THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Jun 13, 1854

THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

(Concluded.)

XI. THE MINIATURE EXHIBITION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

The Transfiguration. Luke ix, 27-36. The Lord Jesus had just told his people of their sufferings and self-denial, if they would follow him, and also the consequence of being ashamed of him before men; viz., that he will be ashamed of them "when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." Then, that they might have the assurance of his so coming, and know that it was not a fable, he told them, "I tell you of a truth there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God." This promise he fulfilled about "an eight days after," in his transfiguration on the mount, in the presence of Peter, John and James.

1. Jesus Christ appeared there in his own personal glory. His countenance shone like the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

2. The glory of the Father was there; it was "a bright cloud" of the divine glory, out of which came the Father's voice, saying, "This is my beloved Son; hear him."

3. Two men which were Moses and Elias; the one, the representative of those saints who shall be raised at Christ's coming, and clothed with glory; the other, Elias, the representative of those who will be alive and be changed at the appearing of Christ.

4. This scene was revealed on earth, not in heaven: thus teaching the disciples that the kingdom of God will be revealed on earth at the appearing of Christ.

5. The use the apostles made of the scene. The apostle Peter was one of the witnesses; and in view of the importance of the kingdom of Christ, he, in his second Epistle, has given the church of all coming ages instruction how they may ensure an abundant entrance "into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ." "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty: 2 Pet. i 16. This he says was "when we were with him in the holy mount." The scene was a demonstration of the reality of Christ's second, personal and glorious appearing, to reward every man according to his works."

When this kingdom is set up, then it will be true that the least saint who shall enjoy its glories will be greater than ever John the Baptist was in this world of temptation, sufferings, sorrow and death. Then Peter—when in Christ's kingdom, with his fellow apostles, he shall sit on his throne with his Master, to judge the world—then Peter can with safety be entrusted with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. But it does appear to me, that, in this world of passion and prejudice, it would be rather hazardous to entrust the keys of the kingdom of heaven either with Peter or the Pope. There, under the immediate eye of the great Master, and with passion and prejudice removed, and a rectified judgment, it will be safe, if it so seem good to the Lord, to place Peter at that post.

XII. THE QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY TO ENTER THAT KINGDOM.

The Lord Jesus himself has settled this question by his own divine authority. Matt. xviii, 3: "Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." As the little child is, such must all be, or they can never enter that kingdom. Hear the Saviour again: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke xviii, 16. How are they? Answer. 1. They are innocent, and God loves them. 2. They possess a fallen and corrupt nature, but are not guilty on that account. Christ has cancelled the guilt of Adamic transgression, and in the resurrection at the last day, all the effects of the fall on the innocent, or justified, will be removed, not before. 3. They are branches of Christ, by the indwelling of the spirit of Jesus Christ; and are in a state of grace. They transgress the letter of the law, but not knowingly; they have a continual justification through the blood of Christ for all those unknown violations of God's law. But when they know the right and the wrong, and yet voluntarily forsake the right, and commit the wrong, they become guilty, and must repent, believe, and be converted, in order to enter the kingdom of God. It may be to some a startling proposition that infants are in a state of grace, and have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them; but I can draw no other conclusions from the declarations of Christ respecting them. No one can be Christ's unless he has the Spirit of Christ. No one can be quickened from the dead and raised up to eternal life unless he has the spirit in him which quickened Jesus Christ from the dead. But little children, being the subjects of the kingdom of heaven, must have a resurrection from the dead to eternal life, in order to inherit it. But if that spirit be not in them they cannot be so raised; then they must have it and be Christians. I cannot see that it is necessary that the child should ever be anything else but a Christian. If they are under the necessity of sinning voluntarily when they come to years, it cannot be accounted to them as sin; for they only do what they must. That they do usually follow their evil nature, rather than the teachings and strivings of the Spirit, is freely granted; but not that there is any necessity that they should ever become voluntary offenders, or be anything else but true Christians. They come into being under the covenant of grace, and they may remain so. To enter the kingdom of heaven, all men must become what the little child is.

1. We must become innocent. This can only be by obtaining pardon of God through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We are told very distinctly how this may be obtained. 1 John i, 9. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Such a confession as is here required is a penitent, believing, and obedient confession of all our sins and sinfulness. When we do this the pardon is sure. He is faithful and just to grant it. He cannot do otherwise; nor can he fail on the same condition to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The innocent, God loves; and whom he loves, to them he grants his Spirit to dwell in them, and cleanse the thoughts of their hearts, that they may perfectly love him, and worthy magnify his name. They are as innocent in his sight as though they had never sinned; and immediately become partakers of the Spirit of Christ, to govern and direct them in all they do. And while they are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God.

2. But grace no more destroys nature in the adult believer than in the infant. That is not its design. Grace, which is nothing but the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our mortal bodies, governs, regulates, and keeps nature in subjection; but glory is the grand antidote for poor fallen nature; and by that grand specific, the whole image of God shall be restored. All, both children and adults, will be glorified together.

There is no state of grace to which we may attain in this life where our old nature derived from Adam will expire; but every true believer in Jesus Christ is in a state where he does not serve sin; it has not dominion over him. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made him free from the law of sin and death. And while his faith continues in exercise, by which he is united to Christ, he has victory over all sin and does not commit sin. Tempted we always shall be; a war with nature we always shall have; but the victory, through the power of an indwelling Christ, is certain. The love of God dwells in the believer, because the Holy Ghost dwells there; and is a spirit of love. Where God dwells, love dwells; "for God is love." The love of God dwelling in us, it will be the moving motive power of all our acts. An action flowing from love may be erroneous, wrong in itself, but it cannot be imputed to the believer as sin, nor can he be condemned for that ignorant violation of God's law. He rests, not in his own obedience for justification, but in Christ alone; and through him has a continual justification, and the witness abiding of his sonship. God is both faithful and just to cleanse from all unrighteousness all whom he forgives. We cannot obtain forgiveness until we confess our sins; when we do that, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is only unbelief which says he is not thus faithful.

XIII. THE MILLENNIUM AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.

The doctrine of the universal triumph of the gospel for a thousand years before the second advent of the Saviour, thus making the reign of Christ on earth as king of saints, purely spiritual, and saying that the Lord delayeth his coming for at least a thousand years, next demands our attention.

The doctrine of the world's conversion will first be examined in the light of Scripture.

1. It is argued that there must be such a state of universal holiness on earth, and before the second advent, to fulfill such promises as the following. Heb. viii, 11. "They shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me from the least to the greatest." Again, Isa. xi, 5-9. "And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Also, Isa. ii, 4. "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

It is alleged that these promises can never be fulfilled, if they are not fulfilled before the second coming of the Lord. And that a fulfillment of them implies a state of universal holiness. In replying to this argument, I would remark, it is impossible to fulfill them in this world unless there is an entire change in the constitution of both man and beast. For while man remains under his present depraved constitution, and comes into the world as he does now, there can be no such thing as an universal knowledge of God without instruction. But in that promised state they will need none, but all, from the least to the greatest, will know the Lord without it.

But it is said in reply, by most persons who adopt the theory, "we do not expect that every one will be pious, but the great mass will." Then you have no right to claim the text in question for the support of your cause; for it proves too much for you, and you abandon it when you apply it to your theory. If it proves aught for you, it proves the universal knowledge and holiness of the human race on earth at that time. The constitution of brutes must be changed. For it is now the nature of "the wolf" to devour "the lamb," and for the leopard to tear the kid. It is the nature of "the lion" to eat flesh, not straw; and for the cockatrice and asp to bite, sting, and poison the hand that approaches their den. But it is answered, "We do not expect that it will be literal; but that the wolfish and ferocious passions of the human heart will be subdued; and that these strong expressions are used to represent the great change which will be apparent in human society." Indeed! And have we not just the same right to the figures, if figures they are, to express our millennium, and the universal peace of the heavenly state, the kingdom of God, under the great Prince of peace? But we are willing, if it shall so please the great Deliverer, that he should bring back Paradise with all its beasts, birds, and reptiles. And, as we know nothing of that state but what is revealed, if God has revealed the fact that they will be there, and has nowhere said they will not, it will be the part of wisdom to believe God, and not man's tradition.

The Psalmist, in the eighth Psalm, has ascribed to "the Son of man" universal dominion over all creatures, beasts, fowls and fishes, and declares he was made a little lower than the angels, to have dominion over the works of God's hands. Paul has taken up the Psalm, in Heb. ii, 5, and onward, and says that it is the dominion of Jesus Christ in "the world to come," (literally, the oikoumene, the habitable earth to come,) "whereof we speak." That now, although "we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels," "crowned with glory and honor," yet, "we see not yet all things put under him." It is in the world to come, that the eighth Psalm will be fulfilled; when the kingdom given to man, and prepared for him from the foundation of the world, will be given to the saints, by Christ. All there is in the Bible, is in favor of the restitution of the brute creation; but I know of nothing, from Genesis to Revelation, to contradict it, and say it will not be thus. I have long looked on Mr. Wesley's argument on this subject, viz., the restitution of the brutes in the new earth, as conclusive and irrefutable, and do so still. The reader will find his view in his sermon on the general deliverance.

If these texts are to be understood in a literal sense, it must carry us forward to a state when there will have been a radical change in the constitution of human nature above what grace can do for it; and a change in the brute creation, such as we are not authorized to expect until the great deliverance from the unwilling vanity to which they are now subjected. That will be, in the restitution which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

"Learn war no more." This cannot be the spiritual reign of Christ in the millennium, and so sustain that theory; for according to it, there will be at the end of that period such an apostasy from Christ, and array of armies of the nations against the beloved city, as was never known before. The nations, on this hypothesis, will learn war again then. But on our view of the subject, although the wicked in their resurrection will be gathered and brought up around the camp of the saints by the deceptive pretense of a battle, yet not a blow will be struck, but the divine vengeance interpose and execute on them his just judgment. Universal and everlasting peace will prevail among all the inhabitants of the earth; for the meek only shall inherit it forever. This, then, must also be fulfilled under the reign of the great Prince of peace, in a state of glory and blessedness.

2. I object to the doctrine of a universal triumph of the church of God, because it contradicts the express declaration of God's word.

That word teaches us that the servant is not above his master. "If they have not heard me they will not hear you; if they have kept my sayings they will keep yours also." The time never was in Christ's ministry when all the people heard him and received his instructions. Although at times, as in modern revivals, under some strong influences the multitude were moved, and it seemed for the time they were all about to embrace him, yet how soon the same multitude were ready to stone him!

This is a fair sample of human nature, according to the experience of six thousand years. It is all the dependence which can be placed on it. If the Master himself succeeded no better, how can his servants hope to!

It contradicts the parable of the sower in Matt. xiii. There were four kinds of ground on which the seed, the word of the kingdom, fell. And from only one of those grounds was fruit received. Universal experience has shown how true the parable is to the facts in the case. Christ has nowhere told us that it will ever be otherwise while the "word of the kingdom" is preached.

The parable of the tares of the field teaches also the same doctrine. The field is the world, the globe with its human inhabitants, where the tares and wheat will grow together until the harvest, or end of this world, (aion,) the Christian age which began with John and will end with the second advent of the Saviour. Then, not before, "he will gather out of his (territorial) kingdom (the world) all things which offend, and them which do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

3. I object, thirdly, to the doctrine of the universal conversion of the world as the introduction to the millennium, because the Bible throughout represents the universal kingdom of Christ as to be introduced by the violent destruction of the wicked, and the everlasting reward of the righteous.

(1.) The second Psalm is one of the passages often quoted to prove the conversion of the world, as the introduction of the glorious spiritual reign of Christ. "Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." And here they stop and infer the world's conversion. Why do they not go on through the passage, and read what he is to do with them when they are given up to him? "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; and shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Is this a promise of the conversion of the heathen? What then would be the language in which their destruction could be expressed?

(2.) The stone is to smite the image, grind it to powder, and the wind sweep it away, before God's kingdom fills the whole earth.

(3.) In the vision of the four beasts, of Daniel vii, the beast, the last of the four, is to be slain, his body destroyed and given to the burning flame; and then the Son of man come in the clouds of heaven, and there be given him dominion, glory, and a kingdom, to endure forever.

(4.) Antichrist, that wicked, that man of sin, spoken of by Paul, [2 Thess. ii,] is only to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming. Until Christ comes, antichrist will reign and oppose the saints.

(6.) The idea of such a state contradicts the declaration of Christ to his church, that in the world she shall have tribulation; as also the doctrine that through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God. It would disqualify those who enjoyed the state, to join the innumerable company of the redeemed who will have come up out of great tribulation.

(7.) I object to such a view of the millennium, because the only scriptural account there is of the thousand years' reign of the saints with Christ, is, that it will be—

XIV. THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

The only passage in the Bible which speaks directly of the thousand years, is in Rev. xx, where it is said, "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he which hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

This is the true millennium, and the only one found in the Word of God.

From this we learn that the "blessed and holy" will be raised a thousand years before the rest of the dead.

No doctrine is more distinctly taught in the Bible than that of two distinct resurrections of the dead. Some of the numerous passages where it is either directly or indirectly taught, will be noticed.

1. The conditional promises of Christ, [John vi,] of "raising up at the last day" those who comply with those conditions; clearly implying that if they did not do so, he would not then raise them.

2. The promise of the Saviour to those who should, in making a feast, call in the poor, who could not recompense them, that they should be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Luke xiv, 13, 14. If there is to be but one resurrection, why name the resurrection of the just? Why not say, as is generally said at this day, "At the resurrection?"

3. Jesus Christ has said, [John v, 28, 29,] "The hour is coming when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." There are in this text, two distinct resurrections recognized: "of life;" "of damnation." They that have done good will enjoy the former; they that have done evil, endure the latter. It is objected, the whole is said to take place in the same literal "hour." "The hour cometh." To this, it is replied, that the term "hour" merely signifies, the time will come when all will hear his voice, and live or come forth from the grave; but each in his own time. The word is manifestly used thus, in John v, 25, where it is said, "The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."

Even while Christ was on earth, the time was coming, yea, had come, that the dead, Lazarus, the widow's son, &c., should, and did hear his voice, and those that heard, lived. Were all these instances in one literal hour, or at one time? Clearly not. But, says the objector, it does not mean the dead in a literal, but spiritual sense. Very well, we will look at its meaning then. The hour is coming and now is when the dead in trespasses and sins shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Was this true, I ask, only that very hour in which he spoke; or is it true of all subsequent time to the end of the world? The latter is true, most clearly. Then the hour signifies, in verse 25, the whole gospel dispensation; why, then, may it not, by the same rule, signify, in verse 28, a thousand years? It must be understood, in verse 25, in some other than its literal acceptation; then why not in verse 28? It is not necessary to go beyond the fifth chapter of John to settle the controversy, on the import of the term hour, as used in reference to the time of the resurrection.

The true millennium of Revelation xx, is not until the first resurrection, or the resurrection of the just. Rev. xx, 4-6. The classes enumerated in this text who live and reign a thousand years before the rest of the dead live again, include the "blessed and holy."

There is no such thing as a conversion of the world taught in Revelations xx, but only the thousand years between the two resurrections. The term resurrection is never used in the Bible in any other than its proper sense of bringing to life the bodies of the dead. I would dwell longer on this point, but so much has been said upon it that the fable of the spiritual reign is well nigh dissipated from the mind of the great mass of the church. The clergy and theological professor, it is true, still hold on upon it. But it will not go; the people are opening their eyes to look for themselves.

XVII. THE MEANING OF THE TERM "JUDGE."

1. It is used in the Bible in the sense of a trial according to law and evidence; the idea being drawn from a civil or criminal court. The term is used in this sense in Luke xix, 22, in the parable of the nobleman and his servants. "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant." This is clearly a trial.

2. It signifies a penal judgment; or the execution of judgment; and is so used, [Acts vii, 7,] "And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, saith God." This judgment on the Egyptians, when God delivered Israel, was clearly a penal judgment.

The terms are both used in reference to the judgment of the human race. 1st. All men will be brought to trial, or into judgment, and all their deeds and their moral characters will be examined, and their everlasting states will be determined by the evidence produced from God's books, including the book of life, which will decide the moral character and everlasting destiny of each individual of Adam's race. If their names are found in "the book of life," they will be saved; and if not found there, they will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death. But the degree of reward or punishment will be graduated by what each one has done. If they have built on Christ, they will have their names in the book of life, and will be saved; if not, they will be lost. If they have built on Christ, of gold, silver, precious stones, they will receive a rich reward; if of wood, hay, stubble, they will have their work burned up, and suffer a great loss, but themselves be saved, so as by fire.

XVIII. THE TRIAL MUST PRECEDE THE EXECUTION.

This is so clear a proposition that it is sufficient to state it. No human tribunal would think of executing judgment on a prisoner until after his trial; much less will God. He will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.

But the resurrection is the retribution or execution of judgment; for "they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life." "We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, who shall change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his glorious body." "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Here is clearly a retribution in the resurrection. It will be administered when the saints are raised. But no more certainly than they that have done evil will come forth damned, or "to the resurrection of damnation." They will come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. The saints will be raised and be caught up at once to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord. There can be no general judgment or trial after the resurrection. The resurrection is the separating process, and they will never be commingled again, after the saints are raised. No matter how long or short the period to elapse between the two resurrections; it is all the same so far as the separation which the resurrection produces, is concerned. If there is no more than a second which elapses between the two resurrections, the separation it makes is final.

XIX. GOD, "THE ANCIENT OF DAYS," WILL PRESIDE IN THE TRIAL.

1. Daniel vii, 9, 10, presents the Ancient of days coming on his throne of fiery flame; the judgment is set and the books opened. He is distinct from the Son of man, spoken of in verse 13, when he comes to the Ancient of days.

2. Revelation xx, 12, tells us it is God, before whom the dead stand and are judged.

XX. THE SON OF MAN WILL EXECUTE THE JUDGMENT.

Thus the Saviour declares, [John v, 27,] "And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." Also, 2 Cor. v, 10. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things in body according to that he hath done, whether good or bad." Also, Paul's testimony in the Acts of the Apostles; "God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." What we are assured of by the resurrection of Christ, is, the execution, in the resurrection, of a righteous judgment on all men.