THE DAY OF THE LORD—ITS CLOSE.
By M. C. W.
IN past articles we have shown the following concerning the day of the Lord:— 1. That it is the great day of God's wrath upon this earth; that in it there will be no mercy for sinful man; that, instead of affording hope for the sinner, it affords no hope whatever. 2. That the day of the Lord will begin with the close of probation, a short time before the coming of Christ. The decree of Heaven which marks its beginning is: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:11, 12. 3. A warning message will precede this fearful period, entreating men to flee from the wrath to come, and find refuge in the truth of God. 4. The seven last plagues begin with the day of the Lord, in fact, the wrath of God is manifested through them. The period during which these plagues will be poured out will be about one year. 5. At the close of the pouring out of the plagues, the Lord appears in the clouds of heaven, the righteous dead are raised immortal, the righteous living changed; and all are taken to Heaven, to the New Jerusalem. The wicked are destroyed in the great battle, by the plagues, and by the brightness of Christ's coming. 6. This leaves the earth desolate of all human life. The righteous are in the courts on high engaged in judgment work, the wicked are dead, and each class remains in its respective place and condition during the thousand years. During this time birds and beasts multiply, and furnish food for the wicked when they are raised at the end of the thousand years. Satan, confined to this earth, muses over the ruin he has wrought. This is the boasted millennium of the earth in the light of Bible facts. 7. At the end of the thousand years, the wicked are raised, Satan is loosed, the city of God descends from Heaven with the saints, the wicked are deceived by Satan, and surround and lay siege to the New Jerusalem. Here they receive their sentence, and fire from God out of heaven devours them. The streams of the earth become pitch, and the dust brimstone; the fire ignites the combustibles of earth, and, with the internal fires, converts the earth into one vast sea of fire into which the wicked will be cast. Here they are destroyed, brought to ashes, utterly burned with fire. To this we were brought in our last article.519The foregoing which, to our mind, have been conclusively proved by plain, positive scripture, shows the falsity of the claim that the day of the Lord is just one thousand years long. 2 Peter 3:8 is supposed by some to teach this idea, but manifestly the text teaches no such thing. It is only a parallel to Ps. 90:4, and shows God's faithfulness in view of his never-ending existence. It may seem to us that his promise never will be fulfilled, but in God's own time, though one thousand years hence, it will be as surely fulfilled as though that time came to-morrow. All time is naught to him who is "from everlasting to everlasting." The day of the Lord begins before the thousand years, it ends after the thousand years, but just how long after we know not. This fire not only destroys the wicked, but purifies the earth. "The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10. It is God's great crucible, out of which will come only the pure. The works of sinful man, and every sin polluted thing will be eternally purged. The alchemy of Eternal Wisdom and Power will transmute the base to the precious, will purge the pollution of sin forever from the earth; for death and the grave will be cast into the lake of fire, destroying not only sin, but the consequences of sin. This lake of fire is God's great test, "lapis Lydius," or touchstone, which eternally shows the claims of Satan and his followers to be false. They have claimed inherent immortality. They are put to the test of fire. Is there something in man which survives all ordeals, all destructive agencies? Satan has deceived mankind by his first lie into so believing. "Ye shall be as gods," said he; "Ye shall not surely die." The Christian's claim to life is through Christ and righteousness. It is the only way in which the boon of life is offered by the Author of life. Unnumbered multitudes have believed the adversary; a countless throng have believed God, and have accepted of the gracious offer of righteousness and life through Christ. Here are the two classes. The one—the righteous—in the city of God; the other—the wicked—without. The fire of God falls from heaven, met by the smouldering fires from beneath. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day [of the Lord's wrath] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Cor. 3:13. The earth is one molten sea; the mightiest work of men and Satan, the highest claims of men and devils, are set against the faith of Christians and the work of God. To this time the words of the prophet refer:— "Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites, who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire; who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil." Isa. 33:10-15. Righteousness is proved to be life. Faith in Christ is vindicated. The wicked and all wicked works perish forever. The city of God, like the ark in the deluge, is borne upon the tempest-tossed, molten sea unharmed. The children of God are safe within. They can dwell amid the age-lasting burnings, they can dwell in the devouring fire. They are no longer human, but divine; no longer natural, but spiritual; no longer mortal, but immortal; for they are like Christ. No elements of destruction can harm them; for they are the partakers of his nature under whose control is the boundless universe with all its herculean forces. Here we close. The purifying fires have accomplished their work. From the furnace test spring the "new heavens and a new earth," according to God's promise. 2 Peter 3:13. "Behold," says the Lord through the prophet, "I make all things new." Rev. 21:5. It comes once more from the hand of God, clad in its Eden beauty. The meek now inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Ps. 37:11. Their eternal reign has begun. The kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, is given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Dan. 7:27. The lowly Man of Nazareth, who had no comeliness pleasing to earth, a "man of sorrows," scourged and crucified by his own nation, is now reigning in his glory. He is the King in his beauty, upon whom the pure in heart can look without a dimming vail between, seeing in him their eternal friend, their gracious Redeemer, the chiefest among the myriads of Heaven, and the One altogether lovely. And in his presence, sharing his life and glory, the righteous will reign throughout the eternal ages which measure the life of God. Would we have a part there? Then we must seek God now. He wants us to come. "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" The Creator of the universe invites you. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say; Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." All things holy, and good, and enduring, say, Come. The city of God invites us; the earth, when "there shall be no more curse," unites in the call. Through Christ, all is yours. The day of wrath draweth on apace. Come now, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."