Untitled article by J. H. Waggoner

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, October 8, 1867

The Sermon.

By J. H. Waggoner

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.

PREACH THE WORD. 2 Tim. iv, 2.

TIME OF SETTING UP THE KINGDOM.

A Sermon Preached in the Tent at Bowersville, Ohio, Tuesday Evening, Sept. 3, 1867.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

“In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom.” Dan. ii, 44.

It is with a deep feeling of our responsibility before God that I stand before you to maintain an unpopular view; we are well aware that we stand against the prejudices and feelings of the majority, who have long been taught to believe the opposite of what we teach. But we rely upon the word of God alone, fully believing that we are in harmony with it. Did we suppose that truth depended on majorities, we should pursue a different course from that which we are taking.

This is a very important subject in itself; and the large assemblage on this occasion proves that it has also an importance in the minds of this people. We have given no argument upon it, only referring to it incidentally in our expositions of prophecy; these expressions, and the opposition they have received, have led to the interest we see manifested this evening. But its importance is not increased by our feelings. It would be just as important if no one cared for it; and it could be no more important if all believed in it. The importance of the truths of God are intrinsic. That the subject of the Kingdom occupied an important place in the mind and teachings of the Saviour himself, is clearly seen. Of the benedictions with which he commenced the Sermon on the Mount, the first relates to the kingdom: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” When he taught his disciples how to pray, after expressing reverence for the holy name of our Heavenly Father, the first petition is, “Thy Kingdom come.”

There are three forms of expression used in the Scriptures: kingdom of God; kingdom of Heaven; and kingdom of Christ. These mean the same thing. It is the kingdom of God because God sets it up. It is the kingdom of Heaven because it is heavenly in its nature and origin: not of earth. It is the kingdom of Christ, because Christ is its king.

Before entering upon the direct proofs I will notice, in the form of objections, the positions taken against the view we advocate. There are two kinds of evidence received on this subject: positive or direct, and suppositive or inferential. Some do not discriminate between them, but rest as confidently on an inference as though it were positive proof. This is an abuse of evidence, and should never be tolerated in the investigation of any subject. I wish to call particular attention to this fact, that those who believe that the kingdom was set up on the day of Pentecost, or at any other time near the first advent of our Saviour, have no direct proof to that effect. They rely upon a few texts from which they infer that that was the case. The following are considered their strongest proofs, and I take them up as objections.

1st OBJ.—Matt. iii, 2. “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

This text, so far as time is concerned, contains nothing definite. Without any other testimony on the subject we might infer that it was near at hand, but we can get only an inference at best to that effect. In the lectures of Mr. Winthrop, an Episcopalian clergyman, on the prophecies, my mind was first called to the fact that the Greek word in this text, rendered “at hand” in our version is not the same that is so rendered in 2 Thess. ii, 2, where Paul warns them not to believe the day of Christ's coming is at hand. In Matt. iii, 2, he gives the word the sense of approaching; that in 2 Thess. ii, 2, of immediately impending. In this I think Mr. Winthrop is sustained by the lexicons; and it certainly accords with the current teachings of the Scriptures. According to prophecy, John the Baptizer could announce it as approaching. There were foretold in the second chapter of Daniel, where I got my text, four universal earthly dominions to exist; these to be succeeded by the kingdom of God, which was to destroy and supersede all dominions. John stood under the fourth of these, and of course the kingdom of God was next in order: its gospel and king were now to be proclaimed; and thus the time had come for calling special attention to its approach.

2D OBJ.—Luke xxii, 21. “The kingdom of God is within you.”

This, it is argued, shows that the kingdom is set up in the hearts of his people. But they were not his people to whom he spoke thus; they were the Pharisees. So the objector sees the necessity of appealing to the marginal reading, or to a different construction of the text. If the marginal reading be the true one, then it may speak of the king himself, according to a well-known manner of expression in the Scriptures, where a part is taken to represent the whole, and the whole is expressed when a certain part is meant. As this idea must be borne in mind to understand several scriptures on this subject, I call your attention to it particularly. The kingdom consists of various parts, as king, territory, subjects, and laws. Now some think the kingdom is defined in Rom. xiv, 17. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Suppose you tell me the kingdom of Great Britain is a limited monarchy. I ask you, Who is the reigning monarch? You answer. A limited monarchy. Where is its territory located? Answer. A limited monarchy. Tell me what you know of its subjects? Answer. A limited monarchy. What is the nature of its laws? Answer, limited monarchy. Right for once; and this is the only one of all the questions that your answer has given any light upon. So of Rom. xiv, 17; it says nothing of the king, territory, subjects, or location, but speaks only of its principles. The whole is expressed when this part is intended. And so also in Matt. xxv, 1, where the kingdom of Heaven is likened to ten virgins, which went forth to meet the bridegroom. But Jesus is both the bridegroom and the king; hence the whole kingdom could not go forth to meet him, but those prepared for its subjects could, and these represent the kingdom. Again, the kingdom is said to do certain things which we learn that Christ does in person. As king he represents the whole kingdom, even as Nebuchadnezzar was called the head of gold, because he represented Babylon. So in Luke xxii, 21, the king, who represents the kingdom, was among them, as the margin reads. But if this is not the true exposition of the text, then it certainly points forward to the time when the kingdom should be openly manifested; but in either case it does not define the time of its being set up.

3D OBJ.—Col. i, 13. “Hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”

This text, like many other scriptures, speaks by anticipation, or “of things which be not as though they were.” Rom. iv, 17. It speaks as though we were already redeemed and translated, whereas both are future. Paul, who wrote this text, says also in Rom. viii, 23, that we are groaning for redemption; and in Eph. iv, 30, that by the spirit which we here receive we are “sealed unto the day of redemption.” Of Enoch and Elijah he says they were translated; and he speaks of a company who will also be translated when the time of redemption comes, and the kingdom

appears. I shall hereafter give proof that translation, redemption, and the kingdom are all future, and come at the same time.

As proof that the apostles speak by anticipation, I compare 1 John v, 11, where it is said “that God hath given to us eternal life,” and Titus i, 2, where it is said we are “in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie hath promised.” We cannot be “in hope” of what we have in possession; therefore the first is spoken by anticipation—we have it in his promise which is sure.

And again, as more closely related to the objection, Paul says to the Corinthians, “We shall not all sleep, [or die,] but we shall all be changed,” or translated. The pronoun “we” naturally refers to the speaker and those whom he addressed; but in this case it did not refer to Paul and those to whom he wrote. And so in 1 Thess. iv, 17. “We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord;” &c. But Paul shows in his second letter to them what must take place before the Lord comes, utterly precluding the idea of their being translated without seeing death. They could read it as only in prospect, though the present tense and first person were used; it can be read as a present fact only by those who live until the Lord's coming. There are prophecies in the New Testament as well as in the Old; and the apostles often used the present tense when the things referred to were no more fulfilled than were Isaiah's words when he said “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” The explanation of the next objection will afford proof on this point.

4TH OBJ.—Matt. xvi, 19. “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.”

The objector says the keys were given to Peter, which proves the kingdom was set up in Peter's day, else he could not open the door and induce men into it.

I have ever been astonished at this being urged to support such a theory. Did Peter actually and literally receive keys with which to unlock the door of the kingdom? Our opponents will not claim this, though they speak as though they believed it, and their unscriptural expressions would imply it. Thus they make no distinction between the kingdom and the church; and again, they make no distinction between the church and a meeting-house. Putting the two together, and whoever carries the keys of the meeting-house has the keys of the kingdom! But Peter did not carry brass keys to open iron locks into the kingdom. His own teaching gives us a full explanation of this point.

In 2 Pet. i, he addresses those “who have obtained like precious faith with us;” they were Christians. He tells them to add to their faith virtue, &c., for by so doing they shall never fall, but make their calling and election sure; and then says: “For so [by this means] shall an abundant entrance be ministered to you into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” It is thus that he uses his keys and opens the door of the kingdom by teaching his brethren what to do to secure an entrance into it; but he also taught them that it was yet in the future—they were not yet in it. And James proves the same, calling his brethren heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him. Jas. ii, 5.

Enough has now been said to prove the remark true that it is only by the merest inference that any one can believe that the kingdom has been set up. I now come to the direct testimony on this subject, and shall endeavor to show a harmony between the Old and New Testaments on this subject—between the words of the prophets, and of Jesus and the apostles.

For the sake of brevity, I will pass by some of the first expressions of the Scriptures concerning the kingdom, and call your attention to the eighty-ninth Psalm; to the promises which God made to David. Verses 3, 4, read as follows: “I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations.” And from verse 37: “Also I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faith- fulness to fail. My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David; his seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in Heaven.” There is an impressive certainty about these promises. God has sworn by his own holiness that David's throne shall endure forever; as a faithful witness in Heaven: as the days of Heaven: to all generations. The only condition expressed reaches his children, or people, but does not affect the promises to him. The seed to whom these mercies are promised, who is to endure forever, can be no other than Christ. The children who are to be visited with the rod for their iniquity are the children of Israel, the Jews, as shown by Matt. xxi. Our Saviour here speaks a parable of a man who planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen; at the season of fruit he sent messengers, whom the husbandmen beat, stoned, and cast out. Then he sent his Son, the heir, whom they conspired against and slew. When questioned the Jews said those husbandmen should be destroyed and the vineyard given to others who would render the fruits in their seasons. He made the application to them, saying: “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” We have seen that the rod was to be laid on them if they did not keep the commandments of God; yet the kingdom and throne should endure. Here we see how this should be fulfilled; it should be taken from them and given to those who would keep the commandments which they had broken and rejected. And this is a warning to us. Many boast of the kingdom, who reject the law of God, and thereby forfeit all right to it, as did the Jews. James says the kingdom is promised to them that love God; and John says the love of God is to keep his commandments.

That we have got at the foundation of the subject of the kingdom in the promises to David, as quoted from the Psalm, we prove by the New Testament, Peter, in his sermon on that day of pentecost next after our Lord's resurrection, says the sure mercies of David were promised to Christ. He argues the resurrection of Christ from the Scriptures, proving that the scripture quoted did not refer to David, for he was dead and in his sepulchre, which was yet with them. But “being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” Acts ii, 30. Here mark the literality of the promise. A personal, bodily resurrection of Christ was necessary to fulfill the Scriptures, as he was to be raised “according to the flesh” to sit on David's throne. This cannot be spiritualized away to mean “the reign of grace in the believer's heart,” in which we also believe, but which is not referred to in any scripture which speaks of setting up the kingdom.

With this also accords the angel's announcement in Luke i, 32, 33, predicting the birth of Christ; he said, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” If this was not to be fulfilled literally, why was the genealogy of Christ so carefully preserved? Why so much mention made in the Scriptures of his being David's son? He was “born king of the Jews,” and by reason of such birth was entitled to the throne of David. It was called David's throne because it descended from him; but David is dead, and therefore it is Christ's own throne by descent.

The query may arise, How shall the Lord God give him the throne which is his own by right of inheritance? I answer, all that any one inherits by birth he loses by death. Had Christ remained dead, another would have succeeded to the throne. But God raised him from the dead, as we have seen by Acts ii, that he might sit on it; thus he was dependent on the gift of the Father for the throne to which he was born heir. But being raised from the dead, and dying no more, the promise of an endless kingdom may be fulfilled in him. No other can arise to claim that throne while he lives.

Next I enquire, What was the condition of that throne and kingdom when Christ was on the earth? Let us look again to the word of prophecy. In Ezek. xxi, 25-27, the word of the Lord came to Zedekiah, as follows: “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take off the crown; this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high: I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him.” No one will deny that this refers to Christ as the one who was to come whose right it was, for the promises could be fulfilled in no other. And then the question may be asked, Has not Christ come? He has come; and the Scriptures teach us that he is coming again. I will briefly examine the circumstances of his two comings, and we will see to which the prophecy refers. Peter says of the prophets, “Searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Pet. i, 11. The time of “the sufferings of Christ,” refers to the first advent; and “the glory that should follow,” to the second advent. This is more clearly shown in 1 Pet. v, 1; “The elders which are among you I exhort, who also am an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” Here he makes the glory of Christ to be revealed in the future. And yet again in chapter iv, 13. “But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” Paul informs us definitely when we shall partake of this glory: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. iii, 4. Therefore it is at the second coming of Christ his glory shall be revealed. Now I will directly answer the question. Did he receive the kingdom at his first advent? On this, see the Saviour's own words in Luke xix, 11-15. They were near to Jerusalem and “thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” They did not understand as Peter afterward taught, that his resurrection must intervene. They showed their faith by their works, and also that they did not understand his parable, by crying when he went into Jerusalem, “Hosanna to the son of David.” But to the parable. “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” We are bound to the conclusion that he represented himself as going to Heaven to receive the kingdom, and that his kingdom was located on the earth, the citizens of which refused to have him for their king; as otherwise, if he left Heaven to come to earth, here to receive the kingdom, then it would be the citizens of Heaven that sent this rebellious message after him. That he receives the kingdom in Heaven is also proved by Dan. vii, 13, 14. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, glory, and a kingdom,” &c. Some one may reply, That is just what we believe; that Christ went to his Father to receive the kingdom, which was set up on the day of pentecost, ten days after he ascended to his Father. To such I would say; It would be well to bear in mind what Alexander Campbell said about the difference between faith and opinion. Faith is based on the evidence of Scripture, and when there is no evidence there is no faith; it is mere opinion. Now when people say it is their faith that the kingdom was set up on the day of pentecost, they mistake, for they have no evidence to that effect; it is merely their opinion. I would respectfully invite our opponents, at any time during our meetings here, to bring us one text of scripture showing that a kingdom, or anything else, was set up on the day of pentecost. But we shall not be accommodated; no such text exists. It being very clear that Christ did not receive the kingdom while he was on earth, we are prepared to take another step, and enquire, What is his past and present

position in relation to the kingdom under consideration? We will again take his own testimony.

John received a Revelation from Jesus Christ in the year 96; full 63 years after his ascension to his Father. In that he refers to both his present and future position as follows: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Rev. iii, 21. We have examined the point that Christ may truthfully call the throne of David his throne, and here he refers to it at least 63 years after that day of pentecost, as one which he shall sit upon at a future time. We readily admit that Christ is on a throne and in a kingdom now, but not one that was ever overturned; not one that was given to him by virtue of his relation to David; not one that was set up at any time of which the mind of man can conceive; and of course not the one referred to in any of the scriptures quoted. With this coincides Paul's words, “We have such an High Priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens.” Heb. viii, 1. And again he speaks of his position on the throne of his Father in Heaven, and also of his expectation in reference to his own throne and kingdom thus: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” Heb. x, 12, 13. This last text refers to the words of David in the Psalms, and to set it still more clearly before you I will compare two expressions in the Psalms, one showing the nature of the gift, the other its location in point of time. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” Psa. ii, 8, 9. His action in reference to them shows the nature of the gift; they are not to be converted as obedient servants, but to be broken and dashed in pieces as his foes. Now notice the time when they are given to him. “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Psa. cx, 1. I have shown that the present position of our Saviour is at the right hand of his Father in Heaven, and he is to sit there as priest until the dominion over the earth and its wicked inhabitants is given to him. These are the malicious “citizens” of his kingdom who sent a message after him, saying, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” How vain the effort to rise against his power! They will not have him while he is a priest, pleading his own precious blood for them; but they must submit to his authority when he ceases to plead for them; when he has received the kingdom, and returns to reckon with his servants and take vengeance on his foes.

In the vision of Daniel the same time is pointed out for setting up the kingdom, or bestowing the kingly power on the Son of Man. It was when the Judgment was set, (which we have before shown must pass upon the saints before the second advent of our Saviour, as he must be the advocate in their Judgment,) that he was brought before the Ancient of Days where he received the kingdom. Dan. vii, 9-14. The same is very definitely stated in Rev. xi, 14-19. No one will dispute that the seventh trumpet brings in the closing scenes of this dispensation; such events as the following are brought to view under it: “The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth.” But in this connection and under this trumpet it is also said: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” There can no fact be more clearly revealed than is this, that at the close of this dispensation, when human probation ceases; when the enemies of God and Christ will so remain because salvation will no longer be offered; when the priesthood of Christ on his Father's throne will close; then will the throne of David be conferred on Christ, and he will return to earth in the glory of his power to rule as king; then will the kingdom of Heaven be set up; then will the promises be fulfilled for which the saints have long prayed and waited.

We are now prepared to understand the statement of our text: “In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom.” It is assumed without any authority that “these kings” means the Cæsars, but this is contrary to all Scripture evidence on the subject. King and kingdom are used interchangeably in this prophecy. Thus in chap. vii, where the four great kingdoms are brought to view (the same as in chap. ii,) under the symbols of beasts, the angel said, “These great beasts which are four, are four kings;” thus, Babylon one, Persia one, Greece one, and Rome one; and each of these is spoken of in the singular—never in the plural. So if reference is made to them by the expression “these kings,” it must refer to all of them; that is in the days of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom. Such a construction is forced and unnatural, but no more forced than to apply it to the Cæsars. But there are certain kings or kingdoms referred to in the text, so intimately connected with the interpretation of the symbol of “the stone” as scarcely to be mistaken—certainly not unless by those so welded to a theory as to make the plain reading of the scripture bend to their theory. The “stone cut out of the mountain without hands,” that is, not of human or earthly origin, represents the kingdom which the God of Heaven shall set up. But it is not brought into view in the prophecy during the dominion of either of the four kingdoms above referred to. The fourth, or Roman, represented by the legs of iron, was divided, as symbolized by the toes of the image. After these came up, which was within 300 to 500 years since Christ, the stone is first noticed. Its first appearance is in its “smiting the image on his feet that were of iron and clay;” the iron representing the strength of the iron kingdom, or Rome; the clay the brittleness or weakness of divisions. These it brake in pieces, and at once all parts of the image were destroyed together, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Thus the kingdom of God is introduced, not infusing itself into the kingdoms of the image and converting them into the kingdom of God; but destroying them and taking their place on the earth. It has been asked of me here: “How could the stone roll and roll over the whole earth, before it smote the image, if it were not previously existing?” Where the questioner got this idea of rolling I leave you to imagine. No one should try to teach what the prophecy means until he knows somewhat of what it says. The setting up of this kingdom, as we have seen, is the act of the Father in Heaven giving the power and dominion to his Son: the first appearance of the kingdom is its smiting the nations. Or, as the other scriptures quoted show, Christ comes possessed of the power and dominion, and thus representing the kingdom he breaks the nations with a rod of iron, and dashes them to pieces. And this all takes place under the seventh trumpet. How unnatural and unscriptural the construction which would place it in the days of the Cæsars! “These kings,” the European powers, formed of the divisions of the Roman Empire, stand to-day awaiting the appearance of the Son of Man in his kingdom and power, as King of kings and Lord of lords, treading the winepress of the wrath of God in the battle of the great day, as we read in Rev. xix and xx. There are some here who have ridiculed our exposition of the ten kings; but they are not the first who have done so. When Alexander Campbell produced the same facts in his debate with Bishop Purcell, the Bishop tried to turn them into ridicule, to evade the force of the argument against the Catholic church. We do not endorse all the conclusions Mr. Campbell drew from these scriptures, but we do stand with him in regard to the facts which cannot be controverted; and our opponents are welcome to stand with Bishop Purcell in ridiculing them.

We have a still further confirmation of the truth we are advocating in the Scripture statements about the time when the saints possess the kingdom. The apostle James says, God has “chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him.” Jas. ii, 5. Now if the kingdom were already set up, and men already introduced or translated into it, surely them that love God and are rich in faith should be in it. But they have it only in the promise of God; they are yet heirs to it, of course, only expecting it. In Matt. xxv the Saviour shows where their heirship will end. When the Son of man comes, sitting on the throne of his glory, that is, at the second advent, then he will say to his followers, “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom.” Verse 34. Surely there is a wide distinction between being an heir and an inheritor. When Christ comes the dead saints are resurrected, and the living translated to inherit the kingdom. The same is brought to view in Daniel, as we find by comparing it with Paul to the Corinthians. Daniel said of the kingdom represented by the stone, it “shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people.” Dan. ii, 44. It will be an everlasting kingdom, and the subjects must be immortal so that there will be no change from one people to another. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption,” 1 Cor. xv, 50. “Flesh and blood” refers to the mortal state of man, for the apostle goes on to show that we shall be changed or translated from mortal and corruptible to immortal and incorruptible. The kingdom is an eternal or incorruptible kingdom, and corruption, or men in a corruptible, mortal state, cannot inherit it. Of course we can inherit it after this corruptible puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality. But this takes place when the Lord himself descends; when his voice is heard waking the dead; the same time of which the Saviour spoke in Matt. xxv, when the Son of man comes upon the throne of his glory, raising and changing his saints, and calling them to inherit the kingdom. There is a harmony in all these Scripture declarations truly delightful and cheering to the toil-worn pilgrim, who, though heir, has been beset with tribulation, waiting for the kingdom and glory to be revealed. And with these also agree the words of the prophecy in the description of the work of the “little horn,” the Papal power. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Dan. vii, 21, 22. How idle then to talk of the saints possessing the kingdom before this horn arose.

But one more testimony from the words of the Saviour, and I will close my argument. In Luke xxi, 25, the signs of the Lord's coming are brought to view, the same as in Matt. xxiv. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity.” These signs are literally fulfilled in the sun, moon and stars; they are distinct from the things taking place “upon the earth.” “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Verse 28. When redemption comes may be learned from verse 27: “And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” But there is another important fact stated in connection with the signs of the coming of the Son of Man, and of our redemption. He says also in verse 31, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”

Here we have a comprehensive view of all the facts relating to this important time. The Son of Man comes, at which important time he sits upon the throne of his glory; he raises the dead, and translates the living; he calls them to inherit the kingdom; and when the signs of this event are given, then we may know that redemption and the kingdom are nigh. There is redemption in its full reality: then the saints are translated into the kingdom to go no more out forever; they shall not pass away and leave it to another people, but they “shall possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”

My friends, “these kings” spoken of in the text, stand to-day in their place. But the nations are already angry; they are preparing for the battle of the great day. Spirits of devils are even now working miracles to deceive and turn away the people from the truth, that that day may overtake them as a thief. The perils of the last days are upon us; iniquity abounds and the love of many is waxing cold. And yet these trials and troubles shall increase till the “time of trouble” is ushered in. How dark the prospect here; but how bright just beyond, when the coming of our Saviour ushers in the day of redemption, and calls us to the joys of his everlasting kingdom. My heart is in this glorious subject; with such a prospect beyond this state of care and sorrow, I daily and earnestly pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Amen!