DID HE COME IN SECRET? by Rufus A. Underwood

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 5, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, December 5, 1916

DID HE COME IN SECRET?

By Rufus A. Underwood

Who Could Call This the Millennium?

By RUFUS A. UNDERWOOD

“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.” Matt. 24: 25-27.

This text exposes one of Satan’s plans, against which Christ has given warning. A publication supposed to have been written by the late Mr. Russell, and “scattered like the leaves of autumn,” has been saying, “Behold the Bridegroom,—not, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, but, Behold, He has come, and we are now living in the presence of the Son of man.” These statements will be found in a bound volume entitled “Thy Kingdom Come,” series 3, page 93.

Again, in the same volume, I read: “The second advent of our Lord in the end or harvest of the gospel age, occurring in the fall of 1874, proves to be a point of time exactly parallel to the time of His first advent, in the end of the Jewish age. . . . The parallelism continues to the full end of the harvest in this dispensation—until the overthrow of the professedly Christian kingdoms, really the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the kingdoms of God in the earth at A. D. 1914, the terminus of the times of the gentiles.” (Series 3, pages 125, 126.)

In the book “The Time Is at Hand,” series 2, page 104, we read: “The first work of Christ at the second advent must be the gathering of His elect church. . . . As will be shown, it is a period of forty years, which both ends the gospel age and introduces the millennial age.” According to this reasoning, the second advent, which Mr. Russell declared to have occurred in the autumn of 1874 A. D., would bring us to the date of 1914 A. D. for the opening of the millennium.

Was It Thus in Secret?

A still further, more definite statement in the same volume, page 170: “In the preceding chapter, we presented evidence showing that the time of the gentiles, or their lease of dominion, will run fully out with the year A. D. 1914, and that at that time, they will all be overturned, and Christ’s kingdom fully established. That the Lord must be present, and set up His kingdom, and exercise His great power, so as to dash the nations to pieces as a potter’s vessel, is then clearly fixed; for it is in the days of these kings, before their overthrow—that is, before A. D. 1914—that the God of heaven shall set up His kingdom, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these. Dan. 2: 44.”

This is sufficient to show that the late Mr. Russell, and those who are sending out his writings, teach very positively that Christ’s second coming has already taken place, and that the millennium began in 1914, which is designated as the antitypical jubilee of the world. Under the heading “Earth’s Great Jubilee,” on page 181 of series 2, it is said: “But instead of being a year, as in the type, it will be longer. It will be the beginning of the great thousand year jubilee,—the millennium.”

If Christ has already come, and has been here for forty-two years, and the millennial reign has been in progress for two years, or since the autumn of 1914, it is surely time that the world should know that this is a fact. However, we feel that these publications present a false view of Christ’s coming, and also of Christ’s gathering a select few called the bride to Himself in the antitypical jubilee which also is claimed to have opened the millennium in 1914, during which time also a second probation is offered to all that have neglected God’s grace in the past. This teaching is a delusion, a perversion of the manner of Christ’s coming to this world the second time.

But Have We Had Peace?

We are told that the Prince of peace in person has been on earth the second time since October, 1874 A. D., and that His kingdom was to be fully set up on this earth in October, 1914. If this is true, we are led to ask, Have we seen peace and love ruling in the place of vice and hatred? Has the malaria of sin had less effect upon the world since October, 1874, or even since 1914? Do we not still see virtue and justice trodden underfoot? Has honest toil been requited? Is not wealth accumulated by means of fraud, with vice, intemperance, and oppression still exalted above virtue? Is not two thirds or more of the earth’s surface involved in the most cruel war the world has ever seen? Do not the sorrowful children and widows, and the blood of millions of the best men of Europe, protest against the selfish greed of those who lead them to the slaughter?

Yet, in the face of increasing selfishness, crime, bloodshed, and almost universal mourning, we are told that Christ, the Prince of peace, would fully establish His kingdom on earth before 1914. If the present condition of the world is an indication of what the kingdom of Christ is to bring to this sorrow-smitten world in the future, we surely have been deceived and mocked as we have contemplated Christ’s coming, and prayed, “Thy kingdom come.” We have hoped that in that kingdom, injustice would be terminated, innocence vindicated, death abolished, righteousness exalted, every wrong righted, and peace and joy, with life uninterrupted, given to the inhabitants of Christ’s kingdom forever and ever.

Fanciful and Unwarranted

Such fanciful and unwarranted interpretations of the Scriptures as are set forth by the “millennial dawn” advocates are not only deceptive, but they destroy the simplicity, beauty, and hope of the Christian religion. If the millennium has been in progress for the last two years, a united prayer should ascend from the millions of the blood-stained nations of Europe for the Almighty to shorten this period of jubilee. A misconception of the events that will occur at Christ’s coming is apparent from the statements made that Christ’s kingdom was to be fully set up in 1914, as already quoted from the publications cited.

It is a great mistake to think that Christ’s coming is in secret; and further, all attempts to fix the date of Christ’s coming will come to naught, and bring disgrace upon those who teach the definite time of that event. “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.” Matt. 24: 26, 27. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man [maketh known no man], no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Verse 36.

Two Unprecedented Events

I will notice in this article two unprecedented events that will occur in connection with the coming of Christ. First, the resurrection of all the righteous dead of past ages, and the translation of all the righteous living, takes place at the appearing of Jesus Christ the second time. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which 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 ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all 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 we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52.

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5: 28, 29. “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. . . . For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isa. 26: 19, 21. “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13: 14.

Second, Christ comes to reward both the righteous and the wicked. “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22: 12. “When thou makest a

feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14: 13, 14. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Tim. 4: 7, 8. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” 2 Thess. 1: 7-10.