for the material earth is yrj ; but this word 
 is not found in either of the passages which speak of the 
 ending of the world. In two of them the word rendered 
 world is ar.tu'y', which means a space of time, an age, an era, a 
 dispenaation. In the other two, the word rendered world is 
 xoff/to?, which denotes the exterior order, arrangements, iu- 
 
74 . THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 vestiture and embellishments of the earth. These shall end 
 when Christ comes, and give place to something new ; but the 
 r7j — the earth itself — has no end assigned it anywhere in all 
 God's book of revelation. Ages shall terminate ; dispensa- 
 tions shall be consummated and disappear; ''the fashion of 
 this world passeth away;" and present outward configurations 
 of things shall vanish; but the earth shall abide. Already 
 we have had at least one ending of the world since man's fall; 
 and from that we may form some idea of what the next shall 
 be. I refer to Noah's flood. Peter says of it, " By the word 
 of Grod the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out 
 of the water and in the water, whereby the world that 
 THEN WAS, being overflowed with water, perished." Now, 
 what was it that j)erished P — the material earth ? Not at all; 
 when the flood was over, Noah still found it rolling in its 
 accustomed orbit, where it has kept rolling until now, and 
 where it will continue to roll forever and ever. Peter says it 
 was the xocr/jiog that perished ; that is, that outward order and 
 constitution of things which existed in antediluvian times. 
 There was no extinction of our globe, no missing of our 
 planet from among the heavenly constellations; and yet in- 
 spiration says, "THE WORLD that then was perished." May 
 there not, then, be another ending or perishing of the world, 
 without bringing oblivion upon the material orb on which we 
 dwell ? Nay, the Holy Scriptures authorize the remark, that 
 " the end of the world" which is yet to come shall not be so 
 destructive to the earth as the flood of Noah was. When 
 Noah came out of the ark, "The Lord said, I will not again 
 curse the ground any more for man's sake, neither WILL I 
 AGAIN smite any MORE EVERY LIVING THING, AS I HAVE 
 
 DONE :" (Gen. viii. 21.) These are not human conjectures, 
 but the words of the immutable covenant of Almighty God. 
 And, as the perishing of '• the world that then was" was not 
 an annihilation or destruction of the globe itself, so neither 
 
THE JUDGMENT-FIRES. 75 
 
 will the ending of the world which now is any more damage 
 or affect the existence of this planet. 
 
 But Peter says, '' The heavens and the earth, which are 
 now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of 
 judgment and perdition of ungodly men;" that "the day of 
 the Lord will come, in the which the heavens shall pass away 
 with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat; the earth also and all that is therein shall be burned 
 up;" that "the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and 
 the elements shall melt with fervent heat." Does not this 
 teach the utter ruin and extinction of material things ? Cer- 
 tainly not. The word translated new is often taken in the 
 sense of renewed, made new, restored to original splendor, 
 and cannot here mean another heaven and earth, but 
 simply the present ones renewed. The whole passage 
 taken together, then, is nothing more nor less than the 
 assertion of a regeneration of the material world by fire, 
 analogous to the regeneration of the natural man by 
 the Holy Ghost. And as there is no extinction of 
 existence, and no alteration in the essential constituents of 
 the being, in the one case, so neither shall there be in the 
 other. The earth shall not pass away.- It shall live on — sur- 
 vive its baptism of fire — exist through the mysterious regene- 
 ration — and come forth, minus its curse, to flourish with all 
 its sister orbs forever in its Maker's smiles. Fire cannot 
 reduce matter to nothing. It may alter the modes and quali- 
 ties of it ; but it cannot destroy its substance. And when we 
 come to examine what Peter says these last fires are for, it is 
 plain that they shall not be such as to depopulate or make an 
 utter end of this planet. Men of science tell us, that the 
 deeper we penetrate towards the centre of the earth, the 
 warmer do we find the temperature; and that, if we could 
 carry our investigations deep enough, we would find the inte- 
 rior of the earth "one rolling, restless flood, like the burning 
 
76 THE LAST Tl.MEg. 
 
 lava that pours from Vesuvius, finding its occasional safety- 
 valve in the volcano." It is evidently to this fact that the 
 apostle speaks, when he says, (as some translate his words,) 
 "the present atmosphere and earth are stored with fire, re- 
 served unto the dai/ of Judgment, 'EVEN THE PERDITION OP 
 EMINENTLY "WICKED MEN." The last fires, then, are those 
 which already exist, hut which are imprisoned by the great 
 Creator's word until the day of judgment, when they are to be 
 let loose, not for the annihilation of the world, but for the 
 destruction of the openly apostate, and the persecuting ene- 
 mies of Christ and his kingdom. The scene which the apostle 
 declares is not univei'sal, but particular and local, and not 
 greatly difierent from volcanic phenomena which have often 
 been witnessed. Read the descriptions given of some of these 
 terrific eruptions. Dana says of one which occurred at. the 
 great volcano Kilauea, Hawaii, " The stream (of fire) plunged 
 into the sea with loud detonations, (with a great noise ) The 
 burning lava, on meeting the waters, was shivered like melted 
 glass into millions of particles, which were thrown up in 
 clouds that darkened the sky, and fell like a storm of hail over 
 the surrounding country. Vast columns of steam and vapors 
 rolled off before the wind, whirling in ceaseless agitation; and 
 the reflected glare of the lavas formed a fiery firmament over- 
 head." Kinney says, " The intense heat of the fountain and 
 stream of lava caused an influx of cool air from every quarter. 
 This created terrific toliirlwinds, which constantly stalked 
 about, like so many sentinels, bidding defiance to the daring 
 visitor. These were the most dangerous of any thing about 
 the volcano. Clouds approaching were driven back, and set 
 moving in wild confusion." Now, bring distinctly before your 
 minds this terrific scene, the sky filled with flames, the loud 
 roar and crash, the fused elements pouring forth from the 
 earth, the disordered rush of winds and the dreadful danger 
 of coming near, and then take up the literal words of Peter, 
 
LAST FIRES EXPLAINED IN OTHER PROPHECIES. 77 
 
 and you will see that it is altogether a similar scene which he 
 describes. The day of judgment is to unchain the impris- 
 oned fires ; and then the atmosphere will pass with a rushing 
 noise; and the elements being kindled will melt; and the 
 sarth and the works on it will be burned. ''As then all these 
 are (to be) loosed, what manner of persons ought ye to be in 
 holy deportment and piety, looking for and earnestly awaiting 
 the coming of Irhe day of God, in which the aerial regions 
 shall be let loose, (to rush in fiery whirlwinds,) and the ele- 
 ments being fired shall melt." The picture is exceedingly 
 awful, and, when realized, shall be dreadfully destructive to 
 those upon whom God's vengeance shall thus fall ; but what 
 it portrays is evidently volcanic, and confined to particular 
 regions. Hence, says David N. Lord, after a very thorough, 
 critical and satisfactory examination of the whole passage, 
 " The notion of the conflagration and dissolution of the hea- 
 vens and earth at Christ's coming, is without any ground 
 whatever in the ajwsfle's words, and springs wholly from 
 attaching to them a meaning which they do not involve. The 
 fires by which the impious are then to be destroyed are to be 
 but local and temporary, and are to ofiier, there is reason to 
 believe, no more obstacle to the safety of the population of the 
 globe at large than the volcanoes have that have already raged 
 in the depths of the earth and ejected their burning elements 
 into the atmosphere." And I cannot see how any man can 
 take God's words to Noah, promising never again to smite 
 every living thing, and yet believe that the last fires of which 
 Peter speaks are to be the agents of a complete and universal 
 destruction. 
 
 It is an inspired maxim, my brethren, that "no prophecy 
 of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. '' We dare 
 not take what one prophet says separate and apart from what 
 another prophet says. We must take all together, contemplate 
 the whole in the parts and the parts in the whole, and explain 
 
78 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 what is presented in one place by what is contained in an- 
 other. The conflagration in the da^' of the Lord of which 
 Peter speaks is the same as the fires of which other prophets 
 have spoken in the same connection. But we search the 
 Scriptures in vain for any corresponding prediction which de- 
 scribes a universal burning up of all earthly things. We read 
 that "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
 mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance upon them 
 that know not God and obey not the gospel." We read that 
 "the beast and the false prophet," when the King of kings 
 appears, shall be " cast alive into a lake of fire." We read 
 that " the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple, and sit as 
 a refiner and purifier of silver ;" that "the day cometh that 
 shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do 
 wickedly, shall be stubble : and the day that cometh shall 
 burn iliem up;" that "our Grod shall come, and shall not keep 
 silence : a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very 
 tempestuous round about him;" and that "a fiery stream 
 shall issue and trail forth before him, and the beast be slain 
 and given to the burning flame." But we find nothing to 
 warrant the idea of a universal conflagration, much less such 
 a burning as shall depopulate and annihilate the earth. On 
 the other hand, it is explicitly stated in connection with these 
 descriptions of the last fires, that the eminently and noto- 
 riously wicked alone are to be visited by them. Archbishop 
 Usher says, they will take away "only the gross hypocrites 
 and formal professors." Of other classes it is said, "But 
 unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness 
 arise with healing in his wings ; and ye shall go forth, and 
 grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the 
 wicked ; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet iu 
 the day that I do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Upon Gog 
 and his hosts God will pour "great ha il stones, fire and brim- 
 stone." He "will send a fire on Magog, and among them 
 
THE GLOBE NOT TO BE DESTROYED. 79 
 
 that dwell confidently." But in tlie same connection we read 
 of others who live on unharmed by all these avenging fires, 
 whilst '' the great globe itself" continues steadfast in its 
 place. 
 
 Now, taking all these things together, I regard it as settled 
 and certain, that Peter never meant to teach the utter depopu- 
 lation and destruction of this planet. He tells us, in harmony 
 with other prophets, that there shall be dreadful fires in the 
 day of judgment. He tells us of the present existence of 
 those fires, and whenre they shall proceed. He tells us their 
 object: — " the perdition of ungodly men." He also describes 
 something of the terrific phenomena which shall attend them. 
 And he exhorts us, i)i view of those awful revelations, to be 
 devout and upright. But I do not find any thing in his lan- 
 guage to contradict the declaration of the wise man that 'Hhe 
 earth ahkletli forever." There is immortality in the clods 
 and rocks, as well as in the immaterial mind. There is some- 
 thing undying in the ground we tread beneath our feet, as 
 well as in the soul with which we climb to the dwelling-place 
 of God. There is no grave dug for the material world, any 
 more than for the deathless spirit. And as there is redemp- 
 tion for man, so there is redemption for his smitten and dilapi- 
 dated dwelling-place. 
 
 I know tl^at the effects of human apostasy from God are 
 very deep and far-reaching; perhaps much more so than we 
 sometimes think. The whole earth has been involved in it. 
 " The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain" in con- 
 sequence of it. But with the deep depths of the distress 
 which has been struck into all the pulsations of sublunary 
 nature by reason of man's iniquities, the Scriptures do furnish 
 the sublime hope that it shall all be again extracted. There 
 is a time of restitution coming. There is a day of deliver- 
 ance at hand. That universal wail, which has been going up 
 for the past six thousand years, shall yet be hu.shed and lost 
 
80 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 amid strains of halleluin that shall never end. Luther says, 
 "■ It is important for us to recur to Adam's original condition, 
 as we expect all things to be brought back again to that." 
 "All things are now disordered and decayed; whence Peter 
 says that the heavens must receive Christ until the time when 
 all things shall be restored again to what they were in Para- 
 dise; thus agreeing with Paul, that the whole creatureship 
 has been made subject to vanity, and that it is to be hoped 
 that not man only, but the earth and heaven, shall again be 
 brought back to their Edenic state." Calvin says, " I expect 
 with Paul a reparation of all the evils caused by sin, for which 
 he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing." 
 Charnock says, "As the world, for the sin of man, lost its 
 first dignity, and was cursed after the fall, and the beauty 
 bestowed upon it by the creation defaced, so shall it recover 
 that ancient glory, when he shall be fully restored, by the 
 resurrection, to that dignity he lost by his first sin. As man 
 shall be freed from his corruptibility, to receive that glory 
 which is prepared for him, so shall the creatures be freed from 
 that imperfection and those stains and spots on the face of 
 them, to receive a new glory suited to their nature, and an- 
 swerable to the design of Grod, when the glorious liberty of 
 the saints shall be accomplished." But let us hear what God 
 himself has said. " In that day shall there be upon the bells 
 of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord ; and the pots in 
 the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar." 
 " He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong na- 
 tions afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plough- 
 shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not 
 lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
 more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and 
 under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid." 
 "And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall 
 overflow with wine and oil." "The waters of the dead sea 
 
THE EARTH TO BE RENEWED. 81 
 
 shall be healed by the waters which flow out of the temple ; 
 and by the stream of this water shall grow all manner of 
 trees, whose leaves shall not wither, and whose fruit shall not 
 decay; they shall yield their fruit monthly, and the leaves 
 thereof shall be for the healing of the nations." " The crea- 
 ture itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, 
 into the glorious liberty of the children of God." " 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. The cow 
 and the bear shall feed together, and their young ones shall 
 lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. 
 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and 
 the weaned child upon the cockatrice's den. They shall not 
 hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." 
 " Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the 
 sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold, as the light of seven 
 days, in the day that the Lord shall bind up the breach of his 
 people and heal the stroke of their wound." " Then the 
 eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf 
 shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, 
 and the tongue of the dumb sing ; for in the wilderness shall 
 waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched 
 ground shall become a watered place, and the thirsty land 
 springs of water; in the habitation of dragons there shall be 
 grass with reeds and rushes." " Instead of the thorn shall 
 come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up 
 the myrtle-tree." "And the inhabitant shall not say, I am 
 sick." "And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 
 nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the 
 former things are passed away." 
 
 These are glad and glorious descriptions ; and they are 
 given by the Spirit of God. Whatever meaning people have 
 attached to them, all agree that they set forth a condition o' 
 F 
 
82 THF, LAST TIMES. 
 
 thiugs wliicli is yet to be reali/.cd upou this earth. Some say 
 we mrst take them literally'; others interpret them figura- 
 tively; and others understand them spiritually. But, no mat- 
 ter how we take them, one thing is settled and incontroverti- 
 ble, that they include & pTii/xical as well as a moral redemption. 
 They describe the lifting oif of the curse from all creation 
 around us, as well as from the souls within us. They exhibit 
 sufiering and disordered nature once more free, harmonious, 
 congenial, restored, and forever at rest. They portray vast 
 and happy changes in things spiritual and things physical, 
 animate and inanimate, human, animal, vegetable and ele- 
 mental. They show us the earth with its deserts fertilized, its 
 elements harmonized, its inhabitants made congenial to each 
 other, its products rendered abundant and sanatory, and its 
 possessors invested with perfect happiness and immortality. 
 Some have looked for their fulfillment in a fancied millennium 
 previous to the Savior's coming. They would have us believe 
 that these sublime predictions relate only to the universal 
 triumph of political freedom, general wisdom, and exalted 
 piety. But how will the mere reign of righteousness and 
 love in the hearts and conduct of mankind extend redemption 
 into the physical world, or work a deliverance to the animal 
 and other kingdoms ? Knowledge, holiness and liberty com- 
 bined, and spread over the earth from one end thereof to the 
 other, cannot save a man from bodily aches, decay and death. 
 They cannot take the taint from the atmosphere, nor the ma- 
 laria from the earth. They cannot cover Sahara with fertility, 
 nor hush the storm and tempest, nor close the volcano's 
 crater, nor stop the Maelstrom's whirl, nor stay the earth- 
 quake's giant tread, nor relieve the creature of its groans. 
 Make every meal a sacrament, and every day a Sabbath, and > 
 every thought a prayer to God ; and all that, of itself, cannot 
 take away the curse with which Grod has cursed " the ground" 
 for man's sake, nor relieve these dying bodies from their 
 
TIME AND MANNER OF THIS GREAT CHANGE. 83 
 
 many ills. The case calls for greater clianges in earth, air 
 and sea, and in the whole present constitution of terrestrial 
 ihings, than can by any possibility result from existing pro- 
 cesses, or from mere natural developments. We must have 
 special electric influences to quiet the atmosphere and adapt 
 it better to the wants of humanity. We must have vol- 
 canic or some other action in and upon the earth, to change 
 some of its surface, consume its impurities, and renew its 
 wastes. We must have a complete revolution in the pre- 
 sent order of things. Tn a word, we must have anothe' 
 putting forth of divine power upon this world. It must be 
 retouched by the hand that made it. It must come under a 
 renewing potency which can raise the dead. And all this 
 shall be only when the Son of God shall again come from the 
 heavens. 
 
 Accordingly, we read, that when the times of restitution 
 come, "God shall send Jesus Christ." "And then shall they 
 see the Son of man coming luith power." And "he shall 
 call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may 
 judge his people." " He shall have dominion also from sea 
 to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." " He 
 shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his 
 kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity," 
 and "destroy them that corrupt the earth." "He shall go 
 forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of 
 war; he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall do mighty things against 
 his enemies." " The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and 
 utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the 
 earth shall shake." " They that are in their graves shall 
 hear his voice, and come forth." " Them also that sleep in 
 Jesus will God bring with him." " He shall change our vile 
 body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, 
 according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all 
 things unto himself." " Then shall be brought to pass the 
 
84 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Baying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 
 '"'And there shall be no more curse." "And it shall come to 
 pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new j 
 wine, and the hills shall flow with milk." "The ploughman 
 shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that 
 soweth the see.d ; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, 
 and all the hills shall melt." " Then shall all the trees of the 
 wood rejoice before the Lord; for he cometh, for he cometh 
 to jvidge the earth ; he shall judge the world with righteous- 
 ness, and the people with his truth." "In his day there shall 
 be abundance of peace." "The government shall be upon 
 his shoulder- and of the increase of his government and 
 peace there shall be no end." " He shall come down like 
 rain upon the mown grass : as showers that water the earth. 
 In his days shall the righteous flourish." " He will make a 
 covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the 
 fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground." 
 " His name shall endure forever. All nations shall call him 
 blessed, the Lord God who only doeth wondrous things. And 
 the whole earth shall be filled with his glory; Amen, and 
 Amen." 
 
 Thus, then, will He that sits upon the throne " make all 
 things new." "There will be wonders in heaven above, and 
 signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and pillars of 
 smoke." But out of trouble shall come joy, out of darkness 
 shall go forth light ; and in place of groans and tears and 
 death shall be songs of joy and glorious immortality. 
 
 "The age of crime and suffering yet shall end; 
 The reign of righteousness from heaven descend; 
 Vengeance forever sheath the afflicting sword; 
 Death be destroyed, and Paradise restored/ 
 • Man, rising from the ruins of his fall, 
 Be one with God, and God be all in all." 
 
THIS HOPE NO fABLE. 85 
 
 '' Write," says the Son of God, "for these icords are true 
 nnd faithful." It is not a poetic dream, but a divine revela- 
 tion. God hath spoken it by the mouth of all his holy pro- 
 phets since the world began. It was-the hope of Adam as he 
 went forth an exile from Eden. It was the light that illu- 
 mined the tents of the pilgrims of old Avith a sweeter halo 
 than the recollections of Paradise. It was the stay of faithful 
 Abraham as he sojourned in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, 
 the heirs with him of the same promise. It shone in the 
 serene imagination of Isaac, and supported the dying head of 
 Jacob, and caused ■ Joseph to turn away from Egypt's mauso- 
 leums and ask that his bones might be carried up to the land 
 of the redeemed. It shortened the centuries in which the 
 Lord's chosen toiled in servitude, and cheered the house of 
 affliction with songs. It kindled glad expectations amid the 
 daAncss of Gentile apostasy, and taught even the heathen to 
 prophesy of deliverance. It fired the hearts and tongues of 
 all Judah's minstrels, as they swept from the harps of in- 
 spiration those lofty anthems which filled the home of the 
 Shekinah with praise. And thousands upon thousands have 
 not counted their lives dear unto them for the excellency of 
 this hope, and were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that 
 they might obtain the bettor resurrection. Even irrational 
 nature seems to be filled with the promise, and until now 
 is earnestly expecting and waiting for '' the manifestation of 
 the sons of God," and the redemption which shall be ef- 
 fected when death shall be no more. It cannot, therefore, 
 be a fable. A lie could not be so deeply graven. What has 
 been so fondly believed, so long looked for, and so earnestly 
 desired — what has been the hope of the good in every age, 
 the theme of their songs, and the joy of their hearts — what 
 has ever been pointed to as the solution of earth's enigma 
 and Jehovah's great vindication — certainly cannot be a 
 
86 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 falsehood. No, no, no; it cannot be delusion. Creation's 
 loosened strings shall again be screwed up to their primeval 
 tone and concord, to accompany the songs of God's saints 
 with immortal harmonies. 
 
 " The barren wastes shall rise, 
 With sudden greens and fruits arrayed, — 
 A blooming paradise. 
 
 "True holiness shall strike its root 
 In each regenerate heart; 
 Shall, in a growth divine, arise. 
 And heavenly fruits impart. 
 
 " Peace, with her olives crowned, shall stretch 
 Her wings from shore to shore; 
 No trump shall rouse the rage of war. 
 Nor murderous cannon roar. 
 
 "Lord, for those days we wait : those days 
 Are in thy word foretold ; — 
 Fly swifter, sun and stars, and bring 
 This promised age of gold I" 
 
 " Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, 
 be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without 
 spot, and blameless." It would be a sad thing, if, after all 
 these sublime arrangements of our Maker, we should eventu- 
 ally come short of the inheritance. Let me, then, exhort you 
 to "give all diligence to make your calling and election sure." 
 If you are prayerless, I beseech you to go and call upon Grod. 
 If you have been thoughtless and careless, I entreat you to 
 consider, and lay these great matters to heart. If you are a 
 sinner, repent, repent now. And from this hour let each one 
 who hears these remarks set out in full earnest to prepare to 
 meet God. Soon your day of grace will be over. 'Soon youi 
 opportunities of becoming participants in the glad scenes of a 
 
DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD. 87 
 
 restored creation will be at an end. " The end of all things 
 is at hand ; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 
 And above all have fervent charity among yourselves, for 
 charity shall cover the multitude of sins. If any man 
 speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man 
 minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth : 
 that God in all things may be glorified." 
 
 WAITING FOR THAT DAY. 
 
 Waiting we stand, 
 And watching till our Savior shall appear, 
 Joyful to cry, as eastern skies grow clear, 
 " The Lord's at hand !" 
 
 But now the night 
 Presses around us, sullenly and chill ; 
 Pain, doubt, and sorrow seem to have their will : — 
 
 Lord, send the light! 
 
 One after one. 
 Thou hast called up our loved ones from our sight; 
 For them we know that there is no more night, 
 
 But we are lone. 
 
 Weary we wait, 
 Lifting our heavy eyes, bedimmed with tears. 
 To skies where yet no trace of dawn appears : — 
 
 Lord, it is late ! 
 
 But yet thy Word 
 Saith, with sweet prophecy thiit cannot fail, 
 That light o'er darkness shall at length prevail:— 
 
 AVe trust thee, Lord ! 
 
 Morning Star 
 Of heavenly promise! light our darkened way, 
 Till the first beams of the expected day 
 
 Shine from afar. 
 
 So will we take 
 Fresh hope and courage to our fainting heartf. 
 And patient wait, though every joy departs, 
 " Till the day break." 
 
FOURTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION ERRONEOUS INTERPRETATIONS 
 
 OF THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER OF THE REVELATION REFUTED THE 
 
 FIRST RESURRECTION WHAT THE ANCIENT JEWS TAUGHT UPON THE 
 
 SUBJECT CITATIONS FROM THE OLD PROPHETS — HOW THE MATTER 
 
 IS PRESENTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THE SUBLIME HOPES 
 
 INVOLVED. 
 
 Rev. XX. 4-6: And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for 
 the icitness of Jesiis, and for the word of God, and which had not 
 worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his 
 mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they liced and 
 reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead 
 lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is 
 the first resiwrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the 
 first resurrection. 
 
 That the dead shall rise again, is the universal belief of 
 Christians. As no historic fact was ever more invincibly 
 established than the resurrection of our Divine Redeemer, so 
 no article of our faith is more clear and indisputable than the 
 doctrine of cur rising again like him at our appointed time. 
 It is hardly worth while, in this connection, to accumulate 
 proofs and authorities to support what is so generally admitted 
 and believed, and so clearly announced in the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Certainly, no one will deny that the raising of the dead lies 
 entirely within the reach of Divine power. No one will sav 
 that it is a thing impossible to Omnipotence. It involves no 
 contradiction. It is prohibited by no foregone law or necessity. 
 It is not rendered impossible by incapacity in the decomposed 
 88 
 
THE RESURRECTION PROVED BY ANALOGY. 89 
 
 bodies of the departed for reorganization. God knows each 
 atom, and where it rests. Our substance was not hid from 
 him when we were made in secret. His eye saw it yet being 
 imperfect. All our members were written in his book when 
 yet there was none of them. He has his number for every 
 hair upon each head. Wherever the particles of these dis- 
 solving bodies may be scattered or lodged, they lie completely 
 within his knowledge and power. And He who could at the 
 first so attemper the vulgar dust as to constitute a man can also 
 again recover these attempered particles and restore them to 
 their places. If he can bring a new and gloi'ious ear out of 
 the rotting seed, he can also bring a spiritual body out of the 
 corruptible one. 
 
 And as the resurrection of the dead is not a thing impos- 
 sible, so it is not a thing improbable. Faint analogies of it 
 may be traced in the ordinary changes and revolutions beheld 
 in nature around us. Clement, the contemporary and friend 
 of St. Paul, says, " The Lord does continually show us that 
 there shall be a future resurrection. Day and night manifest 
 it. The seed sown in the earth displaj^s it." The day fades 
 and dies. It is buried in sleep, silence and darkness. In the 
 morning it revives, opens its grave of gloom, and rises from 
 "the dead of night." The summer dies, and lies down in its 
 wintry grave. The winds of heaven sigh and weep over it as 
 if they would not be comforted. In the spring, life begins to 
 work again in the buried roots and seeds ; the plants and 
 flowers burst out of their dark cerements; and every thing 
 arrays itself in newness and glory. The sower goes forth and 
 casts his seed upon the earth. It falls down dry and naked, 
 and in time dissolves. But the great power of the providence 
 of the Lord raises it again from that dissolution ; and from the 
 old seed new germs arise, and bring forth fruit. The cater- 
 pillar builds, himself a tomb, and then lies down in it and dies. 
 But out of the grave of the uglj worm comes forth the but- 
 
 s* 
 
90 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 terfly which sallies forth in the sunshine like a living flower. 
 And so there are many things iu nature that are repaired by 
 corrupting, preserved by perishing, and revived by dying. 
 And as we behold man, the lord of these things, dying like 
 them, it is but a fair presumptiau that he will revive again 
 hereafter as we see them revive. 
 
 But God has not left us in the school of nature, nor given 
 us over to settle our persuasions upon mere likelihoods. In 
 the glorious record of his word, he has put the doctrine of the 
 resurrection of the dead bej^ond dispute. Distinct glimmer- 
 ings of it may be found all through the Old Testament 5 and 
 it is predicted in the New in hsnguage which no one can mis- 
 understand. Paul says there were nmny saints before his day 
 who "were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they 
 might obtain a better resurrection." He says that the Jews 
 allowed "that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both 
 of the just and unjust." The heroic Maccabees hoped for 
 it. The sisters of Lazarus consoled themselves by thinking 
 of it as they lingered at their only brother's grave. Christ 
 explicitly pointed to a coming period, when " they that are in 
 their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and come 
 forth." The great Apostle to the G-entiles argued it as a thing 
 demonstrated by the resurrection of the crucified Savior. It 
 was the great consolation of the noble army of the martyrs. 
 And in every age of Christianity it has been cherished as the 
 glad hope by which the believer triumphs over the gloom of 
 corporeal dissolution. 
 
 (xod has also added a seal to this doctrine which cannot be 
 counterfeited. He has actually restored deceased persons to 
 life again. When Elijah prayed for the resuscitation of the 
 dead child of the widow of Sarepta, Grod heard him, "and 
 the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived." 
 Elisha, iu his lifetime, received power to raise the young Shu- 
 nemite ; and the mere touch of his bones caused a dead man 
 
NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION'. 91 
 
 to revive and stand upon his feet. When the daughter of 
 Jairus died, Jesus "said unto her, Tahlfha, cumi, and her 
 spirit came again, and straightway the damsel arose." When 
 he came "nigh to the gate of a city called Nain, there was a 
 dead man carried out; and he came near and touched the bier, 
 and said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise; and he that was 
 dead sat up, and began to speak." And not only in the 
 chamber and in the street, from the bed and iVom the bier, 
 did Christ call the dead to life. His voice was heard with 
 equal effect even in the putrid grave. When Lazarus had 
 been "dead four days," and so long buried that his sisters 
 said, "Lord, by this time he stinketh," Jesus "cried with a 
 loud voice, Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead" and 
 putrid obeyed and lived again. And the blessed Savior him- 
 self, after being "crucified, dead and buried," took to himself 
 the might of his superior nature, and came forth from the 
 sepulchre, and showed himself to hundreds with many notable 
 signs. In these cavses the problem has been solved, and the 
 fact demonstrated forever, that thei'e is such a thing as the 
 resurrection of the dead. Though we may not be able to 
 comprehend the pi'ocesses by which it shall be effected, we 
 may rest assured that it is no idle dream, no cunningly-devised 
 fable, but a sublime and stupendous reality. 
 
 How far the resurrection-body is to be identical with the 
 body which dies and wastes in the grave has not been 
 revealed. It is enough for us to know that we shall rise from 
 the dead, without being able to understand the philosophy of 
 it. Doubtless we will leave much gross matter behind us in 
 the grave. Not all those identical particles which, by that 
 time, maybe wrought over and over in nature's vast laboratory 
 to supply still other bodies, will need to be recovered and re- 
 placed in order to bring about the resurrection. " That which 
 thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare 
 grain; but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him. So 
 
92 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 is also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, 
 it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised 
 in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is 
 sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a 
 natural body, and there is a spiritual body." And yet, in the 
 mysterious transition from the one to the other, identity is 
 preserved. ''For tliis corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 tin's mortal must put on immortality." Otherwise the whole 
 idea of resurrection vanishes. "We believe in the resurrec- 
 tion of the ho(?i/ ;" and, if it is not in some way the raising of 
 the body that dies and is buried, the whole doctrine amounts 
 to naught. The thing is so mysterious, and so far removed 
 from our in-esent experiences, that it is impossible for us to 
 understand it fully ; but this we must adhere to, that the 
 transition from corruption to incorruption, and from mortal to 
 immortality, is somehow accomplished in the same body. 
 Identity does not necessarily imply the continuation of all and 
 precisely the same parts. We may be corporeally identified as 
 the same men ten years hence that we are now; and yet, 
 according to what physiologists tell us, by that time there will 
 hardly be a particle in our bodies which is now in them. 
 Great changes may occur, but people will identify us as the 
 same persons then that we are now. So, then, we may also 
 lose the more earthy parts of our material organism, and 
 still come from our graves with bodies refined and spiritual 
 indeed, but still interiorly and in form identical with those 
 which we now inhabit. The butterfly is the same animal with 
 the catei'pillar which preceded it. It has the same body. It 
 has arisen out of the same elements which constituted the 
 caterpillar; though it has left much gross material behind it. 
 The seed which we plant is the same that afterwards shoots up 
 into a stalk, with blades and blcssoms; so that we point to it 
 and say, "Here is the flower I planted;" although much ot 
 ■ that seed decays n the ground and mingles with the dust 
 
DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON REV. XX. 93 
 
 And so tlie present mortal body is the germ or seed of the 
 future heavenly body. The one rises out of the other. It is 
 the same creature emerging in a new development. And 
 when the signal for our I'eanimation comes, we shall gather to 
 ourselves the interior essence of our slumbering dust, emerge 
 in glory from our graves, and go forth amid the sublimities of 
 a life in which body and soul shall enjoy unsullied and im- 
 mortal union. 
 
 It has been made a question, however, whether the text 
 before us refers to the literal resurrection of the dead. It is 
 strange to see to what fancies men have resorted to do away 
 with the plain, evident, and literal import of the apostle's 
 words. 
 
 Some say that this ''first resurrection," at the beginning of 
 the millennium, is nothing more than the quickening and re- 
 generation of sinners by repentance and faith in Christ. They 
 take it as a spiritual resurrection, like that in the case of the 
 returned prodigal. That the Scriptures do speak of the sin- 
 ner's recovery as a resurrection, there can be no doubt. 
 Whenever a wanderer from God is made thoughtful, prayerful 
 and penitent, he rises out of moral inanity to spiritual activity. 
 As John expresses it, he passes from death unto life. But 
 this moral quickening will by no means meet the case before 
 us. The resurrection of which the text speaks is the resur- 
 rection of such as had already been raised spiritually, and who 
 partake of this resurrection because they were before ^^ blessed 
 and hoi;/." It is the resurrection, not of those who sleep in 
 sin, but of ''them that sleep in Jesus;" not of those who 
 have never known Christ, but of "them that were beheaded for 
 the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and had not 
 worshipped the beast." It is the resurrection of those who 
 were saints without it, many of whom had so loved Christ as 
 to lay down their lives for him and his gospel. 
 
 Others have supposed that this "first resurrection" is purely 
 
94 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 ecclesiastical, and tliat it was eiFected in the days of Con- 
 stantiue the Great, when the visible church was released from 
 the cruel pagan persecutions, legalized, and elevated to the 
 patronage of government. But every rightly-instructed man 
 knows that the changes wrought by Constantine were rather a 
 burial of the true church than a resurrection of it. So far 
 from being attended with blessedness and holiness, it was 
 rather the opening of the door for the worst degradations and 
 wickednesses that ever despoiled Christendom. Instead of 
 binding Satan, he was then first let fully loose upon the 
 gospel to corrupt and tarnish it with his foul devices. In 
 place of inti'oducing the reign of Christ with his saints, it 
 laid the way for the reign of the Man of sin with his corrupt 
 adherents. And, so far from making men ''priests of God 
 and of Christ," it made them priests " after the working oi 
 Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, with all 
 deceivableness of unrighteousness." 
 
 Others, again, are of opinion that this "first resurrection" 
 denotes a great number of dissimilar changes relating to the 
 prosperity of the gospel and the peace of the world, such as 
 the general conversion of the wicked, the restoration of the 
 Jews, the univei'sal diffusion of liberty and light, and the 
 revival of Christianity in the purity in which it was embraced 
 by the martyrs. This notion was first set on foot by Whitby 
 about 150 years ago, and has met with great favor from some 
 classes of teachers. But it is filled with inconsistencies and 
 surrounded by insuperable objections. The resurrection which 
 the text speaks of is the resurrection of " them that were be- 
 headed for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, 
 and whoever had not worshipped -the beast nor his image." 
 The wicked never were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, 
 or for the word of God. Their deaduess in trespasses and 
 in sins is not the result of their faithful adherence to the Son 
 of God. The Jewish race, whici now lies buried among the 
 
THIS RESURRECTION MANIFESTLY LITERAL. 95 
 
 nations, was not denationalized and reduced to this conaition 
 in consequence of bearing testimony for Christ, but for deny- 
 ing and crucifying him. It is impossible, therefore, that 
 these parties should be the subjects of the resurrection spoken 
 of. And the idea that the resurrection of the martyrs denotes 
 merely the revival of their spirit and moral qualities is at 
 variance with the text in another respect. The apostle is 
 speaking of persons. "I saw the souls of them that had been 
 beheaded for the testimony/ of Jesus; — and thei/ lived and 
 reigned with Christ." The original term employed is ^t'/a?, 
 which occurs nearly a hundred times in the New- Testament, 
 but which is never once used to denote characteristics or 
 attributes. It invariably means lives, beings, persons, soids ; 
 as where we read there " were in the ship two hundred and 
 seventy-six soids;" — there were added to the church ''about 
 three thousand soids;" — in Noah's ark "eight soids were 
 saved." And so the living again and reigning of those souls 
 that were beheaded for their fidelity to God, jnust mean the 
 resurrection, not of their spiritual characteristics, but of these 
 beings or persons themselves. As a patient student and 
 learned critic remarks, "It is a literal resurrection that is 
 predicted of them manifestly, inasmuch as that is the only 
 resurrection of which disembodied saints are capable. It 
 certainly is not a renovation of heart, as they were renewed 
 while in this life, and are made priests of God and of Christ, 
 and given to reign with him, because they were saints here. 
 As their resurrection then cannot be a spiritual change analo- 
 gous to a restoration of the body from death, it must neces- 
 sarily be a corporeal change. That it is to be a corporeal 
 resurrection is shown moreover by the representation that the 
 rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years should be 
 finished. The rest of the dead are the literally dead ; not the 
 literally living, though without spiritual life. To treat that 
 term as a mere metaphor, is U deny to the vision the character 
 
96 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 of a eymbol and to empty the whole passage of its mean- 
 ing. If the death of those who are not partakers of the first 
 resurrection he hut metaphorical, then must the death of 
 the martyrs be metaphorical also, and thence the resurrection 
 which is ascribed to the souls be merely metaphorical. But 
 that is to make the passage a mere assemblage of metaphors, 
 without any thing literal from which the figures are drawn or 
 to which they are applied, and to divest it of all propriety 
 and significance. If the souls of the dead, as well as the 
 resurrection, be mere metaphors, no agents whatever are left 
 to be their subjects; and they are predicates without any 
 thing of which they are afiirmed, — metaphors with nothing 
 which they metaphorize. As the souls exhibited in the 
 vision then are real souls, so, also, for the same reason, the 
 rest of the dead are the real dead, and the resurrection af- 
 firmed of the one and denied of the other a real resurrection." 
 (Lord's Exp. of the Apocalypse, p. 519.) Professor Stuart 
 also treats this text as "simple prose," and endorses ''the 
 exegesis which deduces from the whole passage the. reality of 
 a first resurrection at the introduction of the millennium." 
 (Com., in loc.^ 
 
 The facts upon which those rely who interpret this first 
 resurrection figuratively are, — that Ezekiel has the restoration 
 and conversion of the Jews symbolized to him under the re- 
 suscitation of the dry bones, and that the Savior speaks of the 
 repentance and recovery of the prodigal son as the making 
 alive of him that was dead. With these two facts, they jump 
 at the conclusion that the resurrection of the martyrs and 
 holy ones at the beginning of the millennium is to be taken 
 in a somewhat similar sense. But, when we draw the neces- 
 sary distinctions between things that difier, this argument 
 proves the exact reverse of what it is designed to establish. 
 It must be taken as a settled canon of interpretation that 
 where a resurrection is a^irmed, it can be taken only in the 
 
ARGUMENT FROM THE CASE OF THE MARTYRS. 97 
 
 sense of the presupposed death. So in both these instances 
 the resuscitations are the exact counterparts of the previous 
 deaths. The death symbolized by the valley of dry bones is 
 plainly described as both a national and moral death; and the 
 predicted resurrection is accordingly both a national and a 
 moral resurrection. The death of the prodigal son was a 
 moral and spiritual death; and his resurrection was of course 
 of the same kind. And so it must also be in the case before 
 us. But what sort of death is tha'. which has passed upon 
 the martyrs, and upon "those who w^n; beheaded for the testi- 
 mony of Jesus, and for the word of God" ? Was it a national 
 death? Nationally the martyrs never lived, and of course 
 could not nationally die. Was theirs a spiritual or moral 
 death? No; "^" no one can be called Christ's witness, 
 blessed and holy, and yet be dead in this moral sense. 
 Wli^t was their death, then, but a literal, personal and indi- 
 vidual death ? Was it not a death in the real, natural and 
 ordinary meaning of that word ? Well, then, here, as in the 
 other cases, as was the death so shall the predicted resur- 
 rection be. As these martyrs and saints literally, really 
 and personally died, and in that sense alone are dead, so 
 shall they again be literally, really and personally made alive 
 in "the first resurrection;" whilst "the rest of the dead" 
 sleep on ""until the thousand years are finished." Spiritu- 
 ally the martyrs are not dead ; nationally they never died ; 
 influentially they are not dead. They have had their succes- 
 sors in all ages, in whom their qualities and spirit hiive never 
 become extinct. They yet speak. They are dead corporeally, 
 and in no other sense. And when John tells us that they 
 shall live again in the first resurrection, he can mean uolhiag 
 but a corporeal resuscitation. The wicked who die in thuir 
 sina are not to be spiritually raised, nor nationally raised, nor 
 influentially raised. When they die, their probation ends, 
 and judgment comes. When it is affirmed, therefore, that 
 G y 
 
98 
 
 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 they shall live again, it can only be understood of a corporeal 
 resurrection. Yet the same words, in the same verses, which 
 assert the resurrection of the unsanctrjied dead, assert the 
 resurrection of the holy dead, with only these two differences, 
 that the holy rise to reign, whilst the wicked rise to burn, and 
 that the one class rises a thousand years in advance of the 
 other class. And as the resurrection of the wicked — ''the rest 
 of the dead" — at the final judgment can be taken only in a 
 corporeal and literal sense, so the first resurrection — the resur- 
 rection of the "blessed and holy" — must also be received in 
 the same corporeal and literal sense. I can see no escape 
 from this conclusion. 
 
 I feel compelled, therefore, to understand the text as 
 referring to the literal resurrection of the dead. I can find 
 no other theory which will meet the necessities of the case, or 
 which will conform to sound principles of interpretation. I 
 find then a dualifij in the resurrection which the Scriptures 
 teach. It is twofold. There is a "first resurrection" at the 
 beginning of the millennium, and there is a resurrection at 
 the end of the millennium. The one embraces the martyrs 
 and saints, — the "blessed and holy," — "them that sleep in 
 Jesus j" the other the resurrection of "the rest of the dead." 
 The one is the resurrection which we are taught to hope for 
 and seek after ; the other a something about which the Scrip- 
 tures say but little, and which promises nothing to be desired. 
 The one is a resurrection to all the glories, joys and honors 
 of a perfected redemption ; the other a resurrection to dismay, 
 shame and everlasting contempt. 
 
 Nor is this a novel doctrine. Calmet says, "The ancient 
 fathers acknowledged a twofold resurrection : first, that which 
 is to precede the Messiah's reign of a thousand years upon 
 earth; secondly, that which is to follow the reign of the 
 thousand years. This sentiment is found clearly enough in 
 the second book of Esdras; in the testament of the twelve 
 
RABBINICAL TESTIMONY. 99 
 
 patriarchs, and in several of the Kabbins." Professor Stuart 
 declares that ''the doctrine of njirst resurrection as taught 
 by John was not novel to the men of his time." " I have my 
 doubts," says he, "whether the assertion is correct, that the 
 doctrine of the first fesurrection is nowhere else to be found 
 in the Sci-iptures. That the great mass of Jewish Rab- 
 bins have believed and taught the doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion of the Just, in the days of Messiah's development, 
 there can be no doubt on the part of him who has made any 
 considerable investigation of this matter." Thus, Jonathan 
 the Paraphrast, who lived thirty years before Christ, says of 
 the people of God, " They 'shall be gathered from their 
 captivity ; they shall live under the shadow of Messiah ; the 
 dead shall rise, and good shall increase in the earth." This 
 is based on the last chapter of Hosea. Rabbi Kimchi says, 
 " The holy blessed God will raise the dead at the time of de- 
 liverance." This he draws from Isaiah xxvi. 19. The San- 
 hedrin, cited by Aruch, says, "There is a tradition in the 
 house of Elias, that the righteous whom the holy and blessed 
 God shall raise from the dead shall not return again to the 
 dust; but for the space of a thousand years, in which the holy 
 blessed God will renew the world, they shall have wings like 
 the wings of eagles, and shall fly above the waters." Another 
 says, " The benefit of the rain is common to the just and the 
 unjust, but the resurrection from the dead is the peculiar 
 privilege of those who live righteously." Chabbo says, " The 
 dead in the land of Israel shall live or be quickened first 
 in the days of Messiah, and shall enjoy the yeai'S of Messiah." 
 Thus also in Zohar we read, upon Isaiah xxv. 8 : — " The world 
 cannot be freed from sin until King Messiah shall come, and 
 the blessed God shall raise up those who sleep in the dust." 
 These, and many like sayings, have been collected by critics 
 from the most ancient of the Rabbinical writings. Corre- 
 sponding passages have also been found in the sacred tra- 
 
100 THE LAST TTMKS. 
 
 ditions of the heatlien world. Of course no Rabbinical 
 testimony or mere tradition is adequate to prove an article of 
 religious faith ; but these quotations are not without their 
 significance. Where did these men get such ideas? They 
 for the most part profess to receive them from the writings of 
 the inspired prophets. They refer us to Isaiah, Ezekiel and 
 Daniel as their authority. Nor are their interpretations to be 
 discarded as necessarily fanciful and erroneous because they 
 belong to the records of Rabbinic lore. It is a sorry wit 
 which takes for granted that a man cannot be guided to the 
 truth of God because he is a Jew. These ancient Rabbins 
 were the friends, countrymen, brethren and children of 
 Jehovah's own inspired prophets, and may be our guides in 
 many things. 
 
 The passage to which they refer us in Isaiah (sxyi. 
 19) certainly does describe a resurrection, — a joyoits resur- 
 rection, — and therefore a resurrection of the just only, — and 
 specifically connects it with the coming and glorious reign of 
 the Lord Messiah. The place to which they point in Ezekiel 
 (xxxvii.) certainly describes a national and moral resurrection, 
 and surrounds it with promises which imply also the literal 
 resurrection of all the faithful Israel to share the kingdom of 
 him who shall be their Prince forever. And what they cite 
 from Daniel, (xii. 2,) accordicg to the best Hebraists, not only 
 asserts a resurrection which all take to be literal, but draws a 
 plain distinction between the resurrection of the just and the 
 rest of the dead. G-aon thus paraphrases it: — "And many of 
 them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; this is 
 the resurrection of the dead of Israel, whose lot is to eternal 
 life; but those who do not awake (at that time) .shall be an 
 abhorrence to all flesh." This agrees with the translation of 
 Professor Bush : — " Many from out of the sleepers in the dust 
 of the earth shall awake ; these (that is, those who awake, shall 
 be) to everlasting life, and those (who do not then awake shall 
 
STATE OF THE QUESTION IN CHRIST's TIME. 101 
 
 be) to everlasting contempt." Thus also does Professor 
 Whiting rende'r it : — " Many from the sleepers of the dust of 
 the ground shall awake, these to everlasting life, and tliose 
 to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence." The language of 
 Daniel thus accommodates itself exactly to the language of 
 the test. The martyrs and saiuts arise: "this is the first 
 resurrection. But the rest of the dead lived not again until 
 the thousand years were finished." Daniel is unquestionably 
 speaking of a literal, limited and eclectic resurrection. As 
 Dr. Hody argues, "if mmi^, standing alone, could signify all, 
 mmvj of, which is the phraseology of this text, cannot signify 
 all. Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth cannot 
 be said to be all they that sleep in the dust. Many of does 
 plainly except some." And if there is to be a limited and 
 eclectic resurrection when the great Prince shall stand up for 
 Israel, and yet all men shall be made alive again, the point is 
 settled that there must be a twofold resurrection, just as John 
 teaches us in the text. 
 
 The state of the question, in the period in which the New 
 Testament was given, was therefore simply this: — The ancient 
 prophets speak of a resurrection from among the dead, a literal 
 resurrection to eternal life, which embraces only the just, and 
 leaves the wicked still in their graves. The more learned and 
 devout Jews so understood these glorious predictions, and 
 taught the doctrine of a first resurrection, or resurrection 
 embracing only the just. The doctrine of a twofold resur- 
 rection was therefore no strange notion to those who lived in 
 the time of Christ and his apostles, but familiar to the minds 
 of many. If it was an error, we would naturally expect some 
 contradiction of it from Christ or his apostles. The absence 
 of such contradiction leaves room for the presumption that it 
 was not an error. And if we can find language in the New 
 Testament adapted only to this belief, and framed to it as the 
 
 9* 
 
102 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 truth, the presumption in its favor will have all needful sup- 
 port to furnish ground upon which to insist upon it as a 
 divine certainty. 
 
 Let us look, then, at what may he gathered on the subject 
 from the New Testament. " ' 
 
 1. I think you will find it invariably true, that wherever 
 the resurrection of both the good and bad is spoken of, the 
 resurrection of the righteous is always named first, and that 
 of the wicked afterwards. "All that are in their graves 
 shall hear his voice, and shall come forth : (1) they that have 
 done good, unto the resurrection of lifej and (2) they that 
 have done evil, unto the resurrection of danmation." " There 
 shall be a resurrection of the dead both (1) of the just and 
 (2) unjust." 
 
 2. The resurrection of the righteous is specifically said to 
 precede the resurrection of the wicked. " As in Adam all 
 die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But eveiy man 
 in his own -ayim, — hand, cohort, company: Christ the first- 
 fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming; sTra to 
 T£?.()<:, — then the last band." " The dead in Christ shall rise 
 first." '' The rest of the dead lived not again until the 
 thousand years were finished." 
 
 3. The resurrection of the I'ighteous is everywhere spoken 
 of as a peculiar blessing, in which the wicked have no share 
 whatever. Of every one that seeth the Sou and believeth on 
 hiin, Jesufs says, '' I will raise him up at the last day;" thus 
 distinctly intimating that none but believers shall share in the 
 resurrection here contemplated. He speaks of " the resur- 
 rection of the just" as something quite distinct from any 
 thing in which the unjust shall have a part. He says that 
 *' the children of the resurrection are equal unto the angels, 
 and are the children of Grod," and " are as tbe angels which 
 are iu heaven." Here he certainly speaks of a resurrection 
 from which the wicked are quite excluded. See also Romans 
 
FACTS FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. 103 
 
 viii. 23 ; 1 Cor. vi. 14 ; 2 Cor. iv. 14 :—"BlcsmI am? Iwhj 
 is he that hath part iu the first resurrection." 
 
 4. The resurrection of the righteous is pUiinly spoken of 
 as eclectic. One instance is in Luke xx. 35, whore the Savior 
 speaks of those wortliy of heaven as destined " to obtain the 
 I'esurrection"— -not merely "from the dead^" as our version 
 reads, but zx vs/.pio'j — " out of, or from amongst tlie dead 
 ones." T)iis certain!}' implies the raising of some, that is, the 
 saints, whilst the rest of the dead remain in their graves. 
 Another instance is \\\ Philippians iii. 11, where Paul speaks 
 of his strong desire and great exertions to "attain unto tt^v 
 eS-a-^afTTarrr^ rco^ '.^zxpw^, — the resurrection FROM AMONGST the 
 dead ones." What did Paul mean by this? "Of his resur- 
 rection at the end of the world, when all without exception 
 will surely be raised, he could have no possible doubt," says 
 Professor Stuart. " What sense then can this passage have, if 
 it represents him as laboring and suffering merely iu order to 
 attain to a resurrection, and as holding this up to view as 
 unattainable unless he should arrive at a high degree of Chris- 
 tian perfection ? On the other hand, let us suppose a Jirst 
 resurrection to be appointed as a special reward of high 
 attainments in Christian virtue, and all seems to be plain and 
 easy. Of a resurrection in a ji(jurattoe sense, /. e. of rcijenc- 
 ration, Paul cannot be speaking; for he had already attained 
 to that on the plain of Damascus." Both these passages 
 bring before us the whole congregation of the really dead, 
 and describe the resurrection of which they speak as a selec- 
 tion (sx) out of or from amony that great company, taking 
 some, and leaving others. The second is particularly remark- 
 able. For if the I'ighteous and the wicked are all to be raised 
 together, Paul might have saved his pains to attain to a resur- 
 rection of which he would have at all events been partaker. 
 " Of like tenor," says Stuart, " is the implication in Luke xiv. 
 14, where the Savior promises to his disciples a sure reward 
 
104 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 for kindness to the poor and sufferinp;, at the remrrertion of 
 the Just. Why the resurrection of the just?' — What special 
 meaning can this have, unless it implies that there is a resur- 
 rection where the just only, and not the unjust, will be raised ? 
 This would agree entirely with the view in Rev. xx. 5 : — ' But 
 the rest of the dead lived not AGAIN, until the thousand 
 years were finished.' " 
 
 Now, when we come to sum up all these facts, and assign 
 them the force which belongs to the words of inspiration, the 
 conclusion is to me unavoidable, that the doctrine of a two- 
 fold resurrection has a solid foundation in the ScTi'iptures. 
 The resurrection of the holy is entirely separated, in nature 
 and in point of time, from the resurrection of "the rest of 
 the dead." Strike this doctrine from tlie Apocalypse, and we 
 still have it in the epistles of Paul. Strike it from the epis- 
 tles, and we still have it in the teachings of Jesus himself. 
 Strike it from the whole New Testament, and we still have it 
 firm and unshaken in the holy prophecies of Daniel and 
 Isaiah. But let the hand be withered that attempts to strike 
 it from any portion of the word of God. It is there, distinct 
 and clear, authorizing all the saints to hope for the redemption 
 of their bodies, and their corporeal transformation, so soon as 
 the millennium shall begin. 
 
 Here, then, is another argument for the doctrine of 
 Christ's premillennial coming. The resurrection of the 
 saints is everywhere connected with his final advent. ''All 
 shall be made alive ; they that are Christ's at his coming." 
 " Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For 
 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven : and the dead 
 in Christ shall rise first." " When he shall appear, we shall 
 be like him." But the resurrection and glorification of the 
 saints is just as clearly connected with the beginning of the 
 millennium. There can be no millennium whilst the wilful 
 king continues to " exalt himself, and magnify himself above 
 
ASPECT OF DFTATH TO THE RIGHTEOUS. 105 
 
 every p'od, and speak marvellous things against the God of 
 gods;" and the fall of this antichristian power, and the glo- 
 rious resurrection proclaimed by Daniel, are contemporaneous. 
 " He shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And 
 AT THAT TIME God's people shall be delivered, every one that 
 shall be found written in the book ; and many of them that 
 sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." So in the text, 
 the millennium, or the period of the thousand years, is intro- 
 d-uced by the rising and living again of " them that were 
 beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of Gi'd, 
 and whioh had not worshipped the beast nor his image." 
 These holy ones are to " live and reign with Christ the thou- 
 sand years ;" and so their resurrection must occur at the begin- 
 ning of the thousand years. And as they that are Christ's arise 
 "at his coming," Jiis rmiiinr/ must be hefure the millennium. 
 Such, then, is the glorious hope of the Lord's people. 
 Very soon shall Christ their deliverer come, and change them 
 into a full likeness to himself. Then shall his victory over 
 death be manifest. " Because he lives, we shall live also." 
 '■' For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so 
 them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 
 And how many sunny thoughts cluster around this doctrine ! 
 
 There is nothing so repulsive to our natural instincts as 
 death. There are fevr people who do not feel a cold shudder 
 creeping through and through them whenever they realize 
 the thought that they must die, and have the coffin-lid screwed 
 down upon their foreheads, and be covered up with clods in 
 the damp dark ground. But the hope of the resurrection of 
 the just throws a radiance round the death-bed and the grave, 
 and helps to reconcile us to the mysterious change. To a 
 good man, the sepulchre is but the gateway to a better world, 
 — the resting-place for the wasted and wearied body previous 
 to going forth into the bliss and honors of a divine and eternal 
 
106 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 kingdom. Its shades are but a quiet night anterior to an 
 evedasting day. Death is but a deep, wliich presupposes a 
 future awakening. "An eternal sleep" is a contradiction in 
 terms, — a miserable solecism, — a mode of speech the very 
 phraseology of which brands the atheistic invention with ab- 
 surdity. Sleep is but the temporary suspension of animation 
 for the purpose of refreshment and invigoration. It is always 
 succeeded by a waking. And such is death to the Christian. 
 Jesus has transmuted it into a refreshing sleep, from which we 
 shall early arise, in renewed strength and glory, for the scenes 
 and employments of a day which shall have no night. The 
 New Testament nearly always speaks of the departure of the 
 believing as a slccj). Jesus said, " Our friend Lazarus slecp- 
 eth ; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." "The 
 saints which slept," is familiar phraseology to the reader of 
 the Scriptures. " David, after he had served his own genera- 
 tion, ye// on sleep." As the first martyr died, Luke said he 
 ^^fell asleep." Paul comforted the mourning Thessalonians, 
 by assuring them that their pious dead "' are asleep" — only 
 '■^asleep" — to be waked to life again when Jesus comes. And 
 so all the saints that have departed this life are said to " sleep 
 in Jesus." 
 
 Yes, Christian parent, that child which so suddenly sick- 
 ened, withered and faded in your arms, and which with so 
 much sadiiess you yielded to the cold dark grave, is not lost 
 and gone eternally. It only sleeps — sweetly sleeps — in the 
 arms of its Maker. You buried it ; but you buried it looking 
 for the resurrection of the last day, when it shall awake to be 
 yours forever. Weep not, daughter, as if that sainted 
 mother whom you last saw dressed for the tomb sliall never 
 look upon you again with her wonted love and tenderness. 
 She is thy mother still. She is not dead, but sleepeth. She 
 will awake again, and take you to her heart as fondly as ever. 
 Sorrow not as they that have no liopc, stricken one, mourn- 
 
THE GLORY OF THE RESURRECTION. 107 
 
 ing over a husbaud's grave. He lias only laid him down to 
 rest in soft slumber. God's eye is on that prostrate buried 
 form. And when thy loved one's Savior comes he will shake 
 off his sepulchral covering, and be thy constant friend as in 
 the days gone by. " 
 
 " Soon shall you meet again, 
 Meet ne'er to sever; 
 Soon will peace wreath her chain 
 Round you forever." 
 
 And what a reunion of hearts and exchange of happy 
 gratulations shall crown and crowd that day! What glorious 
 meetings and triumphs will then be celebrated ! What devout 
 and anxious hopes shall then be consummated ! Then shall 
 Jesus say, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust;" and 
 they shall obey his call, and rise to praise him forever. Then 
 will the once-afflicted saints of every age and clime " stand 
 drest in robes of everlasting wear." Then shall those who 
 denied themselves and took up the cross receive their crowns. 
 Then shall the wisdom of their '' respect unto the recom- 
 pense of the reward" be vindicated forever. Then shall God 
 glorify his Son by transfQ,rming millions into his glorious 
 image. And "then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
 is written^ Death is sicaUowed lop in viclori/.'^ 
 
 Earth, my brethren, has been the theatre of some splendid 
 victories, the fame of which has filled the world and echoed 
 along the corridors of ages. But never has earth beheld such 
 a triumph as that which shall be realized at the resurrection 
 of the just. Then shall be enacted another genesis, more 
 glorious than the first. Then shall be performed another 
 exodus, more illustrious than that which Moses led. Then 
 shall truth triumph over error, and faith over unbelief, hu- 
 mility over pride, life over death, and immortality over the 
 grave. Then shall the cross give way tc the crown, and cor- 
 ruption to glory J and from the mold and ashes of every 
 
t08 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Christian's tomb shall coine forth an undying form, radiant 
 with the transforming touch of Deitj, — a dear-bouglit but 
 sublime and imperishable monument to the resurrection and 
 the life. The graves of the patriarchs shall open. The scat- 
 tered dust and ashes of prophets, apostles and martyrs shall 
 be gathered. Unknown saints of God that have died in gar- 
 rets, and cellars, and barns, and dungeons, — and lowly and 
 despised poor in Christ who sleep in potters'-fields, — shall 
 spring forth from their unnoticed graves in sublimer glory 
 than ever adorned the illustrious Solomon. Precious inno- 
 cents, whose names were never heard, and lamented children, 
 that molder in their little tombs, and pious afflicted ones, who 
 spent their days in pain secluded from the gay world, — all, 
 all shall then forsake their resting-places and shine as the 
 stars for ever and evei Then shall all the waiting saints of 
 all lands and ages, mysteriously transferred to the bridal halls 
 of heaven, join in holy fellowship to celebrate with untold joy 
 the sublime epiphany of their redeeming Lord, v.'ith all their 
 varied tongues in heavenly concord singing the triumphs of 
 that salvation for which they lived, and hoped, and suffered. 
 
 " Oh, scenes surpassing fable, and yet true ! 
 Scenes of accomplished bliss! which, who oan see, 
 Though but in distant prospect, and not feel 
 His soul refreshed with foretastes of the joy?" 
 
 Not all the saints, indeed, may rise at the same instant, nor 
 all the living be translated at once ; there is progression and 
 order in all the divine works;* but still the resurrection is for 
 all that sleep in Christ, and the translation for all whom he 
 shall find awaiting his coming. All shall share in the 
 happy victory. And what adds to the peculiar joy of some 
 is that they will never die at all, but shall be changed, in 
 a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; 
 for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
 
 » See Note H. pago 349. 
 
A SUBLIME THOUGHT. 109 
 
 incorruptible, and we shall be changed." " The dead in Christ 
 shall rise first : then we which are alive and remain shall be 
 caught up together with them " Aud what a thought is this, 
 that there perhaps are some listening to me now who shall 
 never know by experience what death is ! Those of Christ's 
 people who are living when he comes shall of a sudden feel 
 the thrill of immortality careering through them, and find 
 themselves transported to join the children of the resurrec- 
 tion. Not one of them that truly believe in Jesus shall be 
 left behind. The humblest and obscurest, the lowest with the 
 highest, all shall be taken together. For "he shall send forth 
 his angels, with a gi'eat sound of a trumpet, and they shall 
 gather together his elect fi'om the four winds, from one end 
 of heaven to the other." And they shall live and reign with 
 Christ the thousand years. "And so shall we ever be with 
 the Lord." And thenceforward forever shall this song be 
 sung : — 
 
 " Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 
 And he will dwell wkh them, 
 And they shall be his people, 
 And God himself shall be with them, 
 And be their God. 
 
 And God shall wipe away .all tears from their eyes; 
 And there shall be no more death, 
 Neither sorrow, nor crying. 
 Neither shall there be any more pain : 
 For the former things are passed away." 
 
 ■ Verily, " blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
 resurrection I" Was there ever conceived such a system of 
 grace and glory as that which constitutes the gospel of Jesus? 
 How precious are its promises ! How transporting are its 
 hopes I How it meets the vast desires of humanity, and 
 pours consolation into the hearts of the children of sorrow ! 
 What is there to compare with it ? Atheism, with its eternal 
 sleep, may stupefy the soul, and render it somewhat callous to 
 
 10 
 
110 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 the woes of life. But how sad and cheerless is the epitaph 
 which it writes on the tomb ! Heathen philosophy, with its 
 transmigrations and feeble guesses, may excite some dull and 
 low concern for futurity; but how gloomy is the destiny which 
 it sets before man ! It is only Christianity, with its resurrec- 
 tion and another life, that can at all rouse man into a proper 
 consciousness of his dignity, or satisfy the lofty and mighty 
 aspirations that well up from his heart. This is our glorious 
 hope, the price of which cannot be equalled with gold. 
 
 And how devoutly thankful should we then be for what 
 God has done for us and purposed concerning us ! How 
 should our hearts soften at the contemplations before us, and 
 swell with emotions of love towards so great a Benefactor ! 
 How should we be concerned to find out the will of such a 
 friend, and seek to approve ourselves unto him ! How cheer- 
 fully should we hail him as the chief among ten thousand, 
 and the one altogether lovely ! How gladly should we set our- 
 selves to do his gracious commands, and to keep his loving 
 counsels ! In him is our strength, our hope, and our joy. 
 He is not ashamed to be our God, and surely we should not 
 be ashamed to be his people, " looking for that blessed hope, 
 even the glorious appearing of the great God, our Savior 
 Jesus Christ." Let us, then, give ourselves to him, body and 
 soul, as a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. Let 
 us fully identify ourselves with Jesus, knowing that "when 
 he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as 
 he is." And, especially, let us not forget that " every man 
 that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as the 
 Savior is pure." He hath prepared for us a city; but "there 
 shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither 
 whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." It is only 
 " (he Jio?i/'' who shall hf^ve part in the first resurrection. 
 " The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and mur- 
 derers, and whoi'emongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and 
 
MOMENTOUS QUESTIONS. Ill 
 
 all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with 
 lire and brimstone, which is the second death." It is only 
 " unto them tliat look for him" that " he shall appear the 
 second time unto salvation." 
 
 WIRD DAS NICHT FREUDE SEYNl 
 
 Will that not joyful be. 
 When we walk by fiiith no more, 
 When the Lord we loved before 
 
 As Brother-man we see ! 
 When he welcomes us above, 
 When we share his smile of love, — 
 
 Will that not joyful be? 
 
 Will that not joyful be. 
 When to meet us rise and come 
 All our buried treasures home, 
 
 A glorious company ! 
 When our arms embrace again 
 Those we mourned so long in vain, — 
 
 Will that not joyful be? 
 
 Will that not joyful be, 
 When the foes we dread to meet 
 Every one beneath our feet 
 
 We tread triumphantly ! 
 When we never more can know 
 Slightest touch of pain or woe, — 
 
 Will that not joyful be ? 
 
 Yes ! that will joyful be. 
 When we hear what none can tell, 
 And the ringing chorus swell 
 
 Of angels' melody ! 
 When we join their songs of praise. 
 Hallelujahs with them raise,— 
 
 That, that will joyful be! 
 
 H. C. VON SCHWEINITZ. 
 
FIFTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE Messiah's kingdom — how spoken of by the ancient pro- 
 phets HOW APPREHENDED BY THE SAVIOR's CONTEMPORARIES 
 
 how spoken of in the new testament specifically connected 
 
 with the second advent the present dispensation not ihb 
 
 Messiah's glorious reign. 
 
 Dan. vii. 13, 14 : I saio in the night visions, and behold, one like the 
 Son of man came tvith the clouds of heaven, and came to the 
 Ancient of days, and they brought him near bej'ore him. And 
 there was given him 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 king- 
 dom that ivhich shall not be destroyed. 
 
 That this vision contains a prophecy concerning 'Hhe last 
 times," will not be denied. That the "one like the Son of 
 man" is Jesus Christ, in his glorified human nature, is ad- 
 mitted on all hands. That his "coming with the clouds of 
 heaven" refers to his final advent in this world, is also the 
 common belief of interpreters. His being led to the Ancient of 
 days to receive dominion, plainly denotes his investiture with 
 rulership, and his inauguration into the august oflBce of the 
 almighty Sovereign of the nations. This dominion is some- 
 thing more than his present spiritual reign in meu's hearts ; 
 for he does not enter upon it until he comes in the clouds. It 
 is also a kingdom the affiiirs of which are to be administered 
 by Christ in person, or by those under his immediate control 
 and direction; for it is given to him as the Son of man, and 
 his personal descent at the time of receiving it is explicitly 
 112 
 
CHRIST WILL REIGN PERSONALLY ON EARTH. 113 
 
 afBrmed. It must also be a visible and terrestrial kingdom, 
 for "nations" are mentioned as its subjects. 
 
 The doctrine which I accordingly deduce from this text, 
 and which I shall aim to set forth in this discourse, is, That 
 the Lord Jesus Christ will return ai/ain to this icorld, and here 
 set np a visible Christocra/y, or empire of his own, and. per- 
 sonalli/ reign over the nations in the Miss and glory of a uni- 
 versal and. eterncd kingdom. There are many good people 
 wlio believe no such thing. My main object will therefore be 
 to pi'ove it by solid Scriptural arguments. And if I can show 
 that it has a firm foundation in the word of God, I certainly 
 have a right to claim for it the respect due to a doctrine of 
 inspiration. Let us then approach the subject with humble 
 reverence, sincerely desirous to learn the truth, and earnestly 
 praying that God may give us a proper insight to this wonder- 
 ful mystery. 
 
 I. I remark then, in the first place, that the prophecies of 
 the Old Testament, when taken in their plain and natural 
 sense, certainly predict the Messiah as a great prince who 
 shall reign in this world. To establish this remark I appre- 
 hend to be no difficult task. The very first words that ever 
 were uttered concerning Christ already imply it. When God 
 reckoned with Adam, though he excluded him from Paradise, 
 he left him this consoling promise: — The seed of the icoman 
 shall bruise the serpent's head. Satan had assailed our first 
 parents, and overcome them. By that victory he became the 
 reigning prince of this world, and to this day he holds his 
 dark supremacy in nearly every department of the earth. The 
 crushing of this serpent's head can mean nothing less than the 
 demolition of Satan's empire, and the establishment of the 
 empire of the woman's seed in its place. And if Christ, as 
 the Son of man, is to displace Satan, and reign over the 
 nations as Satan now rules over them, nothing short of a literal, 
 
 real and universal empire can be the result. 
 H 10* 
 
114 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 * 
 
 The next distinct allusion to this "seed" is in God's cove- 
 nant with Abraham, where it is said that he shall ^'■possess the 
 gate of A/.s enninex, and nil nations of the earth he hlc-iscd in 
 him." Paul tells us that this promise did not belong to 
 Abraham's posterity at large, but only to "o?ie, which is 
 Christ." To possess an enemy's gate is to conquer that 
 enemy, — to take his last defence. And when it is said of 
 Christ, that he shall possess the gates of his enemies, and 
 bless all nations, we have before us the idea of a great, vic- 
 torious and universal prince, making himself the master and 
 the benefactor of the world. 
 
 Another reference to the same thing we find in Hannah's 
 song, where it is said. " Tim Lord :Jiall jndye the ends of the 
 earth, and he shall gicc strength to his King, and exalt the 
 horn of his anointed." Here too we have the princedom of 
 the Messiah iu this world, and his universal sovereignty, 
 pointedly asserted. 
 
 In God's promises to David we have the matter still more 
 particularly amplified. God says to the monarch of Israel, 
 '* When thy days he fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy 
 fathers, 1 will set up) thy seed after thee, and 1 will estahlish 
 his kingdom, and the throne of his kingdom, forever. And 
 THINE HOUSE, and THY KINGDOM shall he estahlished forever 
 hefore thee: THY THRONE SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER." 
 
 If this promise refers pre-eminently to Christ "the Son of 
 David," as all agree that it does, then he is to be a great 
 earthly prioce; for he is to occupy a throne, and possess a 
 kingdom; and that throne and kingdom are identical with the 
 throne and kingdom of his father David. Much as men may 
 dislike to admit this, here is God's promise, iu words as plain 
 as any man can use. David had an empire in this world; and 
 he reigned as a prince in this world; and God says that his 
 promised Son shall take David's place, and establish David's 
 throne forever. David himself certainly so understood the 
 
ARGUMENT FROM THE PROPHETS. 115 
 
 promise, and by diviue inspivatiou so prophesied of it in the 
 Psalms. As ho hud his court in Mount Zion, so he represents 
 his illustrious Sou as "Kinj iq)'Jii the ho/^ hill of Zioii," with 
 the heathen given to him for his inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for his possession. "He shall have 
 dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the 
 earth. Yea, kings shall fall down before him : all nations 
 shall serve him." Who can listen to such language with an 
 unbiassed mind, and not gather from it the idea, that the pro- 
 phet is here speaking of some great and mighty king, who is 
 to sway the sceptre of literal empire over the inhabitants of 
 this world? 
 
 Turn now to Isaiah, the great evangelical prophet, and see 
 how he describes the Messiah. "Unto us a child is born, 
 unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called, Wonder- 
 ful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Father of the everla.sting 
 age, The Prince of peace." Nobody misunderstands this. All 
 take the words just as they are written, without looking after 
 some mystical or allegorical meaning. By what authority, 
 then, shall we reject the literal acceptation of what follows? 
 '^And the government shall he upon his shoulder. Of the 
 increase of his government and peace there shall he no end, 
 
 UPON THE THRONE OF DaVID, AND UPON HIS KINGDOM, tO 
 
 order IT, and to establish it with judgment and loith justice 
 from henceforth even forever." What could more unequi- 
 vocally describe the Messiah as a great prince, reigning in 
 David's place in this woi'ld? 
 
 If we turn to Jeremiah, we find the Savior spoken of in the 
 same manner. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 
 / will raise unto david a 7'ighteous Branch, and a King 
 shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and judg- 
 ment IN THE EARTH. In his days 3 VD AH shall he saved, and 
 Israel shall dwell safely." "And they shall serve the Lord 
 
116 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 their Gocl, and David their King {in h is jyj-omised Son) zcJiom^ 
 I will rai^c up unto tlwm." 
 
 These are veiy plain and positive predictions. Others of 
 like import might be presented. Here and elsewhere, the 
 Messiah is again and again called a king. He is to possess 
 and occupy David's throne. He is to be a conqueror of his 
 enemies and the possessor of their cities. He is to reign over 
 the nations. He is to be the commander around whose banner 
 the Gentiles shall be gathered. His kingdom is to be in a 
 sense the kingdom of David, re-established, exalted, extended 
 over all the earth, and made forever permanent. This is the 
 natural anil obvious meaning of the words; and there is 
 no reason why we should understand them differently, or seek 
 for some other remote and occult meaning. Professor Stuart has 
 justly said that "it is one of the plainest and most cogent of 
 all the rules of hermeneutics, that every passage of Scripture, 
 or of any other book, is to be interpreted as bearing its plain 
 and primaiy and literal sense, unless good reason can be given 
 why it should be tropically understood." Vitringa gives it as 
 ''an unerring canon, and of great use," that "we must never 
 depart from the literal meaning of the subject mentioned in 
 its own appropriate name, if its principal attributes square with 
 the subject of the prophecy." Ernesti says, " Theologians 
 are right when they affirm the literal sense to be the only true 
 one." And Hooker declares, "I hold it for a most infallible 
 rule in expositions of sacred Scripture, that when a literal con- 
 struction will stand, the farthest from the letter is commonly 
 tbe worst." What then are we to do with the prophecies to 
 which I have referred? The literal meaning is evident. 
 There is not only no necessity for departing from it, but we 
 cannot depart from it without violence and inconsistency. I 
 therefore claim it as a fact, that the Old Testament writers 
 have predicted Christ as a great prince who is literally to reign 
 upon the throne of David in real empire over all the world 
 
OPINIONS OF Christ's contemporaries. 117 
 
 II. It is also true, in the second place, that when the Savior 
 came into the world, as the Sou of Mary, he was expected as 
 a great prince who should set up a literal empire in this world. 
 This is a point so notorious, and so much dwelt upon by theo- 
 logians and preachers, that it is hardly necessary to do more 
 than state it. 
 
 Knapp says, ''At the time of Christ, and previously, the 
 current opinion of the people in Palestine, and indeed of most 
 of the Pharisees and lawyers, was, that he would be a temporal 
 deliverer and a King of the Jews, and indeed a universal 
 monarch, who would reign over all nations. Tlie apostles them- 
 selves held this opinion." 
 
 Neander says, " The Jews expected a Messiah who should 
 be armed with miraculous power in their behalf, free them 
 from civil bondage, execute a severe retribution upon the ene- 
 mies of the theocratic people, and make them masters of the 
 world in a universal empire, whose glory it was their special 
 delight to set forth." 
 
 Schaffsays "The Jews conceived of the Messianic kingdom 
 as a glorious restoration of the throne of David." 
 
 Brooks says, "It is quite notorious that the Jews did, in 
 the time of our Savior, look for a King who should, in an 
 illustrious and glorious manner, inherit the throne of David, 
 reign over Israel, and obtain dominion and possession over all 
 nations." 
 
 And so uniform is the testimony on this point, that it is 
 unnecessary to argue it. When Herod inquired of the chief 
 priests and scribes where Christ should be born, "they said 
 unto him. In Bethlehem of Judea; for thus it is written by 
 the prophet. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art 
 not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee 
 shall come A governor that shall rule my people Israel." 
 This shows how the Jews understood the ancient prophets, and 
 what were their expectations at the time. Hei'od certainly 
 
118 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 acted under the apprehension th;it the coming Christ was to be 
 a great prince, when he gave orders "and slew all the children 
 that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof." Why 
 adopt measures to slay the infant Savior if he did not fear that 
 Christ would again restore the Jewish throne? Nay, we read 
 that even from far beyond the limits of Palestine, certain 
 "wise men came, saying, Where is he that is born Kinj of the 
 Jews?" It would seem that whithersoever a knowledge of the 
 Hebrew prophecies had gone, it was uniformly expected that 
 the promised Messiah would be a sublime and triumphant 
 Jewish king, whose dominion would absorb all other king- 
 doms, and stand forever. 
 
 That extravagant and unfounded notions were entertained 
 by many, I have no doubt. Some looked for Christ only as a 
 military hero, and conceived of his reign too much after the 
 style of ambitious tyranny. They sometimes spoke of him 
 only as a conquering leader, whereas he is at the same time a 
 divine spiritual Savior. They surrovinded him too much with 
 their own carnal and resentful feelings, and overlooked that 
 meekness and holiness of spirit which is indispensable to a 
 blissful participation in his princely ministrations. They 
 failed to apprehend that great foundation-fact, that he was 
 first to suffer ere he should reign, and bear the cross before 
 reaching the crown. But, with all their narrow bigotries and 
 carnal hopes, they did not misconceive this one prominent 
 feature of the matter, that the promised Messiah was to be a 
 great prince, who should reign upon the throne of David his 
 father, and extend his royal dominion over all the earth. So 
 the prophets had spoken, and so they understood what the 
 prophets said. 
 
 III. I pi'oceed, then, to a third remark, viz.: that the New 
 Testameot nowhere contradicts what was thus expected of the 
 Messiah. There are, indeed, a few passages which seem to 
 conflict with these expectations; but when attentively consi- 
 
SPIRITUALITY OF CHRISTIANITY. 119 
 
 dered, and their real meaning ascertained, they will be found 
 entirely accordant with the doctrine which I am endeavoring 
 to set forth. 
 
 That Christianity is an eminently spiritual religion, all who 
 understand it must admit.* The fundamental principle of the 
 Messiah's kingdom is his reign over the heart, bringing all 
 its affections and impulses into subjection to the will of God. 
 This is the germ on which every thing else depends. He who 
 is not spiritually renewed, and morally assimilated to Christ, 
 has neither part nor lot in Christ's kingdom, whatever may 
 be his birth, blood, or external relations. " However different 
 the extent and outward form of the kingdom," says a distin- 
 guished author, '' however great its ultimate triumph and glo- 
 ries, this is still its peculiar feature and character, — God, the 
 Savior, reigning supreme in the heart of the once-alienated 
 and rebellious sinner, and all dispensations are but hastening 
 on this great result the more fully over all the earth." We 
 would ignore the most glorious and most distinguished feature 
 of Christianity, if we were for a moment to think differently. 
 It is therefore to be presumed that the Savior and his inspired 
 servants should set forth this point with marked perspicuity. 
 And we would especially expect them to express themselves 
 strongly on this feature of the kingdom, as there were many 
 of their hearers who had quite lost sight of it. It was the 
 most serious mistake of the Jews, not that they expected 
 Christ as a triumphing Lord, but that they did not compre- 
 hend how he was at the same time to be a spiritual Redeemer, 
 and that the blessings of his glorious reign were to extend 
 only to those who should be inwardly subjected to his holy 
 will. They thought their lineal descent from Abraham, and 
 their formal submission to the Mosaic ritual, presented all 
 that was needful to secure for them the full benefit of the 
 sublime achievements of their expected King. This was a 
 disease needing to be cauterized. Hence, when the Pharisees 
 
 ^s See Note E, p-ige 335. 
 
120 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 asked Jesus ''when the kingdom of God should come," he at 
 once struck at the root of their false hopes, and called them 
 back from their dreams of glory to those first rudiments with- 
 out which neither Jew nor Gentile shall ever see the kingdom 
 of God. " He answered and said, The kingdom of God cometh 
 not with observation." That is, the es.sence of the Messianic 
 reign does not lie in the pomp, show and outward demonstra- 
 tions of power for which they wei'e looking. "Neither shall 
 they say, Lo here ! or, Lo there !" as if it were to be set up 
 with mere physical victories. " The hingdom of God is ivithin 
 you." Its seat is in the heart; and unless first found in the 
 heart it will never be found at all. This is what they had 
 overlooked ; and this is all this passage teaches. It is to the 
 same point that Paul speaks, when he says, " The kingdom of 
 God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy 
 in the Holy Ghost." The antithesis which he presents is 
 not between a visible personal reign of Christ, and a mere 
 reign by his Spij'it and grace, but between the true prerequi- 
 site spiritual submission to Christ, and that mere ceremonial 
 righteousness upon which the Jews so much boasted and 
 relied. But the fact that a man's heart must be renewed and 
 purified as a condition of participation in the blessings of the 
 mediatorial kingdom, by no means proves that that kingdom 
 is not hereafter to take form, and be outwardly manifested iu 
 a triumphant personal reign of the Savior in this world. For 
 if we interpret these words so as to confine the divine king- 
 dom to the heart, and to righteousness, peace and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost, we necessarily exclude from it the outward 
 church, the sacraments, and a future home in heaven. And 
 yet, if we dare extend the limits of the divine kingdom be- 
 yond the mere inward experiences of the soul, there is nothing 
 to prevent us from extending it so as to embrace also the 
 future personal reign of the Messiah upon earth. For if ths 
 present existence of the kingdom in men's hearts is recon- 
 
AN OFT-MISQUOTED PASSAGE EXPLAINED. 121 
 
 cilable with the hope of a more glorious form of the kingdom 
 in the heavenly world, it is equally reconcilable, and on the 
 same grounds, with the doctrine of the future princely reign 
 of Christ over the nations. 
 
 Another passage often misquoted upon this subject is that 
 where Christ says, '^My hingdom is not (ez) from this ivorld." 
 When he uttered these words, he was on his trial before 
 Pilate. He had been accused of treasonable purposes. Pilate, 
 therefore, asked him whether he was a king. He boldly 
 affirmed that he was a king. But to quiet their appi-ehen- 
 sious that he was about to undertake to subvert the existing 
 authorities by carnal violence, he qualified his avowal ; and 
 these words contain the qualification. He does not say that 
 his kingdom is not to be located upon earth ; for it is located 
 here. His church and all its ordinances are on earth. The 
 children of the kingdom live and operate in this world. He 
 only says, his kingdom is not from this world, that it is of 
 heavenly origin, and that it is to be set up by supernatural 
 means, and not by human prowess or the might of earthly 
 arms. That this is what he means, and all that he means, is 
 evident from all the circumstances of the case, and is made 
 abundantly clear from the additional words : — "Ulse would my 
 servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews." 
 Why did he not allow his servants to fight ? Because his 
 kingdom was not to be built up in that style. He is to enter 
 upon his throne by a different process. He is to receive his 
 dominion from above, and not from beneath. The Lord will 
 give it to him. It will not come out of this world.* 
 
 I may therefore say, with perfect safety, that there is nothing 
 in the New Testament to contradict the cherished expecta- 
 tions, that the Messiah is to reign as a great prince on David's 
 throne in this world. 
 
 IV. Nay, I go further, and say, that there is much in the 
 New Testament tending directly to confirm and deepen these 
 
 * See Note ]■ . page o38. 
 
122 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 prevailing expectations. Look for a moment at what the 
 angel said to Mary, when he came to announce to her the 
 birth of the expected Christ. Gabriel there says to the Vir- 
 gin, " Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, 
 and shalt call his name Jesus ; he shall be great, and shall be 
 called the Son of the Highest." These are plain words. All 
 understand them just as they stand. And what follows is 
 equally plain, and by all sound principles of interpretation 
 must be taken as equally literal : — "And the Lord shall give 
 Mm the throne of his father david. And he shall 
 
 REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JaCOB FOREVER ; and of his 
 
 kingdom there shall he no end." Now, what effect could such 
 an announcement have upon those who were looking for the 
 Christ as a great reigning prince, but to establish and fix all 
 their prepossessions concerning him in that respect? And 
 when his virgin mother first brought him as a babe to the 
 temple, Simeon and Anna, by direct divine inspiration, spoke 
 of him as the consolation for which Israel was looking, and 
 as the one to accomplish in Jerusalem the very redemption 
 which Judah was expecting. What could be the tendency ot 
 such utterances, but to make the people who heard them still 
 more enthusiastic in the hopes they were cherishing ? When 
 Nathanael first recognized the Savior's Messiahship, and ad- 
 dressed him as " Kabbi, the Son of God, the King of Israel," 
 he evidently conceived of that kingship according to the pre- 
 vailing belief of the time. And yet Christ passed it as a 
 proper conception, and replied to it in a way which could only 
 give intensity to the anticipations that were entertained. 
 When the five thousand, who had been miraculously fed in 
 the wilderness, would have taken him by force, and placed 
 him on the throne, he withdrew himself; for his time for that 
 had not yet come ; neither was that the way in which he was 
 to obtain his crown. But he uttered not a word of censure to 
 indicate that they were wrong in looking upon him as he who 
 
FURTHER NEW TESTAMENT EVIDENCE 123 
 
 should hold earthly dominion, and reign with authority like 
 that with which they desired to invest him. When he made 
 his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the people around 
 him shouted, "Blessed be the King!" "Blessed be the king- 
 dom of our father David which cometh in the name of the 
 Lord!" "Hosannah to the Son of David!" what did they 
 mean ? Did they not thereby point to him as their expected 
 Messiah, who should break the power of their enemies, renew 
 the Jewish throne, establish an earthly empire, and reign as a 
 mighty prince ? What else could they have meant ? And 
 yet Jesus received it all with approbation, and never once so 
 much as hinted that they were the least mistaken. Nay, 
 when the enraged Jewish officials came to him, angrily com- 
 plaining of what had been said of him by the shouting multi- 
 tude, he not only sided with the applauding people, but de- 
 clared that if these held their peace, the stones themselves 
 would cry out ! What more impressive endorsement could he 
 possibly have given to what the exulting crowd had uttered ? 
 Did he not thus acquiesce in their views ? Did he not thus 
 most effectually set his seal of sanction to the proclamation, 
 and emphatically declare himself the King of the Jews, who 
 should restore and occupy the throne of David, and reign in 
 Mount Zion according to the letter of prophecy? And so 
 again, when the mother of Zebedee's children asked him that 
 her two sons might sit, as ministers of state, the one on his 
 right hand and the other on his left in his kingdom, she 
 doubtless conceived of that kingdom as a princely reign in 
 this world. Her request is amply indicative of this. But, if 
 she was wrong, the Savior's answer certainly went much fur- 
 ther to confirm her views than to undeceive her. True, he 
 did not agree to grant her desire ; but he left her under the 
 belief that there are such places to be filled in his empire, and 
 that they are reserved for those for whom the Father has pre- 
 pared them. Are wo to suppose ih.e holy Jesus capable of 
 
124 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 encouraging delusion ? He knew what sort of views that 
 woman had of his kingdom • and if it were not in his pur- 
 pose to estabhsh that kingdo'ii as she apprehended that he 
 would, his conduct and answer are quite inexplicable. The 
 prayer of the penitent thief on the cross presents a similar 
 case. That heart-broken sufferer besought the Savior to re- 
 member him when he came in his kingdom. His ideas of 
 that kingdom were doubtless, in the main at least, just what 
 were generally entertained. And the Savior answered him 
 without intimating that he was at all mistaken, and left him 
 to die under the impression with which he uttered the prayer. 
 See, also, with what firmness the Savior expressed himself 
 when before Pilate. He was there charged with conspiracy 
 and treason. The question of Pilate was addressed directly 
 to his political pretensions. His accusers were standing by, 
 eagerly watching for the smallest intimations on which they 
 might secure his condemnation. But his great spirit did 
 not quail. Rising up in the sublime dignity which belonged 
 to his high nature, he boldly affirmed his claim to royal ap- 
 pointment and power. And then, at the last, having spent 
 forty days with his disciples after his resurrection from the 
 dead, "speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God," how impressive is the sanction which he gave to the 
 fond expectations concerning his earthly princedom ! Cer- 
 tainly, all these special instructions to his disciples upon this 
 particular subject left them no room for any further misunder- 
 standing. And yet, at the last hour of his stay on earth, we 
 find them still identifying the Messiah's reign with the resto- 
 ration of the Jewish throne, and Christ himself still replying 
 to them in a way which could only deepen and strengthen 
 their ideas of the matter. If there were nothing else upon 
 the subject in the New Testament but tliis account of Christ's 
 last interview with his disciples, it would be enough upon 
 which to base the belief, that it is his purpose, at the ap- 
 
Christ's own declarations. 125 
 
 pointed time, to revive the throne of David, and to reign per- 
 sonally upon earth. They expected him to " restore the king- 
 dom to Israel," and wished to know the time ; and all he said, 
 and the last he said, was, that they were not " to know the 
 time." 
 
 There is also another class of New Testament passages, 
 equally, if not still more strongly, corroborative of the com- 
 mon expectations of the Messianic reign. When the dis- 
 ciples asked the Savior what they should have in return for 
 their sacrifices in his cause, he replied, " When the Son of 
 man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 
 tioelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." "I ap- 
 point unto you a kirigdom, as my Father hath appointed unto 
 me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, 
 and sit on thrones, judging the tioelve tribes of Israel." 
 "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the 
 
 times of the Gentiles be fulfilled When ye see these 
 
 things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh 
 at hand. Verily, this ysvea — this Jewish race — shall not pass 
 away — not cease from being a distinct people — till all be 
 FULFILLED."* He here appropriates to himself a future king- 
 dom. He says that it is to be set up at the expiration of the 
 Gentile dominancy, and while the Jews still continue as a 
 distinct race. He says that the apostles are to share in the 
 administrations of that kingdom, as judges of the twelve 
 tribes of Israel. And what effect would such declarations pro- 
 duce upon the minds of men who contemplated the Messiah's 
 reign as a literal kingdom upon earth ? What language could 
 have been framed that would more certainly have been inter- 
 preted in favor of their views ? May we not then set it down 
 as settled and clear, that the New Testament, so far from con- 
 tradicting the literal statements of the old, or the expectations 
 founded thereon, speaks in the same strain, and fans those 
 anticipations into greater brightness and intensity? 
 
 * See Note B, page 323. 
 11* 
 
126 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 V. But agaia I remark, that the Scriptures explicitly speak 
 of the setting up of a kingdom in connection with the Savior's 
 final advent, which answers exactly to the literal predictions 
 of the ancient prophets which I have quoted, and to the ex- 
 pectations of the Jews and his first disciples. Upon this 
 point the text itself is conclusive. All agree that it refers to 
 the Savior's coming in glory to judge the world, — to his per- 
 sonal coming at the end of the present dispensation. And it 
 is here aifirmed, with an explicitness which cannot be evaded, 
 that at the period of his coming there is to be ^'given him 
 dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, NATIONS 
 and languages should serve him : his dominion is an ever- 
 lasting dominion, which shall not pass awai/, and his king- 
 dom that lohich shall not be destroyed." And that there 
 might be no misunderstanding or mistake about the matter, 
 an angel explains the vision, and says that the blasphemous 
 and persecuting power denoted by the little horn is to prevail 
 against the saints until " the judgment shall sit," and then 
 " the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the king- 
 dom UNDER the whole HEAVEN, shall be given to the people 
 of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever- 
 lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and 
 OBEY HIM." These words describe a literal kingdom, a uni- 
 versal kingdom, a kingdom under the heavens, over the na- 
 tions and tribes of this world, and which is only to be set up 
 at the session of the judgment, and the coming of the Son 
 of man in the clouds. 
 
 Look also at the vision of the great golden-headed image, and 
 the stone cut from the mountains without hands, which smote 
 the great image, broke it and filled all the earth. We have there 
 an epitome of this world's history : first, the four great mon- 
 archies beginning with Babylon, and extending down to the 
 sovereignties which now occupy the territory of the ancient 
 Roman empiro; second, the utter extinction of these monster 
 
VISION OF THE IMAGE AND THE STONE. 127 
 
 powers during the regency of the ten kingdoms into which 
 the Roman empire was ultimately divided; and third, the 
 setting up in their place of a divine, universal and eternal 
 empire, symbolized by the stone from the mountains. Daniel 
 thus interprets the vision : — "/« the days of these kings" 
 — that is, in the days of the kingdoms denoted by the ten 
 toes of the great image, during the existence of the Roman 
 empire in its last form of ten kindred regencies — "shall the 
 God of heaven set vj) a kingdom lohich shall never he de- 
 stroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other people^ 
 but if shidl break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, 
 and it shall stand forever." Some have supposed that the 
 introduction of Christianity is here meant ; but Dr. Berg has 
 justly remarked that "this view is not tenable." When 
 Christianity was introduced, the Roman empire was yet one. 
 It was not divided into its ultimate ten parts for hundreds of 
 years afterwards. Besides, Christianity is not a kingdom in 
 the sense in which the prophet is here using that word. This 
 kingdom denoted by the mystic stone, which God is to set up, 
 and which is to stand forever, is so related to the other king- 
 doms mentioned that we must necessarily assign to it some- 
 thing of a similar nature. Tillinghast says, " In respect of 
 nature, it is the same with the kingdoms represented by the 
 great image; i. e. it is outward as they are outward; which 
 {"^•^ears : (1.) From the general scope and drift of the pro- 
 phecy, which runs upon outward kingdoms. All the first 
 four kingdoms, or monarchies, are outward, as none can deny; 
 why then the Holy Ghost, in speaking of the fifth and last, 
 should so far vary the scope as to glide from the outward king- 
 dom to the inward, ought, besides the bare say-so, to have 
 some solid and substantial reason brought for it by those, 
 whosoever they are, that either do or shall assert it. (2.) Be- 
 cause it is not proper to say that a bare spiritual kingdom, 
 considered only as spiritual, should break in pieces, beat to 
 
128 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 very chaff, grind to powder, the great image, i. e. destroy the 
 very being of worldly kingdoms, which work is yet, notwith- 
 standing, done by this stone. Indeed, Christ's spiritual king- 
 dom may, by that light and life which it gives forth, much 
 refine and reform outward kingdoms ; but when once the work 
 comes to breaking, and breaking in pieces, i. e. subverting 
 kingdoms, razing their very foundations and destroying their 
 very being, as they the kings of this world are here, unless 
 we conceive God to do it by a miracle, must we also conceive 
 some other hand besides a spii'itual put to the work. (3.) Be- 
 cause the stone, to the end there might not be a vacancy in 
 the world, comes straightway in the place and room of the 
 great image, so soon as the same is totally broken. For as 
 the great image, while standing, bears rule over all the earth, 
 so the same being broken, the stone becomes a mountain and 
 fills the whole earth, therefore must, the kingdom of the stone 
 be such a kingdom as was that of the great image, viz. : OUT- 
 WARD ; or otherwise, the coming of that, in the place of the 
 other now taken away, could not supply the want of the 
 other." 
 
 This quotation is long, involved and robed in the quaint- 
 ness of two centuries ago, but it is perfectly conclusive upon 
 the point that the stone-kingdom which God is to set up, and 
 which is to consume and destroy all other kingdoms and stand 
 forever, is a literal, real, outward, terrestrial empire. The 
 time when that kingdom is to be set up is the time when the 
 last forms of usurped dominion, denoted by the ten toes of the 
 great image, are to be broken in pieces. The ten toes of that 
 image are acknowledged on all hands to be the same as the 
 ten-horned wild beast of John. The ten-horned wild beast is 
 only to be taken and destroyed when the heavens shall open 
 and the Son of God come forth to tread the winepress of God's 
 wrath, and give judgment to the martyrs and saints. There- 
 fore the coming of Christ is to be attended with the setting 
 
FURTHER TESTIMONY. 129 
 
 itp of a visihh, outward, universal, divine and eternal empire, 
 such as the Jews associated with the Messianic reign. 
 
 The Savior himself has spoken of the matter to the same 
 effect. Hear his words : — " When the Son of man shall 
 co.ME IN HIS GLORY, and all the holy angels with him, then 
 
 SHALL HE SIT UPON THE THRONE OP HIS GLORY ; and before 
 Jiim sJiall be gathered all nations ; and he shall sejjarate 
 THEM (the nations) one from another, as a shepherd di- 
 videth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep 
 on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall THE 
 King say to them on his riijlu hand, Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the tvorld." In the same strain he elsewhere 
 says, " They shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with 
 poioer and great glory. . . . WHEN ye see these things come 
 to pass, hnoio ye that THE KINGDOM OP GoD IS NIGH AT 
 HAND." Paul also says to Timothy, "I charge thee there- 
 fore before God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge 
 the quick and dead at his appearing and kingdom." All 
 these passages unequivocally connect the setting up of the 
 glorious Messianic kingdom with the Savior's final coming. 
 
 Elsewhere Paul connects the final advent with the sounding 
 of " the last trump ;" and when we turn to John's vision of 
 what attends the sounding of the seventh or last trumpet, we 
 read, " There were great voices in heaven, saying, Tii^. KING- 
 doms of the world are become the klngd' ..is op our 
 Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever 
 AND EVER !" And that there might be no misapprehension 
 of the time to which this vision relates, the four-and-twenty 
 elders respond with thanksgiving that it is " the tivie of the 
 dead that they should be Judged," — the time of giving I'eward 
 to the servants of God, the prophets, saints and all that fear 
 him, — the time that Christ shall " destroy them that corrupt 
 the earth:" (Rev. xi. 15-18.) 
 
130 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Paul also connects the resurrection of the saints with 
 Christ's final coming : — " The Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." In this he 
 agrees exactly with John's vision of " the first resurrection." 
 But in that vision John saw thrones, and the martyrs, the 
 blessed and holy, seated on them ; and they were made kings 
 and priests of God, ^^ and tliey Hoed and reigned with Christ 
 a thousand ?/ears." 
 
 In all these passages we have a literal, universal and abiding 
 kingdom ascribed to Christ in connection with his second 
 coming. It is not a kingdom far ofi" in the remoteness of 
 unknown space, but here in this world. It is to be " under 
 heaven." It is to embrace " the kingdoms of the world." 
 Its subjects are to be "people, nations and languages." To 
 take possession of it, Christ is said to " descend from heaven," 
 "come," "appear," and stand again upon the earth. It is 
 then of necessity just such a kingdom as the prophets fore- 
 told, and as the Jews and apostles expected. It is to be out- 
 ward, literal, universal, glorious and eternal. It is not "from 
 or out of this world," just as John's baptism was not "from 
 or out of this world." It comes from God. It originates 
 from above, not from beneath. It is not set up by earthly 
 means, but by divine power. But as John baptized on earth, 
 although his baptism was not "from this world," and as the 
 church is located on earth, although not of the earth, so 
 Christ will reign in this world in the sublimities of visible 
 empire. We never read of his return to heaven after he 
 once comes to this world a second time. He remains here. 
 His tabernacle is then to be " loith men, and he will DWELL 
 among them,, and they shall be his people, and God hiviself 
 shall he loith them.^' 
 
 This reign of Christ, then, is also to be a personal reign. 
 He was " made in the likeness of men." He must there- 
 fore have a local dwelling-place. As the Son of man he is 
 
THE GREAT WANT OF OUR RACE. 131 
 
 now in heaven. And when it is said that he will come again 
 to earth, and diccll with men, we must believe that this world 
 will be his home. He cannot dwell and reign on earth as the 
 son of David and not be personally present on the earth. 
 
 Every point, then, at which the Scriptures touch upon this 
 subject, furnishes something to corroborate and strengthen our 
 doctrine that the Lord Jesus Christ will return again to this 
 world, and here set up a literal empire or Christocracy, and 
 personally reign over the nations in the bliss and glory of a 
 universal and eternal kingdom. The prophecies of the Old 
 Testament, taken in their plain natural sense, teach it. 
 When Christ was on earth, both Jews and Christians held it. 
 The New Testament nowhere condemns it as an error, but in 
 many places refers to it as a matter well and correctly under- 
 stood; and in the Old Testament and the New we find many 
 passages which cannot be consistently interpreted without 
 admitting it as a true doctrine of God. We cannot, there- 
 fore, escape from the conclusion that the blessed and adorable 
 Son of the Virgin is yet to reign in this world as a great and 
 glorious divine prince, whom all the nations shall obey and 
 the world hail as its only King. All the Scriptures proclaim 
 it; the whole creation groans and longs for it; and I cannot 
 but believe it. Next to the doctrine of atonement for the 
 world's guilt, it is the dearest of all the revealments of God. 
 
 To this hour, the greatest desideratum of our race is good 
 government, — government freed from the frailties and unright- 
 eousness which have ever adhered to that department of human 
 interest. The church, too, is crippled, torn and disordered, 
 for want of some present divine umpire to judge between its 
 contending sects, purge out its ambitious disturbers and quell 
 its feverish perturbations. All nature seems to have heard 
 the promise concerning the seed of the woman and his restora- 
 tive empire, and has stood in anxious expectancy ever since. 
 All the world, in all its departments, has been longing and 
 
132 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 prophesying for ages, for a divine Deliverer, and the age of 
 gold which his administrations are to bring with them. And 
 yet he has not come. I do not, indeed, deny that Christ now 
 reigns in the hearts of his children, or that he exercises a 
 providential control over the affairs of the world. I know and 
 rejoice that there is a sense in which he is present now, even 
 where but two or three are assembled in his name; and that 
 wherever a sinner turns to Grod, there something of his regal 
 authority and power are felt. But I also know, that, with all 
 his spiritual and providential presence and rule, as now in the 
 world, every thing is imjjerftct as compared with the promises 
 of what is to be hereafter. Satan, for the most part, is yet 
 the king and master of this world, and not the illustrious Son 
 of David. Every thing in church and state, public and pri- 
 vate, is more or less disjointed, weak, sickly, and failing of 
 what we most desire. Remedies only multiply wants and de- 
 fects. "That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and 
 that which is wanting cannot be numbered." The best- 
 planned institutions and the wisest laws are constantly dis- 
 appointing us. The holy law itself was "weak through the 
 flesh;" and the same is to be said of all that we now have. 
 No one adequately fulfills or can fulfill his relations. The con- 
 sciences even of the best Christians, if properly enlightened, 
 continually reproach them. Every thing seems to feel the 
 absence of its redeeming Lord. He does not yet reign as it is 
 necessary for us that he should reign. " We see not yet. all 
 things put under him." Matters now are only in a stage pre- 
 paratory to something still beyond us. The throne of David 
 is yet less than a cipher. The promised Son has not yet lifted 
 it out of its degradation. Mount Zion is still trodden by the 
 vile foot of the destroyer. Israel, that is to be redeemed and 
 become the standard-bearer of ransomed nations, is still scat- 
 tered over all the earth. The enemies of God still vaunt 
 themselves over his Anointed. lii;uorauce, fanaticism and 
 
THE PRESENT STATE OF THE WORLD. 133 
 
 infidelity still stalk abroad, even through the church. The 
 man of sin, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that 
 is called Grod, still sits in the temple of God. Great Babylon 
 still stands, drunk as she is with the blood of the saints. The 
 wild beast and the false prophet are still allied against the 
 Lamb, and against the witnesses of Jesus. Evil men and 
 seducers are still waxing worse and worse. Despotism and 
 tyranny still hold the places which justice and charity alone 
 should fill. War and bloodshed still devastate and deluge this 
 poor fallen world. Rapine and plunder still press their foul 
 trade on land and on sea. Ambition, intrigue, finesse and de- 
 ceit still hold disgraceful sway in the best parliaments and 
 legislatures on earth. ScoflFers abound everywhere, walking 
 after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His 
 coming? The wails of suifering and wretchedness still float 
 on every breeze; and the cries of wronged millions still go up 
 into the ear of Jehovah. 
 
 Oh, tell me not that this is the glorious reign of Messiah ! 
 Tell me not that these are the scenes to which the saints of 
 old looked with so much joy ! I will not so disgrace my 
 Savior or his word, as to allow for a moment that this dispen- 
 sation is the sublime Messianic kingdom. No, no, no; Christ 
 does not yet reign in the kingdom which he has promised and 
 for which he has taught us to pray. Isaiah and Gabriel have 
 said, that he should occupy the throne of his father David, and 
 reign over the house of Jacob, and establish his government 
 in eternal peace and righteousness; but David's sceptre he has 
 never held, over Jacob's house he has never ruled, and the 
 •whole world is yet full of iniquity and wo. The Psalmist has 
 taught us that '< all nations shall serve him, the Gentiles be his 
 inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth his posses- 
 sion;" but there is not a nation in all this wide world that is 
 thoroughly Christian, and not a people who unanimously 
 acknowledo;e that Christ is Lord. Of the ten hundred mil- 
 
134 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 lions of souls that now constitute the family of man, not two- 
 fifths are even professedly Christian ! Take from the most 
 Christian community — take from among the highly-favored 
 inhabitants of our own city — all who are not of the household 
 of faith, and what a scanty population would remain ! Take 
 the most enlightened and cultivated of the nations : take Eng- 
 land — take Saxony — take our own country — take the model 
 nation of Christendom, containing the most churches, and the 
 greatest number of devout people : examine the structure of 
 its government, test the operations of its laws, sift the char- 
 acter of its inhabitants, weigh it in the balances of Scripture 
 truth and divine requirements, aggregate its good and its evil, 
 strike the balance between righteousness and iniquity, and 
 then tell me whether there is a nation on all the globe that 
 does not gravitate towards hell rather than towards heaven ! 
 The church itself, enclosing within its pale all the purest and 
 holiest specimens of humanity, after the toils and prayers of 
 eighteen centuries, is still a feeble craft, working against wind 
 and tide ! Where, then, is that universal righteousness, peace 
 and glory which gave inspiration to the songs of the prophets 
 and hope to the souls of the dying saints of old? The reign 
 of Messiah is to be a reign of glory, power and triumph, 
 where vice is unknown and iniquity at an end, — where the 
 branch from the root of Jesse is to strike all enemies dead 
 and the Sun of righteousness disperse all darkness forever, — 
 where all nations shall serve, worship and obey the King of 
 Israel, and the earth shout the alleluia of her ultimate re- 
 demption ; and it is worse than useless to try to persuade 
 ourselves that such a condition of things belongs to this dis- 
 pensation. 
 
 Nor is there any thing by way of inference from the past, 
 or from indications of the present, or even in the sublime 
 promises of the word of God, by which to assure ourselves 
 that such a condition of things ever will be realized until the 
 
I "ALL THINGS NEW." 135 
 
 personal return of the blessed Christ for whom we wait. It is 
 only lohen he shall come, that he will sit upon the throne of his 
 glory. Antichrist shall not die till then. The world will not 
 be fully redeemed till then. The glorious kingdom will noi 
 come till then. That is the grand climacteric of our faith; 
 that is the sublime ultimatum of all our hopes. 
 
 Long, long has this great consummation been delayed, — so 
 long that even pious men begin to doubt whether it ever shall 
 come. But the word of Jehovah is out; he cannot recall it; 
 he must fulfill it. Soon it will be here. Soon shall Messiah 
 come in his glory, and set this imprisoned and down-trodden 
 world at liberty. Soon shall the Son of Mary stand upon the 
 Mount of Olives and plant his throne upon the hill of Zion. 
 Soon shall the glorified saints supplant besotted politicians, 
 and the swelling tide of righteousness and peace overflow the 
 earth. Soon shall the new-born nations send up their delega- 
 tions to Jerusalem to worship the King in his beauty, and go 
 forth with joy in the blessedness of obedience to him. * 
 
 Men may scoff, and say that we are degrading the blessed 
 Savior to a level with earthly monarchs, and surrounding him 
 with the miserable trappings of their foul courts. They may 
 ridicule us, and say that we are dragging down the throne of 
 Heaven's King to place it amid graves, almshouses, hospitals, 
 penitentiaries, labor-prisons, sickly cities, and worn-out states. 
 But they forget that the promise is that Christ shall "make 
 ALL THINGS NEW," and banish forever all these evidences and 
 emblems of depravity and sin. They forget that death is to 
 be swallowed up of life, and the whole sentence of the world's 
 curse forever rescinded. They forget that all tears are to be 
 dried, and that there is to be no more death, nor sorrow, nor 
 crying, nor tears, nor any more pain, nor any more sin, within 
 all the domain of Messiah's eternal dominion. Oh, that 
 Christians did but look at these things as God has presented 
 them, and lay hold of the promises which he has given to 
 
136 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 encourage us. Then would they go forth to duty with greater 
 earnestness and iutenser joy. Then would they pray, with 
 fonder hope, ^^Thy Kingdom come!" and ever and anon 
 respond, "Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus!" 
 
 MARANATHA ! 
 
 Christ is coming ! let creation 
 
 Bid her groans and travail cease: 
 
 Let the glorious proclamation 
 
 Hope restore, and faith increase : — 
 
 Maranatha .' 
 Come, thou blessed Prince of Peace ! 
 
 Earth can now but tell the story 
 
 Of thy bitter cross and pain ; 
 She shall yet behold thy glory, 
 
 When tliou comcst back to reign : — 
 Maranatha ! 
 
 Let each heart repeat the strain ! 
 
 Though once cradled in a manger, 
 
 Oft no pillow but the sod, 
 Here an alien and a stranger, 
 
 Mocked of men, disowned of God, — 
 All creation 
 
 Yet shall own thy kingly rod. 
 
 Long thy exiles have been pining, 
 Far from rest, and home, and thee; 
 
 But, in heavenly vesture shining. 
 Soon they shall thy glory see : — 
 
 Maranatha ! 
 Haste the joyous jubilee ! 
 
 With that " blessed hope" before us, 
 
 Let no harp remain unstrung; 
 Let the mighty advent-chorus 
 
 Onward roll from tongue to tongua : — 
 
 Maranatha ! 
 Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come ! 
 
 J. R. Macduff. 
 
SIXTH DISCOUESE. 
 
 THE irUDGMENT SCRIPTUEAL IDEA OF A JUDGE THE DAY OP 
 
 JUDGMENT NOT AN ORDINARY DAY OF TWENTY-FOUR HOURS THE 
 
 JUDGMENT PROGRESSIVE CONNECTION OF THE JUDGMENT WITH THE 
 
 MILLENNIAL REIGN IS THE EXECUTION OF ADJUDICATIONS ALREADY 
 
 GOING ON HOW IT WILI BE INTRODUCED ADMONITIONS TO THE 
 
 CARELESS 
 
 EccLESiASTES xii. 14 : For God shall bring every work into judg- 
 ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be 
 evil. 
 
 We now approach one of the most difficult subjects in the 
 Bible, and one which, perhaps, is the least understood, and 
 the most imperfectly apprehended, of all the great revelations 
 of God. Poetry and imagination have undertaken to portray 
 its imposing sublimity; but all such eiforts have tended to 
 bewilder and deceive rather than to instruct. The truth is, 
 that poets for theologians, and painters for commentators, are 
 about the poorest guides that a Christian can select. There 
 is a spirituality and supernatural vastness in divine things 
 which cannot be given in pictures, and which no earthly 
 imagery can reach. The external groupings and drapery 
 with which fancy deals very often have little or no connection 
 with the truths they are designed to illustrate. I propose, 
 [ therefore, to dispense entirely with the popular, pictorial and 
 poetic method of contemplating the great theme of the text, 
 and to approach it more in the style in which the Scriptures 
 present it. 
 
 Long has the cry, ''A day of judgment ! a day of judg- 
 
 12* 13? 
 
138 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 ment !" been heard in our world. Even before the death of 
 Adaui, there rose up a prophet, saying, "Behold, the Lord 
 conieth, with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment 
 upon all." Few, indeed, regard the solemn prediction. Many 
 live as if it were all a fable. Thousands scoff at it as an idle 
 dream. But the trvith is not altered by man's forgetfulness 
 or unbelief. Refusing to think of the subject cannot retard 
 the chariot-wheels of the avenging King of Zion. He 
 moves on steadily to the accomplishment of his great designs, 
 undismayed and unmolested by the thoughtlessness, the 
 skepticism or the rebellion of mortals. Some will not believe 
 that the earth revolves on its axis, or that it moves in a circuit 
 round the sun ; but that does not change the facts, or stop 
 the world in its revolutions. And whether men believe it or 
 not, judgment will come. Accountability is woven in with 
 our very being. It is a primordial condition of our nature. 
 It grows out of the necessities of our very existence. It 
 surrounds the child from its first consciousness. It lies upon 
 us in the circle of friendship. It cleaves to us as citizens of 
 the state. And we certainly cannot rid ourselves of it as 
 members of the great household of God's rational creation. 
 And where there is accountability, there must be adjudication. 
 Every family, social circle, church, state, or empire, must 
 needs have its tribunal, in effect if not in form, by which 
 decisions are decreed and judgment executed. And surely it 
 is not to be supposed that the great Father and King of all 
 has failed to establish this indispensable requisite to all 
 government. • 
 
 We also find in man, either as the result of common reason, 
 or an original implantation in human nature, a something 
 which is ever reminding us that we must encounter rightequs 
 retribution somewhere, at some time or other. We bear with 
 us, in the deep recesses of our souls, a sort of premonitory 
 sense of coming judgment. Every man has his spiritual 
 
SCRIPTURAL CONCEPTION OF ^^ JUDGE." 139 
 
 fears, apprehensions and misgivings, which arc most solemnly 
 prophetic. A good man feels that it must be well with him 
 in the endj and a bad man cannot be at peace in his own 
 heart, or rest with abiding composure upon his confidence of 
 safety. Reason as we may, there is still some deeply-seated 
 conviction of the soul, which seems to be a part of itseJf, 
 which rises up to assert our responsibility with a power that 
 no argument can resist and no logic overcome. 
 
 We may therefore take it as a fixed verity, not only asserted 
 in the Scriptures, but abundantly confirmed by the nature of 
 things, that "God shall bring every work into judgment, 
 with every secret thing, whether it be good, . or whether it 
 be evil." 
 
 We are not, however, to conceive of tins judgment as a mere 
 assize, or court, sitting only at a specific time, for the hearing 
 and determination of causes that have been long accumulating. 
 Something of this sort is remotely implied in what the Scrip- 
 tures say of the matter ; but such an assize furnishes a very 
 imperfect and inadequate idea of the great judgment. The 
 Scriptural conception of a. judge is not simply that of a jurist 
 on the bench, but that of a ruler or king reigning in right- 
 eousness, guiding and blessing his loyal subjects, and avenging 
 them of their enemies. Just call to mind the reign of " the 
 judges" in the time of Sampson, Gideon, Jephtha, Eli, Samuel, 
 and others, who are said to have "judged Israel." In what 
 did their ofiice of judging consist? Brown, in his Dictionary, 
 has evidently given it correctly, where he says, "These judges 
 had the sole management of peace and war, and decided causes 
 with an absolute authority. They executed the laws, reformed 
 or 'protected religion, and punished idolaters and other male- 
 factors ; and were much the same as the archons of Athens, 
 the dictators of Rome, the sufi"etes of Carthage, and the gov- 
 ernors of Germany, Gaul and Britain before the Roman 
 invasion." They were, then, sovereign j^i'iii-ces ; and in that 
 
140 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 sovereignty we have the Scriptural idea of a judge. He is 
 one who rules the people, subdues their enemies, punishes 
 evil-doers and administers the affairs of government. Hence, 
 when the Hebrews appointed a king to reign over them, they 
 cftlled him a judge, and called his administration judging. 
 Read the eighth cnapter of the First Book of Samuel. You will 
 there find that "all the elders of Israel" said, '^Make us A 
 KING TO JUDGE US;" — "We will have a king over us, that 
 we also may be like all other nations, and that our king may 
 JUDGE us, and go out before us and Jiglit our haftles." 
 Their conception of judgeship was that of kingly rule. Hence, 
 when the Scriptures speak of judgment, they very often 
 add exprei^sions which show that they connect with it the 
 general idea of government, and identify it with sovereign 
 control and gubernatorial administrations. "Let the nations 
 be glad," says the Psalmist, "and sing for joy; for thou shalt 
 iudge the people righteously, and GOVERN THE NATIONS upon 
 earth." Isaiah says, "Unto us a Son is given, and the gov- 
 ernment shall be upon his shoulder. ... Of the increase of 
 his government and peace there shall be no end, tipon the 
 throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to 
 establish it with judgment and loith justice forever." 
 "Behold, a king shall reign and j)'>'osper, and shall EXECUTE 
 JUDGMENT IN THE EARTH. In his days Judah shall be saved, 
 and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby 
 he shall be called : — The Lord Our Righteousness. And he 
 shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations 
 afar off: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares 
 and their spears into pruning-hooks." Jesus says, " Ye 
 which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of 
 man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 
 twelve thrones, judging (governing) the twelve tribes of 
 Israel." Paul says, "The saints shall /M(/^e the world;" and 
 this judgeship of the saints is explained in the Apocalypse, 
 
MEANING or "DAY OF JUDGMENT." 141 
 
 where the Saviour says, " He that overcometh, and keepeth my 
 works unto the end, to Mm ivill I give power over the nations^ 
 and he shall RULE THEM." . All these passages evidently 
 refer to the last grand administrations of God, — to the judg- 
 ment. And you will readily perceive from them that the 
 Scriptural idea of a judge is one who exercises sovereign rule, 
 one who administers the laws, governs the people, avenges 
 them of their enemies, guides them in peace and safety, and 
 punishes evil-doers. 
 
 In a general sense, then, and as presenting a key to this 
 whole subject, we might say that the judgment of God is the 
 administration of the government of God. 
 
 It is, therefore, also erroneous for us to conceive of the 
 judgment as limited to one day of twelve or twenty-four 
 hours. We indeed read of ^^ the day of judgment,'^ and that 
 the Lord hath "appointed a day in the which he will judge 
 the world." But the word " day" is often used, both in the 
 Old and New Testaments, and also in common conversation, to 
 signify much larger periods of time than the seventh part of a 
 week. In the first chapter of Genesis it is used six times, to 
 denote six different epochs of the creation. In these cases, 
 some take it to mean an ordinary day; but the majority of 
 learned men think that it means a thousand years, or six 
 thousand years; and that the six days of the creation include 
 six, thirty-six, or even a much greater number of thousand 
 years. How this is we know not ; but in the next chapter 
 we read of ^'the day that the Lord made the earth and the 
 heavens, and every plant of the field." Here the whole 
 period of the creation, which geologists think includes 
 myriads of years, is called a day. So the forty years of 
 wandering in the wilderness is called "the day of temp- 
 tation," — " the day that God brought them up out of Egypt." 
 Isaiah calls the whole period of the Messiah's reign " 7i?'s 
 day" And Peter, in direct reference tc "the day of judg- 
 
142 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 ment," exhorts us not to be ignorant '' that one day is with 
 the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand ^^ears as one 
 day." I make these remarks, to show that nothing can be 
 inferred from the word day, as applied to the judgment, by 
 which to limit it to twenty-four hours, or to any other brief 
 period of time. The day of creation means simply the time 
 of the creation. The day of Israel's pilgrimage is the time 
 of the pilgrimage. The day of the Messiah is the time of 
 the Messiah. And so ^'■the day of judgment" is merely the 
 time of judgment, whether it be a week or year, a hundred or 
 a thousand years, or as many years as there are days in a 
 thousand years. Hence, Joseph Mede, whom Professor Bush 
 pronounces '' one of the profoundest Biblical scholars of the 
 English church," remarks, that " it is to be remembered that 
 the Jews, who gave to this time the name of the. day of judg- 
 ment, and from whom our Savior and his apostles took it, 
 never understood thereby any thing but a time of many years' 
 continuance." ' 
 
 The truth is, that the Scriptures present the judgment as a 
 progressive thing, which began with the expulsion of Adam 
 from Paradise, which is to some extent continually going on, 
 and which will finally reach its entire consummation in the 
 advent and administrations of the Son of man, when an utter 
 end shall be made of all disorder and sin, and the pious of all 
 ages enter upon the full fruition of the honors and joys which 
 God has covenanted unto them. Paul calls it " eternal 
 judgment," not only because its results shall be permanent, 
 but more particularly because it continues perpetually. God 
 is ever and anon dealing out retributions and deliverances, 
 which are the steps and preludes to the more complete and 
 ever-augmenting awards of eternity. The Bible distinctly 
 teaches this. Jesus says, '' He that believeth on the Son is 
 not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned (is 
 judged) already, because he hath not believed in the name 
 
THE JUDGMENT PROGRESSIVE. 143 
 
 of the only-begotten Son of God." All agree that whenever 
 a sinner repents and accepts of Christ as the great and only 
 Savior, he is at that moment justified; but justification is 
 altogether a judicial transaction. When the Savior was yet 
 on earth, he said, "Now is the judgment of this world;" — 
 " The prince of this world is judfj<d." When God went 
 through Egypt, and smote all the first-born of man and beast, 
 it is said that he executed judgment upon them : (Gen. xv. 
 14; Ex. xii. 12.) The revelation of his avenging arm 
 against proud Babylon, and the deliverance of Israel from 
 its power, is described in the same way : (Jer. li. 47 ; 
 Ezek. xxxix. 21.) And so every interposition of God to 
 enforce the principles of his government, either by way of 
 punishing his enemies or delivering his people, is called 
 judgment, and is really a part and earnest of the one great 
 eternal judgment which is to be consummated in the coming 
 and administrations of the blessed Jesus. Thus the imme- 
 diate consequences of death are also called " the judgment," 
 (Heb. ix. 27,) because there is then a broader line of dis- 
 tinction drawn between the good and the wicked, and God's 
 government goes into further efiect in giving over the one 
 class to wander in the darkness of their alienation from 
 holiness, and taking the other class into peace and rest. 
 
 But all these adjudications are but the beginnings of the 
 judgment, whilst there is reserved a still future series of ad- 
 ministrations by which they are to be carried on to eternal 
 completeness. Hence, we read that " God hath appointed a 
 day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, 
 by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given 
 assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the 
 dead." The Lord Jesus himself is to return again to the 
 earth, to take the entire dominion of the world, and to ad- 
 minister justice and judgment to the quick and to the dead 
 according to his gospel. In this great judgment, of which all 
 
144 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 others are but the foretastes and the earnest, ^' the Father 
 judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the 
 Son, that all men should honor the Son even as they honor 
 the Father." '' For, as the Father hath life in himself, so 
 hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath 
 given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is 
 the Son of man." 
 
 Considering, then, that the Scriptural idea of a judge is 
 that of a sovereign prince adaiiuisteriug righteous govern- 
 ment, that the ultimate administrations of judgment are given 
 entirely into the hands of Jesus as the Son of man, and that 
 Jesus is to return to this world to reign here in a glorious and 
 universal empire, under which iniquity is to be finally ex- 
 punged and made to give place to eternal righteousness and 
 peace, we are prepared for the announcement, that the time 
 of the judgment is the time of Christ's coming and reign upon 
 earth, and that the final judgment itself is nothing more nor 
 less than the sovereign ministrations of the descended Jesus 
 as the sovereign of the world. 
 
 Now, this reign of Christ is really eternal. It is every- 
 where so spoken of in the Scriptures. " Of the increase of 
 his government and peace there shall be no end." " His 
 
 kin2;dom is an everlastins; kinodom." " It shall stand for- 
 
 i .... 
 
 ever. ' But there is one period in this sublime reign which 
 
 is especially marked in the prophecies of God. That period 
 
 is the first thousand years of its existence, or the millennium. 
 
 Until these first thousand years are over, the divine purposes 
 
 will not be entirely fulfilled. It is only at the expiration of 
 
 this thousand years that the last rebellion is to be put down, 
 
 and the second resurrection accomplished. It is this thousand 
 
 years, then, and especially the adjudications by which they are 
 
 to be introduced and concluded, which constitute the day of 
 
 judgment. It will have its morning and its evening, like 
 
 every other day. Its morning is the period of Christ's "com- 
 
ITS CONNECTION WITH THE MILLENNIAL REIGN. 145 
 
 ing and kingdom," when he will raise the sleeping saints, 
 change the pious living, assign all the faithful their places in 
 his holy and eternal empire, and break down and destroy 
 every thing that stands in the way of the establishment of his 
 princely reign over all the nations of the earth. Its evening 
 is the close of the millennial era, when the last revolt under 
 Grog and Magog shall be destroyed, the devil cast into the pit 
 of destinictiou, and all the unsanctified dead delivered over to 
 the second death. In other words, there is a duality in the 
 judgment of the great day, just as there is a duality in the 
 resurrection, in the law, in the book of Revelation, in the na- 
 ture of Christ, in the destiny of men, in the Savior's advent, 
 and in many other things of which the Bible speaks. 
 
 After long and prayerful study of the subject, then, it 
 seems to me that the first thousand years of the Messiah's 
 personal reign is the period which the Scriptures style by emi- 
 nence "the day of jvdcjment," and that the great judgment 
 itself is nothing more nor less than those wonderful adminis- 
 trations of the coming Son of Mary, by which he will set up 
 his visible kingdom, and eventually shut up all its enemies 
 in everlasting death. 
 
 It is certain, my brethren, that the Scriptures do unequivo- 
 cally connect the judgment with Christ's occupancy of the 
 throne which he is to receive at his second coming. Maton 
 has remarked, that "we may justly doubt wbether our Savior 
 hath as yet executed the office of king." He exercises, 
 indeed, a partial sovereignty in men's hearts; "yet, that he 
 doth not now reign in that kingdom which he shall govern as 
 man, and consequently in that of which the prophets spake, 
 his own words in Rev. iii. 21 do clearly prove: 'To him that 
 overcometh I will grant to sit with me in my throne,' &c., 
 from whence it follows that the throne which he here calls his 
 own, and which he hath not yet received, (Heb. ii. 8, 10, 12, 
 13,) must needs belong to him as man : because the place 
 K 13 
 
146 THE LAST TIMES, 
 
 wLere he now sits is the Father's thi-one, — a throne in which 
 he has no proper interest but as Grod. Again, it follows, that 
 seeing he is now in his Father's throne, therefore neither is 
 this the time nor the place in which his own throne is to be 
 erected." I have shown you, in a previous discourse, that 
 Christ's throne is the throne of his father David, which is in 
 this world. I know of no Scripture which assigns to Christ 
 any throne as his own but this. And the judgment is specifi- 
 cally connected with his sitting upon his own throne at his 
 coming. He says himself, " When the Sou of man shall come 
 in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he 
 sit upon the throne of his glory, and in his presence shall all 
 nations be placed together, and he shall separate them (the 
 nations) one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
 from the goats." Here are judicial administrations; and 
 those proceedings are attributed to Christ as the iSon of man, 
 ^eated upon his own throne, and dealing with nations in this 
 world, to whom as the Son of man he is present. 
 
 In Daniel we read of the coming of the Son of man, to be 
 invested with a kingdom, in which '' nations and languages" 
 are to serve him ; which kingdom is to break in pieces all 
 other kingdoms, and take away, destroy and consume the do- 
 minion of the blasphemous power that made war with the 
 saints ; yet these administrations of the enthroned Jesus are 
 called "the judgment," — the sitting of the judgment. 
 
 Of this same Messiah that was born of Mary, Isaiah says, 
 that he shall bear rule " ujjon the throne of David, to order 
 it and establish it" — how? — "with judgment." The 
 judgment, then, and the Messiah's reign are things which go 
 together. Again, he says of Christ, "A King shall reign o,nd 
 prosjyer, and shall execute Judgment in the earth." Here the 
 roign of Christ is set forth as the judgment of the world by 
 him. So also says the Psalmist: — "He shall judge the people 
 righteously, even govern the nations upon earth." 
 
AUTHORITIES. 147 
 
 What do flaese passages mean, if they do not speak of the 
 judgment of the world by Christ as identical with the ad- 
 ministrations of his personal reign as the Son of man ? Con- 
 sider, also, once more, what he himself said to the apostles : — 
 " When the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, 
 ye also shall sit upon twelve thvones, Judgwrj the twelve tribes 
 of Israel." It is evident that this judgeship of the apostles 
 and saints is rulership. The Savior here says that their judge- 
 ship is to be of the same kind, nay, an actual part of his own. 
 As, then, the judgeship of the apostles and saints is their reign 
 with Christ over the nations, so his judgeship and his reign are 
 one and the same thing, and the judgment and the adminis- 
 trations of the Messianic kingdom are identical. 
 
 Hence, also, Christ's coming to judge the world is called 
 the coming of his kingdom. Jesus says, " There shall be 
 signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon 
 earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the 
 waves thereof roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and 
 for looking after those things that are coming on the earth; 
 and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; and when ye 
 shall see all these things come to pass, know ye that the king- 
 dom of God is niyh at hand." And in the Apocalypse it is 
 distinctly announced that " the time of wrath, and the time 
 of the dead, that they should be judcjed, and reward given to 
 the prophets, saints and all that fear God," is identical with 
 the time when " the kingdoms of the world become the king- 
 doms of our Lord, and of his Christ ;" all of which goes to 
 show that the judgment is the same with the establishment of 
 the Savior's reign upon earth as the Son of David. 
 
 Joseph Farmer argues the same thing from Rev. xx. 4. He 
 says that " the kingdom wherein the saints reign with Christ 
 a thousand years, is the same with the kingdom of the Son of 
 man, and the saints of the Most High in Daniel ; therefore, 
 it also begins at the great day of judgment, which is not con- 
 
148 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 summated till Gog and Magog's destruction at their end; 
 therefore, the whole thousand years is included in that great 
 day of judgment. The resurrection of the just will take 
 place in the morning of the day of judgment, or beginning of 
 the thousand years." 
 
 Dr. Thomas Goodwin, one of the great patriarchs of English 
 Independency, also has this remark, that 'Hhere is a special 
 world, (which is the present world 'n its future renewed form,) 
 called the xoorld to come, appointed for Jesus Christ eminently 
 to reign in, between this world and the end of the day of 
 judgment," and that •* the day of judgment itself is part, ij 
 not the whole, of the time wherein our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ shall reign." 
 
 And Mede, from 2 Pet. iii. 8, considers it settled, that the 
 day of judgment is the thousand years' reign of Christ. He 
 thus paraphrases that passage : — " Whereas, I mentioned the 
 day of judgment, lest ye might take it for a short day, or a 
 day of a few hours, I would not, beloved, have you ignorant 
 that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thou- 
 sand years as one day." 
 
 I feel myself, therefore, fully warranted, by the infallible 
 authority of Holy Scripture, and by the authority of men who 
 have gone most profoundly into the investigation of this sub- 
 ject, in maintaining that the great consummating judgment 
 is nothing more nor less than the administrations of the Son 
 of man, in taking to himself the throne of his father David, 
 and establishing his sublime kingdom triumphant over all 
 his foes. 
 
 And this judgment is just the carrying into full effect of 
 all previous administrations of God with man. The righteous 
 ai-e now justified, accepted and adopted as the children of 
 God; and the wicked are condemned already; but these 
 things are not yet fully manifest. The sentence is not yet 
 entirely enforced in either case. As to those who have 
 
HOW "THE judgment" WILL COMMENCE. 149 
 
 passed into the world (f departed spirits, there is a greater 
 enforcement of the present divine adjudications than we 
 have in this life. ]5ut still Paul tells us that the full mani- 
 festation of the sons of God is reserved until the period of 
 the resurrection and redemption of the body; and that the 
 full perdition of the ungodly is deferred to the same or some 
 subsequent period. The sentence upon good and bad is 
 already passed ; but it will not be fully executed until the 
 great day of Christ's coming and kingdom. Paul did not 
 expect his crown until then. Peter did not look for the per- 
 dition of ungodly men until then. And the great administra- 
 tions of that day will consist in the distribution of blessings 
 and curses already awarded. It will simply be the consum- 
 mation of adjudications already existing, — the completion of 
 processes even now begun. The resurrection of the saints is 
 not so much a resurrection for the purpose of being judged, 
 as the execution of judicial decisions which already exist. 
 The same is true of the resurrection of the wicked. The 
 one class are to rise in glory, and the other class in shame and 
 contempt. The resurrection of the saints is to occur a thou- 
 sand years previous to the resurrection of the wicked. The 
 resurrection itself, then, is a judicial administration; and the 
 judgment, instead of being confined to scenes after the resur- 
 rection, is going on now, and takes in a long series of transac- 
 tions already begun, but which will only be consummated by 
 the awards of eternity. And when these eternal awards are 
 made, it will be but the ultimate effect of proceedings which 
 are at present in progress. 
 
 From these considerations, it follows that the introduction 
 of " the day of judgment" will be very different from what 
 is often supposed. As the judgment consists in the adminis- 
 trations of the glorious Messianic kingdom, and that kingdom 
 is to extend over nations and men in the flesh, its first symp- 
 toms and manifestations will be found in the existing living 
 
 13* 
 
150 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 world. - The Savioi* plainly tells us that "there shall be upon 
 the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the 
 waves thereof roaring ;" great popular and revolutionary dis- 
 turbances ; " men's hearts failing them for fear, and for look- 
 ing after those things that are coming upon the earth • for 
 the powers of heaven shall be shaken." These words describe 
 scenes of the judgment, which are to be witnessed before the 
 visible manifestation of Christ, — scenes which will glide in 
 upon the world without the least suspicion on the part of men 
 generally that they ai"e the beginnings of the great judgment. 
 By looking at the various changes that have already occurred 
 in God's earthly administrations, we find that when one dis- 
 pensation was exchanged fur jmuther they overlapped each 
 other. The new always began before the old reached its con- 
 clusion. The two interpenetrated each other, so that the 
 new began within the old, and the old ran far into the new. 
 The Jewish system was not overthrown when Christ was born, 
 nor yet when the dispensation of the Spirit commenced at 
 the day of Pentecost. Tlie old system still stood for many 
 years, so that many were both Jews and Christians at the 
 same time. And so it will doubtless be when the millennial 
 or judgment era begins. It will commence within the world 
 that now is. David was an exact type of that future Son of 
 his who is to execute justice and judgment on his throne. 
 But David was the anointed king long before Saul's power 
 was broken and taken from him ; and the processes by which 
 he ultimately came to possess the throne which God had given 
 him in Saul's stead consisted of wars, slaughters and destruc- 
 tions. And so in the setting up of the judgment- throne of 
 Christ, our David, there will be corresponding troubles and 
 devastations. All other kingdoms must be broken in pieces 
 and consumed before the kingdom of God will be fully set up. 
 They must be broken with a rod of iron, and dashed in pieces 
 as a potter's vessel. All existing orders of things must be 
 
THE SIGNS OF ITS PRESENCE. 151 
 
 shaljeu down and destroyed. '' Babylon" must fall. " The 
 vials of the wrath of God" must be poured out upon the 
 earth, overwhelming mankind with trouble, deluging empires 
 in blood, and gathering the kings of the world to the war of 
 the great day of God Almighty, when they shall come to 
 their end, and none shall help them. He that is called 
 " Faithful and True" must "judge and make war," and " smite 
 the nations," and "tread the winepress of the fierceness and 
 wrath of Almighty God." And all these things relate to 
 nationt^, tribes and confederations of men as they now live in 
 the flesh, and will doubtless be felt and manifested long be- 
 fore men generally are at all acquainted with what is going 
 on. Thoughtful people will wonder at the amazing upheav- 
 ings of society around them; they will tremble at the mighty 
 agitations which trouble and confuse every thing in church 
 and state ; they will grow pale at the gigantic moves of revo- 
 lutionists and military despots; and their hearts shall fail them 
 as they attempt to look forward to what the results of all 
 shall be. Some will call it progress ; some will call it the 
 result of wrong education of the masses ; some will look 
 upon it as the work of ambitious or mistaken legislation ; 
 some will think it is liberty rising from her sleep of ages to 
 take dominion of the world. And a thousand theologians, 
 philosophers and jurists will have as many different solutions 
 of the great problem of what is coming upon the earth, with- 
 out once striking upon the real truth that the day of judgment 
 has begun. Signs and wonders shall exist on every hand; 
 but unsuspecting mortals will point to a thousand natural 
 causes as explanations, and bigoted sectarians will refuse to 
 believe even their own senses. And the world, in all its de- 
 partments, with here and there a few who are faithful to what 
 God hath written for our learning, shall drift on to dissolution 
 without knowing what is actually transpiring. 
 
 But some one will ask, Shall we not see Christ when he 
 
152 THE LAST TIMES. 1 
 
 comes, and tlius be advised when tlie great day of judgment ;, 
 begins ? Yes, " every eye shall see him ;" but not necessarily I 
 at the same time, and only when he shall coine " with all his 
 saints loith him;" and all his saints cannot be with him until ' 
 after the pious dead are raised, and the pious living trans- ' 
 lated. 1 have found no Scripture which, when construed with 
 its corresponding passages, says a word about Christ's visibility ; 
 or appearance previous to the resurrection of the saints. On | 
 the contrary, we are repeatedly told that the day of judgment ; 
 shall come "as a thief in the night." And how does a thief i 
 come ? He not only comes stealthily, and at such an hour aa 
 we think not, but he is already on the premises, in the house ; 
 and doing his work, before we are aware of his presence. 
 And so shall it be with the coming of Christ and the day of 
 judgment. He will be here gathering and removing his elect 
 before the world shall have become aware of it. 
 
 But another will ask, Shall not the trumpet sound, and will 
 not that tell us when the judgment begins ? Yes, *' the 
 trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 
 and we shall be changed ;" but it is not such a trumpet as all 
 men shall hear and understand. Paul calls it " the last 
 trump." A last trumpet implies other trumpets before the 
 last, just as the Scriptures elsewhere tell us. In the tenth 
 chapter of Revelation, it is announced that " in the days of 
 the voice of the seventh angel, lohen he shall begin to sound, 
 the mystery of God shall be finished, as he has declared to his 
 servants the prophets." To understand what is meant by this 
 ''seventh angel," and his " voice," we must look at the eighth 
 chapter, where John says, " I saw seven angels which stood 
 before God ; and to them were given seven trumpets." He 
 then heard each of these angels, one after another, sound his 
 trumpet. The sounding of the seventh is therefore "/'/(c last 
 trumpet." And that this seventh trumpet of John is "the 
 last trump" of Paul is evident from the events which are 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET. 153 
 
 attributed to the sounding of both. Paul says of " the last 
 trump/' that when it sounds '' the dead shall be raised and 
 we shall be changed." All agree that it refers to the period 
 of the judgment. And so also when John's "seventh angel" 
 sounded his trumpet, "there were great voices in heaven, say- 
 ing, The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of 
 our Lord and of his Christ ; and he shall reign forever and 
 ever. And the four-and-twenty elders worshipped God, say- 
 ing. Thy lurath is come, and the time of the dead that they 
 should he JUDGED." 
 
 The last trumpet, then, or the trumpet which is to usher in 
 the scenes of the judgment, is just such a trumpet as were the 
 six that preceded it ; and its sounding is to be understood in 
 the same way that they sounded. And, fortunately, these 
 six trumpets have already sounded. We can point directly to 
 the several events to which they refer. The first four relate 
 to the several invasions of the Goths, Vandals and Scythians 
 who laid waste the Roman empire. The fifth refers to the 
 Saracenic wo, inflicted by Mohammed and his fierce armies. 
 The sixth introduced the woes inflicted by the Tartar tribes 
 or Turks in their furious devastations. Such, at any rate, 
 are the applications which the best interpreters have made of 
 these parts of the Bible, and I see no reason to doubt their 
 correctness. They certainly refer to occurrences of this kind 
 that have already transpired upon earth, none of which have 
 been ushered in by audible signals from the heavens. The 
 trumpets belong simply to the scenery on the panorama by 
 which these events were brought before the apostle's view, and 
 not to the events themselves. And, as there was no audible, 
 startling, miraculous, wide-sounding, celestial bugle-note to 
 announce to the world the fulfillment of the predictions con- 
 nected with the six trumpets, so I infer and conclude that 
 there is to be no audible trumpet-blast from mid-heaven to 
 inform the world when the day of judgment has come. For 
 
154 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 aught you or I know, the hist trump has ah-eady sounded, or 
 is now sounding, in the changes which have been occurring 
 ■within the last fifty years, in the mysterious symptoms of 
 revolution which are everywhere so ominously manifest, in 
 the judgments of God, and the sermons and books of his 
 servants, crying, ^^ Behold the Bridegroom coincth!" Com- 
 mencing as it probably does with the end of the 1260 year- 
 days of the dominancyof the Papal Antichrist, we must now 
 be near, if not within, the period of its sounding. It does 
 not connect with a mere instant of time, but, like the other 
 trumpets, takes in a space of years, which begins with the fall 
 of Papal power, and includes the seven last vials of the wrath 
 of Grod, under which Christ comes as a thief, gathers his saints 
 from their graves, translates his waiting people, and inflicts 
 upon Satan and his adherents his terrific judgments. 
 
 But shall we not see the dead rising when the day of 
 judgment comes ? It may be that the resurrected saints 
 shall appear to the saints then living, and converse with 
 them, before they are caught up into the clouds; but there 
 is no proof in Scripture that men generally will see or know 
 of their resurrection. No one saw Christ rise; and his 
 saints may come from their graves as quietly and invisibly 
 as they now sleep in them. And when the process of 
 the translation of the living commences, it will no doubt 
 be like the resm-rection to which it corresponds. It will 
 not be with great pomp and public demonstrations, but 
 quietly and in a manner hai'dly understood by those that 
 remain. The unbelieving multitudes may be startled at 
 accounts of the missing here and there, who, like Enoch, 
 shall not be, because God took them; but sage skeptics 
 will soon invent some new theory of spontaneous combus- 
 tion, or something else, to account for the mysterious disap- 
 pearances, and but few men will, perhaps, suspect what is 
 really going on. Unsanctifieo'. preachers will, perhaps, con- 
 
WILL NOT BE GENEllALLY UNDERSTOOD. 155 
 
 tinue preaching, aud unconverted congregations continue to 
 visit the sanctuaries upon which God has written Ichahod. 
 Lawyers and doctors, scribes and Pharisees, may, perhaps, 
 continue to talk learnedly about Christianity, which none of 
 them understand, and contend earnestly for the faith which 
 none of them ever experienced, and chuckle complacently 
 over the delusion and fanaticism of those who told them that 
 the day of judgment had come. I do not say that things 
 will occur just in this way; but what I have said is certainly 
 much more like the truth than the conceptions which men 
 usually form of these matters. 
 
 Of this one thing, my brethren, I am well assured, that the 
 stupendous occurrences of the day of judgment will glide in 
 upon the world as by stealth, and before a great number of 
 even pious people shall be aware that these great scenes have 
 commenced; whilst the great mass of worldlings and politi- 
 cians will not believe it to the very last, when the Son of man 
 will blast them forever with his terrific indignation. "As it 
 was in the days of Noe, 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 Noe entered 
 into the ark, and knew -not until the Jlood came and took 
 them all away." Perhaps it had rained a month before those 
 wicked scoifers began to feel any special alarm. Perhaps 
 many of them beheld the ark taken up by the swelling waters, 
 and yet stood upon the hill-tops laughing at the old preacher's 
 folly. Though the valleys were all covered, and the waters 
 rose higher and higher every hour, " they Jcnew not" until all 
 were swept away by the shoreless waves. And "so shall it be 
 also in the days of the Son of man." The nations shall be 
 undergoing their judgment, the sainted dead shall be raised, 
 the sainted living shall be translated, and the whole earth 
 shall heave with the throes af judgment already present; and 
 yet multitudes will go on as they did before, and refuse to be- 
 
156 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 lieve what is transpiring. Nations in their desperation will 
 continue to declare war, and make treaties, and form alliances, 
 and join their armies, and gather together their warriors 
 against the Lamb and his people, until at last, to their ever- 
 lasting consternation, the Son of man shall appear with his 
 sainted hosts, and hurl upon them the mighty thunders of his 
 eternal wrath. If it is not to be so, why have Peter and Paul 
 told us that " the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
 night ?" If it is not to be so, why has the Savior told us so 
 earnestly to watch, and pointed out so many signs by which 
 we are to be guided, and so repeatedly admonished us to take 
 heed lest that day come upon us unawares ? All these things 
 prove that the judgment will come upon the world unknown 
 except to the devoutest and most watchful of the children of 
 men. How important, therefore, that we should study with 
 the profoundest care what the inspired prophets have written 
 upon this subject for our learning ! With what solemn con- 
 cern should we contemplate the mysterious movements of the 
 age in which we live ! With what absorbing interest should 
 we ponder the given signs by which we are to know when the 
 great day of the Lord shall come ! Would it not be an awful 
 calamity for the church, which professes to be waiting for 
 Christ, to be plunged into the midst of the scenes of that 
 great day without so much as knowing that that day has 
 come ? Wo, wo, wo, to them whom Christ, when he comes, 
 shall find ignorant of the times, and faithless to their duty! 
 " For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with chariots 
 like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke 
 with flames of fire. For with fire and by his sword will the 
 Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be 
 many." No man can tell the painful surprises, sufierings 
 and scenes of dread and horror which shall then be enacted. 
 All the prophets have spoken of them. Christ has again and 
 again warned us respecting them. Ever and anon they rise 
 
WARNINGS. 157 
 
 before us on the inspired pages to admonish us of our danger. 
 And yet men go on in their sins, and even Christian people 
 remain unmoved, not thinking that we may even now be upon 
 the very margin of the awful day ! 
 
 0, careless, prayerless, thoughtless child of Adam, who- 
 ever you may be, let me warn and entreat you this day not to 
 trifle any longer with your soul, or with the requirements of 
 Jesus ! Here God hath placed me upon the watch-tower, to 
 keep you advised of threatening danger; and I now give you 
 the cry of alarm. In the name of that Jesus who will soon 
 come, I bid you escape to the mountains, tarry not in all the 
 plain, lest you be consumed. Retribution may appear slow in 
 coming, but it will come. Cold unbelief and unconcern may 
 seem good enough now, but the ways thereof are the ways ot 
 destruction. Lot will soon have passed out of Sodom, and 
 '' the salt of the earth" have vanished; and then the souls of 
 the rebellious and the careless shall be like stubble to the fire. 
 The trampled law will rise at last to assert its dignity and vin- 
 dicate its honor. Christ will not bear the taunts, and thongs 
 and mockery of Pilate's hall forever. For every soul and for 
 every sin there is a judgment. We may not consider it, but 
 that will not change it. We may be but little alarmed with 
 reference to it, but that will not soften its terrors or disrobe 
 it of its awfulness. We may argue, and equivocate, and wish 
 it were not so ; but it will not reverse the settled decree of 
 that God who hath said he will bring every work into judg- 
 ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether 
 it be evil. 
 
 Young man, those sports and gayeties for which you are 
 putting Christ and his word aside will all confront you again 
 hereafter. Those midnight suppers, rank with profanity and 
 intoxication, shall have their reward. Those gatherings in 
 the drink-shops of Satan, those witty jests levelled at sacred 
 things, those fiery lusts burning on the altar of pleasure, all 
 
158 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 •are written down in the book of doom wtidi shall soon be 
 opened. That scene of riot, that broken pledge, that visit to 
 the haunts of profligacy supposed to be known only to your- 
 self, each has its appropriate recompense in the distributions 
 of coming wrath. 
 
 Yes; the blood of murdered innocence will not always cry 
 from the earth in vain. The wails of trampled helplessness 
 will not go unheard forever. The widow's wrongs, and the 
 orphan's robbery, will not go perpetually unrequited. The 
 unknown assassin, and the secret sinner, will yet be found 
 out. The malicious incendiary, and the dishonest clerk, the 
 mother who strangled her babe, and the boy that cursed hia 
 parents in his heart, and every violater of law or despiser of 
 the truth, shall yet have to confront their crimes, and answer 
 for them to the Lord their Maker. And when once the fearful 
 inquisition begins, and the chained thunders are let loose, and 
 the long arrearages of wrath come to be paid off, and violated 
 law, abused goodness, despised mercy, and outraged justice, 
 all combine in the demand for vengeance, oh, who shall tell 
 the doom of him who is found uncovered by the Savior's 
 righteousness and unsanctified by the Savior's blood ? Who 
 can tell the greatness of his wretchedness ? Who can weigh 
 his torment ? Who can fathom the depth of his hell ? Is 
 there before me a soul so hardened as to resolve to en- 
 counter it ? 
 
 Awake, then, 0, sleeper, and call upon thy God, if so be 
 that you perish not ! Your race will soon be run. The day 
 when God will put his terrific adjudications in force upon you 
 will soon arrive. It is stealing upon you as a lion crouching to 
 spring upon his prey. The great judgment is close at hand. 
 Already we hear the mutterings of the approaching tempest. 
 Before you think it possible, the Lord will arise and say, '■^It 
 is done." Why, then, sleep, and sport, and fold your arms in 
 indifference ? " Behold, now is the accepted time ! Behold, 
 
NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME. 159 
 
 now is the day of salvation !" Aud I entreat you, by all the 
 awful perils that surround us — by the preciousness of the im- 
 mortal soul — by the untold peace and blessings of eternity, — 
 do not waste your time, nor neglect your opportunities. Haste 
 to the arms that are stretched out to save you. Fly at once 
 to the refuge set before you. Take sanctuary in Jesus, who 
 now offers to save you. And may he who came into the 
 world to save sinners be your portion forever ! Amen, and 
 Amen I 
 
 DIES IRAE. 
 
 Day of anger, day of wonder, 
 When the world shall roll asunder. 
 Smote with fire and smoke and thunder ! 
 
 Death astonied, nature shaken, 
 See all creatures, as they waken. 
 To that dire tribunal taken. 
 
 Lo ! the book where all is hoarded, 
 Not a secret unrecorded : 
 Every doom is thence awarded. 
 
 So the Judge, when he arraigneth, 
 Every hidden thing explaineth : 
 Nothing unavenged remaineth. 
 
 In that fiery revelation 
 
 Where shall I make supplication, 
 
 AVhen the just hath scarce salvation? 
 
 Fount of love, dread King supernal, 
 
 Freely giving life eternal. 
 
 Save me from the pains infernal ! 
 
 This forget not, sweet life-giver. 
 Me thou earnest to deliver : 
 Cast me not away forever ! 
 
 Kneeling, crushed in heart, before thee. 
 Sad and suppliant I adore thee : 
 Hear me, save me, I implore thee ! 
 
 From the Latin of Thomas de Celano, \Zth cent. 
 
SEVEI^TH DISCOUESE. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE JUDGMENT, WITH RESPECT TO THH 
 
 DEAD, WITH RESPECT TO THE LIVING THE UNSANCTIFIED LIVING 
 
 TO BE JUDGED NATIONALLY AT THE SECOND ADVENT THE RESULTS 
 
 OF THJESE NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 
 
 Acts xvii. SO, 31: And tlie times of this ignorance God winked at; 
 but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he 
 hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in 
 righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained : whereof he 
 hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him 
 from the dead. 
 
 I HAVE already given you one discourse upon the judg- 
 ment ; but I feel that another is necessary to furnish you with 
 a clear and full conception of what is revealed concerning it. 
 In my last, I endeavored to disabuse your minds of some 
 wrong impressions which prevail respecting it, and to present 
 what I regard as the more Scriptural views of the subject, 
 reserving a more detailed account of its particular administra- 
 tions for the present occasion. You were then shown that, in 
 a general sense, the judgment of God is the administration or 
 enforcement of the government of God, and that " the day 
 of judgment" is that notable period, when the Son of man 
 shall take his great power, complete the redemption of his 
 saints, destroy all his enemies, and set up his glorious king- 
 dom over the nations. That day will include at least a thou- 
 sand years, as Peter says. It will have its morning and its 
 evening. Its morning will be the period of Christ's coming, 
 and include all the great ''signs" which immediately precede, 
 160 
 
JUDGMENT OF THE LIVING AND OF THE DEAD. 161 
 
 attend and follow the second advent. Its evening is the 
 period when the last rebellion in the mystic GrOg and Magog 
 shall be defeated, the wicked dead raised, and they, the devil, 
 death, and all that ever disturbed and polkited the earth, 
 given over to the ever-burning lake of the second death. It 
 is the morning of that day of which the Scriptures say the 
 most, and of which I desire now more particularly to speak. 
 And may God dictate to your hearts and mine, and so enable 
 us to comprehend his mysterious purposes, that we may be 
 found of him in peace, without spot and blameless ! 
 
 You have doubtless observed in your reading, that the 
 Scriptures distinguish between the judgment of men in the 
 flesh, and the judgment of the dead. Christ is " ordained of 
 God to be the Judge of quick and dead." He " shall judge 
 the quick and the dead at his appearing and kingdom." He 
 is "ready to judge die quick and the dead." By "the 
 quick,'' we are of course to understand the living, — those who, 
 not yet having died, live in the body at the period when 
 Christ comes. We will therefore be under the necessity of 
 distinguishing between the judgment as respects the living, 
 and the judgment as respects the dead. The one is evidently 
 very different from the other ; and, without treating of them 
 separately, we can have no clear conception of what God has 
 revealed upon the subject. 
 
 As respects the dead, the matter is plain enough from what 
 was presented on the subject of the resurrection of the just. 
 All " them which sleep in Jesus" shall be raised from among 
 the dead, glorified, exalted, gathered to Christ in the clouds 
 beyond mortal sight, and assigned their places in the heavenly 
 kingdom according to their works. " The rest of the dead 
 live not again until the thousand years are finished." These 
 are the administrations of the morning of the judgment-day 
 as respects the dead. 
 
 But even among those who live in the body when Christ 
 L 14* 
 
162 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 comes, we find two classes, — the righteous and the wicked, with 
 regard to whom two distinct proceedings will take place As 
 to the pious living at that time, they will be translated, and 
 undergo a sudden change analogous to the resurrection, and be 
 taken uf> to the risen saints, to be dealt with in the same way 
 as those who have been raised from the dead. Paul says, 
 " The Lord himself shal descend from heaven with a shout, 
 with the voice of the an.hangel, and with the trump of Godj 
 and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we icJiich are alive 
 and remain shall be caught up together with them in. the 
 clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we be ever 
 with the Lord." " We shall not all sleep, but we shall be 
 changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
 trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
 raised incorruptible, and ice shall be changed." Thus, all 
 the really pious, who live till the day of Christ, shall be 
 changed and caught up, as Enoch and Elijah, their great 
 types, were changed and caught up, and go to join the glo- 
 rious resurrection-host, — ''the Bride of the Lamb," — ''the 
 church of the first-born." Their judgment then will be per- 
 sonal and final, introducing them into the fruition of their 
 rewards in the eternal kingdom. 
 
 We come now to the unsanctified who shall be found living 
 upon earth when Christ appears. How is the introduction 
 of the day of judgment to aiFect them ? Of course they 
 will not be translated. Their pious friends and associates 
 shall be taken, but they shall be left. Neither will they then 
 receive their judgment in full. The final judgment of the 
 wicked is not until the end of the millennium. Whatever, 
 therefore, shall befall them on the morning of the day of judg- 
 ment will only be their judgment in part. It will be a judg- 
 ment in the flesh only, and consist of the dispensation of tem- 
 poral troubles and calamities. It will be more national than 
 personal, and C( ncern them more as states, societies and con- 
 
THE XXV. CHAPTER OF JEREMIAH. 163 
 
 federations, ttan as individuals. It will doubtless be a judg- 
 ment of the same kind with those judgments which have 
 heretofore been administered to wicked powers and apostate 
 nations and churches. Upon this point the Scriptures are 
 very plain. 
 
 There is a very remarkable passage on this subject in the 
 twenty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah. The prophet there sets forth 
 this judgment of the nations one after another as time pro- 
 gresses, until it reaches its grand consummation in the adminis- 
 trations which are to attend Christ's final coming. He says, 
 " Thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me : Take the wine- 
 cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom 
 I shall send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be 
 moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send 
 among them. Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and 
 made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent 
 me : to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings 
 thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, 
 an astonishment, an hissing and a curse; as it is this dayj 
 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and 
 all his people ; and all the mingled people, and all the kings 
 of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philis- 
 tines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant 
 of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, 
 and all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and 
 the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, Dedan, and 
 Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, and all 
 the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people 
 that dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, and all 
 the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, and all 
 the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and 
 
 ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD, WHICH ARE UPON THE 
 
 FACE OF THE EARTH : and the king of Sheshach shall drink 
 after them. Therefore, thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith 
 
164 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Drink ye, and be drunken, 
 and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword 
 which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse 
 to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto 
 them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Ye shall certainly drinJc. 
 For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my 
 name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be 
 unpunished : for I will call for a sword xijmn all the inhabit- 
 ants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore, pro- 
 phesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them," 
 — and here comes a description of this universal judgment of 
 the nations as it shall be consummated when Christ shall be 
 manifested, — " The Lord shall roar from on high^ and utter 
 his voice from his holy habitation ; he shall give a shout, as 
 they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the 
 earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth : for 
 the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead 
 with all flesh ; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, 
 saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil 
 shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind 
 shall be raised from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of 
 the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even 
 unto the other end of the earth : they shall not be lamented, 
 neither gathered, nor buried ; they shall be dung upon the 
 ground." 
 
 And it is in perfect harmony with this, that the Savior 
 himself tells us, that in the period of his coming there will 
 be "upon earth distress of nations with perplexity;" and that 
 "when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 
 holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his 
 glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he 
 shall separate them (the nations) one from another, as a 
 shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." And when 
 that solemn reckDuiug comes, as the Scriptures abundantly 
 
OTHER PROPHECIES. 165 
 
 toaeh, there is but one people ou the face of the whole earth 
 which, as a nation, shall not fall among the goats, and be 
 doomed as the uncharitable persecutors and neglectors of the 
 brethren of Jesus. Daniel tells us, that when the Son of man 
 shall come in his kingdom, " it shall break in pieces and con- 
 sume all these (goat) kingdoms." Yes, " he cometh with 
 clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which 
 pierced him, and all the kindreds (^^uXat — tribes') of the earth 
 shall tvail because of him." He shall "judge and make 
 war." He shall be " clothed with a vesture dipped in blood." 
 He shall "with a sharp sword smite the nations, and rule 
 THEM u'ith a rod of iron ; treading the winepress of the 
 fierceness and wrath of Almighty Grod. And all the fowls 
 that fly in the midst of heaven shall eat the flesh of kings, 
 and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and 
 the flesh of horses and them that sit on them." " Behold, 
 the day of the Lord cometh, — his feet shall stand in that day 
 upon the Mount of Olives, — for I will gather all nations 
 against Jerusalem to battle. . . . Then shall the Lord go forth 
 and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day 
 of battle. . . . And it shall come to pass that a great tumult 
 from the Lord shall be among them." " In that day the 
 Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, 
 and the kings of the earth upon earth ; and they shall be 
 gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit ; ichen 
 the Lord of hosts shall rehjn in Mount Zion, even IN JERU- 
 SALEM, and before his ancients gloriously." Again, it is said, 
 "Come near, ye nations, and hearken, ye people: for the in- 
 dignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon 
 all their armies : he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath de- 
 livered them to the slaughter ; and the mountains shall be 
 melted with their blood. For it is the day of the Lord's ven- 
 geance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of 
 Zion :" (Is. xxiv. and xxxiv.) The word ot the Lord by 
 
166 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Zephaniali is, " Wait ye upon me, until the day that I rise up 
 to the pi'ey: for my tleterminatiou is to gather tlit nulioiis, 
 that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them my in- 
 dignation, even all my fierce anger ; for all the earth shall be 
 devoured with the flaming fire of my jealousy." And all, 
 when '' he shall appear to the joy" of those that '• tremble at 
 his word." 
 
 John's vision of the opening of the sixth seal refers to the 
 same events, in which he beheld, ''and the kings of the 
 earth, and the great men, and the chief captains, and the 
 mighty men, and all their adherents, hid themselves in the 
 dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the 
 mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face 
 of him that sitteth ou the throne, and from the wrath of the 
 Lamb : for the great day of his wrath hath come, and who 
 shall be able to stand?" 
 
 Do you ask me, then, what the judgment is with regard to 
 the unsanctified who live upon earth when Christ comes ? 
 Here you have it described, not by the fancies of poets who 
 wrote to make themselves a name, but in the words given by 
 the Spirit of the great Judge himself. And what a sublime and 
 terrific picture it furnishes of the final vindication of the reality 
 and righteousness of that divine Sovereignty which every 
 nation and confederation on earth, both civil and ecclesiastical, 
 has been usurping, invading and denying ever since man first 
 departed from God! Where is the nation, state, kingdom, or 
 hierarchy under the broad heavens that has not been built and 
 sustained more or less by injustice, oppression, ambition and 
 unrighteousness? Where is the policy that has reigned, or 
 that now reigns, in church or state, that is not crooked, per- 
 verse, and mixed up with vast and wicked invasions of the 
 rights of Him whose is the kingdom, and who alone is the 
 rightful governor among the nations? And wheresoever the 
 carcass is, there will the eagles be gatl/ored together. It was 
 
THE JEWS. 167 
 
 upon that generation of the Jews who lived when Jerusalem 
 finally fell, that all the blood of prophets and martyrs shed by 
 their fathers was visited; and so the nations still living when 
 Christ comes shall be dealt with for all '^ their ungodly deeds 
 which they have ungodly committed," and which have been 
 accumulating for ages. The ploughshare of destruction shall 
 then run deep; and the furrow it shall turn will bury forever 
 all the proud works of rebellious man. In all the Scriptures, 
 there appears to be but one exception to the general crash of 
 earthly establishments ; and even that shall not be an entire 
 exception. There is an exemption proclaimed in favor of the 
 Jewish race, which, as a distinct nationality, has had its 
 judgment. Jeremiah says, " These are the words that the 
 Lord spake concerning Israel, and concerning Judah. . . . 
 Alas ! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even 
 the time of Jacob's trouble ;" which extends from Jerusalem's 
 fall to the period of the final advent : (Luke xxi. 24.) ^'■Bat 
 he shall be saved out. of it. . . . Therefore fear thou not, 
 my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, 
 Israel ; for lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from 
 the land of thy captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall 
 be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. 
 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee ; though 1 
 
 MAKE A FULL END of ALL NATIONS WHITHER I HAVE 
 SCATTERED THEE, YET WILL I NOT MAKE A FULL END OF 
 
 thee: hut I will correct thee in ?ne(7S?<rc, and will not leave 
 thee altogether unpunished. . . ." (See also Zech. xiv. 2.) 
 "They that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine 
 adversai'ies, every one of them shall go into captivity; and 
 they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon 
 thee will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto 
 thee, and heal thee of all thy wounds, saith the Lord. Be- 
 hold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and 
 have mercy on his dweiling-2)laces, and the city shall be 
 
168 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 builded on her own little hill. Out of them shall proceed 
 thanksgiving and the voice of theui th;it make merry : and I 
 will multiply them, and they shall nut be few ; I will also 
 glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children 
 also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be 
 established before me, and / loill inmish all that oppress 
 them. . . . Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with 
 fury, a cutting whirlwind : it shall fall with pain upon the 
 head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not 
 return until he have done it, and until he have performed the 
 intents of his heart : in the latter days ye shall consider it :" 
 (Jer. XXX.) 
 
 My brethren, some people contemn the Jews, and speak 
 despisingly of them. For eighteen hundred years they have 
 been a hissing, a byword, and a reproach. The nations have 
 dealt most unjustly towards them; and many to this day 
 never look upon them but with derision and with scorn. But 
 every Jew that moves upon the face of the earth is a living- 
 token of the coming wrath of God. All God's prophets were 
 Jews ; and there is a sense in which all the Jews are God's 
 prophets. Superstitious, obstinate, blind, derided, as the Jew 
 is, he is a herald of the fierce judgment of Almighty God, 
 which is to make *'afull end of all nations" wherever he 
 is found. He stands in our luxurious cities, and before 
 our churches, as Jonah amid Nineveh, summoning us to re- 
 pentance and mourning. And instead of feeling contempt 
 and scorn when we come into his presence, we should rather 
 be humbled and solemn, as if God's prophet were before us 
 predicting trouble. He is the harbinger of disturbances and 
 desolations which he alone, of all the races living, shall 
 escape. His day of tribulation has been great and long, 
 without a parallel. His Jerusalem is " trodden down of the 
 Gentiles," and will remain trodden down ''till the times of 
 the Gentiles be fulfilled." But he shall be saved out of his 
 
ASPECT OF THK JUDOMENT TIMES. 169 
 
 troubles. All his wounds shall be healed. He shall yet 
 live. And when the time of his nation's resurrection comes, 
 which has been so long foretold by his holy prophets, then 
 shall the nations mourn. "In that day, saith the Lord of 
 hosts, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all nations 
 that are round about. And I will make Jerusalem a burden- 
 some stone to all nations, and they shall he cut in pieces and 
 broken, though all the people of the earth he gathered 
 together." It is useless for us to shut our eyes to these awful 
 announcements. God himself has made them, and no man 
 can alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth. The 
 despised Jew shall yet look forth from Zion and behold the 
 grave of every kingdom upon earth. 
 
 But let us now endeavor to draw out, and set forth in 
 greater particularity, some of the things comprehended in 
 these more geuei-al statements. 
 
 He that will be at the pains to put together all that has 
 been revealed concerning the judgment as it respects the 
 living when Christ comes, will not fail to see that it is to be a 
 scene or succession of terrific social agitations, irruptions and 
 revolutions. It will be a time of wars and rumors of wars; 
 of political perplexities and disasters ; of ferments and pre- 
 cipitations in the whole existing order of things ; of civil 
 storms, earthquakes, commotions, overturnings and devast- 
 ations. People are to rise up and overthrow governments, 
 slay their rulers, prey upon each other, and involve the 
 world in bloody and inextricable broils. Ambitious and 
 godless men will spring into places of power, array their 
 followers against each other, trample down national and inter- 
 national law, and rush to certain destruction. lufidds and 
 socialists of a thousand hues shall disorganize, undermine, 
 subvert and destroy with bloody hands, and spread ruin in 
 their path. Schisms and feuds of all sorts shall break forth 
 to cripple and desolate. G-reat powers, which think them- 
 
170 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 selves secure, shall be suddenly overwhelmed. Infatuated 
 zealots, secular and ecclesiastial, shall lead men into scenes of 
 terror and ruin. Great alliances and combinations shall be 
 formed and swelled into the most gigantic proportions, until 
 they unexpectedly fall by their own weight and crush every 
 thing beneath them. And the whole earth shall heave, and 
 reel, and start, and stagger, with agony and delirium ; for it 
 is ''the great day of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
 God." 
 
 In this condition of things, all present forms of government 
 shall be modified, if not wholly dissolved. All emperors and 
 kings shall be divested of their power; for "the sun shall be 
 darkened." All orders of corrupt nobility, princedoms, duke- 
 doms, premierships, and such like, shall be cast down ; for 
 *'the stars shall fall." Kings, great men, rich men, chief 
 captains, mighty men, and all their adherents, shall be stripped 
 of their possessions, and driven to terrible extremities and 
 desperation; for God hath said it in just so many words. 
 Every sceptre shall break in the hands of him who holds it; 
 every crown shall tumble from the brow of him that wears it ; 
 the mightiest armies shall be utterly routed, and the greatest 
 navies brought to naught. Worlds shall not rush upon each 
 other and be no more, but thrones and human magistracies 
 will. Matter will not wreck and vanish, but all political 
 combinations will. The great orbs of immensity shall not be 
 annihilated, but all whom those orbs symbolize in this world 
 will; for God will '^hreak in pieces and consume all these 
 Icingdoms." The whole body and framework of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's image, from its golden scalp to its toes of clay, every 
 particle of it, shall be "like the chaiF of the summer thresh- 
 ing-floors," driven by the four winds. 
 
 A similar destiny also then awaits all present church 
 organizations, — at least all establishments and hierarchies. 
 As they stand connected with the world's politics, they shall 
 
CHURCH SYSTEMS. 171 
 
 ' share the same fate. "The moon shall be confounded, and 
 become as blood." The ecclesiastical as well as the political 
 heavens sliall have their powers shaken, and be rolled up as a 
 scroll ; and the stars in the one shall be cast down as the stacs 
 in the other. There is not a church system or denomi- 
 national organization now on earth that shall ever find its way 
 into the millennial times, or survive this period of the wrath 
 of God. They are all provisional and temporary. They are 
 all wood, hay and stubble, which the fires shall consume. 
 They are all tainted. They are all founded too much on the 
 wisdom of man, and consist too entirely of works of human 
 authority and power to live. They shall all wither and die ; 
 and they that build their salvation on them shall die with 
 them. There are many church politicians who are as bad and 
 as obnoxious to the judgment as any state politicians; and one 
 doom is reserved for them all. My hope is in Christ Jesus 
 and his infallible word, and not in any lauded church system 
 under the sun. I am sure that there will be neither Protest- 
 antism, nor Romanism, nor High Church, nor Low Church, nor 
 Lutheranism, nor Methodism, nor Presbyterianism, nor any 
 other kind of ism, in the glorious millennium. What then 
 shall become of all these isms, and the systems founded on 
 them? There is no alternative; they shall all perish forever 
 in the storms and fires of wrath which are beginning to be 
 felt, and which shall soon sweep over all the earth ; and they 
 that adhere to these systems to the neglect of Christ and his 
 pure gospel shall perish with them. 
 
 Brethren, strange as these things may seem to some, they 
 are the sober truths of Divine revelation. Study carefully the 
 word of God, think for yourselves, only adjust in your own 
 minds some of the great facts which we all admit, and 
 you will not fail to arrive at the same conclusions. 
 Your beautiful ceremonies, your magnificent rituals, your 
 boasted democracy of church order, your vast and unique or- 
 
172 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 ganization, all constructed by human wisdom, must be changed 
 and come to naught. Your unsanctified and defiant denomi- 
 national champions, and your sectarian Goliaths, shall all fall 
 dead before the sling-stone of that David who cometh to judge 
 the world in righteousness; and all their marshaled hosts, 
 who have been rallied under the battle-cry of mere party, shall 
 be scattered in confusion, and scorched by the hot flames of 
 God's retribution. 
 
 Understand me rightly. I am not exhorting any one to 
 forsake his denomination, or to stand aloof from the church in 
 the forms in which it now exists. That would only augment 
 partyism, and increase needless contention or fatal indiffer- 
 ence. Let him who would approve himself unto his Lord do 
 the best he can under the circumstances. Keep diligently to 
 your Bible, make the most of your opportunities, and meekly 
 wait and watch for the coming of the Savior to set all things 
 right by making all things new. If you are a Lutheran, 
 work as a Lutheran ; but let the Scriptures and not Lutheran- 
 ism be your guide. If you are a Methodist, work as a Method- 
 ist; but work, not for Methodism, but for Christ. If you 
 are an Episcopalian, work as an Episcopalian ; but rest not 
 your hope and aim in Episcopalianism, but in the simple gos- 
 pel of the blessed God. Let the ism be to you as though it 
 were not, and embrace Christ with all your heart, and lay hold 
 of him as your all in all. For as certain as the judgment, all 
 these isms must die. The great day shall make an end of 
 them. And if you have no Christianity but them, alas for 
 your hope I 
 
 These judicial visitations, however, will fall much more 
 heavily upon some nations and combinations than upon 
 others. Some are deeper in apostasy and guilt than others ; 
 and the righteous Judge shall apportion the punishment to the 
 crime. There are some nations, confederations and hierai-chies 
 specially singled out in thn prophecies as the objects of Jeho- 
 
THE TEN-HORNED WILD BEAST. 173 
 
 vaVs most terrific indignation. Conspicuous among these 
 are, — 
 
 1. The ten-horned wild beast of Daniel and John; 
 
 2. The image of the beast; and, 
 
 3. Great Babylon. 
 
 I cannot, in this connection, pi'esent and reason out the 
 processes by which the objects denoted by these symbols are 
 to be identified. A vast amount of criticism and comment 
 are involved, through which I have tried to wade, but which 
 are of too intricate a character and too voluminous and con- 
 flicting to be brought forward in this connection. There are 
 conclusions to which I have come, however, which I will an- 
 nounce, remarking at the same time that I believe them to be 
 at least plausible, and not without some solid foundation. 
 
 The ten-horned wild beast of Daniel and John is the repre- 
 sentative of the Roman empire. Its ten horns are the ten 
 kingdoms which took the place of the old Roman empire, 
 and now occupy its territory. It is, therefore, the symbol of 
 the supreme civil power of the ten kingdoms into which the 
 Roman empire was divided. These ten kingdoms originally 
 embraced the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Franks, 
 the Vandals, the Sueves, the Burgundians, the Herulians and 
 Thuringians, the Saxons and the Longobards. At present, they 
 perhaps embrace the three Papal States, Naples, Tuscany, 
 Austria, Great Britain, France, Portugal and Spain. The 
 supreme civil power, then, of these and, may-be, a few other 
 countries, is the wild beast of whom we are now speaking. 
 
 The image of the beast niny represent the ecclesiastical 
 rulers and teachers which princes and people have been de- 
 luded to erect into a vast church hierarchy under the pope, 
 who exercises over it a sway and jurisdiction analogous to, or 
 the image of, that which the civil rulers exert over their po- 
 litical empires. This image of the beast derived its existence 
 and power from the false teachings and lying wonders of the 
 
 15* 
 
174 THE LA6T TIMES. 
 
 papal beast on the one hand, and from the misled political 
 authorities on the other : (Rev xiii. 14, 15.) It is, therefore, 
 that empire of priests and church officials, presented in what 
 is falsely called " the Catholic church," and who are feared 
 and worshipped by their millions of subjects with an idolatry 
 as debasing as it is wicked. 
 
 But what is meant by great Babylon — that mother of har- 
 lotry and source of earth's worst abominations ? Some have 
 thought that this symbol denotes the city of Rome. Some 
 have taken it as the representative of the Romish church. 
 Some have given it still other applications. But I know of no 
 explanation which so completely meets the case, as that which 
 takes great Babylon as the symbol of that base and corrupting 
 system known as the union of church and state. The c-ity of 
 Rome cannot be meant ; for great Babylon is presented as a 
 living agent ; and living agents do not represent inanimate 
 objects. She is represented as borne by the wild beast; and 
 must therefore be something different from the mere secular 
 power, and yet entirely dependent upon the secular power. 
 The Romish church, as such, does not wholly depend upon 
 the secular power; but all state churches do. I therefore 
 take great Babylon as the symbol of the living, seductive and 
 corrupting body of nationalized hierarchies, both Papal and 
 Protestant, whether in the Old World or in the New. 
 
 Now, then, let us glance at the destiny of these three mon- 
 sters, intertwined as they are, for the most part, the one with 
 the other, and see how they will be affected by the introduc- 
 tion of the day of judgment. 
 
 As to great Babylon, her doom is sealed. She shall fall ; 
 and great shall be her fall. In the visions of John, as soon 
 as one angel announced that " the, Jionr of juclgmeiU is come," 
 another followed, saying, " Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that 
 great city, because she made all the nations drink of the wine 
 of the wrath of hei fornication :" (Rev. xiv. 7, 8.) What- 
 
STATE CHURCHES. 175 
 
 ever may be said in their favor, these state churches and na- 
 tionalized hierarchies are an abomination in the sight of God. 
 They are ''full of names of blasphemy." They have ever 
 arrogated to themselves the rights of God, and assumed un- 
 warranted authority over his legislation and over the con- 
 sciences of his people. They are august and splendid es- 
 tablishments, " robed in purple and scarlet, and decked with 
 gold, and precious stones, and pearls." They have seduced 
 millions into spiritual fornication, by their elegant attire and 
 their bewitching flatteries. But all their pompous decorations 
 and lofty pretensions will not hide their impurities from the 
 eye of a jealous God. They are all ''drunk with the blood 
 of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." 
 Sustained as they are with more than princely revenues, and 
 shielded by the sword of secular power, they have been the 
 agents of the blo'odiest persecutions that the world has ever 
 seen since the days of the pagan emperors. Ask a Papist who 
 were the authors of those disgraceful inflictions in various 
 countries professedly Christian, by which thousands upon 
 thousands lost their lives for their religious opinions, and he 
 will tell you, the civil government. Ask rabid Protestants, 
 and they will tell you, the Romish church. But consult the 
 truth, and it will tell you, it was the union of church and 
 state. Even in the most enlightened Protestant countries 
 where such union exists, the skirts of its robes are clotted 
 with the blood and saturated with the tears of wronged and 
 oppressed dissenters. I say this with shame and sorrow j but 
 so it is, and God has noted it all in his book of doom. There 
 never has been a state church, in any age or any countiy, that 
 has not been more or less an intolerant and a persecuting 
 church. And where the papal hierarchy has enjoyed this re- 
 lation to the secular power, God alone knows all the wrongs 
 that have been perpetrated, and the streams of martyr-blood 
 that have been spilled. It was not the state, as Rome would 
 
176 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 persuade us; it was not the Romish church, as such; but it 
 was the product of church and state united, — the result of the 
 blasphemous undertaking on the part of the civil power, with, 
 the consent of those who called themselves the church, to 
 legislate in things which belong only to the individual con- 
 science and its God. Religion is not a subject for human 
 legislation. It is not for man to say how we are to bo held in 
 communion and allegiance with our Maker. Some tell us that 
 it is our duty to obey the state ; and others insist that it is our 
 duty to obey the church ; and from these two things it is 
 argued that it is pre-eminently our duty to obey where church 
 and state speak together. But the whole argument is sophis- 
 tical and unsound. No man, or combination of men, has any 
 right to impose laws between the soul and its Glod. Jehovah 
 himself is the only Lord of the conscience. When Nebu- 
 chadnezzar commands his subjects to fall down and worship 
 an image, it is an inalienable right in us, like the three He- 
 brew children, to disobey. When Darius forbids calling upon 
 God, Jehovah is with every Daniel who sets the prohibition 
 at defiance. When the Sanhedrim pronounces a ban upon 
 the preaching of Peter and John, the Lord God of the holy 
 prophets commands them to trample it under their feet. The 
 human soul is obliged by no law which meddles with its rela- 
 tions to its Creator. And the great, crying, and unpardonable 
 sin of great Babylon is, that it everywhere undertakes to 
 legislate for God, and forges chains to shackle the free-born 
 soul. 
 
 But Babylon shall be '' remembered before God, to give to 
 her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." All 
 these state hierarchies shall be shaken down and overwhelmed. 
 The very governments which now support and make use of 
 them shall turn against them. God says, " The ten horns 
 upon the beast shall hate her, and make her desolate and 
 naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." States 
 
GREAT BABYLON. 177 
 
 in their straits shall rob hor of her wealth, confiscate her 
 goods, divest her of her p()s.scssions, appropriate her benetlces 
 and revenues to other purposes, and reduce the whole system 
 to distress and desolation. Such is to be her fall ; and after 
 her fall shall come her punishment. Her lord-bishops, her 
 high superintendents and all her oflBcials shall yet have a 
 dreadful road to travel. God will yet say to those whom she 
 has wronged, impoverished and oppressed, "Give to her as 
 she also gave ; and double to her according to her works. 
 Into the cup which she has poured, pour to her double. As 
 much as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so 
 much torment give her and sorrow." " In one day shall her 
 plagues come, death, and sorrow, and famine; and she shall 
 be burned with fire : for mighty is the Lord God who shall 
 judge her. And the kings of the earth"— the civil powers — 
 "who have committed fornication and lived luxuriously with 
 her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see 
 the smoke of her burning; and standing afar off for fear of 
 her torment, shall say, Alas, alas ! that great city Babylon, 
 that mighty city ! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And 
 the merchants of the earth" — the nobles and dignitaries that 
 held the patronage of her benefices — "shall weep and mourn 
 
 over her And they that were made rich by her shall 
 
 stand afar off for fear of her torment, and cast dust on their 
 heads, crying, weeping; and wailing," whilst all heaven shouts, 
 Alleluia ! that her judgment is come : (Rev. xviii.) Her 
 destruction shall be entire. As a millstone, when thrown into 
 the depths of the sea, sinks forever out of the sight of men, 
 so shall this great harlot be swept from the earth, without 
 leaving so much as a rack behind. 
 
 As to the wild ten-horned beast, — the civil powers that have 
 grown out of the Roman empire, — all of which are but branches 
 and modifications of the old Roman monster, with great iron 
 teeth and claws of brass, devouring, breaking in pieces and 
 
178 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 trampling under foot, — its destiny is also announced. There 
 is not a throne upon the territory of the Ciesars that is not a 
 nuisance in the face of heaven. They are all builfc in usurpa- 
 tion and wrong. They are all sustained by tyranny and stained 
 with blood. They have deceived, and they shall be deceived 
 and lured to perdition. By the pressure of the times, and by 
 the cunning of demons, they sball yet be brought into one 
 grand coalition, and go forth to the war of the great day of 
 God Almighty, when the hand of the descended Jesus shall 
 strike them to the earth to rise no more. 
 
 I have intimated, that the Jewish race is to be restored to 
 its ancient home and the Jewish nationality rebuilt. I will 
 illustrate this point at greater length hereafter. In connection 
 with this restoration of the Jews, much offense will be taken 
 by some of the reigning powers. The prophet says, "Jeru- 
 salem shall be made a cup of trembling to all nations that are 
 round about, and a burdensome stone to all nations." There 
 shall be great controversies about the occupation of the Holy 
 Land. Politics will become inextricably involved. Strange 
 alliances shall be brought about, until at length all the powers 
 of Earth shall find themselves involved in one great confede- 
 ration, under the last head of the beast, — most likely the Em- 
 peror of the French, — and drawn into a great Eastern war, of 
 which Palestine will be the centre. This vast combination, 
 under its infidel leader, shall overflow the whole world, destroy 
 many countries, have power over the treasures of Egypt, enter 
 into the glorious land, plant its tents between the seas in the 
 glorious holy mountain, and there encounter the fierce wrath 
 of God: (Dan. xi. 40-45.) Plague unprecedented shall seize 
 the invading hosts. " Their flesh shall consume away while 
 they stand upon their feet; and their eyes shall consume away 
 in their sockets; and their tongues shall consume away in theii 
 mouth; and great tumult from the Lord shall be among them :" 
 (Zech. xiv. 12-16.) The beast shall be "slain, and its body 
 
THE PAPAL HIERARCHY. 179 
 
 destroyed and given to the burning flame:" (Dan. vii. 11.) 
 The heavens shall open; the Sou of man shall appear; his 
 kingdom shall be revealed ; the beast and false prophet shall 
 be taken and given to the fires; and thus shall God ''break in 
 pieces and consume all these kingdoms:" (John xix. 11-20; 
 Dan. ii. 44.)* 
 
 And as to the image of the beast, — the ecclesiastical empire 
 of popery, — its destiny is so closely identified with great Baby- 
 lon and the beast itself, that when we read the fate of the one 
 we have in substance the fate of the other. Stroke after 
 stroke shall fall ujion it, wasting, crippling, denuding, consum- 
 ing it, until the brightness of the Savior's presence shall bring 
 it to everlasting destruction: (2 Thess. ii. 8.) "And if any 
 man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark 
 in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the 
 wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mix- 
 ture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented 
 with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and 
 in the presence of the Lamb:" (Rev. xiv. 9, 10.) 
 
 Let men beware, then, how they tamper with these objects 
 of God's distinguishing and extinguishing retributions. Let 
 them beware how they approve, justify, defend and abet the 
 cause of state churches, lest they involve themselves in the 
 whoredoms of great Babylon. Let them beware how they 
 admire, applaud and revere the tyrannical and blasphemous 
 systems and policies of European legislation and dominion ; 
 for they that "worship" this ten-horned monster, or receive 
 his mark, shall go down into the pit. And especially let men 
 beware, that they give not their reverence to the image of this 
 beast, or bow their knees or necks to the ecclesiastical empire 
 of popery, or in any way identify themselves with its abomi- 
 nations; for they that bear its insignia shall "have no rest day 
 nor night; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for- 
 ever and ever." It is upon these systems, their adherents and 
 
 »See Note G, page 341. 
 
180 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 abettors, that the heaviest and thickest woes of the judgment 
 of the great day shall full. 
 
 From these statements it appears that there is after all a 
 wise and mighty overruling providence in the affairs of men. 
 Whatever skeptics and politicians may say, ''The kingdom is 
 the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations." "He 
 setteth up kings, and he putteth them down." " He nileth 
 in the kingdoms of men, and giveth them to whomsoever he 
 will." He " frustrateth the tokens of liars, and maketh 
 divinei's mad; he turneth wise men backwards, and maketh 
 their knowledge foolish." This world is not a fatherless 
 thing, cast off to everlasting orphanage. It may seem end- 
 lessly confused now; but God hath appointed a day in the 
 which he will judge it in righteousness, by that man whom he 
 hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, 
 in that he hath raised him from the dead. Its affairs are not 
 things of chance, nor its destinies without control. Wise men 
 may plan, and wicked men may plot, and mighty men may 
 execute; but the ultimate disposal of every thing is of the 
 Lord. The mightiest and the weakest, the vastest and the 
 minutest, are equally under his omniscient eye and equally 
 within his almighty power. He is in the senates and cabinets 
 of nations, in the battle-field of conflicting armies, at the desk 
 of the author, and in circles of the designing everywhere, and 
 always moulding, directing, restraining all things for the con- 
 summation of his own great purposes, and making even the 
 wrath of man to praise him. People may rage, and nations 
 disregard his laws, and men act out their villany; but they 
 shall never press Jehovah to extremities, or defeat that holy 
 arm which stands pledged for the everlasting defence of the 
 righteous. He knows the end of all things from the begin- 
 ning, and his inscrutable arrangements are all made accord- 
 ingly. There is not a turn in human things which he has not 
 taken into his sublime calculations. jM utters may be very dark 
 
SECURITY OF THE DEVOUT. 181 
 
 to US, but they are all plaiu to hiiu. Wisdom, order, right- 
 eousness and glory shall yet come out of the mighty I'iddle of 
 human history. The day of judgment shall solve the problem 
 that has puzzled men so long. Confusion, injustice, falsehood 
 and wrong may seem to triumph for a while ; but the result is 
 certain. Their grave is dug. Their doom is at hand. They 
 may be too mighty for us ; but Christ is Lord, and he must 
 reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. Antichrist 
 shall die; tyranny shall die; error shall die; sin shall die; and 
 at last death itself shall die. The world has a ruler who will 
 subdue all evil and set things right in the end. The sublime 
 wisdom and rectitude of all his administrations will yet be the 
 glory and delight of the saints, and the rapture of his holy 
 ones forever and ever. 
 
 And in view of the commotions and distresses, the overturn- 
 ings and the desolations, that await the unsanctified world, how 
 precious are the hopes of the devout ! If we are in Christ 
 Jesus, there is no more condemnation. The true people of 
 God are safe. They are enclosed in everlasting arms. The 
 broad shield of Omnipotence is over them. Some may pass 
 through a sharp night, but it will be short.* Though the 
 powers of the heavens be shaken, and the foundations of the 
 earth be moved, they that put their trust in the Lord shall 
 never be confounded, \yars may come, and bloody revolu- 
 tions may come; famine may come, and plagues may come; 
 thrones may fall and empires may dissolve, and all the proud 
 works of human genius may be dashed to desolation; but, if 
 our hope is fixed on God, and our souls are united with his 
 Anointed, we shall sing, amid the turmoil and the wreck, "Alle- 
 luia! /or the Lord God omnipotent reir/nefh!" 
 
 Only let us see to it, then, that we be indeed the disciples 
 and friends of Jesus. Let us not rest satisfied with perad- 
 ventures, but give the most earnest heed to the things which 
 we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 
 
 » Sec Note H. pazc H!9. 
 ]6 
 
182 THE LA«T TIMES. 
 
 Signs of the approaeliing judsiraent are already being mani- 
 fested on every side. All fingers are pointing to the great 
 crisis as near at hand. The days in which we live are 
 freighted with intense and exhaustless issues. We stand 
 upon a point where the last rays of a fading world mingle 
 with the dawn of an opening eternity. Nations and churches, 
 superstitions and errors, are heaving and tottering for their 
 final fall. The time is come that judgment must begin. The 
 fires stored away so long are beginning to beat against their 
 prison-walls, and to clamor for their promise of release. And 
 may kind Heaven help us to prepare to meet our God ! 
 
 AROUSE FOR DUTY. 
 
 We are living, we are dwelling, 
 
 In a grand, eventful time; 
 In an age on ages telling, — 
 
 To be living, is sublime. 
 
 Hark ! the waking up of nations, 
 
 Truth and Error to the fray. 
 Hark ! what souudeth ? 'tis Creation 
 
 Groaning for its latter day ! 
 
 Will ye play, then ? will ye dally 
 
 With your music and your wine? 
 Up ! it is Jehovah's rally ! 
 
 God's own arm hath need of thine. 
 
 Hark ! the onset! will ye fold your 
 
 Faith-clad arms in lazy lock? 
 Up! 0, up! thou drowsy soldier; 
 
 Worlds are charging to the shock. 
 
 Worlds are charging. Heaven beholding ; 
 
 Thou hast but an hour to fight; 
 Now, the blazoned cross unfolding, 
 
 On ! — right onward, for the right. 
 
 A. C. CoxB, 
 
EIGHTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE KESTORATIOX OF THE JEWS — OBJECTIONS ANSWERED NEW TES- 
 TAMENT ALLUSIONS TO THE SUBJECT ANCIENT PROPHECIES HIS- 
 TORICAL FACTS PARTICULARS EXPLAINED. 
 
 Ez. xxxvii. 21: Say unto tJiem, T/ms saith the Lord: Behold, I 
 will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, {iiations,) 
 whither they he gone, and ivill gather them on every side, and 
 bring them into their own land. 
 
 It is to be borne in mind that our inquiries in this series 
 of discourses relate to but one great epoch in human affairs, 
 the consummation of the age, and what connects with it. 
 All that I have thus far said appertains to this wonderful and 
 critical period. The personal return and manifestation of 
 Christ in our world, "the restitution of all things," the resur- 
 rection of the sainted dead, the transfiguration of the pious 
 living at the time, and the terrific administrations of the en- 
 throned Messiah upon the guilty nations and confederations 
 of the earth, — all, to a great extent, are contemporaneous. 
 They all synchronize, or happen together in the same general 
 period. But there are still other great occurrences predicted 
 for that time of wonders. Among these is the conversion 
 and final restoration of the Israelitish race. 
 
 That the great bulk of this astonishing people will yet be 
 
 converted to Christ the Messiah, and be again grafted upon 
 
 the olive-tree of the spiritual Israel from which they have 
 
 been measurably broken off, is pretty well agreed on all hands. 
 
 183 
 
184 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Whitby sn\s, " This hath beeu the constant doctrine of the 
 church of Christ, owned by the Greek and Latin fathers, and 
 by all the commentators I have met with." The inspired 
 declarations upon this subject are too explicit to be evaded. 
 "All Israel shall he saved: as it is written, There shall come 
 out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness 
 
 from Jacob : FOR this IS MY COVENANT UNTO THEM." 
 
 But that this scattered family of Jacob shall again be 
 gathered, and nationally restored to the land of their fathers, 
 is not so generally admitted. Some have no patience at all 
 ■with such a theory, and sneeringly ask. What can be the 
 object of such a restoration? / What end is it to answer? 
 What purpose can it subserve ? But to all such methods of 
 reasoning, it is enough to reply that our business is with the 
 word of Grod, and that if God has announced it as his purpose 
 so to restore the Jewish nation he certainly has adequate 
 reasons to justify his purpose. No Christian will refuse to 
 defer to the rectitude of Jehovah's doings. The only ques- 
 tion is, whether God has said that he will restore the Jewish 
 nation J for, if he has so said, no reasonings of ours can invalid- 
 ate his promise or throw uncertainty upon his word. Whe- 
 ther we can foresee the objects to be subserved or not, there 
 is not a "jot or tittle" of his revelation which is not more 
 reliable than all the whims or reasonings of all the wisest 
 thinkers that ever lived. 
 
 Others tell us that the restoration of the Jewish nationality 
 would be contrary to the spirit of the gospel; that all such 
 distinctions and differences as are implied in the re-establish- 
 ment of that nation have beeu superseded by the new cove- 
 nant; that "the middle wall of partition" between Jews and 
 Gentiles has been broken down in Christ; and that therefore 
 we cannot hope for Israel's restoration. But what of that, 
 if God has clearly declared that he will rebuild Jerusalem and 
 the Jewish state ? We dare not set aside the positive declara- 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSAVERED. 185 
 
 tions of the Loi'd by human inferences. But it is not true 
 that the gospel has abolished all national distinctions. The 
 wall of partition hat been broken down only so far, that the 
 offers of forgiveness and eternal life are now made equally 
 to Jews and Gentiles, so that either may embrace them and 
 be numbered with God's redeemed ones. Receiving Christ 
 as the Savior does not make Englishmen Americans, nor 
 Frenchmen Greeks. These national distinctions still remain, 
 however eminent may be our saintship, and will perhaps 
 remain forever. Converting a Jew to Christianity will not 
 make him a Gentile. And if there can be an English or 
 American nationality without subverting the spirit and. nature 
 of the gospel, there uiay also be a Jewish nationality equally 
 exempt from all contravention of the Christian economy. I 
 can see no more difficulty in the one case than in the other. 
 
 Again, some say if we admit that the Jews are to be re- 
 stored as a nation, we must also admit that they will occupy 
 an enviable place and possess peculiar prerogatives, which it 
 would not be well for us to concede. But shall we bend and 
 modify the word of God to make it harmonize with our whims 
 and jealousies ? Are we to explain away the positive state- 
 ments of revelation because they disagree with our tastes 
 and conflict with our vanity and pride ? Away with such 
 unworthy feelings upon a subject like this ! What if the 
 Jews shall be put into the front ranks in the glorious kingdom 
 of the Son of David ? If God sees fit to give them that 
 place, will it not be right ? They have not abused their 
 original calling any more than the Gentile church has abused 
 the gospel. The most illustrious of the saints belonged to 
 the Jewish race. The adorable Redeemer himself was a Jew. 
 " He took on him the seed of Abraham." For more than 
 two thousand years the Hebrew people were nurtured as God's 
 own favorites; and for all that time were the only people 
 under heaven who Worshipped the one living and true God. 
 
186 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 And had it not been for tliem, where would he the Bible ic 
 which we glory, or those glad promises of life through which 
 we hope ? Then why murnjur and seek to turn the point of 
 Jehovah's prophecies, because, perchance, these descendants 
 of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may yet be blest for their fa- 
 thers' sake and be made to stand high in the millennial king- 
 dom ? For my own part, I am heartily willing to acquiesce 
 in any arrangements which the blessed Savior may make ; and 
 I will at the same time persist in holding as the truth of Grod 
 whatsoever I find clearly stated in his holy word, no matter 
 where it may lead me. 
 
 And_ yet again it is said that the New Testament is the 
 key to the Old, that the New Testament says nothing about 
 the restoration of the Jews, and that therefore we are to seek 
 for some other interpretation of those Old Testament predic- 
 tions which seem to declare it. Now, I deny that the Ne^ 
 Testament is silent on the subject, and will presently show to 
 the contrary. But, if the Gospels and Epistles never once 
 alluded to it, T would still deny the inference which the ob- 
 jector would have us draw from such a fact. The announce- 
 ments of the prophets are just as reliable and authoritative as 
 those of the apostles and evangelists j and it is a mistake to 
 suppose that, because we have the New Testament, we have 
 nothing further to do with the Old. The one is no less the 
 word of God than the other. Each department of the Scrip- 
 ture has its own peculiar importance, and was given to meet 
 its own peculiar emergency. And if a thing asserted in one 
 part, given for one purpose, is not reiterated with equal ex- 
 plicitness and fullness in a subsequent part, given more 
 directly for another pui'pose, to conclude therefrom that 
 what was first asserted is no longer the divine intention, 
 would be to treat the immutable Jehovah as a child. I know 
 that the New Testament contains but little on the subject of 
 Israel's restoration. But it has allusions to it, and encou- 
 
NEW TESTAMENT ALLUSION* TO THE SUBJECT. 187 
 
 raging allusions, wliicli are enough to show that God's purpose 
 in that direction still stands. 
 
 The first passage to which I refer you in the New Testa- 
 ment respecting the restoration of the Jewish race, is one 
 uttered by the iSavior himself, where he says, "Jerusalem 
 shall he trodden doion of the Gentiles, until the times of the 
 Gentiles he fdfilled.'' Take a plain common-sen.se view of 
 this passage, and what does it mean ? The treading down of 
 Jerusalem can be nothing more nor less than the destruction 
 and desolation of the Jewish metropolis and state by the de- 
 portation of the Jewish people. And what is the cessation 
 of this treading down of the Jewish metropolis and state but 
 the restoration of the Jewish people ? Who can make any 
 thinff else out of it ? Commentators have been wransrling 
 and racking their wits for ages about what is to be understood 
 by the fulfilling of the times of the Gentiles; but, if we 
 recur to what has been developed in our preceding inquiries, 
 who can have any difficulty with it? The fulfilling of the 
 times of the Gentiles is simply the winding up of the affairs 
 of the present Gentile church at Christ's second manifesta- 
 tion, — the day of judgment to the Gentile nations and church, 
 as Christ's first coming brought after it the day of judgment 
 to the old Jewish nation and church. And when this day of 
 judgment to the Gentiles comes, and the period is fulfilled 
 when the present economy of Gentile ascendency is to be 
 closed, then the Savior says, Jerusalem shall be trodden down 
 no longer ; that is to say, it will be restored, and the nation 
 whom it represents, and whose heart it was, is and ever shall 
 be, shall again occupy its ancient place in more than its ancient 
 grandeur. 
 
 A second New Testament passage on the subject is that 
 which I have already quoted, where Paul says, "All Israel 
 shall he saved, as it is written. There shall come out of Sion 
 the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." 
 
188 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 This is generally understood as a ajnrffunl salvation by con- 
 version to Messiah. And a spiritual deliverance is certainly 
 a prominent and controlling idea in the passage. Jt is ex- 
 pressly stated that one feature is the removal of ungodliness. 
 But this interpretation by no means exhausts the passage. It 
 has an appondage in the succeeding verse which throws much 
 additional light and consequence upon the predicted deliver- 
 ance. Paul says that this salvation is just what was included 
 in God's ancient covenant with the Jewish fathers. "x\ll 
 Israel shall be sarved, fur this is God's covenant unto them 
 when he shnll take away their sins." Now, if we can ascer- 
 tain in full what that covenant is, we will have in full what 
 this salvati jn and deliverance includes. We go back, then, 
 to the Old Testament, where this covenant is repeatedly an- 
 nounced and recorded. We read the fifteenth chapter of 
 Genesis. We there find that, by sundry miraculous mani- 
 festations, "the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, say- 
 ing, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of 
 Eiji/pt unto the great river, the river Euphrates : the Kenites, 
 and the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and 
 the Perizzites, and the Rephairas, and the Amorites, and the 
 Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebuzites." In the 
 next chapter we read again : — " God talked with him, saying, 
 As for me, behold, m)/ covenant is with thee, and thou shalt 
 be a father of many nations, (or multitudes.) .... And I will 
 establish my covenant between me and thee, and to thy seed 
 after tliee, in their generations for an everlasting covenant; 
 to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will 
 give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, THE LAND wherein 
 thou art a stranger, (sojourner,) all the land of Canaan for 
 an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God." To 
 Isaac it was subsequently said, " Sojourn in tlus land, for 
 unto thee and unto thy seed will I give these countries, and I 
 will perform the oath whifjh I sware unto Abraham thy 
 
god's covenant with ISRAEL. 189 
 
 Father." And so the dying Jacob testifies : — '' God x\lmighty 
 appeared unto me and said unto me, Behold, I will .... give. 
 this land to thy Reed after thee FOR AN everlasting posses- 
 sion :" (G-en. xlviii.) 
 
 And if any one supposes that this is not the covenant of 
 ■which Paul speaks, then let us turn to what God calls "a new 
 covenant with the house of Israel," and see whether the same 
 features are not included. We read the latter part of the 
 thirty-first of Jeremiah. A glorious spiritual renewal is there 
 promised. They shall know the Lord, and he will forgive their 
 iniquity and remember their sin no more. But this is not all. 
 The language is as strong as woi'ds and imagery can make it. 
 Jehovah points to the enduring orbs of immensity, and 
 declares that ^' the seed of Israel" shall no more "cease from 
 heing a nation bfore him forever" than the sun, moon and 
 stars shall disappear from the universe. Nay, more: — " Behold, 
 the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall he built to 
 the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the 
 corner. It shall not he plucked up nor thrown down ANY 
 MORE FOREVER." This prophecy cannot refer to the return 
 from Babylon, for all were not then converted and pious ; and 
 since then their sin has been remembered, and their city 
 rendered more awfully desolate than ever it was left by 
 Assyrian kings. Nay, I take the broad ground, and no man 
 can overturn it, that God's covenant to Abraham and his seed 
 has never yet been even nearly fulfilled. Its great fullness is 
 still matter of promise, to be verified hereafter, when Christ 
 shall " come a second time unto salvation." That covenant 
 charters to them the land from the river of Egypt to the 
 great river Euphrates, for their everlasting possession ; which 
 has never yet been made good. That covenant guarantees 
 unto them a national existence and glory as lasting as the 
 great orbs of heaven ; which yet remains to be fulfilled. 
 Wherever the terms of that covenant are given, from first to 
 
190 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 last these are two of its prominent and immutable features. 
 And if "all Israel is to be saved," according to that cove- 
 nant which Paul explicitly declares to be unchangeable, — 
 ''without repentance," — it is demonstrated to an absolute 
 certainty that they will yet be gathered and replaced in that 
 "goodly land and large" in which they dwelt when David 
 controlled their triumphant armies and Solomon and his court 
 were the admiration of the world. 
 
 A third reference to this subject in the New Testament is 
 contained in the first of Acts, where the disciples put to the 
 Savior their last question : — " Lord, wilt thou at this time 
 restore the hingdom to Israel T^ What did they mean by 
 that inquiry ? Every preacher, commentator and thoughtful 
 Bible-reader will tell you that the Jews looked for the Mes- 
 siah as a reigning prince. For many years they had been a 
 dependent and oppressed people. In the period of the 
 Savior's stay on earth, they were subject to the dominion of 
 the Caesars. And their great hope was, that when Christ 
 came he would judge their oppressors, deliver them from 
 their national dejection, and restore their state and kingdom to 
 former independence and glory. The disciples shared in the 
 common expectation. Hence their despondency at his cruci- 
 fixion, saying, " We trusted that it had been he which should 
 have redeemed Israel." They felt all their fond hopes crushed 
 in the Savior's death. But as soon as he arose from the dead 
 and reappeared among them, their old hopes revived, and they 
 looked anew for the Messiah's deliverance of their nation. 
 And this was the burden of their question as here presented. 
 They wished to know if Christ was then about to effect the 
 expected national redemption, and ''restore the kingdom to 
 Israel." The question then arises. Were their anticipations 
 respecting this redemption right or wrong ? I maintain that 
 they were right. If they were not right, then I am at a loss 
 to account for the fact that these anticipations retained their 
 
THE HOPE SANCTIONED BY OUR SAVIOR. 191 
 
 full force through thi-ee or four years of special daily in- 
 struction from the Savior himself, and continued uppermost 
 in their minds to the very last moment of Christ's stay upon 
 earth. Then again, if they were all this while cherishing 
 erroneous expectations in this matter, would not the Savior 
 have set them right now that he was at the point of leaving 
 them until his final " coming and kingdom" ? But look at 
 his answer. Not one word did he utter against the views im- 
 plied in their question. All he said was, "It is not for you to 
 know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in 
 his own power." They did not ask him whether he would 
 restore the kingdom to Israel; they took all that as settled; 
 and the Savior answered them upon the same assumption. 
 They simply wished to know whether that was the time, and 
 the answer was that they were not to know the time. As 
 regards every thing but the time, the reply leaves it just as it 
 was apprehended by the inquirers. And, taking the circum- 
 stances and all together, it is to me perfectly conclusive that 
 it is the divine intention to "restore the kingdom to Israel" 
 in the exact sense in which the disciples expected it; and 
 that the blessed Savior, in his last words, meant to throw his 
 solemn sanction upon the hope of Israel's restoration. I have 
 no interest in forcing or perverting the Scriptures from their 
 plain and obvious meaning, and if I did not solemnly believe 
 what I here state I would not utter it. 
 
 A fourth allusion which the New Testament contains upon 
 this subject, is in the fifteenth of Acts, where James says, 
 " Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the 
 Gentiles, to take out of them a people fo)- his name. And to 
 this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written. After 
 this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of 
 David which is fallen down; and I will build again the 
 ruins thereof and I will set it up: that the x'esidue of men 
 
192 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 miglit seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom 
 my name is called, saith the Lord." 
 
 Two things are here to be specially noted. The first is the 
 object of the present dispensation; which is, to take out of 
 the Gentiles a feopJc for GocVs name. I have heretofore 
 shown that there is nothing in the Scriptures to warrant the 
 hope that the world is to be converted before Christ comes 
 the second time. The whole object of the present economy 
 is, to take out from among men a people for the Lord. This 
 is here pointedly declared. But James goes further. He 
 assures us that it is the purpose of God, as announced by the 
 prophets, to return after the object of this dispensation has 
 been attained, and then to "build again the tahernacle of 
 David ichich it fallen down." And in order to understand 
 what is meant by this rebuilding of David's tabernacle, we 
 need only revert to the original prophecy in the ninth of Amos, 
 which ireats of Israel's dispersion for their sins, and their re- 
 demption in the latter days, "that they may possess the rem- 
 nant of Edom, and of all the Gentiles, and he pulled out of 
 their land no more." Surely the matter is as plain as words 
 can make it, that, at the end of this dispensation, Christ will 
 come and restore the scattered Jews to their own land, and 
 reign over the house of Jacob forever upon the throne of his 
 father David. 
 
 There are still other allusions to this subject in the New 
 Testament ; but I have not the time to give them now. It is 
 more especially in the Old Testament that we are to seek the 
 amplest details of Israel's hopes. That is peculiarly the 
 gospel of the Jews. The prophecies there on record respect- 
 ing the conversion and restoration of Jacob's seed may well 
 be pronounced by Bishop Newton to be innumerable. There 
 is hardly a chapter from Psalms to Malachi which does not in 
 some way bear upon it. To give all, we would have to recite 
 about half of all that the prophets have written. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT ALLUSIONS TO THE SUBJECT. 193 
 
 Let me refer you to a few specimens. 
 
 Look at the text and its contiguous parts : — " Thus saith the 
 Lord : Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among 
 the Gentiles, whither they be gone, and will gather them oa 
 every side, and bring them into their own land." "Wiiat 
 could be plainer than this ? It is useless to say that it refers 
 to the deliverance from Babylon ; for this prediction relates to 
 "the lohole house of Israel," whilst only parts of Judah and 
 Benjamin ever returned from the Babylonian captivity. The 
 restoration here predicted is to be attended with the everlast- 
 ing reunion of the two wings of the great Israelitish schism, 
 so that they shall "not be divided into two kingdoms any 
 more at all;" which to this day has not taken place. This 
 restoration is to be perpetual, "forever ;" the restoration from 
 Babylon was only temporary. This restoration is to be at- 
 tended with the ultimate entire conversion of the whole 
 nation, and an everlasting release from all their filthiness and 
 sins ; but they have involved themselves deeper in crime 
 since they came back from Babylon than before, and even 
 murdered the Messiah. 
 
 Neither will it answer to say that the restoration here pre- 
 dicted is to be understood sjiiritua/ii/, as referring to the final 
 conversion of the Jewish people, and their incorporation into 
 the Christian church. The church is no more their land than 
 it is the land of Gentile believers. The prophecy sets forth 
 their spiritual renovation in words sufficiently plain to need no 
 further spiritualizing; thus leaving us to infer that the other 
 particulars are to be understood in the same plain and obvious 
 sense. The prophecy also contains a promise of the multipli- 
 cation of man and beast, which certainly cannot apply to the 
 church unless our sanctuaries are yet to be filled with the 
 brute creation. The same prophecy promises to Israel their 
 old estates, — "/ iriJI srtth them after their old estates," — ■ 
 which, whether taken in a .spiritual or a literal sense, necessa- 
 N 17 
 
194 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 rily implies their restoration to a couclition of isolation and 
 distinctness from all other orders or races of men. But this 
 is not all. If the regathering and restoration of the Jewish 
 people into their own land is to be understood spiritually, then 
 their deportation from that land and dispersion must be un- 
 derstood spiritually too. The one must correspond to the 
 other. The same prediction contains both sides, in the same 
 strain of discourse ; and the promise of the restoration is 
 founded on the predicate of their previous dispersion. Hence, 
 if the one is spiritual, the other is equally spiritual; and if 
 the one is literal and outward, so also must the other be. God 
 himself, speaking upon this very subject, has settled this point 
 forever. " It shall come to pass, that like as I have watched 
 over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, 
 and to afflict ; so will I watch over them to build, and to 
 plant, saith the Lord :" (Jer. xxxi. 28.) Here, then, I take 
 my stand with unflinching firmness, and upon the immutable 
 basis of God's own word, demand of you either to show that 
 the spoiling was only spiritual, or else admit that their final 
 restoration is to be national and literal. If Titus only took 
 the church, and not the literal city, — if he only cast the Jews 
 out of the church, and did not kill them or carry them away 
 captives, — if he did not devastate and depopulate Palestine, 
 but only intercepted God's spiritual blessings by desolating 
 the ways to eternal life, — ihen, but onl^ then, can this pro- 
 mised regathering of Israel into their own land be interpreted 
 so as to preclude their national restoration. "/ will gather 
 them," saith God, ''and bring them into their own land." 
 
 The same literal restoration of the exiled descendants of 
 Jacob is foretold by Moses, in his farewell address to that 
 people. We there have a graphic delineation of the whole 
 history of Israel up to the present and still future times. 
 Moses there foretells a sore and wide dispersion ; but he pre- 
 dicts with equal expiicitness a final and complete recovery 
 
THE PROrHECY IN ISAIAH XI. 195 
 
 from it. " The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and 
 have compassion upon thee, and ivill gather thee from all the 
 nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any 
 of thine be driven out unto the uttermost parts of heaven, from 
 thence loill the Lord thy God tetch thee : and the Lord thy 
 God will Irimj thee into the land WHICH THY father pos- 
 sessed, AND THOU SHALT POSSESS IT : and he will multiply 
 thee ahove thy fathers:" (Deut. xxx.) Never, to this day, 
 has there occurred to Israel such a deliverance, from such a 
 dispersion. And the idea that this prediction is to be fulfilled 
 by the simple incorporation of the Jews into the existing 
 church, is worse than ridiculous. They are, therefore, to be 
 restored. 
 
 Isaiah, also, has spoken most pointedly upon this subject. 
 In his eleventh chapter we have a glowing pi'ophecy, which 
 all treat as referring to the millennial times. And in that 
 prophecy we find it written, " 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. 
 Gush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from ffamath- 
 and from the isles 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" — the whole Jewish 
 
 race — '■'■ from the fair corners of the earth And there 
 
 shall be an highway for the remnant of his people which shall 
 be left from Assyria; LIKE as it was to Israel in the 
 
 DAY that he came UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EgYPT." Will 
 
 any man say that such a pi'ophecy as this has ever been ful- 
 filled, or includes no more than the conversion of the Jews to 
 Christianity? Was the deliverance from Egypt a mere join- 
 ing of the church ? Yet here we have God's solemn promise 
 a second time to recover the remnant of his people, to gather 
 Israel and Judah from the four corners of the earth, and to 
 
196 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 provide a way for them, ''JiJce as it was to Israel in the day 
 that he came itp out of the land of Egypt." 
 
 Brethren, what you think of these things, I know not ; but 
 I am fully persuaded that it is God's immutable purpose to 
 bring back the Jewish race to its ancient home. The passages 
 which I have given more than prove it ; whilst the great mass 
 of prophecy upon the subject has not been touched. And if 
 even all these solemn statements of God were to pass for no- 
 thing, the simple but significant facts of history furnish ground 
 enough upou which to infer that Israel is yet to be restored 
 to that land where Abraham lived and the Savior died. 
 
 Look at that wonderful race ! For nearly two thousand 
 years, scattered all over the face of the earth, oppressed, de- 
 spised, persecuted, unmercifully butchered; yet still existing, 
 as distinct in manners, feelings and hopes, as when Moses was 
 their leader and Aaron was their priest. Since God shook 
 them out of their ancient dwelling-places, nations, thrones, 
 kingdoms, have risen, flourished, fallen, and lost their proud 
 subjects in the ever-varying stream of human affairs; but 
 Israel still stands apart, unshaken by earth's mutations, with 
 the accents of David and Isaiah still upon their lips, and 
 still looking for the promised Shiloh to take them back in 
 triumph to their father-land. The Christian church herself, 
 glorious as she is in her list of martyrs and attirements of 
 grace and truth, has, since then, been depressed, diminished, 
 enfeebled, by violence and defections which she has found it 
 hard to survive ; but the house of Jacob, with all their wrongs 
 and spoliations, have only strengthened with their trials, whils* 
 all the bitterness of their great cup of sorrow has never made 
 them forget that they were Hebrews, or loosened the tenacity 
 with which they cling to God's peculiar covenant unto them 
 Kings have issued severe edicts and commissioned bloody exe- 
 cutioners against them, and the seditious and spiteful multi- 
 tudes have afflicted them with outrages still more violent and 
 
JERUSALEM. 197 
 
 tragical. Princes and people, civilized and savage, Pagans, 
 Mahometans, and professing Christians, disagreeing in so 
 many things, have more than once made common cause foi 
 their extermination. But still they live and thi-ive. Though 
 for nearly twenty centuries without a temple, prophet, king, 
 country, or home, they still bear the same marks which cha- 
 racterized them before Vespasian set foot on their sacred land 
 or Titus invested their loved Jerusalem. 
 
 Look, again, at their holy citj'. " Captured, ravaged, burnt, 
 razed to the foundation, dispeopled, its deported citizens sold 
 into slavery, and forbidden by severest penalties to visit their 
 native seats;" yet, even in it? mournful desolations, it stands 
 forth, a thing to itself, and altogether distinguished from all 
 other ruins. Who now weeps over the fall of Troy? What 
 people pays pilgrimages of devotion to the ruin-piles of mighty 
 Nineveh or Babylon ? These great monuments of human 
 pride and glory sleep their last sleepj and no tear falls upon 
 their unhonored graves. But Jerusalem, even in her ashes, 
 is still dear to the hearts of millions, and the mere mention of 
 that name awakens pangs of mingled grief and hope as deep 
 as those that weighed upon her captive sons when they 
 mourned under the willows by Babel's waters. Beautifully 
 has it been said, that "ever and anon, and from all the winds 
 of heaven, Zion's exiled children come to visit her, and, with 
 eyes weeping sore, bewail her widowhood. No city was ever 
 honored thus. None else thus receives pilgrimages from the 
 fiftieth generation of its outcast population. None but this, 
 after centuries of such dispersion, could, at the first call, 
 gather beneath its wings the whole of its wide-wandering 
 family. None but this has possessed a spell sufficient to keep 
 its people still distinct, even in remotest regions, and in the 
 face of the mightiest inducements. And none but itself can 
 now be repeopled with precisely the same race which left it 
 nearly two thousand years ago." 
 
198 THE LAST TIMKS. 
 
 Now, what mean these anomaluu;), I might say, miraciiloiis, 
 facts ? Why are the Jewish people still distinct, and Jeru- 
 salem's walls still dear, as ever? Why have Jacob's seed 
 always refused to hold lands anywhere but in Palestine, and 
 Jerusalem always refused to give permanent habitation to any 
 but them ? Meet a Jew where you will, he is a mere wanderer 
 or sojourner, ready to move at the shortest warning. Scat- 
 tered over all lands beneath the sun, he has never taken root 
 in any. And of all that have ever tried to fix themselves in 
 the Holy Land, — Romans and Persians, Saracens and Turks, 
 Egyptian Caliphs and Latin Christians, Mamelukes and Ot- 
 tomans, — none have ever been able to gain a permanent foot- 
 hold in it. Why is all this? Men of political science 
 may try their skill at explanation j but, after all, the problem 
 will reduce itself to this : that God has his own settled purpose 
 with this people and this place, holding the one in reserve for 
 the other until each shall be forever satisfied with its own. 
 Here, history is prophecy. And if all the holy seers were 
 silent, the very stones themselves cry out for Israel's restora- 
 tion. The rocks of Pale.stine will have no lord but Jacob. 
 
 I am, tlicreftre, prepared to adopt the statement of David 
 N. Lord, a very profound and able American expositor 
 of sacred prophecy, that " those who assent to the true laws 
 of language and symbols will no more deny or doubt that the 
 prophecies teach that the Israelites are to be restored, than 
 those who assent to the definitions and axioms of geometry 
 will deny the demonstrations that are founded on them. There 
 is not a proposition in the whole circle of human knowledge 
 of more perfect certainty than that God has revealed the pur- 
 pose of regathering that scattered nation, establishing them as 
 his chosen people, and reappointing a temple-worship at Jeru- 
 salem that is to embrace some of their ancient rites. It is 
 not merely certain, but is taught with a frequency, an em- 
 phasis and an amplitude, and invested with a dignity and 
 
HOW THE JEWISH RESTORATION WILL BEGIN. 199 
 
 grandeur that are proportionable to the vastness and wonder- 
 fulness of the measure in the great scheme of his administra- 
 tion over the world." The descendants of Jacob are specifi- 
 cally, and in many places, spoken of as the subjects of a long 
 and painful dispersion and depression, which we see literally 
 verified before our eyes. The same passages, with the same 
 explicitness, affirm of this same people, that they shall be de- 
 livei'ed from their oppressions, regathered from their disper- 
 sions, restored to the land which their fathers possessed, and 
 forever secured against any similar calamity. The countries 
 from which they are to comej the manner in which they are 
 to come ; the very methods of their conveyance, on horses, 
 and mules, and dromedaries, in chariots, in litters, and in 
 ships, and in swift-moving vehicles, which some have taken as 
 a description of railroads ; all are specifically noted. And how 
 any student of these things can rise up and say that the doc- 
 trine of Israel's restoration is a fable, I cannot understand. 
 
 The return of this wonderful people will doubtless begin, in 
 a small way, under what some will call the natural course of 
 things. There are even now already thousands of Jews in 
 Jerusalem and its vicinity. A goodly portion of the Holy 
 Land is at this moment under mortgages in the hands of those 
 rich Jewish bankers, the Rothschilds, of Europe. The elfects 
 of the peace just concluded between the great powers of the 
 Old World, in securing toleration of other religions under 
 the Turkish laws, is at once the signal for the downfall of the 
 Ottoman empire, and the opening of the door for Israel's 
 return. Many religious associations in all parts of Protestant 
 Christendom are in efficient operation with and for the Jews, 
 all looking more or less to their ultimate restoration. These 
 things, all working in the line of Israel's intense desires, can- 
 not but work mighty consequences. They are the prelimina- 
 ries of the second Jewish exodus. 
 
 But it is not by these alone that Israel shall be redeemed 
 
200 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 According to the eighteenth of Isaiah, and other passages, there 
 will yet be great national movements i;pou the subject. We 
 there read of a great maritime power, spreading wide its 
 wings, existing somewhere in the Far West from Palestine, and 
 which must either be the United States, Great Britain, or 
 perhaps both, as one in religion, language and laws. This 
 power, accustomed to send messengers by sea, is to become 
 interested in behalf of the Jews, and to aid them with con- 
 tributions, embassies, treaty-stipulations, fleets and other 
 ways. The prophet himself calls to this powei", (I use 
 Horseley's a-auslation,) "Ho! land spreading wide the shadow 
 of thy wings !" and he gives it its commission, "Go;" which 
 would seem to indicate that it will be from the study of pro- 
 phecy, and from the will of God as thus presented, that men 
 shall be roused up to this work. " Go, as a swift messenger, 
 to a people wonderful from the beginning hitherto, a nation 
 expecting, expecting, and trampled under foot, whose land 
 rivers (invading armies) have spoiled ; and all the inhahit- 
 ants of the world, and dwellers upon earthy shall see the lifting 
 up, as it ii:ere, of a banner' %ipon the mountains ; and shall hear 
 the sounding, as it tcere, of a trumpet." That is, as I under- 
 stand it, when these movements in favor of the Jews begin, 
 there will be an extraovdinary waking up upon the subject, 
 and a very deep interest felt, so that men generally will regard 
 themselves as specially called to help in the great work. And 
 it is a singular fact, in this connection, that the United States 
 government, without any assignable cause fvv it, did, only a 
 few years ago, send out Lieut. Lynch and his party, to explore 
 the Jordan and obtain detailed and authentic descriptions 
 of the condition and topogi'aphy of Israel's land. England 
 has done the same, as if these countries, so closely allied in so 
 many particulars, were already laying the foundations for their 
 work and mission in bringing back the dispersed children of 
 Abraham. 
 
PROPHETIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RESTORATION. 201 
 
 But I have no espectation that any thing very decisive or 
 extraordiuai-y will occur in the line of the Jewish restoration, 
 until God's judgments shall begin to tear asunder the nations. 
 There is first to be a "pruning," "a taking away of luxuriant 
 branches," ''a leaving to the mountain-birds of prey/^ and 
 only '■^ at that scawii a present shall he led to Jehovah of 
 hosts, of a people dragged aioa^ and plucked ; even of a people 
 wonderful from their beginning hitherto; a nation expecting, 
 expecting, and trampled under foot, whose land, rivers have 
 spoiled, unto the ^^/ace of the name of Jehovah of hosts, 
 Mount Zion :" (Isa. xviii. 7.) When the " distress of 
 nations with perplexity" shall have fully set in, and the day 
 of earth's troubles has come, then the people of Israel shall 
 flock home, like doves to their windows ; and the Lord himself 
 shall show wonders in their favor, like to the day that he 
 brought them up out of Egypt. The last chapter of Isaiah 
 tells of manifestations of divine power, mercy and consolation, 
 and says, *' When ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and 
 your bones shall flourish like an herb ; and the hand of the 
 Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indig- 
 nation toica^'d his enemies. For behold, the Lord will come 
 with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind j to render his 
 anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by 
 fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and 
 the slain of the Lord shall be many. . . . And I icill set up a 
 sign among tltem, and I will send those THAT ESCAPE 
 OF THEM UNTO THE NATIONS, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, 
 that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off", 
 that have not heard my fame, neither seen my glory ; and 
 they (that escape God's terrific judgment upon Israel's 
 enemies} shall declare my glory among the Gentiles; AND 
 
 THEY (THE GeNTILES) SHALL BRING ALL YOUR BRETHREN 
 
 (the prophet's brethren, the Jews) /or an offering unto the 
 Lord out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in 
 
202 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 coaches, aud upon mules, and upon swift beasts, (rapid 
 vehicles,) to my liohj mountain Jerusalem, snith the Lord." 
 
 The accompaniments and great results of this final resto- 
 ration of the Jewish people are so wonderful and miraculous, 
 that it is hardly possible for us to form a proper conception of 
 them. Within fifty years from this present time, perhaps the 
 whole story will be told. One thing is certain, that Israel's 
 restoration is not for Israel alone, but for the whole world. It 
 is one of those means, in the wonderful ai-raugements of Grod, 
 for letting forth his mercy and salvation upon all the inhabit- 
 ants of the earth. It is in the seed of Abraham that all 
 nations shall be blessed. Israel's restoration shall be the 
 world's resurrection. Paul says, " If the fall of them be the 
 riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches 
 of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness ? If the 
 casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what 
 shall the receiving of them be, but life from, the dead?" 
 (Rom. xi. 12, 15.) This return will itself be a fulfillment of 
 prophecy so startling that it will open men's eyes as they 
 never have been opened, and make them feel the power of 
 divine truth and the reality of Jehovah's sovereignty as they 
 never have felt them. The Bible will suddenly become a new 
 book, and beam forth a new light and speak with a more 
 potent authority. In the language of Hamilton, " The 
 moment the vail is rent from Israel's eyes, the vail will 
 be rent from a thousand prophecies ; and, read in the light 
 of restored and regenerated Judah, the word of God will 
 sparkle with unwonted coruscations, and, like deep-colored 
 gems that look dusty in cloud-light, many of its dark sayings 
 will brighten up into its divinest truths when the beams 
 break forth from Salem.'' 
 
 The thorough cleansing and renewal which will pass upon 
 the Jewish people, and God's wonderful manifestations in 
 
Jerusalem's coming greatness. 203 
 
 their behalf, shall speak like a new revelation to the hearts 
 and consciences of men; and "many people, and strong 
 nations, shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, 
 and to pray before the Lord ; and ten men out of all languages 
 of the nations 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. viii. 12.) All Israel shall then 
 own the Messiah, and be fully and forever converted unto 
 him, not by the slow processes of present evangelization, but 
 by wonderful manifestations from God, as in the case of Paul, 
 their distinguished type: (1 Tim. i. 16.) Noble saintship 
 and Davidic zeal shall again be found in Judah. ''He that is 
 feeble among them shall be as David ; and the house of David 
 shall be as Elohim, the Jehovah angel, before them :" (Zech. 
 xii. 8.) The times of the Gentiles being fulfilled, Jacob's 
 trouble shall be over and the grand Sabbath of the world 
 begin. Christ shall sit upon the throne of his father David, 
 and reign over the house of Jacob forever; and "they shall 
 call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord." According to "the 
 word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw," not concerning the 
 
 church, but CONCERNING JUDAH AND JERUSALEM, "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. And 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 (he law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem :" 
 (Isa. ii. 1-3.) "And the Lord shall be King over all 
 THE EARTH :" (Zech. xiv. 8.) This world shall then have 
 embraced its rightful Sovereign, and the hearts of its great 
 nations shall beat in unison with heaven. 
 
 Nor need you be surprised, my brethren, when, in the light 
 of these prophecies, I declare the conviction that Jerusalem 
 
204 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 is yet to become the metropolis of tlie world, just as it was 
 the metropolis of Judea in the days of Solomon. All the 
 nations of this world are yet to come under one universal 
 government, — the kingdom of Christ and his glorified saints. 
 " God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that is 
 above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is 
 Lord:" (Phil. ii. 10.) " JVotv tve see not yet all things put 
 nnder him:" (Heb. ii. 8.) But ^' He must reign until he 
 hath put all enemies under his feet:" (1 Cor. xv. 25.) "The 
 Gentiles must be given him as his inheritance, and the utter- 
 most parts of the earth for his possession :" (Ps. ii. 8.) He 
 has declared himself to be appointed King of the Jews, and 
 Prince of the kings of the earth : (Matt, xxvii. 11 ; Rev. i. 
 5.) " The kingdoms of the world are to become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord and of his Christ ; and he shall reign forever and 
 ever:" (Rev. xi. 15.) And the centre and seat of this great 
 kingdom is Jerusalem. " The Lord of hosts shall reign" — 
 tchere? — "iN MouNT ZiON, AND IN JERUSALEM, and before 
 his ancients gloriously :" (Isa. xxiv. 23.) " The Lord also shall 
 roar" — from whence ? — " out of Zion, and utter his voice 
 FROM Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; 
 but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength 
 of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the 
 Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain : then 
 shall Jerusalem be holy :" (Joel iii. 16, 17.) Nay, as there 
 is to be a literal reign of the Son of man on earth, where is it 
 most likely that his imperial seat will be ? What locality does 
 the mind most naturally turn to? The holy associations and 
 the very geographical position of Palestine mark it out with 
 signal felicity as the place where the Son of Mary shall hold his 
 sublime court. As remarked by one who has looked carefully 
 at the matter, " Palestine is so remarkably situated, that it 
 forms the bridge between two eontinents and a gateway to a 
 
IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLY LAND. 205 
 
 third. Were the population and wealth of Europe, Asia and 
 Africa condensed into single points, Palestine would be the 
 centre of their common gravity. And with the amazing 
 facilities of modern intercourse, and the prodigious extent of 
 modern traffic, it is not easy to estimate the commercial 
 grandeur to which a kingdom may attain, planted as it were 
 on the very apes of the old world, with its three continents 
 spreading out beneath its feet, and with the Red Sea on one 
 side to bring it all the golden tr'^asures and spicy harvests of 
 the East, and the Mediterranean floating in on the other side 
 all the skill and enterprise and knowledge of the West. 
 For the sake of higher ends it seems the purpose of God to 
 make the Holy Land a mart of nations, and, by bringing the 
 forces of the Gentiles to Jerusalem, to send the blessing of 
 Abraham over all the earth." 
 
 It is also well known that ever since the Jews first entered 
 Canaan, it has been the battle-ground of nations. To this 
 hour it is mixed up with the mightiest disputes that disturb 
 the world. The Assyrian, the Egyptian and the Roman of 
 old, the Arab, the Turk, the Greek, the Papist and the 
 Rabbi of our times, all have claimed it as if the earth con- 
 tained not another prize like it. The late war, which converted 
 the Crimea into a Golgotha and made the world tremble, had 
 its beginning in Jerusalem, in disputes and alternations about 
 its shrines and holy places. And the history of the world is 
 filled with illustrations of the desirableness that has ever 
 adhered to that " goodly land," and of the interests involved 
 in its occupation. Ages have rolled around it as the spot of 
 decision on which the question of supremacy is suspended. 
 And divine prophecy, sounding through the long galleries of 
 centuries, proclaims the fact that all the nations shall yet be 
 governed from that point. 
 
 Men may think I dream, but I must take God's word as 
 meaning what it says. The day is coming when the world 
 
206 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 shall join in that glad song of David, ^^ Beautiful for situation^ 
 the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, THE CITY OP the. 
 GREAT King !" That wonderful people, the scattered relics 
 of a mighty nation, shall come back to their ancient home. 
 From the North and the South, from the East and the West, 
 they shall come with singing unto Zion. ''And they shall 
 build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant 
 vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and they shall no more 
 be pulled out of their land which I have given them, saith the 
 Lord:" (Amos ix. 14, 15.) Jehovah Elohim shall come down 
 again, more glorious than when of old he dwelt in cloud and 
 flame in the Holy of Holies, even Jesus in his own glorified 
 humanity; and they shall say, "io/ this is our God! we have 
 waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord ; we have 
 waited for him, we will he glad and rejoice in his salvation:" 
 (Isa. XXV. 9.) Jerusalem's light shall then have come and 
 the glory of the Lord have risen upon her, and she shall 
 arise and shine. Gentiles shall come to her light, and kings 
 to the brightness of her rising. Her sons shall come from 
 far, and her daughters shall be nursed at her side. The 
 abundance of the sea shall be turned to her, and the wealth 
 of the Gentiles shall come unto her. The multitude of 
 camels shall come up, — the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; 
 all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and in- 
 cense, and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All 
 the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto her. The 
 rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto her; they shall come up 
 with acceptance on God's altar, and he will glorify the house of 
 his glory. The nation and kingdom that will not serve her 
 shall perish, and be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon 
 shall come unto her, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box 
 together, to beautify the place of God's sanctuary; and he will 
 make the place of his feet glorious. The sons of them that 
 afflicted her shall come bending unto her, and all they that 
 
THE EARTHLY AND THE HEAVENLY CITY. 207 
 
 despised her shall bow themselves down at the soles of her 
 feet; and they shall call her, "The City of the Lord, the 
 ZioN OF the Holy One of Israel \" (Isa. Ix. 14.) 
 
 But Jerusalem below, radiant in all its untold glory, shall 
 be but a type and earthy picture of the higher and sublimer 
 Jerusalem that is above, — that firmly-founded city for which 
 Abraham looked, whose builder and maker is God, — that city 
 which John saw '' descending out of heaven from Grod, having 
 the glory of God, and her light like unto a stone most precious, 
 even like a jaspei'-stone, clear as crystal." The one is earthly, 
 the other is heavenly. The one is built by human hands, the 
 other is the workmanship of God himself. The one has a 
 population composed of men holy and happy, but men in the 
 flesh; the other is the glorious residence of the glorified saints. 
 The one shall rest upon the earthly mount; the other shall be 
 above the mountains and the hills." The one will need clouds 
 and rain, sunshine and peaceful night; the other has no need 
 of the sun nor of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of 
 God shall lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The 
 one shall have its temple and its altars; the other has no tem- 
 ple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the 
 temple of it. And whilst the sons of Abraham in the flesh 
 shall possess Jerusalem that is below, the sons of Abraham by 
 faith in Christ, who have come out of great tribulation, and 
 washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb, shall, in their glorification, have their everlasting bliss 
 and home in " the Jerusalem that is above." The relation of 
 the one to the other is like that of the Sanctuary to the Holy 
 of Holies. The one is the metropolis of the "new earth;" 
 the other of the " new heavens." The one is suspended in the 
 clouds to pour its radiance on the saved nations below: (Rev. 
 xxi. 24;) but both belong to the one sublime and wonderful 
 economy which is to encompass this planet when once its 
 redemption is complete. 
 
208 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 All hail to the day when these tliing.s shall be fulfilled I 
 The cross shall then give place to the crown, and gladncbS 
 supplant our sighing and tears. Hope shall then change ialo 
 fruition, and the exile reach his eternal home. Oh, let us 
 rejoice and give thanks that such promises have been left us. 
 Let us stay ourselves upon them and feed upon their precious- 
 ness. They are ''well-ordered and sure," and cannot dis- 
 appoint us. They are all as immutable and abiding as God's 
 own eternal nature. Time may intervene and great changes 
 may occur before they are fulfilled; but, as Jehovah lives, if 
 we are Christ's we shall be glorified with him and dwell in the 
 city he has prepared. 
 
 THE DAY IS COMING. 
 
 The day is coming — yea, is now at hand — 
 
 When wars shall struggle on the Syrian plains, — 
 Wars such as ne'er before have been on earth, 
 
 Nor the sun seen in all his ancient reigns : — 
 The day is coming — yea, is now at hand — 
 
 When, urged by Heaven, to her old hallowed ground 
 Shall beauteous Solyma lead back her tribes, 
 
 While with sweet tones her Hebrew camps resound. 
 Then shall stand still Euphrates; then shall stop, 
 
 In fierce affright, Nile's many-founted river. 
 Then, too, with whirl gigantic, shall the way 
 
 Of the Red Sea cleave wide apart and sever. 
 Day of revival ! then shall festal Zion 
 
 To her eternal God build shrine on shrine, — 
 High Lebanon and Hermon shout with singing, 
 
 While flowering olives crown their cliffs divine ! 
 
 Poem on the return of Nuiwleon' a ashes to Fiance. 
 
NINTH DISCOUKSE. 
 
 THE WORLI) TO COMB ILLUSTRATED IN THE SCENES OF THE TRANS- 
 
 riGURATIOX THE BLESSEDNESS OF CHRIST's PERSONAL PRESENCE 
 
 THE MINISTRATIONS OF THE GLORIFIED SAINTS THE ABSENCE 
 
 OF ALL POWERS AND AGENCIES OF EVIL THE BLESSING OF THE 
 
 WORLD THROUGH ISRAEL THE CURSE REPEALED. 
 
 Heb. ii. 5 : The tvorld to iome, loliereof we speak. 
 
 These words occur in connection witli the apostle's en- 
 deavor to imjjress liis Jewish brethren with a sense of the 
 greatness and glory of the Lord Jesus and of the salvation 
 which is preached in his name. He begins the epistle by 
 announcing the Savior to them as the Son of God, — the ap- 
 pointed heir of all things, — the Maker and upholder of the 
 worlds, — the brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
 image of his person, who has been exalted to the right hand 
 of the Majesty ou high. These were sublime statements, and 
 needing to be well substantiated to be made acceptable. He, 
 therefore, instituted various lines of argument, adapted to 
 the Jewish mind and founded upon the Scriptures, which all 
 held to be divinely inspired. And as the Jews regarded 
 angels as the highest created orders, and as standing next in 
 the scale to the eternal Father himself, Paul's first efibrt was 
 to prove from prophecy that Christ is superior to the angels. 
 He introduces three points in which this super-angelic dig- 
 nity is shown. The first is, that Christ is assigned a higher 
 name than the angels; the second Is, that he is clothed with 
 a sublimev honor than the angels; and the third is, that 
 18* 209 
 
210 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Christ is invested with a sublimer office than the angels, — 
 they being only ministering spirits, whilst he is spoken of as a 
 divine King, whose throne is forever and ever, and the sceptre 
 of whose kingdom is a sceptre of righteousness. The princely 
 investiture and reign of the Messiah is thus distinctly deduced 
 from the Old Testament, and used by the apostle as the sub- 
 limest demonstration of the Savior's personal dignity. And 
 this Messianic dominion he applies particularly to what is 
 hereafter to grow out of the gospel economy. He tells us 
 that it is peculiarly '■^ the worhl to come^' over which the Mes- 
 siah's reign is to be exercised. ^^For unto the angels hath 
 he not put into suhjection the world to come, whereof we 
 speak;'* thus proceeding upon the implied assumption that it 
 has been, by promise; put into subjection to Jesus Christ; 
 and that all those allusions to the Savior as a King have their 
 chief application and ultimate fulfillment in that "world to 
 come." The Messiah's reign and this world to come accord- 
 ingly belong together, and coexist in the same period and 
 locality. By determining, then, what is meant by this '' world 
 to come," we may form an idea of what is included in the 
 Messianic kingdom ; or, if we already know what the consum- 
 mated Messianic reign is, and where it is to be, we have it 
 already decided Avhat we are to understand by this " world to 
 come." 
 
 If any stress is, therefore, to be laid upon the conclusions 
 evolved in the preceding discourses, there is no alternative 
 left but to understand this world to come as the millennial 
 world, or the world as it shall be when Christ shall have re- 
 stored the throne of David, and entered upon his glorious 
 dominion as the sovereign of the nations and Lord of the 
 whole earth. And to this agrees exactly the original word, 
 oix()u;j.^'jrj, which means the habitable earth, — the domiciliated 
 globe, on which we diiy«ll, — and not some remote supernal 
 region, as we sometimes imagine. The world to come, then, 
 
THE NEW EARTH. 211 
 
 or the oiy.ooij.svy}v rijv nzXlourrav, as the apostle calls it, is no- 
 thing more nor less than this selfsame world of ours in its final 
 or millennial condition. This earth is not to be annihilated. 
 God never obliterates his own creations. The dissolving fires, 
 of which Peter speaks, are for " the perdition of ungodly 
 men;" and not for the utter depopulation and destruction of 
 the whole world. They may consume cities, destroy armies, 
 and efiect some iniportant meteorological and geological 
 changes; but men and nations will survive them and still 
 continue to live in the flesh. The earth is to be renovated 
 and restored from its present depressi/)n and dilapidation, and 
 thus become " the new earth" of which the Bible speaks. It 
 is to pass through a " regeneration" analogous to that through 
 which a man must pass to see the kingdom of God ; but there 
 will be a continuity of its elements and existence, just as a 
 regenerated man is constitutionally the same being that he 
 was before his renewal. It will not be another earth, but the 
 same earth under another condition of things. It is now 
 laboring under the curse ; but then the curse will have been 
 lifted off, and all its wounds healed. At present, it is hardly 
 habitable, — no one being able to live in it longer than a few brief 
 years; but then men shall dwell in it forever, without know- 
 ing what death is. It is now the home of rebellion, injustice 
 and guilt ; it will then be the home of righteousness. It is 
 now under the domination of Satan ; it will then come under 
 the blessed rule of the Prince of peace. Such, at any rate, 
 is the hope set before us in the word of God ; and this I hold 
 to be '■^lie luorld to come" of which the text speaks. It 
 cannot be any thing else. It cannot be what is commonly 
 called heaven ; for the word oUou,us'^7j cannot apply to heaven. 
 It is everywhere else used exclusively with reference to our 
 world. Neither can it be the present gospel dispensation, as 
 some have thought ; for that began long before this epistle 
 was written, and could not, therefore, have been spoken of by 
 
212 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Paul as yet "to come." "We are consequently compelled to 
 understand it to mean our own habitable world in its millen- 
 nial glory. And as the prophecies concerning the Messiah's 
 eternal kingship are here referred to as having their fulfill- 
 ment in the subjection of the millennial world to his dominion, 
 we are furnished with another powerful argument of Scrip- 
 ture in favor of the doctrine of Christ's personal reign as a 
 great Prince in this world. Indeed, the Bible is so full of 
 this subject, and its inspired writers are so constantly and 
 enthusiastically alluding to it, that I am amazed to find so 
 many pious and Bible-lyving people entirely losing sight of 
 it. Ever and anon the Scriptures return to it as the great 
 and animating hope of the church in all her adversities and 
 depressions; and it does seem to me that we are depriving 
 ourselves of much true Christian comfort by the manner in 
 which we have been neglecting and thrusting aside that glo- 
 rious doctrine. But, as I have already spoken on that subject 
 and given some idea of the manner in which the Scriptures 
 present it, I will not return to it now. My present object 
 is to show, from the Scriptures and by just infei'ences from 
 them, what sort of a world this " world to come" is, and to 
 describe, as far as I can, what we are to look for when once 
 this earth has been fully subjected to that divine King whose 
 throne is forever and ever, and the sceptre of whose kingdom 
 is a sceptre of righteousness. 
 
 That " the world to come" is a highly blessed world, and a 
 vast improvement upon the present scene of things, will be 
 inferred on all hands without argument. It could not be a 
 subject of hope if it were not. The Savior himself ex- 
 hibited a model of it when in the Mount of Transfiguration; 
 from which, perhaps, we may obtain as deep an insight of its 
 glories as from any other portion of Scripture. That he de- 
 signed that scene as a miniature model of what his future 
 coming and kingdom is to be, i'S obvious. A week before it 
 
ILLUSTRATION FROJI THE TRANSFIGURATION. 213 
 
 occurred, he told his disciples that " the Son of man shall 
 come in the glory of the Father, with his angels or me semjcj-s 
 with him ;" and that there were some standing there when he 
 made the declaration who " .s7toiiW not taste of death till they 
 saw the Son of man coming in his kingdom." This coming 
 in his kingdom, which some of the disciples were to live to 
 see, is not the final advent ; for the disciples are all dead, and 
 the final advent is still future. Neither is it the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem ; for but one of the apostles lived to see 
 that catastrophe, and the Son of man did not then come in 
 his kingdom. And yet some of the, apostles were to have 
 ocular demonstration of the Son of man's coming in his king- 
 dom before tasting of death. Search through apostolic his- 
 tory as we will, we shall find nothing but the transfiguration 
 to which the Savior's words will apply. That, then, was, in 
 some sense, the coining of the Son of man in his kingdom. It 
 was not, indeed, the coming itself, but it was an earnest and 
 picture of it. It was the coming of the Son of man in his 
 kingdom, as the bread and wine in the Eucharist are Christ's 
 body and blood. Peter says " the power and coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ" are not " cunningly-devised fables." He 
 declares that he was certified of their reality by the testimony 
 of his own senses. We were ei/e-ioitnesses, says he, " ivhen 
 ?oe were ivith him in the holy mount." We thus have clear 
 inspired testimony that the scene of the transfiguration was a 
 demonstrative exhibition of the coming of Jesus in his kingdom. 
 Hence, whatever we find in the descriptions of that scene, we 
 may confidently expect to be realized in that " world to come 
 whereof we speak." As Christ appeared in thaf glorious 
 scene, so he will appear when he returns to this world. As 
 he was then personally present as the Son of man, so he will 
 be personally present in the millennial kingdom. And as he 
 was there attended by difi"erent classes of persons, so will his 
 glorious kingdom consist of similar classes. The first will be 
 
214 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 the risen and glorified saints, represented by Moses ; the 
 second will be the transformed saints, represented by Elijah 
 who was caught up without tasting of death ; and the third 
 and most numerous class will be those who shall live in the 
 body, represented by Peter, James and John, as they bowed 
 before his mighty power, and looked with transport and wonder 
 on his inetfable glory. 
 
 Let us, then, endeavor to draw out before us some of the 
 more striking features of " the world to come," and, by the 
 contemplation of its attractiveness, endeavor to school our 
 hearts into more ardent thirst to participate in its blissful 
 scenes. 
 
 I do not wish to depreciate in the least those gracious 
 arrangements of heaven under which we now live. It is a 
 blessed thing to have the Bible, and to attend properly on the 
 means of grace, and to enjoy the renewing and comforting 
 influences of the Holy Ghost. In giving to us these things, 
 God has endowed us with mercies for which we never can be 
 sufficiently thankful. But he authorizes us to look for greater 
 things than these. The present economy is only preparatory 
 to something higher and more blessed. 
 
 " We're now hut in creation's vestibule, 
 And acting the mere prelude unto joy 
 Immortal, universal." 
 
 There is another and more exalted scene of things to follow 
 after the present. If we are faithful to our Lord, there re- 
 mains for us "a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 
 And one of the most remarkable and sublime features of that 
 "new earth" is, that it is to have in it the personal, visible 
 and illustrious presence of the Son of God, its great King. 
 It was the presence of Jesus in his glory that made Peter 
 wish to stay in the mountain rather than return again into 
 the cold and heartless world below. That glorious pi-esence 
 
man's desire to behold god. 215 
 
 was more than all earth beside. AYe may thus gather some 
 idea of the preciousness of that promise that "the pure in 
 heart shall sec God." The mere vision of Christ in his 
 glory will be heaven to the soul that leans on him as the 
 Redeemer. 
 
 There is no thirst in man more craving than the desire to 
 helinJd God. All the iujages in heathen temples, and all the 
 idolatries of the world, are but expressions of this perpetual 
 sigh of humanity. Moses himself coveted most of all things 
 to see Him who was accomplishing such wonders by his hand. 
 And very few, if any, can pray without first forming to the 
 mind some image of God. We are creatures of sense. Ab- 
 stract spirit is a cold and uninviting conception. All our 
 deepest impressions, and all our ideas, are received by means 
 of the outward senses. And there is no glory of God of which 
 we can conceive that can possibly be so satisfying and trans- 
 porting as that of helioldiiKj him, and for ourselves ^r'zw^ his 
 glory. All Christ's sublime teachings did not so impress and 
 rejoice the hearts of Peter, James and John, as that one 
 short vision of the Savior, as he was transfigured before them. 
 Not all the sublime experiences of Moses so satisfied him, as 
 when God gave him some visible manifestation of his glory. 
 When John sums up the highest prospects of believers, he 
 makes their fullest satisfaction and rapture depend on seeing 
 Jesus as he is. And Peter, when he came to his strongest 
 reason for holding Christianity to be a reality, referred to what 
 he had witnessed on the holy mount. It was a glad thing to 
 see Jesus, even in his humiliation. We sometimes wish that 
 we had lived in those days, that we might have looked upon 
 his face and heard the tones of his voice. If we could refer 
 to but one slight glimpse of him, we would treasure it as a 
 blissful thing. We would ever recur to it with pleasure. If 
 there were now a spot on earth where we could see him even 
 as he then was, millions would spare no expense or pains to 
 
216 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 gain a look upon him, and multitudes would throng to the 
 place, crj'ing, "Sirs, we would see Jcsua !" And if it would 
 be a high and lawful gratification to see Christ as he once lived 
 on earth, how sublime would be the portion of seeing him in 
 the glory of his kingdom ! Would it not afford a certainty to 
 our faith, and a rapture to our hearts, worth living for ? Look 
 at the case of the queen of Sheba, when she came to see the 
 glory of Solomon, — the type of the greater than Solomon. 
 She had " heard of his fame concerning the name of the 
 Lord," as we have heard of Christ and his glory; but there 
 was an air of romance about it which made her doubtful, just 
 as many even Christian people are with respect to revelation. 
 There was something wanting to complete her enjoyment. 
 She needed yet to see the reality of which she had heard To 
 secure this, a journey of months through exposure and dan- 
 gers she deemed of small account. "And when she had seen 
 all Soloi:i^n's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and 
 the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the 
 standing of his ministers, and their apparel, and his ascent by 
 which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more 
 spirit in her;" she fainted for very ecstasy. Now she could 
 say that it was a true report which she had heard, and that 
 the half had not been told her. Never could she have for- 
 gotten that visit. Never could that vision of Solomon's glory 
 have passed from her delighted memory. Never did it cease 
 from being a sunny spot in her recollection to which to recur 
 as the happiest event of her life. And if the sight of the 
 gloiy of the mere human type of the Messiah was thus trans- 
 porting and overpowering, what a joy would it be for the 
 Christian to see the blessed Jesus himself iu the glory of his 
 ineffable kingdom ? If to see Solomon's grandeur was an 
 event worth living for, who shall estimate the heavenly rapture 
 of behiilding the Savior on his high throne of glory, clothed 
 with light as with a garment, crowned with all the sublime 
 
BLISS OF THE MILLENNIUM. 217 
 
 beneficence of heaven, thousands ministering unto him, ten 
 thousand thousands standing before him, and umhitiides of 
 celestial spirits ever shouting to his praise, " Holy, holy, holy, 
 Lord God Almighty!" Would it not be a high privilege to 
 see all this ? Would it not fill out the believer's joy, and 
 establish him in the certainties and raptures of his faith, as 
 nothing else can ? Would it not set his whole nature in a 
 glow with heavenly inspiration, and consecrate him as a new 
 apostle just from the third heaven ? Would it not impart a 
 richer pleasure, and a more satisfying joy, than all the gifts 
 of Pentecost ? 
 
 From this we may, then, infer something of the bliss of 
 millennial times, when Christ shall be upon earth, arrayed in 
 all the glory of his kingdom. Then loe ahall see him. as he is. 
 The glorified saints shall ever be near him, in the closest com- 
 munion with him, for he is their brother as well as their Re- 
 deemer and King. And those who live in the flesh shall not 
 be excluded from near visions of his glory and rapturous 
 approaches to his person and presence. The ransomed nations 
 shall continually send up their streams of worshippers to Jeru- 
 salem, where they shall " see the King in his beauty," and 
 receive his communications, and be made glad in his favors. 
 Then, with overflowing hearts, shall men say, ''It was a true 
 report which we heard ; our eyes now have seen ; and, behold, 
 the half was not told us I" Doubt and unbelief will then be 
 no more. Harassing fears will be cast out. Christ's existence, 
 triumphs and unspeakable glories will then be visibly demon- 
 strated, and the world shall be lifted out of the gi-ave of its 
 darkness and misgivings into the glorious light and liberty of 
 the sons of God. For if Christ's presence in the transfigura- 
 tion converted the rugged mount into all that Peter could 
 desire of heaven, his sublime and gracious presence in his 
 kingdom cannot make this world less than a paradise of 
 God, 
 
 10 
 
218 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 "Oh, the delights, the heavenly joys, 
 The glories, of the place 
 Where Jesus sheds the brightest beams 
 Of his unveiled face I" 
 
 A second great feature of the " new earth," or " world to 
 come," is the exaltation, presence and ministrations of the 
 church of the first-born. Paul tells us, that when Christ 
 comes, the holy dead shall be raised, and the pious living 
 changed, and both these classes together enter into their high 
 and peculiar estate. These will the Savior bring with him, and 
 have associated with him. in the princedom and sublimities of 
 his glorious empire. They shall then have spiritual and glo- 
 rified bodies, like the glorious body of their Lord. They will 
 not return to the earthy life which they once lived in the 
 flesh ; but they shall live a life like that which Jesus lives. 
 They shall be in the closest union with Christ, for they con- 
 stitute his Bride, and are to " be ever with the Lord." His 
 delight shall be in them, and their delight shall be in him. 
 They will share in his glories, and be partakers of his throne. 
 They are to "reign loith Christ." They are to judge angels 
 and judge the world. The twelve apostles are to have twelve 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Having over- 
 come, and kept the Savior's sayings to the end, they shall 
 have power over the nations. He that has been faithful over 
 five talents shall have dominion over five cities ; and he that 
 has been faithful over ten talents shall have dominion over 
 ten cities ; every man according as his work has been. And 
 so " the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the 
 kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints 
 of the Most High." They are to sit on thrones, and judg- 
 ment shall be given them, and they shall be priests of God, 
 even of Christ, and shall reign with him the thousand years. 
 They are to wear crowns of righteousness, which Grod the 
 righteous Judge will give unto them at that day. Having 
 
THE EXALTATION OP THE SAINTS. 219 
 
 exercised meekness, tbey shall inherit the earth ; and, by the 
 righteousness of faith made " heirs of the world," they shall 
 enter upon their inheritance. Jesus is the heir of all things, 
 and the saints are joint-heirs with him. Having suffered with 
 him, they shall be glorified with him. They shall have a city 
 of habitation becoming their high nature, — ''a firmly-founded 
 city, whose builder and maker is God." They are to eat and 
 drink with Christ, at his table, in his kingdom. " They shall 
 see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads, and 
 they shall reign forever and ever." They shall neither marry, 
 nor be given in marriage, but shall be as the angels of God. 
 " Oh, what untried forms of happy being, what cycles of revolv- 
 ing bliss, await the just ! Conception cannot reach it, nor 
 experience present materials for the picture of its similitude ; 
 and though thus figured out with the choicest emblems, they 
 do no more represent it, than the name of Shepherd describes 
 the watchful guardianship of Christ, or the name of Father 
 the unspeakable love of God." " It doth not yet appear what 
 we shall be." What shall be the precise nature of the 
 authority, priesthood, heirship and glory of the saints, can- 
 not now be told. But this "■ we know, that when he (the 
 Savior) shall appear, we shall be like him, and shall see htm 
 as he is." A world of wonders is in every word of this pro- 
 mise. But how great shall be the believer's happiness, what 
 his peculiar circumstances, how large his possessions, and 
 what the exact nature and dignity of his employments, tongue 
 cannot tell, nor heart conceive. We cannot understand the 
 soul's faculties now, and they shall be greater hereafter. 
 Sublime are the Christian's relations now; and they shall be 
 sublimer then. Wonderful are the ofl&ces and mission of good 
 men now; and they shall be a thousand times more wonderful 
 then. A thoroughly-converted and enlightened man, even 
 whilst in the corrupt flesh, is a noble object to behold. Even 
 the angels are not ashamed to become ministering spirits to 
 
220 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 him. Wliat then shall be his glory when he shall come to 
 occupy his throne with the adorable Jesus in the dignity of . 
 eternal empire ! 
 
 That the glorified saints will, to some extent, minglq with 
 those who live in the body, and at times unveil their radiance 
 to them, I think there is reason to believe. Tlieir offices 
 would seem to inaply it. If they are to govern, direct and 
 minister to those in the flesh, it is natural to suppose that they 
 will also be visible, at least occasionally. Angels, in the per- 
 formance of similar offices, have often been manifested to 
 living men ; and why should it not be so with Christ's ser- 
 vants, in the wonderful administrations of his glorious king- 
 dom ? The earth will then be much nearer to heaven than 
 ever it was before, and the intercourse between them will 
 doubtless be much more free and intimate. Glorified or spi- 
 ritual bodies are, perhaps, in their nature, invisible to our 
 earthly senses. Christ, after his resurrection, was not visible 
 except at certain times when he manifested himself. The 
 angels are invisible, and yet we have many instances in which 
 they were revealed to the view of mortals. And in that new 
 world in which the glorified saints are to be enthroned, and 
 commissioned, as the ministers of Christ the great King, to 
 execute his orders and administer his government over the 
 nations, we may reasonably expect that they will often appear, 
 and converse with those who live in the flesh • and that inter- 
 course between them and those in the body will be as real, 
 familiar and blessed as that which Adam enjoyed with hea- 
 venly beings in Paradise. 
 
 But whatever may be the specific nature of the kinghood 
 and priesthood of the glorified saints, or in whatever way they 
 ma}' discharge their sublime ministrations, we may rest assured 
 that their relation to the world will be for good and blessing. 
 Christ will thus associate them with him in his kingdom only 
 the more gloriously to fulfill his grand designs of love and 
 
OFFICE OF THE CHURCH. 221 
 
 mercy. He came into this world to seek and to save that 
 which was lost. He came to reveal God to man, and to lift 
 up. man into harmony with God. He came amidst the grovel- 
 ing, the selfish and the earthly, to tell a tale of disinterested 
 love at which selfishness might hang its head. He came 
 amidst the guilty, the wretched and the lost, to reveal a de- 
 sign of mercy at which angels rejoice with exceeding joy, and 
 before which the aching and the burdened heart may throw 
 off the load under which it labors. He suffered, died, rose 
 again, now lives in heaven, and will soon return to earth, all 
 to cast out the evil which has come upon man, and to bring 
 this world back to the Paradise it once was. And this espous- 
 ing to himself of an elect, ransomed and glorified church can 
 be for no other purpose than that which he has already mani- 
 fested in his wonderful doings hitherto. Much of the great 
 plan of redemption yet remains unfulfilled; and this church 
 of the first-born is exalted to its high place, not only for its 
 own glory and the Savior's praise, but as another great link in 
 the chain of agencies and administrations by which the entire 
 world is to be yet restored to the high sphere for which it 
 was destined. These children of the resurrection are to con- 
 stitute an elect and immortal college, connected with the 
 Savior's own glorified humanity, that he may thus consum- 
 mate his wonderful designs in the ultimate and entire repeal 
 of the curse under which the earth groans, and the recovery 
 forever of the lost heritage of man. Why does he call and 
 constitute the church as we now have it ? Certainly not only 
 that those who enter it may be justified and accepted. There 
 is another object. It is that he may work in and through the 
 church, and carry light, civilization, truth and hope to the 
 children of men. And Christians are not done with this 
 world when they die. When this elect church shall have 
 been completed, and its members come to be priests and kings 
 
 with Christ in the glorious Messianic kingdom, the same 
 
 19* 
 
222 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 general calling which they now fill will continue. These 
 sublime princedums of the eternal empire are a part of God's 
 great plan to let forth his love, wisdom and blessing upon 
 earth's future generations. Blessed, blessed, shall it then be 
 for the world, when once the saints shall be installed with 
 their promised dominion, and sit with Christ upon his throne I 
 Another characteristic of the millennial world will be the 
 entire absence of all the confederations and powers of wicked- 
 ness. When the Savior comes, Antichrist, in all its shapes, will 
 be destroyed. The wild beast and the false prophet, and all 
 their supporters and adherents, are to be taken and cast into 
 the bottomless abyss. The last renovating fires which are to 
 be kindled in the day of the Lord shall carry all the con- 
 federates in usurpation and wrong to their merited perdition. 
 The dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, even Satan, 
 shall then be seized, and bound, and confined in the pit, to 
 deceive the nations no more till the thousand years be fulfilled, 
 and after a brief release consigned to eternal death. In- 
 stead of despotism and tyranny shall be justice and charity. 
 Those that now corrupt and destroy the earth will then have 
 been destroyed. The filthy dreamers, who despise government 
 and speak evil of dignities, will then have pas.sed away. The 
 raging waves of popular revolution, foaming out their own 
 shame, shall have been stilled, to rise no more. Those wan- 
 dering stars in church and state, by whom so much disturbance 
 is now experienced, will then have gone to the blackness of 
 darkness appointed for them. Might shall not then trample 
 any more upon right. The course of nature, now set on fire 
 of hell, shall then be made to flow in all the smoothness and 
 tranquility of heaven. "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, and shall cast them 
 into a furnace of fire." False prophets and false teachers, 
 with all their "damnable heresies," shall then have gone to 
 
OF THE HEBREW NATION. 223 
 
 their destruction. Nations shall cease their fierce works of 
 war, and armies no more butcher each other upon the bloody 
 field of battle. Violence will no more be heard in the land, 
 nor wastiug and destruction within its borders. Satan will be 
 deprived of his power to stir up rankling passion, and the 
 sway of oppression and iniquity will be ended. The greatest 
 of the world's burdens will thus be lifted off, and the mill-stone 
 that has weighed it down so long will be loosed from its neck 
 forever. 
 
 A fourth feature of the millennium, or new earth, will be 
 the great exaltation, piety and glory of the Hebrew nation, 
 and of the world through them. I have shown that this 
 people is to be restored to Palestine; that Jerusalem is to be 
 rebuilt in more than its former glory; that the throne of David 
 is to be re-established; and that the Prince Messiah is to be 
 their King. "For lo ! the days come, saith the Lord, that I 
 will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, 
 and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their 
 fathers, and they shall possess it. And they shall serve the 
 Lord their God and David their King, whom I will raise 
 up tmto them:" (Jer. xxx. 3-9.) "They shall all of them 
 be righteous, and shall inherit the land forever." Their land 
 that was desolate shall become like Eden, and even its desert 
 like the garden of Jehovah. " In that day shall the branch 
 of the Lor-I be b^^autiful and glorious, and the fruit of the 
 earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped 
 of Israel. And he that is left in Zion, and he that remaiueth 
 in Jerusalem, shall be called holy." God says of the house 
 of Jacob, "The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all 
 kings thy glory. Thou shalt be a crown of (jlory in the hand 
 of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 
 Ye that make mention of the Lord, give him no rest till he 
 make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Say to the daughter 
 of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh. And they shall call 
 
224 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 them, The Ixoly people, The redeemed of ilie Lord." ''Re- 
 joice ye with Jerubalem, and be glad with her; for thus saith 
 the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and 
 the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream." " At that 
 time theT/ shall call Jerusalem the throne OF the Lord; 
 and all the 7iatLoi}^ shall be gatJiered unto it, to the name 
 of the Lord., to Jerusalem." "I the Lord will be their 
 God, and my servant David a prince among them. And I 
 will make them and the places round about my hill a bless- 
 ing. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown. Thus 
 shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and 
 that they, even the house of Israel, are my people." "I will 
 be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast 
 forth his roots; his branches shall spread, and his beauty shall 
 be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon." "And many 
 nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the 
 mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; 
 and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his 
 paths ; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the 
 Lord from Jerusalem." Jesus himself shall descend among 
 them, and be their King. He shall fight for them in the day 
 of battle, and slay all their enemies. For '' God shall give 
 unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reigu 
 over the house of Jacob forever," and " before his ancients 
 gloriously." 
 
 These are glowing promises. Well may they cause the 
 Jew to be hopeful amid all his long-continued spoliations, and 
 to sing still, "If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand 
 forget her cunning ! If I do not remember thee, let my 
 tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth !" And when these 
 glad predictions shall be fulfilled, all the nations shall share in 
 the sublime exaltatijns of God's ancient people and their 
 glorious King. Then all the nations of the earth shall be 
 blessed in Abraham's seed. "Israel shall blossom and bud. 
 
SCRTrXUIlE PROMISES. 225 
 
 and fill the face of the eirth with fruit." "The remuant of 
 Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the 
 Lord, and as showers upon the grass." "They shall be called 
 the priests of the Lord; and men shall call them the ministers 
 of our God." When Zion, the city of the Lord, shall arise 
 and shine, the Gentiles shall como to its light, and kings to the 
 brightness of its rising. When the New Jerusalem appears, 
 "the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light 
 of it." In that day, Israel's King, even "the Lord, shall be 
 King over all the earth." "All people, nations and lan- 
 guages shall serve and obey him." "The heathen shall be 
 given to him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of 
 the earth for his possession." "Kings shall fall down before 
 him, and all nations shall serve him." "He shall reign and 
 prosper, and his rest shall be glorious." "The world to come, 
 whereof we speak," has been put into subjection unto him. 
 The kingdoms of this world are to be his kingdoms. Every 
 knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. He 
 must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
 Morally, spiritually and politically, all people must be event- 
 ually subjugated unto him. " For the earth shall be filled 
 with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters 
 cover the sea." 
 
 All these are God's own revelations. They are full of mys- 
 tery, but full of hope. How they are to be fulfilled may be a 
 subject of .wonder; but that they will be fulfilled is as certain 
 as the existence of God. It may not all be done at once. It 
 will be an achievement of moral force, and not of mere arbi- 
 trary coercion. It may require years upon years to accomplish 
 all ; but He who has promised knows how to perform what he 
 has uttered. The new, august and momentous personal mani- 
 festations of Christ for which we are taught to look, the en- 
 larged gifts of the Holy Ghost which are yet to be bestowed, 
 the appointment of other^ be't^r equipped and more efficient 
 
22G THE LAST -TIMES. 
 
 ministerial agencies, tlie probable revival of miracles, the 
 shaking of the nations with the terrors of coming judgments, 
 the increased power of the Bible derived from the fulfillment 
 of its prophecies, and the removal of Satan and all his treacher- 
 ous opposition, certainljr will leave it no difficult task to make 
 a speedy conquest of all the great nations to the glorious 
 dominion of the Son of David, come down from heaven to bo 
 their King and Lord forever. At all events, — 
 
 "Jesus shall rolgn where'er the sun 
 Does his successive journeys run; 
 His kingdom stretch from shore to shore. 
 Till moons shsill wax and wane no more." 
 
 But the new earth has yet another blessed characteristic. 
 It is to present the glorious spectacle of the entire repeal of 
 the curse of sin. It is true that the complete and entire 
 repeal of the curse will not be consummated until the end of 
 the thousand years, when all wickedness and the wicked shall 
 finally be cast out from the earth fqrever. But, from the time 
 Christ comes and takes dominion of the world with his glori- 
 fied saints, every thing will advance closer and closer until it 
 reaches this final and transcendent consummation. His com- 
 ing is styled f'the regeneration," — "the day of the restitution 
 bf all things," — the time when God shall "make all things 
 new," — "the manifestation of the sons of Grod," for which the 
 creation groans and waits, — the day of redemption, when "the 
 creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God." 
 Christ is the Redeemer and Lord of the whole creation, as 
 well as of the human soul. When God made man, hesaid to 
 him, "Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the 
 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
 and over every creeping thing that creopeth upon the earth." 
 This dominion Adam lost. The rebellion of the soul against 
 God brought with it the rebellion of the flesh against the 
 
!>: SCRIPTURE PROMISES. 227 
 
 I 
 
 spirit, and of nature against the entire man. Discords, anti- 
 pathies and a thousand evils ensued. Christ is the second 
 Adam, and by subverting the empire of Satan he regains the 
 dominion which Adam lost, and carries his redemption as far 
 as the consequences of the fall have reached. Otherwise, the 
 entire breach is not healed, and salvation is imperfect. The 
 whole earth under the Messiah must then ultimately become 
 all that it Avas under Adam, and what it always would have 
 been if Adam had never sinned. The curse that was put 
 upon the ground for Adam's sin, filling it with thorns and 
 thistles, infusing sweat and pain iiito all our participations of 
 its products, must be taken off. The evils and confusion 
 which sin has brought into the world must be driven out. 
 And this is exactly what is promised vinder the reign of Christ 
 and his saints. "The Spirit shall be poured from on high, 
 and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be 
 counted a forest. And the work of righteousness shall be 
 peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance 
 forever." "The mountains and the hills shall break forth 
 into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their 
 hands. Instead of the tliorn shall come up the fir-tree, and 
 instead of tJie hrier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it 
 (shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that 
 shall not be cut off." "Then the eyes of the blind shall be 
 .opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then 
 ;' shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the 
 dumb sing; in the wilderness shall waters break out, and 
 'Streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become 
 ^a watered place, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the 
 habitation of dragons there shall be grass, with reeds and 
 ru.shes." "And the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick." 
 There shall be no more thence any dying in infancy, or of 
 men who have not filled out their days. "They shall build 
 houses and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards and 
 
228 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 eat the fruit of them. They shall not labor in vain, nor 
 hrivg forth for trouble. The wolf and the lauib shall feed 
 together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox: and dust 
 shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy 
 in all my holy inountain:" (Isa. Ixv. 17-25.) "The waters 
 of the Dead Sea shall be healed." Trees shall grow which 
 shall "yield their fruit monthly, and the leaves thereof shall 
 be for the healing of the nations." "They shall not hunger 
 nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them." " And 
 
 THERE SHALL BE NO MORE CURSE." "And God shall wipe 
 
 away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no 
 MORE death." "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
 death." He may linger through a brief and feeble existence 
 in some of the outskirts of the millennial world; but he must 
 be entirely destroyed. "Then shall be brought to pass the 
 saying that is written, Death is sicallvwed up of victor^/;" 
 and earth's redeemed and undying generations shall take up 
 the song, "0 death! where is thy sting? grave! where is 
 thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ!' 
 
 Such, then, is the glorious consummation to which the 
 works of Providence and grace are tending. Such is the 
 finishing of the mystery which God hath spoken by the mouth 
 of all his holy prophets. This battle-field of hell and heaven 
 shall rise up out of all its desolations. The bliss of Paradise 
 shall yet dwell in its valleys and the glory of God shine on 
 all its hills. Though a lazar-house for so many ages, it shall 
 be the home of righteousness and peace and a temple of 
 blessing and glory, whose vaulted dome shall echo forever 
 with redemjDtion's songs. Things may look unpromising 
 now ; but everywhere heaven is pouring into it. Tyranny, 
 war, distress and wickedness may seem to be triumphant; but 
 their end is near, and the Dt'sire of nations approaches. 
 Satan and his emissaries may struggle in their desperation; 
 
 i 
 
MILLENNIAL GLORY. 229 
 
 but they shall not be able to keep the world from the resur- 
 rection to which it is moving. The sore travail of the Savior's 
 soul shall yet be seen in an everlasting equation between it and 
 heaven. Jesus himself shall set up his throne in it and 
 brighten it with the glories of his ineffable personal presence. 
 The holy ministries of the children of the resurrection shall 
 cover it with a mantle of peace and light. Satan and all his 
 works shall be rooted out of it forever. All it? long-erring 
 nations shall be reclaimed, and all its discordant elements 
 recovered to harmony and rest. Over all this place of graves 
 the flowers of immortality shall bloom. Instead of the coffiu 
 shall be Elijah's chariot, and in place of the death-struggle 
 shall be Enoch's rapture. And from all God's great universe 
 shall break forth the song of joy and praise over a world that 
 was lost but is found ; over this blasted earth made new again 
 lud glorious forever. 
 
 Region of life and light! 
 
 Land of the good whose sweaty toils are o'er! 
 
 Nor frost nor heat may blight 
 
 Thy vernal beauty, fertile shore, 
 
 Yielding thy blessed fruits for evermore ! 
 
 There, without crook or sling, 
 
 Walks the Good Shepherd. Blossoms white and red 
 
 Round his meek temples cling; 
 
 And, to sweet pastures led, 
 
 His own loved flock beneath his eye are fed. 
 
 He guides, and near him they 
 
 Follow delighted ; for he makes them go 
 
 Where dwells eternal May, 
 
 And heavenly roses blow. 
 
 Deathless, and gathered but again to grow. 
 
 He leads them to the height 
 Named of the infinite and long-sought Good, 
 And fountains of delight; 
 And where his feet have stood 
 Springs up, along the way, their tender food, 
 20 
 
230 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 From lips divine flow forth 
 
 Immortal harmonies, of power to still 
 
 All passions born of earth, 
 
 And draw the ardent will 
 
 Its destiny of goodness to fulfill. 
 
 Might but a little part, 
 
 A wandering breath, of that high melody, 
 
 Descend into my heart, 
 
 And change it, till it be 
 
 Transformed and swallowed up, Christ, in thee 1 
 
 "YET A LITTLE AVHILE." 
 
 Beyond the smiling and the weeping 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Beyond the waking and the sleeping, 
 Beyond the sowing and the reaping, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, Rest, and Home! 
 
 Sweet hope ! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the blooming and the fading 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Beyond the shining and the shading. 
 Beyond the hoping and the dreading, 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, Rest, and Home ! 
 
 Sweet hope ! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the parting and the meeting 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 
 Beyond the farewell and the greeting, 
 
 Beyond this pulse's fever-beating, 
 
 I shall be soon. 
 
 Love, Rest, and Home ! 
 
 Sweet hope ! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 H. BONAB. 
 
TENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHUKCH — SUMMARY OF OUR DOCTRINE 
 
 OERINTHUS THE ANABAPTISTS MILLER IMPROPRIETY OF CLASSING 
 
 US WITH THESE PARTIES TRUE CHURCH TESTIMONY BARNABAS 
 
 CLEMENT PAPIAS JUSTIN MARTYR IREN^US TERTULLIAN 
 
 CYPRIAN ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AS TO THE FAITH OF THE EARLY 
 
 CHURCH HOW MILLENARIAN DOCTRINE WAS SUPPRESSED ORIGEN'S 
 
 SYSTEM REVIVAL OF THE PRIMITIVE FAITH LUTHER MELANCTHON 
 
 THE FRUITS OF OUR BELIEF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EARLY 
 
 AND PRESENT CHURCH. 
 
 Deut. xxxii. 7 : Eememher the datjs of old, consider the years of 
 many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy 
 elders, and they ivill tell thee. 
 
 The past is one of our best teachers. History is one of 
 the storehouses of wisdom. "Not to know what transpired 
 before we were born," says a classic author, "is to remain 
 children." 
 
 In matters of religious faith it is particularly important to 
 recur to the testimony of those who lived before us. Novelty 
 is sometimes the best proof of heresy. That cannot be 
 Christianity which cannot stand the test of history. Antiquity 
 alone is no evidence of orthodoxy. A creed may be old and 
 yet be false ; but it cannot be new and yet be true. The 
 Christian religion is a written tradition, just as complete at its 
 first delivery as it is now. All the advances of science, 
 though they may have assisted in preparing men the better to 
 appreciate it, have not added to it a single jot. In some 
 
 231 
 
232 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 things the children may bo accounted the fathers, and the 
 fathers the children ; but even in those instances "the child 
 is father of the man." We cannot be independent of what 
 has gone before us. In every thing wisdom bids us " remem- 
 ber the days of old." Yea, "Thus saitli the Lord, Stand ye 
 in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the 
 good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for yout 
 souls." 
 
 I propose, therefore, to make some inquiry into the testi- 
 mony of Christians of former ages respecting the doctrines 
 which I have been putting forth in these discourses. If the 
 church in its first and purest periods held them as the teach- 
 ings of the Scriptures, that fact must go very far to confirm 
 them as the truth of God. The saying of Tertullian, that 
 " whatever is first is true ; whatever is later is adulterate," 
 may not always hold good. Neither are we to rest our 
 faith upon the mere opinions of men, whether ancient or 
 modern. "The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of 
 Protestants;" and upon the Bible do I rest for the truth 
 of what I have been teaching.* But it is not very likely 
 that the most enlightened Christians who were the pupils 
 and hearers of the inspired apostles and their immediate 
 successors were mistaken as to what are the hopes which 
 Christianity presents. If it can be satisfactorily shown 
 that they believed and taught the Scriptures as I have 
 been interpreting them, it will be hard for a reasonable 
 man to conclude that I am wrong. Whilst, then, we take 
 the Scriptures as our only and infallible standard, and accord 
 to every man the right to examine and decide for himself 
 as God shall judge him, the light of antiquity cannot be 
 discarded as useless. It is one of our helps to a right 
 understanding of God's revelation, which we are not safe 
 in despising. And though we are not to receive the 
 testimony of anybody where that testimony conflicts with 
 
 « See pp. 365-380. 
 
SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE. 233 
 
 the Bible, we "will do well to "remember the days of old," 
 and to "consider the years of m;iny generations." The 
 fathers had some advantages which we have not. Let us 
 then avail ourselves of these advantages in our search for 
 truth. *Let us ask them, and they will show us, and inquire 
 of the elders, and they will tell us. 
 
 The principal points which I have thus far presented, as 
 my apprehension of God's revealments concerning " the last 
 times," are as follows: — 
 
 1. That Christ Jesus, our adorable Redeemer, is to return to 
 this world in great power and glory, as really and as literally 
 as he ascended up from it. 
 
 2. That this second advent of the Messiah will occur before 
 the general conversion of the world, while the Man of sin 
 still continues his abominations, while the earth is yet full 
 of tyranny, war, infidelity and blasphemy, and consequently 
 before what is called the millennium. 
 
 3. That this coming of the Lord Jesus will not be to 
 depopulate and annihilate the earth, but to judge, subdue, 
 renew and bless it. 
 
 4. That in the period of this coming he will raise the holy 
 from among the dead, transform the living that are waiting 
 for him, judge them according to their works, receive them 
 up to himself in the clouds, and establish them in a glorious 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 5. That Christ will then also break down and destroy all 
 present systems of government in church and state, burn up 
 the great centres and powers of wickedness and usurpation, 
 shake the whole earth with terrific visitations for its sins, and 
 subdue it to his own personal and eternal rule. 
 
 6. That during these great and destructive commotions, 
 the Jewish race shall be marvelously restored to the land of 
 their fathers, brought to en. brace Jesus as their Messiah and 
 King, delivered from their enemies, placed at the head of 
 
 20 » 
 
234 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 nations, and made the agents of unspeakable blessings to the 
 world. 
 
 7. That Christ will then re-establish the throne of his 
 father David, exalt it in heavenly glory, make Mount Zion 
 the seat of his divine empire, and, with the glorifiird saiuts 
 associated with him in his dominion, reign over the house of 
 Jacob and over the •^corld in a visible, sublime and heavenly 
 Christocracy for the period of "the thousand years." 
 
 8. That during this millennial reign in which mankind 
 are brought under a new dispensation, Satan is to be bound 
 and the world enjoy its long-expected Sabbatic rest. 
 
 9. That at the end of this millennial Sabbath the last 
 rebellion shall be (juashed, the vricked dead, who shall all 
 continue in Hades until that time, shall be raised and judged, 
 and Satan, Death, Hades, and all antagonisms to good, 
 delivered over to eternal destruction. And — 
 
 10. That, under these wonderful administrations, the earth 
 is to be entirely recovered from the effects of the fall, the 
 excellence of God's righteous providence vindicated, the whole 
 curse repealed, death swallowed up, and all the inhabitants of 
 the world thenceforward forever restored to more than the full 
 happiness, purity and glory which Adam forfeited in Eden. 
 
 Such is my learning of the Scriptures, and such is my 
 solemn belief upon these momentous themes. Some may be 
 disposed to brand it as the old heresy of Cerinthus ; some 
 may classify it with the doctrines of the seditious Anabaptists 
 of Luther's day; and not a few may stigmatize it as " Miller- 
 ism." But, call it what you please, with my present light 
 it is my faith ; and I propose to show you that such was the 
 faith of the universal orthodox church in the purest periods 
 of its history. But, lest it should be derided with names 
 which it does not deserve, let me make an observation or two 
 with regard to the parties just named. 
 
 Cerinthus was the contemporary of the Apostle John. It 
 
THE ANABAPTISTS. 235 
 
 is a question now, among learned men, whether he ever did 
 teach the carnal notions which are ascribed to him. It is 
 recorded of him, however, that he " falsely pretended to won- 
 derful things, as if they had been shown him by angels, assert- 
 ing that after the resurrection there would be an earthly 
 kingdom of Christ, and that the /IcsJi, (or man again united 
 with flesh,) again inhabiting Jerusalem, would be subject to 
 desires and pleasures ;" that, " being an enemy of the divine 
 Scriptures, he said there would be a space of a thousand 
 years for celebrating nuptial festivals;" that ''he taught that 
 Christ would have an earthly kingdom, and, as he was a 
 voluptuary and altogether sensual, he conjectured that it 
 would consist in those things that he craved in the gratifica- 
 tion of appetite and lust." If these things are true, which 
 is very questionable, it has been well for Christians that they 
 never permitted themselves to be carried away with such gross 
 and plainly unscriptural carnalities. The kiugdom of heaven 
 is not meat and drink, marrying or giving in marriage. The 
 children of the resurrection are never to return to this fleshly 
 and sensual life, but are to have spiritual bodies, and inhabit 
 a city " not made with hands," and be kings and priests unto 
 God, blessed and holy forever.* 
 
 The Anabaptists were a fanatical and seditious people, with 
 whom no sound Chnstian can sympathize. Mosheim says, 
 " They gave themselves out for the messengers of heaven, to 
 lay the foundations of a new government, and to destroy and 
 overturn all temporal rule and authority, — all human and 
 political institutions. Having turned all things into confusion 
 and uproar in the city of Miinster by this seditious declara- 
 tion, they began to erect a new republic conformable to their 
 absurd and chimerical notions of religion, and committed the 
 administration of it to JoJui Bockholt, a tailor by profession !" 
 Milner says, "They taught the people to despise their lawful 
 rulers, and the salutary regulations by which all communities 
 
236 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 exist. Evciywliere it was the cry of these enthusiastic vision- 
 aries, No tribute ; all things in common ; no tithes ; no magis- 
 trates ; the baptism of infants is an invention of the devil I" 
 From such delusion, fanaticism and blasphemy may the Lord 
 ever preserve us ! And yet with such people we are often 
 classed whcu we undertake to declare the real gospel doctrine 
 of Christ's coming and kingdom. 
 
 The late Mr. Miller, of whom we heard so much a few years 
 ago, was doubtless a simple-miuded, honest and pious man. 
 But he was comparatively illiterate, imaginative and enthu- 
 siastic. Pie did not fully grasp the sweep, order, consistency 
 and grandeur of God's purposes as they are presented in the 
 Scriptures. He believed that this world was to be burned up 
 and depopulated of all its present orders of inhabitants. He 
 taught that none were to exist on the earth after Christ's 
 coming but the church of the first-born in their glorified state, 
 who should return to a physical form of life. He also held 
 that the Gog and Magog rebellion at the end of the Millen- 
 nium refers to the resurrected wicked. He had no consistent 
 views of Christ's reign over the nations, and denied probation 
 after Christ's coming. He was carried away, too, with certain 
 calculations of prophetic dates, upon which he relied too con- 
 fidently. He was disappointed in some of the leading par- 
 ticulars upon which he gained his notoriety. But neither 
 prophecy nor the students of prophecy are responsible for his 
 mistakes. And to make all deductions from prophecy bear 
 the odium and ridicule excited by the vagaries of uninformed 
 and credulous men, is neither sensible, pious, nor respectful to 
 the word of God. We have nothing to do with the crudities 
 and wild imaginings of a sensual Cerinthus, the fanatical Ana- 
 baptist, or the injudicious Father Miller. Our business is 
 with what God has written for our learning and with the 
 interpretations of those who were the least likely to be mis- 
 taken in resi'ar/. to the leading features of God's revelations. 
 
THE TESTIMONY OP THE CHURCH-BARNABAS. 237 
 
 Let US, then, pi'oceed with our task, and endeavor to ascer- 
 tain the views and teachings of the early Christians with re- 
 gard to the doctrines of these discourses. What expectations 
 were furmed of the Messiah at his first coming, and how 
 Christ and his apostles proceeded respecting those expecta- 
 tions, I have already set forth. In other words, I have given 
 you the inspired Scriptures for every thing that I have thus 
 far said. This alone is, or ought to be, sufficient. But as 
 there is disagreeinent as to the manner in which those pas- 
 sages are to be understood, I will give you the proof that the 
 best Christian authority is in favor of the interpretations 
 which I have maintained. 
 
 The first witness I produce is Barnabas, a Levite of the 
 country of Cyprus, and one of those who sold their possessions 
 and laid the money at the apostles' feet. Luke says that 
 "he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost." He was 
 the companion and fellow-preacher with the Apostle Paul. 
 He has left an epistle which learned men think was written 
 before the Epistle of Jude or the writings of John. Some 
 have considered it apocryphal; but Vossius, Dupuis, Cave, 
 Mill, Clarke, Whistou, Wake, and others not incompetent to 
 judge in the case, esteem it the genuine production of Barna- 
 bas the Levite, so honorably mentioned in the Scriptures. 
 At all events, it belongs to early Christian antiquity, and is a 
 competent witness as to what were the views then entertained. 
 
 In the thirteenth chapter of this epistle we find it written : — ■ 
 "God made in six days the works of his hands, and he finished 
 them the seventh day, and he rested the seventh day and 
 sanctified it. Consider, my children, what that signifies : he 
 finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this : that 
 in six thousand years the Lord ivillhring all things to an end. 
 For with him one day is a thousand years, as himself testi- 
 fietlu Therefore, children, in six days — that is, in six thou- 
 sand years — shall all things be accomplished. And what in 
 
238 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 that he saith, And he rested the seventh day ? He meaneth 
 this : that when his Son shall come, and abolish the season of 
 the wicked one, and judge the ungodly, and shall change the ■ 
 sun, moon and stars, then he shall gloriously rest in thai 
 seventh day. , . . Behold, he will then truly sanctify it with 
 blessed rest, ^vhen we (Jiaving received the righteous 
 promise, tohen iniquity shall be no more, ALL THINGS BEING 
 renewed by THE LORD) shall be able to sanctify it, being 
 ourselves first made holy." 
 
 In these words it is plainly taught : — 
 
 1. That Christ is to come again personally to our world at 
 the end of the six thousand years. 
 
 2. That the wicked one and his domination will remain in 
 existence until Christ comes. 
 
 3. That the seventh thousand years of the world is to be 
 a millennium of holy rest, in which the saints are to inherit 
 their promises and iniquity be done away; and — 
 
 4. That this millennium of glory is to be introduced by the 
 personal coming of the Messiah to abolish the empire of the 
 wicked one, judge the ungodly, change the present constitu- 
 tion of things and renew the world. 
 
 Such, then, is the testimony of one, said to have been the 
 companion and fellow of the Apostle Paul. 
 
 A second witness is Clement, whom Paul mentions among 
 his '^fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life." 
 In such high I'epute were his writings held, that they are 
 found included in one of the oldest collections of New Testa- 
 ment writings as a part of the sacred canon. He does not 
 refer to our subject as directly as Barnabas ; but there can be 
 no doubt of his having entertained the same views. Dr. 
 Hamilton of Strathblane, in a work against the students of 
 prophecy, puts him down as evidently a millennariau ; that 
 is, one who believes in the personal reign of Christ with his 
 eaints on earth. He connected " the great and glorious 
 
PAPIAS AND JUSTIN MARTYR. 239 
 
 promises" made to tlie people of God witli the promise that 
 " the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." 
 He taught that ''we shall come to judgment ia the flesh, and 
 so also in the flesh receive the reward." He also identified 
 the coming of the kingdom of God with '' the day of God's 
 appearing," and exhorted his readers hourly to expect, wait 
 and pray for it, that they might "enter into his kingdom and 
 receive the promises." And if there is any weight to be 
 attached to his apprehensions of divine truth, it goes decidedly 
 in favor of our doctrines. 
 
 The next witness is Papias, the disciple of the Apostle 
 John and a companion of Polycarp. Eusebius speaks unfa- 
 vorably of his judgment in one place; but elsewhere pro- 
 nounces him " eloquent and learned in the Scriptures." He 
 himself says that he had most assiduously collected all that 
 could be gathered of the teachings and sayings of Christ and 
 the apostles. He certainly had every opportuuit}' of knowing 
 the truth. And he has recorded it as his belief, and as con- 
 tained in what he had collected from the fountains of Chris- 
 tian doctrine, that " there will he a certain onillcanium AFTER 
 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, when Christ will reign 
 BODILY (personally^ iipon this very earth." 
 
 We come now to Justin the martyr, who was born ten 
 years before the death of the Apostle John. Mosheim calls 
 him " a man of eminent piety and learning, who, from a pagan 
 philosopher, became a Christian martyr." In his Dialogue 
 with Trypho, he says, "/, AND AS MANY AS ARE ORTHODOX 
 Christians, do acknowledge that there shall be a resurrection 
 of the body, and a residence of a thousand years in Jerusalem 
 rebuilt, adorned and enlarged, as the p)rophets Ezekiel, Isaiah 
 and others do unanimously attest. . . . Moreover, a certain man 
 among us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of CJirist, 
 in a revelation made to him, did prophesy that the faithful 
 believers in Christ shall live a thousand years in the New 
 
240 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Jerusalem, and after that shall he (he general resurrection 
 and judgment.^' Not only does Justia here declare himself 
 a believer in our doctriues, but, as Semisch (in Herzog's 
 Cyclopedia) says, he " distinguishes that belief as the key- 
 stone of orthodoxy." 
 
 The testimony of the distinguished Irenseus is also of par- 
 ticular value. He was the disciple of Polycarp, the pupil of 
 the Apostle John. It has justly been said that, " for learning, 
 steadfastness and zeal, he was among the most renowned of 
 the early fathers." Mosheim says that his writings are "the 
 most precious monuments of ancient erudition." His tutor, 
 Polycarp, was one of those " angels" to whom the Savior ad- 
 dressed one of the seven episJes recorded in John's revela- 
 tion. He was a most diligent collector of all that was to be 
 known of what Christ and his apostles taught. Irenaeus 
 regarded him with peculiar veneration, and says of his 
 teachings, " I remember his discourses concerning the conver- 
 sations he had with John the apostle and others who had seen 
 the Lord; how he rehearsed their discourses, and what he 
 heard them say of our Lord and of his miracles and doc- 
 trine." Irenaeus, therefore, had good means of knowing 
 what ideas the sacred writers attached to their own writings, 
 and what ideas and hopes the Spirit through them inculcated 
 respecting God's great purposes. Hear, then, what this 
 learned and devout man has said concerning our doctrine : — 
 
 " In whatever number of days the world was created, in the 
 same number of thous^ds of years it will come to its consum- 
 mation. God, on the sixth day, finished the works which he 
 made ; and God rested on the seventh day from all his works. 
 This is a history of the past and a prophecy of the future ; for 
 Hhe day of the Lord is as a thousand years.''' Here is a 
 distinct announcement of the millennial Sabbath. As to 
 where it is to be celebrated, he is equally clear. ''It is 
 fitting," says he, "that the Just, rising ag lin at the appear- 
 
IRENiEUS AND TERTULLTAN. 241 
 
 ance of Gnil, sliould, in the renewed state, receive the promise 
 of inheritance ichich God covenanted to the fathers, and 
 shoidd reign in it; and, that then should follow the final 
 judgment. For, in the same condition in which they have 
 labored and been afflicted, and been tried by suflferings in all 
 sorts of ways, it is bvit just that in it they should receive the 
 fruits of their sufferings, so that where, for the love of God 
 they suffered death, there they should be brought to life again; 
 and where they endured bondage, there also they should reign. 
 .... I say it is becoming that the creation, being restored 
 to its original beauty, should, without any impediment or 
 drawback, be subject to the righteous. This the apostle makes 
 manifest in the Epistle to the Ro.aans. . . .- . Thus, there- 
 fore, as God promised to Abraham the inheritance of the earth, 
 and he received it not during the whole time he lived, it is 
 necessary that he shoidd receive it, together with his seed, that 
 is, with such of them as fear God, and believe in him,, IN 
 THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST They will un- 
 
 doubtedly receive it at the resurrection of the just : for true 
 and unchangeable is God; wherefore he also said, Blessed are 
 the meek, for they shall inherit THE EARTH." 
 
 Four things are here asserted : first, that Christ will really 
 appear at the end of the six thousand years ; second, that the 
 millennium comes after the Savior's advent; third, that there 
 is to be a resurrection of the just at the beginning of the mil- 
 lennium ; and, fourth, that Christ is to reign with his saints 
 in this world. Such is the testimony of Irenaaus, the pupil 
 of Polycarp and Papias, the disciples of the Apostle John. 
 
 We come now to Tertullian, the eminent contemporary of 
 Irenaeus, a man of eloquence and learning, who, with all his 
 faults, had many excellencies. His testimony is equally con- 
 spicuous and positive. "We also confess," says he, "that a 
 kingdom is promised us on earth, AFTER THE resurrection; 
 for it will be for a thousand years in a city of divine work- 
 Q 21 
 
242 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 manship, viz. : Jerasalem brought down from heaven, which 
 city Ezekiel knew, and the Apostle John saw. This is the 
 city provided of God to receive the saints in the resurrection, 
 wherein to refresh themselves with all spiritual good things, 
 in recompense of those which in the world we have despised 
 and lost." He also testifies that it was the custom of his 
 times for Christians to pray that they might have part in the 
 first resurrection ; thus showing that this was the general and 
 firm belief of his time. 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, the contemporary of Tertullian, 
 whom Eusebius designates as an " incomparable master of the 
 Christian philosophy," also refers to the mystic sanctity of the 
 seventh day, as pointing in the estimation of both Hebrews 
 and Greeks to the final revolution of the world and the reno- 
 vation of all things. 
 
 Cyprian, the great bishop of Carthage, who sealed his faith 
 with his blood, also alludes to the subject in a way leaving no 
 doubt that he apprehended the Scriptures in the same man- 
 ner. '' In the divine arrangement of the world," says he, 
 " seven days were at first employed, and in them seven thou- 
 sand years were included." This implies the doctrine of the 
 millennial Sabbath ; and, taking it in connection with his ex- 
 pectation of the future honors of the martyrs, and his decla- 
 ration that in this world " things evil and adverse shall in- 
 crease until the end come as foretold," we cannot suppose that 
 he difi"ered oti this subject from the distinguished teachers 
 who went before him and whose disciple he claimed to be. 
 
 "We have now brought down our list of testimonies to the 
 end of the second century after Christ. I have given you the 
 language of the most pious and distinguished Christian teach- 
 ers who lived during that time. And without one dissenting 
 voice among /hem, we here have, as their unanimous appre- 
 hension of the Scriptures and of what Christ and his apostlea 
 taught; — 
 
THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS MILT.ENARIANS. 243 
 
 1. That there is to be a millennial Sabbath at the end of 
 six thousand j 3ars from the creation of Adam, in which the 
 world shall joyfully rest from its long week of turmoil and 
 disorder. 
 
 2. That the personal and final advent of Christ, and the 
 resurrection of the holy dead, shall occur at the commence- 
 ment of the millennium. 
 
 3. That Christ is to reign with his saints in glorious empire 
 upon this earth. And, — 
 
 4. That all sublunary things, embracing the entire lower 
 creation, are to .undergo a universal renovation, and be restored 
 to their original excellence and glory. 
 
 Nor was there any acknowledged Christian, until The time 
 of Origen, in the middle of the third century, that ever 
 recorded any other faith upon this subject. We may safely 
 challenge all the research of the world to produce one single 
 orthodox opposing testimony prior to the days of Origen, than 
 whom, Milner says, " no man not altogether unsound and hy- 
 pocritical ever more injured the church of Christ." Indeed, 
 the evidence that these views were a vital and prominent part 
 of the faith of Christians for the first ages is so clear and 
 conspicuous that I do not know that any scholar has ever ven- 
 tured to contradict the fact. Let me submit to you some 
 statements of learned men upon the subject. 
 
 The well-known infidel historian, Edward Gribbon, has this 
 statement : — " The ancient and popular doctrine of the mil- 
 lennium was intimately connected with the second coming of 
 Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in 
 six days, their duration in their present state, according to a 
 tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed 
 to six thousand years. By the same analogy it was inferred 
 that this long period of labor and contention would be sue 
 ceeded by a joyful Pabb:ith of a thousand years ; and that 
 Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect 
 
244 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, 
 would reign upon earth The assurance jf such a mil- 
 lennium was carefidhj inculcated by a succession of fathers 
 from Justin Martyr and IrenjBus, who conversed with the 
 immediate disciples of the apostles, down to Lactautius, who 
 was preceptor to the son of Constantino It appears to 
 
 HAVE BEEN THE REIGNING SENTIMENT OF THE ORTHODOX 
 BELIEVERS." 
 
 This Lactantius, to whom Gibbon refers, lived in the early 
 part of the foixrth century. Mosheim pronounces him " the 
 most learned of the Latin fathers." He was known in his 
 time as " the Christian Cicero." His sentiments upon this sub- 
 ject deserve to be presented among our testimonies. '' When 
 God shall come to judge the world," says he, " and shall 
 restore unto life the just that have been since the beginning, 
 he shall converse among men a thousand years, and rule them 
 
 with a most righteous government And they that 
 
 shall be raised from the dead shall be over the living as judges. 
 And the Gentiles shall not be utterly extinguished; but some 
 
 shall be left for the victory of God About- the same 
 
 time the prince of devils, the forger of all evil, shall be bound 
 with chains, and shall be in custody all the thousand years of 
 the heavenly empire under which righteousness shall reign over 
 the world." Such, then, according to Gibbon, were '' the 
 reigning sentiments of orthodox believers" for more than 
 three centuries of the Christian era. 
 
 The celebrated Chillingworth says, " That this doctrine (of 
 the millennium and Christ's personal reign on earth) was by 
 the church of the next age after the apostles held true and 
 catholic, I prove by these two reasons : — first, whatever doc- 
 trine is believed and taught by the most eminent fathers of 
 any age of the church, and by none of their contemporaries 
 opposed or condemned, that is to be esteemed the catholic 
 doctrine of the church of ti ose times; but the doctrine of the 
 
CONCURRTNC. AUTHORITIES. 245 
 
 millenaries was believed and taught hy the most eminent 
 fathers of the age next after the apostles, and hy none of that 
 age opposed or condemned; therefore IT WAS THE catholic 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THOSE TIMES." 
 
 Mosheiin says, ^'^ The prevailing opinion, that Christ was to 
 come and reign a thousand years among men before the final 
 dissolution of the world, had met with no opp)Osition previous 
 to the time of Origeu." 
 
 Burton says, " It cannot be denied that Papias, Irenaeus, 
 Justin Martyr, and all the other ecclesiastical writers, be- 
 lieved, literally, that the saints would rise in the first resur- 
 rection, and reign with Christ upon earth previous to the 
 general resurrection . ' ' 
 
 Munscher says, '' How widely the doctrine of millenarian- 
 ism prevailed in the first centuries of Christianity, appears 
 from this, that it loas nniversally received hy almost alt 
 teachers." 
 
 Gieseler says of the first centuries, " Millenarianism be- 
 came the general belief of the time." 
 
 Newton says, " The doctrine of the millennium was gene- 
 rally believed in the three first and purest ages." 
 
 Semisch saj^s, " The ancients expected a kingdom in this 
 world, in which Christ, after his coming, should reign with 
 his risen and glorified saints ; that he would visibly return in 
 order to establish a terrestrial theocracy as the centre of a 
 dominion over the world ; that he would destroy the kingdom 
 of Antichrist, and subjugate such worldly powers as are sus- 
 ceptible of being fashioned for the divine kingdom; that 
 there would be a distinction in the resurrection, first the re- 
 surrection of the saints for the divine kingdom, and after- 
 wards the rest of the dead at the final judgment; that there 
 would then be perfect happiness of soul and sense, and the 
 glorified saints reign together over unglorified humanity." 
 
 But I will not trouble you with needless repetitions. What 
 
246 THK LAST TIMES. 
 
 these authors have said i.s just what multitudes of others 
 equally learned and disinterested have declared. Russell, and 
 Bush, and Lardner, and Whitby, and Neander, and Mede, and 
 Kitto, and Maitland, and Taylor, and Milner, and Barnes, the 
 encyclopedias and reviews, friends and enemies, ancients and 
 modcnKs, admit and declare, that the orthodox church, for the 
 first two centuries after the apostles, was universally millena- 
 -riaii, and that the leading divines all believed and taught 
 substantially what I have brought forward in these discourses.* 
 I have not been preaching novelties, as some have been disposed 
 to think. I have been giving you only what I find in the 
 blessed Bible, — what those believed and taught who made the 
 Bible, — and what all the true believers in the revelations of 
 God, for more than two hundred years after Christ, accepted as 
 the teaching of that holy book. And if I have not proven to 
 you that the millenarian faith was the orthodox faith of primi- 
 tive Christianity, there is no weight in testimony. Ask the 
 fathers, and they will show you — the elders, and they will teil 
 you. And if the church of our day is to keep to the simplici 
 ties of those early times after which she professes to pattern, 
 she must hold to the personal reign of Christ with his saints 
 on earth as one of her sublimest hopes. 
 
 It is a sad fact, however, that from the fourth century until 
 the sixteenth this doctrine gradually lost its hold upon the minds 
 and hearts of professed Christians, and went down into almost 
 absolute neglect. But with it went down the great doctrine 
 of justification by faith, and nearly every thing that is dis- 
 tinguishing in gospel religion. It fell only as popery 
 rose; and it is only as it rises again that popery shall shrink 
 and quail. So long as men think they see and hear Chi'ist in 
 the pope, and believe that they are worshipping and honoring 
 Christ by serving and obeying hierarchies regarded as Jure 
 livino, we need never expect them to believe that Christ will 
 over reign here in person. The two ideas are fundamentally 
 * See pp. 383-399. 
 
HOW MILLENARIANISM DECLINED. 247 
 
 antagonistic. If Christ is himself to reign here in universal 
 empire, he has not given that empire into the hands of a vicar; 
 and if he has made the pope the supreme lord of the world, 
 it is settled that he will never reign here otherwise than by 
 the pope. Either proposition confutes the other. The two 
 cannot live together. And this puts into our hands the key 
 to the true explanation how the church has come to lose sight 
 of the primitive and apostolii; faith upon this subject. 
 
 The processes by which millenarian doctrine was gradually 
 reduced to disrepute and neglect are at once curious and 
 deplorable. Mosheini says that " its credit began to decline 
 2^rincipally through the influence and authority of Origen, 
 who opposed it with the greatest warmth, because it was in- 
 compatible with some of his favorite sentiments." So, then, 
 there was something sinister in the very root of anti-mil- 
 lenarianism. And yet Origen could not bring himself to 
 renounce the primitive belief altogether. "We do not deny," 
 says he, " the pui'ging fire of the destruction of wickedness 
 and the renovation of all things. ... If any man shall pre- 
 serve the washing of the Holy Spirit, he shall have his part 
 in the first I'esurreclion. . . . Wherefore, let us lay the 
 Scriptures to heart, and make them the rule of our lives; 
 that so, being cleansed from the defilement of sin before we 
 depart heuce, we may be raised up with the saints, aud have 
 our lot with Christ Jesus." After all, then, it was more 
 the wild caricatures of our doctrine than the doctrine itself 
 upon which the burden of his opposition fell. Aud just so 
 Augustine says, that the first resurrection and reign of the 
 thousand years ''would indeed be tolerable, if it should be 
 believed that spiritual delights should redound to the saints 
 in that Sabbath by the presence of the Lord; for loe also our- 
 selves formerly icerc of that opinion.^' What induced him to 
 change his mind we know not. Perhaps -he also had some 
 favorite notions to support ! Even J jrome, that " unmerciful 
 
248 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 scoffer" (as Ward calls him) at our doctrine, is obliged to 
 admit some of its leading features, and acknowledges that he 
 " durst not condemn it, because many ecclesiastical persons and 
 martyrs affirmed the same." 
 
 There are, as I apprehend, three great causes to which we 
 are to attribute the decline and fall of ancient millenarianism. 
 The first and greatest was that mystical and allegorical method 
 of interpreting the Scriptures which Origen set on foot, and 
 which has done more mischief to the cause of evangelical 
 religion than all the assaults of its enemies. Mosheim says 
 that this "unhappy method opened a secure retreat for all sorts 
 of errors that a wild and irregular imagination could bring 
 forth. Believing it extremely difiicvilt, if not impossible, to 
 defend the sacred writings when interpreted literallij, accord- 
 ing to the real import of the words, he had recourse to the 
 fecundity of a lively imagination, and maintained that the 
 Holj Scriptures were to be interpreted in tlie same allegorical 
 xvay that the Platonists explained the history of the gods." 
 Who would have supposed that the boasted spiritualizing 
 method of modern theologians had its origin in paganism and 
 heathen mythology? "Origen alleged that the words of 
 Scripture were, in many places, ahsolutely void of sensel and 
 that the true meaning was to be sought in a mysterious and 
 hidden sense arising from the nature of things in themselves." 
 That is to say, in plain English, we must first form our con- 
 clusions from philosophy, or from our preconceptions as to 
 how things ought to be, and then interpret the Scriptures 
 according to these a priori conclusions ! A beautiful system, 
 truly, for ascertainine the meaning of God's revelations ! The 
 results of its adoption may easily be imagined. There are 
 some rich specimens of its operation upon record. One man 
 found hidden meaning enough in the interjection "0!" to 
 serve him for seven sermons ! Another ai'gued eighty-two 
 particulars concerning the Bride of Christ from the hroses of 
 
ORIGEn's :.:F.TH0D of INTERPIIETATION. 2-19 
 
 Pharaoh's chariot ! Origen himself gives the meaning of the 
 history of Moses thus: — ''The king of Egypt is the devil; 
 the male aad female children of the Hebrews are the rational 
 and animal faculties of the soul ; the midwives are the Old and 
 New Testaments. Pharoah's daughter is the church ; Moses 
 is the law; the ark and flags in which he was found are the 
 absurd and carnal glosses of the Jews," &c. &c. 
 
 I am thus particular in showing what was Origan's alle- 
 gorical or spiritual method, because, as Mosheim says, "it was 
 followed by a prodigious number of interpreters in that and 
 the succeeding ages, and overflowed the church;" — a system 
 which, to this hour, more or less palsies and disgraces our 
 hermeneutics. Well has Dr. Clarke said that "every friend 
 of rational piety and genuine Christianity must lament that a 
 man of so much learning and unafi"ected godhness should have 
 been led to countenance, much less to recommend, a plan of 
 interpreting the divine oracles, in many respects the most 
 futile, absurd and dangerous that can possibly be conceived; 
 and by which the sacred writings may be obliged to say any 
 thing, every thing, or nothing, according to the fancy, peculiar 
 creed, or caprice of the interpreter." And Milner declares 
 that " a thick mist for ages pervaded the Christian world, 
 supported by Origen's allegorical manner of interpretation. 
 The learned alone were considered as guides, implicitly to be 
 followed; and the vulgar, when the literal sense was hissed off 
 the stage, had nothing to do but to follow their authority 
 wherever it might lead them." 
 
 This, then, was, the system, "pernicious," "unhappy," 
 "mischievous," "lamentable to every friend of genuine 
 Christianity," injurious beyond every thing else, casting dark- 
 ness over the whole field of inspired truth, throwing un- 
 certainty over all Christian hope, and, in the hands of its own 
 author, making the Bride of Christ .the daughter of the devil ! 
 This was the system by which the glorious anticipations 
 
250 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 of the primitive church were dechired mere fable ! Tins is 
 the system which modern Christians may thank fur striking 
 from their creed the sublime hopes of this world's ultimate 
 renovation and Christ's personal reign over it in eternal peace ! 
 I should think that the school of spiritualizers have nothing 
 to boast of in the line of their paternity. 
 
 But there was another matter relating to this period, the 
 influence of which gradually increased and spread through 
 succeeding ages, prompting men to lay hold of any artitice 
 or device to get rid of the primitive millenarian doctrine. I 
 refer to the conversion of the Emperor Constautine, and the 
 consequent elevation of the church to the patronage of the 
 civil government. " It was the constant and uniform opinion 
 of the church previous to this period," says Brooks, " that 
 Rome would become the seat oi Antichrist ; that the empire 
 would be divided into ten kingdoms; that then Antichrist 
 would be revealed and prosper for a time ; and that, after the 
 reigning power should have suifered a signal discomfiture, the 
 dominion should be altogether taken from the Eternal City. 
 Such a notion could not be palatable to the Roman emperor, 
 if known to him ; and the less so if it was further understood 
 that some had already mused in their hearts whether the 
 emperor himself were not personally the Antichrist. These 
 things must have been very perplexing to those ecclesiastics 
 now mingling with the court who were of a compliant and 
 secular spirit: which may be judged of, when we find an 
 honest, bold and godly man like Lactantius expressing him- 
 self on these topics with avowed reluctance. . . . The con- 
 venient explication, however, was soon discovered and adopted 
 by many, that Antichrist was j^agan Rome, and that from the 
 date of Constantine's conversion the millennium comnienced." 
 ■A strange millennium and binding of Satan that, which com- 
 prised the rancorous dissensions, bickerings, persecutions and 
 mischievous strifes that origuiated in the Arian controversy ! 
 
PERVERSIONS OP OUR DOCTRINE, 251 
 
 Yet able men maiutained the foolish idea. Others betook 
 themselves to the work of raising questions to obscure the 
 divine authority of the Apocalypse, in vrhich the doctrine of 
 ^ the millennium is taught. And all to make the Christian 
 creed agreeable to the pride and vanity of a Roman emperor ! 
 
 After a while, when the Bishop of Rome came to be ele- 
 vated to the high rank of universal father, the embarrassment 
 became still greater. "The inconvenience of explaining 
 Rome to be the capital city of Antichrist was more sensibly 
 felt than ever, and could not be asserted without giving 
 occasion for the very obvious conclusion that the bishop of 
 Rome would some day apostatize, together with the church of 
 which he was the head. Accordingly, from the time of Jus- 
 tinian, efforts were both openly and clandestinely made to get 
 rid of the doctrine altogether, by I-emoving or corrupting the 
 evidence in its favor, or by affixing to it the stigma of heresy. 
 Pope Damascus endeavored peremptorily to put it down by a 
 decree. And some works of the fathers which were in favor 
 of it were successfully su]5pressed, and others were altered or 
 interpolated to make them read as was desired." (Brooks' 
 Elements of Interpretation, pp. 48-60.) 
 
 You will thus perceive how sycophancy, villany, corruption 
 and vanity combined with Origen's pernicious obscurations 
 of holy writ for the suppression of the primitive and apos- 
 tolic doctrine of the millennium. 
 
 There was yet another pai'ticular which was made to con- 
 tribute materially to the process of cheating the church out 
 of its ancient hopes. Like all other doctrines of the Bible, 
 this respecting the millennium has suffered in the hands of 
 some of its advocates. Some of its early believers spoke of it 
 in a manner liable to perversion, or connected it with fancies 
 or fables which have nothing to do with it. Cerinthus was a 
 heretic; and yet he had advocated the doctrine of Christ's 
 personal reign on earth, and arrayed its scenes in the fancies 
 
252 THE LAST TIMES 
 
 of his own carnal heart. Here was a fine chance to stigma- 
 tize the whole thing as a sensual and. heretical dream, which 
 was not suffered to pass unimproved. Irenseus had also put 
 upon record a floating story that the earth, in the millennuim, 
 will be so productive that "a grain of wheat will produce ten 
 thousand heads; and each head will yield ten thousand grains; 
 and each grain will yield ten pounds of flour; and other fruits 
 will yield seeds and herbage in the feanie proportion !" &c. 
 That the earth will be extraordinarily fruitful in the good 
 days to come, is distinctly declared in the Scriptures. Joel 
 says, ''The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the 
 hills flow with milk." Yet the excessive exaggerations of the 
 matter by some enthusiastic persons were precious morsels for 
 those who wished to destroy the millenarian hopes. On other 
 subjects, wild caricatures furnished no ground for their rejec- 
 tion ; but upon this no allowances could be made. And then, 
 as now, these innocent extravagances were most unjustly, but 
 still effectively, paraded around by the opposers of our doctrine, 
 to bring it into disrepute, and to defame it as a mere fancy of 
 over-credulous and weak people. 
 
 Such, then, were the processes, facilitated by the growing 
 corruptions of the times, by which the doctrines* of the pri- 
 mitive church on this subject were suppressed and branded as 
 heresy. Can any man do justice to himself, or to the revela- 
 tions of his God, and not appeal from a decision thus brought 
 about, and recoil from it with indignation and abhorrence ? Jt 
 was the decision of sycophancy, deceit and unholy degrada- 
 tions and perversions of the law and the testimony. And yet 
 the Christian world, to this day, has not recovered from it. 
 
 But God did not leave himself without witnesses. From 
 the times of Origen to Augustin, and down into papal ages, 
 we can still find many distinguished names whose authority 
 was distinctly given in favor of millenarian views. Among 
 these were ApoUiuarius, Lactantius, Victoriuus, many of the 
 
THE VIEWS OF LUTHER. 253 
 
 members of the Council of Nice, Epiphanius, Paulinus, Cris- 
 pold, Norbert and otliei's. But the ages of darkness came. 
 Star after star went out, until the world was at its cloudy mid- 
 night. And the hope of the millennial reign, with all other 
 great doctrines of the Scripture, slept, until God called Lu- 
 ther, and the light of Christianity's renewal came. 
 
 •What were this great man's views upon this subject, is no- 
 where specifically given. Yet he has left enough on record to 
 demonstrate that his sentiments diflfered materially from those 
 generally prevalent.* 
 
 1. His method of interpreting the Scriptures was the mil- 
 lenariao method. On Deuteronomy he says, " I here once 
 more repeat, what I have so often insisted on, that the Chris- 
 tian should direct his efforts towards understanding the so- 
 called literal sen^e of Scn'pfitre, which alone is the substance 
 of faith and of Christian theology, — which alone will sustain 
 him in the hour of trouble and temptation, — and which will 
 triumph over sin, death and the gates of hell, to the praise 
 and glory of God. The allegorical sense is usually uncertain, 
 and by no means safe to build our faith upon ; for it depends 
 for the most part on human opinion only, on which if a man 
 lean, he will find it to be no better than the Egyptian reed. 
 Therefore, Origen, Jerome, and similar of the fathers, are to 
 he avoided, with the whole of that Alexandrian school which 
 abounds in this species of interpretation." 
 
 2. He denied that there will be a millennium of universal 
 righteousness and peace before Christ comes. He says, 
 *' They (the pope and his rabble) shall be preserved until the 
 coming of Christ, whose most bitter enemies they are and 
 ever have been." He says that " the gospel shall continue to 
 be preached even to the end of time, but not so as that all 
 men shall repent and accept of it; for this shall never be ; the 
 devil will not sufier things to be brought so far, and the world 
 without him is the enemy of the word, and will not be ad- 
 
 * See Note I, page ?ib\. 
 
254 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 monished. There shall, therefore, be and remain in the world 
 manifold perversions of faith and religion." And again he 
 says, " The last days shall be days of unmeasured wickedness, 
 as Christ says, ' When the Son of man cometh, shall he find 
 faith on the earth ?' " 
 
 3. Luther taught that the earth shall be restored to its 
 original excellence, and that it shall be the residence of the 
 glorified saints. On 2 Pet. iii. 13, he says, " God has pro- 
 mised through the prophets, here and elsewhere, that he will 
 make heaven and earth new again. How it shall be, we 
 know not, except that the promise is that heaven and earth 
 shall become such that no sin shall be in them, but righteous- 
 ness only, and that they shall be the residence of the children 
 
 of God This text teaches that we shall live upon earth, 
 
 and that the entire heaven and earth shall become a paradise 
 of God." 
 
 4 Luther spoke of Christ's kingship in a way which can 
 be justified only on the supposition that he is to reign literally 
 and personally in this world. On the second Psalm he says, 
 '' Christ was appointed King upon the holy Mount Zion. This 
 is particularly to be remarked; for the Holy Ghost mentions 
 the corporeal Zion, that we may be assured that this king is 
 divinely appointed, and is a real Man. . . . The Person and 
 the place are appointed and made known. The Person is the 
 Son of God, and he is King in Zion ; that is, the Son of 
 David, and the heir of David ; and he who was promised to 
 David to he the King over the circumcised people over ivhom 
 David reigned. We are, therefore, to expect this man to 
 teach in Zion, and to reveal himself in Zion, because he is ap- 
 pointed of God to be King of Zion The eternal Father 
 
 himself crowned him to be King of Zion, on Mount Zion, in 
 
 the citi/ of Jerusalem He is the Son of God, yet born a 
 
 man corporeally, that he might receive the throne of his father 
 David, and rule in Zion." The present form of Christ's king- 
 
 ( 
 
OF MELANCTirON. 255 
 
 doin lie describes as that in wliicli he " reign eth no otherwise 
 than as master of a hospital amongst the sick, poor, aad dis- 
 eased," but as to be followed by another "of glory and abso- 
 lute felicity, in which sin with its attendants shall trouble 
 man no more." 
 
 6. Luther believed that the great purposes of God's mercy 
 would reach their consummation at the end of the six thou- 
 sand years from the creation, according to the saying of Elias 
 and the belief of the primitive church. 
 
 6. Luther believed and taught that this consummation was 
 to be expected every day. On Daniel xii. 7, he says, '' I ever 
 keep it before me, and I am satisfied, that the last day must 
 be before the door; for the signs predicted by Christ and the 
 apostles Peter and Paul have all now been fulfilled, the trees 
 put forth, the Scriptures are green and blooming. That we 
 cannot know the day, matters not; some one else may point it 
 out; things are certainly near their end." Again, ''We cer- 
 tainly have nothing now to wait for but the end of all things." 
 Again, " Let us not think that the coming of Christ is far oif. 
 Let us look up with uplifted heads, and with a longing and 
 cheerful mind expect our Redeemer's coming. Though the 
 signs may seem uncertain, yet no man can despise them with- 
 out danger." " I persuade myself, verily, that the day of 
 judgment will not be absent full three hundred years more. 
 God will not, cannot, suff"er this wicked world much longer." 
 
 Melancthou taught in the same style. He insisted that the 
 Mahometan empire and the papacy shall not be destroyed 
 till the time of the resurrection of the dead ; that the world 
 would endure six thousand years in its present state, and then 
 enter upon a millennary Sabbath according to the saying of 
 Elias; and that "we may be sure that this aged world is not 
 far fi'om its end." 
 
 Thus, with the dawn of renewed Christianity, we see tho 
 glimmerings again of the ancient faith upon this subject. 
 
256 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Gradually, slowly, and against various hindrances, it once more 
 came forth to the view of mankind. Many of the English 
 Reformers were decidedly millenarian. In all reformed Chris- 
 tendom various men of God (such as Comenius, Jurieu, Sera- 
 rius, Poiret, Mede, Burnet, Peterson, Spener, Lange, Beugel, 
 Roos, Oetinger, Stilling, Lavatcr, Sander and Hofmann) 
 rose up to defend and proclaim the hopes of Justin, Irenseus 
 and Tertullian. Just as men studied the prophecies, and read 
 them as God caused them to be written, the advocates of the 
 ancient faith increased, until now we can number some of the 
 greatest, wisest, holiest and most eloquent men upon earth 
 among the defenders of the sublime hopes of the millenarian 
 creed. 
 
 Nor is our doctrine that barren and useless thing which its 
 enemies have represented it to be. Its influence, wherever 
 believed, has been salutary and comforting. Dodwell testifies, 
 "It was one principal cause of the fortitude of the primitive 
 Christians, who even coveted martyrdom in hopes of being 
 partakers of the privileges and gloiies of the martyrs in the 
 first resurrection." Bishop Newton endorses this statement 
 as ''just." Gibbon says that as long as this error (as he calls 
 it) was permitted to subsist in the church, it was productive 
 of the most salutary effects on the faith and practice of Chris- 
 tians, who lived in the awful expectation of that moment 
 when the globe itself, and all the various race of mankind, 
 should tremble at the appearance of their divine Judge." 
 Bush, though an enemy to this doctrine, says, " We have no 
 difficulty in supposing the belief in the millenarian error was 
 calculated to produce, and did produce, results of a most 
 auspicious character, icJiich a different construction of the 
 sacred oracles ivoidd have failed to effect." Such testinjony, 
 from such sources, is suthcient. Grapes do not grow upon 
 thorns, nor figs upon thistles "-4 corrupt tree cannot bring 
 forth good fruit." 
 
PRIMITIVE AND MODERN FAITH. 257 
 
 Evcrywheve the Scriptures refer iis to Christ's coming and 
 kingdom as the great motive to repentance, holiness and 
 watchfulness. Tlie Savior commands us to watch and pray, 
 because we know not what hour the Lord cometh. Our mo- 
 deration is to be made known unto all men, for the reason 
 that "the Lord is at hand." Amid all the calamities and 
 disturbances that howl around us, we are to lift up our heads, 
 and stand unmoved, " for the day of our redemption drawcth 
 nigh." And who does not see and feel that if we did really 
 believe the solemn truth that any day w^e may witness Christ's 
 final appearing, we would be much more circumspect, prayer- 
 ful and diligent at our posts ? The practical effects of such a 
 faith would be like a resurrection to our dead and slumbering 
 churches. It would be like a new Pentecost to the wilted 
 hopes of our degenerate Christianity. 
 
 Brethren, there is one thought more to which I must give 
 utterance in this connection. It relates to the difference 
 between primitive and modern faith and hope. It would seem 
 as if the church had quite drifted away from her ancient 
 moorings. The early Christians dwelt upon no subject move 
 than that of the coming and kingdom of the Son of man. 
 But who among the great mass of living professors is looking 
 for that glorious advent which is to consummate all the 
 gracious purposes of God ? Who is expecting Christ ? Who 
 believes that his appearing is at hand ? Who acts now from 
 the great idea of impending judgment? Who is not dream- 
 ing of a millennium first? If Christ were now to come, how 
 many of you could look up and say, ''This is my Lord; 1 
 have waited for him ; blessed is he that cometh in the name 
 of the Lord !" Would not such an occurrence rather fill you 
 with dismay, and make you cry out in surprise and despair ? 
 Such was not the mental condition of the first Christians, who 
 suffered, looking for the coming of the Savior. They looked 
 for him every day; most of you are not looking for him at all 
 R 22* 
 
258 THK LAST TIMES. 
 
 I 
 
 Tliey loolied for hiin with desire and hope ; most of you nevcf 
 think of his comini>- but with fear and dread. They thirsted 
 for it, and longed for the scenes it is to reveal; many of you 
 rather wish that Christ might never come, and would be more 
 comfortable if you could think tbat the whole thing were a 
 fable. They watched every turn in human affairs, in the hope 
 that the next would briug their Redeemer from the heavens 
 and give them the kingdom ; but, amid the most wonderful 
 commotions in society that man ever witnessed, people now 
 stand callous and unmoved, as if they had nothing to hope for 
 and no interests to lose ! Alas, alas ! it would seem as if all 
 the hardness and unbelief of eighteen centuries were accumu- 
 lating upon this generation. "Ask thy father, and he will 
 shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee." 
 
 There is but one way of safety left. We must take the 
 gospel — the simple gospel as Christ has given it — and make it 
 reality in our experience and our hopes, or we must take death 
 and everlasting despair. The decree of the Eternal has gone 
 forth, and we must be hid in Christ or perish. We are 
 hemmed in to this, and there is no escape. All other depend- 
 ence is vain. The very ground beneath our feet is quaking 
 and gliding away. And, unless we plant ourselves firmly and 
 at once upon the Rock of ages, we shall soon find ourselves 
 tossing upon the boisterous flood of a starless and rayless • 
 eternity. Behold and wonder ; but do not despise and perish. 
 Rise ; call upon God. What you do, do quickly. And may 
 Jehovah be our portion, and helper, and everlasting friend ! 
 
 A.men. 
 
 ••HE LEFT NOT HIMSELF WITHOUT "WITNESS." 
 
 Still, through decaying ages, as they gliile, 
 ■Jehovah's faithful witnesses abide : 
 
 S'prinkled along the waste of years, 
 
 Full many a soft green isle aiipears: 
 Pause where we may upou the desert road, 
 Some signal is in sight to cheer us on to God. 
 
ELEVENTH DISCOURSE. 
 
 WHEX SHALL CHRIST COME ? THE TIME NOT WHOLLY A SECRET 
 
 KELATION OF CHRIST'S COMING, IN POINT OF TIME, TO OTHER 
 THINGS PREOICTEI) IN THE SCRIPTURES — FIRST METHOB OF COM- 
 PUTING THE TIME, OR MILLENNIAL SEPTENARY SECOND METHOD, 
 
 OR 1260 years' DOMINANCE OF THE PAPACY THIRD METHOD, OB 
 
 THE VIALS OF WRATH. 
 
 James v. 8 : Stahlish your hearts : for the coming of the Lord 
 draweth 7iigh. 
 
 If, then, it is a truth that Christ the Lord shall return 
 again to this world, as the Scriptures so explicitly affirm, and 
 as is acknowledged in all the creeds, confessions and hymn- 
 books in Chi-istendom, one of the most stirring questions con- 
 cerning it is, When shall he oome ? 
 
 This question was again and again asked by the disciples 
 while he was yet on earth, and must ever possess a lively 
 interest to every thoroughly Christian heart. But, of all 
 questions relating to our faith and hope, this is, perhaps, the 
 most difficult to be answered. Nay, so far as respects the 
 precise day or year, it cannot be answered by man or angel. 
 "The times and seasons the Father hath put in his own 
 power." 
 
 It is true, however, that we need not remain in such total 
 ignorance on the subject as that that day must needs come 
 upon us unawares. Daniel was indeed directed to "shut 
 up the words and seal the book" of his visions concerning it; 
 but they were to remain " closed up and sealed till the time 
 
 25P 
 
260 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 of the cncV only; and he assures us that then "the wise 
 shall understand," thouszh "the wicked shall not understand." 
 Jesus himself has described the signs which are to precede it, 
 by which we may as infallibly judge of the nearness of the 
 end as we judge of the proximity of summer by the budding 
 of the trees. Paul says expressly that " the children of light" 
 " are not in darkness, that that day should overtake thena as 
 a thief." And in the Apocalypse, which is specially devoted 
 to the poitrayal of the grand scenes of Christ's revelation 
 and the events which are to precede and accompany it, the 
 particular promise is given, " Blessed is he that readeth and 
 they that liear the words of this prophecy, and keep those 
 things whi 'h are written therein;" which certainly implies 
 the possibility of being able to understand these things with 
 some good degree of certainty if we will only investigate with 
 proper attention and prayerfulness. Hence Luther expressed 
 it as his belief that God would yet raise up some one who 
 should be able to reckon up the times, and with certainty hit 
 upon the very day. I hold, therefore, that, instead of ren- 
 dering ourselves chargeable with irreverent prying into the 
 secrets of Deity by inquiring when Chi'ist shall comr, it is 
 our hopeful duty so to inquire ; and that, if any man lack 
 wisdom to understand what the Scriptures have said upon 
 this point, he may ask God and expect it to be given him as 
 liberally as upon any other subject. It is noted, in commenda- 
 tion of the prophets, that they "searched what manner of 
 time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify;" 
 and why should not similar searching be commendable in us ? 
 When the disciples asked the Lord, " Tell us when shall these 
 things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of 
 the end of the age," he kindly entertained their request; and 
 now that we are bordering so near upon the time, will he be 
 angry with us for pressing the same inquiry? And when the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees came to him with their tempting 
 
WHEN SHALL CHRIST COME. 261 
 
 skepticism, did he not rebuke them as hypocrites who could 
 " discera the face of the sky," but would not put themselves 
 to the pains to "discern the signs of the times"? Let us 
 beware, then, how we scout this question, lest we "fall through 
 the same example of unbelief;" and let us reverently approach 
 the holy oracles to learn what God has revealed to us, to ascer- 
 tain our position in the calendar of prophecy and to make ready 
 for the solemn scenes that are before us. May the Lord aid 
 us in our inquiries ! 
 
 Our question is, When shall the Son of man come ? 
 I propose to consider it, first, rdafiveJi/, by showing in what 
 connections with other predicted events the Scriptures place 
 the coming of Christ; and second, ahsolutelt/, by showing to 
 what period things are pointing as the time of the Savior's 
 coming. 
 
 1. The Son of man shall come in a period of abounding 
 apostasy, unbelief and wickedness. Such was the condition 
 of the world when Grod sent the flood; and Jesus says, "As 
 the days of Noah wei'e, so shall also the coming of the Sou 
 of man be." Peter says, " There shall come in the last days 
 scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is 
 the promise of his coming?" Paul says of the coming of 
 the Lord Jesus, " That day shall not come, except there come 
 a falling away first ;" and that " in the last days perilous 
 times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, 
 covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, 
 unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, 
 false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are 
 good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more 
 than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying 
 the power thereof." Such statements need no comment. 
 Christ will come in a period of abounding guilt and faithless- 
 ness. 
 
 2. He shall come in a period of revolutionary troubles, 
 
262 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 political perplexities and pv':tt national agitations. Josus 
 says, " There shall be upon the earth distress of nations, with 
 perplexity; the sea and the waves thereof roaring; men's 
 hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things 
 that are coming on 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." According to the 
 Revelation of John, the final advent is to be immediately pre- 
 ceded by the outpouring of sundry vials of wrath in quick 
 succession, each one filling nations with trouble, anguish and 
 desperation. The Psalmist says of the same period that God 
 shall speak to the kings and rulers of the earth in his wrath, 
 ''and vex them in his sore displeasure." This point is also 
 sufficiently plain and well settled. 
 
 3. The Son of man shall come while the ten ultimate divi- 
 sions or kingdoms of the Roman empire are still standing. 
 This is clearly revealed in Daniel's interpretations of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's dream of " the great image." That image sym- 
 bolized the four great monarchies that were to exist and suc- 
 ceed each other upon earth. The first was the Babylonian, or 
 golden head of the image, the lion with eagle's wings. The 
 second, or silver breast and arms, was the Medo-Persian, the 
 great-toothed devouring bear. The third, or brazen loins and 
 thighs, was the Macedonian or Alexander's kingdom, the 
 leopard with four wings and four heads. And the fourth, 
 or iron legs and feet, was the Roman empire, the dreadful, 
 terrible and might}^ ten-horned beast which devoured and 
 trampled down evei-y thing before it. The ten toes, or ten 
 horns, are the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was 
 divided by the barbarian invasions, and which now stand as 
 the representatives of the old Roman empire. And Daniel 
 tells us that " in the days of these kings (denoted by the ten 
 toes and horns) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom." 
 He says that he beheld until these thrones were cast down, 
 
HE WILL COME BEFORE THE JEWS ARE RESTORED. 263 
 
 and the time that the beast was slain was the time when the 
 judgment should sit, and '* one like the Son of man came 
 with the clouds of heaven." The same is taught in the 
 visions of John. The ten-horned beast of the thirteenth 
 chapter can be none other than the Roman empire, and its 
 ten horns its ten divisions. And, according to the nineteenth 
 chapter, it continues in existence, persecuting the saints and 
 warring against the Lamb, until destroyed by the personal 
 descent of him whose name is The Word of Grod, King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords. This point, then, is also suffi- 
 ciently established. 
 
 4. The Son of man shall come before the Jews as an entire 
 people shall be restored to Palestine. There will be a portion 
 of Jacob restored before the Lord comes, but not the entire 
 race. It is expressly said that when God assembles Jacob 
 and gathers the remnant of Israel, "their King shall pass 
 before them, and the Lord on the head of them :" (Micah ii. 
 12,13.) "The Lord will go before them, and the God of 
 Israel will be their rearward:" (Isa. Hi. 12.) He must there- 
 fore be on earth before this general gathering of the Jews 
 takes place. It is further evident from the twelfth of Zecha- 
 riah, the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth of Ezekiel, and the 
 eighteenth and nineteenth of Revelation, that Christ is per- 
 sonally present when the terrible destruction occurs to the 
 armies that invade Palestine; whilst it is plain from the sixty- 
 sixth of Isaiah that it is only after that terrific overthrow that 
 the great and triumphant assembling of Israel takes place. It 
 is those who escape that awful destruction that are to go to 
 the nations, Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, Javan, and the isles 
 afar off, and make known the wonders they witnessed: and 
 only then shall the Gentiles bring all the children of Israel out 
 of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and 
 upon mules, and upon swift vehicles, to God's holy mountain 
 Jerusalem, for an offering unto the Lord: TTsa. Ixvi. 19, 20.) 
 
264 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 It is also explicitly stated that the tiiue of Israel's deliverance 
 is when Christ personally comes; not before. So Paul affirms 
 in Romans xi. 26, which he says is the teaching of the pro- 
 phets. So the Psalmist says : — " When the Lord shall build up 
 Zion, he shall appear in his glory." And so Zechariah de- 
 clares, when God shall "pour upon the house of David, and 
 upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and 
 supplication, they shall look tipon him whom they have 
 pierced." Christ will therefore come before the general 
 restoration of Israel. 
 
 5. He will come while the papacy and the Man of sin still 
 live and continue in power. It is now established, as well as 
 any interpretation of prophecy can be, that the "little horn" 
 in Daniel's vision (Dan. vii. 8-24) denotes the papal power. 
 And he says, " I t»eheld, and the same horn made war with 
 the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of 
 clai/s came." It must live on, then, until Christ comes — until 
 "the judgment shall sit." That the "Man of sin, the son of 
 perdition," in 2d Thessalonians, is a power closely akin to the 
 pope and his apostasy, is also pretty well agreed by Protestants. 
 But Paul describes him as pressing his work of deceit and 
 blasphemy until "destroyed by the appearing of Chris's uwn 
 presence." And in John's account of the doings of Jesus in 
 the great day when he shall come forth in his wrath, we find 
 this self-same monster still existing, still arrayed against God, 
 and only taken and destroyed by the administrations of the 
 gi-eat day of God Almighty. The Sou of man shall therefore 
 certainly come whilst the papacy and antichrist still live. 
 
 6. He shall come in a period when a far-sounding cry shall 
 be raised in slumbering Christendom that his advent is at 
 hand. The Savior tells us that in that period "the kingdom 
 of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins who went forth to 
 meet the bridegroom ; but while the bridegroom tarried they 
 all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry 
 
HE WILL COME UNEXPECTED BY THE WORLD. 265 
 
 made, Behold, the hridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him." 
 That this parable portrays the condition of the church in the 
 period of the advent, there can be no room for doubt. Christ, 
 in the preceding chapter, was engaged in a description of his 
 coming and the end of the age. And this is but a continuation 
 of that discourse. " Then," says he, — that is, in the time when 
 what I have said shall be fulfilled, — then shall the kingdom of 
 heaven — the community of professing Christians — be like the 
 ten virgins. They shall sleep with regard to this great sub- 
 ject. And while they sleep the announcement shall go forth 
 that the bridegroom is coming. The same thing is set forth 
 in the Apocalypse, where, in connection with the scenes of 
 the last days, the announcement of the blessed Savior is, 
 ^'Behold, 1 come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth!" 
 All this shows that in the period of the advent, a cry declar- 
 ing his coming shall be poured upon the dull ear of Chris- 
 tendom. 
 
 7. But, notwithstanding the cry, Christ shall come when 
 but few will at all believe that his advent is near. He saya 
 himself, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith 
 on the earth?" ''In such an hour as ye think not, the Son 
 of man cometh." ''Evil servants shall say in their hearts, 
 My Lord delayeth his coming." Some will scofi" and say, 
 "Where is the promise of his coming?" People will be say- 
 ing ''Peace and safety," when sudden destruction shall come 
 upon them. " As in the days that were before the flood, they 
 were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage," — 
 self-contentedly pursuing the vanities and pleasures of earth, 
 — "and knew not until the flood came and took them all away: 
 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." 
 
 From these plain statements of the word of God, two things 
 may be remarked. The first is, that there certainly is to be 
 no thousand years of universal righteousness and peace pre- 
 vious to Christ's coming. The second is, that we need fix 
 
 23 
 
266 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 upon no other times for Christ's coming than the times in 
 which we live. 
 
 I proceed, then, to the second branch of the subject, in 
 which I proposed to bring forward what light can be obtained 
 for a somewhat more direct and categorical answer to the 
 question, When shall Christ come? Nor is there as much 
 barrenness upon this line of inquiry as may be supposed. 
 There are sundry distinct and independent processes by which 
 information may be gathered. And if we should find upon 
 examination that these several processes harmonize in their 
 results, we may take them as mutually corroborative, the one 
 as sustaining the truthfulness of the other, whilst the com- 
 bined testimony of all, if found to agree, must create a very 
 strong probability in favor ' of the period to which they 
 point. 
 
 The first method of computing the time I will introduce by 
 a quotation from Johnston, a distinguished writer on the pro- 
 phecies. "Through the whole Scripture, both of the Old and 
 New Testaments," says he, "there is a striking typical repre- 
 sentation of some great and important Sabbath, as a great 
 septenary that has not yet taken place, and which evidently 
 appears to be the millenarian septenary, as the great Sabbath 
 of the whole earth. God blessed the seventh day, and hal- 
 lowed it. In the Decalogue this peculiar distinguishment of 
 the seventh day, or weekly sabbath, was most solemnly renewed. 
 Every seventh year was appointed a sabbatical year. And the 
 commencement of the year of jubilee, which was every fiftieth 
 year, was to be fixed by the running of a septenary of sabbati- 
 cal years. 'Thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto 
 thee, seven years, and the space of the seven sabbaths of 
 years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.' The numbei 
 seven, because used in Scripture to complete all the sacred 
 divisions of time, was regarded by the Jews as the symbol of 
 perfection, and is used in this sense in Scripture. The ques- 
 
THE SEVENTH MILLENNIUM. 267 
 
 tion then arises, Is it to be supposed that all these events, 
 which are interwoven with the Mosaic dispensation, which was 
 itself symbolical or typical, and which are introduced into the 
 New T&stament, and abound so much in the book of Revela- 
 tion, have no antetype to correspond to them? — no great sab- 
 batical septenary to which they all point and in which they 
 all shall be accomplished? Is it not highly probable that they 
 are all typical of the seventh millenary of the earth, which is 
 the great Sabbath?" To this I may answer that it is not 
 only probable, but the next thing to absolute certainty. 
 
 When we go back into ai.tiquity, whether Jewish, heathen 
 or Christian, we find a general and deeply-seated belief that 
 the world shall endure six thousand years in its secular and 
 toiling state, answering to the six days of the creation; and 
 that then will follow a thousand years of holy rest, peace and 
 joy, — the millennial Sabbath, or golden period of the world. 
 Bishop Russell, of Scotland, says, "It is found in the most 
 ancient of those commentaries of the Old Testament which we 
 owe to the learning of the Rabbinical school;" and that " there 
 is no room for doubt that the notion preceded by several cen- 
 turies the introduction of the Christian faith." It is given as 
 a tradition of the house of Elias, and thought by many to date 
 back to the great prophet Elijah. Professor Bush, in his book 
 against the millennium, speaks of this tradition, and says, "It 
 is but fair to admit, that, as there is nothing in the Scriptures 
 which directly contradicts it, it may he well founded." Ac- 
 cording to Plutarch, the Chaldeans had a similar belief. 
 Zoroaster also taught it. Davibuz says that the Tuscans held 
 it, and that it is retained among the Persians to this day. The 
 Magi entertained it. We saw in a previous discourse that it 
 was held and inculcated, as a branch of Christian truth, by 
 Barnabas, Justin Martyr, ]-*apias, Irenasus, Tertullian, Cyprian, 
 and all orthodox Christians for the first centuries of the Chris- 
 tian era. Luther entertained it. Melancthon wrote it on the 
 
268 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 fly-leaf of the Bible, as a matter not to be disputed. Tliousauda 
 of divines since his time have received it as part of their 
 faith. And when we come to place together certain state- 
 ments of the Scriptures, there seems to me to be a weight of 
 testimony in its favor sufficient to warrant us in regarding it 
 as sacred truth. Look at these sentences : — 
 '^ In six days the Lord made heaven and earth." 
 " On the seventh day he rested and luas refreshed." 
 '' One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." 
 "There remaineth therefore a rest — <ra/5'/9aTj'<r/xo?, a 
 
 KEEPING OF SABBATH TO THE PEOPLE OP GrOD." 
 
 I have shown that Christ will come before the millennium, 
 not after it. The millennium is the seventh thousand years, 
 or great Sabbath, of the world. Now then, if we can ascer- 
 tain in what period of the world's age we live, we may form 
 some idea of the time when the Son of man shall come. To 
 ascertain this with certain accuracy is impossible; but we may 
 approximate the truth with some degree of reliability. Tlie 
 holy Book, to which we are indebted for what else we know 
 upon this subject, has not left blank the department of dates. 
 The births and ages of the ancient patriarchs, both before 
 and since the flood, have been so particularly and circum- 
 stantially recorded that we can readily measure the period 
 through which they lived by summing the united lengths of 
 time occupied by the several generations. There are also 
 various important records by which to measure the duration 
 of the servitude in Egypt, of the wandering in the wilder- 
 ness, and of the reign of the Judges, by whom Israel was 
 governed to the institution of the kingdom under Saul. From 
 that on to the Babylonian captivity the name of every king 
 is given in succession, with the length of time each one 
 reigned. And from the time of the captivity to the present, 
 records, both sacred and profane, are such as leave but little 
 room for uncertainty. 
 
 ( 
 
OPINIONS OF CHRONOLOGISTS. 269 
 
 The commonly received chronology, which is usually found 
 printed in the margins of our Bibles, is no part of the in- 
 spired record. These dates are inserted from a system framed 
 by Archbishop Usher, and others. It is now agreed that it is 
 defective in many particulars. According to that, it would 
 yet be about one hundred and thirty-five years to the end of 
 the sixth thousand. Capellus reduces this one year; Ken- 
 nedy, Bedford, and Ferguson, 3 years; Playfair and Walker, 
 4; Rheinhold, 16; Pererius and Jarvis, 17; Langius, 37; 
 Spondanus and Torniellus, 47; Salianus, 49; Maimonides 
 ai^d Blancarnus, 54 ; Eiccioli, 58 ; Chinese Jews, 75 ; De 
 Pontac, 84; Genebrard, 86; Ribera, 91; Lidyat, 99; Browne, 
 117; Vignier, Bowen, and Elliott, 124; Shimeall and Saville 
 about 130; and Fynes, Clinton and others reduce the time to 
 still shorter limits. Having looked somewhat into these chro- 
 nological matters, I am satisfied that it would be wrong to 
 rely with too much confidence upon either of these or any 
 other like reckonings. There is uncertainty about them all. 
 In the general, however, those are in every way the most reli- 
 able which leave but little of the six thousand years unex- 
 pired. I have been led to believe that we now are, most pro- 
 bably, in the 5994th year of the world since the creation of 
 Adam ; which would bring us, at the present, (1863,) untJun 
 some seven years of the Sabbatic Millennium and the glorious 
 epiphani/ of our Lord. At any rate, we may be pretty confi- 
 dent that we shall reach the consummation before the end of 
 this century.* 
 
 We pass, then, to another method of computation on this 
 subject, to see whither it will conduct us. 
 
 The " little horn" described in the seventh of Daniel, the 
 prophet declares, "made war with the saints, and prevailed 
 
 » See Note K, page 356. 
 23* 
 
270 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment 
 was given to the saints ;" that is, until the coming of Christ. 
 He also tells us the duration of the period in which the saints 
 are thus to be afflicted. " They shall be given into his hand 
 until a time and times, and the dividing of time," or three 
 years and a half. These are of course prophetic or symboli- 
 cal years, in which each day stands for a year; as in Numb. 
 xiv. 13; Ez. iv. 4-6; Rev. ii. 10; Dan. ix. 24; where this 
 matter is sufficiently explained, a day standing for a year. So 
 Melancthon and the Magdeburg centuriators understood them. 
 Professor Stuart says, " The great mass of interpreters in the 
 English and American world have, for many years, been wont 
 to understand the days designated in Daniel and the Apoca- 
 lypse as the representatives or symbols of years. I have found 
 it difficult to trace the origin of this gnicrcd, I might say, 
 almost UNIVERSAL custom," Professor Bush says, " In taking 
 a day as the prophetical time for a year, I believe you are 
 sustained hy the soiindest exegesis, as well as fortified by the 
 high names of Mede, Sir Isaac Newton, Faber, Scott, Bishop 
 Newton, Keith, and a host of others If the old year- 
 day is wrong, not only has the whole Christian world been 
 led astray for ages by a mere ignis-fatuus of false hermeneu- 
 tics, but the church is at once cut loose from every chronolo- 
 gical mooring, and set adrift on the open sea, without the 
 vestige of a beacon, lighthouse, or star by which to determine 
 her bearings or distances from the desired millennial haven 
 to which she had hoped she was tending." 
 
 Three years and a half, as men anciently reckoned, contain 
 twelve hundred and sixty days. Twelve hundred and sixty 
 years, then, is the length of the period from the giving of the 
 saints into the hand of the little horn to the judgment and 
 coming of the Ancient of days. Hence, if we can ascertain 
 when the saints were given into the hand of the little horn, 
 we may judge of the time when Christ is likely to come. 
 
1260 YEARS OF THE LITTLE HORN. 271 
 
 I have said that this little horn denotes the papacy. It may 
 have other applications, but this, without doubt, must be in- 
 cluded. 
 
 The terrible beast on which it grew certainly represents the 
 Roman empire ; and the papacy arose upon the Roman empire. 
 
 It grew up among ten other horns of this beast, which are 
 ten kings or kingdoms ; the papacy sprung into being from 
 among the ten separate but closely-related powers into which 
 the old Roman empire was divided by the barbarian invasions. 
 
 Before this little horn, three of the other horns were 
 plucked up; the papacy possessed itself of the Gothic king- 
 dom of Odoacer, which fell in 493, the Ostrogothic kingdom 
 of Theodoric, which fell in 554, and the Lombardic kingdom 
 of Alboin, which fell in 774; and thus, as proclaimed in the 
 bull against Queen Elizabeth, he subdued three Jcinfjdoms. 
 
 This little horn was "diverse from the first," or other ten; 
 the papacy is an ecclesiastico-political establishment, altogether 
 different in its elements from the other kingdoms in which it 
 sprung up. 
 
 " In this (little) horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man." 
 The papacy claims to be a universal overseer, and is full of 
 cunning, subtlety and far-sighted plans. 
 
 It had also "a mouth speaking great things" — "great 
 words against the Most High," and "his look was more stout 
 than his fellows." The papacy has ever been characterized 
 by its pompous, arrogant, sacrilegious and blasphemous as- 
 sumptions. There never has been a king or potentate on 
 earth who has ventured upon such pretensions as the pope of 
 Rome. 
 
 The little horn " thought to change times and laws." 
 Since the times of Julius Caesar, none but the papacy has ever 
 arrogated the right to regulate the calendar, or to dictate and 
 annul the legislation of the world. 
 
 This little horn prevailed against the saints, and wearied 
 them out, and had them in his hand. The papacy is the 
 
272 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 power from which the humble confessors of Jesus have suf- 
 fered more thau from Nero and Caligula. 
 
 In every particular the prophetic description fits the papacy, 
 and must in some sense refer to it. 
 
 The giving of the saints into the hands of the papacy was 
 the investiture of the popes with universal jurisdiction, over- 
 sight and dominion over the church. Clothing them with 
 such power was most literally and effectually giving the saints 
 into their hand. Let us inquire, then, when this occurred. - 
 
 History presents two dates, at which different interpreters 
 have thought they could trace the act which gave the saints 
 into the hands of the papacy. The one is the year 533 or 
 534, when the Emperor Justinian gave the pope precedence 
 of all his episcopal brethren ; the other is the year 606, 
 when the Emperor Phocas declared the pope head of all the 
 churches, and sole universal bishop. Newton has mentioned 
 other dates, such as the years 727, when the pope and the 
 Romans finally broke their connection with the Eastern em- 
 peror; 755, when the pope obtained the exarchate of Ra- 
 venna; 774, when he acquired the kingdom of Lombardy; 
 and 787, when the worship of images was first established, 
 and the pope's supremacy endorsed by the second Council of 
 Nice. But neither of these dates mentioned by Newton an- 
 swers to the case before us ; and Newton himself does not 
 venture to say upon which of them we are to rely. And the 
 earlier date which goes back to the time of Justinian seems 
 equally inadequate to answer to that for which we are inquir- 
 ing. The truth is, that the papal power was not the product 
 of a single day or year. It grew. But the great and effective 
 act which made the pope lord of Christendom, and thus 
 gave the saints into his hand, was the decree of Phocas in 
 A.D. 606. It is to this date that the great mass of the most 
 accredited interpreters refer us in connection with this subject. 
 
 Taking this as the date, then, when the papacy obtained its 
 
SrXBRY AUTHORITIES. 27S 
 
 power, aiul iidclino; twelve hundred and sixty years, the given 
 period of it.s 'louinancy, we are carried down to the year 1866 
 or 1867 as the time when Christ shall come and the judgment 
 sit, — the exact date which Bowen and others have hit upon 
 by an entirely different process. 
 
 The authorities sustaining this computation are very nu- 
 merous, and include some of the weightiest of names. I will 
 refer to a few. 
 
 Baronius, in his ecclesiastical annals, and other Romish 
 historians, have referred to the decree of Phocas in 606, as 
 the first effective official acknowledgment of the pope's supre- 
 macy. Mosheim says, " The most learned writers, and those 
 who are most remarkable for their knowledge of antiquity, are 
 generally agreed that Boniface III. engaged Phocas, that 
 abominable tyrant, to take from the bishop of Constantinople 
 the title of oecumenical or universal bishop, and to confer it 
 upon the Roman pontiff; and thus was the papal supremacy 
 first introduced." 
 
 Luther alludes to the year 606 as a notable commencing 
 papal epoch. Osiander, one of his first disciples, has done 
 the same. Flacius, also a pupil of Luther and Melancthon, 
 represented the twelve hundred and sixty days as having com- 
 menced in 606, and by consequence as running out in 1866. 
 
 Robert Fleming, about one hundred and fifty years ago, in 
 his little book on the Rise and Fall of Papacy, said, " We 
 may justly reckon that the papal head took its rise from that 
 ren)arkable year, 606, when Phocas did in a manner devolve 
 the government of the West upon him, hy giving him the title 
 of universal bishop. From which period, if we date the twelve 
 hundred and sixty years, they lead us down (as I said already) 
 to the year 1866." 
 
 David Simpson, a divine of the last century, says, '' Some 
 begin to reckon (the twelve hundred and sixty years) from 
 the year 606, when the proud prelate of Rome was declared 
 3 
 
274 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 universal bishoj). If this be right, (and he seems to bo 
 strongly of that opinion,) then the Pope of Rome will be com- 
 pletely destroyed about the year 1866," and Christ of course 
 come; for the papacy is to stand till Christ comes. 
 
 Scott, the commentator, says, " The beginning of the twelve 
 hundred and sixty years must be placed subsequent to the 
 four first trumpets, on the subversion of the Western empire 
 in 566. This made way for the pope. He became universal 
 bishop in a.d. 606." 
 
 The learned George Stanley Faber, who examined very 
 deeply into these subjects, says, "The year which I have fixed 
 upon for the date of the twelve hundred and sixty years, is 
 the year 606, — a year marked by so singular a combination of 
 circumstances, that I know not how any other can with equal 
 propriety be selected. If, then, I be right in my opinion, we 
 are now removed but little more than sixty years from the 
 commencement of the end of the vintage of God's wrath." 
 This was written in 1805, and fixes 1866 as the time when 
 things shall come to the scenes of their consummation. 
 
 But I have not the time to multiply quotations. Chytraeus, 
 Parous, Whiston, Cogswell, Bryant, Elliott, Gumming, Junkin, 
 Berg, and many more, have taken the same dates. This 
 method of computing the time of the end is, therefore, not a 
 mere conceit, but a thing commanding the belief of some of 
 our ablest interpreters, and claiming our particular attention. 
 I will only add the testimony of Luther, who, not long before 
 his death, said, " I persuade myself verily that the day of 
 judgment will not remain absent full three hundred years 
 morej" according to which we are now living in the very 
 period of the judgment. I would not be understood as hold- 
 ing or teaching that Christ will certainly come in three years 
 from the present time. I do not feel authorized to fix upon 
 any one specific date for that great event. But here we have 
 two distinct and independent processes, sustained by the best 
 
THE SEA''EN VIALS. 275 
 
 autliorities on tte subject, and both of which concur in the 
 representation that the day of Christ's coming is near at hand, 
 and lies within the limits of this present century. Well may 
 we then take up the language of the test and say, " The 
 
 COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH !" 
 
 But there is still another method by which light may be 
 thrown upon this mysterious subject. 
 
 In the sixteenth chapter of Revelation we read of seven 
 angels having seven vials of the wrath of God, which they 
 pour out in quick succession upon the inhabitants of the 
 earth. These vials are called "seven plagues," and evidently 
 relate to " the last times." It is under the pouring out of 
 the sixth vial that the coming of Christ is announced. And 
 if we can identify the fulfillment of these plagues, and ascer- 
 tain under which of them we are now living, we may form 
 some idea of our probable nearness to the time of the Savior's 
 coming. Let us then enter upon this inquiry. 
 
 " And the first (angel) went and poured out his vial upon 
 the earth ; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon 
 the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them 
 which worshipped his image." 
 
 This, and what follows in the vision, is of course symbolic, 
 and is to be interpreted by the laws which apply to symbolic 
 language. " The land or earth, when distinguished from the 
 sea, rivers, fountains and heaven, denotes the population of 
 an empire under a settled government. The ulcer denotes an 
 analogous disease of the mind, a restlessness and rancor of 
 passion exasperated by agitating and noxious principles and 
 opinions, that fill it with a sense of obstruction, degradation 
 and misery, resembling the torture of an ulcei'ated body." 
 Accordingly, the best interpreters apply this vial to the first 
 or incipient stages of the French llevolution. As Lord 
 remarks, "No symbol can be conceived more suited to repre- 
 sent the I'estlessness under injury, the ardor of resentment, 
 
276 , THE LAST TIMKS. 
 
 hate and revenge, the noxiousness and contagion of false 
 principles and opinions, that marked the commencement of 
 the political disquiets and agitations of the European states 
 toward the close of the last century. . . . France received its 
 first and largest tempest. But the angel, scattering a shower 
 on Belgium, Holland and the Valley of the Rhine, crossed 
 the Alps, steeping heights and recesses in the bitter flood, 
 drenched the vales and plains of Italy, swept around over the 
 German empire and the British isles, and finally dashed the 
 vengeful dregs on the peninsula of Portugal and Spain and 
 the distant southern shores of this continent." 
 
 "And the second poured out his vial upon the sea, and it 
 became as the blood of a dead man; and every living thing 
 died in the sea." 
 
 " This denotes the second great act in the tragedy of the 
 French Revolution, in which the people slaughtered one an- 
 other in feuds, insurrections and civil wars, and extermi- 
 nated with the dagger, the bayonet and the guillotine, all the 
 influential ranks, — king, queen, nobles, prelates, civil magis- 
 trates, priests, military commanders, soldiers, persons of illus- 
 trious descent, of distinguished rejjutation, of talents, of wealth, 
 and demagogues, political chiefs, who I'ose to conspicuity and 
 influence by their acts as revolutionists." Every living soul 
 in any way distinguished died in the sea of deadly blood ! So 
 Lord, Faber and Cunninghame understand this vial. 
 
 "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers 
 and fountains of waters; and they became blood." 
 
 " This symbol denotes the vast bloodshed in other Apoca- 
 lyptical kingdoms in the insurrections and wars which spining 
 out of the French Revolution. It commenced in Austria in 
 1792, and soon extended to Holland, Sardinia, Russia, Italy, 
 Spain, England, Prussia, Switzerland, Denmark and Portugal, 
 and continued with little intermission for more than twenty 
 years, in which the blood of millions of the French was 
 
FOURTH AND FIFTH VIALS. 277 
 
 poured out on the soil of other kingdoms, millions of other 
 nations in resisting their aggressions, and vast multitudes of 
 both sexes put to death in the violence of revolution, the 
 siege and sack of cities and the repression of insurrections." 
 Lord, Faber, Cunninghame, Keith and Elliott. 
 
 " And the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun ;, 
 and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And 
 men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name 
 of God, which hath power over these plagues, and they re- 
 pented not to give him glory." 
 
 The sun, in the language of symbols, denotes the civil 
 power, or those who exercise government in a kingdom or 
 state. This plague is accordingly interpreted of those oppres- 
 sions and spoliations which resulted from previous wars and 
 troubles, and with which the revolutionary rulers of France 
 and contemporary authorities of other countries scorched and 
 devoured their subjects. Alison says that a war of plunder, 
 confiscation and slaughter was waged against the rich from 
 mere envy and avarice, and thousands of families were re- 
 duced from affluence to beggary. Time would fail for an 
 enumeration of the distresses inflicted by the mad worship- 
 pers of reason and liberty, and even by Napoleon himself. 
 History hardly contains a parallel to those times of wo. And 
 yet the people repented not of their sins. — Lord, Faber, Cun- 
 ninghame, Keith, and others. 
 
 "And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the seat of the 
 heasf ; and his kingdom was fuU of darkness; and they 
 gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of 
 heaven, because of their pains and sores, and repented not 
 of their deeds." 
 
 This plague is so much like the first that it can only be 
 applied to similar revolutionary scenes, in which thrones are 
 made to totter, their power obscured and kingdoms thrown into 
 confusion and distress. The mention of the sores and pains 
 
 24 
 
278 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 of the first vial shows that these plagues overlap aiiJ run ! 
 through each other, and that they have respect, at least for 
 the most part, to the same people. The wild beast is the civil 
 power of the ten kingdoms occupying the place of the old 
 Roman empire. The pouring of the vial on the seat of the 
 beast shows the troubles with which their authority should be 
 assailed, and the extreme peril to which their power should be 
 subjected. And to what could all this more forcibly apply 
 than to those scenes of revolution which, in 1848, jostled 
 every throne and threatened the utter destruction of every 
 government in Europe ? Look back and think over that 
 year of wonders. Consider how the spirit of liberty, poisoned 
 and fouled by many sad commixtures, rose up to shake and 
 darken the world. Convulsion rushed upon the heels of con- 
 vulsion, until it became difl&cult to keep pace with the swift 
 shiftings of the fearful diorama. The first cry came from the 
 sunny plains of Lombardy. The Milanese were in open rebel- 
 lion. Sicily next felt the mighty movement. The imbecile 
 and cruel Bourbon King of Naples stood powerless before his 
 indignant subjects. The Dukes of Tuscany, Parma and 
 Modena beheld themselves suddenly shorn of their old au- 
 thority. Paris saw another revolution, and the dynasty of 
 Orleans went down forever. Stern and formal Germany 
 rocked from one extremity to the other. The throne of the 
 great Frederick seemed to turn to ashes before the driving 
 wind. The imperial crown fell from the old master of Austria 
 before the brave Magyar, and its wearer driven as a fugitive 
 to the mountains of the Tyrol. Rome shook from centre to 
 circumference, and threw off in horror that pontiff who claims 
 to be the vicar of Christ and the lord of all Christendom. Eng- 
 land herself was filled with uneasiness, not knowing at what 
 moment her proud fabric might lie level with the dust. 
 Every thing was tossed hither and thither with the black 
 storms of revolutionary fury. The vial of the wrath of God 
 
THE SIXTH VIAL. 279 
 
 was pnured out njj^o\i the seat of the beast, and threatened 
 the whole systom of European politics with utter destruction. 
 
 But the tide aoou turned. The time for the end had not 
 yet come Despolism and tyranny have since entrenched 
 themselves in their former seats in redoubled strength. And 
 disappointed hope lies festering in the bosoms of subdued or 
 exiled revolutionists, whilst they gnaw their tongues in the 
 pains of unvented ire and blaspheme God for their sores and 
 want of success. The fifth vial, then, has been entirely and 
 but recently fulfilled. 
 
 "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great 
 river Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried up, that 
 the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." 
 
 Numerous expositors apply this to the Turkish empire, and 
 the gradual disappearance of that persecuting power. If this 
 be true, the prophecy is most rapidly fulfilling. Isaac Taylor 
 says, " Mahometan empire is decrepit, Mahometan faith is 
 decrepit; and both are ready to vanish away." Lamartiue 
 says, " Turkey is perishing for want of Turks." Lieutenant 
 Lynch, from what he saw there, says, "The dispassionate ob- 
 server can already pi-edict the downfall of the Ottoman em- 
 pire. The handwriting is on the wall, and it needs not a 
 Daniel to interpret it." Gumming has collected a great 
 number of most remarkable testimonies to the same efiect. 
 
 But it seems to me that this is not the correct application 
 of this prophecy. The river here mentioned is connected 
 with the mystic Babylon, just as the literal Euphrates was 
 related to the literal Babylon that was built upon it. The 
 mystic Babylon is the combination of nationalized hierarchies 
 or churches ; and the mystic Euphrates must therefore refer 
 to the popular support from which these establishments 
 derive their sustenance and riches, just as the literal Eu- 
 phi-ates was the source of the supplies of the literal Babylon. 
 And as ancient Babylon was destroyed by the kings of* the 
 
280 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 East by diverting tlie Euphrates from its proper channel, so 
 these state-church establishments shall be destroyed by the 
 diversion and withdrawing — drijing up — of their present 
 supports. It is in this sense that Lord, Winthrop and others 
 understand this prophecy; and I see no reason to dissent from 
 them. If this, then, be the true application of this vial, the 
 evidences are before us, and increasing every day, that it is 
 beginning to be fulfilled. The withdrawment of a large body 
 of ministers and people from the Scotch national church, the 
 extensive secessions from the Romish churches of Germany, 
 the resignations of many ministers in Switzerland, are recent 
 events which accord exactly with this symbol. Thousands 
 upon thousands are coming out of these establishments every 
 year by immigration to our own country. Thousands in 
 Ireland are relinquishing the old system and embracing the 
 simple gospel. In Italy and parts of Germany, the great 
 mass of the population is literally infidel, and ready at any 
 moment to murder every priest and to rifle every chui'ch. 
 Sardinia is in arms against the ecclesiastical exactions under 
 which she has suffered. In Mexico, government has turned 
 its hand to seize upon the hoarded wealth of the church. 
 Every day the ranks of secessionists and dissenters are growing 
 and swelling in France, in Scotland, in England, in parts of 
 Germany. Taxation for the support of lordly and lazy 
 bishops who revel on their thousands per annum is beginning 
 to grind hard upon men who cannot believe that such luxurious 
 parasites are the exclusive successors of the makers of tents 
 and the menders of nets. Church hierarchies and state 
 religious establishments are falling into less and less repute 
 every day. The waters of the Euphrates are drying up ; 
 they are turning from their channel, and soon shall the 
 destroj'ers enter this den of spiritual harlotry, and great 
 Babylon shall fall to rise no more. 
 
 The first part of this vial, therefore, is fulfilling. ITpou 
 
" SPIRITUALISM." 281 
 
 the second part I am not so confident. John says, '' I saw 
 three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of 
 the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of 
 the mouth of the false prophet. For they are Tveoimza 
 Satab'Mov — demon-sjnrifs, — working miracles, which go forth 
 unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to 
 gather them to the war of that great day of God Almighty." 
 
 This evidently refers to some new and strangely-successful 
 turn ic the affairs of the kingdom of darkness. Wonders are 
 to be wrought. Demons are to be the agents. The move- 
 ment is to combine the elements of paganism, European poli- 
 tics, and the false religion of the papists. Its effect shall be 
 to marshal the powers of the world for their last conflict. 
 And it is not at all improbable that we have the beginning of 
 all this in the strange, infatuating, and widely-spreading 
 abomination called " spiritualism." Paul most solemnly 
 assures us that "The Sjjirit {of God) sjjealcefh expressly, that 
 IN THE LATTER TIMES soiiie shall depart from the faith, 
 cjiving heed to seducing spirits, and didaaxaliaic; daiiJ.ovi(jjv — 
 TEACHINGS OF DEMONS — Speaking lies in hypocrisy:" (1 Tim. 
 iv. 1, 2.) I cannot dwell upon this now; but I am convinced 
 that a careful investigation of this system of demonism will 
 show many and strong points of correspondence to what Paul 
 and John have here written. It is yet in its incipiency. 
 Time will reveal the truth. But enough is plain to show that 
 we are now living in the period of the sixth vial. The fifth 
 reached its acme eight years ago. The sixth certainly has 
 begun. And it is in connection with this sixth vial that 
 Jesus says, " Behold, I come."* 
 
 My brethren, look at it, and put not the solemn truth away 
 from you. Here are three wholly different and independent 
 methods of ascertaining something as to the period when our 
 blessed Lord shall come; and each of the three, according to 
 our very best information on the subject, gives forth the 
 
 * See Xotc L, page .362. 
 24» 
 
282 TTjy, T.vsT mins. 
 
 distinct and firm testi;v,on_y that tre are at (his moment 
 treading the venj margin of the great consummation. 
 
 There is still another method of learning Avhen the final 
 advent is near, the presentation of -which I will reserve for 
 another discourse. But, look in whatever direction we may, 
 we shall only find the evidence thickening that the time has 
 wellnigh come. 
 
 "The tide of pomp 
 That beats upon the high shore of this world," 
 
 is ebbing fast. Soon shall those great solemn words be 
 spoken, — "It is done!" 
 
 " Six thousand years of sorrow have wellnigh 
 Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course 
 Over a sinful world; and what remains 
 Of this tempestuous state of human things 
 Is merely as the working of the sea 
 Before a calm that rocks itself to rest. 
 
 The world appears 
 
 To toll the death-bell of its own decease, 
 And by the voice of all its elements 
 To preach the general doom '." 
 
 And after gathering together all the light within my reach, 
 I say to you, in all seriousness and honeety, that I believe 
 there are some listening to me now who will never taste of death 
 till they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and great glory. You may consider me beside 
 myself if you will. You may take heed to my announcement, 
 or you may despise it as folly. You may be wise, and prepare 
 to meet God, or you may take the opiates of unbelief, and say, 
 " No danger ! no danger V • But, in the name of that Jesus 
 whom I believe to have sent me to you as his ambassador, I 
 declare to you that "the coming op the Lord draweth 
 NIGH !" 
 
 What, then, is to be done ? Shall we turn aside from our 
 
THE DUTY OF CHRISTIANS. 283 
 
 avocations and give ourselves up to dejection or the silly con- 
 ceits of wild enthusiasts ? No, no, no. We must only stand 
 the firmer to our posts. The command of Jesus is, " Occupy 
 TILL I COME." We must keep steadfastly to the duties of 
 our places, and do with our might what our hands find to do, 
 and work and wait, and wait as we work, until Christ shall 
 3all to us from the heavens, " Well done, good and faithful 
 servants J enter ye into the joy of your Lord!'' He never 
 meant that the promise of his coming should frighten us, or 
 depress us, or make us unhappy. He meant it for the comfort 
 of his people in their trials, to inflame their zeal, to inspire 
 their hopes, and to serve as a sort of present compensation for 
 their toils and sufferings. In.<>tead of being discomfited, then, 
 as we see the time drawing near, let us rather be joyful, and 
 lift up our heads, and press for the crowns that are drawing 
 so close. The faithless and the impenitent may well be 
 alarmed and be moved to cry for mercy ; but for those who 
 have laid up their treasures in the world to come, the scenes 
 at hand are full of gladness. 
 
 The admonition of the text is, "Sfahlish your liearts." 
 That is, we are to grasp firm hold of the exceeding great and 
 precious promises of Jesus, and rest confidently upon God's 
 sublime covenant of mercy, and make up our minds to stand 
 or fall clasping the cross, and we shall be safe. We must 
 settle our souls upon Him who is able to save to the uttermost, 
 and give ourselves fully up to be his followers and servants, 
 and he will not disown us in that great day. Though we may 
 have been slumbering long upon Delilah's lap, if we will only 
 rouse up and keep to our duty in Christ Jesus we shall have 
 strength against all our foes and all our dangers. 
 
 Let me exhort you, then, by the stirring solemnities of this 
 theme, to be up and doing. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and 
 arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." If you 
 have been prayerless hitherto, begin at once to call upon that 
 
284 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Savior wTio has nevei* yet despised the cry of a sincere sup- 
 pliant. If 3-0U have never avowed yourself a disciple of Jesus, 
 do it at once, and put yourself within the range of that prof- 
 fered grace which God has declared to be sufficient for you. 
 ''Be not afraid ; only helieve." And if you are depressed, 
 burdened, or cast down at the prospect before us, listen to the 
 sweet voice of the Savior, as he tenderly says to you and to 
 all, " Comt: unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
 
 LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. TaKE MY YOKE UPON 
 YOU, AND LEARN OF ME, AND YE SHALL FIND REST UNTO 
 YOUR SOULS." 
 
 WAKE! AWAKE! 
 
 W.ake ! awake ! the call is flying, 
 
 From watchmen on the ramparts crying, 
 
 Awake ! awake ! Jerusalem I 
 While the midnight is prevailing, 
 These voices clear all souls are hailing: 
 Virgins, where are ye, virgins pui-e ? 
 The Bridegroom comes ! awake! 
 The wise their torches take ! 
 Halleluia ! 
 Haste to prepare 
 The feast to share; 
 The time has come to meet him there ! 
 
 Zion hears the watchmen singing, 
 Their hearts with joy and rapture springing. 
 She Wilkes, she houndeth from her gloom. 
 Comes her friend from heaven all-glorious, 
 In grace, how strong! in truth victorious; 
 Her Star ascends, her Light is come! 
 Appear, thou crowned One, 
 Jesus, God's only Son ! 
 
 Save us, Lord ! 
 We follow thee 
 Till heaven we see. 
 And at thy banquet sup with thee. 
 
 Philip Nikolai, 1597. 
 
TWELFTH DISCOUESE. 
 
 BECAPITITLATION FOURTH METHOD OF ASCERTAINIKG WHEN CHRIST 
 
 SHALL COME, OR THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES THE SENTIMENTS OF 
 
 DISTINGUISHED MEN RESPECTING THE NEARNESS OF THE END THE 
 
 INTENSE DESIRABLENESS OF THE SAVIOR's COMING — CONCLUSION. 
 
 Luke xxi. 28 : And tvhen fJiese tilings begin to come to pass, then 
 look up, and lift vp your heads : for your redemption draweth 
 nigh. 
 
 It is now three months since I commenced discoursing to 
 you upon the holy prophecies concerning '' The Last Times." 
 And though I have announced this as my last discourse in 
 this series, I find that I have not uttered the half that I 
 originally contemplated. I have presented only some frag- 
 ments of the grand system of God's purposes, as I think I 
 see it revealed in his holy word. I regret that I have not 
 been able to say more and to say it better. Nevertheless, 
 under the divine blessing, what I have said may not be 
 in vain. It may serve to- set you upon trains of thought and 
 investigation, and thus conduct you to a knowledge of what is 
 coming on the earth, which perhaps you would not other- 
 wise have reached. I thank God that he has preserved my 
 life and health to pursue these studies thus far, and that so 
 many have given me their serious attention, notwithstanding 
 the obstacles interposed by a winter of unwonted severity. 
 The pleasure and profit which these efforts have given me 
 more than repay for the toils they have cost, whilst I have the 
 further comfort of knowing that they have been blest to the . 
 
 285 
 
286 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 good of immortal souls. Prophecy was " written for our 
 learning, that we through patience and comfort of the 
 Scriptures might have hope;" and in fulfillment of this end 
 have I thus been engaged upon it. I preach for no other 
 purpose than to render you wiser, better and happier. I 
 stand here only to help you to become more heavenly in 
 your thoughts, more angelic in your affections and more 
 Christ-like in your character. And if ever I should lose sight 
 of this great aim of my office, I should fear that my tongue 
 would cleave to the roof of my mouth. 
 
 It is, perhaps, the greatest failing of the Christians of this 
 generation that they are too speculative and imitative in their 
 religion. We are too easily satisfied with floating notions of 
 what the Scriptures teach, without searching and verifying 
 for ourselves. We are too prone to think it enough to 
 comply with popular religious customs, and to assent indefi- 
 nitely to the belief current among those around us. We do 
 not draw our ideas and our hopes with sufficient directness 
 from the fountains of truth, nor bring the teaching of reve- 
 lation home to our hearts with the proper practical earnest- 
 ness. We are orthodox enough, but too undevout. We 
 assent to the revealments of God, but we do not drink them 
 in, and imbed them in our souls, and wrap them up in the 
 warm embrace of our afi"ections, as we should. Dr. Chalmers 
 once said, " I have all my life viewed the truths of Christianity 
 too much in the way of speculation, and as if at a distance. I 
 have not closed with them ; I have not laid hold of them ; I 
 have not apprehended them. I have been persuaded of the 
 truth of the promises, but not embraced them. With the 
 exception of an occasional gleam of light and comfort from 
 the freeness of the gospel, I have had no steady, habitual, 
 personal sense of that freeness. I have abundantly ac- 
 knowledged it, but have not used it." 
 
 This is a sad confession, and a statement too true of many 
 
LUKEWARMNESS OF MODERN CHRISTIANS. 287 
 
 modern Christians even of tlie more reputable sort. What 
 we need is a new baptism in the faith which appreciates the 
 power of divine truth and sees and feels its reality. We 
 need some spiritual solvent to reduce our knowledge to wis- 
 dom and our intellectual assent to a hearty consent. We 
 need a more vivid and abiding appi'ehension of what God Lath 
 said, that we may live more in and upon his word. Nor is 
 this anywhere more needed than upon the thrilling themes we 
 have been considering. Though there is not a doctrine of our 
 holy Christianity more largely treated in the Scriptures, more 
 definitely asserted in all the creeds, more touchingly celebrated 
 in our sacred songs, or more constantly acknowledged in our 
 sermons and our prayers, than the coming again of Christ j 
 yet there is hardly another article of faith so coldly, remotely, 
 indefinitely and fruitlessly apprehended. Though it involves 
 all our sublimest hopes, and is the basis of our most precious 
 expectations, how few ever advert to it as a reality, or have 
 any clear conceptions of, it! Though it is the culmination of 
 human hope and destiny, to how many is it a mere dead letter, 
 awakening no emotion, exciting no concern and mi\king 
 no impression ! Though nobody disputes it, yet who feels it 
 or lays hold of it as a literal truth ? As a vital thing, it has 
 wellnigh dropped out of the creed. Its practical influences 
 upon men's hearts and lives have become so feeble as to be 
 almost imperceptible. When Christianity was pure, this doc- 
 trine was- among the most vivifying of the faith. Men be- 
 lieved it, and it quenched the fear of death and made martyi'- 
 dom a thing to be coveted ; but now it stands upon our books 
 like a supei-annuated fable. Then it beamed forth a light and 
 life which lifted the soul up in sublime and joyous anticipa- 
 tions; but now it has become like the mute letters in the 
 spelling of certain words, which, for all practical purposes, 
 might as well be omitted as retained. These are deplorable 
 fact?. They speak badly for our experience in divine things, 
 
288 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 and tell a mournful tale for modern Christianity. "Who, then, 
 can mistake the plain duty of a faithful minister in such a case? 
 The subject is too momentous to be trifled with. Our respon- 
 sibilities are too solemn for us to be unconcerned. Hence, in 
 .■much weakness, but with honesty of purpose, I have endea- 
 vored to raise my voice in serious warning, and made it my 
 studied aim to give no "uncertain sound." Firmly believing 
 that "■ He that shall come will come, and will not tarry," I 
 have labored hard to advise you of his approach, and to have 
 you wide awake, that that day may not overtake you unawares. 
 
 I have accordingly gone back to the original fountains of 
 information upon the subject. I have tried to show where 
 and how it is presented in the Scriptures. I have called your 
 attention especially to Christ's own great predictions respecting 
 it, and endeavored to brush away some of the cobwebs of a 
 perverted erudition with which modern commentation has 
 obscured and defaced it, and shown that the Savior means 
 exactly what he says. 
 
 I have proven to you, in the second place, that Christ's 
 coming is not to be a thousand years hence, at the end of a 
 fancied millennium of universal righteousness, liberty and 
 peace; that sin, oppression and antichristianism shall prevail 
 in the world until he comes; and that only his personal 
 presence and administrations on earth will make the mil- 
 lennium, or impart to this lower creation the redemption for 
 which it sighs. 
 
 In the third place, I showed that the prevailing notion that 
 when Christ comes it will be to depopulate, destroy and anni- 
 hilate the earth, is the mere dream of poets, without founda- 
 tion in the word of Grod. This earth shall endure forever, 
 and in the light of its sister worlds roll on to all eternity. It 
 will be changed in its fashion, but not destroyed. It will be 
 renovated, but not depopulated. It will be restored, not anni- 
 hilated. It will yet be the bright dwelling-place of righteous- 
 
RECAPITULATION. 289 
 
 ness and peace. The will of God shall yet be done here as it 
 is in heaven. It will be the perpetual home of a saintly 
 population, reflecting the glory of its Maker and rejoicing 
 forever in his smiles. All that is vile in principle or impure 
 in effect will be purged away; but its firm substance, its 
 splendid scenery, and its impressive images of the Creator's 
 power and the Redeemer's love, shall never end. After Christ 
 shall come and set up his throne here, as Chalmers says, 
 '* There will be a firm earth, as we have at present, and a 
 heaven stretched over it, as at present) and it is not by the 
 absence of these, but the absence of sin, that the abodes of 
 immortality will be characterized. There will be both heavens 
 and earth in the next great administration, with only this 
 specialty to mark it from the present one, that it will be a 
 heavens and earth whei'ein dwelleth righteousness." 
 
 I next explained the resurrection, showing that the resur- 
 rection for which we are to aim and hope is an eclectic resur- 
 rection, — a resurrection of them that sleep in Jesus from, 
 among the dead at Christ's coming, and that "the rest of the 
 dead" shall not live again until the thousand years are 
 finished. 
 
 I have also exhibited the Scriptural evidences of the great 
 fact that the Messiah's reign is to be in this world ia a uni- 
 versal and eternal kingdom of bliss and gloiy. 
 
 I have endeavored to expound to you the mysterious doc- 
 trine and administrations of the coming judgment: how it 
 now exists, how it will be manifested at Christ's coming, and 
 how it will affect the various classes concerned. 
 
 I have unfolded to you the destiny of the Jewish race : 
 their restoration, their sanctification, their blessed condition in 
 the millennium, and the good that is yet to come td the world 
 through them. 
 
 I have placed before you something of the v:orId to come, 
 where Christ's sovereign and personal rule is to be revealed,— 
 
290 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 that new earth, in which the entire creation shall again return 
 to its pristine loveliness, and where, as Heber sings, 
 
 " On David's throne shall David's oflFspring reign, 
 And the dry bones be warm with life again, 
 Ten thousand harps attune the mystic song, 
 Ten thousand thousand saints the strain prolong, — 
 'Worthy the Lamb! Omnipotent to save, 
 Who died, who lives, triumphant o'er the grave !' " 
 
 I have further shown you that these are no mere dreams, 
 now for the first time broached, or found only in the rhapso- 
 dies of enthusiastic minds. I have proven to you that such 
 were substantially the hopes of the church before Christ came 
 as the child of Mary; that Jesus and his inspired apostles 
 spoke of these hopes as deeply founded in the purposes and 
 promises of Grod ; that they were entertained, preached and 
 gloried in by those who received their instructions from 
 apostolic lips, and by the Luthers, and Arndts, and Paleys, 
 and Baxters, and Wesleys, and Halls, and Edwardses and 
 Chalmerses of the first three hundred years of the Christian 
 church ; that no Christian ever disputed them previous to the 
 time of Origen; and that they are now held and proclaimed by 
 hundreds and thousands among the purest, the most eloquent, 
 the most learned, and the most useful of the children of God on 
 the face of the earth. How the church came to lose sight of 
 these hopes I have also indicated. It was popery that obscured 
 them and cast them into darkness. First came Origen's fanci- 
 ful method of interpreting the Scriptures, casting uncertainty 
 upon the clearest statements, and introducing a way of expo- 
 sition which all men unite in lamenting and condemning. 
 Then came the desire to render the Christian faith palatable 
 to a Roman emperor, and then to the papal usurper, leading 
 to a repudiation of a part of the Bible and the mutilation ^nd 
 interpolation of the writings of the fathers. And thus, as the 
 joint work of Origen's vagaries and the sycophantic spirit 
 
RECAPITULATION. 291 
 
 and corrupt principles of some who came after him, a disposi- 
 tion was made of these great anticipations from which every 
 good man should recoil with horror. It was a stroke of Satan 
 to cheat the Bride of Jesus out of her sublimest dowry. To 
 this day the church is more or less under the influence of that 
 deception. Nor can we do duty to ourselves or to the truth 
 of God, and yet patiently acquiesce in a decision brought 
 about in a way so unchristian and unwari'autable. Nay, I feel 
 confident that when once we have fairly examined this whole 
 matter, the pure millenarian doctrine will be held and 
 preached as one of the most glorious articles of our most holy 
 faith. 
 
 But I have gone further than all this. I have not only 
 maintained that Christ will come again to this world to judge, 
 subdue, renovate and reign in it forever, but that he will 
 come very soon. I have ventured to proclaim my fixed belief 
 that his coming is near at hand. I do not know the day or 
 the year ; but I have shown you, as I think, that God does not 
 mean that we should remain in total ignorance of the period 
 of his coming. In every other great event that he has 
 brought about in human afiiiirs, he has given pre-iutimations 
 of the time when it would be; and we cannot suppose that 
 the time of the great consummating event of all is shrouded 
 in such perfect secrecy as that we can know nothing till it 
 comes. We accordingly find various dates and signs described 
 in the Scriptures, from which we may learn enough to prevent 
 our being surprised by it. 
 
 In my last I gave three difi'erent methods by which light 
 may be thrown upon this subject. First, the Scriptures fur- 
 nish a system of septenaries, or sevens, from which we learn 
 that Christ will come at the end of six thousand years from 
 the creation of man ; wliich period, according to our best 
 information, will run out within the next twenty or forty 
 years. We next find the duration of the papal dominancy, 
 
292 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 wliich is to be destroyed only when Clirist comes, limited to 
 twelve hundred and sixty years, which term must needs 
 expire within ten or twenty years from the present date. lu 
 the third place, we find a description of the seven last plagues, 
 in connection with the sixth of which Christ's coining is 
 announced, and all of which up to the sixth have clearly been 
 fulfilled, whilst we are now entering upon the sixth. These 
 three processes of computation, independent but harmonious, 
 unconnected yet mutually corroborative, are sufiicient to prove 
 to us that we are treading close upon the time when all God's 
 purposes shall be fulfilled. 
 
 There is, however, still another method of gaining informa- 
 tion upon this point, to which I will direct your attention. 
 The Scriptures very minutely describe certain signs which are 
 to precede the final advent, and direct us to look for those 
 signs, and assure us that "when these things begin to come to 
 pass" we may know that the great event is near, even at the 
 door. Let us then trace some of these signs, and look to see 
 whether they have as yet appeared or not. 
 
 1. The Scriptures very distinctly tell us that the period of 
 Christ's coming shall be a period of abounding apostasy, skep- 
 ticism and wickedness. I need not again repeat the passages 
 on this point. ''As the days of Noe were, so shall it be also 
 in the days of the Son of man." As Milton says, "the first 
 peculiar sign (of the second advent) is an extreme reckless- 
 ness and impiety, and an almost universal apostasy." And 
 what a distressing agreement to this do we find in the charac- 
 teristics of the present times! Look at Christendom itself. 
 About one-half of those who profess and call themselves 
 Christians are wrapped up in the foul embrace of Popery, 
 where it is the fashion, if not the law, to put aside the Scrip- 
 tures as dangerous, to trust to the word of the priest lor for- 
 giveness, to pray to Mary as the great intercessor, to adore tho 
 pope as the vicegerent of God, to hold for doctrines the mere 
 
PRESENT DEPRAVITY OF THE WORLD. 293 
 
 commaudments of men, and to look for admission into heaven 
 through human works. The millions in the Grreek and Ori- 
 ental churches are scarcely any better in regard to what con- 
 cerns the vital matters of evangelical godliness. Look even 
 at Protestantism, — how fearfully corrupt in some of its 
 branches ! How divided and torn by the low bickerings of 
 sect and schism ! What vast numbers are in our churches as 
 well. as in papal churches who are nothing more than baptized 
 infidels ! How many who commune at our altars are not half 
 persuaded of the truth of the professions which they make ! 
 Look at the moral and religious condition of the nations at 
 large, even those the most enlightened and Christian. See 
 how crime flourishes and infidelity vaunts itself. What are 
 our secular newspapers but registers of depravity, avarice, am- 
 bition, lawlessness and sin ? See the inefficiency of law or 
 gospel to restrain the violence of passion, or to keep under the 
 brazen iniqi^ity which rears its head aloft on every side. Be- 
 hold your crowded infidel clubs, your besotted revolutionary 
 combinations, and your hardened and daring propagandists of 
 falsehood, treason and all forms of social disruption. See with 
 what popular favor the basest of men set themselves up as 
 God's oracles, claiming inspiration from heaven whilst preach- 
 ing death to the church and to the state, and listened to 
 with admiration by thousands who still wish to be considered 
 vii'tuous and even Christian. See with what readiness people 
 reputed intelligent take up with the lowest delusions, and stand 
 forth as the abettors and defenders of some of the foulest 
 emissions of hell. Behold how even great men, professed 
 theologians, editors, professors, lecturers and men in high 
 places of influence, adopt, advocate and preach theories of 
 pretended science and philosophy which unsettle the very 
 foundations of piety and faith. What contempt for Chris- 
 tianity, and disrespect for its ministers, and callousness to its 
 
 great truths, do we everywhere encounter ! And may we not 
 
 25* 
 
294 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 conclude, with the great Luther, that ''God will not, cannot, 
 suffer this wicked world much longer?" 
 
 2. Another sign of- the Savior's coming is to be found in 
 great revolutionary troubles, political perplexities and vast 
 national agitations. The Savior himself, and all the prophets, 
 have taught us this. And never have the universal political 
 heavens been so shaken as in our day. When were human 
 politics so confused, contradictory, perplexing and threatening 
 as now? Look at them from one end of the world to the 
 other. Who among the great ones of the earth can tell where 
 he stands ? Behold the strange alliances, the deep, sudden 
 and mysterious antipathies, the unforeseen combinations of 
 events, and the unknown tendencies of mighty inscrutable 
 movements, which have been manifesting themselves all over 
 the world in these last days. Who can tell what shall be 
 next ? If it is war, who knows where it will end ? If it is 
 peace, who is sure that it will not prove as disastrous as war ? 
 In either case, mighty dangers everywhere threaten. Democ- 
 racy, republicanism, autocracy and military despotism have 
 about equal chances; and neither has any rational hope. As 
 things now are, no conceivable human arrangements can steer 
 clear of the mif^hty maelstrom which seems to have drawn 
 all the nations within the circle of its awful whirl. Men of 
 wisdom, men of Ahithophel astuteness, are at their wits' end, 
 and the prudent and the far-sighted are growing wild with 
 amazement and fear. With all that can be done, things refuse 
 to bend to any mortal control. The ship answers no more to 
 the helm. There is not a government on earth that is not 
 quaking with commotion. Every thing is moving, but whi- 
 ther politicians cannot tell. 
 
 3. A third sign of the nearness of the end is a stir and 
 inquiry among many respecting Ihe subject, leading to the 
 conviction that Clirist is at hand. This is set forth in two 
 passages, the one in Daniel, the other in the Lord's prophecy 
 
THE SPIRIT OF INQUIRY AWAKENING. 295 
 
 in the twenty-fifth of Matthew. The passage iu Daniel is, 
 " Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the 
 time of tJie end ; mani/ shall run to and fro, and knowledge 
 shall he increased." That is, in the period of the end, as 
 Michaelis interprets, " many «hall give their sedulous atten- 
 tion to the understanding of these things;" or, according to 
 a marginal note in an old English Bible, *' many shall run to 
 and fro to search the knowledge of these mysteries." Dr. 
 Gill thus explains the passage : — '' Towards the time of the 
 end appointed, many shall be stirred up to inquire into these 
 things delivered in this book, and will spare no pains or cost 
 to get a knowledge of them ; and, with the blessing of God 
 upon them, the knowledge of this book of prophecy will be 
 increased, things will appear clearer and plainer the nearer 
 the accomplishment of them." Luther's rendering of it is as 
 follows: — "And now, Daniel, shut up these words, and seal 
 this book, until the last times; when many shall come over 
 it, and find great understanding." Coke, Clarke, Henry and 
 Duffield understand the passage in the same way. It is about 
 equivalent to that other declaration in the same chapter and 
 concerning the same period of the end, — "The wise shall un- 
 derstand." And as the result of all this inquiry and enlight- 
 enment on the subject of prophecy, the Savior tells us that 
 " then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten vir- 
 gins which went out to meet the bridegroom, and there was a 
 cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet 
 him." 
 
 And how evidently and significantly has this mark of the 
 end been manifesting itself within the last fifty years ! Though 
 the multitude still turn from prophecy as from a sealed book, 
 yet what a stir, anxiety and study has it awakened in many 
 earnest minds ! I have counted more than one hundred 
 authors who have written and published nearly twice as many 
 volumas on the subjects of unfulfilled prophecies since the 
 
296 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 present century began, and most of wbom have advocated and 
 proclaimed substantially the same views presented in these 
 discourses. Many of them differ with each other; but they 
 differ mostly as the clocks of the same city, — only in minutes, 
 not in hours. Their leading conclusions are the same. In 
 every denomination, and in every Christian country, the sub- 
 ject is being studied and agitated. Everywhere there are 
 men of God proclaiming the great doctrine of Christ's speedy 
 coming to I'eign with his saints upon the earth. In England, 
 in Scotland, in France, in our own country, in Germany, in 
 Norway, in Russia, in India, in the isles of the sea, the cry 
 has been raised, "Behold, the bridegroom Cometh; go 
 YE out to meet him 1" Never, never, since the days of 
 the early Christians, has there been so much earnest long- 
 ing, expecting, preaching, believing and praying upon the 
 subject of the nearness of Christ's coming. The interest, the 
 study and the faith are by no means as general as they 
 should be, but general and intense, enlightened and earnest 
 enough to warrant us in saying that this sign of the end has 
 appeared. 
 
 4. Another indication to which the Scriptures refer upon 
 this subject is the general shaking and crumbling of social 
 order. " In the last days perilous times shall come." There 
 shall be "dreamers who despise dominion, and speak evil of 
 dignities, and of those things which they know not." God 
 says, " I will shake all nations, and the Desire of nations shall 
 come." " Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also 
 heaven." "I will overturn, overturn, ovei'turn it, until he 
 come whose right it is; and I will give it him." 
 
 And how manifestly are these signs fulfilling ! What is 
 now the leading watchword that is convulsing the whole earth 
 from the equator to the poles ? Reform, refor')n, reform ! 
 The church must be reformed; government must be reformed; 
 every thing must be reformed. Nothing is any longer right 
 
THE PASSION FOR REFORM. 297 
 
 or adequate for dotard hiimaiiity. Laws, creeds, politics, the- 
 olojry, worship, venerable customs, all are found fault with by 
 the restless spirit that is abroad, and must be revised, changed, 
 recast, and reconstructed on other models which cannot be 
 agreed upon. The fathers of old have become mere infants; 
 the intellectual giants of other times have dwindled into 
 dwarfs ; the great emancipators of the world have degenerated 
 into dreaming schoolboys, who knew nothing of humanity's 
 wants, and never comprehended the will of God or the good 
 of man. Suddenly it has been discovered that our domestic 
 institutions are wrong, that our marriage-laws are wrong, that 
 our entire legislation is wrong, that the wisest cabinets are 
 composed of fools, that our church arrangements are imbecile, 
 that old-fashioned religion is mere hypocrisy and cant, and 
 that whatever is, is wrong. Protestantism must needs have a 
 new foundation, and men are tinkering to effect it. Catholi- 
 cism must have an addition to its creed, and a special conven- 
 tion was just called to inaugurate the miserable absurdity. 
 And we must have new recensions, and new liturgies, and new 
 interpretations, and new distributions of powers in church 
 and state, and even new gospels, until every thing rocks and 
 totters in the throes of approaching dissolution. Young 
 America, and young England, and young France, and young 
 Italy, and J'oung China, and the ruling spirit even where 
 things have been stagnant for ages, now cry, " Down with 
 the world's old props ! Down with the rickety regime of other 
 days !" And everybody is in the intensest earnest. As Car- 
 lyle says, " The age of shams is past." Every sect, party, 
 clique, club and faction, and every individual man, seems to 
 be determined that bis own way shall carry. There is no 
 yielding, no compromise, no ear open to the counselings of 
 moderation or entreaty. All is being unsettled, canvassed, 
 distracted and rendered impotent, except in that direction in 
 which the wave may for the moment dash. Never before 
 
295 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 were sucli miglity conflicting forces at work in our world. 
 Never before has there been such a deep and universal agita- 
 tion upon all that respects the interests of mau. Govern- 
 ments the most powerful, ideas the most potent and customs 
 the most firmly rooted are becoming mere playthings in the 
 hands of remorseless and determined revolution. Surely the 
 signal for the end has come. This loud cry from every quar- 
 ter for reform, change and something new, only proves that 
 ''SOCIETY IS sick" and nearing its dissolution, and yet, like 
 the sick man, imagines that if its bed were changed it would 
 be well. Alas, alas, for the projects and dreamy hopes of 
 modern reformers ! 
 
 "The world is grown old, and her pleasures are past; 
 The world is grown old, and her form may not last; 
 The world is grown old, and trembles for fear, — 
 For sorrows abound, and judgment is near ! 
 The sun in the heavens is languid and pale, 
 And feeble and few are the fruits of the vale, 
 And the hearts of the nations fail them for fear, — 
 For the world is grown old, and judgment is near ! 
 The king on his throne, the bride in her bower, 
 The children of pleasui-e, all feel the sad hour; 
 The roses are faded, and tasteless the cheer, — 
 The world is grown old, and JUDGMENT IS NEAR !" 
 
 Only look abroad, my brethren, and see how thrones, 
 powers, governments, superstitions, and all the old stabilities, 
 are creaking, shaking, crumbling, dying. Behold how vain 
 the help of man is. Consider how implacable is human dis- 
 satisfaction. Mark how the mind of the world is expecting 
 some great, speedy, mysterious change, such as has never yet 
 been. And is it not certain that — 
 
 "the old 
 And crazy earth has had her shaking fits 
 More frequent, and foregone her usual rest. 
 And nature seems with dim and sickly eye 
 To wait the close of all" ? 
 
DARKNESS BEFORE LIGHT. 299 
 
 I have read somewhere, in a very sagacious writer, that when 
 happy changes are contemplated most people erroneously turn 
 to the quarters of light for the signs of its approach. This 
 has ever been man's mistake when looking for the fulfillment 
 of God's great purposes, and is the mistake of many now. 
 People are looking for the setting up of Christ's kingdom, and 
 the introduction of millennial glory by reforming and rebap- 
 tizing present modes of effort and thought. But so it will not 
 be. God's method of progress is to make darkness the way 
 to light, death the prelude to life, despair the introduction to 
 salvation, and corruption and confusion the road to order and 
 
 [glory. It is not in what seems hopeful, but in what seems 
 gloomy and untoward, that we are to look for the signs of the 
 
 [speedy forthcoming of God's wonder-working goodness. It is 
 
 jthe stirring upon the face of the dark waters that gives prog- 
 nostic of the breaking forth of light, life and beauty. The 
 
 I bursting glories of spring come directly out of the bleak winter. 
 
 i It is from the corrupting seed that we obtain the harvest. 
 
 I The darkest hour is said to be that which immediately precedes 
 
 I the day. The period most hopeful is that when the apparent 
 motives for despondency are most overwhelming. The stress 
 of the controversy between hope and fear always falls upon the 
 eve of triumph. Those dim hours of dismay to the scattered 
 followers of Christ at his crucifixion wci-e but the preludes to 
 the bringing in of light and immortality for man. The 
 bloody persecutions under the Roman emperors which threat- 
 ened the extinction of Christianity were the immediate pre- 
 cursors of its victory over even the throne of the Ctesars. 
 And so the Scriptures teach that it will be in the ushering in 
 of the great consummation. The sun must darken and the 
 moon withhold her light, and then shall the Sun of righteous- 
 ness arise with healing in his wings. 
 
 People think they see signs of promise in the movements of 
 reform. They think to give the church a better shape, and 
 
300 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 the state a better government, and tlie world a freer Bible, and ' 
 that thus the millennium will come. I have no confidence in .' 
 any such hopes. I see more of promise in the darkest fea-:i 
 tures of the times than in all these pious and patriotic dreams.l 
 I look around me, and find men uniting, oft unconsciously, in^ 
 pronouncing past experiments inadequate to accomplish what 
 was expected of them. Once it was thought that Protestant-^ 
 ism would soon regenerate the world; and yet so little pro- 
 gress has it made in two hundred years that some of its own 
 distinguished children, in every department of it, are pro- 
 claiming in many ways that it will not do without mending. 
 Some thought that the great Bible, Tract, Sunday-school and 
 missionary movements would soon win the nations to faith in 
 Jesus; and yet the world is perhaps more wicked now than it 
 has been since Noah's flood. Skeptics in the church, and 
 skeptics out of the church, are rising up to pronounce all our 
 boasted efforts a failure. Many are losing confidence in the 
 Bible and that simple evangelism in which they hoped, and 
 are going back to Rome, to unbelief, to "spiritualism," or to 
 some other low ism of natural or Satanic religion. I deplore 
 the facts, and mourn that people should have so little faith, 
 and reason so illogically. And yet in this very darkness I read 
 the promise of coming light. In this very misgiving, despera- 
 tion and gloom, I see the argument for the speedy springing 
 forth of glorious and unfading hopes, not as human reason 
 calculates, but as God purposes. I behold in it the rapid 
 winding up of the present dispensation to give place to that 
 better state of things of which the prophets all have spoken. 
 Statesmen and churchmen see in it the unmistakable evidences 
 of unprecedented changes, though they widely differ as to 
 what those changes are to be. I go to the "sure word of pro- 
 phecy," and there I find the mystery explained. That holy 
 book which is the world's great light on sc many important 
 things does not fail me here. 
 
OPINIONS OF EMINENT WRITERS. 301 
 
 Sir Robert Peel has said, ''Every aspect of the present 
 times, viewed in the light of the past, warrants the belief that 
 we are on the eve of a universal change." Dr. Arnold, in his 
 Lectures on History, says, '' Modern history appears to be not 
 only a step in advance of ancient history, but the last step ; it ap- 
 pears to bear marks of the fullness of time, as if there would be 
 no future history beyond it. . . . We have the full amount of 
 earth's resources before us, and they seem inadequate to supply 
 life for another period of human histei'y." Professor Robin- 
 son says, "Before another half-century shall have rolled away, 
 there will be seen revolutions in the Oriental mind, and the 
 world, of which no one now has any foreboding. The time is 
 short: the crisis rushes on." The London Quarterly says, 
 ''The long pent-up winds ai-e beginning to break loose; and 
 the sudden bursts of tempest that have swept over Europe 
 these few years past are precursors of the world's last desolat- 
 ing storm." Bishop Chase asks, "Are not these signs and 
 prognostics of the speedy coming of our Lord to judgment ?" 
 And when I look at all these things : — the six thousand years 
 Hearing their close; the period of Popery's dominancy ex- 
 piring; the sixth vial pouring out; the earth exhibiting all 
 the features that are to characterize the last days; the nations 
 distressed and their leaders tremulous with fear ; history closing 
 up; all the old landmarks of society invaded and simulta- 
 neously giving way more or less before resistless innovation; 
 the predicted cry, Behold, he cometh, ringing through every 
 land; the whole world becoming like a magazine, where a 
 single spark may produce a universal explosion that must 
 carry all existing things to desolation; our great men, and 
 devout men, and nearly all thinking men, proclaiming the pre- 
 sence of some unknown change; and the book of God, which 
 I have taken as my guide, telling me that when these things 
 begin to come to pass my Savior and his kingdom are at hand: 
 
 — would I not deserve to be classed with infidels and scoffers 
 
 26 
 
302 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 if I did not believe, and merit the condemnation of a hypo- 
 critical and faithless watchman if I did not declare, that so it 
 is, and that "the end of all things is at hand"? 
 
 That many will give neither heed nor credit to these state- 
 ments, is to he expected. It was so in Noah's day. When 
 Lot warned Sodom, "he seemed as one that mocked." And 
 Christ and his prophets have foretold that it will be so again. 
 But, if people will not examine into tliese things, and, as a 
 consequence, are found unready when the Savior comes, they 
 will have themselves to thank for their calamities. For my 
 own part, I will believe and preach that the Day of the Lord 
 is at hand, and would rather encounter the sneers and vulgar 
 taunts of all mankind and be found ready when my Savior 
 comes, than to be accounted the most sober of theologians and 
 enjoy the fame of the most revered favorite of popular lauda- 
 tion, and have that day find me unfaithful to my duty and 
 unprepared for my change. I have been unable to fix upon 
 any precise time. Some profess to know it ; I do not. Christ 
 may come in three, seven, or ten years; or not so soon. A 
 few developments may make the matter certain. But I wish 
 to bear my distinct testimony, that I believe his coming is at 
 hand, and that we ought to be ready and expecting it any 
 and every day. 
 
 Nor am I alone in the.se convictions. "The Lord cometh I" 
 gays Krummacher. "Never did the church witness such a con- 
 stellation of signs of the near coming of Christ as now." That 
 "ripe scholar and profound student of prophecy," Dr. Elliott, 
 says, " We are come so near to the day of the Son of man, that 
 the generation now living shall very possibly not have passed 
 away before its fulfillment; yea, that perhaps our own eyes may 
 witness, without the intervention of death, that astonishing 
 event of the consummation." Pym says, "Upon us the ends 
 of the world are come ; and this generation shall witness the 
 advent of the Lord in glory to introduce the millenary reign 
 
FURTHER CONFIRMATORY OPINIONS. 303 
 
 of righteousness and peace." Cuuniughanie says, "All the 
 events of our own times, — the growing disorders of the body 
 politic, — the fears and expectations of men, — the deep per- 
 suasion of an impending convulsion inrooted in every thinking 
 mind, — the solemn and awakening declarations of Scripture, — 
 the clear and unequivocal voice of proi:>heey, — every sign, 
 every promise, every testimony, — unite in announcing his 
 (Christ's) approach." Habershon says, "The time undoubt- 
 edly is near at hand when the redemption of the body shall 
 be experienced, and when these bodies of our humiliation shall 
 be fashioned like unto his glorious body." "It is reasonable 
 to conclude," says Fabei', "that the time is not very far dis- 
 tant when the personal Word shall begin to tread the wine- 
 press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Grod." Gum- 
 ming says, " We are led from all signs to infer that the meet- 
 ing-place of all the lines of God's providential work on earth 
 is very near. ... It is very remarkable that all the great times 
 and dates of prophecy meet and mingle about the year 1864- 
 6. ... I do feel, that if that be not the close of the age that 
 now is, and the commencement of a better one, it will be a time 
 unprecedented since the beginning." Brooks says, " The signs 
 of the second advent in the state of the world at large are 
 such as to impress my own mind with a deep persuasion that 
 we are on the eve of events of immense — immense importance 
 to mankind." "From whatever dates we reckon," says Bick- 
 erstcth, "we cannot but consider that the time of the end is 
 drawing near, and that awful events of judgment and mercy 
 are before us." "The happy hour is not far hence," says^. 
 Taylor. " It is near, and hasteth greatly. . . . This generation 
 and century will witness his glorious epiphany!" "xllmost 
 all writers on prophecy," says Cox, "who have studied its 
 mystic numbers, make them terminate at periods towards 
 which we are rapidly approaching. However different these 
 views and schemes, they agree in this, that within a few 
 
304 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 years from the present time some of the greatest evects ever 
 witnessed will take place." I might give many more such 
 statements. 
 
 Let it not be said that these are fanatic ravings, or loose 
 vociferations of ignorant people. They are the deliberately- 
 formed conclusions of our most competent, most pious, and 
 most profound investigators of God's holy revelations. Men 
 of the highest order of mind, scholars of the profouudest 
 erudition. Christians of the most enlightened piety, after years 
 and years of patient, laborious, prayerful, and independent 
 study, and in the face of a speedily-appearing Judge, have 
 thus solemnly proclaimed to the w"orld that we are now stand- 
 ing upon the very eve of the Savior's coming. And he who 
 can rise up and pronounce their testimony false, must, under 
 the circumstances, assume a daring, assurance and responsi- 
 bility at which a pious heart should be appalled. 
 
 Neither is it a useless or unimportant thing to have the 
 solemn truth distinctly and pointedly brought before the 
 people of both the church and the world. The subject of the 
 speedy coming again of the Lord is one of the intensest prac- 
 tical value and of comfort to the believing heart. It need 
 eflfect no one but for good. It maybe awful to think of itj 
 but it will be vastly more awful to have to encounter those 
 scenes unprepared. Nor can there be any just reason for any 
 one to dread the subject. It is the master-theme of the gos- 
 pel and the final chorus in which all the harmony of the 
 Scriptures concentrates and combines. People regard it as 
 onljr terrific, whereas the Scriptures commingle with it the 
 fulfillment of all man's sublimest joy. Jesus says, " When these 
 things begin to come to pass, then LOOK UP AND LIFT UP 
 YOUR HEADS : FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH." 
 
 Hear and consider, ye of little faith. " Are you so enamored 
 of sickness that you have no Itrnging for the resurrection-body 
 and the beauteous robes of incorruption and immortality? 
 
DESIRABLENESS OF THE END. 305 
 
 Are you so enamored of aches, and ills, and losses, and be- 
 reavements, ani [laius, and battles, and famine, and plague, 
 and pestilence, that you do not wish them to be done with ? 
 Why, every statement in this blessed book leads us to the 
 otherwise-delightful conclusion that the nearer the great issue 
 comes the happier God's people should feel.. The sound that 
 rings sweet and audible from the skies amidst the crash of 
 nations, the overturning of thrones, the dissolution of dynas- 
 ties, and wars and rumors of wars, is, Lift up your heads, — 
 your redemption is near ! And if I should be able only to 
 point out a few weeds floating upon the sea that indicate 
 we are approaching the great continent of glory, — if I should 
 be able only to give an Alpine flower here and there, however 
 fragile, yet a sweet messenger of the coming spring, — evei-y true 
 Christian ought to rejoice and be glad that there are tokens 
 of a day when a genesis shall pass upon the earth better and 
 brighter than the first, and a paradise come in as the coronal 
 of time more glorious than that which was its dawn." So 
 discourses one who, from Covent Garden, is warming more 
 hearts with these momentous themes than any other living 
 man. And many have expressed themselves to the same 
 efi"ect. • 
 
 Luther once held in his hand a necklace of agates, and said, 
 " I would readily eat up this to-day for the judgment to come 
 to-morrow." " Blessed consummation of this weary and sor- 
 rowful world!" says the eloquent Irving; "I give it wel- 
 come, — I hail its approach, — I wait its coming more than 
 they that watch for the morning. Over the wrecks of a world 
 I weep, — over broken hearts of parents, — over suff"ering in- 
 fancy, — over the unconscious clay of sweet innocents, — over 
 the untimely births that have never seen the light, or have 
 just looked upon it and shut their eyes until the glorious light 
 of the resurrection-morn. my Lord, oome away ! Hasten 
 with all thy congregated ones ! My soul desireth to see the 
 U 26* 
 
306 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 King in his beauty, and the beautiful ones whom he shall 
 bring along with him." " Come forth out of thy royal cham- 
 bers, Prince of all the kings of earth!" says England's 
 greatest poet. "Put on the visible robes of thy imperial 
 majesty. Take up that unlimited sceptre which thy Almighty 
 Father hath bequeathed thee. For now the voice of thy 
 Bride calls thee, and all creatures sigh to be renewed." 
 ''How cheering the hope," says Cox, — "how cheering the 
 hope, amidst the din of war, the shouts of false joy, the 
 yell of idolatry and the groans of creation, that a period 
 is hastening when peace shall stretch its shady wings over 
 the sons of men, when rivers of joy shall water this vale 
 of tears, when cherubim to cherubim shall cry. Holy, holy, 
 
 HOLY IS THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS ; THE AVHOLE EARTH IS 
 
 FULL OF HIS glory!" " Oh that Christ would remove the 
 covering, draw aside the curtains of time and rend the heavens 
 and come down !" says Rutherford. " Oh that shadows and 
 night were gone, that the day would break, and that He who 
 feedeth among the lilies would cry to his heavenly trumpeters, 
 Make ready, let us go down and fold together the four corners 
 of the earth !" " Hasten, my Savior, the time of thy 
 return," says Baxter. " Send forth thin^ angels, and let 
 that dreadful joyful trumpet sound. Delay not, lest the living 
 give up their hopes ; delay not, lest earth should grow like 
 hell and thy church be crumbled to dust. . . . Oh, hasten that 
 great resurrection-day, when the seed that thou sowest cor- 
 ruptible shall come forth incorruptible, and graves that re- 
 ceived but rottenness and retain but dust shall return thee glo- 
 rious stars and suns. Thy desolate Bride saith. Gome. The 
 whole creation saith, C&me, even so, come, Lord Jesus!" 
 And why should not every believing heart look up and re- 
 spond with rapture, "Amen, and amen" ? View the untold 
 glories which Christ shall bring with him for every waiting 
 «oul. Consider the sublimities of happiness which that great 
 
NEARNESS OF THE ADVENT A SUBJECT OF JOY. 307 
 
 consummation shall spread forever upon this smitten world. 
 And why should we start back from the conviction that it is 
 near? 
 
 "Thrice blessed hope, 
 If home like this await the weary soul! 
 Look up, thou stricken one ! Thy wounded heart 
 Shall bleed no more at sorrow's stern control." 
 
 Whec the blessed Savior was about to leave this world, he 
 said, " I go to prepare a place for you. And, if I go and 
 prepare a place for you, / icill come again and receive you 
 unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also." And 
 hardly had he reached the threshold of his Father's sublime 
 and holy habitation until he shouted back, '' Surely I come 
 QUICKLY." Nor does the church enter into the rapture of 
 her hopes until she brings herself to respond with John, 
 "Amen ; even so, come, Lord Jesus !" Therein lies our 
 highest joy. All that is dear and precious is linked with that 
 glorious coming. And when He who is our life shall appear, 
 then shall we also appear with him in glory. Then all wrongs 
 shall be righted, the long-severed united and long-deferred 
 hope be fulfilled. Every thing uow is disjointed, depressed, 
 sickly and sad. We are surrounded with funerals, graves, 
 diseases, crimes and tears. There is no home so happy, and 
 no heart so joyous, but it has in it the deep undertones of 
 sorrow and trouble. 
 
 "There is uo flock, however watched and tended, 
 
 But one dead lamb is there; 
 There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended. 
 
 But hath one vacant chair. 
 The air is full of farewells of the dying, 
 
 And mournings for the dead ; 
 The heart of Rachel for her children crying 
 
 "Will not be comforted." 
 
 But when the expected Savior comes, these woes and griefs 
 shall have an end. Then shall the buried babe and slumberins: 
 
308 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 boy of promise awake from the cold dark sleep of years, no 
 more to writhe under fierce disease, or to be torn from pa- 
 rental love. Then shall those loved forms on which the clods 
 are pressing, and over whose damp resting-places many a win- 
 ter's snow has lain and many a summer's flower bloomed, come 
 forth to light and life never again to fall under the power of 
 corruption. Then shall the broken and scattered household 
 be regathered to separate no more. Then shall be the coro- 
 nation-day for them that have labored and suffered for Jesus. 
 Then shall the martyr receive his crown and the saint his 
 ineffable portion. Then shall tears cea.se to flow and sadness 
 to depress. Then shall the exile reach his happy home and 
 the toiling pilgrim find his everlasting rest. Then shall the 
 worshipper look upon the face of his God and the faithful 
 servant receive the transporting commendation and welcome 
 of his Lord. Then shall earth's long-predicted sabbath come 
 and the eternal jubilee of the redeemed begin. Then shall 
 the mystery of divine compassion be consummated, and this 
 prodigal orb of ours, restored once more to her Father's 
 smiles, take her place in the sisterhood of unfallen worlds, 
 reflectino; in richer lustre and celebrating in grander songs 
 the praises of Him who made it and the mercies of Him that 
 redeemed it with his blood. 
 
 No, no, no; the doctrine of the Savior's speedy coming is 
 not a thing of gloom and sadne.*s. It is ffoxj^el, — pure gospel, 
 — nothing but good news. If it has any thing distressing 
 in it, you yourself uiust put it there by your hard-hearteduess, 
 your prayerlessness and unforsaken sin. If you have fixed 
 your heart and faith on Jesus as your prophet, priest and 
 king, you have naught to fear and every thing to hope. 
 They that put their trust in him shall never be put to con- 
 fusion. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the 
 Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. Hath he 
 not said, " He that confesseth me before men, him will I also 
 
CONCLUDING EXHORTATION. 309 
 
 confess before my Father, and before his holy angels"? Is 
 not the immutable covenant made and sealed, pledging all 
 the sublime attributes of God for the believer's safety ? If 
 he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up freely for us 
 all, will he not with him also freely give us all things? The 
 only question is, Have you submitted to Christ? Have you 
 given up to do all your duty as he enjoins it? Have you 
 accepted of him as your Savior and your hope ? Have you 
 identified yourself with him iu the fellowship of his church? 
 Is he your alpha and your omega ? — your all in all ? Then fear 
 not. Only be faithful a little longer, and the day will come 
 which will be to you a gladder day than ever you thought it 
 possible for you to see. And as you behold the fig leaves put- 
 ting forth as the heralds of its approach, ''look up and lift up 
 your head ; for your redemption draweth nigh." 
 
 But God forbid that I should cry peace where there is no 
 peace, or encourage hope where there is no hope. If any of 
 you are yet prayerless, without submission to Christ, loving 
 self or the world more than God, and standing aloof from the 
 gospel-way of life, you may well be alarmed and tremble at 
 what is before you. The day of the Savior's revelation will 
 be a day of fearful vengeance upon them that know not God 
 and obey not the gospel of his Son. And better, a thousand 
 times better, that you should now be filled with all Belshazzar's 
 terror, if it will lead you to repentance, than to go on in carnal 
 comfort and meet your coming Judge with hearts unrecon- 
 ciled and sins unforgiven. And yet you need not tremble 
 with utter despair. You are not where the rich man called 
 for help but found it not. The door of salvation still is open. 
 The proclamation of forgiving mercy still rings in your ears. 
 Wicked and negligent as you have been, you may yet come 
 and share in the sublimest joys Christianity has to give. 
 Your injured and weeping Redeemer still stretches out to you 
 bis hands and bids you Gome. The Spirit and the Bride say 
 
310 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Come. And whosoever will, let him come. Oh, how great is 
 the mercy which some of you have abused, and the compas- 
 sion and privileges which you have set at naught ! Never- 
 theless, here I am to-day, with authority from God in heaven 
 to offer to you a free forgiveness and eternal life, if you will 
 but accept the gift upon the plain and easy terms therewith 
 annexed: — "Turn yourselves and live." Will you do it? 
 You, prayerless, careless father, mother, child, reviler, prodi- 
 gal, blasphemer, scoffer, neglecter of God, will you do it ? 
 Your time is growing short. Your day of grace will soon be 
 over. Your summer-time of hope will soon have passed away. 
 Will you now start to be a child of God and heir of heaven ? 
 There is room enough ; will you come and occupy it ? The 
 robes, and palms, and harps and crowns of righteousness and 
 life are soon to be distributed ; will you come and put in your 
 application ? Oh, let those stiff necks bend, those hard hearts 
 relent, those stubborn wills surrender; and send up your 
 prayers to the mercy-seat now ere it is changed to an inex- 
 orable judgment-throne. Gracious God ! pity poor sinners, 
 and spare them yet a little, and plead mightily with them that 
 they may repent and live ! Oh, suffer them not to perish for- 
 ever; but so move them by thy good Spirit that they may 
 seek thy face and come with all thy saints into the joys of 
 that nearing world for which we long and wait. And then 
 and there we will ever sing, " Unto him that loved us, 
 
 AND washed us EROM OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD, 
 
 and hath made us kings and priests unto god, to 
 him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 
 Amen." 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and 
 the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, now, hence- 
 forth, and evermore. Amen. 
 
THE NEAV JERUSALEM. 311 
 
 Silie ^£fa lerusakitt. 
 
 MOTHER dear, Jerusalem, 
 
 When shall I come to thee ? 
 When shall my sorrows have an end?— 
 
 Thy joys when shall I see? 
 happy harbor of the saints ! 
 
 sweet and pleasant soil ! 
 In thee no sorrows can be found, — 
 
 No grief, no care, no toil. 
 
 In thee no sickness is at all. 
 
 No hurt, nor any sore ; 
 There is no death, nor ugly sight, 
 
 But life for evermore. 
 No dimming cloud o'ershadows thee, 
 
 No cloud nor darksome night ; 
 But every soul shines as the sun. 
 
 For God himself gives light. 
 
 There, lust and lucre cannot dwell. 
 
 There, envy bears no sway; 
 There is no hunger, thirst, nor heat, 
 
 But pleasures every way. 
 Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! 
 
 Would God I were in thee ! 
 Oh that my sorrows had an end. 
 
 Thy joys that I might see ! 
 
 No pains, no pangs, no grieving grief. 
 
 No woful night, is there ; 
 No sigh, no sob, no cry is heard — 
 
 No well-a-day, no fear. 
 Jerusalem the city is 
 
 Of God our King alone; 
 The Lamb of God, the light thereof, 
 
 Sits there upon his throne. 
 
 God ! that I Jerusalem 
 With speed may go behold ! 
 
 For why ? the pleasures there abound 
 Which here cannot be told. 
 
312 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Thy turrets and thy pinnacles 
 AVith carbuncles do shine, 
 
 With jasper, pearl, and chrysolite. 
 Surpassing pure and fine. 
 
 Thy houses are of ivory, 
 Thy windows crystal clear. 
 
 Thy streets are laid with beaten gold- 
 There angels do appear. 
 
 Thy walls are made of precious stone. 
 Thy bulwarks diamonds square, 
 
 Thy gates are made of Orient pearl — 
 God, if I were there ! 
 
 Within thy gates nothing can come 
 
 That is not passing clean,- 
 No spider's web, no dirt, no dust. 
 
 No filth, may there be seen. 
 Jehovah, Lord, now come away. 
 
 And end my grief and plaints ; 
 Take me to thy Jerusalem, 
 
 And place me with thy saints. 
 
 Who there are crown'd with glory grea^ 
 
 And see God face to face ; 
 They triumph still and aye rejoice — 
 
 Most happy is their case. 
 But we that are in banishment 
 
 Con'^inually do moan ; 
 We sigh, we mourn, we sob, we weep, 
 
 Perpetually we groan. 
 
 Our sweetness mixed is with gall. 
 
 Our pleasures are but pain, 
 Our joys not worth the looking on — 
 
 Our sorrows aye remain. 
 But there they live in such delight, 
 
 Such pleasures and such play. 
 That unto them a thousand years 
 
 Seem but as yesterday. 
 
 my sweet home, Jerusalem ! 
 Thy joys when shall I see? 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 313 
 
 Thy King sitting upon his throne, 
 
 And thy felicity ? 
 Thy vineyards and thy orchards, 
 
 So wonderfully rare, 
 Are furnish'd with all kinds of fruit. 
 
 Most beautifully fair. 
 
 There David stands, with harp in hand. 
 
 As master of the choir; 
 A thousand times that man were bless'd 
 
 That might his music hear. 
 There Mary sings " Magnificat," 
 
 AVith tuues surpassing sweet; 
 And all the virgins bear their part. 
 
 Singing about her feet. 
 
 " Te Deum," doth St. Ambrose sing, 
 
 St. Austin doth the like; 
 Old Simeon and Zacharie 
 
 Have not their songs to seek. 
 There Magdalene hath left her moan. 
 
 And cheerfully doth sing, 
 With all blest saints whose harmony 
 
 Through every street doth ring. 
 
 Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! 
 
 Thy joys fain would I see; 
 Come, quickly, Lord, and end my grief 
 
 And take me home to thee ! 
 Oh, paint thy name in my forehead, 
 
 And take me hence away, 
 That I may dwell with thee in bliss. 
 
 And sing thy praises aye ! 
 
 Jerusalem, the happy home — 
 
 Jehovah's throne on high ! 
 sacred city, queen, and wife. 
 
 Of Christ eternally ! 
 comely queen, with glory clad. 
 
 With honor and degree, 
 All fair thou art, exceeding bright, 
 
 No spot there is in thee. 
 27 
 
314 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 I long to see Jerusalem, 
 
 The comfort of us all; 
 For thou art fair and beautiful, — 
 
 None ill can thee befall. 
 In thee, Jerusalem, I say, 
 
 No darkness dare appear; 
 No night, no shade, no winter foul,— 
 
 No time doth alter there. 
 
 No candle needs, no moon to shine. 
 
 No glittering stars to light; 
 For Christ, the King of righteousness, 
 
 Forever shineth bright. 
 A Lamb unspotted, white, and pure, 
 
 To thee doth stand in lieu 
 Of light, — so great the glory is 
 
 Thine heavenly King to view. 
 
 He is the King of kings, beset 
 
 In midst his servants' sight ; 
 And they, his happy household, all 
 
 Do serve him day and night; 
 There, there the choir of angels sing ; 
 
 There the supernal sort 
 Of citizens, which hence are rid 
 
 From dangers deep, do sport. 
 
 There be the prudent prophets all, 
 
 The apostles six and six. 
 The glorious martyrs in a row, 
 
 And confessors betwixt. 
 There doth the crew of righteous men 
 
 And nations all consist; 
 Young men and maids that here on earth 
 
 Their pleasures did resist. 
 
 The sheep and lambs that hardly 'scap'd 
 
 The snare of death and hell 
 Triumph in joy eternally. 
 
 Whereof no tongue can tell ; 
 And though the glory of each one 
 
 Doth differ in degree. 
 Yet is the joy of all alike 
 
 And common as we see. 
 
 I 
 
THE NEW JERUSALEM. 315 
 
 There love and charity do reign, 
 
 And Christ is all in all. 
 Whom they most perfectly behold 
 
 In joy celestial. 
 They love, they praise, — they praise, they love ; 
 
 They "Holy, holy," cry; 
 They neither toil, nor faint, nor end, 
 
 But laud eternally. 
 
 Oh, happy thousand times were I, 
 
 If, after wretched days, 
 I might with listening ears conceive 
 
 Those heavenly songs of praise 
 Which to the eternal King are sung 
 
 By happy wights above, — 
 By saved souls and angels sweet. 
 
 Who love the God of love. 
 
 Oh, passing happy were my state. 
 
 Might I be worthy found 
 To wait upon my God and King, 
 
 His praises there to sound. 
 mother dear, Jerusalem, 
 
 AVhen shall I come to thee ? 
 When shall my sorrows have an end ? — 
 
 Thy joys when shall I see? ■ 
 
 Yet once again I pray thee. Lord, 
 
 To quit me from all strife, 
 That to thy hill I may attain. 
 
 And dwell there all my life, 
 With cherubims and seraphims. 
 
 And souls of holy men. 
 To sing thy praise, God of hosts. 
 
 Forever, and amen. 
 
 David Dickson. 
 
316 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Itotcs and ^bbitional ©iscrbatians. 
 
 Note A. First Discourse, P. 10. 
 
 OPINIONS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN AS TO THE TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE. 
 
 Luther, in his lifetime, said, '^I am persuaded that verily 
 the day of judgment is not far oflF; yea, will not be absent 
 three hundred years longer. The voice will soon be heard, 
 'Behold the Bridegroom cometh !' " (See Chap. I. of his 
 Ta'de-Talk.) Luther died in 1546. 
 
 Archdeacon Browne, of England, in 1835, said that he was 
 "strongly impressed with the conviction that our lot has fallen 
 under the solemn period emphatically designated in Daniel as 
 the time of the end !" 
 
 Dr. Duff, of Scotland, recently said, " Surely the present 
 crisis is constraining us to arise, and that with our whole heart. 
 Surely it looks as if in response to the sighing of the whole 
 creation groaning in uneasiness and pain, through long by- 
 gone ages, for the times of the restitution of all things, — surely 
 in answer to the plaintive cry of the myriad martyrs from 
 under the altar, who age after age have been uttering their 
 longing cry, ' How long, Lord, how long ?' — He who is 
 seated on the throne on high is now indicating, by no ordinary 
 signs, that he is to arise and assume his great power, and to 
 manifest himself as really King and Governor among the 
 nations. Surely, in the language of one of old, the great 
 Messiah is about to come forth from his royal chamber, — 
 about to put on the invisible robes of his imperial majesty, 
 
OPINIONS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN. 317 
 
 and to take up the unlimited sceptre which his Father hath 
 bequeathed to him. Even now, in the ear of faith, and al- 
 most in the ear of sense, we may hear the distant noise of the 
 chariot-wheels of the mighty Saviour-King, coming forth con- 
 quering and to conquer, amid the shaking of the nations from 
 pole to pole. Every nation has of late been upheaving from 
 its ancient settled foundations; and there will be mightier 
 upheavings still, and that right speedily, — all preparing the 
 way for the new heavens and the new earth, in which right- 
 eousness will forever dwell !" 
 
 Macaulaij, the essayist, wrote, in 1831, " Many Christians 
 believe that the Messiah will shortly establish a kingdom on 
 the earth and reign visibly over all its inhabitants. Whether 
 this doctrine be orthodox or not, we shall not inquire. The 
 number of people who hold it is very much greater than the 
 number of Jews residing in England. Many of those who 
 hold it are distinguished by rank, wealth, and ability; it is 
 preached from pulpits both of the Scottish and of the Eng- 
 lish Church. Noblemen and members of Parliament have 
 written in defence of it, — who expect ' that before this 
 generation shall pass away, all the kingdoms of the earth 
 will be swallowed up in one Divine Empire.' " — Essays on 
 the JeiDS. 
 
 Dr. N. L. Rice says, "The world is now rapidly approach- 
 ing another great epoch, the most important in the history of 
 our world." ''We live in an eventful day." "The time can- 
 not be distant when great changes are to take place among 
 the nations. It is our wisdom, therefore, both to examine 
 carefully and prayerfully the prophecies whose fulfilment is 
 yet future, and to watch passing events, which throw light 
 upon these prophecies. It is a great misfortune to mistake 
 the character of the age in which we live, and to fail to un- 
 derstand the signs which God gives, that his people may act 
 
 with him their part." — Signs of the Times 
 
 27* 
 
318 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Rev. Ilollis Read, author of "God in History," says, "We 
 are living in a very remarkable period of the world's history. 
 A very general impression obtains in all reflecting minds 
 that we are on the confines of another of those signal crises 
 which mark the history of our race. The signs of the times 
 are strangely significant." "There is a feeling in the human 
 breast that despotism, bloodshed, fraud, oppression, and un- 
 bridled lust, have, in defiance of Pleaven, rioted long enough, 
 and that a righteous God will soon rise in his wrath and make 
 a short work. This prophetic yearning for deliverance — this 
 instinctive prophecy of the human heart — is not peculiar to 
 the Christian : the Hindoo, the Mohammedan, the Papist, 
 feels it. The v.'orld waits th.e coming change." — The Coming 
 Crisis of the World. 
 
 Dr. Stephen H. Ti/ng says, "Whatever may be the will 
 of God, who keeps the times and seasons in his own power, in 
 prolonging the days, of which we can know nothing, we may, 
 and must, still say, that all the lines of prophecy meet in this 
 designated year 1868, as the time of the glorious coming of 
 the Son of man, — the manifestation of the Lord Jesus in the 
 glory of his kingdom, according to the testimony of Scrip- 
 ture." — Articles on The Kingdom of God. 
 
 Dr. Baird, in Rochester, 1852, remarked that "no well- 
 informed man can look upon the world as it is, without 
 coming to the conclusion that some gi'eat consummation is 
 about to take place." 
 
 Dr. Hitchcock, of Amherst, says, " In a very short time — 
 far shorter than we imagine — all the scenes of futurity will be 
 to us a thrilling reality !" — The Future Condition and Destiny 
 of the Earth. 
 
 Dr. G. B. Cheever writes, " It is impossible to look upon a 
 more sublime spectacle than that which rises to the mind 
 of a spiritual observer at the present crisis. A voice like 
 the archangel's trumpet is crying, ' Cast up, cast up the high- 
 
)PINIONS OP DISTINGUISHED MEN. 319 
 
 way; gather out the stones; lift up a standard to the people!' 
 Event rolls on after event. As the purposes of God are ad- 
 vancing nearer to their completion, ten thousand significant 
 events sweep onward in the train. The convergency of all 
 things to the point becomes more and more rapid. Meaning 
 begins to appear in events before shrouded in mystery. An 
 omnipotent plan, it is manifest, is in operation, and the trains 
 laid with Divine wisdom are fast completing.'' — Grant's Nes- 
 ton'ans, p. 3G0. 
 
 I^rof Gtorge Bush says, "If we take the ground of right 
 reason, we must believe that the present age is one expressly 
 foretold in prophecy, and that it is just opening upon the 
 crowning consummation of all prophetic declarations." 
 
 Br. Bogie said, in 1839, "Eeflect what mighty changes 
 have occurred in Europe in less than thirty years; what 
 rapid revolutions have taken place within the last six years; 
 changes which no one ten years ago could have imagined 
 he would live to see. The next generation will behold more 
 wonderful things, and may see the commencement of the 
 thousand years." — Crisis, p. 309. 
 
 These are the declarations of Christians. The Jewish mind 
 has been brought to like convictions and anticipations. Rabbi 
 Carillon, of Jamaica Island, affirms that '' there is every 
 reason to believe that the latter days are not far off: let us, 
 therefore, be on the watch and in continual prayer." It is 
 said by a European writer, that "Jews who never before 
 thought of a Messiah begin now to say, 'These are the days 
 of travail which precede His coming.' " Solomon Herschel, 
 Rabbi of the chief synagogue of the Jews in London, is re- 
 presented as saying that his people, after close investigation 
 of the subject, think, with him, that the Messiah's advent 
 cannot be delayed beyond 1863. And it was announced in 
 the public journals in 1852 that there were then thousands 
 of Jews in Jerusalem all anxiously expecting the Messiah. 
 
320 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 And what divines have uttered as their learning of the 
 Scriptures, statesmen and philosojihers have also declared as 
 their reading of the indications of events. 
 
 Hon. Rv/us Choate remarked, in 1851, '' It has seemed to 
 me as if the prerogatives of crowns, and the rights of men, 
 and the hoarded-up resentments and revenges of a thousand 
 years, were about to unsheath the sword for a conflict, in 
 which blood shall flow, as in the Apocalyptic vision, to the 
 bridles of the horses, and in which a whole age of men shall 
 pass away, in which the great bell of Time shall sound out an- 
 other hour, in which society itself shall be tried by fire and 
 steel, whether it is of nature and nature's God or not." 
 
 ^ir Robert Peel said in Parliament, in 1842, " Every as- 
 pect of the present times, viewed in the light of the past, 
 warrants the belief that we are on the eve of a universal 
 change." 
 
 Louis Kossuth not long ago said, "I say this prophetically. 
 I have already read it in the book of Providence, which is 
 made to be a revelation to mankind. The destiny of man- 
 kind has come to the turning-point of centuries. There is a 
 cry of alarm upon the ostensible approach of universal dan- 
 ger. The despotic governments of Europe feel their ap- 
 proaching death. The decisive struggle is near. It will be 
 the last in mankind's history." 
 
 Br. Arnold observes, " Modern history appears to be not 
 only a step in advance of ancient history, but the last step; 
 it appears to bear marks of the fulness of time, — as if there 
 would be no future history beyond it. My sense of the evils 
 of the times that are coming, and of the prospects to which I 
 am bringing up my poor children, is overwhelming." — 3Jodern 
 History, p. 38. 
 
 The Liviw/ Age says, " V>' e stand at a great starting-point 
 in the history of the world. Old things are about to pass 
 away, and we know not what shall be the new. The conti- 
 
OPINIONS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN. 321 
 
 nent of Europe, startled by the warning trumpet of 1848, has 
 cowered into silence; all ftices gather blackness, and men's 
 hearts foil them for fear of what is coming on the earth." 
 
 And the spirit of t]ie Press generally is to the same effect. 
 
 The Presbyterian Expositor says, " We live in a day of un- 
 precedented excitement and agitation ; and the minds of all 
 intelligent men are looking for great events. No wonder that 
 some are expecting the second coming of the Son of God to 
 subdue to himself all kingdoms and reign on earth a thou- 
 sand years. Beyond a question, we are on the eve of great 
 events." 
 
 The New York Evangelist, in 1848, remarked, ''Had the 
 present state of Europe been prophesied fifty years ago, would 
 any have credited the prophecy? We believe that in this 
 year we have seen the beginning of the end." 
 
 The Christian Luminary sa.ys, "This truly is an age of 
 wonders, changes, and revolutions. No thinking man can 
 open his eyes upon the great events that are passing before 
 us, without being impressed with the signs of the times, and 
 constrained to admit that important scenes are about to be 
 opened to the view of an astonished world. The seals are 
 opening; the trumpets are sounding; the nations are shaking; 
 signs are seen in the heavens and on earth." 
 
 A writer in The Christian Review says, " I av^ strongly 
 persuaded that the present generation of men stand upon the 
 very eve of the mightiest revolution that the annals of time 
 record." " A silent, rapid, irresistible preparation has been 
 making, — making, perhaps, for a sudden, subversive, and uni- 
 versal change. What will it be ?" 
 
 And The Srienfijic jVechanic affirms, "No man now living 
 has ever witnessed, nor has any historian recorded, so inte- 
 resting a position of the world and the nations thereof, as is 
 presented at the present time. . . . Men are looking upon the 
 present convulsed state of the world as portending great poll- 
 
322 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 tieal reforms; but, in view of certain facts whicli cannot be 
 disputed, we think it reasonable that faithful Christians should 
 look for something more important. The world is now iust 
 about six thousand years old Viewing the fact in connection 
 with the unprecedented tempests, inundations, earthquakes, 
 and famines which have occurred within the last few years, 
 and the present extraordinary perplexity and commotions 
 among the nations, we cannot avoid the anticipation of events 
 incomparably more important than any that have been prog- 
 nosticated by the secular press." 
 
 Church of England Quarterly Revieio. — "We live in times 
 when the Christian and the Infidel, the statesman and the 
 divine, seem to agree in the expectation that some great crisis 
 is at hand. The public mind, both at home and abroad, is 
 held in the calm of a feverish suspense. New and strange 
 blasphemies are coming to the birth ; the foundations of the 
 State are loosing, and the Church of God is beset and assailed 
 on eve'ry side. . . . All eyes are fixed with an eager gaze upon 
 the dark and coming future." 
 
 Lord Sliaffeshuri/, at a recent meeting for promoting 
 Christianity among the Jews, said, "The signs of the times 
 are really unparalleled and most wonderful. And I think it 
 does not proceed from any spirit of fanaticism, if we say that 
 we really believe they are tending to some final consumma- 
 tion." 
 
 An able English writer says, " I would earnestly entreat the 
 unthinking world to ponder well the fact, that fulfilled and 
 hourly fulfilling prophecy prove to demonstration, that the days 
 of the apostate kingdoms of the earth are numbered, — that the 
 day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of his redeemed are 
 at hand." 
 
 Hewitson, "All things portend change on an unparalleled 
 scale, and disaster such as never yet has been witnessed in any 
 age, as being near at hand to this evil world." 
 
THE WORD GENERATION IN MATT. XXIV. 34. 323 
 
 Note B. First Discourse, p. 29. 
 
 ON THE MEANING OF ycvea ("GENERATION") IN MATT. XXIV. 34. 
 
 Both the Syriac and the German versions render the word 
 yevea, in this place, by terms which signify a continuous race, 
 rather than the people living within one limited period of 
 time. 
 
 The annotators in the Berlenberg Bible also understand it 
 to refer to " des Jtidischen Volks, die Nachkommen mitge- 
 rechnet." — in loc. 
 
 Flacius Illyricus takes the Savior's declaration as equiva- 
 lent to "gentum Judaicam non interituram prorsus." — Scrip. 
 Clav., art. Generatio. 
 
 Joseph Mede, one of the most learned men of his age, 
 says, '^yavea signifies not only setas, but gens, natio progenies; 
 and so ought to be here taken, viz. : that the nation of the 
 Jews should not perish till all these things were fuljilled." 
 
 Dr. Clarke renders the phrase. Matt, xxiii. 36, " Eizi ttjv 
 yevsav raurrjv, upon this race of men, viz. : the Jews." On 
 Matt. xi. 16, he renders the same phrase the same way, and 
 says, "so the word yevsa is often to be understood in the 
 Evangelists." On Matt. xii. 39, he says, further, that this 
 word should be taken as denoting a race of people, and that 
 so it "should be translated in most other places in the Gos- 
 pels ; for our Lord, in general, uses it to point out the Jewish 
 people. This translation is the key to unlock some very ob- 
 scure passages in the Evangelists." And in the passage in 
 question he explains the Savior's declaration to mean that 
 " this race, i.e. the Jexcs, shall not cease from being a distinct 
 people, till all the counsels of God relative to them and the 
 Gentiles be fulfilled. Some translate rj yevea uuttj, this genera- 
 tion, meaning the persons who were then living, that they 
 
324 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 should not die before these signs, &c. took place ; but ... I 
 think it more proper not to restrain its meaning to the few 
 years which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem ; but to 
 understand it of the care taken by Divine Providence to pre- 
 serve them as a distinct 'p(ioi:)le, and yet keep them out of their 
 own land and from their temple-service." 
 
 Edward King remarks, "^evea, in its true etymological 
 signification, means surely much rather tliis race of mankind, 
 or this mode of men's existing upon earth in the present life, 
 than this one j^fJi'ticidar generation, according to the vulgar 
 acceptation." — Morsels of Criticism, vol. i. p. 405. 
 
 ''The expression, this generation," says Dr. Auberlen, 
 "which has caused so much discussion, means here, not this 
 present generation, but this tinhelieving Jeicish people. For 
 it has not only been proven with much erudition by Dorner 
 (in his Dissertatio de Oratione Christi escliatologicci) that the 
 expression yevea may be also used of a people; but, even 
 taking the word literally, Christ often uses it with somewhat 
 of an undercurrent of reproach. It is impossible to think 
 that the expression refers to the term of human life." — On 
 Daniel & Rev., p. 354. 
 
 Dr. Stier finds a parallel in Matt, xxiii. 36, where, he says, 
 "not merely the then present, last, generation was meant, but, 
 including hackv:ards the entire race as one stock and lineage, 
 the entire people who are judged in the last generation ; so 
 the term here has the same signification pointing forwards. 
 Just because the children are like the fathers, yevsa passes 
 beyond the species into the idea of the yevoc;, and this is the 
 proper sense of this expression when it is used concerning 
 Israel. . . . What further reference, then, does yevea include, 
 if not the wondrous continuance of Israel even to the end for 
 which it is spared ?" — in loc. 
 
 Dorner has stated the conclusion of his learned investiga- 
 tion of the subject in these words: " Quare omnes reor con- 
 
THE WORD GENERATION IN MATT. XXIV. 34. 325 
 
 cessuros, voceui yz\tta, si earn vertas setas, multas easque 
 I^lane iusujoerabiles ciere difficultates, contestum vero et ora- 
 tioues progressuiii flagitare significationem gcntis, ntmpe Ju- 
 dseorum." — Stier, iii. 291. 
 
 Calovius also understands the reference here to be to the 
 Jewish nation. — Lange, in loc. 
 
 Dean Alford refers to Jer. viii. 3 in LXX.; Matt, xxxiii. 
 36,35; Matt, xii.45; Lukexvii. 25; Matt. xvii. 17; Lukexvi.8; 
 Acts ii.40; Phil. ii. 15; and says, "In all these places yz:>ea is 
 equivalent to yevu^jor nearly so; having, it is true, a more preg- 
 nant meaning, implying that the character of one generation 
 stamps itself upon the race, as here in this verse also. . . . The 
 continued use of Tzapepyoiiat in verses 34, 35, should have 
 saved the commentators from the blunder of imao-ining; that 
 the then living generation was meant, seeing that the prophecy 
 is by the next verse carried on to the end of all things, and 
 that, as a matter of fact, the apostles and ancient Christians 
 did continue to expect the Lord's coming after that genera- 
 tion had passed away." — Greek N. Test., wi loc. 
 
 The same interpretation of this word in this passage is 
 given also by Pareus, Jansenius, Wolfius, Du Veil, Dr. 
 Sykes, Towers, Barnes, Buck, and Ryle. It is without doubt 
 the true interpretation. And, if so, it entirely does away with 
 the alleged necessity of applying the discourse in which it 
 occurs, to the destruction of Jeru.salem, and shows that the 
 great burden of the prophecy relates to the last times, and the 
 proper coming of Christ at the great consummation. 
 
 28 
 
326 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Note C. Second Discourse, p. 57. 
 
 THE AUGSBDKG AND HELVETIC CONFESSIONS AGAINST THE MODERN 
 IDEAS OF THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 The words referring to tlie subject, in the Augustana, are 
 found in the Seventeenth Article : — " Item, hie werden ver- 
 •worffen etliche jiidische Lehre, die sich auch jtzund eriiugen, 
 das vor der Auferstehung die Toden, eitel heilige, fromme 
 ein weltlich Reich haben, uud alle gottlosen vertilgen 
 werden." The Latin version reads, ''Damnant et alios, qui 
 nunc spargunt judaicas, quod ante resurrectionum mortuum 
 pii regnum mundi occupaturi sint, ubique oppressis impiis." 
 A very good translation is given in Hall's " Harmony of Con- 
 fessions," m these words: — "They condemn others also, which 
 spread abroad Jewish opinions, that, before the resurrection 
 of the dead, the godly shall get the sovereignty in the world, 
 and the wicked be brought under in every place." 
 
 With this harmonizes exactly the eleventh chapter of the 
 Latter Confession of Helvetia, where it is written, "More- 
 over, we condemn the Jewish dreams, that before the judg- 
 ment there shall be a golden world in the earth, and that the 
 godly shall possess the kingdoms of the world, their wicked 
 enemies being trodden under foot; for the evangelical truth, 
 Matt. xxiv. and xxv., and Luke xxi., and the apostolic doc- 
 trine in the Second Epistle to Timothy iii. and iv., are found 
 to teach far otherwise." 
 
 These quotations give the highest Confessional authority in 
 modern Christendom, and they are clearly against the doc- 
 trine of a Millennium of universal triumph for Christianity 
 and the Church previous to the coming of Christ and the 
 resurrection of the dead. 
 
THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION ON CIIILIASM. 327 
 
 Note D. Second Discourse, p. 57. 
 
 DOES THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION CONDEMN CHILIASM? 
 
 It has been asserted by many, that the quotation in the 
 preceding note condemns all Chiliastic or Millenarian teach- 
 ings. (Vide Knapp, Theol. 2, p. 637 ; Schmid, Dogmatic, 
 p. 520; Schott, Aug. Conf. p. 109; Sclimuc*ker, Mamial, 
 p. 196; Moehler, Symbolism, p. 430; et cetera.) It is a 
 statement, however, which has been made without the proper 
 discrimination, and which cannot be maintained. That there 
 is a kind of Chiliasm which is condemned by the Augsburg 
 Confession, is admitted. That those are in error, who say that 
 a temporal kingdom (weltlich Reich) will be possessed by the 
 saints and the godly, and that hy them the ungodly will be 
 rooted out of the earth, or subdued to servitude, we sincerely 
 believe. With equal heartiness do we refuse to assent to 
 those who teach that the partakers of the first resurrection 
 shall spend their millennial reign upon earth in all sorts of cor- 
 poreal gratifications. There have also been people, who have 
 been more or less identified with Chiliastic teachings, whose 
 views on other subjects, and whose manner of life, have been 
 so reprehensible that we can by no means acknowledge fel- 
 lowship or sympathy with them. From such notions and 
 teachers the Confessors thought it necessary to separate them- 
 selves in this article, in which we fully subscribe to their tes- 
 timony. But that all Chiliasm, or that Chiliasm per se, is 
 here condemned, we do not believe, and urge in support of 
 our view the following considerations : — 
 
 1. Chiliasm, or Millenaviauism, is not at all named in the 
 Confession, nor anywhere in the Lutheran symbols. This, 
 we suppose, will not be disputed. By name, therefore, it cer- 
 tainly is not condemned. 
 
 2. The description of the opinions condemned does not 
 
328 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 describe proper Millenarianism. It is no doctrine of Mil- 
 lenarians that the pious are to have a separate kingdom to 
 themselves "before the resurrection of the dead." The 
 kingdom and administrations for which they look and hope 
 are after the resurrection. The Millennium and personal 
 reign which Papias taught the Church to expect, he distinctly 
 put "after the resurrection." (Euseb. Hist. 3, cap. 39, p. 
 126.) Justin Martyr said tliere must first be a rising from 
 the dead at the return of Christ. (Semisch's Life and Times 
 of Justin, 2, p. 371.) Irenfeus expressed himself plainly to 
 the same effect. (Dodgson's Tertullian, Oxford, Note D, p. 
 121.) Tertullian wrote, '"'We do indeed confess that a king- 
 dom on earth is promised us, before the time of heaven, but 
 in another state, because in a city the work of Grod, Jerusalem 
 brought down from heaven, after the resurrection." (See 
 Greswell on Parables, 1, p. 306.) Lactantius says, "When 
 God shall come to judge the world, and shall restore unto life 
 ike just that have been since the beginning, he shall converse 
 among men a thousand years, and rule them with a most 
 righteous government. . . . And they that shall be raised from 
 the dead shall be over the living as judges." And so all 
 Chiliasts in all ages, who can in iiny reason be classed with 
 those members of the Church to whom that designation pro- 
 perly belongs, have believed and taught, \\z.. that an essen- 
 tial preliminary to the instalment of the saints in their future 
 blessed kiughood and priesthood is, their resurrection from 
 the grave to immortality, and that it is only after the resur- 
 rection that they are to reign with Christ. Either, then, the 
 Confessors knew not about what they were speaking, or Chili- 
 'asm, as such, and as set forth by its only acknowledged 
 teachers, is not the subject of condemnation in this article. 
 
 3. It is plain from the words themselves, that the Confes- 
 sors here referred to a class of errorists living and active at 
 the time the Confession was made. These were evidently 
 
THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION ON CHILIASM. 829 
 
 the Anabaptists, who are named in another part of the 
 Article, and who well deserved all the censure that was thus 
 passed upon them. But they were not MiUenarians, at least 
 in the sense that the Church Fathers were. Chiliastic doc- 
 trines were professed by some of them at first, but they were 
 soon merged in enthusiastic and wicked extravagances, which 
 presently extinguished them altogether. They denied the 
 sufficiency of the Bible for man's spiritual enlightenment, 
 claimed to be inspired, and put their utterances on a footing 
 with the teachings of prophets and apostles. They taught, 
 indeed, the speedy setting up of a kingdom, which they 
 called the kingdom of Christ, but assigned it a character of 
 outwardness and earthiness, and other features, as much at 
 variance with Millenariaus as with spiritualizers. They re- 
 pudiated all human laws and magistrates, and set themselves 
 to subvert all existing institutions, in order to realize the 
 kingdom of their dreams, which can in no case be laid to the 
 charge of Church Chiliasts. Instead of leaving to Christ to 
 establish his own kingdom in his own time and superhuman 
 way, as we teach, they themselves undertook to establish it 
 with fire and sword, and took a certain tailor, John Buck- 
 holdt, and set him up as "King of Zion," in the name and 
 place of Jesus, regarding him as the representative of God 
 himself, the Lord of all the earth, by whose administrations 
 all worldly powers were to be rooted up, the wicked extermi- 
 nated, and a kingdom of saints established in this world, with- 
 out having to wait the time of "the resurrection of the just." 
 (Vide Mosheim, Gh. Hist., vol. i. p. 78; Ranke, Hist. Reform., 
 3, chap. 1; Hardwick, On Reform., pp. 273-280; Milner, Ch. 
 Hist., 2, pp. 341, 409-441, 532 ; Moshler, Si/mbolism, pp. 
 429-444 ; Knapp, TheoL, art. 15, sec. 154 ; Walch, Luther's 
 Work!^, 15, pp. 2366-2367 ; also, vol. 5, p. 1400.) 
 
 That these were the people whose teachings and doings the 
 Confessors meant to condemn, is shown by the terms they 
 
 28S 
 
330 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 use, and all the surroundings of the case. That of which they 
 meant to purge themselves and warn mankind was Miinster 
 Anahaj)tlsm., — a base furor of designing or deceived people, 
 with which Christian Chiliasm has less in common, perhaps, 
 than Mormonism with the teachings of Jesus, or Mohammed- 
 anism with the Church of Christ. 
 
 4. The best authorities on the subject also lead us to be- 
 lieve that it w^as the seditious and infamous Judaizing doc- 
 trines, and the perverted ideas of the kingdom of God, held 
 and disseminated by the Anabaptists, which the Confessors 
 here intended to disown and condemn, and these alone. 
 
 The very highest authority is, of course, Lnther himself. 
 His understanding of the matter has been very well repro- 
 duced in a work called Lutherm Reclivivus, published in 1697, 
 which professes to give authentically the opinions of Luther 
 upon every Article of the Augsburg Confession. On page 
 384, he is thus made to speak upon the points before us : — 
 "As no one can better say than myself what the Augsburg 
 Confession means by Jewish doctrines, in that I myself made 
 the first draft of this Confession, I here give you this account: 
 The Jews desire nothing more of their Messiah than that he 
 should be a Chocab and worldly king, who will slay us Chris- 
 tians and heathen, divide the earth among the Jews, and make 
 them lords and princes, and finally, also, die like other kings, 
 as also his children after him. For so says a Rabbi, ' Thou 
 art not to imagine that it will be different, or go otherwise, 
 in the times of the Messiah, than as has been arranged from 
 the beginning of the world ;' that is, there will be day and 
 night, years and lunations, summer and winter, seeding and 
 harvests, rearing of children and dying, eating, drinking, 
 sleeping, growing, digesting, &c., every thing as it is now, 
 except that the Jews are to be the rulers, possess the gold 
 and goods, joy and pleasure of the world, whilst we Chris-^ 
 tiaas are to be their slaves." 
 
THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION ON CHILIASM. ooi 
 
 And as to these notions being put forth again at the time 
 the Confession was written, he is made to say, further, "The 
 celestial prophets, against whom I have written, also teach 
 and hold, that they are to reform Christianity, and rebuild it 
 after this fashion : they are to strangle all princes, and the 
 ungodly, in order to make themselves lords upon earth, and 
 live upon earth among none but saints. -Such things, and 
 much more, have I myself heard from them. And as, at the 
 time, among other caiiimnies, this blame was also cast upon us, 
 as though the gospel taught and encouraged rehellion and un- 
 drttifulness towards authorities, we had, hy these words of the 
 Confession, to free orrselves of such imputations." 
 
 The passages I'eferred to in Luther's works as authority for 
 putting these words into his mouth are (Altenburg edition) 
 Tom. VIII. fol. 268 b, IX. fol. 306 b, 1511 b, III. fol. 52 a, 
 V. fol. 745 b. We have referred to these passages, and have 
 found them in every important particular nearly word for 
 word as connected in the above extract. 
 
 The next highest authority in the case is Melancthon, who 
 was .the writer of the Confession as it was finally presented. 
 He certainly should be presumed to know what was intended 
 by the words in question. Eeferring, then, to his Variata 
 of 1531, we find an explanatory amplification of this Article, 
 in which he presents two propositions as containing the whole 
 truth over against the errors therein condemned. They are 
 these: first, that Christians are bound to be obedient to the 
 government under which ttiei/live^ and second, that the Church 
 in this life is never to attain to a position of universal triumph 
 and prosperity, but is to remain depressed, and subject to afft.ic- 
 tions and adversities, until the period of the resurrection of the 
 dead.* 
 
 * " Scimus enim quod pii debeant obedire praesentibus magistratibus, 
 non eripere eis imperia, non dissipare politias per seditionem, quia Paulus 
 precipit, Omnis anima magistratui siio subdita sit. Scimus item, quod 
 
332 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 The first of these propositions was denied by the Anabap- 
 tists j but, so far from being rejected by Millenarians, it is 
 held and taught by them in common with all true Christians; 
 and the second is a characteristic element of the Millenarian 
 faith over against the vast majority of their opponents. Ac- 
 cording to Melancthon, therefore, the subject of condemnation 
 in this Article is not Millenarianism at all, but rather the 
 views of its modern opposers, and that which has no sort of 
 connection with it. 
 
 A concurrent account of the meaning of this article of the 
 Confession is also given by Dr. Semisch, in Herzog's Ency- 
 clopedia, where he says that, although it may be taken as 
 preclusive, ^et, properly, it rejects as .Jewish dreams only that 
 caricature of true Chiliasm put forth hy the Anabaptists, who 
 abrogated the magistracy and the ministry, and set up a Zion 
 of their own, with community of goods and wives. (Vide 
 Art. Ghiliasmus, p. 663.) The same author affirms that the 
 Church never did reject Chiliasm in its (Grundgedanken) 
 essential ideas, hut only in its Ebionistic or Judaic perversions. 
 
 It is ably maintained also by a recent writer (^Das Tausend- 
 jdhrige Reich geliort niclit der Vergangenheit, sondrru der Zn- 
 kimft an: Griitersloh, 1860) that the Symbolical Books of the 
 Lutheran Church do not condemn Chiliasm properly so called, 
 but rather antichiliasm of every sort. Floerke, too, (in his 
 Lehre vom tausendjahrigen Reiche, Marburg, 1859,) takes 
 the same ground, and remarks, that the Confession itself 
 limits its condemnation on this point by the words ipu nunc 
 spargunt ; so that no Chiliasm is symbolically condemned 
 but that only which was putting itself forth at the time, and 
 with which we have no part. — See pp. 4-9. 
 
 Ecclesia in hoc vita subjecta sit cruci, et primum post hanc vitam glorifi- 
 cabitur, siout Paulus inquit, Oportet nos similes fieri imagiuis filii Dei; 
 Quare Anabaptistarum amentiam et cliabolicum fnrorem damnamus et 
 execramur " — Corpus liefonnatorum {Blelandi. Op.), vol. 26, p. 361. 
 
THE AUGSBURG CONFEySION ON CHILIASM. 333 
 
 5. It is also a fact, which is not without considerable bear- 
 in^ upon the point, that some of the most intelligent, pious, 
 and conscientious theologians of the Lutheran Church, who 
 were sworn by their ordination vows to every Article of the 
 Augsburg Confession, and who claimed to be faithful to those 
 vows to the end of their lives, were Millenarians, and preached, 
 •published, and defended Millenarian doctrines. 
 
 Pre eminent among these was that distinguished prelate 
 and scholar, John Albert Bcvgel, one of the clearest-minded 
 critics that the Church has produced, who was a most 
 decided Millenarian, and who not only claimed to be true 
 to the Confessions on this point, but says, in his preface 
 to his Gnomony "No one as yet has called my orthodoxy in 
 question." 
 
 In the same list belongs the revered name of Doctor Philip 
 Jacob Sj)c7ie7', "the Protestant Fenelon," to whose piety and 
 teachings the Lutheran Church in this and all other countries 
 owes much, and who, though severely assailed by dogmatists 
 for his cherished expectations of the better times to come, 
 maintained, to the satisfiction of his judges, that he taught 
 nothing contrary to the Confession which he subscribed, 
 and that what the Confessors condemn as Jewish dreams 
 did iu no way include what he preached as the glad hope of 
 the Church in these its days of affliction. 
 
 Another was the excellent Christian Auyustus Crimus, 
 Professor and Primarius of Theology in the University of 
 Leipsic, who wrote the Hj/pomnemata ad Theol. Prophcticam, 
 in which Heugstenberg and Delitzch find so much to admire 
 and commend. 
 
 Another was the great Swabian theosophist, Frederick 
 Christojjh Oetirif/er, whom Auberlen characterizes as a pro- 
 found thinker, and concerning whom Schubart has said that 
 an academy of learning and science expired with him. 
 
 Still another was the pious Magnus Frederick Roos, whom 
 
334 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Delitzcli speaks of as "the great investigator of Scripture, 
 full of quiet depth." 
 
 And to the same class belong Philip Frederick Hiller, one 
 of the most prolific and admired of Germany's sacred poets; 
 Joachim Lange, the able theologian of Halle; and Dr. J. 
 G. Schmibcker, one of the most pious and learned divines of 
 the Lutheran Church of this country, whose work on the 
 Apocalypse, setting forth the twofold resurrection, and the 
 personal reign of Christ on the earth, also bears the recom- 
 mendation of Drs. Ilcliirutli, LocJimcm, and D. Kurtz, who 
 were among the most learned, pious, and devoted Lutherans 
 on this continent. 
 
 With these also might be named numbers still living, emi- 
 nent as Christians, theologians, and adherents to the Confes- 
 sions of the Church, who yet hold and teach Millenarian 
 doctrines. 
 
 It is hard to presume that such men and scholars were so 
 foolish as not to know to what they subscribed as their creed, 
 or so hypocritical as to profess to hold to what they did not 
 receive, — one or the other of which we are bound to believe 
 if the Augsburg Confession condemns Chiliasm. 
 
 6. And then, again, who can conceive of the blessed Re- 
 formers and Confessors as sitting in judgment upon Barnabas, 
 and Papias, and Justin Martyr, Irena^us, TertuUian, Clement 
 of Alexandria, Cyprian, Lactantius, and at least the great 
 body of the orthodox Church for hundreds of years, and con- 
 demning them all as errorists of a class with the Zwickau 
 and Munster prophets ? Though refusing, as all Christians 
 should refuse, to be bound in their faith to any thing but the 
 inspired word, they still held the ancient fathers in high 
 esteem as witnesses to the truth, and encouraged the careful 
 study of them. (Vide Walch's Luther, vol. 22, p. 2050, vol. 
 14, p. 420.) Even with reference to some who lived much later 
 than those named, Luther averred that he would rather die 
 
SPIRITUALITY OF CHRIST's KINGDOM. 335 
 
 first, yea, that the day of judgment itself must come, before 
 he would reject or condemn them. (^Ibid. vol. 16, p. 2638.) 
 And as the ancient Fathers, with others who succeeded them, 
 certainly were Millenariansf we are forced either to assign to 
 the Confessors the absurd position of holding those to be pious 
 and worthy Christians whom they at the same time denounce 
 as pernicious heretics, or to conclude that it was not Millen- 
 arianism, as such, that they here meant to condemn. 
 
 Upon these considerations, we hold it to be a mistake to say 
 that Cliiliasni of all forms has been I'ejected by the Augsburg 
 Confession. It is a mere assumption, made without proper 
 discrimination in the first place, and repeated by the enemies 
 of Millenarian doctrine without proper scrutiny. We have 
 sought in vain for adequate vouchers for its truth, and have 
 not seen the first tittle of evidence that it is any thing more 
 than a prevalent misapprehension. 
 
 Note E. Fifth Discourse, p. 119. 
 
 MILLENARIAN VIEWS OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF CHRIST's KINGDOM. 
 
 It is sometimes insinuated to the discredit of Millenarians 
 that they deny the spiritual reign of Christ over the heart, 
 and look only for a carnal heaven and a sensual paradise. As 
 they insist upon the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures in 
 a plain, every-day manner, it is presumed that they ignore the 
 proper spirituality of religion, and that their anticipations for 
 th§ future must necessarily exclude the idea of spiritual good 
 as the leading characteristic of the kingdom to come. So 
 Origen, and Jerome, and Augustine after him; and so Cor- 
 rodi, Seyfi"arth, and many of the modern writers and preachers 
 against our doctrines. But nothing could be more uncandid 
 and unjust. Though it may evince wit, it displays very little 
 
 «- Sec pp. 3Sn-3?9. 
 
336 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 of that quality of mind and heart wliicli is most to be 
 coveted in view of the solemn judgment to come. We do 
 not deny that there may have been some fanatical and carnal 
 people who have taught certain forms of Millenarian doc- 
 trine, as there have been such to accept, caricature, and dis- 
 grace the doctrines of every school of religious belief. But it 
 is very questionable whether, as a class of Christian believers 
 in tlie Church, there has ever lived a more earnest, spiritual- 
 minded, and devout body of men, or any who have more uni- 
 formly and stringently insisted on repentance, conversion, and 
 real heart-obedience to the Savior, than Milleuarians. 
 
 Irenseus speaks of the saints who are to "reign in the 
 earth" as "growing by the sight of the Lord," and "habit- 
 uated to receive the glory of God the Father," and that they 
 " shall in the kingdom receive a conversation and communion 
 and unity of spiritual things icith the holy angels." He says, 
 further, that they shall "truly be practised for incorruption, 
 and shall be enlarged and strengthened in the periods of the 
 kingdom, so as to become capable of receiving the glory of 
 the Father," and in the new heaven and new earth "shall 
 abide ever new, and having intercourse with God." 
 
 Justin Martyr says, " They from every nation, slaves or free, 
 who believe in Christ, and know the truth in his words and in 
 those of his prophets, know that they shall be with him, and 
 shall inherit things eternal and incorruptible ;" and that 
 ^^they ivho repent not shall inherit nothing in the holy Mount; 
 but the Gentiles which have believed in him, and repented of 
 their sins, these shall inherit with the patriarchs, and the pro- 
 phets, and the righteous who are sprung from Jacob. They 
 shall inherit the holy inheritance of God." 
 
 It is written of Melito, Bishop of Sardis, an acknowledged 
 Millenarian, that, so far from being a carnal man, indulging 
 himself with carnal dreams, " he had his whole conversation 
 in the Holy Ghost." 
 
SPIRITUALITY OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM. 337 
 
 Terfiillian distinctly locates the jojs of the children of the 
 resurrection in all sjn'n'hial good things. Speaking of the 
 glorious city, he says, "This, we say, is provided by God for 
 receiving the saints uj^on the resurrection, and refreshing 
 them with the abundance of all spiritual good things, in com- 
 pensation for those which in the world we have either de- 
 spised or lost." 
 
 Dr. Gresivell remarks, "If I can form any reasonable con- 
 jecture about the sentiments of the advocates of the Mil- 
 lennium, in ancient times, from such of their writings as have 
 come down to us, — if I know any thing of the opinions of 
 the most rational and sober-minded of its supporters still, — 
 and, in particular, if I am not altogether ignorant of my own 
 views and expectations concerning it, — I cannot hesitate to 
 affirm that thgy are very greatly mistaken, or very grossly 
 pervert and misrepresent our conceptions of the nature and 
 purposes of this dispensation, who charge us with entertaining 
 a sensual and carnal idea of the kingdom of Christ, and at- 
 tempt to raise a prejudice against us on that account." 
 
 And who that has himself any practical acquaintance with 
 the spirituality of religion will ever think of charging Mede, 
 or Spener, or Bengel, or Roos, or Durant, or Farmer, or 
 Lange, or Groodwin, or Bickersteth, with denying that grace 
 must rule in the heart, or with teaching that the world to 
 come is to have its joys made up of eating and drinking and 
 carnal gratifications, because they anticipated a future mani- 
 festation of the kingdom on the earth, to which all that has 
 been thus far is merely preparatory ? Nor would it be diffi- 
 cult to name scores, if not hundreds, of men now living, who 
 are acknowledged to be among the most faithful, pure, and 
 useful Christians on the face of the earth, to whom the Mil- 
 lenai'ian faith presents the dearest hopes they cherish. 
 
 It was once remarked by Thomas Hartley that, " Among 
 the many arts practised in order to bring any truth into dis* 
 W 29 
 
338 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 credit, none is more popular than that of exhibiting it to 
 public view joined with the absurd tenets of some that have 
 espoused it, and which is not improperly called dressing up 
 truth in a fool's coat on purpose to make it appear ridiculous; 
 and this often succeeds with the undiscerning vulgar, who 
 judge only by the outward appearance of things." It is this 
 art which has been practised for the most part by the enemies 
 of Millenarian doctrine, and that, too, with a goodly degree of 
 success. It is to be hoped that the time is at hand when men 
 will deal with the subject with some degree of that candor 
 which it really deserves. 
 
 Note F. Fifth Discourse, p. XZl. 
 
 ON THE DECLARATION OF THE SAVIOR (jOHN Xvii. 36) THAT HIS 
 KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD. 
 
 There is no passage more dwelt upon by anti-Millenarians 
 in opposition to our doctrines than this. Indeed, it is about 
 the only text on which any show of scriptural objection can 
 be raised. But it is, after all, nothing but shoiv. If they 
 take it to prove that the kingdom of Christ is within, — a reign 
 over the heart by the Holy Spirit, — we maintain this equally 
 with themselves. If they take it to prove that the kingdom 
 of Christ is not of earthly derivation, or of an earthly nature, 
 this, too, we hold with unyielding firmness, insisting that it is 
 neither derived, constituted, nor administered after the fashion 
 of the kingdoms of this world. If they take it to prove that 
 the kingdom of Christ is confined and limited to the Spirit's 
 rule in men's hearts, and that it consequently is and always 
 will be without outward manifestation and visible form, we 
 dispute that there is any thing of the sort in the passage, and 
 insist that they have the Scriptures everywhere against them. 
 
I 
 
 THE KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD. 339 
 
 That kingdom even now embraces the organized vChurch, 
 which is a visible assembly, with outward sacraments and 
 bonds of union, and with external manifestations as real as 
 any of this world's kingdoms. And if they take it to prove 
 that the kingdom of Christ is not located on earth, they un- 
 dertake to make it prove a manifest falsehood. Take the 
 kingdom spoken of in what sense we please, whether as Christ 
 reigning in the heart by his Spirit, or as Christ operating for 
 the salvation of men through the administrations and ordi- 
 nances of his Church, ita location is in rhis world, and in 
 none other. Nor do the Savior's words imply, by any fair, 
 grammatical construction, that his kingdom ever will be 
 located otherwise than upon the earth. It may not be with- 
 out service to quote here a few authorities on the subject. 
 
 Tholuck makes this criticism : — " He does not contradict the 
 assertion that he has a kingdom ; nay, he speaks of his king- 
 dom and of his servants. If we are to affirm any thing with 
 regard to the kingdom of Christ, we must not content our- 
 selves with merely saying that the kingdom of Christ is not 
 of this icorld ; we must add that, although his kingdom is 
 not o/this world, yet it is nevertheless in this world, and will 
 advance more and more in this world. Yes, Grod be praised! 
 we can say, with joy, that although the Lord's kingdom is not 
 of this world, still it is in this world, and, so long as the world 
 exists, IT WILL NEVER PASS OUT OP IT." — Liffht from the 
 Cross, p. 171, in loc. 
 
 Stier has this observation: — "This renunciation is by no 
 means to be put in opposition to the true prophecies of the 
 kingdom of the Son of man, to whom already power is given, 
 and whose kingdom fin(dli/ will bring all other power to 
 naught: it is very far from renouncing the world, and all 
 external and earthly manifestation and confirmation of his 
 heavenly power. It does not, as superficial expositors dream, 
 (here and verse 37,) refer the kingdom of Christ to the in- 
 
340 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 visible region of the heart. Had he not said already before 
 Caiaphas, ' From this time forth ye shall see him coming in 
 his power' ? The observation of Von Gerlach is good, that a 
 purely internal dominion which did not control and subordi- 
 nate to itself the external, would be no true kingdom, and 
 would have none of the reality of dominion." — Woi-ds of 
 Jesus, in loc. 
 
 So, too, Krummacher : — " He does not deny that he came to 
 establish a kingdom : he only repels the groundless suspicion 
 of his having intended to overthrow the existing authorities 
 and to establish a new political state. He does not say that 
 his kingdom makes no claim eventually to the government 
 of the whole world, or he would have denied more than was 
 consistent with the truth. He only asserts that his kingdom 
 was not of tins world, and clearly intimates, by laying the 
 emphasis on the word 'this,' that another aUov than the pre- 
 sent would certainly see his delegates seated on thrones, and 
 his word and gospel the magna cliarta, of all nations." — 
 Suffering Savior, p. 248. 
 
 Trench also describes the point of meaning to be, "not the 
 unfolding of any powers which already existed in the world, — 
 a kingdom not rising, as those other kingdoms, 'out of the 
 earth,' but a new power brought into the world from above." 
 On the Parables, p. 160. 
 
 Alford also interprets the declaration as conveying "no 
 denial that this kingdom is over this world, — but that it is to 
 be established by this world's power." 
 
 ''Christus sagt nicht: 3Iein Eeich ist nicht hienieden, 
 sondern: Nicht von dannen." — Luthertis Redivivns, -p-fiSQ. 
 
 Edward King says of this declaration of the Savior, " I 
 might be translated, or at least should be paraphrased, 3fi/ 
 kingdom is not derived from any poivers or authority in this 
 world." — Morsels of Grit., vol. 1, p. 421. 
 
 I 
 
THE PERSONAL ANTICHRIST. 341 
 
 Note G-. Seventh Discourse, p. 179. 
 
 V 
 THE PERSONAL ANTICHRIST IS IT LOUIS NAPOLEON ? 
 
 That there is to be some great, blaspheming, despotic mili- 
 tjiry power, under which the Roman Empire is to be in some 
 sense revived, which is to exercise a most cruel tyranny over 
 the whole civilized world, and which is to lead forth the com- 
 bined armies of nations to a scene of unprecedented disaster 
 in connection with the reappearance of Christ, is plainly 
 taught in the prophecies of Daniel, Paul, and John, and held 
 by all the best interpreters of the prophetic word. It is 
 this power which is styled by eminence " The Antichrist, 
 that denieth the Father and the Son." It is also the growing 
 belief of expositors that this power is the Napoleonic head- 
 ship of the Roman dominion, especially as that headship has 
 been revived in the present Emperor of the French, Napo- 
 leon III. The general grounds upon which this belief rests 
 may be stated somewhat as follows : — 
 
 1. He answers to the description which makes this great 
 blaspheming power the septimo-eighth head of the seven- 
 headed and ten-horned beast of the great Roman dominion. 
 The seven heads of this beast were not only "seven moun- 
 tains," upon which the centre of Roman dominion was seated, 
 but also "seven Kiiu/s" or regencies. These seven regencies 
 are the seven distinct forms under which the Roman domi- 
 nion was embodied and administered. These were kings, 
 consuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, and emperors. 
 Of these, "five" had "fallen" when John wrote; one was, 
 and one was "not yet come." That which then was, was the 
 Roman imperial, which in one way or another, as history 
 shows, continued down to Francis TI. of Austria, A.D. 1806, 
 when the power of Europe was seized by Napoleon Bonaparte, 
 and the old imperial succession was destroyed. In this Napo- 
 
 29« 
 
342 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 leon, then, a new and distinct head was set up, whilst there 
 was yet such an assumption by him of the old iron crown, and 
 such an acknowledgment of his authority by the Pope of 
 Rome in his coronation, that it was still to be regarded 
 as the same old Roman dominion simply passed to another 
 form or head. He was, therefore, that seventh head which 
 was to come. "And when he is come," said the angel, 
 "he must continue a short space." The period of Napoleon's 
 imperial rule was eleven years, when he was overthrown, and 
 his empire destroyed forever, as it appeared. But it was not 
 effectually destroyed. He is described in the vLsion as "the 
 beast that was, and is not, andi/et is." Though "as it were 
 wounded to death, his deadly wound was healed." The Napo- 
 leonic headship ceased with the fall of Napoleon I., but it 
 was soon marvellously revived in his nephew, and now is 
 again, in the present Napoleon III. He is "of the seven" by 
 his relation to the Napoleon family, and by his assumption 
 of the same dynasty and principles represented by Napoleon 
 I. ; but the manner of his coming into power, and various 
 peculiarities in the constitution of his dominion, present 
 features of distinctness from his uncle's headship, showing 
 that he is in some sense also a headship of his own kind. Ho 
 is consequently the seventh, and yet in some sense the eighth, 
 so answering to the description of a septimo-eighth head or 
 embodiment of the great Roman dominion, which was to be 
 the Antichrist. (See Faber's Napoleon III.') 
 
 2. Napoleon III. corresponds also with the prophetic por^ 
 trait of the Antichrist in his prowess, ambition, and military 
 power. In Rev. xiii. 3, 4, as soon as the beast's wounded 
 head is healed, he appears as the wonder and astonishment of 
 the world ; which has been very remarkably verified in the 
 surprise and amazement which the career of Louis Napoleon 
 has excited since 1852. And with 750,000 trained troops, 
 furnished with the best arms in the world, with a fleet 
 
THE PERSONAL ANTICHRIST. 343 
 
 of iron-clad war-steamers inferior perhaps to none now afloat, 
 and with his deep and inscrutable policy and ambition, it may 
 very well be said of him, at this moment, " Who is like unto 
 the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" Nor is it 
 difficult to anticipate, from the present condition of the world, 
 and his position in it, that it would not take any great length 
 of time to fulfil the words of the prophet, in which it is said 
 that "power was given him overall kindreds, and tongues, 
 and nations." — (Rev. xiii. 7.) His rapid ascension to power 
 and dominion have stai'tled the world, and his influence and 
 authority are augmenting still in all quarters of the globe. 
 He is at this moment the most daring, the most ambitious, 
 the most powerful, ;iud the most dangerous man on earth. 
 The Crimean War put him at the head of European affairs. 
 His interference in the war of Austria and Sardinia shows 
 with what a controlling hand he is competent to dispose of 
 the disputes of nations. His annexation of Savoy and Nice 
 to France is another illustration of his growing pre-eminence. 
 The recent war with China, and the French occupation of 
 Syria, have planted his power in Asia. The north of Africa 
 is his. Mexico seems ready to fall into his hands. The de- 
 feat of his uncle at Waterloo he regards it his solemn destiny 
 to avenge. He is now virtually the possessor of Rome. The 
 prospect is that he will presently have the Jews completely 
 enlisted in his favor. Jerusalem is at this moment stirring 
 throughout its desolations under the influences of his power. 
 Palestine seems as if preparing to open her gates to him. 
 Greece, now in revolution, seems to be ready to accept a 
 member of his family as her king. His monetary resources 
 are greater than those of any power on earth. His desire to 
 interfere in the terrific schism which has occurred in the 
 United States needs only to await the opportunity to put the 
 tottering Republic under his control. All of which would 
 seem to foreshadow, as clearly as may be, the fulfilment to 
 
344 
 
 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 him of what is written in Rev. xvii. 13, 17, xiii. 7; and Dan. 
 xi. 36-39. 
 
 3. His name also has peculiarities which appear to fall in 
 very remarkably with the predictjons that apply to this last 
 great scourge of the world. It is argued, by some, that the 
 king spoken of in Rev. ix. 11 is also in some sense this wilful 
 king of the last days. And it ig there said that "his name 
 in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue 
 ApoUyon," — or, as frequently written, a,Ta>Xeu)'j (^tq^ioleon), — a 
 name precisely identical with Napoleon, less one letter. 
 In Rev. xiii. 18, it is written, "Here is wisdom. Let him 
 that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for 
 it is the number of a man ; and his number is six hundred 
 threescore and six." And in Rev. xiii. 17 and xv. 2 
 this number is further described as "the number of his 
 name;" which is usually taken to mean the number in nume- 
 rical value of the letters which compose his name. And, 
 giving the name Louis in its Latin form, Ludovicus, we have, 
 as the total numerical value of the letters, 666. So, too, by 
 putting the name Napoleon in its Greek form, as if inscribed 
 upon a monument, Nar^oXeovrt, the total numerical value of the 
 letters is again 666. Thus : 
 
 L 
 
 stands 
 
 for 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 D 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 A 
 
 5 
 
 a 
 
 500 
 
 TT 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 k 
 
 1 
 
 e 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 T 
 
 Total, 666 
 
 stands for 
 
 50 
 1 
 
 80 
 70 
 30 
 5 
 70 
 50 
 300 
 10 
 
 Total, 666 
 
 So also the two names together, in Greek, Aoi<; NrnzoXeov, in 
 the same way contain the same characteristic number, 666. 
 
TITR PFRSONAL ANTICHRIST. 345 
 
 it is true tluit this number can be found in other names, 
 and in some which apply to tliis beast in some of its earlier 
 forms ; but it is very remarkable that this number should be 
 found in both names of the present French emperor, in whom, 
 if these prophecies do apply to him, is to be concentred every 
 form and attribute of all the antichrists which have been 
 before him. 
 
 4. The connectiouof the Antichrist with the apostate Church 
 power, first supporting it, using it, and then despoiling it alto- 
 gether, also seems to point to Napoleon III. as the man. When 
 yet President of France, in 1849, he sent French troops to 
 support the Pope in Rome, and has not withdrawn them to 
 this day. Yet of late he has been allowing all sorts of damage 
 to befall the papacy, is at present in disagreement with the 
 Church authorities, and in various ways is giving symptoms 
 which look greatly like preparation for that part of prophecy 
 which says that the beast, with his ten subordinate kings, 
 shall "hate the whore, and make her desolate, and naked, 
 and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." He has also per- 
 mitted a pamphlet to be issued in which it is proposed that 
 the papal power should be given him, and the political and 
 religious sovereignties united in his own person, — a thing not 
 unlikely to be consummated at no distant' day; which would 
 fully invest him with the very attributes which underlie the 
 predictions of Paul in 2 Thess. ii. 8-12. 
 
 5. The mysteriousness which characterizes him, his taci- 
 turn disposition, his protestations and general policy, and 
 his deep cunning and sagacity, also seem to answer to the 
 predictions made concerning the Antichrist. In Daniel viii. 
 we find a vision of a little horn, which waxed exceeding 
 great. — the Mohammedan power, perhaps, but ultimately the 
 Antichrist, — who (in verses 23-25) is described as "a kin^ 
 of fierce (shameless, imperturbable, unawed, impenetrable) 
 countenance, and %incler standing dark sentences,'^ who "shall 
 
346 Tin: LAST TIMES. 
 
 destroy ■wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall 
 destroy the mighty and the holy people," and "thruu<i,h his 
 policy also shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and mag- 
 nify himself in his heart, and hij peace sJiall clestroi/ many," 
 and "shall also stand up against the Prince of princes." 
 He is also described as the king who "shall do according to 
 his will, and shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above 
 every god." Nor can it fail to strike the reader how well this 
 language applies to a man of whom a personal friend of his, 
 who laboriously attempted an analysis of his character, has 
 said, "Frigidly afl'able, and repulsively polite, he avoided 
 either oifence or familiarity, but seemed instinctively to coil 
 up his nature from observation. In phrase and demeanor 
 all that became his birth, still the man was perfectly inacces- 
 sible. . . . There was much of peculiarity, much of contrast, 
 abstract yet vigilant, inquisitive in every thing, but studiously 
 incommunicative, diligent in acquiring all men's knowledge, 
 retentive of his own, cold and impassive, but full of latent 
 energy, cautious in decision, but, having decided, prompt, 
 rapid, and impetuous. Almost intuitive in grasping oppor- 
 tunity or detecting weakness; improved by study, steeled by 
 adversity, disciplined for every vicissitude of fortune, he has 
 inestimable qualifications for his own position. . . . Marvel- 
 lous as his character appears at present, it is, in my judgment, 
 as yet very partially developed. The reserve, however, in 
 which he habitually shrouds himself may not now be vio- 
 lated. . . . Few can see, in the taciturn recluse, the talents, 
 attainments, and accomplishments which he undoubtedly 
 possesses." — (^Phillips on Napoleon III.^ Madden also very 
 pointedly, confirms this well-drawn portrait, and further 
 says that "This man-mystery, the depths of whose dupli- 
 city no (Edipus has yet sounded, is a problem even to those 
 who surround him. I watched his pale, corpse-like, imper- 
 twitbable features, not many months since, for a period of 
 
 H: 
 
THE PERSONAL ANTICHRIST. 347 
 
 three hom-s. I saw 80,000 men in arms pass before him, and 
 I never observed a change in his countenance, or an expres- 
 sion in his lo' k, which wovild enable the bystander to say 
 whether he was pleased or otherwise at the stirring scene that 
 was passing before him on the very spot where Louis XVI. 
 was put to death. He did not speak to those around him 
 except at very long intervals, and then with an air of non- 
 chalance, of ennui, and eternal occupation with self." "Dark, 
 mysterious, impenetrable, inscrutable in his designs," says 
 the author of Armageddon ; " concealing every passion of his 
 heart within the innermost depths of his soul ; of great per- 
 sonal courage and inflexible will, conjoined with cool delibe- 
 ration and consummate prudence; entirely devoid, apparently, 
 of any real religion or moral principle; impelled, guided, pro- 
 tected, as he announces himself to be, by his uncle's shade; 
 with the subtlety of that 'more subtle than any beast of the 
 field,' has he hitherto defeated all his opponents, and reached 
 by craft a pinnacle which his uncle could only attain by the 
 sword. Striking not until his quarry be certain, or (as the 
 author of the Last Vials well expresses it) never uncoiling 
 himself to seize his prey until sure of his victim ; daily in- 
 creasing in power and influence over the nations; and bring- 
 ing the eyes of an astonished world to contrast with wonder 
 his past and present career; all in relation to him seems to 
 be after a superhuman working that none can fathom." 
 
 6. His rise from obscurity, the contempt in which all men 
 once held him, the manner of his ascent to the throne and 
 his great dominion, as well as his remarkable control of the 
 precious metals, are also of a character answering to the pre- 
 dictions concerning the Antichrist. He was described in 
 Dan. xi. 21 as "a vile person [one despised], to whom they 
 shall not give the honor of the kingdom ; but he shall come 
 in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." . . Also it 
 was further said "he shall have power over the treasures of 
 
348 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 gold and silver." And before Napoleon III. obtained the 
 emperorship, there was hardly a man in the world upon whom 
 more contemptuous epithets and opinions were passed than 
 upon him. He was supposed to be without understanding, 
 an idiotic dreamer, as short of brains as he was of friends and 
 means. But from that obscurity and contempt he has risen 
 to imperial power; and the kingdom which no one would 
 have been willing to confer upon him, he yet managed, in the 
 name of liberty and democracy, and with daring adventures 
 in the name of peace and the people, to obtain and hold. 
 It is also a marvellous fact that he has not only succeeded , 
 in securing all the money needed for the extraordinary cost 1 
 of carrying on his government and immense improvements, 
 but in the years 1865, 56, and 57, he coined more gold than 
 both England and the United States together. 
 
 7. It would also seem to be impossible for another power, 
 such as the Antichrist is to be, to arise and mature itself in 
 the unexpired time which chronological prophecies place be- 
 tween the present and the great consummation. A dozen 
 different lines of calculation seem to converge and run out 
 within the liuiits of the next ten years, each of which is sup- 
 posed to extend to the epoch of the consummation. Seven 
 years, or three and a half years at least, is the period in which 
 the Antichrist, as such, is to continue; which would leave only 
 some half a dozen years for the incoming, establishment, and 
 maturement of the predicted power, of which the earth as yet 
 has no signs apart from Napoleon III. 
 Y^- Without undertaking, therefore, to decide positively that 
 
 Louis Napoleon is the personal Antichrist of the last days, we 
 have no hesitation in saying that we are strongly inclined, 
 j with some of the most sober and learned of prophetic expo- 
 sitors, to believe that he is. Events will very soon show 
 whether this supposition is correct or not. And one of the 
 first tests will be the formation of a league or covenant be- 
 
THE TWO STAGES OF THE TRANSLATION. 349 
 
 tween Napoleon III. and the Jews, in which they will accept 
 him as their great protector and help in their reinstate- 
 ment into their land and the restoration of their temple ser- 
 vices. When this covenant is once made, it will then be but 
 seven years to the descent of Christ in the clouds of heaven, 
 and the great consummation. (See Dan. ix. 27; xi. 23.) 
 ''Blessed is he that watcheth!" 
 
 Note H. Seventh Discourse, pp. 108, 181. 
 
 ON THE TWO STAGES OF THE TRANSLATION. 
 
 The opinion that there is to be a duality in the translation 
 of the saints (as also in the resurrection of them that sleep in 
 Christ) seems to me to have strong supports in the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 1. In the description of the great woes which are to attend 
 the close of the present dispensation, there is a command 
 given to "watch and pray always," that we " may be accounted 
 worthy to esccqje all these things that shall come to 2>ass, and 
 to stand before the Son of man." It is here impHed that 
 there will be persons living when these troubles come, who, by 
 peculiar earnestness in their expectancy of the Lord's return, 
 shall obtain entire exemption from them; and that this ex- 
 emption will consist in some peculiar introduction into the 
 immediate presence of the Son of man, that is, by being 
 caught up to him in the clouds. Something of the same sort 
 is intimated in Isaiah xxvi. 20, where God's peculiar people 
 are represented as called up into some peaceful pavilion, where 
 they are at rest while the waves of divine indignation are 
 rolling over the world. But in Rev. vii. 9-14 we read of a 
 great multitude of the redeemed, who are represented as 
 having had to suffer these very woes, and as haviuo- reached 
 
 30 
 
350 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 heaven through them. It is specifically said, '^ Tlicse are they 
 which came out of the great tribulation," — not out of tribula- 
 tion in general, but some specific and pre-eminent tribulation, — 
 ex TTjq dXiil'£U)<; rrj<; /leyaXrjc;, out of the tribulation, the great one, 
 — which we find described in Dan. ix. 27, xii. 1 ; Matt. xxiv. 
 21, 22 ; Luke xxi. 24. Now, as some are accounted worthy 
 to escape these things, and escape by their removal to the 
 presence of Christ, and as others only reach their places be- 
 fore the throne of God by passing through the great tribula- 
 tion, there must needs be two stages in the removal of the 
 Church, that is, two distinct translations. 
 
 2. Again, in Rev. xiv. 1—5, we read of a certain number 
 of the "redeemed from among men," who have reached the 
 heavenly state in the presence of the Lamb, and who are 
 called " the first fruits unto God." There is a difference be- 
 tween the first fruits and the general harvest, not exactly in 
 kind, but in the order qf their gathering, and in the purposes 
 to which they are applied. There is always an interval be- 
 tween the gathering and lifting up of the one, and the general 
 reaping of the other. And, answering in this respect to the 
 first fruits described in the first part of the chapter, we have 
 an account of the reaping of the great harvest in a subsequent 
 part, (verses 15, 16.) Those that constitute the first fruits, 
 of course, cannot be the same as those who constitute the 
 general harvest. The one is a distinct class from the other, 
 and is separated from it especially as to the precise time of 
 the gathering, whilst, nevertheless, the gathering is of the 
 same kind in both. And as both classes are made up of per- 
 sons redeemed from among men, and "caught up in the clouds 
 to meet the Lord in the air," we must conclude that there is 
 to be a twofold translation. 
 
 3. There seems also to be an intimation that even Christ's 
 coming is to possess two distinct stages, — which would again 
 correspond with the idea of a twofold translation. He is to 
 
ON THE TWO STAGES OF THE TRANSLATION. 351 
 
 come " as a thief in the night ;" but he is also to come '' in 
 the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory," "taking 
 vengeance on them that know not God," and to be "admired 
 in all them that believe." In the one case he is seemingly 
 invisible, removing as by stealth those who are waiting and 
 ready, and fulfilling those words of his, "In that night there 
 shall be two in one bed ; the one shall be taken and the other 
 left," &c. In the other case, "every eye shall see him," and 
 he rides forth upon his celestial chariot as a mighty con- 
 queror, crushing down before him all his foes both great and 
 small, and gathering to himself the great totality of them that 
 believe on his name. Both these comings, or stages of his 
 manifestation, cannot occur at one and the same time, and so 
 would involve a twofold translation. 
 
 4. To this also agrees the account given in Matt. xxiv. 42— 
 51; where we read of a servant who is "faithful and wise," 
 whom his Lord finds at his post, and at once receives to 
 blessedness ; but also of another servant, as really a servant 
 as the first, who is deficient in fidelity and worldly in his 
 temper, and whom his Lord when he comes severely punishes 
 (diy^oTo ij.su>') by assigning him a portion with hypocrites, who 
 are to sufler the great tribulation. The words do not at all 
 imply that the one is saved and the other lost, but simply 
 that the one reaches blessedness at once when the Lord 
 comes, whilst the other, not being prepared by proper watch- 
 fulness, is "left," and punished with such temporal judg- 
 ments as are then to befall the earth, and only saved "so as 
 by fire," at a subsequent period. 
 
 5. So, too, the parable of the ten virgins, (Matt. xxv. 1-13.) 
 Those virgins are the whole company of the saints, and are 
 all true Christians and real believers ; but only a portion of 
 them go in with Christ to the marriage, whilst the rest are 
 "left" to improve their virtues under the afflictions attending 
 a lo&s of their place among the first fruits and Church of the 
 
352 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 first-born, and to receive their redemption at some later stage 
 of the Savior's manifestation. — See my Discourses on The 
 Parable of ilie Ten Viryins. 
 
 6. So, too, in the parable of the pounds, (Luke ix. 11- 
 27,) we have some faithful and industrious servants who im- 
 prove their trusts well, and who when the Lord returns are 
 at once welcomed into the sublime rewards of their exertions. 
 But there is another class, so timid and unfruitful in their 
 occupancy that, when the Lord comes, they are not honored 
 as the others, but stripped of the trusts they had received, and 
 left to suffer for their unfaithfulness. They are not lost. 
 They are not slain, as the malignant '' citizens" who would not 
 acknowledge Christ's rule over them. They simply lose their 
 rewards, and their places among those who obtain rulership, 
 and are made to endure the tribulation judgments. 
 
 7. To the same effect is the 12th of Revelation. We there 
 read of "the woman's seed," which may be taken first as 
 Christ himself, but, for that reason, as the whole body of his 
 people upon earth. In verse 5, this seed, as intended to "rule 
 the nations," is represented as "caught up unto God, and to 
 his throne." Here, then, is one ascension. But in verse 17 
 we still read of a "remnant"— Aof;r«? — a remainwg portion 
 — of this same woman's seed, which must certainly denote 
 Christian people; for they are such as "keep the command- 
 ments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ," and 
 are still upon earth suffering the dragon's wrath. And as all 
 must needs be glorified in due time, there must be a second 
 translation to embrace these. They sufi"er additional persecu- 
 tions to their brethren, and so are not taken at the same time 
 with them, but are saved only by passing through the great 
 tribulation, which the more devout and watchful escape by 
 means of an earlier translation. Compare also Matt. xxiv. 
 28, 31, and Luke xvii. 34, 37. 
 
 8. The fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation also evi- 
 
ON THE TWO STAGES OF THE TRANSLATION. 353 
 
 dence the same thiog. A scene in heaven is there depicted. 
 The elders and living creatures in that vision must represent 
 saints in the glorified state. They address a song to Christ, in 
 which they say to him, "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed 
 us to God by thy blood." We know of no redeemed by 
 Christ's blood but men. They were not, therefore, heavenly 
 orders or angels proper, but ransomed human beings from the 
 earth. Nor were they the saints who rose with Christ; for 
 those appear to have been Jews: these are "out of every kin- 
 dred, and tongue, and people, and nation." They are also 
 already " kings and priests," and have their " crowns," — which 
 could not be said of the saints of the old dispensation, for 
 they have not yet received the promises. The corona- 
 tion time is at the coming and consummation. (Heb. xi. 
 13, 40; 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; 1 Pet. v. 4 ; Col. iii. 4). The vision 
 must, therefore, refer to a state of things in the heavenly state 
 of the glorified saints in connection with what is said in 
 1 Thess. iv. 17. It is remarkable, however, that whilst these 
 are in the heavenly glorified state, and have already received 
 their crowns, the preliminary judgments of the seals are only 
 about to begin. And as the great tribulation occurs only in 
 connection with the opening of these seals, the translation by 
 which they are brought to their rewards must precede the 
 great tribulation ; whilst, according to Matt. xxiv. 29-31, 
 there is another gathering of the elect " immediately rz/ife?- the 
 tribulation ;" thus making two stages in the translation. Com- 
 pare Ps. xxvii. 5, 6, xxxi. 20, xxxii. 6, 7, xlv. 14. 
 
 The doctrine of the Scriptures seems to be, that only those 
 who are devoutly looking and waiting for the Savior's return 
 shall be taken at first, whilst all others are left to suifer the 
 great tribulation, which will continue at least three years and 
 a half. See Ileb. ix. 28; and Eev. xii. 13, 14, xiii. 5, xi. 3. 
 X 30* 
 
354 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Note I. Tenth Discourse, p. 253. 
 
 LUTHER ON THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 The authority of Lutlier is sometimes quoted as decidedly 
 against all expectations of a Millennium yet to come. — (See 
 Dr. Scyffarth's Cldliasm Crituxdbj ExaminefL^ The evidence 
 relied upon for this representation of the great Reformer is 
 taken from the marginal notes to Luther's German Bible, 
 Rev. X. 2, 3, where he is made to say that "the thousand 
 years must have commenced at the time the Apocalypse was 
 written; mainly because the Turk came a thousand years 
 after that time." Unsatisfactory as this quotation is, it is the 
 only passage from the works of Luther which anti-millenarians 
 have been able to find by which to array the Reformer on 
 their side. The worth of it in such a connection may be esti- 
 mated from the following observations. 
 
 Concerning these marginal notes in general, we have to 
 say, with Fabricius and others, that they have not always 
 been the same in the various editions of Luther's German 
 Bible ; that many of them were changed, even by himself; 
 that manifold alterations were made in them before, and still 
 more after, his death; that it is uncertain to what extent they 
 are to be attributed to Luther ; and that, whilst some of them 
 furnish much light and information, there are others of which 
 "it must rather be said that they savor of erroneous opinions 
 once held by Luther, which, in justice to him, must be re- 
 ceived loith reference to the condition of the times in lohich 
 they were uttered; on which account liberty has long ago 
 been taken to alter very materially some of them, as also to 
 muster them out." — SeeFabricius's Centifolium, pp. 168, 169; 
 also Walch's Luther, preface to vol. xii. ; also Irmischer's 
 Luther's Werke, vol. 64, preface. 
 
 As to the particular note to which reference has been made, 
 
LUTHER ON THE MILLENNIUM. 355 
 
 whilst it may have come from Luther, we have to say that it 
 was not contained in the edition of 1522, neither in the edi- 
 tion of 1524. Besides, it relates to a department of inquiry 
 in which Luther elsewhere expresses himself as for the most 
 part doubtful. In his preface to his little treatise on Chro- 
 nology, he says, "It matters nothing to me, indeed, whether 
 this little book shall stand or not. Neither do I inquire with 
 much anxiety whether others shall look with favor upon 
 these reckonings or not." — (See Walch's Luther, xiv. 1111.) 
 Whilst at the end of that same treatise he distinctly avows 
 himself a believer in the tradition of the house of Elias, 
 which certainly puts a millennial Sabbath at the end of the 
 six thousand years from the creation of Adam. 
 
 Dr. Hengstenberg also pronounces it "an over-estimate 
 of the authority of Luther" to assign this note any value in 
 the direction for which anti-millenarians have cited it. If it 
 really gives Luther's opinion at the time, it was simply an 
 ojnnion, bearing upon its face the plain evidences of having 
 been very loosely made up, and one upon which its author 
 laid no particular stress, grounded no doctrine, placed no con- 
 fident reliance, and actually contradicted in other portions of 
 his writings. 
 
 It does not appear that Luther ever directly took up the 
 subject of the Millennium and its related doctrines in connec- 
 /ion. They were not much involved, at least not much 
 brought to the surface, in those controversies and points of 
 exposition which monopolized his attention and energies. His 
 was the sublime work of unchaining the simple word of God, 
 and the establishment of the great doctrines of the right of 
 private judgment and justification by faith. His department 
 was theology and soterology, rather than eschatology and pro- 
 phecy. And though the greatest of mere men, and next to 
 the apostles in his own si^here, he is about the last man among 
 great theologians to whom to betake ourselves for a guide 
 
356 THE LAST TIMES 
 
 in the interpretation of the Apocalypse, — a book which he 
 evidently had not at all mastered. The great mass even 
 of his most ardent admirers and followers have long since 
 agreed to surrender his Apocalyptical views as in many points 
 untenable, and as given by himself in a way which deprives 
 them altogether of the weight which attaches to his authority 
 on other subjects. And when we have laid aside this note 
 on Rev. xx. 2, 3, we find his writings generally far more in 
 harmony with the views and spirit of millenarian interpreta- 
 tion than ill I'avor of those who would fain crush us with the 
 majesty of his great name. 
 
 Note K. Eleventh Discourse, p. 269. 
 
 THE SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 From the creation of Adam to the birth of Seth 130 
 
 "Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and 
 begat a sou, . . . and called his name Seth." — 
 Gen. V. 8. 
 
 From the birth of Seth to the birth of Enos ■. 105 
 
 "Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat 
 Enos." — Gen. v. 6. 
 
 From the birth of Enos to the birth of Cainan 90 
 
 "Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan." — 
 Gen. V. 9. 
 From the birth of Cainan to the birth of Mahalaleel. . 70 
 " Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahala- 
 leel."— Gen. V. 12. 
 From the birth of Mahalaleel to the birth of Jared.... 65 
 "Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat 
 Jared."— Gen. v. 15. 
 
SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY OF TUE WORLD. 357 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 Broufjht forward , 460 
 
 From the birth of Jared to the birth of Enoch 162 
 
 '* Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and 
 he begat Enoch." — Gen. v. 18. 
 From the birth of Enoch to the birth of Methuselah... 65 
 " Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Me- 
 thuselah."— Gen. V. 21. 
 From the birth of Methuselah to the birth of Lamech, 187 
 " Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven 
 years, and he begat Lamech." — Gen. v. 25. 
 
 From the birth of Lamech to the birth of Noah 182 
 
 "Lamech lived one hundred and eighty -two years, 
 and begat a son : and he called his name 
 Noah."— Gen. v. 28. 
 
 From the birth of Noah to the flood 600 
 
 "Noah was six hundred years old when the flood 
 of waters was upon the earth." — Gen. vii. 6. 
 
 The duration of the flood 1 
 
 "It came to pass, in the six hundred and first year, 
 in the first month, the first day of the month, 
 the waters were dried up." — Gen. viii. 13. 
 
 From the flood to the birth of Arphaxad 2 
 
 " Sheni was a hundred years old, and begat Ar- 
 phaxad two years after the flood." — Gen. xi. 10. 
 
 From the birth of Arphaxad to the birth of Salah 35 
 
 "Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat 
 Salah."— Gen. xi. 12. 
 
 From the birth of Salah to the birth of Eber 30 
 
 "Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber." — Gen. 
 xi. 14. 
 
 From the birth of Eber to the birth of Peleg 34 
 
 "Eber lived four and thirty jsars, and begat 
 PcW."_Gen. xi. 16. 
 
358 THE LAST TIMES.. 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 Brought forward 1758 
 
 From the birth of Peleg to the birth of Reu 30 
 
 ''Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu." — Gen. 
 xi. 18. 
 
 From the birth of Reu to the birth of Serug 32 
 
 " Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug." 
 —Gen. xi. 20. 
 
 From the birth of Serug to the birth of Nahor 30 
 
 " Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor." — 
 Gen. xi. 22. 
 
 From the birth of Nahor to the birth of Terah 29 
 
 "Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat 
 Terah."— Gen. xi. 24. 
 
 From the birth of Terah to his death 205 
 
 "The days of Terah were two hundred and five 
 years." — Gen. xi. 82. 
 From the death of Terah to the covenant with Abraham, 2 
 "Abraham . . . dwelt in Charran ; and from thence, 
 when his father was dead, he removed him 
 into this land, wherein ye now dwell." — Acts 
 vii. 2—4. " Abram was seventy and five years 
 old when he departed out of Haran [Charran]." 
 — Gen xii. 4. Then intervene the events of 
 his life, recorded in Gen. xii. 5 to Gen. xiv. 24 ; 
 which could not have occupied less than two 
 years. Then comes the Covenant in Gen. xv. 
 1-21. 
 From the making of the Covenant to the giving of the Law 430 
 "The Covenant . . . the Lawj that was four hun- 
 dred and thirty years after, cannot disannul." 
 —Gal. iii. 17. 
 From the giving of the Law to the return of the spies.. 1 
 
 Compare Exodus xix. 1, and Numbers x. 11. 
 
SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD. 359 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 Brought forward 2517 
 
 From the return of the spies to the apportionment of 
 
 the hind 45 
 
 Compare Numbers xiv. and Joshua xiv. " And 
 
 now the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, 
 
 these forty and five years, even since the Lord 
 
 spake this word unto Moses." — Joshua xiv. 10. 
 
 From the apportionment of the land to Samuel the 
 
 prophet 450 
 
 "And after that he gave them judges about the 
 space of four hundred and fifty years, until 
 Samuel the prophet." — Acts xiii. 19, 20. 
 
 From the raising up of Samuel to Saul's death 40 
 
 "And afterwards they desired a king; and God 
 gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of 
 the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty 
 years." — Acts xiii. 21. 
 From the death of Saul to the end of David's reign.... 40 
 "And when he had removed him [Saul], he raised 
 up unto them David." — Acts xiii. 22. "And 
 the days that David reigned over Israel were 
 forty years : seven years reigned he in Hebron, 
 and thirty and three years reigned he in Jeru- 
 salem." — 1 Kings ii. 11. 
 
 From David to the end of Solomon's reign 40 
 
 "And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all 
 Israel forty years." — 2 Chron. ix. 30. 
 From Solomon's death to the end of Rehoboam's reign, 17 
 " So King Rehoboam . . . reigned seventeen years 
 in Jerusalem." — 2 Chron. xii. 13. 
 
 From Rehoboam to the end of Abijah's reign 3 
 
 "Abijah . . . reigned three years in Jerusalem." 
 — 2 Chron. xiii. 1, 2. 
 
360 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 Brought forward 3152 
 
 From Abijali to the death of King Asa 41 
 
 "And Asa died in the one and fortieth year of his 
 reign." — 2 Chron. xvi. 13. 
 
 From Asa to the end of the reign of Jehoshaphat 25 
 
 "He reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem." 
 —2 Chron. XX. 31. 
 
 From Jehoshaphat to the end of Jehoram's reign 8 
 
 "He reigned in Jerusalem eight years." — 2 Chron. 
 xxi. 20. 
 
 From Jehoram to the end of Ahaziah's reign 1 
 
 " He reigned one year in Jerusalem." — 2 Chron. 
 xxii. 2. 
 
 From Ahaziah to the end of Athaliah's usurpation 6 
 
 "And he [Joash] was with them hid in the house 
 of Grod six years : and Athaliah reigned." — 
 2 Chron. xxii. 12. 
 From Athaliah's usurpation to the end of Joash's reign, 40 
 " Joash . . . reigned forty years in Jerusalem." — 
 2 Chron. xxiv. 1. 
 
 From Joash to the end of Amaziah's reign 29 
 
 " He reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem." 
 — 2 Chron. xxv. 1. 
 
 From Amaziah to the end of Uzziah's reign 52 
 
 "He reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem." — 
 2 Chron. xxvi. 1. 
 
 From Uzziah to the end of the reign of Jotham 16 
 
 "He reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem." — 2 
 Chron. xxvii. 1. 
 
 From Jotham to the death of Ahaz 16 
 
 "Ahaz . . . reigned sixteen years." — 2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 1. 
 From Ahaz to the death of Hezekiah 29 
 
SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD. 361 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 Brought forward 3415 
 
 "Hezekiah reigned nine and twenty years." — 2 
 Chron. xxix. 1. 
 
 From Hezekiah to the death of Manasseh 55 
 
 "Manasseh reigned fifty and five years." — 2 Chron. 
 xxxiii. 1. 
 
 From Manasseh to the death of Amon 2 
 
 "Anion. . .reigned two years." — 2 Chron. xxxiii. 21. 
 
 From Amon to the death of Josiah 31 
 
 " Josiah . . . reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty 
 years." — 2 Chron. xxxiv. 1. 
 
 From Josiah to the deposition of Jehoahaz 
 
 " He reigned three months." — 2 Chron. xxxvi. 2. 
 From the deposition of Jehoahaz to the death of Jehoia- 
 
 chim 11 
 
 " Jeboiachim . . . reigned eleven years." — 2 Chron. 
 xxxvi. 5. 
 
 From Jehoiachim to the deposition of Jehoiachin 
 
 " Jehoiachin . . . reigned three months and ten 
 days." — 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9. 
 
 From Jehoiachin to the captivity under Zedekiah 11 
 
 "Zedekiah . . . reigned eleven years." — 2 Chron. 
 xxxvi. 11. 
 From the commencement of the Captivity to the decree 
 
 of Cyrus 70 
 
 "These nations shall serve the King of Babylon 
 seventy years." — Jer. xxv. 11 : compare 2 
 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23. 
 
 From the decree of Cyrus to the birth of Christ 536 
 
 Settled by the registers of the reigns of the Chal- 
 dean and Persian kings furnished in the royal 
 canon of Ptolemy, as agreed by all our best 
 
 chrouologists. 
 
 31 
 
362 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 Brouglit forward 4131 
 
 From the birth of Christ to the present 1863 
 
 From the creation of Adam to A.D. 1863 5994 
 
 Still necessary to complete the period of 6000 6 
 
 From the creation of man to the consummation 6000 
 
 which, according to this reckoning, will be reached in 
 1869 or '70, when the great Millennial sabbath, if 
 these dates be correct, is to set in. Other versions of 
 the Scriptures give some of them differently j but the 
 common version, which we have followed, and which is 
 the simple translation of the Hebrew, is quite as likely 
 to be the genuine as any other, and is generally ac- 
 cepted as the true. With our present knowledge of 
 the subject, we are willing to abide by it. 
 
 Note L. Eleventh Discourse, p. 281. 
 
 PROBABLE DATES OF THE SEVEN LAST VIALS IN THEIR HISTORICAL 
 EULFILMENT. 
 
 VIAL. 
 
 I. Tlie French Revolution, from the meeting of the States- 
 General to the death of the king:— a.d. 1789-1798. 
 
 II. The Reign of Terror, from the death of the king to the 
 establishment of the Directory: — a.d. 1793-1795. 
 
 III. The Wars of the Directory, from the establishment of 
 the Directory of Five to the First Consulship of Napo- 
 leon I. :— A.D. 1795-1799. 
 
PROBABLE DATES OF THE SEVEN LAST VIALS. 363 
 
 VIAL. 
 
 IV. The scorcliing and blasthig career of Napoleon I., from 
 his appointment as First Consul to his abdication of the 
 empire: — A.D. 1799-1814. 
 
 V. Judgments upon the throne and Jcingdom of the Beast, 
 from the overthrow of Napoleon I. to the revolutions 
 of 1848, the overthrow of the Orleans dynasty, and 
 the rise of Napoleon III. :— a.d. 1814-1849. 
 
 VI. Wane of Babylon's resources and supports^ and muster- 
 ing of the nations for their final overthrow, from the 
 rise of Louis Napoleon to the emperorship to the 
 coming of Christ as the thief to remove the Church 
 of the first-born, or wise virgins, from the earth to 
 meet him in the air: — a.d. 1850 — 
 
 VII. The great tribulation, unexampled earthquaJce, and 
 judgment of the nations, from the full development 
 of the personal Antichrist — most likely Napoleon III. 
 — to the manifestation of Christ for his final destruc- 
 tion and the binding of Satan ; estimated by numerous 
 interpreters to date from a.d. 1865-6 — 1869-70. 
 
 These vials, however, are to have their literal and complete 
 fulfilment only within the last months before the descent and 
 manifestation of Christ and his grand saint-army, which 
 ushers in the time of blessedness for those who wait and come 
 to that day — the day for which the ;arth has been sighing 
 for wellnigh six thousand years. 
 
364 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 THE HAPPY DAWN. 
 
 Light of the better morning. 
 
 Shine down on me ! 
 Sun of the brighter heaven. 
 
 Bid darkness flee ! 
 Thy warmth impart 
 To this dull heart: 
 Pour in thy light, 
 And let this night 
 Be turn'd to day 
 By thy mild ray ! 
 
 Lord Jesus, come ; 
 Thuu daystar, shine; 
 
 Enlighten now 
 
 This soul of mine ! 
 
 Streaks of the better dawning, 
 
 Break on my sight, 
 Fringing with silver edges 
 
 These clouds of night. 
 Gems on morn's brow. 
 Glow, brightly glow, 
 Fgretelling soon 
 The asceniHng noon. 
 Wakening this earth 
 To second birth. 
 
 When He shall come, 
 To earth again, 
 
 Who comes to judge, 
 Who comes to reign. 
 
 H. BONAB. 
 
g^uthoritif.% IooIuj, and Jlefci;i^nr4s 
 
 ON THE SUBJECTS TREATED IN THIS VOLUME, 
 
 WITH SOME CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Dr. Auberlen has remarked that Jesus, and all his 
 prophets^ and apostles, were Chiliasts. He has also said 
 that the doctrine of the Millennial kingdom does not rest, as is 
 often thought, upon an isolated passage in the Apocalypse, 
 but is essential to a right understanding of the entire body of 
 the Old Testament, and is the fundamental idea in the teach- 
 ings of the New, in which the sum and substance of Mes- 
 sianic prophecy is concentrated. That these are correct re- 
 presentations, the following citations, carefully examined, will 
 help to show : — 
 
 1. KEFEKENCES IN THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES 
 TO THE COMING AGAIN OF THE LORD JESUS IN PERSON TO THE 
 EARTH. 
 
 Matthew, xvi. 27, 28; xix. 28; xxiii. 39; xxiv. 3, 27, 30- 
 
 31, 37-39, 42, 44, 48-51; xxv. 6, 10, 13, 19, 31; xxvi. 
 
 64. Also, allusions with less specific directness, vi. 10; 
 
 xiii. 24-30, 37-43, 47-50; xx. 20-23; xxi. 44; xxii. 11, 
 
 30,44; xxvi. 29. 
 Mark, viii. 38; xiii. 26, 27, 35-37; xiv. 61, 62. Also, by 
 
 way of allusion, iv. 29; x. 35-40; xiv. 25. 
 
 31* 365 
 
366 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Luke, ix. 26; xii. 36-40, 43, 45, 46; xiii. 35; xvii. 24, 80; 
 
 xviii. 8; xix. 12, 13, 15; xxi. 27, 36; xxii. 69. Also, 
 
 allusions, i. 32, 33; xiv. 10; xix. 38; xx. 18, 35; xxii. 
 
 16, 18, 29. 
 John, xiv. 3, 28 ; xvi. 16, 22. Also, allusions, i. 51 ; v. 25, 
 
 27, 28; vi. 40, 44, 54; xi. 52; xii. 12, 13; xvii. 24; xxi. 
 
 22, 23. 
 Acts of the Apostles, i. 9-11 ; iii. 19-21. Also, allu- 
 sions, i. 7 ; X. 42 ; xvi. 31 ; xx. 31, 32 ; xxiii. 6 ; xxiv. 
 
 15, 25; xxvi. 6. 7. 
 Paul to the Romans, xi. 25, 26. Allusions, v. 2, 9, 17 ; 
 
 vi. 8 ; viii. 17-25; xi. 11, 12; xiii. 11, 12; xvi. 20. 
 Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, i. 7, 8 ; iv. 
 
 5; xi. 26; xv. 23, 24. Allusions, iii. 13; v. 5 ; vi. 2, 3; 
 
 xiii. 10,12; XV. 28, 51,52. 
 Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, illusions, 
 
 i. 14; iv. 17, 18; v. 10; xi. 2. 
 Paul to the Galatians, allusions, iii. 29; v. 5. 
 Paul to the Ephesians, allusions, i. 10, 14, 18; ii. 7; 
 
 iv. 30; v. 27; vi. 18. 
 Paul to the Philippians, i. 6, 10; ii. 16; iii. 20, 21; 
 
 iv. 5. Allusions, ii. 10; iii. 11, 14. 
 Paul to the Colossians, iii. 4. Allusions, i. 5 ; iii. 24. 
 Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians, i. 10; 
 
 ii. 19; iii. 13; iv. 13-18; v. 1-4, 23. Allusions, i. 3; ii. 
 
 12; V. 9. 
 Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, i. 6-11 ; 
 
 ii. 1-8 ; iii. 5. Allusions, ii. 14, 16. 
 Paul's Epistles to Timothy, 1 Tim. vi. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 1, 
 
 8. Allusions, 2 Tim. i. 12; ii. 12; iv. 18. 
 Paul's Epistle to Titus, ii. 13. 
 
 Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, ix. 28 ; x. 37. Allu- 
 sions, i. 13; ii. 5, 7, 8 ; iv. 9; viii. 10; x. 13, 25, 30; xi 
 
 26, 35; xii. 14, 22, 27, 28; xiii. 14. 
 
AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 367 
 
 James, v. 7, 8. Allusions, i. 18; ii. 5; v. 9. 
 
 Peter's First Epistle, i. 7,13; iv. 13; v. 4. Allusions, 
 1.8, 5, 11; ii. 7; iii. 15; iv. 5,7; v. 1, 10. 
 
 Peter's Second Epistle, i. 16, 19; iii. 10, 11, 14. Allu- 
 sions, i. 11 ; iii. 13. 
 
 John's First Epistle, ii. 28; iii. 2. Allusions, iv. 17. 
 
 Jude's Epistle, 14-16. Allusion, 24. 
 
 John's Revelation, i. 7; ii. 25; iii. 3, 11; xvi. 15; xix. 
 11-16; XX. 11; xxii 7, 12, 20. Allusions, i. 1, 3, 19; 
 ii. 26, 27; iii. 21; iv. 1; vi. 12-17; xi. 15, 17, 18; xii. 
 5; xiv. 1-4; xv. 4; xvi 14; xx. 4; xxii. 10. 
 
 2. REFERENCES TO SOME REMAEKABLE PASSAGES ON THE SAME SUB- 
 JECT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Numbers, xxiv. 16-19. 
 
 Job, xix. 25-27. 
 
 Psalms, 1. 3-6; xcvi. 10-13; xcviii. 7-9; cii. 16. 
 
 ISAlAll, ii. 10-21; viii. 17; xxv. 9; xxvi. 21 ; xxxv. 4; xl. 
 
 10; xlii. 13; Ixii. 11; Ixiv. 1-4; Ixvi. 15. 
 Jeremiah, xxiii. 5-7. 
 Ezekiel, xxiii. 25-27. 
 Daniel, vii. 13, 14; xii. 1, 2. 
 MiCAH, i. 3, 4. 
 Habakkuk, iii. 1-19. 
 Zechariah, ii. 10-13 ; xiv. 3, 4. 
 Malachi, iii. 1, 2. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton has said that "there is scarcely a pro- 
 phecy in the Old Testament concerning Christ that doth not, 
 in something or other, relate to his second coming."* The 
 ahove are hut a few out of many which refer directly to the 
 subject. The allusions to it are multitudinous. 
 
 * "Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel," &c., p. 132. 
 
368 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 3. REFEKENCES TO THE OBJECTS AND RESULTS OF CHRIST's RETURN 
 TO THE EARTH. 
 
 As regards Ms true peojile, — 
 
 For the purpose of completing their redemption, Luke xxi. 
 
 27, 28; Rom. viii. 19-23; Eph. iv. 30; Heb. ix. 28. 
 For the purpose of raising them that sleep from their 
 graves, 1 Cor. xv. 22, 23; 1 Thess. iv. 14, 16; Job 
 xix. 25-27. 
 For the purpose of changing those of them who shall be 
 
 found living upon the earth from mortal to immortality, 
 
 ICor. XV. 42-44, 51-54; Phil. iii. 20, 21. 
 For the purpose of receiving them to himself in some 
 
 aerial abode in glory, John xiv. 3; 1 Thess. iv. 15-17; 1 
 
 John iii. 2 ; Rev. vii. 15. 
 For the purpose of investing them with dominion and 
 
 authority, according to their works. Matt. xvi. 27; 1 
 
 Cor. iv. 5; 2 Cor. v. 10; Matt. xix. 28; 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3; 
 
 Luke xix. 13, 19 ; Rev. ii. 26, 27 ; xx. 4 ; Dan. vii. 21, 22. 
 As regards his enemies, — 
 
 To destroy their power, Isaiah xxiv. 21-23 ; xxv. 9-12 ; 
 
 Rev. vi. 15, 16; Psalm ii. 1-9; Dan. vii. 9, 26; Isaiah 
 
 xiv. 24-26. 
 To destroy their armies, Zech. xiv. 3, 12-15; Rev. xvi. 
 
 14; xix. 19-21; Isaiah xxxi. 8, 9; Jer. xxv. 33. 
 To destroy their works, Matt. xv. 13 ; Jer. xxv. 37, 38. 
 To hurl their leaders to perdition, Dan. vii. 11; Ezek. 
 
 xxxviii. 22; 2 Thess. ii. 8-11; Rev. xvii. 11; ^ix. 20. 
 To visit terrible retribution on all the disobedient, Luke 
 
 xix. 27 ; 2 Thess. i. 8 ; Jude 15, 16 ; Rev. i. 7; xvi. 1- 
 
 21; Isaiah Ixiii. 1-4; Ixvi. 15, 16; Dan. xii. 1; Joel iii. 
 
 9-16 ; Ps. i. 4, 5. 
 To destroy utterly some of the great centres of wickedness, 
 
 with their wicked inhabitants, Rev. xviii 2, 8, 18; 
 
 2 Peter iii. 7. 
 
AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 3G9 
 
 To bind and shut up Satan in the bottomless pit, Rev. xxx. 
 
 1-3. 
 As regards the Jewish people, — 
 
 To deliver them from the power of the armies brought 
 
 against them, Zech. xiv. 3-5, 12-16; Joel iii. 9-17; 
 
 Micah iv. 6-13. 
 To turn them from ungodliness to truth and righteousness, 
 
 Rom. xi. 26, 27; Isaiah lix. 20, 21; Zech. xii. 10-14; 
 
 xiii. 1, 2; Ezek. xxxvi. 23-39; Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. 
 To unite and establish them in their own land, Ezek. 
 
 xxxvii. 21, 22; xxxiv. 25-31; Isaiah xi. 11-13; Ixvi. 
 
 6-20 ; Micah iv. 3, 4. 
 To make Jerusalem the seat of universal empire, Micah 
 
 iv. 1, 2; Isaiah Ix. 14; Zech. xiv. 16 ; Luke xxi. 24; 
 
 Isaiah xxiv. 23 ; Ps. ii. 6. 
 To become their king forever. Rev. xi. 15; Isaiah xxiv. 
 
 23; ix. 7; Ezek. xxxvii. 24, 25; Luke i. 32, 33; Jer. 
 
 xxiii. 5, 6; Micah iv. 6, 7. 
 To make them a blessing to all nations, G-en. xii. 3; xxii. 
 
 18; Micah v. 7; Acts iii. 25, 26; Rom. xi. 15. 
 As regards the world at large, — 
 
 To subvert the empire of wickedness, Isaiah ii. 17-22; 
 
 xxxi. 7; Ps. Ixxii. 7, 8; Zech. xiv. 20, 21. 
 To bring wars and violence to an end, Ps. xlvi. 9; Isaiah 
 
 ii. 4;"lx. 18; Micah iv. 3. 
 To deliver the suffering creation from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption, Rom. viii. 19-21; Isaiah xxxv. 1, 2, 6, 7, 9; 
 
 Rev. xxii. 3. 
 To establish his glorious kingdom upon the earth, Dan. ii. 
 
 44; vii. 13, 14; Matt. xxv. 31; Isaiah ix. 7; Ezek. xxi. 
 
 27; Zech. xiv. 8; Rev. xi. 15; Matt. vi. 9, 10. 
 To make all things new, Isaiah Ixv. 17-25; Ixvi. 22; 
 
 Matt. xix. 28; Acts iii. 20, 21; 2 Peter iii. 10-13; 
 
 Rev. xxi. 1-5. 
 Y 
 
370 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 4. REFERENCES TO THE COURSE OF THINGS IN THIS WORLD UNTIL 
 CHRIST COMES. 
 
 As to the world in general, showing that wickedness will 
 
 abound till then, Matt. xxiv. 6-15, 37; Mark xiii. 6-13; 
 
 Luke xvii. 26-31; 1 Thess. v. 2, 3; 2 Tim. iii. 1-13; 
 
 2 Peter iii. 3, 4, 10; Jude 18, to. 
 As to the great Gentile and antichristian powers, showing 
 
 that they shall not be destroyed till then, Dan. ii. 26-45; 
 
 vii. 1-28; viii. 2-27; xi. 2-45; xii. 1-3; 2 Thess. ii. 3-12; 
 
 1 John ii. 18, 19; Rev. xiii. 1-18; xvi. 1-21; xvii. 1-18; 
 
 xviii. 1-24; xix. 1-21. 
 As to the professed Church, showing that it will be under the 
 
 cross and imperfect till then. Matt. xiii. 24-30, 36-42; 
 
 XXV. 1-13; Mark xiii.; ix. 1-13; Acts xx. 29, 30; 1 Tim. 
 
 iv. 1-3; 2 Tim. iii. 1-5; 2 Peter ii. 1, 3, 12, 13, 17: Rev. 
 
 ii. and iii; xiii. 8, 14, 16, 17. 
 
 5. REFERENCES TO OUR DUTY WITH REGARD TO THE RETURN OF 
 CHRIST. 
 
 We are to watch for it. Matt. xxiv. 43-51; xxv. 13; Mark 
 
 xiii. 33-37; Luke xii. 35-37; xxi. 34-36; 1 Thess. v. 4- 
 
 6; Rev. xvi. 15. 
 "We are to pray for it. Matt. vi. 10; Luke xi. 2; Can. viii. 14; 
 
 Rev. xxii. 20. 
 We are to wait patiently for it, 1 Thess. i. 10; 2 Thess. iii. 5; 
 
 1 Cor. i. 7; Isaiah xxv. 9. 
 We are to expect it, and look for it continually, Phil. iii. 20; 
 
 Titus ii. 13; Heb. ix. 28; 2 Peter iii. 12, 14; Rev. i. 7. 
 We are to love it, and anticipate it with cheerful and fond 
 
 desire, 2 Tim. iv. 8; Rom. viii. 23; 2 Cor. v. 2; Titus 
 
 ii. 13. 
 We are to keep ourselves in constant readiness for it. Matt. 
 
 xxiv. 44; Mark xiii. 33, 36; Luke xii. 35, 36, 40; xxi. 34 
 
 Rom. xiii. 11-14; 1 Thess. v. 6; Rev. xvi. 15. 
 
AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 371 
 
 We are to provide ourselves with oil in our vessels, Matt. xxv. 
 
 1-13. 
 To lay out our talents for the Master, Matt. xxiv. 14-30; 
 
 Luke xix. 12-17. 
 To be thoughtful of his afflicted people, Matt. xxv. 31-46. 
 To have on the wedding garment, Matt. xxii. 11. 
 
 6. REFERENCES TO THE SIGNS WHICH ABE TO MARK THE TIMES 
 IMMEDIATELT PRECEDING THE SAVIOR's RETURN. 
 
 The gospel to he universally promulged, Matt. xxiv. 14; 
 
 xxviii. 19; Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8. 
 Nominal Christeiidom to he fearfully apostate, Luke xviii. 8 ; 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, 8-12; 2 Tim. iii. 1-5; iv. 3,4; Matt. 
 
 xiii. 37-43; xxiv. 37-39; 2 Peter ii. 1-22; iii. 3, 4. 
 The world to ahound with intense wicJcedness, Matt. xxiv. 37- 
 . 39; Luke xvii. 26-30; 1 Thess. v. 1-3; 2 Tim. iii. 13; 
 
 Jude 17-19; Rev. xiii. 1-17. 
 Great troidjles and revolutionary disturhances to oppress the 
 
 nations, Isaiah ii. 10-22; v. 26-30; xxiv. 1-20; Jer. xxv. 
 
 15-29; Ezek. xxi. 24-27; Dan. xii. 1; Haggai ii. 7, 22; 
 
 Matt. xxiv. 21; Mark xiii. 19, 20; Luke xxi. 10, 25-27; 
 
 Heb. xii. 27; Rev. viii. 1-13; xix. 1-21; xii. 12. 
 A wide-spread aicakening among Christ's people to the s^ihject 
 
 of his coming, Dan. xii. 9; Matt. xxv. 6; Hab. ii. 3. 
 The cessation of the oppressions endured hy the Jews, the re- 
 
 huilding of Jerusalem, and the commencement of the re- 
 turn of the people of Israel to Palestine, Luke xxi. 24; 
 
 Dan. ix. 27; Rom. xi. 25; Lev. xxvi. 43-45; Isaiah i. 
 
 24-28; xi. 11, 12; Ixii. 1-12; Jer. xvi. 11-21; xxiii. 3; 
 
 xxxi. 4-12, 35-40; xxxii. 37-44; xxxiii. 7-11; xlvi. 27, 
 
 28; Ezek. xxxvi. 8-36; xxxix. 25-29; Zech. viii. 2-15. 
 The midtiplication of signs and portentous forehodings in 
 
 nature, Luke xxi. 11, 25, 26, 27, 31; Mark xiii. 8, 25; 
 
 Acts ii. 19, 20; Micih vii. 15, 16. 
 
372 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Great violence of liassion, anger, and hlaRplien\if on (he part 
 of nut ions, Luke xxi. 10; Mark xiii. 8j Ps. ii. 2, 3; Joel 
 iii. 9-12; Rev. si. 18; xvi. 9, 10, 11. 
 
 The devil to nfianifest himself in the most potent and m,alig- 
 nant forms, in the Church and in the world, Matt. xii. 43 
 -46; xxiv. 24; 2 Thess. ii. 7-12; 1 Tim. iv. 1-3; Rev. 
 xii. 12; xiii. 1-18; xvi. 13,14. 
 
 7. REFERENCES TO THE MANNER IN WHICH CHRIST WILL COME 
 
 He will come literally and personally as he ascended, Acts i. 
 9, 11; Heb. ix. 28; Rev. i. 7. 
 
 He will most likely come first invisibly to steal away his wait- 
 ing and watching saints, when "two shall be in one bed, 
 the one shall be taken and the other left," &c.; at any rate, 
 "as a thief in the night," Matt. xxiv. 43; Luke xii. 39; 
 1 Thess. V. 2; 2 Peter iii. 10; Rev. xvi. 15; Luke xvii. 
 34-36. 
 
 He will come suddenly, when people generally will not be ex- 
 pecting such a thing, Luke xxi. 34, 35; Mark xiii. 36; 
 1 Thess. V. 3; Rev. iii. 3. 
 
 He will come, as to his visible manifestation, in splendor and 
 great glory, Matt. xvi. 27; xxiv. 30; Luke ix. 26; 
 xxi. 27. 
 
 He will come in the clouds. Matt. xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62; 
 Acts i. 9; 1 Thess. iv. 17; Rev. i. 7. 
 
 He will be revealed from heaven as the lightning shineth, 
 Matt. xxiv. 27; Luke xvii. 24; Zech. ix. 14; 2 Thess. i. 8. 
 
 He will be revealed to every one's sight, Rev. i. 7; Numb, 
 xxiv. 17; Job xix. 26, 27; xxxiv. 26; 1 John iii. 2; Zech. 
 xii. 10; Rev. xxii. 4. 
 
 He will descend to the earth at the place from which he as- 
 cended, Zech. xiv. 4; Ezek. xliii. 2; Acts i. 11, 12. 
 
 He will come accompanied with the angel-saints, whom he will 
 raise from among the dead and steal away from among the 
 
AUTnORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, 373 
 
 living for the purpose of having them with him, Jude 14; 
 
 Matt. xvi. 21; xxv. 31; 1 Thess. iii. 13; Deut. xxxiii. 2; 
 
 Zech. xiv. 5; Eev. xiv. 4; xix. 14. Compare, also, Matt. 
 
 xxii. 30. 
 He will come clothed with irresistible majesty and power, 
 
 Matt. xxiv. 30; xxvi. 64; Mark xiii. 26; Luke xxi. 27; 
 
 2 Thess. i. 7; Ps. ex. 2; Rev. vi. 17; xix. 15, 16. 
 He will come in connection with some very marvellous 
 
 heraldic demonstrations, 1 Thess. iv. 16. Compare Exod. 
 
 xix. 16; XX. 18; Isaiah xxvii. 13; Zech. ix. 14; Matt, 
 
 xxiv. 31. 
 
 8. REFERENCES TO THE TIME WHEN CHRIST WILL COME. 
 
 It will be in a period of abounding apostasy and unbelief, 
 
 Matt. xxiv. 37-39; Luke xviii. 8; 2 Thess. ii. 8; 2 Tim. 
 
 iii. 1-5; 2 Peter iii. 3, 4. 
 It will be in a time of revolutionary troubles and political 
 
 agitations and sufferings, Luke xxi. 25-28; Ps. ii. 1-5; 
 
 Ezek. xxi. 27; Heb. xii. 26; Rev. xvi. 1-1&. 
 Christ will come while the Roman empire, under its last 
 
 head, and the ten kings under whom it is to be in a 
 
 sense revived, are still standing, Dan. vii. 9-14; Rev. xix. 
 
 11-20. 
 He will come before the Jews as an entire people shall return 
 
 to Palestine, Micah ii. 12, 13; Isaiah Iii. 12; Ixvi. 15-20; 
 
 Rom. xi. 26. 
 He will come when the Man of Sin is still in power, Dan. vii. 
 
 8, 24; 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8. 
 He will come at a time when an awakening cry has gone forth 
 
 announcing his nearness. Matt. xxv. 6; Mai. iv. 5, 6; 
 
 Rev. xvi. 15. 
 He will come when nevertheless there shall be great skepti- 
 cism and indifference on the subject, Luke xxi. 34, 35; 
 
 1 Thess. v. 3- 2 Peter iii. 3, 4; Jude 14, 15, 18. 
 
 32 
 
374 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 9. REFERENCES TO THE CONDITION OF THINGS ON THE EARTH 
 AFTER THE SAVIOR's RETURN. 
 
 The world suhjected to divine ride, Dan. ii. 44, 45 j vii. 13, 
 
 14,26,27; Matt. xxv. 31,34; Luke xxi. 31; Rev. xi. 
 
 15-18; XX. 4-6; Isaiah xxxii. 1, 17, 18; Jer. xxxiii. 5, 6. 
 The children of Israel all united again in one permanent 
 
 nationality, 3 ev. in. \%,\Q) xxiii. 3— 8; xxx. 3— 22; xxxiii. 
 
 12-26; Isaiah x. 20, 21; xi. 10-13; Ezek. xxxvii. 12-28; 
 
 Hos. i. 10, 11; Zech. viii. 3-23; ix. 12-17; x. 6-10; xii. 
 
 6, 7; Rom. xi. 25-27. 
 
 Christ the king, Luke i. 31-33; 2 Sain. vii. 12-16; 1 Chron. 
 
 xvii. 11-14; Ps. ii. 6-12 ; Ixxxix. 3,4, 29-37; Isa. ix. 6, 7; 
 
 Jer. iii. 17; xxxiii. 17, 20, 21; Hos. iii. 5; Ezek. xxxiv. 
 
 23, 24; xxxvii. 24, 25; 1 Cor. xv. 25; Zech. xiv. 9; Heb. 
 
 ii. 6-8. 
 Satan's power in aheyance, Rev. xx. 1—3; Isaiah xxvii. 1; 
 
 and finally destroyed. Rev. xx. 10. 
 Israel wholly righteous, and a great blessing in the earth, Jer. 
 
 xxxi. 33, 34; Ezek. xxxvi. 24-33; xxxvii. 23, 28; Rom. 
 
 xi. 26, 27; Heb. viii. 10-12; Gen. xii. 2; Isaiah Ixvi. 6, 
 
 7, 19; Zech. viii. 21, 22; Micah iv. 1, 2. 
 
 Jerusalem the glorious m,etropolis of the world, Isaiah ii. 2—4; 
 
 xxiv. 23; Ix. 1-22; Joel iii. 16, 17, 20; Zech. xiv. 17- 
 
 21; Ezek. xxxix. 25; xliii. 7. 
 Christ reigning over all people, Ps. Ixxii. 8-19; Micah iv. 1 
 
 -7; Zech. ix. 10; Rev. xi. 15. 
 The glorified saints share with him in the administration of 
 
 his sublime dominion, Exod. xix. 6; Ps. xlvii. 3; xlix. 14; 
 
 Isaiah xxxii. 1; Dan. vii. 21, 22; Matt. xix. 28; Luke 
 
 xix. 17, 19; xxii. 29, 30; 1 Cor. iv. 5; vi. 2, 3; ix. 25; 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 8; 1 Peter v. 4; Rev. i. 6; ii. 10, 26, 27; iii. 
 
 21; V. 10; XX. 4; xxi. 7; xxii. 5. 
 The knowledge of the Lord fills the ivorld, Isaiah xi. 9 ; Ps. 
 
 xxii. 27; Hab. ii. 14; Zech. xiv. 8, 9; Heb. viii. 10, 11. 
 
AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 375 
 
 The curse is repealed, and tlic suffering creation delivered, 
 
 Rev. xxii. 3; Eom. viii. 19-2.3; 1 Tim. ii. 15; Isaiah xi. 
 
 6-9; Hosea ii. 17, 18; Zech. xiv. 11, 20, 21. 
 All things made neio, Isaiah Ixv. 17-25; Ixvi. 22; 2 Peter 
 
 iii. 10-13; Rev. xxi. 1-5; Matt. xix. 28; Acts iii. 20, 21. 
 The Lord dwelling loith men, Lev. xxvi. 11, 12; Ezek. 
 
 xxxvii. 27, 28 y xliii. 7; xlviii. 35; Rev. xxi. 3. 
 The earth full of 'prosperity and blessedness, Ps. Ixvii. 6, 7; 
 
 xcvi. 11-13; Isaiah Hi. 9, 10; Iv. 12, 13; xxxii. 15-20; 
 
 XXXV. 1-10; Amos xiii. 15; Joel iii. 18. 
 Death and all evil finally and completely destroyed, Isaiah 
 
 XXV. 8; Hosea xiii. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 26; Heb ii. 14, 15; 
 
 Rev. vii. 16, 17; xx. 14; xxi. 4; xxii. 1-5. 
 God all in all, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 27, 28. 
 
 10. REFERENCES TO THE USES MADE IN THE SCRIPTURES OF THE 
 REVELATIONS CONCERNING THE SECOND ADVENT. 
 
 They present it as the great hope of the Church, Titus ii. 13; 
 
 1 Peter i. 13; Job xix. 25-27; Isaiah xxv. 9; Col. ii. 4; 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 8. 
 
 They give it as a motive — 
 
 to take up testimony for Christ, Luke ix. 26. 
 
 to heavenly-mindedness, Phil. iii. 20. 
 
 to moderation, Phil. iv. 5. 
 
 to mortification of the flesh. Col. iii. 4, 5. 
 
 to faithfulness in God's service, 1 Tim. vi. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 
 
 1,2, 8; 1 Peter V. 4. 
 to soberness and godly living, Titus ii. 12, 13. 
 to pei'severance, Heb. x. 37. 
 to patience, James v. 7, 8. 
 
 to holy conversation and godliness, 2 Peter iii. 10, 11. 
 to diligence and activity, Matt. xxv. 14-30; Luke xix. 13; 
 
 2 Peter iii. 14. 
 to hold fast what we have in Christ, Rev. ii. 25; iii. 11. 
 
376 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 They give it as a motive — 
 
 to carefulness in intercourse witli the world, Rev. xvi. 15. 
 to fraternal affection, 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13. 
 to abide in Christ, 1 John ii. 28. 
 
 They refer to it as a subject of peculiar comfort under bereave- 
 ment, 1 Thess. iv. 18; 2 Tim. i. 5, 7; ii. 12; Isa. xxx. 18. 
 
 They employ it as an encouragement to labor for souls, and as 
 a subject of solemn appeal in the charge to ministers, 
 1 Cor i. 4-7; 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20; 2 Tim. iv. 1. 
 
 They direct attention to it as a corrective of, and support 
 under, censoriousness and judging of others, 1 Cor. iv. 
 3-5. 
 
 They speak of it as a thing which should possess absorbing 
 importance and interest to all who desire to be prepared 
 for the eternal kingdom, Matt. xxiv. 42-51; xxv. 13; 
 Mark xiii. 33-37; Luke xxi. 34-36; 1 Thess. v. 4-6. 
 
 11. KEFEBKNCES TO THE FUTURE DESTINY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE.* 
 
 They shall be gathered from all places of their dispersion and 
 
 brought into their own land, Isaiah xi. 11; xxvii. 12, 13; 
 
 xliii. 5, 6; xlix. 11, 12; Ix. 4; Jer. iii. 18; xvi. 14, 15; 
 
 xxiii. 3; xxxi. 7-10; xxxii. 37; Zech. viii. 7, 8; x. 8, 
 
 9, 10. 
 They shall be helped, carried, and numerously joined by the 
 
 Gentiles, Isaiah xlix. 22; xiv. 2; Ix. 9; Ixvi. 18-20; ii. 
 
 2-4; Jer. iii. 17; xvi. 19; Ezek. xlvii. 22, 23; Zech. 
 
 viii. 20-23. 
 Great miracles shall attend their restoration, Isaiah xi. 15, 
 
 16; Zech. x. 11; Micah vii. 15; Isaiah xix. 20; xli. 19, 
 
 20; xliii. 19, 20; Ixvi. 18-22; Hosea xii. 9, 10; Isaiah 
 
 XXXV. 4-10; Hi. 12; Iviii. 8; Hosea i. 10, 11; Micah ii. 
 
 12, 13; Malachi iv. 5, 6. 
 
 * Mostly from Powel's Concordance, piiblished in 1673. 
 
AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 377 
 
 They shall again be formed into a state, with judges and 
 
 counsellors as formerly, Christ himself being their king, 
 
 Isaiah i. 25, 26; Ix. 15-22; Jer. xxiii. 4; xxx. 9, 21; 
 
 Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24; xxxvii. 24, 25; Hosea iii 5; Oba- 
 
 diah 21; Zech. xiv. 5, 9. 
 They shall have the victory over all their enemies, and the 
 
 pre-eminence of all the nations, Isaiah xli. 14-16; xlix. 
 
 23; Ix. 8-14; Joel iii. 7, 8, 19, 20; Obadiah 17, 18; 
 
 Micah iv. 6-13; v. 5-7; vii. 16, 17; Zech. ii. 12, 13; ix. 
 
 13, 17; X. 5, 6; xii. 6-9. 
 Once restored, they shall live peaceably, and no more be 
 
 divided into two nations, Isaiah xi. 13, 14; Jer. 1. 4; Ezek. 
 
 xxxvii. 19, 22; Kosea i. 11. 
 They shall be numerous and multiply greatly, Isaiah xxvii. 6j 
 
 xliv. 3, 4; xlix. 18-21; liv. 1-3; Ixi. 9; Jer. xxiii. 3; 
 
 xxx. 18-20; xxxiii. 10, 11; xxxvi. 37,38. 
 They shall have great peace, safety, and prosperity, Isaiah 
 
 xxxii. 16-18; xxxiii. 24; liv. 13-17; Ix. 18-22; Jer. 
 
 xxiii. 3-6; xxx. 10-22; xxxi. 34-40; xxxiii. 6-9; 1. 19, 
 
 20; Zeph. iii. 13; Zech. iii. 9, 10. 
 They shall be very glorious, and a blessing to the whole 
 
 earth, Isaiah xix. 24, 25; Ixi. 9; Jer. xxxiii. 9; Ezek. 
 
 xxxiv. 26; Zeph. iii. 19; Zech. viii. 13; xii. 8; Rom. 
 
 xi. 15. 
 Judea shall be made extraordinarily fruitful and attractive, 
 
 Isaiah xxix. 17; xxxv. 1-9; li. 3, 16; liv. 12, 13; Ix. 13 
 
 -17; Ixv. 25; Ezek. xxxiv. 26, 27; xxxvi. 36; Joel iii. 
 
 18; Amosix. 13, 14. 
 Jerusalem shall be rebuilt, and after the restoration of all the 
 
 tribes shall never be destroyed, nor infested with enemies 
 
 any more, Isaiah ii. 1-3; Iii. 1; xxvi. 1, 2; Ix. 10-20; 
 
 Jer. xxxi. 38-40; Joel iii. 17. 
 Immediately preceding, and in connection with, their esta- 
 blishment in Palestine, and especially their conversion, 
 ;i2« 
 
378 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 there shall be great wars, confusion, and desolation through- 
 out the earth, Isaiah xxxiv. 1-17; Jer. xxx. 17-10; Joel iii. 
 1-10; Ezek. xxviii. 24-26; Haggai ii. 21-23; Zeph. iii. 
 8; Zech. xiv. 2, 3, 12-15. 
 
 Their general restoration and conversion not to tlike place till 
 after the return of Christ, Zech. xii. 7; Isaiah xi. 1-16; 
 Iii. 12; Ixvi. 1-24; Micah ii. 12, 13; Zech. xii. 1-14; 
 xiv. 1-21; Eom. xi. 26; Ezek. xxxvii. 1-28; Ps. cii. 16. 
 
 Previous to the return of Christ, just one year-day week, 
 many of them will make a compact with the Antichrist, in 
 some sense accepting him as their protector and Messiah, 
 Dan. ix. 27; xi. 28; Matt. xxiv. 24. 
 
 Their land to be invaded, and their city to be once more par- 
 tially destroyed, immediately before the revelation of Christ 
 on Mount Olivet, Zech. xiv. 2, 12; Dan. xi. 41-45; Ezek. 
 xxviii. 8-23; Isaiah Ixvi. 18; Joel iii. 9-17; Rev. xvi. 
 14; Zech. xii. 9. 
 
 Their general conversion to be eifected by the personal ap- 
 pearance of Christ, Zech. xii. 10; Rom. xi. 26. Allusion 
 to this seems also to be contained in 1 Tim. i. 16. Paul's 
 conversion was by the personal manifestation of Christ, 
 Acts ix. 3-5; 1 Cor. ix. 1. 
 
 12. REFERENCES TO THE ANTICHRIST OF THE LAST DATS. 
 
 His names, 2 Thess. ii. 2, 8; Isaiah xiv. 4, 25; Ezek. xxviii. 
 
 2, 12; Dan. xi. 21; viii. 9, 23; Matt. xxiv. 15; Rev. ix. 
 
 11; xiii. 18. 
 His character for deceit and subtlety, Isaiah xiv ; Ezek. xxviii 
 
 3-17; Dan. xi. 32; 2 Thess. ii. 9-11; Matt. xxiv. 24. 
 Is to utter marvellous things against the Most High, and deny 
 
 the Father and the Son, Dan. xi. 36; 1 John iv. 3; 2 John 
 
 7; Rev. xiii. 13. 
 Is to establish himself in Jerusalem, Dan. xi. 45; Ezek. 
 
 xxviii. 2, 14; Matt. xxiv. 15. 
 
AUTHORITIES FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 379 
 
 Is to appropriate Divine honors and establish idolatry, Ezek. 
 xxviii. 2; Dan. xi. 36; Isaiah xiv. 13, 14; 2 Thess. ii. 4; 
 Rev. xiii. 15. 
 
 Is to take away the restored daily sacrifice of the Jews, Dan. 
 viii. 10-12; ix. 27; xi. 31. 
 
 Is to destroy and persecute the holy people, Dan. viii. 24; 
 Rev. xii. 13, 17; xiii. 7, 15, 16, 17; xx. 4. 
 
 Is to unite the armies of the earth in an expedition into Pa- 
 lestine, Isaiah xiii. 4, 5; xvii. 12-14; Dan. xii. 1; Joel 
 iii. 2; Matt. xxiv. 21; Rev. xvi. 16; perhaps, also, Ezek. 
 xxxviii. 8-19. 
 
 Is to be destroyed by the revelation of Christ in Palestine, 
 Isaiah xiv. 10-25; Ezek. xxviii. 7, 8; xxxviii. 21, 22; 
 Dan. xi. 25; 2 Thess. ii. 8; Rev. xix. 11-20. 
 
 His greatness and fall specially described, Ezek. xxxi. 2-18; 
 Isaiah xiv. 4-25. 
 
 His rule and principal depredations as the Antichrist to con- 
 tinue only about three and a half years, Dan. vii. 25; ix. 
 27; Rev. xi. 3; xii. 6; xiii. 5. 
 
 Irengeus has this observation: — "When Antichrist, reigning 
 three years and six months, shall have laid waste all things 
 in this world, and have sat in the temple of Jerusalem, 
 then shall the Lord come from heaven, in the clouds, in 
 the glory of his Father, casting him and those that obey 
 him into the lake of fire." 
 
 13. REFERENCES TO THE GENERAL ORDER OF EVENTS.* 
 
 When the times of the Gentiles are passing away, (Luke xxi. 
 24, 25; Rom. xi. 25-32,) the Jews are recalled (Dam ix. 
 27; Ezek. xx. 32-44; Isaiah xlix. 9-12) and replaced in 
 their own land, Ezek. xxxvi. 1-38; xxxvii. 20-23; Isaiah 
 
 * Mostly from Bickersteth's " Practieal Guide to the Proph.," pp. 209-212. 
 
380 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 xi. 11, 12; Ixii. 4; Jer. xxxi. 1-6; Deut. xxx. 4-6; 
 
 xxxii. 43. 
 The apostate Gentiles under Antichrist come against them, 
 
 Isaiah Ixvi. 1-4; Jer. xxx. 1-9; Isaiah x. 20-27; Dan. 
 
 ix. 27; Isaiah xxxi.; xxxiii. 1-10; Ezek. xxxviii. 1-16; 
 
 Dan. xi. 41, 45; Joel ii. 1-20; Micah iv. 8-10; Dan. xii. 
 
 1, 2. 
 The signs in the sun, moon, and stars are manifested, Matt. 
 
 xxiv. 20-29; Luke xxi. 24-26; Heb. xii. 26-28; Hag. ii. 
 
 6, 7; Isaiah xiii. 9-11; xxxiv. 1-4; Joel iii. 12-15; ii. 
 
 31-32; Mai. iv. 1-6. 
 The sign of the Son of man appears in the darkened heavens, 
 
 Matt. xxiv. 29, 30; Luke xxi. 27, 28; Isaiah xviii. 3-7; 
 
 xi. 12-14; xxxi. 6-8; Dan. vii. 13-14; Matt, xxiii. 39; 
 
 Luke xvii. 24. 
 He raises the great company of the sainted dead, and changes 
 
 the great company of the sainted living, all of whom 
 
 ascend to him in the air, Matt. xxiv. 31; Rev. xi. 15-18 
 
 1 Cor. XV. 51-54; 1 Thess. iv. 15-17; 2 Thess. i. 7 
 
 Isaiah xxvii. 12, 13; Rev. iii. 10; Isaiah xxvi. 19-21 
 
 Mai. iii. 17, 18; Rev. xiv. 16. 
 The beast, the kings of the earth, and their gathered armies, 
 
 in their rage, enmity, and blindness, propose to make war 
 
 against the Lord, and the armies which follow him. Matt. 
 
 xxiv. 30; Rev. xi. 18; xvi. 14; Isaiah viii. 8-10; x. 24- 
 
 26; xxiv. 21, 22; xxvii. 4; xxxi. 4; liv. 15; Ixvi. 18; 
 
 Joel iii. 1, 2; Micah iv. 11-13; Zeph. iii. 9; Zech. xii. 
 
 2-5; xiv. 1-5; Rev. xix. 19. 
 Christ pours his judgments on Antichrist and his adherents, 
 
 pleading with all flesh by fire 'and sword. Matt. xxiv. 36— 
 
 39; Rev. xv. 1; xvi. 1; Dan. ix. 27; Isaiah x. 24, 26 
 
 xiv. 24-26; xxiv. 21-23; xxxiv.; Ixiii.; Rev. xix. 10-21 
 
 Joel iii. 11-16; Nahum i. 9-15; Isaiah xxxiii. 27-33 
 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 17-23; Dan. vii. 9-14; Mai. iv. 1-3; Matt. 
 
AUTHORITIKS I'TIOM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 881 
 
 iii. 12; 2 Tliess. i. 8; ii. 8; Kev. xix. 15-20; Isaiah 
 Ixi. 16. 
 
 The character of the dispensation, discriminating, punishing, 
 and purifying, 1 Cor. iii. 12, 13; Mah iii. 3; Zech. xiii. 9; 
 Mark ix. 42, 50; Jer. xx. 9; xxiii. 29; Psalm xcvii. 3; 
 1 Peter iv. 12; 2 Peter iii. 10-13; Rev. iii. 18. 
 
 Every man's work made manifest, for the day shall declare it, 
 because it shall be revealed by fire, the progress of which 
 accomplishes the predicted passing away of the heavens and 
 the earth into the new heavens and earth, and which, like 
 the Jewish tribulation, seems to have a crisis in the be- 
 ginning (Ezek. xxxviii. 22; xxxix. 6; Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16) 
 and another at the close (Rev. xx. 9) of the Millennial 
 kingdom, Matt. xxiv. 21; Luke xxi. 22-24; Dan. xii. 1; 
 Jer. XXX. 7; Rev. xix 20; xx. 9. 
 
 The Lord descends visibly on Mount Olivet, with his glorified 
 saints, (Acts i. 11; Zech. xiv. 4, 5; Isaiah Ixiv. 1; Ixvi. 
 15; Ix. 13; Ezek. xliii. 7-9.) in the sight of his people 
 Israel, Isaiah Ixvi. 18, 19; Zech. xii. 10-14; Isaiah xxv. 
 9; Matt, xxiii. 29; Rom. xi. 26; Isaiah lix. 20; Zech. ii. 
 10-12. 
 
 These, humbled at length by their great affliction, and brought 
 to penitence by beholding their pierced Savior, welcome 
 his return, Zech. xii. 10-14; Jer. xxxi. 8-12; Acts iii. 
 19-21; Isaiah xii. 2-4; Psalm cvii.; cviii. ; Rev. xix. 1, 
 3, 4, 6. 
 
 Satan is then bound, and our Lord proceeds to reward all his 
 faithful servants for every loss and sacrifice made for him, 
 begins his glorious Millennial reign with his saints over 
 the nations who have escaped those awful judgments 
 which have consumed his foes, Isaiah xxxii. 1; Dan. vii. 
 18,27; xii. 4; Luke xxii". 28-30; John i. 51; Rev. xi. 
 18; XX. 4-6. 
 
 But, though the spiritual blessedness of this reign far exceeds 
 
382 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 that of any former dispensation, and the new heavens and 
 the new earth hegin in the heavenly reign of the saints, 
 and the glory of the land of Israel, (Isaiah Ixv. 17-19,) 
 yet the spirit of rebellion still secretly lurks among the 
 nations, (Zech. xiv. 17-19,) which, after ripening for a 
 time, is permitted to display itself, by the loosing of Satan 
 for a little season, that it may then be put down, forever, 
 Kev. sx. 9. 
 
 Our Lord reigns till he shall have completely put all enemies 
 under his feet ; Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire ; 
 the final judgment of "the rest of the dead" takes place, 
 and death and hell, and whosoever is not found written in 
 the book of life, are cast into the lake of fire, Rev. xx. 
 10-15. 
 
 The new heavens and the new earth being now perfected, and 
 tbere being no more sea, (Rev. xxi. 1,) the holy city de- 
 scends, and the state of highest happiness arrives, when 
 Grod is all in all, and his saints reign for ever and ever, 
 Rev. xxi.; xxii. 1-5. 
 
 14. REFERENCES TO THE DUTY AND IMPORTANCE OF AN EARNEST 
 AND DEVOUT STUDY AND HANDLING OF THESE THINGS. 
 
 No scripture is useless, 2 Tim. iii. 14-17. 
 
 It is well to study prophecy, 2 Peter i. 19. 
 
 Special blessings are for those who attend to these revelations, 
 
 Hab. ii. 2, 3; Acts xvii. 11, 12; 1 Peter i. 10-12; 1 Cor. 
 
 ii. 9, 10; Rom. xv. 4; Dan. x. 11, 12; Rev. i. 1-3; xxii. 
 
 7; Lukexi. 28. 
 It is a special command to give attention to these things, 
 
 2 Peter iii. 1-3; Jude 17, 18; Acts xx. 25-27. 
 Solemn responsibilities are placed upon the ministers of 
 
 Christ with reference to these things, Ezek. xxxiii. 1-7; 
 
 Rev. XX. 8-10, 18, 19. 
 Participation in the honors of tlie kingdom is made depend- 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND WORKS. 383 
 
 ent on the manner in which we are affected toward the 
 Savior's coming, Matt. xxiv. 42-51; xxv. 1-13; Heb. ix. 
 28; 2 Tim. iv. 8; Pliil. iii. 20; 1 Thess. i. 9, 10; Titus ii. 
 11-13; 2 Peter iii. 11, 12; Matt. v. 17-20. 
 There is great danger of being drawn into a skeptical behavior 
 with reference to these matters, 2 Tim. iii. 4; 2 Peter iii. 
 1—4; implied also in the many commands to "watch." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 REFERENCES TO THE OPINIONS AND WORKS OP THE 
 FATHERS ON THESE SUBJECTS. 
 
 The Apostolic Fathers, or those Christian teachers and 
 writers who immediately succeeded the apostles, have left but 
 little that has come down to us. But, even in that little, there 
 are evidences that they thought upon these subjects in sub- 
 stance as taught in this volume. We have definite knowledge 
 of but five of them ; all of whom appear to have been Mil- 
 lenariaiis. 
 
 1. Barnabas, quoted at p. 237, was the earliest. He is re- 
 ferred to in Acts iv. 36, 37, and ix. 24. He wrote about a.d. 
 71. We have from him an epistle, called "The Catholic 
 Epistle of St. Barnabas," consisting of twenty-one chapters; 
 in the 15th of which he refers to the Millennium, the coming 
 of Christ to abolish the wicked one, the judgment of the 
 wicked, the renewal of all things, and the introduction of a 
 new order into the world. There can be no doubt, from this 
 chapter, that he understood the predictions of the Scriptures 
 in the Millenarian sense. For a translation of this Epistle, 
 see Wake's Ajwstolic Fa fhrrs, pp. 196-219; or Aporn/j)hal 
 New Testament, pp. 90--104. For the original, see Hefele's 
 Patrum Aposfolicorum Opera, pp. 1-51. 
 
384 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 2. Clement, quoted at p. 238, was Bishop of K-ome about 
 A.D. 91-93, and is supposed to be the same referred to in 
 Phih iv. 3. We have from this father an epistle, called '-The 
 First. Epistle to the Corinthians," consisting of sixty para- 
 graphs or chapters, (in the Apocryplicd N. T., 23,) in which 
 we find statements, exhortations, and allusions which have 
 satisfied many that his views accorded with those of Barnabas 
 and were decidedly Millenarian. See Wake's Apostolic 
 Fathers, or Hefele's Pat. Apos. Op., Clement's First Epistle, 
 latter part of XXIII. with XX IV., XXXIV., XXXV., L. 
 
 What is called the Second Epistle of Clement is referred to 
 a much later period, and is supposed to have been written by 
 a very difi'erent hand. It is thought to belong to the fourth 
 century. But, whenever written, or by whomsoever, it is 
 Millenarian in its tone and general conceptions. See Wake's 
 Fathers, Second Epistle of St. Clement, VII., IX., XIL; 
 or .Hefele's Patrum Apostolicorum Opera., pp. 142, 144, 
 148. 
 
 3. Hermas, generally allowed to be the same alluded to in 
 Rom. xvi. 14, is supposed to have written his work entitled 
 ''The Shepherd" about A.D. 100. That he was a Millenarian 
 is evinced in various parts of the book. In Vision I., latter 
 part of section 3, in Wake's Fathers, the doctrine of the reign 
 of the saints in the renovated world seems clearly to be 
 taught. Vision IV. seems also to be framed, in divers parti- 
 culars, to Millenarian anticipations. For the original, see 
 Hefele, pp. 325, 342-344. 
 
 4. Ignatius, surnamcd Theophorus, received his Christian 
 training under John and Peter, succeeded Peter at Antioch, 
 and died an illustrious martyr under Trajan, A.D. 107. He 
 has left seven epistles which have come down to us. He no- 
 where touches with much definiteness upon any points from 
 which his views on the Millennium might manifest themselves. 
 But his letters contain n)thing in conflict with our doctrines, 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND WORKS. 385 
 
 and refer frequently to the nearness of Christ's anticipated 
 return in a manner much more after the spirit of Mille- 
 narian teaching than any other. See his Epistle to Polycarp, 
 paragraph III., Wake's Fathers; or Hefele, pp. 236-2B9. 
 
 5. Polycarp, also one of the disciples of John, and the 
 Bishop of Smyrna, supposed to be the person referred to in 
 Rev. ii. 8-11, lived to a great age, and died, a martyr, a.d 
 167. There remains to us from him but one brief letter, 
 called "The Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians," 
 where he incidentally alludes to the resurrection, and the 
 reign of the saints with Christ after his return, and to the 
 kingdom to be inherited by the truly pure, in a way which 
 seems as if he had conceived of these matters only as Mille- 
 narinns do. See Wake's Fathers, Polycarp's Epistle, Y., XII., 
 or Hefele's Patrum A])ost. Opera, pp. 262, 271. 
 
 The Primitive Fathers, or those who constituted the 
 next several generations after those who enjoyed the personal 
 instructions of the apostles, have, for the most part, given 
 very decided evidence of their earnest belief of Millenarian 
 doctrines. 
 
 1. Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis, quoted on p. 239, was 
 the most ancient of them. Indeed, Irenaeus asserts that he 
 was one of St. John's hearers, and a personal friend of Poly- 
 carp. He is supposed to have written about A.D. 116. His 
 five books, entitled "An Explication of the Oracles of the 
 Lord," have been lost, with the exception of a few fragments 
 preserved by Eusebius. But enough remains to show unmis- 
 takably that he was a decided Millenarian, and that he 
 claimed to have received his opinions on this subject from 
 those elders who had been taught by the apostles themselves. 
 See Eusebius's Ecc. Eiatory, III. 39; or Routh's Rdiqxiise 
 JSdcrpe, I. pp. 7—14; or Lardn^r's Credibllifi/ of the Gospel 
 
 Hif.torij, vol. 2, p. 107. Greswell's remarks in connection 
 Z* 33 
 
386 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 with the testimony of Papias to the Millennium are, much to 
 the point. See his Farahles, vol. 1, pp. 273-284. 
 
 2. Justin the Martyr, quoted on p. 239, the next in the 
 order of time, was born a.d. 89, and martyred A.D. 163. He 
 was the cotemporary of Papias and Polycarp, and was a 
 learned and admirable Christian writer. Several works from 
 his pen still survive. He was not only a decided Millenarian, 
 but claimed that all orthodox Christians, and such as were in 
 all points right-minded, believed as he did on the subject; 
 thus also attesting the Millenarianism of Polycarp, with whom 
 he was cotemporaneous for about seventy years. See Se- 
 misch's Life, Writings, and Opinions of Justin Martyr, vol. 2, 
 cap. 7, where full citations of this distinguished father's 
 words are given. See particularly Justini Martyris Dialogns 
 cum Tryplione Judaeo, cap. 80; Migne's Patrolngise, vol. 6^ 
 col. 664-667. There is a translation of this Di(dogue into 
 English, by Henry Browne, 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1755. 
 
 3. Tatian, a writer of numerous works, only one of which, 
 his "Oration against the Greeks," remains. There is no- 
 thing in this from which to ascertain his views on the subject 
 of the Millennium. But, as he was one of the disciples of 
 Justin Martyr, who regarded 31illenarianism as a test of ortho- 
 doxy, it is to be presumed, until evidence to the contrary is 
 produced, that he believed and taught upon this subject the 
 same as his preceptor. 
 
 4. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, was also a cotemporary of 
 Justin Martyr, and is to be included among those orthodox 
 Christians to whose Millenarianism Justin testifies. He died 
 about A.D. 170, and was one of the most eminent bishops of 
 his time. He was distinguished for holiness, eloquence, and 
 learning. He is supposed by some to have been the person 
 addressed in Rev. iii. 1-6. Among a large number of works, 
 he wrote one on Prophecy and another on the Apocalypse. 
 None of his writings remain; but Gruennadius, (Z^e Dogm. 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND WORKS. 887 
 
 Ecdes. c. 52,) who peems to have been familiar with them, 
 quotes him as a Millenarian; and the annotator of the Oxford 
 translation of TertuUian, on the authority of Guennadius, 
 classes him with "the maintainers of the Millennium," (pp. 
 124, 125.) Jerome is also given as authority that he was a 
 Millenarian, (Taylor's Vnlce of the Church, p. 66,) and there 
 can be no reasonable doubt of it. 
 
 5. iRENi^DUS, the eminent Bishop of Lyons, born about 
 A.D. 140, to whom reference is made on p. 240, was also a 
 decided Millenarian. Having been a disciple of Polycarp, he 
 was an earnest promulgator of the same views which his 
 teacher held. His great work '-Against the Heretics" con- 
 sists of five books. The original Greek, with the exception 
 of a, few fragments, has been lost, but the contents have been 
 preserved in an ancient Latin translation. The whole of the 
 fifth book of this work, from chapter 25 to the end, (see 
 Migne's Putrologise, vol. 7, col. 1120-1224,) relates to the 
 subject of the unfulfilled prophecies in the book of Revela- 
 tion, Daniel, &c., and supplies the clearest intimations that, 
 in the expectation of a kingdom of Christ yet to come in this 
 world, his opinions agreed with those of Papias and Justin 
 Martyr. Refer especially to cap. 33, sees. 3, 4, (Migne, col. 
 1213, 1214.) A good translation of this passage is given by 
 Greswell On the Parables, vol. 1, pp. 289, 290. 
 
 6. Clemens Alexandrinus, referred to on p. 242, was 
 also a distinguished teacher and writer in the early Church, 
 who flourished about A.D. 192. His works do not furnish 
 any thing very decided on the subject, but numerous expres- 
 sions occur which intimate that he was a Millenarian on some 
 points at least. And as he was for many years cotemporary 
 with Justin Martyr, and was always regarded by the ancients 
 vvith great respect, the presumption is fair that he was one of 
 those right-minded and orthodox Christians all of whom Justin 
 declares to have been belierers in the Millenarian under- 
 
388 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 standing of sacred prophecy. He connected the belief of a 
 general renewal of the world with the seventh thousand yeara 
 from the creation of man, and believed that the kingdom of 
 heaven was to be introduced with judgments; which neces- 
 sarily involves some of the most important points of the Mil- 
 lenarian faith. 
 
 7. Tertullian, quoted at p. 241, was born about a,d. 160. 
 He was bred for the profession i f the law, and was a man of 
 rare genius as well as fervent and active piety. Spanheim 
 assigns him " a place in the first rank of the Fathers, in erudi- 
 tion, acumen, and eloquence." He wrote an entire work on 
 the subjects involved in Millenarianism, entitled '■^ De Spe 
 FideUmn," which has been lost. He himself gives an ac- 
 count of it, and elsewhere informs us what was the nature of 
 the doctrines which he therein elaborated more at large. See 
 his work Adversus Marcioncm, lib. 3, cap. 24; Migne's Opera 
 Tertulliani, torn. 2, col. 355-358. A good translation of this 
 passage is given by Greswell On the Parables, 1, pp. 305- 
 307. He here evinces his full accord with his distinguished 
 cotemporary IreuEeus. The same views are also presented in 
 other portions of his works. See his Apologeticus, cap. 48, 
 Migne's Oper. Ter., torn. 1, col. 520-527; De Spectaculns, 
 cap. 30, Migne's Op. Ter., tom. 1, col. 660-G(J2; De Ora- 
 tione, cap. 5, Migne's Op. Ter , torn. 1, col. 1158, 1159; De 
 Baptismo, cap. 19, Migne's Op. Ter., tom. 1, col. 1222; Ad- 
 versus Jadseos, cap. 14, Migne's Op. Ter., tom. 2, col. 638- 
 642; De Aninia, cap. 37, Migne's Op. Ter., tom. 2, col. 713 
 —715; De Resurrectio Carni's, cap. 22, 25, 35, Migne's Oj). 
 Ter., tom. 2, col. 824-5, 831, 844-5. 
 
 There are some valuable remarks on Tertullian 's testimony 
 on this subject, by Greswell, Parables, vol. 1, pp. 30U-309. 
 
 Apocryphal Writings of the Primitive Church. — 
 Of course we do not refer to apocryphal works as avfJioritiev, 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND WORKS. 889 
 
 for authorities they are not; but, as witnesses to the fact that 
 certain doctrines were actually current in the times of their 
 authors, no reasonable objection can be raised against them. 
 The doctrine of the Millennium we receive upon the testi- 
 mony of the Scriptures alone; but the manner in which those 
 Scriptures were understood at the time certain apocryphal 
 books were composed may be learned as well from such 
 apocryphal books as any other. They are a part of the history 
 of the Church. The references given below are not in proof 
 of the correctness of Millenarian views, but simply as cor- 
 roborations of the fact that those views were held by the pri- 
 mitive Christians, and by themselves proclaimed as part of 
 their faith. 
 
 1. The Book of Enoch. This is an apocryphal produc- 
 tion, often referred to by the Fathers, but which was supposed 
 to be lost, until Bruce brought it from Abyssinia, where he 
 found it still existing in an Ethiopic version. It was trans- 
 lated by Dr. Laurence into English, and published first in 
 1821, (3d edition, Oxford, 1838.) There is also a German 
 version, by A. Gr. Hoffmann, entitled JDns BiirJi Henoch in 
 volstdndiger Ufhersetzung,mit(!om'menfar, Einleitung und Ex- 
 cursfn; 2 Abth., Jena, 1833—38. It was written some time 
 during the first century. Llicke places it in the time of the 
 Jewish war, probably after the destruction of Jerusalem; 
 Credner, in about the same time the Apocalypse was written; 
 and Greswell. between the Jewish war under Vespasian and 
 that under Hadrian. Christian elements certainly are con- 
 tained in it. The doctrine of a personal reign of Christ on 
 earth, and of a state of things analogous to what may be ex- 
 pected under the Millennium, occurs in various parts of it. 
 In the first chapter there is a plain allusion to the second 
 coming of Christ with the holy angels; and in the 24th, to 
 the personal residence of God on earth, whilst the saints 
 
 3C« 
 
390 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 enjoy authority and great peace. See chap. x. 20-29; xxiv ; 
 xxxviii.; xxxix. 1; xlv.j Ixi. 11-18. 
 
 2. The Second Book of Esdras. This apocryphal pro- 
 duction has been preserved through the Latin vulgate and an 
 Arabic version, the Greek original having been lost. An 
 English version of it is frequently bound in at the end of the 
 Old Testament, with other ancient non-canonical writings. A 
 critical edition of it was published by Dr. Laurence in 1820. 
 Laurence and Merkel fix the time of its composition about a 
 quarter of a century before the birth of Christ; but Corrodi, 
 Liicke, Gfrofer, Wieseler, and Greswcll, with more reason, 
 argue that it was written, by a Christian hand, about a.d. 96. 
 It exhibits great familiarity with the writings of the New 
 Testament, and in some parts is but little more than a repro- 
 duction of them. Its visions, predictions, and declarations 
 are largely of a Millenariau type. It tells of the return of 
 the hidden tribes of Israel in the time of the end, of great 
 commotions and tribulations preceding that restitution, of an 
 infidel antichristian contest at the end of this dispensation, of 
 a first resurrection, and of the reign of Christ with his saints, 
 or what is equivalent to it. See chap. ii. 10-24,26-48; vi. 8, 
 9, 18-28; vii. 26-3.5, 42-44; viii. 50-52, 61-63; ix. 3-13; 
 xiii. 3—14, 23-58; and indeed the whole book. 
 
 3. The Sibylline Oracles. (^SyhilUnorum Oracuhrum, 
 Servatius Gall^eus. Amst. 1689, 4to.) The exact origin of 
 this production is not known. Some consider it a purely 
 Christian work, written in the time of the Emperor Hadrian, 
 and some regard it as a purely Jewish effusion, composed in 
 the second century before Christ.^ Others, again, consider it 
 of Jewish origin, but subsequently modified, interpolated, and 
 enlarged by some Christian hand. Bleek thinks that the 
 oldest portions of it date back two hundred years before 
 Christ, and that the latest of them originated four hundred 
 years after Christ. We are safe in referring the great mass 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OriNIONS AND WORKS. 391 
 
 of what are now known as the Sibylline Oracles to primitive 
 Christianity, written in ail probabihty wituin twenty or thirty 
 years of the iiev elation of iSt. John, it is just sui-li a com- 
 position as would be likely, above all other writinji,s of the 
 time, to gather up and set forth what were the expectations 
 and doctrines of the primitive Christians with respect to the 
 future, and to those e^ euts which are yet to happen before 
 the end of time. It has, of course, suflered much in its 
 transmission to us, and bears the appearance of a very ill- 
 sorted and ill-connected composition; but still it contains a 
 variety of allusions sufficiently intelligible to bear witness to 
 the iact that the Millenariau faith existed at the times in 
 which it was written, and that this faith was a part of the com- 
 mon Christian creed as then received and held. See especially 
 lib. a, pp. 327, 465, 466-469, 473 ; lib. 2, pp. 289-293 ; lib. 5, 
 pp. 561, 592-593, 602-6U5, 618, 620, 621, 678, 674. 
 
 The reader will tind these passages cited in full, with able 
 criticisms upon them, in Greswell On the Farables, (vol. 5, 
 part 2, pp. 176-236,) where the remark is made that there 
 is nothing extant of primitive Christian antiquity, either 
 apocryphal or non-apocryphal, and belonging strictly to this 
 period, in which the truth of the genuine Millenarian doc- 
 trines is not illustrated and confirmed, and in which the same 
 belief is not, in one way or another, recognized. 
 
 Bishop Kussell also testifies that "so far as we view the 
 question in reference to the sure and certain hope entertained 
 by the Christian world that the Redeemer would appear on 
 earth, and exercise authority during a thousand years, there 
 is good ground for the assertion of Mede, Dodwell, Burnet, 
 and other writers on the same side, that down to the begin- 
 ning of the fourth century the belief was universal and un- 
 disputed." (Discourse on the Mi'len., p. 236.) Eusebius, too, 
 who flourished about a.d. 3U0, in what he says of Papias, and 
 his declarations concerning what he had heard from the 
 
392 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 apostles, acknowledges that there were TzXtlnroi oaot — very 
 MANY — Cltiircli initrrR who expected that there would be a 
 thousand years after the resnrrectiou of the dead, when Christ 
 would reigu personally on the earth. (^Euseh. Ecc. Hist., lib. 
 3, cap. 39.) Upon which Greswell very justly observes, 
 " This admlssiSh virtually implies that the belief in the future 
 Millennium was the orthodox or catholic notion in the second 
 and third centuries." See other authorities on pp. 244, 245. 
 
 The Lateii Fathers. — The fact that the primitive Church 
 was thoroughly, if not universally, Millenarian, must go very 
 far towards establishing the presumption that these doctrines 
 were derived from the apostle.s and Christ himself, as Papias 
 testifies that they were. The testimony of later teachers can 
 add nothing to the force with which this conclusion urges 
 itself upon an honest mind. We refer to the later Fathers, 
 not in the way of proof of the correctness of our doctrines, 
 but as additional human testimonies, and as belonging to the 
 ancient literature of the subject. 
 
 1. HippOLYTUS, Bishop of Porto, flourished about a.d. 222, 
 was in early life a disciple of Ireuasus, and was evidently a 
 believer in the views so earnestly inculcated by his teacher. 
 Most of his works have been lost, and some directly on the 
 subject of the Millennium, the prophecies of Daniel and 
 John, the Resurrection, ttc. Some fr-igments from his })en, 
 however, remain. His tract " De Antichristo," which is ad- 
 mitted to be genuine, is thoroughly Millenarian in its metliods 
 of interpretation and in many of its statements. Citations to 
 this efiect are given by Greswell On the Parables, (1, pp. 331, 
 376;) and in Elliott's Home Apoealypticse, (4, pp. 283, 284.) 
 See Ilippol. Opera, pars II., 13, 14, capp. 19, 20. There are 
 also some sentences from his exposition of Daniel pi'eserved 
 in the British Museum, in Syriac, a translation of some of 
 which is given in The Journal of Sacred Literature, N. S., 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND WORKS. 393 
 
 vol. 8, jop. 348-854. In these sentences the succession of 
 worldly empires is regularly traced down to Antichrist, and 
 his destruction by the personal appearance of Christ, and the 
 setting up of '' the kingdom of heaven" in their place, which 
 is to be enjoyed by all "them that are worthy." See also 
 Photius, cap. 202, where Hippolytus is represented as a 
 Milieu arian. 
 
 2. Cyprian, referred to on p. 242, flourished about a.d. 
 248. He had the very highest regard for TertuUian and his 
 writings, and had no hesitation in ranking himself as one of 
 his disciples. He must therefore be regarded as a Millena- 
 rian, as his works also indicate that he was. See his Epistles, 
 Iviii. 8; Ixi. 3; Ixiii. 15, 16, (Oxford ed.;) Migne's Cypriani 
 Oj^era Omnia, col. 355, 388, 389; also Eirist. 59, (Oxford 
 ed.,) and especially "De Exhortatio Martyrii," latter part, 
 where he shows his accordance with Barnabas, in referring 
 the consummation of all things to the seventh Millennium 
 from the creation. 
 
 3. CoMMODiAN, a cotemporary of Cyprian, and a poet, 
 wrote about a.d. 270. Clarke (^Sacred Literature, p. 194) 
 says of him that "he received the docrine of the Millennium, 
 which was the common belief of his time.". 
 
 4. ViCTORiNUS, Bishop of Pettau, flourished about a.d. 
 290. In the fragment of his "Tractatus de Fabrica Coeli," 
 his concurrence with the primitive Church in the expectation 
 of a reign of Christ with his elect upon earth for a thousand 
 years, is amply manifest. A translation of it is given by 
 Greswell, On the Parables, vol. 1, p. 333. See Routh's Re- 
 liquise Sacrse, 3, pp. 455—461, 462; also Elliott's Horx Apoca- 
 li/pticae, 4, pp. 286-295. 
 
 5. Methodius, Bishop of Tyre, flourished about the same 
 period. Neander says of his Symposium that it exhibits " a 
 decided leaning to Chiliasm," (Ec. Hist. 1, p. 721,) and re- 
 fers in proof to Orat. 9, 75. So also, in his " Feast of the 
 
394 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Ten Virgins," ninth discourse, he follows the Fathers gene- 
 rally in making the seventh day of the creation a type of the 
 Millennial sabbath, to enjoy which there is to be a literal 
 resurrection of the saints, to be followed not by the annihila- 
 tion of the world, but by its purification. 
 
 6. Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, also of the third century, 
 was another decided defender of Millenarian doctrines. He 
 wrote a book, entitled "A Confutation of the Allesjorists," 
 which was speciallj' directed against the school of Origen, 
 which explained the Millennium figuratively. This work has 
 not come down to us, but it is admitted to have been a work 
 of eloquence and ability, and decidedly Millenarinn. Cave 
 pronounces Nepos a man skilled in the Holy Scriptures, a 
 poet, and a Millenarian. Even Whitby admits that he taught 
 that there shall be a kingdom of Christ upon earth a thou- 
 sand years after the resurrection, in which the saints are to 
 reign with their Redeemer. And Mosheim states that the 
 book in which Nepos set forth these opinions was specially 
 admired, and excited great interest and pleasure. (Historic. 
 Comment. % pp. 249, 250.) 
 
 7. Lactantius, referred to on p. 244, flourished about a.d. 
 300. He was a very eloquent and accomplished Christian 
 teacher, from whom we have moi-e on this subject than from 
 any other of the Fathers. The clearness and decidedness of 
 his views on the Millennium render it very probable that 
 Arnobius, from whom he had his Christian instruction, was 
 also of this way of thinking. See especially his Divin. Institu. 
 De Vita Beata, lib. vii. 14, (Lactanti Opera Omnia, Lipsiae, 
 1698, pp. 524-532.) Refer also to lib. iv. 7, 12, 26; lib. vii. 
 2, 15; and Epitome. 
 
 8. Apollinarius, Bishop of Laodicea, who flourished in 
 the first half of the fourth century, is also known to have 
 been an advocate of Millenarianism. The testimony of Epi- 
 phanius (I. 1031, A. B. Dimoeritae, 26^ on this point is con- 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND WORKS. 395 
 
 elusive. Jerome also 23uts him down as believing, with Ter- 
 tullian, Lactantius, and Victoriuus, that there is to be a per- 
 sonal reign of Christ upon the earth, (III. 952, ad prin. in 
 Ezech. xxsvi.) See Greswell On the Parables, I. pp. 334- 
 S36, where the passages are quoted and translated. 
 
 9. The Council of Nice, a.d. 325, composed of about three 
 hundred bishops of the Church from all sections of the world, 
 has also expressed itself upon this subject, in those forms or 
 models of doctrine which it set forth for the use of the clergy^ 
 much in the way of the Homilies published in the reign of 
 Edward VI. Mede (Works, p. 813) gives an extract from 
 one of these forms on the doctrine of the resurrection, as it 
 is recorded by Gelassius Cyzicenus, in his history of the Acts 
 of the Council of Nice, which explains the Scriptures iu 
 favor of the Millennium, or a happy, triumphant state of the 
 Church on earth, iu which the saints are to have a blessed 
 inheritance and reward under the reign of Christ our Savior. 
 The extract is also given in an English translation, by Thomas 
 Hartley, (^Paradise Restored, pp. 225, 226,) who observes 
 upon it that it is to be seen from it that " this doctrine 
 
 [op the reign of CHRIST WITH HIS SAINTS ON EARTh] 
 STANDS UPON THE SAME AUTHORITY AS DOES THAT OP 
 
 THE NICENE CREED J and that this Council interprets that 
 promise of our Savior, that the meek shall inherit or possess 
 the earth, into a confirmation of, and identity of sense with, 
 the same prophetical declarations to be found in many places 
 of the Psalms and Prophets. See, in particular, Ps. xxxvii. 
 11; Ixix. 36, 37; cxlvii. 6; cxlix. 4; Isaiah xi. 4; xxvi. 6j 
 xxix. 19." 
 
 10. SuLPicius Severus, who lived about the middle of 
 the fourth century, also believed in the same doctrine, as may 
 be inferred from his Sacrsc Historife, (ii. 4,) where he re- 
 counts Nebuchadnezzar's dream respecting the little stone. 
 Jerome also, in the passage referred to above, alludes to a, 
 
396 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 book from him, called G alius, in wliich lie reports Lim as 
 teaching on this subject the same as Lactantius, Ireufeus, 
 and Apolliuarius. See Greswell On the Parables, vol. 1, 
 pp. 335, 336. 
 
 11. Augustine, the distinguished Bishop of Hippo, who 
 flourished about the end of the fourth century, by his own 
 confession was also once a decided Millenarian, though he 
 subsequently somewhat modified his views. See his work 
 De Civitate Dei, liber 22, cap. 7. And a careful examina- 
 tion of his opinions will show that he never wholly relin- 
 quished his Millenarian ideas. See his De Civ. Dei, lib. 20, 
 capp. 5, 14, 16; Homilies, vol. 1, pp. 43, 70, 83, 252, 358, 
 (Oxford ed.) He is usually rated as an anti-millenarian, as 
 he doubtless was, in some particulars, in the latter part of his 
 life; but his views do not harmonize at all with the doctrine 
 of the conversion of the world and a millennium of peace 
 and righteousness before Christ comes. 
 
 12. Jerome, even, held that the world would reach its 
 consummation in six thousand years, and that Christ would 
 come at the end of that period, though he looked for no reign 
 on the earth. See his Letter (139) to Cyprian, on Psalm 
 xc. 4; also his comment on Micah iv. Nor could he rid him- 
 self of certain misgivings in refusing to accept the doctrine 
 of a literal Millenuiura, but on several occasions declared that 
 he did not dare to condemn it, because of the high authori- 
 ties by which it is supported. See his Preface to Isaiah Ixv. ; 
 and his comment on Jer. xix. 10. 
 
 From the days of Jerome and Augustine, however, but 
 little is heard of the doctrine of the Millennium and the 
 personal reign of Christ with his saints on earth. As re- 
 marked by Professor Bush, "through the dreary tract of the 
 ages of darkness, scarcely a vestige of Millenarian sentiment 
 is to be traced." But this is a consideration which makes 
 much more in its favor thaw against it. During that same 
 
THE FATHERS, THEIR OPINIONS AND- WORKS. 397 
 
 period there was hardly a doctrine of the gospel which did 
 not suffer a like eclipse. The Church had become corrupt 
 and vastly apostate, and the peculiarities which were most 
 prominent in the primitive faith were all overlaid and thrust 
 out of sight. It is enough to know that the doctrine of the 
 Millennium and personal reign was the orthodox and catholic 
 persuasion of the primitive Church ; that it held its ground 
 as a vital part of the faith until heathen elements began to 
 affect and mould the persuasions of certain prominent Chris- 
 tian teachers; that it only began to wane as men began to 
 Platonize, allegorize, and explain away the Scriptures, and to 
 reject such portions as spurious which could not be made to 
 harmonize with the new philosophy; and that the days of its 
 greatest darkness and depression were the days when Popery 
 reigned, and which all men have agreed to consider " the 
 dark ages " 
 
 We close this chapter with a quotation from one of the 
 Lord Bishops of Bristol, who says, "The doctrine of the Mil- 
 lennium was generally believed in the three first and purest 
 ages; and this belief, as the learned Dodwell has justly ob- 
 served, was one principal cause of the fortitude of the primi- 
 tive Christians : they even coveted martyrdom, in hopes of 
 being partakers of the privileges and glories of the martyrs 
 in the first resurrection. Afterwards the doctrine grew into 
 disrepute, for various reasons. Some both Jewish and Chris- 
 tian writers have debased it with a mixture of fables; they 
 have described the kingdom more like a sensual than a spirit- 
 ual kingdom, and thereby they have not only exposed them- 
 selves, but (what is infinitely worse) the doctrine itself, to 
 contempt and ridicule. It hath suffered by the misrepre- 
 sentations of its enemies, as well as by the indiscretions of its 
 friends: many, like Jerome, have charged the Millenariana 
 with absurd and impious opinions which they never huld; 
 
 and, rather than they would admit the t^-uth of the doctrine, 
 
 34 
 
398 . THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 they have not scrupled to call in question the genuineness of 
 the book of Revelation. It hath been abused even to worse 
 purposes: it hath been made an engine of faction; and tvir- 
 bulent fanatics, under the pretence of saints, have aspired to 
 dominion and disturbed the peace of civil society. Besides, 
 wherever the influence and authority of the Church of Rome 
 have extended, she hath endeavored by all means to discredit 
 this doctrine; and indeed not without sufficient reason, this 
 kingdom of Christ being founded on the ruins of the king- 
 dom of Antichrist. No wonder, therefore, that this doctrine 
 lay depressed for many ages, but it sprang up again at the 
 Reformation, and will flourish together with the study of the 
 Revelation." — Bishop Newton's Dissertations on the Pro- 
 vliecies, Analysis of the Rev., chap. xx. p. 527. 
 
 For authorities on the Millenarianism of the early Church, 
 
 consult the following : — 
 
 Chillingworth, An Argument draion from tlie Doctrine of 
 the Millenaries against Papal Infallibility . See his Works, 
 Phila. ed., 1844, pp. 729-734. 
 
 MuNSCHER, Dr. W., Handhuch der christliche Dogmenge- 
 scMchte, Marburg, 1817, pp. 408-434. 
 
 MosHEiM, Dr. J. L., Historival Commentaries^ New York, 
 1856, vol. 2, pp. 244-250. 
 
 Hagenbach, Dr. K. R., History of Doctrines, New York, 
 1861, vol. 1, pp. 213-217. 
 
 Semisch, C, Herzog's Encyclo])., Art. Chlliasm. This article 
 is much abridged and enfeebled in Dr. Bomberger's trans- 
 lation : hence see the original. Also The Life, Writings, 
 and Ojmiioiis of Justin Martyr, Edinburgh, 1843, vol. 2, 
 pp. 364-387. 
 
 CoRROm, Kritische Geschichte des Chiliasmus, Frankfurt and 
 Leipzig, 1781-3, 3 vols 12mo. This work contains much 
 curious information, but is sarcastic, uncandid, and unsatis- 
 
AUTHORITIES ON THE EARLY CHURCH. 399 
 
 foctory. It was written to expose Cliiliasm, and to exhibit 
 it in the most unfavorable light possible. It may, however, 
 be read with profit ; though we dissent entirely from the 
 rationalistic spirit and principles contained in it. 
 
 Whitby, Dr. D., Treatise on the Millennium, &c. A strong 
 efibrt to weaken the evidence that the early Christians were 
 Millenarians, which, however, finis; as the author admits, 
 upon the testimony of Justin and Irena3us, that there were 
 among the ancients "three sorts of men: 1. The Heretics, 
 denying the resurrection of the flesh and the Millennium. 
 2. The exactly orthodox, asserting both the 
 resurrection and the kingdom of christ upon 
 EARTH. 3. The believers who consented with the just and 
 yet endeavored to allegorize and turn into metaphor all 
 those scriptures produced for a proper reign of Christ, and 
 who had sentiments rather agreeing with those heretics who 
 denied, than those exactly orthodox who maintained, this 
 reign of Christ on earth." Chap. I. 61. 
 
 Greswell, Dr. E., Exposition of the Parables, Oxford, 1834, 
 vol. 1, pp. 273-411. This is one of the fairest and clearest 
 presentations of the views and testimony of the Fathers on 
 this subject that we have anywhere seen. 
 
 KiTTo's Cyclopedia, Art. Millennium, furnishes some valu- 
 able references to the subject. 
 
 Brooks, J. W., Elements of Propheticcd Interpretation, 
 chapter 3, contains' a very full statement. 
 
 Taylor, D. T., Voice cf the Church on the Coming and Reign 
 of the Redeemer; revised by Hastings, Phila., 1856. 
 
 Tillotson, Dr. J., Works, London, 1820, vol. 10, pp. 392 
 -403. 
 
 Buck, D. D., IJarmonj/ and Exposition of Matt. xxiv. 
 BuflFalo, 1853, pp. 439-442. 
 
 DoDGSON, Rev. C, Tertullian Translated, Oxford, 1854, vol. 
 1, Note D, pp. 120-131. 
 
400 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO MORE RECENT WRITERS AND 
 WRITINGS ON THESE SUBJECTS. • 
 
 1. COMMENTARIES OF MILLENARIAN COMPLEXION. 
 
 Die Berlenburger Bibel, 1726, Four large folio volumes, 
 embracing an original German translation of the entire 
 Scriptures, with copious notes and comments, by pious and 
 learned Grerman theologians of the time. A very valuable 
 work, except in its taint of fanaticism. It has contributed 
 largely to subsequent Grerman commentaries. 
 
 Gill's Exposition of the Old and Nfn^ Testaments, six thick 
 large 8vo vols. Valuable, more especially for the extensive 
 acquaintance of the author with Rabbinical learning. 
 
 AlfoRD, Greek Testament, with Prolfjjomena, and a Critical 
 and Exegetical Commentary, 4 vols, thick 8vo. One 
 of the most thorough and satisfactory works of the kind 
 that has been issued, especially the latest edition. 
 
 Bengel, Gnomon of the New Testament. This is an old 
 standard, which still holds its place. The English transla- 
 tion, by Fausset, is published in 5 vols. 8vo, by Smith, 
 English & Co., Philadelphia. 
 
 Olshausen, Biblical Commentary oiv- the New Testament. 
 Best edition in English is that edited by Dr. Kendrick, 
 published by Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., New York. 
 
 Stier, The Words of the Lord Jesus, 8 vols. 8vo, German and 
 English. A learned and highly approved work. 
 
 Greswell, Exposition of the Parables, and of other 2Jarts of 
 the Gosp)els, 5 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Keach, Exposition of the Parables of our Lord, in four 
 books, 1 thick vol. royal 8vo. 
 
i 
 
 CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 401 
 
 CoccEius, John, Commentaries on most of the books of 
 Holy Scripture, contained in his Opera Omnia, 12 vols, 
 folio, 1701, particularly the first six volumes. A man of 
 great distinction as a scholar, and "continually quoted and 
 applauded by Vitringa for his piety, learning, and ability 
 as an expositor of prophecy." 
 
 Jarchi, Commentarius Hebraicus, 5 vols. 4to, 1710. 
 
 KiMCHi, David, Commentary on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
 and the twelve minor prophets. A Spanish Jew, of great 
 erudition, who lived in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Abrabanel, Commentarius in quatuor prior es lihros prophe- 
 tarum, Lug. Bat. 1686. 
 
 CuMMiNG, John, Foreshadoivs : Lectures on our LorcP s Mira- 
 cles ; also on Parables; also Readings on various books 
 of Scripture. 
 
 Bonar, a.. Commentary on the Book of Leviticus, sinall 
 8vo; also Commentarij on the Psalms, Svo. 
 
 Tait, William, Meditaliones Hebraicse: A Doctrinal and 
 Practical Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in a 
 series of Lectures. 2 vols. Svo. 
 
 Stuart, Moses, Commentary on the Apocalypse, 2 vols. 8vo 
 In some of his writings (vide Hints on Interp. of Proph.) 
 a violent and bitter opponent of Millenarian views, but in 
 these volumes he concedes so much to them (particularly 
 with reference to the twofold resurrection, the literal re- 
 surrection of the martyrs at the commencement of the 
 Millennium, and the orthodoxy of Millenarianism with, the 
 early Christians) as to entitle his work to be placed in this 
 list. The exposition is learned and able, the fruit of much 
 study, but not generally successful. 
 
 Ryle, J. C, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. Plain, 
 practical, impressive, and good. 
 
 Seiss, J. A., Tile Gospel in Leviticus, 1 vol. 12mo. Also, 
 Lectures on the Epiiitle to the Hebrews, 1 vol. Svo. Also, 
 2 A 34« ' 
 
402 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 The Parable of the Ten Virgins, in six discourses, 1 vol. 
 12mo. Also, A Lecture on 2 Peter iii. 3-14, 12mo. 
 
 Jones, Judge Joel, Notes on Scriptwe, 1 vol. large 8vo, 
 1861. A valuable book from the pen of the editor of The 
 Liter alist. 
 
 LiLLIE, John, Lectures on the Epistles to the Thessalonians, 
 8vo, 1860. An able and instructive production. 
 
 ScHMUCKER, J. Gr., Frojihetic Hist, of Christian Church; or, 
 Exposition of the Revelation of St. John; 2 vols. 12mo, 
 1817-21, Very clear on the doctrine of the Millennium, 
 but fanciful in his reckoning of dates. A pious and amia- 
 ble Lutheran divine. 
 
 Daubuz, Charles, A Perpetual Commentary on the Revela- 
 tion of St. John; best edition by P. Lancaster, London, 
 one vol. 4to, 1730. An elaborate and very useful work, 
 to which later writers have been much indebted. 
 
 KoPPIus, or KoPPE, J. B. L, Com. in Epist. ad Thessaloni- 
 enses, at the end of which is an Excursus concerning the 
 kingdom of Christ. Latin. Also an English translation in 
 TIte Investigator of Prophecy, Vol. II. 
 
 Altingius, Jacobus, Com. in Jeremiam Prophetam, fob, 
 Amst., 1688. Also Spes Israelis; or Com. Eccles. in cap. 
 11 ad Rom., etc., 1 vol. 4to, 1676. 
 
 Fry, John, Explanatory and Practical on Epist. to the 
 Romans, 8vo, 1816; also Canticles, new translation with 
 notes, &c., 8vo, 1811; also Lyra Davidis, a new transla- 
 tion and exposition of the Psalms, 8vo, 1842. 
 
 Sirr, Dr. J. DE Arcy, Notes on the G-ospel of St. Luke, 1843. 
 
 Wells, Dr. Ed. The Book of Daniel Explained, &c., 8vo, 
 Oxford, 1716. Also, A Commentary on the Book of Reve- 
 lation, 4to, 1717. 
 
 Burroughes, Jeremiah, Exposition of the Prophesie of 
 Hosea; new ed., with notice of the author, by Sherman, 
 imperial 8vo, 1848. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 403 
 
 PiSCATOR, John, Commentarii in omnes lihros Veten's et Novi 
 
 Testameiiti ; 5 vols, in 3, Herb., 1646. A learned divine, 
 
 once a Lutheran, afterwards a Calvinist. 
 Caryl, Joseph, Exposition, with Practical Observations on 
 
 the Book of Job, 12 vols. 4to, London, 1647-66. "A 
 
 rich fund of critical and practical divinity." 
 Gouge, Wm., A learned and very useful Commentary on the 
 
 ■whole Epistle to the Hebreios, &c., being the substance 
 
 of 30 years' Wednesday's lectures, 2 vols, folio, London, 
 
 1655. 
 Lange, Joach., Commentatio de Vita et Epistoli Pauli, 4to, 
 
 HalEB, 1718. 
 Passavant, J. C, Vcrsuch einer praht. Auslegimg des Briefes 
 
 Pauli an die Philipper, Basel, 1834; also, Auslegimg des 
 
 Briefes Pauli an die Epheser, Basel, 1836. 
 Spener, Ph. J., Pauli Epistolse ad Romanos et Corinth, 
 
 homiletica. pai-aj^hrasi illustr.; Francof., 1691. 
 Coke, Thomas, LL.D., Commentary on the Old and New 
 
 Testaments, 6 vols. 4to, London, 1803. 
 Demarest, John T., A Translation and Exposition of the 
 
 First Epistle of Peter, New York, 1851. 
 Delitzsch, Dr. Franz, Die Genesis ausgelegt; Leipzig, 
 
 1853. Das Hohenlied untersucht iind ausgelegt, Leipzig, 
 
 1851. 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, Observations upon the Prophecies of 
 
 Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John; Opera Omnia, 
 
 vol. 5, p. 297; also separate, 4to, London, 1733. 
 Ebrard, Dr. J. H A., Die Offenbarung Johannes erld'drt ; 
 
 Konigsberg, 1853; also his comments on other portions 
 
 of the New Testament, in continuation of Olshausen's 
 
 Biblisches Commen tar. 
 Lisco, Fried. Gustav., Z>as Neue Testament, mit Erklilrun- 
 
 gen, Einleitungen, &c. Berlin, 1835; especially the appen- 
 dix, Vam Reich Gottes. 
 
404 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Skeen, Robeut, The T'nsralerl Prophecy: Lectures on tte 
 Revelation of St. John, small 8vo, London, 1857. 
 
 Haldane, Rob.. Esqr., Expoution of the Ejnstle to the Ro- 
 mans; reprinted, New York, 18G0. 
 
 2. COMMENTARIES DEVOTED MORE TARTICULARLY TO THE EXHIBITION 
 OF MILLENARIAN DOCTRINES. 
 
 Mede, Joseph, Clavis Apoccdyptira, Latin and English. 
 Also, Exposition on Peter. " One of the profoundest 
 Biblical scholars of the English Church," died 1638. His 
 Expositions have been considered "invaluable, deserving 
 and repaying the closest study." 
 
 Brightman, Thomas, A most comfortable Exposition of the 
 last and most dlfieidt part of the Prophecie of Daniel, 4to, 
 1644. Also, A Revelation of the Apocalypse^ containing 
 an Exposition of the whole Book of St. John, 4to, 1644. 
 A Puritan divine, who "obtained a high character for 
 learning, piety, and sweetness of temper." 
 
 Bengel, John Albert, Exposition of the Apocalypse, con- 
 taining a new version, with a running Commentary, pre- 
 faced with an Introduction giving a general view of the 
 whole prophecy, and followed by an Appenrdix of seven 
 sections, embracing — 1. A table of the Chronology, (very 
 peculiar.) 2. An attempt to determine more accurately 
 the times of the Beast. 3. Characteristics of genuine in- 
 terpretation. 4. An account of men's expectations from 
 age to age in reference to prophecy. 5. Prophetic exposi- 
 tion with respect to its influence on men's actions. 6. Ex- 
 amination of some other prophecies. 7. Salutary advices. 
 Most of this work was translated into English by John 
 Robertson. A \exj full analysis of it is given in Burk's 
 Memoir of the Life and Writings of Bengel. 
 
 Also, Sixty Practical Addresses {Rcden fur's VoUc.) on 
 the Apocalypse^ with various Appendixes or Gleanings. 
 
CLASSIFIED IlLFKRENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 405 
 
 Bcngel was a Lutheran theologian ''of profound critical 
 j;!(li>nient, extensive learning, and solid piety," born 1687, 
 died 1752. He was one of the greatest of Apocalyptic 
 writers. 
 
 G-OODWIN, Thomas, An Exposition upon the Revelation, 1679, 
 contained in the second volume of his Worlds, 5 vols, folio, 
 London, 1681. A celebrated Dissenter, member of the 
 Assembly of Divines, and one of the two men whom Wood 
 calls " the two Atlases and Patriarchs of Independency." 
 
 Lange, Joachim, Apolali/ptischeii Licht V7id RecJit; 1 vol. 
 fol., 1735. Theological Professor at Halle, and one of the 
 fathers of the Pietistic school of Lutheran divines. 
 
 Auberlen, The Prophecies of .Daniel, and the Revelation of 
 St. John, viewed in their mutual relation, with an exposi- 
 tion of the principal passages, German and English, 1 vol. 
 12mo. 
 
 Elliott, E. B., Hora^ Apoealyptiese : A Critical Historical 
 Com. on the Apocalypse, 4 vols. 8vo. A learned and use- 
 ful exposition, characterized by Cumming as "a noble and 
 precious work." There is appended to 4th vol. a very 
 valuable and thorough "Sketch of the History of Apoca- 
 lyptic Interpretation." 
 
 Lord, David N., An Exposition of the Apocalypse, 1 vol. 
 8vo. An able work from the editor of the Theological and 
 Literary Journal ; contains a valuable presentation of the 
 laws of symbolization. 
 
 Buck, D. D., An Original Harmony and Exposition of 
 Mutt. XXIV., 1 vol. 8vo, 1853. A clear and forcible book, 
 richly rewarding the reader. 
 
 Gumming, John, Apocalyptic Sketches: Lectures on the 
 Book of Revelation ; 3 vols. 12mo. Eloquent and full of 
 interest. 
 
 Frere, James Hatley, Esq., A crjmhined view of the Pro- 
 phecies of Daniel, Esdras, and St. John, showing that all 
 
406 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 the prophetic writiugs are formed upon one plan. Also A 
 minute Explanation of tlie Proplteciea of Daniel ; 1 vol. 
 8vo, 1815. Also Notes on the Interj^retation of tlic Apo- 
 calypse, 1 vol. 8vo, 1850. 
 
 PiTCAiRN, Dav]d, Zion's King: The Second Psalm Ex- 
 pounded in the Light of History and Prophecy ; 1 vol. small 
 8vo, 1851. 
 
 Bloomsbury Lectures, .Sd Series, (by error called 4th in 
 the preface,) 1845. Duties and Privileges ef Christians 
 in Connection witli the Second Advent, as unfolded in the 
 First Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians. 
 
 Carleton, H., Analysis of the 2Ath Chapter of Matthew, 
 Windsor, Vt., 1851. 
 
 Waple, Archdeacon E., '^ Book of Revelation Para- 
 phrased," 4to, 1715. 
 
 WoODHOTJSE, Dr. J. C, The Afocahjpse, or the Kevelation 
 of St. John, translated, with Notes, critical and explana- 
 tory, royal 8vo, London, 1S05. 
 
 WlCKES, Thomas, An Exposition of the Ap>ocali/p)se, 12mo, 
 New York, 1851. 
 
 Bliss, Sylvester, A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse,. 
 18mo, Boston, 1853. 
 
 Boos, Mag. Fred., An Exposition of the Prophecies of 
 Daniel, and a comparison of them with the Revelation of 
 St. John; (German,) Leipsic, 1770; second ed., 1795. 
 The same, translated into English by Dr. E. Henderson, 
 8vo, London, 1811. A\so, Plain and Edifying Discourses 
 on the Revelation of St. John, 1788. Also, A Familiar 
 Exposition of the Revelation of St. John, 8vo, 1789. "A 
 great investigator of Scripture," says Delitzsch. 
 
 Sander, Fred., An Attempt at an Exjjosition of the Revela- 
 tion of St. John ; Stuttgart, 1829 (German). 
 
 KoHLER, Dr. Aug., Die Weissagungen Haggais erlddrt ; 
 Erlangen, 1860. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCKS TO RECENT WRITERS. 407 
 
 3. JirSCELLANEOUS WORKS SETTING FORTH MILLENARIAN DOCTRINES, 
 ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED, ACCORDING TO THE NAMES OF THEIR 
 AUTHORS.* 
 
 Abbadie, Dr. J., Sur la regne glorieux de Jesu Christ surla 
 
 terre. Sermons. 
 Abdiel's Essays on the Advent, &c., 12mo, London, 1834. 
 Advent, Second, The Words of Scripture concerning the, 
 
 London. 
 Connected View of some of the Scriptural Eoidences 
 
 oJ\ &c., 12mo, Lond. 
 Reoicio of Scripture in Testimonjj of Truth of, &c. By 
 
 a Layman, 8vo, 1819. 
 
 The True Hope of Believers, Dublin, 1833. 
 
 Advent Tracts, 2 vols. 18mo, Boston, containing short 
 papers from various authors, including Miller, Hinies, 
 Brock, Haldane, Stewart, and others in P]urope and 
 America. 
 
 Alabaster, Wm., D.D., Ecce Sponsusvenit; scu tuba pul- 
 chritudinis, etc., 1 vol. 4to, London, 1633. Also, Apara- 
 tus in Rev. Jesu Christi; 4to, Antw., 1607. 
 
 Alleine, Wm., The Mystcrij of the Temple and City in the nine 
 last chajyters of Ezckicl unfolded, &c., London, 12mo, 1677. 
 
 Alstedius, J. H., The Beloved Citj ; or, Tlie Saints' Reign 
 on Earth a thousand years asserted and illustrated, from 
 sixty places of Holy Scripture, besides the judgment of 
 holy, learned men. Likewise thirty-five objections against 
 this truth answered ; faithfully Englished (from the Latin) 
 by 'W. Burton; 4to, London, 1643. 
 
 * The asterisk [*] piefixed to names or works in this list is meant to 
 designate authors or publications which, in small space and popular form, 
 give the best presentations of the subject, and which are particularly com- 
 mended to tliose who arc beginners in the study, or who have not the time 
 or means to go into it more exteusiveh'. The main questions will be found 
 very clearly discussed in either of the authors or writings so marked. 
 
408 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Amelote, Pere, Notes suf V Apocalypse ; a French Catholic 
 writer. 
 
 Anderson, Wm., Apology for the Millennial Doctrine in the 
 form in which it was entertained by the primitive Church. 
 Two parts, 1830-31, 1842. Also A Letter to the author 
 of " Millenarianism Indefensible," 8vo, 1834. ''An able 
 Avriter." 
 
 Apocalypsis Reserata; or, The Rev. of St. John Ex- 
 plained : in three parts; (German,) 8vo, Christianopoli, 
 1653. 
 
 Archer, John, Tlie Personall Reigne of Clirist upon Earth, 
 showing that there shall be such a kingdom ; the manner 
 of it ; the duration of it ; and the tiuie when it is to begin ; 
 1 vol. 4to, 1643. Scarce. 
 
 Armageddon; or, A Warning Voice from the Last Battle- 
 Field of Nations; by a Master of Arts of the University of 
 Cambridge; 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1858. A diffuse but 
 able work, containing much information. 
 
 Atlas of Prophecy, being the Prophecies of Daniel and 
 St. John, with a simple Exposition, and a series of fourteen 
 maps and charts exhibiting their fulfilment; 4to, 1849, 
 London. 
 
 Bauer, Fr., Der sogenannte Chiliasmus; Einwort zur Ver- 
 st'andigung fur unsere Zeit; Nordliugen, 1860. 
 
 Baxter, Rev. M., Louis Napoleon, the destined Monarch 
 of the World, and Persotial Antichrist ; 12mo, Philadel- 
 phia, 1863. Also several smaller works. 
 
 Baxter, Robert, Esqr., Prophecy the Key of Providence; 
 lai'ge 12mo, London, 1861. 
 
 Bayford, John, Esq., MessiaKs Kingdom; or, a brief in- 
 quiry concerning what is revealed in Scripture relative to 
 the fact, the time, the signs, and the circumstances of the 
 Second Advent; Lond., 8vo, 1820; also, Reply to Rev. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 409 
 
 J. E. Jones on Modern llillenarianisin, 8to, London, 
 1824. 
 
 "^Begg, James, Connected view of Scripture Evidence of the 
 Kedeemer's personal return and reign, 12mo, 1831 ; Letters 
 to a Minister on Matt. xxiii.,xxiv., xxv., 12iuo, 1831; Argu- 
 ment for the Coming of the Lord at Commencement of Millen- 
 nium, 12mo, 1844; The First Resurrection, 12n]0, 1832. 
 
 Ben Ezra (Lacunza), La Venida del Mesias en Gloria 
 1/ 3Iagestad ; 4 vols. 8vo, 1816 (Spanish); also in Eng- 
 lish, translated by Edward Irving, 2 vols. 8vo, 1827. 
 
 Beverly, Thomas, Pamphlets, thirty in number, mostly on 
 prophetic subjects, 4to, 1670-1699; also, Scripture Line 
 of Time drawn in brief from the Lapsed Creation to the Resti- 
 tution of all Things, 4to, 1684. 
 
 *BlCKERSTETH, Ed., Practical Guide to the Prophecies, 12mc, 
 London, 1835. Also, The Restoration of the Jews, 12mo, 
 1841. Also, The Signs of the Times in the Last, &c., 
 12mo, 1845. Also, The Promised Glory of the Church, 
 12mo, 1844. A learned man, of a most amiable, candid, 
 and devout spirit. Hi'* writings are very useful. 
 
 Biencho, James, Tlie Signs of the Times, in two parts, 8vo, 
 1792—4; The Restoration of the Jeios, the Crisis of all 
 JVations, &c., 8vo, 1800. 
 
 BiRKS, T. R.-, First Elements of Sacred Prophecy, 12mo. 
 The Four Prophetic Empires, 8vo. Also other works. 
 An attractive and able writer. 
 
 Bliss, Sylvester, Analysis of Sacred Chronology, &c. 
 Boston, 18mo, 1840. 
 
 Bloomsbury Lent Lectures, 10 vols. 12mo, London. 
 
 First Series, 1843 : The Second Coming, the Judgment, 
 
 and the Kingdom of Christ, by Villiers, Pym, Goodhart, 
 
 Dalton, Brooks, Birks, Dallas, Freemantle, Bickersteth, and 
 
 Stewart; with a preface by Bickersteth. 
 
 Second Series, 1844 : The Second Coming of Christ 
 35 
 
410 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 practically considered, by Auriol,Pym, Hoare, Birks, Brock, 
 Grimshawe, Marsh, Bates, Bickersteth, Philpot, and Vil- 
 liers ; with a preface by Villiers. 
 
 Third Series, 184:5: The Hope of the Apostolic Church; 
 or the Duties and Privileges of Christians in connection 
 with the Second Advent, &c., by Bickersteth, WoodrooflPe, 
 Niven, Groodhart, Bates, Lillingston, Barker, Birks, Brock, 
 Villiers, Marsh, and Dibdin; with preface by Birks. 
 
 Fourth Series, 1846 : Israel's Sins and Israel's Hopes, 
 by Bickersteth, GrOodhart, Birks, Dalton, Freemantle, Fisk, 
 Dallas, Brock, Pym, Lillingston, Villiers, and Stewart; 
 with preface by Dr. Marsh. 
 
 Fifth Series, 1847 : Good Things to Come, by Dallas, 
 McCaul, Dibdin, Freemantle, Bickersteth, Pym, Cadman, 
 Birks, Stewart, Groodhart, Lillingston, and Villiers; with 
 preface by Pym. 
 
 Sixth Series, 1848 : Lift np your Heads. Glimpses of 
 3Iessiah's Glory, by Goodhart, Dallas, Stewart, Cadman, 
 Wilson, Freemantle, Pym, Noel, Philpot, Bickersteth, 
 Birks, and Villiers ; with preface by Dallas. 
 
 Seventh Series, 1849 : The Priest upon his Throne, by 
 Freemantle, Auriol, Stewart, McNeile, Hoare, Goodhart, 
 Birks, Bickersteth, Philpot, Brock, Pym, and Villiers; 
 with preface by Stewart. 
 
 Eighth Series, 1850: God's Dealings with Israel, by 
 Freemantle, Goodhart, Reichardt, Villiers, Harrison, Hoare, 
 Holland, Wigram, Birks, McNeile, Nolan, and Cadman ; 
 with preface by Dal ton. 
 
 Ninth Series, 1851 : Popish Darkness and 3Iillennial 
 Light, by Cadman, McNeile, Ryle, Harrison, Hoare, Good- 
 hart, Nolan, Freemantle, Birks, Dallas, Pym, and Villiera; 
 with a preface by Dal ton. 
 
 Tenth Series, 1852 : The Millennial Kingdom, by Pym, 
 Cadman, Birks, Stewart, Brock, Philpot, Goodhart, Hoare, 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 411 
 
 Woodrooffe, Freeman tie, Harrison, and Villiers; with pre- 
 face by Freemantle. 
 
 *BoNAR, A. A., Redemption drmccth nigh, 12mo, Lon- 
 don, 1847. Dcveloj^ment of Antichrist, 12mo, London, 
 1853. 
 
 *BoNAR, H., Coming of the Lord Jcsils, small 8vo, 1849; Pro- 
 phetical Landmarks, 12mo, 1859 ; Apostolicify of Cliiliasm,. 
 
 *Brooks, J. W., Elements of Prophetical Interpretation, 
 12mo, 1836. Abdiel's Essays on the Kingdom of 
 Christ, 12mo, 1834. A calm, impressive, and instructive 
 writer. 
 
 *Bryant, Alfred, Millenarian Views, ivith reasons for re- 
 ceiving them, &c., New York, 1852. "Excellently adapted 
 to remove misconception, disarm prejudice, and conciliate 
 faith." 
 
 Burgh, W., Lectures on the Second Advent, &c., 12mo, 
 1835 ; and various discourses and expositions. 
 
 BuRROIJGHES, J., Jerusalem's Glory breaking forth in the 
 world, &c. immediately hefore the Second Corning of 
 Christ; small 8vo, Lond., 1675. A member of the West- 
 minster Assembly, and an eminent divine. 
 
 Christ's Speedy Return in Glory, &c., London, 4th ed., 
 1831. 
 
 Clayton, Bishop Robert, Dissertation on the Prophecies, 
 &c., 8vo, Lond., 1749; also An Inquiry into the Time of 
 the Coming of the Messiah, 8vo, Lond., 1751. An author 
 deeply versed in Rabbinical learning. 
 
 Coleman, J. N., Serinons, Doctrinal and Practical, eluci- 
 dating the doctrine of the Trinity, the Sovereignty of God, 
 the Power of the Devil in the world, the Duty of studying 
 Prophecy, the Intermediate State, the Knowledge of each 
 other in the Life to Comi^, the Millennial Reign of Christ 
 on Earth, &c., 8vo, 1827. 
 
412 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 COMENIUS, Jno. Amos, Lux e Tenebn's, etc., 4to, 1665. 
 
 Cooper, Ed., The Crisis, &C., 8vo, London, 1825. 
 
 Costa, Dr. Isaac Da, Israel unci die Volker, Frankfort, 
 1854 5 written originally in Hollandish; translated also 
 into English, and published by Nesbit & Co., London, under 
 the title of Israel and the Gentiles. A converted Jew, of 
 many rich gifts. 
 
 Cox, John, The Millenarian's Answer, to which is added a 
 brief History of Millenarianism, London, 1832; Thoughts 
 on the Coming and Kingdom of Christ, 1836; The Future, 
 &c., 12mo, 1862. 
 
 Cressener, Dr. Drue, The Judgments of God, &c., 4to, 
 1689; Protestant xii^j^Ucations of the Apocalypse, 4to, 
 1690. A writer much commended. 
 
 Crool, Rabbi Joseph, Restoration of Israel. 
 
 CuMMiNG, John, The End, 1 vol. 12mo; The Great Pre- 
 paration, 2 vols. 12mo; The Great Tribulation, 2 vols. 
 12mo; Voices of the Day, and of the Night, 2 vols. 12mo; 
 and various other works. A prolific author, very eloquent 
 and impressive, but not always accurate and self-consistent. 
 
 Cunninghame, W., Esq., Dissertation on the Seals and 
 Trumpets, 8vo, 1832; Conversion and National Restora- 
 tion of Israel, 8vo, 1822; Scriptural Argument for the 
 pre- Millennial Advent, kc, 12mo, 1833; Political Des- 
 tiny of the Earth as Revealed in (he Bible, 12mo, 1834; 
 and various other works. An able and voluminous writer 
 on the prophecies. 
 
 Darby, J. N., The Hopes of the Church of God, &c., 12mo, 
 
 London, 1849. 
 Das Tausendjahrige Reich gehort nicht der Vergangen- 
 
 heit, sondern der Zukunft an. Giitersloh, 1860. 
 Davis , Woodbury, The Beautifrd City and the King of 
 
 Glory; Philadelphia, 1860. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECFNT WRITERS. 413 
 
 Drummond, Henry, Esq., Dialogues on Prophecy, 2 vols. 
 8vo, London, 1828. Contain the sentiments of various 
 eminent modern writers on Prophecy, as delivered in pri- 
 vate discussion or in their published works; also, Defence 
 of the Students of Prophecy, in answer to the attacks of 
 Dr. Hamilton, 8vo, London, 1828. Somewhat crude and 
 unsatisfactory in some of the presentations. 
 
 *DuFFiELD, Dr. George, Dissertation on the Prophecies rela- 
 tive to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, 12mo; 3Iille- 
 narianism Defended, 12mo; Reply to Stuart, 12mo, 1843. 
 A writer of ability and earnestness. 
 
 DuRANT, John, The Salvation of the Saints hy the Apjjear- 
 ances of Christ, &c., 8vo, 1653. "A delightful Mille- 
 narian writer." 
 
 Eight Lectures on Prophecy, 12mo, Dublin; no date. 
 Elliott, Dr. E. B., Destinies and Perils of the Church as 
 
 predicted in Scripture, London, 8vo. 
 Enoch, A small volume without name of the author, London, 
 
 1849. 
 Enquiry, An, into the Second Coming of our Savior, &c., 
 
 8vo, London, 1795. Also, by the same author, Further 
 
 Considerations on the Second Advent of Christ, &c., 8vo, 
 
 London, 1796. 
 Extracts on Prophecy, chiefly the approaching Advent 
 
 and Kingdom of Christ, from Burgh, Anderson, Noel, Cun- 
 
 ninghame, Irving, Begg, Mede, &c., 12mo, Glasgow, 1835. 
 
 A good volume on the subject. 
 Eyre, Joseph, Observations on the Prophecies relating to the 
 
 Restoration of the Jews; 8vo, London, 1797. 
 
 Faber, George Stanley, Dissertation on the Prophecies, 
 
 2 vols. 8vo, 1806; also, Sacred Calendar of Prophecy ; 
 
 3 vols. 8vo, 1828. A writer of much learning, pious and 
 
 35* 
 
414 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 able; his works are valuable, but not Millenarian on all 
 points. 
 
 Farmer, Joseph, A Sohn- Iiiqnir^ ; or, Christ's T\eign\rith 
 his Saints modestly asserted from the Scriptures. A small 
 volume, published in 16(30; republished, New York, 1843. 
 '' The spirit of this little piece of antiquity is admirable, 
 calm, candid, and Christian." 
 
 First Resurrection, T/te Nature of, and the Character and 
 Principles of those that shall partake of it, with an appen- 
 dix. London, 8vo, 1819. 
 
 Flemming, Robert, Jr., The First Resurrection, Lond., 
 1708 ; also other works bearing on Millenarian questions. 
 
 Floerke, W., Die Lehre com Tausendjdriclie Reiche, Mar- 
 burg, 1859. 
 
 Fox, John, the famous martyrologist, Christus TriumpJians: 
 Comoedia Apocalyptica ; Basel, 1556, London, 1672. A 
 very curious production, but very decided in its Millenarian 
 sentiments. 
 
 Frere, James Hatley, Esqr., Tlie Revolution — tlie Expi- 
 ration of the Times of the Gentiles, 8vo, 1848; The Harvest 
 of the Earth, 12mo, 1846. 
 
 Frey, Jos. S. C. F., Judah and Israel; or the Restoration 
 and Conversion of the Jews and the Ten Tribes, 12mo, 
 New York, 1841. Also, Joseph and Benjamin; a Series 
 of Letters, 2 vols. 12mo, ninth ed., 1842. 
 
 Friday ICveninq : An Attemp>t to demonstrate that we are 
 now living late in the Sixth Day of the Millenary Week, &c., 
 8vo, London, 1822. 
 
 Friederich, Pastor, of Wingerhausen, A Look into the 
 Times of Antichrist, &c. (German). 
 
 Fry, John, Second Advent, or the Glorious Epiphany of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, &c., 2 vola 8vo, 1822. "Full of use- 
 ful thoughts." 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 415 
 
 Gasparin, Madame de, The Near and the Heavenly Hori- 
 zon ; New York, 1S62. 
 
 GrAUSSEN, M., Les Juifs evangelises enfin, et ritahlis; a Dis- 
 course; Toulouse, 1855. 
 
 GiLFlLLAN, Geo., CJiristianify and our Era; a book fpr the 
 times, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1857. - 
 
 Gill, Dr. John, Sermon on the Glory of the Church of the 
 Latter Day; 1752. 
 
 GiRDLESTONE, Henry, The Hope of hrad, 12mo, London. 
 
 Gregg, Dr. T. D., The Mystery if God Finished, &c., 8vo, 
 London, 1861. 
 
 Guers, E., Israel anx derniers jours de I'economie actuelle, 
 ou Essai sur la rtstauration prochaine de ce peuple, suivi 
 d'un fragment sur le Millenarisme; Paris, 1856. Also 
 in German, Leipzig, 1860, entitled Israels Zukunft. 
 
 Habershon, Matthew, Esqr., An Historical Dissertation 
 on the Prophetic Scriptures of (he Old and Neio Testament, 
 &c.,8vo, 1840. Also ~Pre-Millennial Hymns, 18mo, 1841. 
 
 Hahn, J. M., Briefe und Lieder iiher die Offenharung. 
 Works, vol. 5, Tubingen, 1820. 
 
 Hales, W., Neio Analysis of Chronology and Geography, 
 History and Prophecy^ upon Scriptural and Scientific 
 Princ!p)les, &c., 4 vols. 8vo, 1830. 
 
 Hallet, Joseph, A free and imjjarfial study of the Holy 
 Scriptures recommended ; being Notes on some peculiar 
 texts, with discourses and observations on various subjects, 
 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1729-36. "An able work." 
 
 Harkness, Rev. J., Messiah's Throne and Kingdom, &c. 
 12mo, New York, 1855. 
 
 Hartly, Thomas, Paradise Restored ; or a testimony to the 
 doctrine of the blessed Millennium, small 8vo, London, 
 1764. This book was endorsed by John Wesley: see his 
 Works, vol. 6, p. 743. 
 
416 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Hastings, H. L., Signs of the Times, 12mo, Boston, 1862. 
 
 Hatherell, Dr. J. W., The Signs of the Second Advent 
 of our blessed Lord, 12mo, 1858. 
 
 Hawtrey, C. S., The Nature of the First Resurrection, &c., 
 8vo, Loudon, 1815. 
 
 Heath, D. J., The Future Kingdom of Christ; or, Man's 
 Heaven to be this Earth. A solution of the Calvinistic and 
 other chief difficulties in theology, by distinguishing the 
 saved nations from the glorified saints; 8vo, London, 1852. 
 
 Henshaw, Bishop J. P. K., Lectures on Second Advent; 
 12mo, 1842. 
 
 Hess, Jno. Jacob, Vom Reich Gottes; Ein Yersuch tiber 
 den Plan der gdttlichen Anstalten und Offenbarungen; 2 
 vols. 8vo, 1774 ; also other works. One of the most emi- 
 nent and learned divines of the Swiss Reformed Church. 
 
 Hoffman, Dr. W., Maranatha: Predigten und Betrach- 
 tungen liber die Weissagungen des neuen Bundes, 8vo, 
 Berlin, 1858. 
 
 HoFMANN, Dr. J. Ch, Kon.j Weissagung und Erfullung im 
 Alt. und Neu. Test., 2 vols. 8vo, Nordlingen, 1841-4. 
 
 HoLGATE, J. B., Conversations on the Present Age of the 
 World in connection icifh P7-ophecy, small 8vo, Albany, 
 1853. 
 
 Homes, Nathaniel, The Resurrection Revealed; or, the 
 Dawning of the Daystar, &c. ; folio, London, 1654. Also, 
 Ten Exercitations : 1. That Chiliasm rightly stated is no 
 error. 2. The manner and measure of the burning world. 
 3. Touching Gog and Magog. 4. Concerning Covenants, 
 Adamic, Jewish, and Christian. 5. About the Liberty of 
 Man's Will. 6. Of the Two Witnesses. 7. The Character 
 of Antichrist. 8. Touching Hell. 9. The Groaning of the 
 Creature. 10. Scripture prognostics of the future state of 
 the Church. Folio, London, 1661. A learned author, 
 who elucidates Scripture with great ability. A revised 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 417 
 
 editiou of both these works, omitting 'matter thought un- 
 iiijjiortant, was published by the editor of Tlw InvcUigatur 
 of Frojoliccy, in 1 voh 8vo, London, 1833. 
 
 Hooper, John, The Doctrine of the Second Advent, hrlrjiy 
 stated, 12mo, London, 1829; also. The Present (Jrisis, 
 considered in relation to the blessed hope of the glorious 
 appearing, &c., 12mo, Lond., 1831; also. The Revelation 
 of Jesus Christ Explained, &c., 8vo, London, 1846; new 
 ed., including Expositiiu of Daniel, 1847. 
 
 HoRT, Robert, Sermon on the Glorious Kingdom of Christ 
 iqyon Ecirth, or the Millennium; reprinted, Dublin, 1748; 
 new ed., 8vo, 1821. 
 
 HusSEY, Joseph, The Glonj of Christ Unveiled ; 4to, Lon- 
 don, 1706. "An author of some distinction." 
 
 Illustrations of Prophecy, &c., first published in 1799; 
 the edition of 1828 is by Rev. W. Vint. It contains valu- 
 able extracts from various authors. 
 
 Imbrie, C. K., The Kingdom of God; a Discourse, 1850. 
 Candid and forcible. 
 
 Inglis,, James, Tlie Destint/ of the Earth tinder its Coming 
 King, 12mo, New York, 1854. 
 
 Investigator of Prophecy, or 41y Expositor, 4 vols. 8vo, 
 London, 1S31-5. 
 
 *Irving, Ed., The Last Dai/s, &c., with preface by H. Bonar, 
 large 12mo, Londcjn, 1850. A work of marked ability, 
 "stamped throughout with irrepressible genius, yet breath- 
 ing everywhere the spirituality and fervor of the man of 
 God." Also, The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Ma- 
 jesty, translated from the Spanish of J. J. Ben Ezra, alias 
 Emanuel Lacunza, a Spanish Jesuit, said to have been a 
 converted Jew; 2 vols. 8vo, 1827. A work which thi'ows 
 much light on the subject of un^'ulfiUed prophecy. 
 2B 
 
418 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Janeway, Dr. J. J., Hope for the Jens, &c., New Bruns- 
 wick, 1853. 
 
 Jerram, Charles, An Esmy to show the ground eontdined 
 in Scripture for ccpecting a Restoration of the Jews, 8vo, 
 1796. 
 
 Jewish Repository, aftei-Avards Expositor and Friend of 
 Israel, Svo, Lond., 1813-31. 
 
 Jews, The Destiny of, &c., in a course of Lectures at St. 
 Bride's, Liverpool, by several clergymen; 12mo, 1841. 
 
 Journal, The, Theological and Literary, Edited by 
 David N. Lord, and published by Franklin Knight, New 
 York, 13 vols. Svo, 1849-61. A valuable Review, devoted 
 mostly to prophecy. 
 
 Jukes, Andrew, TIlc Mystery of the Kingdom of God, 
 London. 
 
 Jurieu, Peter, L'accomplissement des Propheties, ou la 
 delivrance prochaine de I'Eglise, 2 vols, in one, 12mo, 
 Roter., 1686. Also the same in English, Svo, London, 
 1687. 
 
 Keith, Dr. Alex., The Land of Israel according to the 
 Covenant, 12mo, Edinburgh, 1843. The Signs of the 
 Times, &c., 2 vols. 12mo, 1847. The Harmony of Pro- 
 phecy, &c., 12mo, New York, 1851. 
 
 King, Edward, Morsels of Criticism, tending to illustrate 
 some few passages in the Holy Scriptures, &c., Lond., 4to, 
 1788; reprinted in 3 vols. 8vo, Lond., 1800; also Remarks 
 on the Signs of the Times. A learned antiquarian. 
 
 Kingdom of Christ, here on Earth with Ms Saints, Survey 
 of ; 12mo, London, 1699. 
 
 KiRKWOOD, Robert, Lectures on the Millennium, 12mo, N. 
 York, 1856. 
 
 Klettavich, Simon Phil., How long the piresent world will 
 continue, &c., (German), Miihlhaus. 1699. Also, Uscfd 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT AVRITERS. 419 
 
 Information concerning Pietism ; or a statement of the 
 real faith and doctrine of the so-called Pietists, (German,) 
 4to, 1700; and sundry Tracts against Giblehr and Eilmar. 
 Knight, Dr. James, On the Conflagration and Renovation 
 of the World, from 2 Peter iii. 10-13. London, 1734, 8vo; 
 reprinted, 1736. 
 
 Labagh, I. P., Twelve Lectures on the Great Events of Un- 
 fulfilled Prophecy, &c.. New York, 1859. A good pre- 
 sentation to the common reader of the subjects treated. 
 
 Lambert, le Pere, Expositions des predictions et promes- 
 ses faitcs d I'Eglisepour les derniers temps de la Gentilite ; 
 2 vols. 12mo, Paris, 1806; also translated into German, by 
 Von Mayer, at Frankfort. "A striking testimony to the 
 premillennial advent, restoration of the Jews, and reign 
 of Christ, by a French Roman Catholic." 
 
 Lancaster, P., Interpretation of the Seventy Weehs of Dan- 
 iel, 4to, 1722. Also, Dictionary of Prophetic Symbols, 
 8vo, 1842, edited by Habershon. 
 
 Lange, Dr. Joachim, Gloria Christi et Christianism., etc., 
 folio, Amst. et Lips., 1740. 
 
 Lavater, Jno. C, Aussirhten in die Ewiglceit, in Briefen 
 an Joh. Geo. Zimmerman, 3 vols, small 12mo, Zurich, 
 1773. 
 
 Leutwein, C. F. p.. Die N'ahe d. grossen allg. Versuchung, 
 u. der sichtbaren x^nkunft uuseres Herrn zur Errichtung 
 seines sichtbaren Reiches auf Erden. Tiibiugen. 
 
 Lewis, Setii, Esqr., T/ie Restoration of the Jews, 'with the 
 political destiny of the nations of the earth, &c.. New 
 York, 1851. A writer of strong sense, candor, and reve- 
 rence for God's word. 
 
 LiLLlE, Jno., Tlie Perpetuity of the Earth, with Notes on 
 the Millenarian Controversy, l8mo, N. York, 1842. A 
 clear and forcible aro;ument. 
 
42U THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 LiTCH, JosiAH, Messiah's Throne and Millennial Glory, 
 Boston, 1855, 12mo. 
 
 *LiTERALiST, The, 5 vols. 8vo, l^hiladelphia, 1840-184:1 ; 
 edited by Jud'ge Jon3s, and consisting of republications 
 from Brooks, Woodward, McNeil, Noel, Bickersteth, An- 
 derson, Cunninghame, Cox, Thorpe, Habershon, Sirr, and 
 others. A collection of Millenarian works of great value. 
 
 Loader, Thomas, The Millennium, or Joy and Salvation to 
 the World for 1000 Years; 8vo, Loudon, 1812. 
 
 Looker-On, a View of the late movientems eventn as con- 
 nected with the Latter Days, &c., 8vo, London, 1830. 
 
 *LoRD, D. N., EsQR., The Coming and Reign of Christ, 12uio, 
 New York, 1858. An able work. 
 
 Lord, N., The Improvement of the Present State of Things, 
 a Discourse to the Students of Dartmouth College ; Hano- 
 ver, 1853. Also Hie 3Tillennium, an Essay read to the 
 Greneral Convention of N. Hampshire ; Hanover, 1854. 
 
 Maitland, Charles, M.D., The Apostles' School of Pro- 
 pheiic Interpretation, &c., 8vo, London, 1849. 
 
 Manchester, The Duke op. The Finished Mystery, &c., 
 8vo, London, 1847 j also other works. A learned and able 
 investigator. 
 
 Manford, , Apology for Millenarianism j small 8vo, 
 
 1809, 1843. 
 
 Marsh, Dr. W., A few plain thoughts on Prophecy, &c., 
 8vo, Colchester, 3d ed., 1843. 
 
 Mather, Increase, A Discourse concerning faith and fer- 
 vency in prayer, and. the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ 
 on earth, noio approaching, 12mo, Boston, 1710. 
 
 Maton, Robert, Israel's Bedempt.ion, or the prophetical 
 history of our Savior's kingdom on earth, &e., 12mo, Lon- 
 don, 1(542. This work was assailed by Alexander Petrie, 
 which elicited from the author another work of much 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 421 
 
 greater magnitude, entitled, IsraeVs Redemption Redeemed, 
 or the Jews' general and miraculous conversion to the faith 
 of the gospel and return to their own land, and our Savior's 
 personal reign on earth, clearly proved out of many plain 
 prophecies of the Old and New Testaments ; and the chief 
 arguments that can be alleged against those truths fully 
 answered; of purpose to satisfy all gainsayers, and in par- 
 ticular Mr. Alexander Petrie; in two parts, 4to, London, 
 1646. An able and acute writer. 
 
 Maywahlen, Dr. V. U., Intermediate State, or Christ 
 among the dead, the twofold Resurrection, and the twofold 
 coming of Christ J German; also in English; 12mo. 
 
 McCaul, Dr. a., The Old Paths, &c., 8vo, London, 1837. 
 Tlie Conversion and Restoration of the Jews, two sermons, 
 8vo, London, 1837. Plain Sermons on subjects practical 
 and prophetic, 12mo, London, 1840. The Messiahship of 
 Jesus, &c., 8vo, London, 1852. 
 
 McNeile, Eev. Hugh, The Times of the Gentiles, London, 
 1828; Prophecies relating to the Jewish Nation, 12mo, 
 London, 1840; Sermons on the Second Advent of the Lord, 
 12nio, London, 1842. "Eloquent and pious; one of Eng- 
 land's most gifted divines." 
 
 Mejanel, Pierre, Miniature Sketch of the ^liUcmiium, &c., 
 24mo, Edinb., 1831. 
 
 Millennial Church ; or, Christ's Personal Reign upon 
 Parth, &.C., by Clericus Dorcestriensis, 12mo, London. 
 Also, by the same, Christ's Coming to Judgment, 12mo, 
 London, 1834. 
 
 Millennium, A Tenet of; or. The Pirst Resurrection to 
 the Reign of Christ ujwn the Parfh, by E. L., 8vo, Lond., 
 1813. 
 
 Miller, William, Evidence from Scripture and History of 
 
 the Second Coming of Christ, &c. ; a course of Lectures, 
 
 small 12mo, Boston, 1842. 
 
 36 
 
422 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 *MoLYNEUX, C, TJic World to Come, 8vo, 1853. hrad's 
 
 Future, crown 8vo, 6th ed., 18G0. 
 MuLTUM IN Parvo; or Jubilee of Juhllees, &c., 8vo, 1732. 
 
 Newton, Wm., Lectures on the First Two Visions of the Book 
 
 of Daniel, Phila., 1859. 
 Noel, Hon. & Rev. G-. T., An Inquiry into the Prospects of 
 
 the Church of Christ, in connection loith the Second Advent; 
 
 8vo, London, 1828. 
 Nolan, Dr. F., The Chronohijiccd Prophecies, &e., Warbur 
 
 touian Lectures, 8vo, London, 1837. 
 
 Ogilvy, Gr. Yi^i\., Popular Objections to the Premillcnnial Ad- 
 vent considered, 8vo. Also, other works. 
 
 Pagani, John Baptist, The End of the World; or, The 
 Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 18mo, 
 London, 1855. A valuable testimony, by a llomuu Catholio 
 priest. 
 
 Paradise Regained; or. The Scrijjfure Account of the 
 Glorious Millennium, &c., printed for J. Buckland, 1772. 
 
 Penn, GtRANVILLE (grandson of the founder of Pennsyl- 
 vania), A Christian survey of all the primary events and 
 periods of the loorld from the comm,encement of History to 
 the conclusion of Prophecy ; small 8vo, Lond., 1812; also, 
 The Prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Gog, small 8vo, 
 Lond., 1814. 
 
 Perry, W., Glory of Christ's Visible Kingdom, 12mo, 1721. 
 "Plain and practical." 
 
 Peterson, Dr. Jno. Wm., A Scripturcd exjjosition and de- 
 monstration of the Millennial Reign and the First Resur- 
 rection to the Kingdom connected therewith ; (German) 4to, 
 Franckf., 1692. Also, Warlicit des herrlichen Reiches Jesu 
 Christi, 1698; and many other publications. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 423 
 
 PiRIE, Rev. Alex., An Inquiry into the Pro^ihecics relating 
 to the conversion and restoration of the Jews; also Ser- 
 mons and Lectures on prophetic topics; Works, 6 vols. 
 12mo, Edinb., 1805. An acute writer. 
 
 Poiret, Pierre, The Divine (Economy; or an universal 
 system of the works and purposes of God towards men de- 
 monstrated; written originally in French^ 6 vols. 8vo, Lon- 
 don, 1713. 
 
 Pre-Millennialism, Proofs of, &c., with an Introduction by 
 Dr. R. Newton, Philadelphia, 1862. A clear and con- 
 vincing little book. 
 
 PuRDON, Rev. A. R., Last Vials; 16 small annual volumes, 
 published in monthly and semi-monthly tracts since 1846, 
 London. Still continued. 
 
 PuRVES, James, Observations on the Visions of the Apostle 
 Jolrn, compared with other sacred Scriptures; 2 vols. 
 Edinb., 1793. 
 
 *Pym, Wm. W., Thoughts on Millenarianism, 12mo, Lond., 
 1829; corrected and enlarged, 1831. "Contains, in a small 
 compass, much valuable argument and extracts from the 
 Fathers." Also, Restitution of all things, 12mo. 
 
 Quarterly Journal of Prophecy* 1849-1855, London, 
 7 vols. 8vo. Among the contributors are Elliott, Keith, 
 Kelly, Forster, Hengstenberg, Gumming, &c. 
 
 *Ramsey, Dr. Wm., Messiah's Reign, or the Future Bless- 
 edness of the Church and of the World; small 8vo, Phila- 
 delphia., 1857. An able, calm, and exegetical treatment 
 of the subject. Also, Second Coming of Christ, &c. 
 
 Ranew, Nath., Account concerning the Saints' Glory after 
 the Resurrection, &c., 4to, Lond., 1670. 
 
 Read, Hollis, The Coming Crisis of the World; or the 
 
424 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Great Battle and the Golden Age, &c., with an Introduc- 
 tion by Dr. S. H. Tyng, Columbus, 1861, 12nio. 
 
 Reiun of Christ on Earth noways repugnant to the Spirit- 
 tialiti/ of his Kingdom, 4to, Lend., 1677. 
 
 Keview or Scripture, in testimony of the truth of the 
 Second Advent, the First Resurrection, and the Millen- 
 nium, with an Appendix on the Restoration of the Jews. 
 By a Layman, 8vo, 1819. 
 
 Roach, R., The Great Crisis, kc, 8vo, London, 1825; also, 
 Tlie Imperial Standard of Messiah Triumphant, <tc., 8vo, 
 Lond., 1727. 
 
 RuDD, Sayer, M.D., An Essay towards a neio exptlication 
 of the doctrine of the Resurrection, 3Iillennium, and Judg- 
 ment; with three dissertations on 2 Peter 10-13; Rom. 
 viii. 19-2.3; Rev. xxi. 24; 8vo, Loud., 1734. Also, other 
 works. 
 
 Saville, B. W., First and Second Advent, or the Past and 
 the Future, &c., 8vo, 1858. 
 
 Schaeffer, Jno. Day., The Everlasting Gospel, or the doc- 
 trine of the Millennium and Reign of Christ and his Saints, 
 &c., 8vo, 1725; also in Latin, Doctrina de Regno MiUen- 
 nario Christi. * 
 
 ScHULTZE, Gottlob, Drci Lehensfragen ; Dresden, 1860. A 
 well-arranged little book, containing much useful exegeti- 
 cal and historical matter. 
 
 Scott, James, A Catechism iqwn the Prophetical System of 
 Scripture, &c., 12mo, Edinburgh, 1847. 
 
 Second Coming of the Lord, The, the true Hope of Be- 
 lievers and only Triumph of the Church, &c., Dublin, 
 1833. 
 
 Seiss, J. A., Tlie Threatening Ruin, &c., 12mo, Phila., 1861. 
 
 Sergent, Fred., Esqr., An Essay on the personal and pre- 
 millennial Advent of the 3Iessiah Lond., 1883, small 8vo. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 425 
 
 Seven, An Esmy on this number, Lond., 8vo, 1754. 
 
 Shadows op the New Creation, by W. S. 
 
 Sherwin, Wm., rip<i(Jpofj.oz, the forerunner of Christ's peace- 
 able Kingdom upon Earth, Lond., 4to, 1665. Eiprivunv, 
 or a peaceable consideration of Christ's peaceable King- 
 dom to come vpon the Earth in the 1000 years, &c., Lend., 
 Ito, 1665; Snp>plement to the same; also, The Times of 
 the Restitution of All Things, Lond., 4to, 1675; also, The 
 True News of the Good New World shortly to come, &c., 
 Lond., 4to, 1671-2. "xV zealous writer on prophecy, a 
 hard student, and of an unblamable life." 
 
 Shimeall, Hev. R. C, Our Bible Chronology, Historic and 
 Prophetic, critically examined, &c., royal 8vo, N. Yoi'k, 
 1860. Also, Age of the Vforld, &c. 
 
 SiLLIMAN, Anna, The World's Jubilee, N. York, 12mo, 1856. 
 
 *SlRR, Dr. J. d'Arcy, The First Resurrection Considered 
 in a series of Letters; 12mo, 1834. A strong argument, 
 with many useful observations, and written in a good spirit. 
 Also other productions. 
 
 Sober Inquiry, or Christ's Reign with his Saints a thousand 
 years, modestly asserted from the Scripture; 8vo, 1660. 
 
 Spener, Phil. Jac, A Defence of the Hope of Better Times 
 to come, &c., (German,) 12mo, Frankf , 1093. 
 
 Spes Fidelium, or the Believer's Hope; a dissertation prov- 
 ing the thousand years' Reign of Christ; by a presbyter 
 of the Church of England; supposed- to be Dr. Grrabe, or 
 Dr. Lee; 8vo, 1774. 
 
 Sterry, Peter, Tlie Clouds in which Christ comes, 4to, 
 1643; aho, Rise, Race, and Royalty of the Kingdom of God, 
 4to, 1683. 
 
 Stewart, James Haldane, Practical View of the Re- 
 deemer's Advent, 8vo, 1828. Also, Sermons to strengthen 
 Faith, &c., 8vo, London, 1828. 
 
 Stilling, John HE^RY Jung-, Siegsgeschichte der christ- 
 
 36* 
 
426 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 liilw Religion, 8vo, Nuremberg, 1798; also, Naclitrag, 
 1806; also parts of Der graue jVann, a periodical. 
 Strange, Judge Th. L., TJie Light of Projjkecy, 8vo, 1850; 
 also, Observations on Mr. Elliott's Horse Apocali/pticse,. 
 
 Task, The; or. Scripture Texts connected with the Glorious 
 Advent and Millennial Reign; 18mo, London, 1847. 
 
 *Taylor, D. T., Tlie Voice of the Church on the Coming and 
 Kingdom of the Redeemer ; or a History of the Doctrine 
 of the Eeign of Christ on Earth ; 12mo, Phila., 1856. A 
 work coiitaiuing much useful information. 
 
 Theopolis, or the Gill) of God, New Jerusalem, &c., 8vo, 
 Lond., 1672 ; Philadelphia, 1808. 
 
 Thomas, J., M.D., Elins Israel: an Exposition of the King- 
 dom of God, with reference to the end of time and the 
 Age to come; 8vo, N. York, 1851. 
 
 Thompson, Jno., M.D., The Judgment in Matt. xsv. con- 
 clusive of Messiah's Personal Advent and his Millennial 
 Kingdom, 4to. 
 
 Thorpe, Wm., The Destinies of the British Empire, &c., 
 8vo, London, 1831. 
 
 Tillinghast, John, Generation -Work; or a brief and sea- 
 sonable word, oifered to the view and consideration of the 
 saints and people of God, &c., First Part, small 8vo, Lon- 
 don, 1655. 
 
 Generation -Work ; the Second Part, wherein is shewed 
 what the designs of God abroad in the world may in all 
 likelihood be, &c., small 8vo, Lond., 1655. 
 
 Generation - Work ; or an Exposition of the Prophecies 
 of the Two Witnesses, &c., small 8vo, 1655. 
 Knowledge of the Times, &c., small 8vo, 1654. 
 Eight Last Sermons, small 8vo, Lond., 1656. ''A supe- 
 rior writer, both in practical and evangelical sentiment, 
 and in prophetical knowledge." 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 427 
 
 Time of the End, A Prophcfic Pcrinr7,kc., t^maW ?-\o, Bos- 
 ton, 1856, edited by Himes. A coilection of matters 
 which will well repay perusal. 
 
 ToAVERS, J. L., Illustrations of Prajjlcecy , 2 vols. 8vo, 179G. 
 
 Tyso, Joseph, An Inquiry after Proi^hetic Truth, relative 
 to the Restoration of the Jeios and the Millennium, &c., 
 with various and beautiful maps and engravings ; Svo, Lon- 
 don, 1831. "The work contains a clear exposition of the 
 eleven concluding chapters of Ezekiel, the fourteenth of 
 Zechariah, and many other parts of the Old and New 
 Testaments generally considered obscure." 
 
 Tyson, Joseph, A Defence of the Personal Reign of Christ, 
 12mo, London, 1841. 
 
 Way, Rev. L., Thoughts on the Scriptural Expectations of 
 the Christian Church, Svo, pp. 115; also a poem, en*.itled 
 Palingenesia. 
 
 Whiston, Wm., a Neio Theory of the Earth, from its -origi- 
 nal to the consummation of all things, Svo, London, 1755j 
 also, An Essay on the Revelation of St. John, 4to, (Cam- 
 bridge, 1706; also, The Accomplishment of Scripture Pro- 
 phecies, (Boyle Lecture,) Svo, Camb.,1708; also, Hie Lite- 
 ral Accomplishment of Scripture Prophecies, &c., London, 
 1724. A divine of great learning and abilities, but eccen- 
 tric, and advocating some very peculiar opinions. 
 
 *White, Hugh, Practical Refections On the Second Advent , 
 r2mo, Dublin, 1836; N.York, 1843. 
 
 White, Jerem., Restoration of all Things, Svo, Lond., 
 1779, and 1809. "A loving and wise-hearted man," and 
 "a most excellent book." — Hartley. 
 
 Whowell, T., Ejyistles to the Christian Church oi the Eve of 
 the Millennium , &c., 2 vols. Svo, 1830. 
 
 Wilson, John G., Discourses on Prophecy, Svo, Phila., 1858, 
 
428 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Winchester, Elhanan, Lectures on the Prophecies that re- 
 main to he fuljilled, 4 vols. 8vo, Helstou, 1813. 
 
 WiNTHROP, Ed., Lectures on the Second Advent, 12mo, 
 1843; also, Premium Essay on Prophetic Symbols, 12mo, 
 1854; also, Letters on Prophecy, N. York, 1850. 
 
 WlTHERBY, Wm., Esq., a Review of Scripture in testimony 
 of the truth of the Seco7id Advent, the First Resurrection, 
 and the Millennium^ with an Appendix; 8vo, Lond., 
 1818. Also, Hints to Commentators, &c., 8vo, Lond., 1821. 
 
 Wood, Leut. G-. H., The Believer's Guide to the Study of 
 UnfuJ filled Prophecy ; containing the Scripture testimony 
 respecting the Grentile apostasy, the Second Advent of 
 Christ, his personal reign on the earth with all his saints, 
 the restoration of the Jews, &c., with the testimony of the 
 Fathers and Reformers; Lond., 1831, 8vo. 
 
 Wood, Walter, The Last Things, London, 1852, 8vo. 
 
 Woodward, H. W., Essays on the Millennium. 
 
 ZiPPLE, J. Gr., The World's Crisis, and the Restitution of all 
 Things, 12mo, Loudon, 1854. A Moravian writer. 
 
 4. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS WHICH INCIDENTALLY SET FORTH MILLE- 
 NARIAN DOCTRINES. 
 
 Ambrose, Isaac, Sermon on Doo7n>iday ; TForA-.s, p. 408. 
 
 Benson, Dr. G-., Motes on Ps. xcvi. 10-13, and xcviii. 4-9. 
 Bonar, H., Tlie Eternal Bay, 18mo, London, 1844. Also, 
 
 3Ian — His Religion and his World, 18mo, London, 1851. 
 
 Also, Hymns of Faith and Hope, ,2 vols. 12mo, New York, 
 
 1862. 
 Baumgarten, Mich., Hidory of the Apostolic Church. 
 Bliss, Sylvester, Memoirs ofWm. 3Iiller,'Bost., 12mo, 1853. 
 Brown, Rev. Ch., Abstract of the New Testament, 1753, 
 
 pp. 136, 163. 
 
CLASSIFIED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 429 
 
 Burnet, Thomas, Sna-cd Tlieory of the Earth; Books III. 
 
 and IV., especiitlly the latter. Buruet was a writer of great 
 
 literary excellence, but imaginative and erroneous in his 
 
 philosophical theories. 
 Burk, Jno. C. F., Memoir of the Life and Writings of John 
 
 Albert Bengel, translated into English by Walker, 8vo, 
 
 London, 1837. 
 
 Chalmers, Dr. Thomas, On the NeiD Heavens and the Neio 
 Earth, Sermon on 2 Pet. iii. 13; Works, Phila., 1833, p. 
 411. Also, Sabbath Scripture Readings. 
 
 Crosby, Thomas, History of English Baptists, vol. 2, Ap- 
 pendix 85. 
 
 Charnock, Dr. Stephen, Discourses on the Existence and 
 Attributes of God, — Discourse VI., On the Immutability of 
 God, p. 195. 
 
 CowPER, Wm., Task, Book VI. 
 
 Clarke, Richard, TJie Gospel of the Daily Service of the 
 Law, preached to Jew and Gentile, &c., 8vo, London, 1767. 
 
 Clayton, Wm., Rural Discourses, 2 vols., London, 1814. 
 
 Cranmer, Bishop, Catechism of Edward VI., 1553, on the 
 words "Thy Kingdom come." 
 
 Delitzch, Dr. F., Biblisch-Prophetische Theologie. 
 Dorner, Lehre von d. Person Christi, i. p. 240, seqq., note. 
 
 Elizabeth, Charlotte, JudaKs Lion, London, 8vo. 
 
 Fleming, Robert, Jr., Rise and Fall of the Papacy ; aho, 
 
 Christology, vol. iii, 8vo, 1708. 
 Fletcher, Rev. John, Works, yo\. s..; especially his Letter 
 
 on the Propjhccies, dated 1775. 
 
 Gilfillan, G., Alpha and Omega, vol. ii., chaps. 20, 21, 
 pp. 331-370 ; also^ Bards of the^BiUe, pp. 345-351. 
 
430 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 Gill, Dr. John, Complete Bo<ly of Duinlty; Proplutkal 
 
 Sermons; and Commentary. ' 
 GrAUSSEN, M., Daniel le Proph^ete, 3 vols. 2d edition, 1850. 
 
 An able writer, according very nearly with Elliott. Also, 
 
 Lectures on Popery. 
 GrLASS, John, Works, Edinburgh, 1761, vol. 2, pp. 425-430. 
 
 HuRD, Dr. Richard, Introduction to the Study of the Pro- 
 phecies, (Warburtou Lectures,) vi., pp. 129-163. 
 
 Heber, Bishop R., PorticalWurl-s, small 8vo, London, 1842, 
 especially his Hymns. 
 
 Harlan, General J., A Memoir on India and Afghanis- 
 tan, &c., 12mo, Philadelphia, London, and Paris, 1842. 
 
 HoRT, Robert, Posthumous Works, 1805. 
 
 Johnson, Rev. SaxMUEL, Thirty-six Select Discourses, &c., 
 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1740. Particularly the Preface. 
 
 Keble, Jno., The Christian Year, New York, 1850. For 
 
 Advent Season, pp. 17-37. 
 Kling, Dr., Dean of Marbach, Article on E&chatology in 
 
 Herzog's Encyclopedia. 
 
 Lutherus Redivivus, oder des fuhrnehmsten Lehrers der 
 Augsb. Confession, &c., 4to, 1697, pp. 386, 389. 
 
 Lechler, , Das Apost. und Nachapost. Zeitalter, p. 82. 
 
 Lord, Eleaz., Tlie Messiah in 3Ioses and the Prophets, 12]no, 
 New York, 1853. 
 
 Milton, John, Paradise Lost, 111. 333-338; XII. 531- 
 555. Prose WorJcs, Conclusion of Essay on Reformation 
 in England. 
 
 Mather, Dr. Cotton, The Student and Preacher; or Direc- 
 tions for a Candidate for the Ministry. Also, his Life, 
 pp. 141-144. 
 
CLASSiriED REFERENCES TO RECENT WRITERS. 431 
 
 Newton, Bishop Thomas, Dissertations on the Prophecies, 
 Diss. 22, 23, 24* 25, especially his Analysis of Rev. xx. 
 
 Nissen, J., Unterredungen Uber den Kleinen Catechismus 
 Luthers; Kiel, 1859, pp. 524-533. 
 
 Oetinger, Fried. Christoph, Predigten, 5 vols. 8vo, Stutt- 
 gart, 1858; also Bihlisches Wbrterhuch. 
 OsiANDER, Prof, at Maulbronn, Lehrbuch, sec. 66,67,76-78. 
 
 Pope, Alexander, The Messiah. See his Works. 
 
 Piers, Henry, Three Sermons on Ephesians \\. 12 -, 12mo, 
 
 London, 1748. 
 Presbyterian Review, The, Organ of the Scotch Church, 
 
 established some twenty-five or thirty years ago. 
 
 Eeichel, Carl Rudolph, Predigten uber die Sonn- mid 
 Festtags-Ej) isteln , Leipzig, 4to, 1787. Also, Evangelisches 
 Denk-Spruche, &c., Leipzig, 4to, 1783. 
 
 Eeinhard, Dr. Fr. Volkmar, Dogmatik, sec. 189, where 
 he teaches the twofold nature of the Resurrection; also in 
 sec. 191, on the changes to be wrought in the world. 
 
 Sherwood, Mrs., The Latter Days. See her Works, vol. ii. 
 pp. 289-455, New York ed. 
 
 Sharpe, Dr. Gregory, Defence of Christianity, 8vo, Lon- 
 don, 1775, p. 140. 
 
 Spurgeon, C. H., Sermons, sixth series, and elsewhere. 
 
 Spalding, Joshua, Lectures, pp. 45, 51, 214, etc. 
 
 Schlegel, Frederick von, Lectures on the Philosophy of 
 History, delivered in 1828, at Vienna; ' translated into 
 English by Robertson, small 8vo, London, 1846. 
 
 Spener, Dr. p. J., Auffrichtige Ubcreinstimniung mit der 
 Augsb. Confession, &c., 4to, 1695, pp. 287-290. 
 
 Schoner, Jno. Gr., Predigten uber die Eoangelien, 8vo, 
 Niirnberg, 1804. 
 
432 THE LAST TIMES. 
 
 iSpanoenberg, Bishop Aug. Got., Exposition of Christian 
 Doctrine, as taught in the Church of the Unitas Fratrum, 
 London, 8vo, 1784, the last chapter. Also, Idea Fidei. 
 
 TOPLADY, Augustus M., Speech at the Queen's Arms, &c.j 
 also, Meditation for a New Year's Day ; Works, London, 
 1861, pp. 428, 448. 
 
 Tyng, Dr. Stephen H., Articles on The Coining Kingdom ; 
 also, Lectures on the Five Universal Monarchies of the 
 Earth, and elsewhere. 
 
 Thomasius, at Nuremberg, Manual of Catechetical Instruc- 
 tion, see. 33, 38. 
 
 TUPPER, Martin F., sundry Poems, especially "77(e Last 
 Time." 
 
 Watts, Dr. Isaac, many of his Hymns and Psalms. 
 
 Wesley, John, Works, 7 vols. 8vo, New York ed., vol. v. 
 pp. 726, 727; also vol. vi. p. 743, where he fully endorses 
 Mr. Hartley's book, ^'Paradise Restored: a Testimony to 
 the Doctrine of the Blessed Millennium." Also, his Notes 
 on the New Testament. 
 
 Wesley, Charles, Hymns, 1762; for example, the one be- 
 ginning, "I call the world's Redeemer mine." 
 
 WoGAN, Wm., Esq., Essay on the proper Lessons appointed 
 hy the Liturgy of the Church of England, 2 vols. 8vo, 
 Derby, 1841; especially on 27th Sunday after Trinity. 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abomination op desolation, 22. 
 
 Advent, the, when to occur, 38, 39, 261- 
 282; signs of, 292-299, 371; is near at 
 hand, 301-303; desirableness of, 304- 
 308; the common expectation of the 
 Church, 15; to be expected from con- 
 siderations of reason, 31 ; great interest 
 of, 32 ; first and second, 37 ; is premil- 
 lennial. 40-60, 104, 105 ; the setting up 
 of the kingdom connected with. 126- 
 130 ; practical value of the doctrine of, 
 256, 2,57 ; how regarded by the primi- 
 tive Church, 257, 258, 287 ; our duty in 
 view of. 283, 370 ; too much skepticism 
 and coldness with regard to, 15, 287 ; to 
 have two stages, 350, 351 ; references to 
 the teachings of Christ and his apostles 
 on, 365-367; Old Testament on, 367; 
 references on the objects and results of, 
 368-370: the manner of. 372; uses made 
 of, in the Scriptures, 375. 
 
 Age of the world, 208, 269. 
 
 atuiv, meaning of, 73. 
 
 Alford, Dean, 325, 340, 400. 
 
 Alleqorical method, Origen's, 248, 240. 
 
 Anabaptists, their fanaticism, 235, 2-36, 329. 
 
 Analogy, argument from, on the perpo- 
 tuitj' of the earth, 71, 72. 
 
 Antichrist, the, 47. 341 ; is to be a French 
 emperor, 178 ; to be destroyed by Christ 
 in person, 47-52 ; probably Louis Napo- 
 leon is to be, 341-349 ; Scripture refer- 
 ence to, 378, 379; referred to in M.itt. 
 xxiv. 15, 22. 
 
 Antichristian powers, when destroyed, 
 46-52 ; can be no Millennium while they 
 remain, 46, 47 ; shall not exist in the 
 millennial world, 222. 
 
 Antiquity, importance of, 231, 232. 
 
 Apoortpual writings on the Millennium, 
 388-392. 
 
 Apollinarius, 394. 
 
 Apostasy of last times, 42, 45, .57, 261, 292, 
 371. 
 
 Arnold, Dr., 301, 320. 
 
 AnBERLEN, Dr., 324, 365, 405. 
 
 Augsburg Confessors. 57, 326; do they 
 condemn Chiliasm ? 327-335. 
 
 Auqcstine, 247, 396. 
 
 B. 
 
 Babylon, Great, 174; her doom, 175-177 
 279, 280. 
 
 Bacon on the nature of prophecy, 17, 18. 
 
 Baird, Dr.. 318. 
 
 Barnabas, 237, 238, 383. 
 
 Baronius, 273. 
 
 Baxter, 306. 
 
 Beecher, Charles, 32. 
 
 Benevolent Societies, the great, have 
 not accomplished what was claimed for 
 them, 300. 
 
 Benqel. Dr., 333, 337, 400, 404. 
 
 Beiig, 127. 
 
 Bible, the, only authority in things of 
 laith, 10, 11, 232 ; how some read it, 26 ; 
 how it is to be interpreted, 116; will 
 become a new book in the light of ful- 
 filled prophecy, 202; Luther's method 
 of interpreting, 253; much of it ig- 
 nored by those who refuse to study 
 prophecy, 12 ; chrontjlogy of, 356-362. 
 
 Bible, the Burlenburg, 400. 
 
 Bickersteth, 303, 409. 
 
 Blessedness of the millennial world, 212- 
 229. 
 
 Body, the, resurrection of, not impossible 
 with God, 88 ; believed in by the Jews, 
 90; identity preserved in, 91, 92; in the 
 glorified state, 218. 
 
 Bogie, Dr., 319. 
 
 Bonar, H., hymns by, 230, 364, 401, 411, 
 428. 
 
 Brooks, 117, 250, 303, 399, 411. 
 
 Browne, Archd.. 316. 
 
 Buckholdt, John, 235. 
 
 Burnet, Dr. T., 65, 429. 
 
 Burton, 245. 
 
 Bush, 100, 142, 256, 267, 270, 319, 396. 
 
 C. 
 
 Calmet. 98. 
 Calvin, 80. 
 C.AKLYLE, 297. 
 
 Catholicism, Roman, 292, 207. 
 Celano, de, hymn by, 159. 
 Cerinthus, errors imputed to him, 235; 
 his injury 'o millenarian doctrine, 251. 
 Chabbo, 99. 
 
 37 
 
 433 
 
434 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CH.iLMERS, Dr. T., 286, 289, 429. 
 
 Charnock, ou the restoration of all things, 
 80, 429. 
 
 Cheever, Dr. G. B., 318. 
 
 Chillixg-wgrth, 244, 398. 
 
 Chinese Philosophers, 65. 
 
 Choate, Rufus, 320. 
 
 Christ, spiritual or provid&ntial coming 
 of, 37, 59 ; claims of, for the gospel, 110 ; 
 to reign as a great prince upon earth, 
 113-131, 204, 212 ; his reign eternal, 144; 
 the bliss of seeing, 215-217. 
 
 Christ, the retukn of, certain, 15, 30, 31, 
 37; importance of, 32; few properly in- 
 fluenced by it, 15, 287; great original 
 prophecy on, 16 ; hymn on, 136; will be 
 as a thief, 152; importance of being pre- 
 pared for it, 156; bliss of seeing him, 
 215-217 ; when it shall occur, how far 
 made known, 259, 260 ; the time of, con- 
 sidered relatively, 261 ; a period of apos- 
 tasy and revolutionary troubles, 261, 
 262, 371, 373 ; before the Jews are en- 
 tirely restored, 263 ; while papacy and 
 antichrist continue, 264, 373; at a time 
 of alarm on the subject, 265, 371, 373 ; 
 but while the multitudes scoff and dis- 
 believe, 266, 373; our duty with refer- 
 ence to, 172, 283, 370 ; is near at hand, 
 282, 291, 302, 303; the desirableness of, 
 131-133, 304-308; want of faith in, 286, 
 287 ; how to affect his enemies, 368. 
 
 Christendom, survey of, 292, 293. 
 
 Christian, a, no sorrowful thing to be, 
 111 ; is safe, 181, 309 ; Is not done with 
 this world when he dies, 221. 
 
 Christianity not to triumph universally 
 till Christ comes, 63-56; Luther and 
 Melancthon on the subject, 66-58; other 
 testimonies, 57, 58; a spiritual religion, 
 119, 120. 
 
 Christocract, 113. 
 
 Christs, false, 19, 20, 23. 
 
 Chronology, different systems of, 269 ; of 
 the Bible, 356-362. 
 
 Churches, the, to be thoroughly revolu- 
 tionized, 170-172; how to regulate our 
 present relations to, 172. 
 
 Churches, the nationalized, abomina- 
 tions of, 174, 175 ; the doom of, 176, 177 ; 
 decay of, 280. 
 
 Church, Primitive, the, how regarded 
 the advent of Christ, 257, 258, 287; 
 opinion of, on the Millennium, 383-398 : 
 Apocryphal writings of, 388-392; au- 
 thorities on the miUenarianism of, 398. 
 
 Church, the, afflicted till Christ comes, 40, 
 41, 44,: Melancthon on this point, 56, 
 255 ; Henry and ffhitefield on the same, 
 58 ; difference between its spirit now and 
 in primitive times, 257 ; removal of, when 
 Christ comes. 154, 162, 349-353. 
 
 City, the heavenly, 207, 219, 311. 
 
 Clarke, Dr. A., .323. 
 
 Clement, 238, 384. 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, 242, 387. 
 
 Commentators, on Matt, xxiv., 25-27 ; poets 
 
 and painters as, 137. 
 COJIMUDIAN, 393. 
 
 Confessions, or creeds, referred to, 15, 57, 
 68, 287, 326. 
 
 Conflagration, the, 75-79. 
 
 CoNSTANTiNE,elevationofthe Church under 
 him supposed to begin the Millennium, 
 250 ; his legalization of the Church the 
 inlet of great evils, 94. 
 
 Consummation, the, changes to be effected 
 in, 82, 83; joy of, 228, 307, 308. 
 
 Coronation of Christ as king of the 
 world, 112. 
 
 CoRRODi, his work on Chiliasm, 398. 
 
 Cox, 303, 306, 412. 
 
 CoxE, hymn by, 182. 
 
 Creation, the, longing for the consum- 
 mation, 63, 79, 86. 
 
 Ckusius, 333. 
 
 Cry, the midnight, beginning to go forth, 
 296. 
 
 CuMMiNG, John, 72, 303, 305, 401, 405, 412. 
 
 CUNNINGHAME, 303, 412. 
 
 Curse, the, to be repealed, 79-81, 226- 
 
 228. 
 Cyprian, 242, 393. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dana, 76. 
 
 Darkness the herald of day, 299, 300. 
 
 Daubuz, 267. 
 
 David, tabernacle of, to be rebuilt, 192. 
 
 Day, often taken for a long period of time, 
 141, 142. 
 
 Days, taken for years, 270. 
 
 Dead, the, resurrection of, 88-92 : comfort 
 with reference to, 105-108; the judg- 
 ment of, 161 ; " the rest of," Rev. xx. ; 
 what is meant by, 95-98. 
 
 Death, repulsiveness of 105 ; to what it is 
 reduced under Christ, 106; triumphs 
 over, in the resurrection, 107, 108. 
 
 Democracy, the spirit of the times, would 
 level every thing, 297. 
 
 Demonism, 281. 
 
 Dickson, hymn bj% oil. 
 
 Dispensations, overlap, 160. 
 
 Doane, Bishop, hymn by, 35. 
 
 DODWELL. 266. 
 
 DoRNER, Dr.. 324, 429. 
 DUFP, Dr., 316. 
 DUFFIELD, Dr., 413. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eagles, the saints compared to, 34. 
 
 Earth, its perpetuity asserted in Scrip- 
 tures, 68-70 ; dreams of its destruction, 
 67 ; its probable destiny if sin had never 
 touched it, 68. 
 
 Elders, the. in Rev. Iv. 5, 353. 
 
 Elect, the. 23. 
 
 Elias, tradition of the house of, 255, 267. 
 
 Elliott, Dr., 49, 302, 405, 413. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 435 
 
 Eirn OF THE WORID, THE, whnt is meant by, 
 73-75 ; nearness of, 282 ; opinions of 
 students of prophecy on tlie nearness 
 of, 302-304; really to be desu-ed, 304- 
 307. 
 
 Enoch, Book of, 389. 
 
 enC(j>ave(.a, meaning of, 48 
 
 Ernesti, 116. 
 
 EsDRAS, second book of, 390. 
 
 Euphrates, drying up of, 279, 2S0. 
 
 Events, general order of, 379-382. 
 
 Expectation of Christ's coming a charac- 
 teristic of the early Church, 257, 287. 
 
 P. 
 
 Fader, G. S., 270, 274, 303, 342, 413. 
 
 Faith, great want of, 286; shall be feeble 
 and scarce when Christ conres, 42. 
 
 Fall, the, consequences of. 62, 63. 
 
 Farmer, JostPH, 147, 337. 414. 
 
 Fathers, the, opinions of, on millenarian 
 doctrine, 2-37-245 ; Luther's respect for, 
 334; references to their opinions and 
 works, 383-398. 
 
 Fires, the, spoken of by Peter, not uni- 
 versal, 76-79; Christ shall bo revealed 
 in, 78. 
 
 First-fruits, 350. 
 
 Flacius, 273. 
 
 Fleming, Robert, 49, 273, 414, 429. 
 
 Flceuke, 332, 414. 
 
 Flood, the, how it came, 155. 
 
 French Revolution, the, 275, 276, 362. 
 
 French, the, Emperor of, to bo the per- 
 sonal antichrist, 178. 
 
 e. 
 
 •yi), nowhere said to have an end, 73, 74 ; 
 
 is to survive the baptism of fire, 75. 
 yevea, moaning of, 28, 323. 
 Gentiles, the. times of, 187. 
 Gibbon, Ed., 243, 256. 
 
 GlESELER, 245. 
 
 Gcethe. his view of nature's ailings, 63. 
 
 Goodwin, Dr. T^ 148, 405. 
 
 Gospel, the, preaching of, to all nations, 
 20, 371 ; our only hope, 258 ; its glorious 
 promises, 109. 
 
 Government, good, the greatest desidera- 
 tum, 131, 134; all present forms of, to be 
 modified or destroyed, 170-172. 
 
 Greek Church, 293. 
 
 Gbeswell, Dr., 337, 388, 301, 392, 399, 400. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hahershon. 303. 
 
 Hall, Thomas, his argument that the Mil- 
 lennium cannot precede the judgment, 
 57, 58. 
 
 Hamilton, Dr., 197. 202. 
 
 Hartley, Th., 3.37, 338, 395, 415, 432. 
 
 Heber, Bishop, 290, 430. 
 
 Henqstenbero, Dr., 355. 
 
 Henry, Matthew, on the mixed condition 
 of the world till Christ comes, 58. 
 
 Hermas, .384. 
 
 Hiller, p. F., 3.34. 
 
 Hindostanee opinions on the world's fu- 
 ture, 65. 
 
 HiPPOLYTUs, 392. 
 
 History continually repeating itself, 17 ; 
 one of the storehouses of wisdom, 231. 
 
 Hitchcock, Dr., 318. 
 
 HODY, 101. 
 
 Homes, N.. 416. 
 
 Hooker, 116. 
 
 Horn, the Little, 271. 
 
 Hort, 65, 417, 4:». 
 
 Hymns, " Even so come, Lord Jesus," 35 ; 
 "Aiiothor Admonition," 61; "Waiting 
 for that day," 87; " Wird das nicht 
 Freude seyn,"lll; "Maranatha," 136; 
 '•Dies Iras," 159; ''Arouse for Duty," 
 182 ; " The Day is Coming," 208 ; " Yet 
 a Little While," 230; "Ho Left not 
 Himself without Witness," 258; "Wake, 
 Awake." 284; '-The New Jerusalem," 
 311 ; " The Happy Dawn," 364. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ignatius, 3S4. 
 
 Interpretation, laws of, 116. 
 
 IREN.EUS, 2-1:0, 241, 252, 336, 387. 
 
 Irving, 305, 417. 
 
 Israel, exemptions of, in the judgment 
 times, 167 ; all to be saved, 187, 181S, 189 ; 
 kingdom to be restored to, 190, 191 ; to 
 return to Palestine, 198-196; to be tho- 
 roughly converted and sanctified, 202, 
 203; exaltation of, in the Millennium, 
 223, 224. 
 
 Jeremiah xxv., 163, 164. 
 
 .Jerome, 247, 396. 
 
 Jerusalem, 197,199; is to be the metropo- 
 lis of the world, 204-206, 374 ; destruc- 
 tion of, 21; a type of the end. 17, 18. 
 
 Jerusalem, the heavenly, 207, 311-315. 
 
 Jews, the, to remain a distinct people till 
 Christ conies, 28, 29. 323 ; their concep- 
 tionB of the Messiali, 117, 118; con- 
 temned by manj-, 168 ; are the living 
 symbols of coming evil, 168, 169; shall 
 be concerned in the last great wars, 178 ; 
 are to be converted, 183; arc to be re- 
 stored to Palestine, 184; objections an- 
 swered, 184-186: referred to in the New 
 Testament, 186-192; proofs from the 
 Old Testament, 192-195 ; hi.-<torical facts 
 bearing ou the question, 196-198 ; how 
 the return will begin, 199; will be ef- 
 fected only in the judgment period, 201 ; 
 accompaniments and results of their 
 return, 202-2U7 ; future glory of. 223; 
 God's covenant with them, 188. 189 ; re- 
 storation of the kingdom to, 190, 191; 
 their restoration not merely spiritual, 
 
436 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 i93, 194; survey of their history and 
 condition, 196; their metropolis, 197, 
 204-206: lines on their restoration, 208; 
 mistaken views of, on Christ's kingdom, 
 118-120, 330; their estimate of our 
 times, 319; how affected by Christ's 
 coming. 309; destiny of, 376,378. 
 
 John xviii. 36 often misquoted, 121 ; true 
 meaning of, 338-340. 
 
 Johnston, 266. 
 
 Jonathan, the Paraphrast, 99. 
 
 Jdoge, scriptural conception of a, 139, 140. 
 
 Judgment, administrations of, with re- 
 spect to the dead, 143, 161 ; as respects 
 the living. 162-lb7 ; how they will be- 
 gin to be felt. 169 ; general results of, in 
 the world, 170-172; more particular ef- 
 fects. 173-179 ; how these things should 
 impress us, 178, 181. 
 
 Judgment, day of, not a day of twenty- 
 four hours, 141 ; stretches through the 
 thousand years, 144-148; will be intro- 
 duced differently from what is generally 
 supposed, 149-156; will have its morn- 
 ing and its evening, 144, 145, 160 ; ad- 
 mouitions in view of, 157, 158. 
 
 Judgment, the, much misunderstood, 137 ; 
 certainty of. 138; not to be thought of 
 as an assize, 139; is the administration 
 of the Divine government, 141 ; is pro- 
 gressive, 142. 143; connects with the 
 personal reign of Christ, 144-148; how 
 it will begin, 149-151, 155; hymn on, 159. 
 
 JnSTiNl.iX, 27'2. 
 
 Justin M.^rtyr, 239, 336, 386. 
 
 K. 
 
 Karens, their tradition, 65. 
 
 Keble, hymn by, 61, 430. 
 
 Keith, Dr., 270. 
 
 Kmchi, Rabbi, 99, 401. 
 
 Ki.ngdom, the Messiah's, 112; how pre- 
 dicted in the Old Testament, 113-116; 
 the ideas entertained of it by the Jews, 
 117, 118; how spoken of in the New 
 Testament, 119-125; connected witli the 
 second advent, 126-130 ; is not yet mani- 
 fested, 132-131: is to be on earth, 120, 
 121, 124-131, 212, .339, 340; is to be 
 eternal, 144; connects with the throne 
 of David, 114-116; is to be a literal 
 kingdom, 122-125, 127, 128, 131 ; is not 
 from this world, 130, 339, 340 ; coexists 
 with the world to come, 210 ; the glory 
 of, 133, 135, 226--228, 290; how spoken 
 of by Luther, 254; the spirituality of, 
 119, 335-3.38. 
 
 King, Ed., 324, 340, 41 S. 
 
 Kings and I'riests of the world to come, 
 218-221. 
 
 Kinney, 76. 
 
 Knapp, 117. 
 
 Knox, John, on the world's reform before 
 Christ comes, 56. 
 
 Koauo;, meaning of, 73, 74. 
 
 Kossuth. Louis, 320. 
 KiiUMJiAOHEii, 302, 340. 
 
 I. 
 
 Lactantius. 244, 394. 
 
 Lambekt, 419. 
 
 Law governing the Divine operat'.ons, 71, 
 
 Lord, David N., 77, 96, 198, 275, 405, 420. 
 
 Luther, his conception of the gathering 
 of the eagles to the body, 24 ; his opinion 
 on the question of the world's conver- 
 sion before Christ comes. 50; on the re- 
 storation, 80, 354; his method of inter- 
 preting Scripture, "253; denied that a 
 Millennium of rig'uteousness would come 
 before Christ com&s, 253 ; how he spoke 
 of the kingdom, '254; believe.l that the 
 end would come in six thousand years 
 from .\dam, 255, 355 ; anticipated the time 
 as near, '255 ; held that the time was not 
 beyond liuman knowledge, 200; refers 
 to A.D. 60G as a notable commencing 
 epoch. 273; thought the end would cer- 
 tainly come in about three hundred 
 years, 274, 316 ; on the desirableness of 
 the eud, 305 ; on the meaning of tlie 17th 
 Article of the Augsbui-g Confession, 330, 
 331 ; respect for the fathers, 334; on the 
 Millennium, 354-356. 
 
 Lynch, Lieut,, 200. 
 
 M. 
 
 M\CAUi,.iY, 317. 
 
 Macduff, hymn by, 136. 
 
 Magdeburg Cknturiators, 270. 
 
 Mahometanism, 153, 279. 
 
 Man of :^in, his duration and end, 47-49. 
 
 Martyrs, tlieir resurrection at the com- 
 mencement of the Millennium, literal, 
 95, 96 97. 
 
 Maton, 145, 420. 
 
 M.aitkr not esscntiidly corrupt, 72. 
 
 Matthew xxiv. 16. true key to the mean- 
 ing of 17 ; an axiom for its interpreta- 
 tion, "25; what it teaches, 30. 
 
 Mede, 66, 142, 148, '270, .323, 337, 395. 404. 
 
 Melancthmn, 49 ; his opinion on the 
 Church's prospects in this dispensation, 
 56, 255 ; on the 17th Article of Augsburg 
 Confession. 331, 332. 
 
 Melito, 336, 386. 
 
 Mes.siah. the. prophecies concerning, 113 
 -116,'122, 129. ^ 
 
 Methodius, 393. 
 
 Millenarians, a summary of their doc- 
 trines, '233, 234; not Millerites, 236; the 
 fatliers were, 2.37-"246; how their doc- 
 trines came into disrepute, 246-252, 397 ; 
 popery the great enemy of, 246, 250, 
 251, "290; cla.i^sified references to the 
 writings of, 400-432. 
 
 Millennium, what it means, 38; common 
 views of, criticized, 39; not to be till 
 
INDEX. 
 
 437 
 
 Christ comes, 40-60, 104; Scriptures 
 promise uo, before the advent, 40; no 
 place for. in the great prophetic dis- 
 course of Christ before his advent, 44, 
 45; no acknowledged creed places be- 
 fore the advent, 58; Whitbiau theory 
 on, 94 ; Barnabas on, 237, 238 ; Papias 
 and Justin Martyr on, 239 ; Irenasus on, 
 240; Tertullian on, 241; Cyprian on, 
 242; Lactautins on, 244; Augsburg and 
 Helvetic Confessions on, 320. 
 
 Miller, William, his views, 236, 421. 
 
 Milton, 49, 430 ; on the Church's pros- 
 pects till Christ comes, 57 ; on the signs 
 of the advent. 292 ; jjrayer of, for Christ's 
 coming, 306. 
 
 MosHEiM, 235, 240, 245, 248, 273, 398. 
 
 MONSCHEK, 245, 398. 
 
 . N. 
 
 Napoleon I., poem on return of his re- 
 mains to France, 208; affliction caused 
 by him, 277. 363 ; seventh head of the 
 Roman power, 341, 342. 
 
 Napoleon III., question of his being the 
 antichrist presented, 341; his power, 
 342, 343; peculiarities of his name, 344; 
 relation to the Church power, 345; his 
 character, 345-347 ; his rise from ob- 
 scurity, 317, 348; his resources, 348. 
 
 Nations, distress of, 169,170. 262, 294,371. 
 
 Naturk, how reduced and afflicted by sin, 
 62, 03; beauties of, still remaining, 72, 
 73 ; to be renewed, 81-85 ; illustrations 
 from, on the resurrection. 89. 90 ; longeth 
 for the consummation, 63. 79, 85 ; shall 
 give forebodings of the time of the end, 
 371. 
 
 Neander, 117. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, dream of, 262. 
 
 Nepos. 394. 
 
 Newspapers, secular, 293. 
 
 Newton, Bishoi', 245, 256, 270, 397, 431. 
 
 Newton, Sir Isaac. 367, 403. 
 
 Nice. Council op. 253, 272, 395. 
 
 Nikolai, hymn by. 284. 
 
 Noah, moral aspect of his times, 45, 155; 
 God's covenant to, 74. 
 
 0. 
 
 (Etinger, F. C. 333, 431. 
 
 OLKOVfj-evyj^ 210. 211. 
 
 Old Tkstament of equal authority with 
 the New, 186. 
 
 Orioen, 05, 243. 247 ; his system of spirit- 
 ualizing described, 248, 249, 290. 
 
 P. 
 
 Palestine, 198, 199. 204, 205. 
 Papacy, the, its commencement and du- 
 ration, 271-274. 
 Papias, 239, 385. 
 Paradise to be restored, 80. 
 
 napova-Ca, meaning of, 48. 
 
 Peel, Sir Robert, 301. 
 
 Philo, 65. 
 
 Phocas, 272, 273. 
 
 Plato, 64. 
 
 Plutarch, 64, 267. 
 
 Poets, their foolish dreams, 67; very poor 
 
 theologians, 137. 
 POLtCARP, 385. 
 Pounds, parable of, 352. 
 Preparation, importance of, 33, 34, 156. 
 Propheot, prejudices against the study 
 
 of, II ; a somewhat difficult subject, 13; 
 
 is for our enlightenment, 36; our duty 
 
 to study it, 12. 13 ; a delightful subject, 
 
 14 ; of no private interpretation, 77, 78 ; 
 
 nature of, 18. 
 Protestantism, 293 ; hopes concerning, not 
 
 fulfilled, 300, 297. 
 Providence, all things in the hands of, 180. 
 i//uX'7) meaning of, 95. 
 Pym, 302, 423. 
 
 R. 
 
 RE.4.D, HOLLIS, 318. 
 
 Reform, the watchword of our times, 296 
 -298. 
 
 Reign of Christ and his S.unts, 113, 114, 
 125, 130, 135, 144, 204, 218-220, 374. 
 
 Renovation of the World, bj- whom ex- 
 pected, 04,65; to be desired, 72; Luther, 
 and Calvin, and Charnock on, 80 ; Scrip- 
 ture statements concerning, 80-84; 
 hymn on, 86. 
 
 Resurrection, the, not impossible, 88; 
 shadowed in nature, 89; was believed 
 in by the Jews, 90; has actually oc- 
 curred in certain cases, 90, 91 ; identity 
 preserved in, 91, 92; twofold character 
 of, 98-104; that of the saints eclectic 
 and invisible, 103, 154. 
 
 Resurrection, the first, not figurative, 
 but literal, 93-98; an .ancient belief, 98, 
 99 ; Scripture reasons for this view, 102 
 -104; joyfuluess of, 106-111 ; will be in- 
 visible, 164; a peculiar blessing, 102. 
 
 Revelation xx. 4-6, literal interpretation 
 of, maintained, 93-98. 
 
 Revolutions, 1848 the year of, 278; to 
 connect \vith Christ's second coming, 
 32, 261. 262, 294, 371. 
 
 Rice, Dr. N. L., 317. 
 
 Roos. M. F., 333, 334, 337, 406. 
 
 Russell, Bishop, 267, 391. 
 
 Rutherford, 306. 
 
 Saints, the, compared to eagles, 24; to be 
 raised and translated when Christ 
 comes, 106, 108, 154. 161. 102; are ta 
 live a glorified angelic life. 218; are to 
 have high official honors, 218 ; partake 
 with Clirist in his dominion, 219, 374; 
 shall have to do with those who shall 
 
 37* 
 
438 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 continue to live in the flesh, 220; will 
 not bo usually visible to those in the 
 body, 220 : their ministrations to be for 
 the general good. 220. 221; how affected 
 when Christ conies, 368. 
 ScHAFP, Dr.. 117. 
 SCHMDCKER, Dr. J. G., 3.34, 402. 
 Schubert on nature's yearnings, 63, 64 
 ScHWEiNiTz, II. C. Von, hymn by, 111. 
 Science, men of, do not stop on account 
 of difficulties, 13, 14; what they tell us 
 of the interior of the earth, 75, 76 ; falsely 
 so called, 293. 
 Seed, the woman's. 113, 352. 
 Semisch, Dr., 240. 245. .332, 398. 
 Sevens, system of, in Scripture, 266, 291 
 Sibylline Oracles. 64. 390. 
 SiONS of the Lord's coming, 292-300 371 
 Sire, Dr. D'Arct, 425. ' 
 
 Skeptics multiplying, 300. 
 Societies, Mission, Bible, Suudav-school 
 
 &c., 300. 
 Spener. Dr., 333, 337, 403, 425, 431. 
 Spiritualism, 2s1. 
 
 Spirituality demanded by the gospel, 119. 
 Spiritual resurrection, 93, 96, 103 
 Stier. Dr., 324, 339, 400. 
 Strabo, 65. 
 Stuart, Professor, 116, 270, 401 : on the 
 
 twofold resurrection, 96, 99, 103 104. 
 Study, when a pleasure, 14. ' 
 
 SULPICIUS Sr.VERUS, 395. 
 
 Summary of the judgment scones, 169- 
 171 ; of millenarian doctrines, 233, 234. 
 
 Tares, parable of the, 45, 46 
 
 Tatian, 386. 
 
 Taylor, D. T., 426. 
 
 Ten Kingdoms, the. 173, 262. 
 
 Tertullun, 232, 241, 337. 338. 
 
 Thankfulness due for the gospel, 110 
 
 Tholuck, Dr.. 339. 
 
 Tillinghast. his argument on the literal- 
 ness of Messiah's kingdom. 127, 128, 426. 
 
 Time of the return of "christ, references 
 to, 373; not entirely and perpetually 
 concealed, 259-261. 
 
 Times immediately preceding the judg- 
 ment, 169-172 ; of the Savior's return 
 261, 262, 292-294, 371; after Christ's re- 
 turn, 374. 
 
 Times. OUR, aspect of, 10, 292, 294 ; opinions 
 of distinguished men on, 301, 316-.322 
 
 Transfiguration, the, a picture of the 
 kingdom, 213. 
 
 Translation, the, when Christ comes, 
 108, 109, 162; the two stages in, 349-3.53. 
 
 Trench. Dean, 340. 
 
 Tribulation, the, 20. 22, 2.3, 24,25; some 
 escape it, 349 ; who shall suffer it, 351, 
 352, 353 ; when it is to begin, 22. 
 
 Trumpet, the last, 152, 153. 
 
 Turkey, 279. ' 
 
 Tyng, Dr. S. H., 318, 424. 
 
 U. 
 
 Unbelief a characteristic of the last times, 
 42, 43, 261, 265 ; the spirit of, too preva- 
 lent among modern Christians, 286,300. 
 
 Unsanctified, the, discomfiture of, in the 
 judgment, 156, 162-168. 
 
 Usher, Archbishop, 49, 78, 269. 
 
 Vials, the seven last, 275-281, 362 363 
 ViCTORINUS, 393. ' 
 
 Virgins, parable of the ten, 351. 
 VlTRINGA, 116. 
 Volcanoes, irruptions of, described, 76 
 
 W. 
 
 Waiting for Christ's return, 87. 
 
 Warning to the wicked and careless, 157. 
 309. ' 
 
 Wesley, John, 432. 
 
 Whitby, 94, 184, 399. 
 
 Whiting, Professor, 101. 
 
 Witnesses, God's. 258. 
 
 WoLFFE, Dr. Joseph, 65. 
 
 World, the, to abound with wickedness 
 till Christ comes, 42; its population to 
 be of good and bad till then, 45, 46; its 
 ongiiuil estate. 62; its present condition, 
 63, 132, 134, -166; to be restored, 64, 65, 
 86, 211 ; is not to be annihilated, 66-70; 
 is to be regenerated, 71, 75; end of, how- 
 to be understood, 73, 74 ; is not to ba 
 depopulated, 69; Christ's kingdom not 
 fi-om. 121; kingdoms of. to be broken, 
 150; the nations of, how affected by the 
 judgment. 151, 170; its present state to 
 endure six thousand years fiom Adam, 
 237, 255, 267; present age of. 268, 269; 
 will be taken by dismaying surprise 
 when Christ comes, 156; Bible chro- 
 nology of, 356-362; bow affected by 
 Christ's coming, 369. 
 World to come, the, 210; is the present 
 world in its renewed condition, 211, 212 ; 
 glory of, exhibited on the Mount of 
 Transfiguration, 213; Christ to bo pre- 
 sent in it, 214-217; to have in it the 
 ministrations of the glorified, 218-221; 
 the powers of evil to be excluded from 
 it, 222, 223 ; the Jews to have the pre- 
 eminenpe in, 223, 224 ; the curse to be 
 repealed, 226-228; hues on, 229 374 
 375. ' ' ' 
 
 Y. 
 Year-day system explained, 270. 
 Years, the 1260, of the little horn, 271-274. 
 
 Zoroaster, 267. 
 
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