The Kingdom of God Is Nigh by Joseph Harvey Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 2, 1874

The Kingdom of God Is Nigh

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

The Kingdom.—No. 9.

The time of setting up the kingdom is not revealed in the Scriptures. But the Saviour says, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Luke 21:31. By certain signs given we may know when it is near.

But before we enter upon a direct argument to show that it is near, we will examine the difficulties which stand in the way of many, and which, if not noticed, might prevent their reception of the evidence. The chief difficulties are these: 1. A belief in the doctrine of the millennium, or the conversion of the world. 2. A belief in the restoration of the Jews to their national pre-eminence. These points are sometimes united, or so connected as to be made to prove each other. But the proof properly falls under two distinct heads.

As both these doctrines rest on the interpretation of certain prophecies, and as there are great differences of opinion in regard to the meaning of these prophecies, it is necessary, if possible, to establish some method of proof, by means of which we may reasonably hope to come to some agreement in our interpretations.

We believe that on every doctrine of the Bible there may be found plain, direct expressions, containing neither figures nor symbols, or only such figures or forms of speech as may be easily understood. And all our interpretations of the prophecies, or of passages more obscure, must be made to harmonize with these plain declarations. This rule is so obviously just that all must accept it. By following this rule we shall always be guided by the principles of the doctrine under consideration, which ought to settle every question. To depart from this rule we must disregard plain, positive statements, in doing which we are left only to conjecture.

And 1. The commonly received view of the millennium, or the conversion of the world, is not taught by any plain statement in either Testament, it is only inferred from certain prophecies which will all bear a construction in harmony with certain plain declarations which contradict the popular view.

But we are met at the very outset with the affirmation that there are certain principles which prove that the world will and must be converted. Prof. Finney, of Oberlin, has stated these principles, showing that the doctrine is one of necessity, and is based upon the divine attributes. The following is a fair statement of his argument:—

The majority of mankind have been wicked in the past, and if the present dispensation should close soon, or if the majority of future generations should also be wicked, the ultimate number of the wicked would greatly exceed the number of the righteous, and so the majority of mankind would be lost. But to say that the majority will be lost is to say that God's plan of salvation is deficient in power or benevolence; for infinite power could save the majority, and infinite benevolence would save it. Hence, God's attributes are a sufficient guarantee that the majority will be saved. For, we can only judge the attributes of Deity by their manifestation; and, if he should fail to save the greater number, malevolence, and not benevolence, would predominate in his character. Therefore the majority of mankind must be saved to vindicate the character of God, which renders the millennium, or the conversion of the world, necessary.

But the objector is reminded that there is a vast difference between the principles which govern a doctrine by plain statements of the Scriptures, and merely abstract reasonings not based on the statements of Scripture. Plain Scripture statements are infallibly correct, and they must be tests of our opinions. Abstract reasonings may be correct or they may not. They are always open to criticism. The above argument of Prof. Finney is defective, and contains serious errors. For,

1. If it proves anything, it proves universal salvation. For if the benevolence of God must be measured by the proportion of the saved and the lost, there could be none lost, as his benevolence is infinite, and he has no malevolence to claim its share.

2. To say that if a majority is lost, it is proof of a deficiency in the divine plan, is to say that the number saved must be according to the number embraced in the plan; and therefore the plan could not embrace all.

3. It directly denies the free agency of man, making it necessary for God to save a majority, without regard to their choice or willingness to be saved. Or,

4. It makes the character or nature of the plan of salvation contingent on man's acceptance of it. That is, it is benevolent if a majority accepts it; if not, it is malevolent. And then, if man is free to choose, he has it in his choice to make God benevolent or malevolent, and so make the attribute of the Creator to depend on the action of the creature!

5. It denies the infinity of God's benevolence by making it a question of degrees. For, according to that argument, if the majority is saved, his benevolence would predominate; but if the majority is lost, his malevolence would predominate. And, of course, if the number of the saved and of the lost were about equal, it would be impossible to determine the character of God!

And the argument actually charges the worst of these conclusions on the divine government; for the Scriptures plainly say that the number of the saved will be to that of the lost as the few to the many. But the benevolence of God, and the love of his Son, are determined, not by the number that will come, but by a provision of free salvation for all, so that whosoever will, may come, and have eternal life. The Saviour said, “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” So the failure to be saved is in their wills, not in the divine plan. If men will not accept the offer, it does not show any want of love in Him by whom the offer is made; it shows only their folly and hardness of heart.

In contrast with such vain reasonings we present the declarations of the Scripture, quoting only such as are unmistakable in their import.

1. The way to life is narrow, and few find it; but the way to destruction is broad, and many walk in it. Matt. 7:13, 14. There is not an intimation in the Bible that the way to life will ever become so wide that all will walk therein, and the way to destruction so narrow that few or none will find it. See also Luke 13:23–27.

2. The gospel was not expected to convert the world, but to call out of the world a people to glorify God. “Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” John 15:19. “God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” Acts 15:14. The saints of God are redeemed “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Rev. 5:9.

3. The Saviour taught that wickedness would prevail on the earth till his coming, or to the end of the world. In Matt. 13:24–30, is the parable of the tares of the field, which is explained in verses 37–41, wherein it is shown that the tares, the children of the wicked one, and the wheat, the children of the kingdom, will grow together till the harvest, which is the end of the world; and the reapers, the angels of God, will make the separation at the coming of Christ. See Matt. 24:30, 31. And the same subject is presented in Joel 3:9–16, where the nations of the earth are called to prepare for the battle of the great day. Verse 13 says, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” Compare Rev. 14:14–20.

4. The last days will be days of peril. This could not be so if the church was to have her triumph in this world, or if the world was to be finally converted. When speaking of his coming and of the end of the world, the Saviour said, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 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.” Matt. 24:12–14. In this chapter we notice, 1. Before the end comes, iniquity will abound. 2. Endurance will be necessary even unto the end, which could not be the case were the world converted. 3. The gospel will not convert all nations, but is for a witness unto all nations. And this it is, wherever it is preached, whether people believe its testimony or not. 4. In verse 24, is predicted that, before that day, false Christs and false prophets shall arise, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. 5. In verses 42–50, it is shown that even some of the servants of God will become slothful and wicked, and not be prepared for the coming of Christ, but finally have their portion with the hypocrites.

Said Paul, “This know also, 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; from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5. And this agrees with what the Saviour said: “Iniquity will abound, and the love of many will wax cold.” And Paul further says, in verse 12, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Thus, in the last days, perils and persecutions will befall the true followers of Christ, because the great mass of them that profess godliness, or have its form, will deny its power. This is a most decisive testimony, and would forever settle the question, had we no other evidence to present.

And Peter also said, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?” 2 Pet. 3:3, 4. How could these scoffers arise and deny his coming, and how could such perils exist, if all were converted long before his coming?

Our Saviour has given Scripture examples on this subject so plain that we need not be mistaken. “And as it was in the days of Noah, 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 Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:26–30.

These are all plain, definite declarations. They need no studied argument to show their force as applied to this question. The only mystery is that any will offer their “expositions of prophecy to sustain theories in conflict with such plain statements.”

And there are yet other New Testament proofs on this subject, in regard to which there will perhaps be as little difference of opinion among the generality of believers in the Bible as upon the foregoing positive testimonies. It is generally held by all Protestants that the rise of the Roman apostasy marks the revelation of the “man of sin”; and of his end, Paul says, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. And so “that wicked,” the man of sin and son of perdition, “who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped,” will not be destroyed before the coming of Christ. This fact is destructive of the doctrine of the millennium.

Again, it must and will be admitted that the seven trumpets of Revelation, chapters 8–11, reach to the end of this age. Events under the seventh trumpet prove this: such as the anger of the nations; the coming of the wrath of God; the time that the dead should be judged, and of giving reward to the saints. But the last trumpet introduces a woe upon the earth, and not a blessing; the anger of the nations, and not peace; and it is easily proved that the seven last plagues, in which “is filled up the wrath of God,” Rev. 15:1, are poured out under this trumpet. This point cannot be evaded by allowing a period of apostasy after the millennium; for the man of sin exists from the “falling away” to the Saviour’s coming; therefore there is no period of universal righteousness to elapse between the apostasy and the coming of Christ.

5. The Saviour did not promise his ministers that all should believe their word. He did not lead them to expect that they should meet with the favor of the world, more than he had met with it. But he said, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own.” And, “The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; and if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” John 15:19, 20. And again, when the Jews reviled him, he said to his followers, “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household.” Matt. 10:25. Who dares to rise above his Lord and say he shall be exempt from persecution? Who desires to be free from the sufferings of his Master? The Scriptures say that the Captain of our salvation was made “perfect through sufferings”; that he was partaker of our infirmities; that “in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.” Heb. 2:10–17. But they also teach, in the clearest manner, a necessity that we should suffer affliction or tribulation with him in the gospel. To this, his followers are appointed. 1 Thess. 3:3. It is consequent upon a godly life. 2 Tim. 3:12. It is the way to the kingdom. Acts 14:22. It stands connected with blessings in this life, and in the life to come. Mark 10:29, 30. It is necessary to try or prove our faith. 1 Pet. 1:7. It works patience. Rom. 5:3. It yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” Heb. 12:11. It works “for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Cor. 4:17. It is the realization of Christ’s sympathy for his members. Heb. 4:15. It is the measure of Christ’s affliction filled up for the church. Col. 1:24. It is the fellowship of his sufferings in which we are made conformable to his death. Phil. 3:10. And it is the partaking of his sufferings. 2 Pet. 4:13. And it will all be counted as his own in the day of his coming. Matt. 25:40, 45. According to the commonly received view of the millennium, not one of the above gospel truths will apply to that state. That age will need another gospel. It is a dangerous doctrine, calculated to destroy the piety of the believer by turning his heart toward a state of ease; a state free from trials, from endurance, from persecutions, from chastisement, from temptation, and from all that pertains to Christian watchfulness and forbearance. The influence of such a belief is already apparent in the worldly-mindedness, slothfulness, and self-exaltation, of the body of professors of the present day, by which they are acting out the cry of “peace and safety,” for the last days. 1 Thess. 5:1–3.

J. H. Waggoner.