THE WORLD'S CONVERSION AND TEMPORAL MILLENNIUM.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
We believe in the pre-millennial advent; i. e., in the personal coming of Jesus Christ before the reign with him of the thousand years of Rev. xx. If we are correct in this, it is a matter of importance that it should be known. The day of the Lord, the great day of his wrath, will not overtake the children of the light as a thief in the night. 1 Thess. v, 4. To those who look for him Christ will appear a second time to their salvation. Heb. ix, 28. It will be said in that day,—the day of the resurrection of the saints, when death is swallowed up in victory by their deliverance from the grave—Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us. Isa. xxv, 8, 9. 1 Cor. xv, 54. If then the doctrine of the world's conversion and a spiritual reign of a thousand years before the personal advent of Christ is false, is it not a dangerous theory for us to hold? If men expect a thousand years of prosperity between this and the advent, how can they be looking for Christ and waiting for his coming? Should he come before the thousand years, they of course will be disappointed. His coming will be to them unexpected, as the coming of a thief in the night. And will not the prediction of Paul be fulfilled in them, that when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them? 1 Thess. v, 3. It is important then, that if our Christian friends have a false object, a mere fable, that they are holding before their eyes, which makes them think that the personal advent of Christ cannot take place for a thousand years at least, that we should by all means try to remove this intervening obstacle which effectually hides the coming of Christ from their view, and exposes them to a surprise in the event of his coming, so that they cannot be said to be waiting for him. But it is hard for men to give up their errors that have been their familiar friends so long. Hence they are apt to think that when we attack their errors we are attacking them; so they put themselves on the defensive, and are not prepared to receive a benefit. Could they perceive that out of love for their souls, we were only trying to remove the obstacles of their salvation out of the way, the case would be vastly different. Could they see and feel that we, as the poet expresses it, 'hate the sin with all our heart, and yet the sinner love'—that our thrusts at this great and dangerous error, are not aimed at them, but at an enemy that is threatening to ensnare them and plunge them down suddenly to irretrievable perdition—then would they be prepared candidly to examine the evidences in the case, and hail us as their best friends and benefactors. If the doctrine of the world's conversion is false, it is a dangerous heresy. We believe it is. Therefore it should be a leading object with us to remove it out of the way. And we should not attack the cherished errors of our friends with satire and ridicule. We should let them see that we are in earnest for their salvation, and that our only desire is to show the falsity and the dangerous tendency of their views, in order that we may save them from the inevitable consequences which must follow an adherence to them. He that labors for souls must not forget his mission. He must not descend to the arena of strife and debate for the purpose of triumphing as a victor over opponents. He has no strength to spare, that he may devote it to his own subjects. But with meekness, sobriety and earnestness, should he labor to demolish error with all his might, and save those who are in danger of being lost by trusting themselves on a false foundation. The preaching of the truth will condemn those who reject it; but this is not the primary object. It is to save them that believe. Let the salvation of men be the object for which we labor. Let those who wish to strive for the mastery do so. But let the servants of God attend to their Master's business.