Christ the King at His Second Advent
By James White
as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords." Rev. 19:11-16. Here Christ, the King and his grand escort are represented by an army. Therefore at his second advent, he comes as king, wearing many crowns, as explained by a recent writer "a crown within a crown," and on his vesture and thigh is written, King of kings and Lord of lords, proving that he has received the kingdom before his second advent. In the great family of heaven, Christ is the father of his people. The prophet describes him as follows: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Isaiah 9:6, 7. In that great family, the New Jerusalem above will be the mother. Speaking of the two Jerusalems, Paul addresses the church at Galatia in these words: "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Gal. 4:25, 26. And when the king, who is the father of his people, shall come and raise all his children of every age, and take them to the city above, to the marriage of the Lamb, then the whole family in earth and heaven will be gathered together in one, the father, the mother, and the children. The children will be there as guests to witness and to partake of the great marriage feast. On the occasion of establishing the Lord's supper, the Master said he would not eat of the bread nor drink of the wine until they should partake of it anew in the kingdom of God. Then again how natural the figure that a marriage should take place before the birth of the children who are to be brought forth at the first resurrection. And right here we would suggest that birth is used in the Scriptures to represent two events: 1. Conversion, and 2. the resurrection from the dead. We would inquire of those who still adhere to the old stereotyped doctrine that the church is the bride of Christ. If the church is the bride in the marriage of the Lamb who are the guests? The prophet continues the description of the holy city in these words: "And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates; and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." We receive this description as meaning just what it says! hence, the city has a wall which is both great and high. It has twelve literal gates, each of which is guarded by a holy angel, and there is written on each one of the gates a name of one of the twelve tribes. When in our boyhood we were giving a discourse upon the golden city, one of those good old fashioned, broad-brimmed gentlemen in the congregation came to us at the close of our discourse, and placing his hand upon our shoulder said, "Young man, thee is mistaken about that city. Thee will never see a great literal city coming down from heaven. I have that city in my heart." Thought I, I have found a big hearted man this time; for in the further description of this city the prophet says, "And the city lieth foursquare [all in the good quaker's heart], and the length is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with a reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the hight of it are equal." The city, then, lying fifteen hundred miles on four sides which would require more than one-half of the width of the American Continent to give it a place, was in this good man's heart. The prophet is very minute in his description. "On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Here is evidence that this is not the old Jerusalem, but the new Jerusalem as in the very foundations are inscribed the names of the twelve apostles. It will be seen that to apply such a description to the work of grace in any man's heart, or the hearts of any set of men is simply absurd. It is said by many that this city represents the grace of God in general; but we would invite them to apply the general measurement of length, breadth, hight, etc., to the grace of God. Has the grace of God twelve gates? has it a wall that is great and high? and has it three gates at each point of the compass? and does the grace of God lie foursquare? and is the grace of God fifteen hundred miles long and fifteen hundred miles wide? Here we meet with absurdity as absurd as the application to the good man's heart. No, says the third, the new Jerusalem represents a state which is the gospel dispensation. Then we inquire again, does the gospel dispensation lie foursquare? has it on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates? Is its length as large as its breadth? and is there fifteen hundred miles on each one of the four sides of the Christian dispensation? The fourth falls back upon the old theological view that the city represents the church. Again we inquire, has the church four sides with three gates on each side? Does the church lie foursquare? and will she measure fifteen hundred miles on each one of the four sides?
J. W.