THE DAY OF THE LORD—EVENTS IN ITS BEGINNING.
By M. C. W.
IN the last paper it was shown that the day of the Lord is ushered in by the pouring out of the seven last plagues; that the time of the pouring out of these plagues is evidently one literal year; that under the last plague the great battle is fought, and the shaking of the heavens and the earth takes place; that immediately after this the Lord appears in the clouds of heaven, the wicked dead are slain by the glory of his presence, and the righteous dead are raised to immortality. At the resurrection of the righteous dead, the righteous living are changed to immortality:— “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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:51-53. “For our conversation [commonwealth] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Phil. 3:20, 21. This glorified throng will then be taken from this sin-cursed earth to those mansions of light prepared for them by their Lord:— “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. 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. 4:15-17. “Let not your hearts be troubled; ye belive in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3. The above are the words of our Saviour to the troubled disciples. They loved him, and therefore loved his personal presence. He assures them that he will come again, and will take them to that place to which he was then about to go. What was this place? It was Heaven, where God the Father dwelt. That this is so a brief examination of several scriptures will make plain. Jesus had just told his disciples previous to this that he was going away, that they should seek him, but as he had told the Jews, whither he went they could not come. Chapter 13:33. This remark to the Jews is recorded in chapter 7:33-35. Jesus there plainly says, “I go unto him that sent me.” The Jews question what he can mean, and again our Saviour says, “I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go ye cannot come.” Chapter 8:21. To this Jesus refers in chapter 13:33, 36. Peter asks him, “Whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” From the above scriptures we learn that our Saviour, in going away, returned to God who sent him, therefore, he ascended to Heaven; that to this place the wicked Jews could never come; that the disciples could not come now, or through death; the coming of Christ must first take place. Then, when those heavenly mansions were prepared, he would come again, and the assurance that they should follow him afterwards would be fulfilled in ascending with their Lord to the New Jerusalem. The words, “Thou shalt follow me afterwards,” though spoken to Peter, were true of all; for the promise (chapter 14:1-3) was to all. Therefore the children of God will, at the second coming of Christ, be taken to the third Heaven, the dwelling place of God. This is confirmed by what John records in the Revelation. In chapter 15:2-4 John sees the company of those who have come off victors in the last struggle and hears their song of triumph. They stand on the crystal sea, or sea of glass; and this sea of glass is before the throne of God in Heaven. Chapter 4:1, 6. Again; In chapter 14:1-5, John sees and hears the one hundred and fourty-four thousand. Their voice comes “from Heaven, they stand before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, (chapter 4:1-6), and they were redeemed from the earth.” There could be no stronger proof than this that they are in Heaven. And what is true of this company is true of all the people of God. John is carried forward to that time when the judgments of God shall have been visited upon the wicked, and all oppression of his people forever crushed, and of this he says, “I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven, saying, Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God; for true and righteous are his judgments.” Chapter 19:1, 2. We have presented this evidence thus fully in order that our readers may see the strength of the position. There are those who ridicule what they are pleased to term “the Heaven-going theory,” and other terms of reproach are fixed upon it. Ridicule, reproach, and epithets are favorite arguments with those who are determined to maintain an untenable position. That the righteous do inherit the earth is true; and it is also true that they do ascend to Heaven with our Lord when he appears the second time. The earth will be desolated at the second coming of Christ. Other events already noticed show this to be the case. The wicked are slain by the brightness and terrible glory of Christ’s presence; the righteous are taken to the heavenly mansions. This leaves the earth with no inhabitant. Says the prophet Jeremiah (4:23-27):— “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” The Lord will not wholly destroy the earth, but he will make it wholly desolate and empty of all inhabitants for a time. Another prophet bears the following testimonies:— “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” Isa. 24:1, 3. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land [earth] desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13:9. The above testimonies admit of no double constructions. They are plain, unambiguous declarations which can only refer to the last great day. One more event we will notice in connection with Christ’s coming; namely, the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of our Lord. Jesus has now gone to the far away country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. Luke 19:12; Dan. 7:13, 14. At his coming he will begin his reign. Says Paul, “Who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and kingdom.” 2 Tim. 4:1. He now reigns a priest upon his Father’s throne, the throne of grace (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 8:1), and is gathering out of the world those who will be wholly his, fit stones for the great spiritual temple, fit subjects of his everlasting kingdom. Zech. 6:12, 13; Eph. 2:20-22. At the close of his priestly work the kingdom is given (Dan. 7:12, 13; Rev. 11:15), and the Son comes forth to execute wrath upon a guilty world. Ps. 110:5, 6; Luke 19:12, 13, 22, 27. At that time will be fulfilled the words of the Lord by the apostle, which we will paraphrase to make their meaning more obvious:— “Then cometh the end [of probation and Christ’s rule as kingly priest], when he [the Son] shall have delivered up the kingdom [of grace] to God even the Father [Zech. 6:12, 13]; when he [the Father] shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. Ps. 110:1. For he [the Son] must reign [on his Father’s throne], till he [the Father] hath put all enemies under his [the Son’s] feet.” 1 Cor. 15:24, 25. Having left the throne of grace, our Lord will at his coming take his rightful place on the throne of glory, the throne of his father David. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.” Matt. 25:31; Luke 1:32, 34. But he does not begin his reign upon this sin-marred earth, but in its capital city, the New Jerusalem, which is above, the mother of us all, now waiting for her children. Gal. 4:26, 27; Isa. 54:1-5. In the Paradise of God, once upon the earth in its Eden beauty, now in the city of God, untarnished by sin since guilty man first transgressed, will the Lord of glory begin his reign. The earth is not yet fitted, although subdued. A little longer the Lord waits to manifest his justice and love to those of all dispensations who have been its inhabitants, and then the earth will blossom as when it came from the hand of God, and Christ’s reign of endless peace begin. May God speed that day. M. C. W.