NO MILLENNIUM BEFORE THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
By Baptist Flag
THERE are many passages of scripture in both Testaments, that hold out the cheering hope of universal peace upon the earth; and in the 20th chapter of Revelation, the first thousand years are specially named. Does this period begin before or after the second coming of Christ? I unhesitatingly affirm that it begins after his coming; while the great majority of Bible readers, I suppose, affirm that it will begin and even end before! The correct view of this subject is of vast importance, because of its influence over many passages of scripture in both Testaments; and, also, because of its practical influence over the people. If Christ will come before the millennium, then he may come in a very few years! but, if he will come after it, then he may come in thousands of years! One great cause of the inactivity of Christians generally, is, I think, because they do not realize the startling truth, that Christ may come while they are yet living! Believing that the Lord will even yet delay his coming for thousands of years, they become much attached to the world; they hoard up the dollars that ought to be actively employed in the Lord's cause. The proof of the affirmation that the Lord's coming is pre-millennial, I offer at present one argument only. The man of sin comes before Christ, and will then be destroyed. See 2 Thess. 2: 1–8. The man of sin cannot live upon the face of the earth during the millennium; therefore Christ must come before the millennium, or the man of sin will live during that happy period. During the millennium, the will of the Lord will be done upon the earth as in Heaven, see Matt. 6: 9, 10; but the man of sin will be worshiped as a god; therefore he must be destroyed before the beginning of the millennium. Objections can be urged against the pre-millennial coming of Christ; but they are few and feeble compared with those that can be brought against the post-millennial coming.—Baptist Flag.