THE BETTER TIMES, by Editor

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Mar 3, 1853

THE BETTER TIMES,

By Editor

OR, THE EARTH REDEEMED.

The Bible plainly teaches that this earth redeemed and made new, is to be the final abode and inheritance of the saints. Its present condition, marred and blighted by the curse, is the result of sin—the work of Satan. And "for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil." 1 John iii, 8. The destruction of the works of Satan, by Christ, was not to be accomplished in his crucifixion and resurrection only, nor in his mediation as a priest in the heavenly Sanctuary, but it will be completed when he comes the second time and raises the saints, clothed with immortality, changes the living righteous, and at the second resurrection, destroys all of God's enemies, "gog and magog." Then the Devil and his angels, and all the wicked men, will be "burned up root and branch." The curse will be removed, and the world made new. Then God will have a clean universe.

Hark! hear the new creation song of Jubilee!—"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever." Rev. v, 13. This song will not be marred by the wails of the damned in some locality of God's universe; for they will not be. "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. xxxvii, 10, 11. Then "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under [not above] the whole heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." Dan. vii, 27.

O, what child of God, what heir of the promised inheritance, would not desire the better times? And from the heart pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

We have not time to dwell on this most glorious theme; but will give the following, written by L. D. FLEMING, and published in the Midnight Cry of 1843.

"Nevertheless, we, according to his [God's] promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter iii, 13.

The scriptures of divine truth present to the eye of the true Israel of God, a most animating prospect.—Relying upon the promises of Him who cannot lie, they look forward with a full assurance of the consummation of their fondest hopes. If they are depressed while looking abroad upon this sin-cursed earth, beholding the ravages which sin has made for six thousand years—if they groan within themselves while they see their promised possession desecrated by all the evils that sin has brought into the world—they are animated, on the other hand, while looking forward to "the redemption of the purchased possession," the earnest of which they have in the Holy Spirit.—This earth is promised to God's people for an everlasting inheritance, to be possessed by them for ever, even for ever and ever.

I propose to show from the word of God, that the earth, renewed, is to be the home and heaven of the saints, for ever—that it is to be redeemed, and restored, and totally exempted from all the frailties and miseries to which its inhabitants are now heirs.

What devastation and wretchedness has sin spread over the fair heritage of God's people! The earth and all its appurtenances were, when brought from the Creator's hand, pronounced very good.

Man, the crowning piece of God's workmanship, was made upright, and placed at the head of all things on the earth. This earth was designed for man's abode. It was made for man, and man was made for it. It was adapted to his nature, and his nature was adapted to it. This is evident from the fact, that God pronounced all good—very good. Also from the fact, that, subsequent to the revolt of man from God, the burden of God's promises to his peculiar or faithful people, have all been concerning this earth. God said, [Gen. i, 26.] "Let us make man—and let them have dominion over all the earth." The whole earth belonged to the territorial dominion of man. But this dominion was lost by the first Adam, in consequence of SIN.

"Sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men." By sin, and its consequences, death, the earth was cursed—its beauty tarnished—and its rightful Sovereign supplanted. Discontent, rebellion, hatred, sickness, sorrow, pain and death, became the patrimony of man. Man lost his life, and his heritage of kingdom. And now, the only hope of the race was in a SECOND ADAM.

If the first Adam was put in possession of this earth, as his inheritance and dominion, and by sin lost it, with his life—then the Second Adam, will of course redeem and possess the lost dominion, the identical dominion; otherwise he cannot be the second.—If Christ is put in possession of a new territory, of that new territory he will be the first and not second possessor. If Christ be the second Adam, then this earth must of necessity be the territorial dominion which he shall inherit. The idea which, in these modern times, is so prevalent in the church, that this earth is to be left by Christ and his subjects, to the enemy, or perhaps to a total destruction at last, is a violation of the whole tenor of the word of God. On this subject, the church has evidently lost sight of the great lights of revelation. Her hope has become untangible—her ideas are vague and beclouded—her inability to apprehend what she tries to apprehend, paralyzes her energies, weakens her faith, exposes her to the assaults of her infidel enemies, leads her to forget her high and holy calling, makes her worldly-minded—preferring the world as it is, to what her beclouded apprehensions seem to promise her hereafter.

The first Adam having lost the earth, with his life, which is necessary for the possession of the earth, the second Adam came to redeem both the life of man and the territory. "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul; the last Adam, a quickening spirit."—"The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." 1 Cor. xv, 45, 47.

Since the fall of the first Adam, the dominion has been in the hands of wicked Gentile powers, and will there remain till He whose right it is to reign, on the throne of his father David, shall come and take possession of his kingdom, and reign for ever. The kingdom is Christ's by promise, which promise was made to Abraham, and renewed to Isaac and Jacob. See Gen. xii, 7; xvii, 7. Paul says, [Gal. iii, 16.] "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.—He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." Now, what was the promise made to Abraham? Why, Paul says, that he should be "heir of the world." Rom. iv, 13. The promise made to Christ in Ps. i, 8, is that he should have "the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." Again, in Dan. ii, 35, in speaking of the stone which was to smite the image on the feet, which alludes to Christ, Daniel says, it "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." Also in Dan. vii, 27, it is said, that "The kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High."

It should not be forgotten, that the promise made to Abraham, was vouchsafed to him personally, as well as to his seed. The promise was, "I will give it to thee and to thy seed," i. e., all the land that could be seen, or as Paul says, "The world." But Abraham has never yet possessed the promised inheritance. See Acts vii, 5. "And God gave Abraham none inheritance in it: no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed." Now, how can this promise be fulfilled to Abraham, except it be in the resurrection? If it is to be fulfilled in the resurrection, then this earth, renewed, is what is promised to God's raised and glorified people. But, perhaps, it will be objected, that this earth is to be destroyed by fire, and that we are to have a "new earth," and consequently this earth is not the promised inheritance. 2 Peter iii, 3-13, gives us a perfect solution of this difficulty. The Apostle speaks of the world that then was, as having perished—as being destroyed—and that in like manner, the present world is reserved unto fire, to be destroyed. But in all this the identity is not destroyed, for although it be burned with fire, and changed as a vesture—the heavens rolling together as a scroll, and the elements melting with fervent heat, yet, its identity will not be lost, any more than that of the renewed saints, in the glorious regeneration. Like the glorified saints, the earth will be regenerated—renewed—redeemed, but not annihilated. The saint is a new creature, without having lost his identity—so, likewise, we shall have a new earth, without losing the identity of the one we now inhabit. Hence, it is clear that the identical earth on which we now inhabit, will, when renewed, be the inheritance of Abraham and his seed. "If we are Christ's, then we shall be Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise." God's people have an earnest of the promised inheritance. Eph. i, 13, 14. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Now, an earnest is not the thing of which it is a pledge. It is given as a token, an indubitable assurance that what is promised shall be fulfilled. Peter declares, that by fire the elements of this world shall be dissolved, but adds, "Nevertheless

we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Where is this promise? See Isa. lxv, 17. "Behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind," i. e., shall not come upon the heart—shall not be desired. (See the margin.)

I am aware that this passage has generally been applied to a temporal millennium, but Peter does not so apply it, neither does John in Revelations. In the 21st of Revelations, in speaking of the New Jerusalem state, he uses almost the same language as does Isaiah, and they all three evidently refer to the same thing. And this passage in Isaiah being the only one of the kind in the Old Testament, except Isa. lxvi, 22, which is a continuation of the same subject, must be the one to which Peter alludes. An insuperable difficulty, in applying it to a temporal millennium, is found in the 19th verse, where God says, "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying." A temporal millennium contemplates a state in which there will be dying. And I ask, will there be no weeping and crying, where there is death? That cannot be. In the new earth we contemplate

THE BETTER TIMES.

1. Because there will be none of the wicked there. "The wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors rooted out of it, and the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it." Prov. ii, 21, 22. "Evil doers shall be cut off—the wicked shall not be; but the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Their inheritance shall be for ever. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. But such as be blessed of the Lord, shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for evermore." Ps. xxxviii.

2. Because the Lord will be there to dwell with his people, and there will be no more sin, misery, or death.

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, God himself shall dwell with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." Rev. xxi.

These glorious better times shall have no end.—"The saints of the Most High will take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; they shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end." The Lord's dominion "will be an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," "He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

Who, I ask, that loves the Saviour, does not long for his coming, and for the establishment of "the better times?" Who, that looks abroad upon the present state of this sin-cursed world, does not gladden in the glorious prospect, of the speedy coming of our rightful Sovereign, to establish his kingdom and scatter earth's dark night away? Who, but a rebel, could be displeased with such a change? If our affections are where they should be—if we have yielded to God the whole tribute of a generous heart, the agonizing prayer of the soul will be, "Amen, even so come Lord Jesus, come quickly."

How truly can the heart that is right with God, adopt the words of the poet and say,