p. 1 | SAINTS' INHERITANCE by John Norton Loughborough

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 26, 1859

SAINTS' INHERITANCE.

By John Norton Loughborough

BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. v, 5.

THE sentiment of the above text is not peculiar to the New Testament; but is also fully declared in the Old. In Ps. xxxvii, it is three times stated that the Lord's people shall inherit the earth," and three times that "they shall inherit the land." We understand that these texts declare a future inheritance. Not an inheritance of the blessings of this life, but of the joys of the earth made new. Says the reader, "I supposed Matt. v, 5, was fulfilled in this present life." But where is there a person that has received an inheritance here, because he has lived Christ-like? (To be meek is to be like Christ.) Is not the decree still upon all men, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread"? Are the righteous more favored with this world's goods than the wicked? Or does God still make the "sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and send rain on the just and on the unjust"?

We should judge from the manner in which David treats this subject, that he did not consider that the righteous now inherit the earth. Although he could say, "I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread;" yet when he speaks of abundant prosperity, he treats it as though it was the lot of the wicked, instead of the saints. Read Ps. lxxiii. 3-7. I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. "For there are no bands in their death; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men." "Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish." In Ps. xxxvii, 7, he says, "Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way." But this is said of those who "bring wicked devices to pass."

The principal reason urged in support of the position that Matt. v, 5, applies in this life, is the supposition that when Christ comes to redeem his people, the earth will be destroyed, and man no longer possess it. If this position can be sustained, then, of course, all texts which speak of a reward, or punishment, on this earth, must have their application before that time. Reasoning in accordance with this position, some have made capital of such texts as Prov. xi, 31. "The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner." Claiming that this text could not have its application after this life, they have reasoned that "whatever recompense is received by the righteous or wicked here, must be for their good or evil deeds performed here. And if the wicked have met the recompense of their evil deeds here, in another life they will have an equal chance with the righteous." But by comparing with this, two other proverbs of the wise man, we see that this fabric is without foundation. Prov. ii, 21, 22. "For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." Again, in Prov. x, 30, speaking of the righteous after they are planted in their inheritance, he says: "The righteous shall never be removed; but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth." Instead, then, of Prov. xi, 31 proving that all are recompensed in this life, we see it points to the final cutting off of the wicked. When the wicked are cut off, the "meek inherit the earth, and dwell therein forever."

As we have before stated, the principal reason urged why Matt. v, 5, applies in this life, is that the earth is not to exist after this probationary state shall have closed. If the above premise be true, that the earth is to be burned up at the second advent, and no more exist, then, of course, all texts speaking of an inheritance on earth, must be fulfilled before such a conflagration shall take place.

We know of but one text which has been pressed into the service of proving that the earth will cease to exist at the coming of Christ. It is 2 Pet. iii, 10, 12. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up." This text does not inform us that the earth is to be burned up; neither could such a conclusion be drawn from it after properly analyzing the language. It will be seen that to make sense, the word "also" must refer to what has been previously said; and instead of reading it—"The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up," it would read, "The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also," showing that the earth is to be melted the same as "the elements." Next the Apostle notices the works in the earth, and tells us they shall be "burned up." So we perceive that it is the works which are in the earth, and not the earth itself, which are to be burned up in the day of the Lord. The works in the earth which are to be burned up, we understand are the "works of the Devil," which John says, Christ has been manifested that he might destroy." See 1 John iii, 8. These, we understand, are sin and sinners. The above conclusion, that the earth is to be melted instead of burned up, is confirmed by verse 11. "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" His claim here is not that the earth is to be burned up, but dissolved. This is the only testimony we have met with to prove that the earth is to be burned up, and this makes no such statement. It is further evident that Peter did not design to teach the utter destruction of the heavens and the earth, from the fact that he immediately adds, "Nevertheless, we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

EDWARD ROBINSON, D. D., Professor at Andover says, that the original word, rendered new, in 2 Pet. iii, 13; Isa. lxv, 17, and lxvi, 22, means renewed, or made new, hence, better, superior, more splendid. So the corresponding word of the O. T., means, as a verb, to make new, or renew, repair, restore, as in 1 Sam. xi, 14; Job x, 17; Isa. lx, 4; Ps. ciii, 5; 2 Chron. xv, 8; xxiv, 4; whence are derived the words rendered new, i. e., renewed, as in new moon, new heart, new creature, &c.

J. M. CAMPBELL, of England, meets objections on this point as follows: "If you have difficulties as to this matter I refer you to the 65th chapter of Isaiah. Read it, and see whether it is not manifest that it is this very earth, in another state of it, that is called the New Earth, and that it is in this very earth where God has been dishonored, that God is to be honored. I would further say to you, that Satan may not take advantage of you, if any find difficulties through the word new, that this word is here used in some such way as when a converted man is called 'a new creature.' I am the same person as I was before conversion, yet am I a new man; so the earth will be the same globe of earth, but still so changed as to be justly called a new earth. Some ask, Do you think that Christ is to come to this vile earth? Was it not enough that he was once humbled? Shall he again leave glory for it? He will not be on the earth as it now is, but it shall be changed, and you are not to judge of what this earth shall be when the curse is taken off, and the power of God is put forth in beautifying and glorifying it, by what it now is. You might as well think to know what body a saint shall have at the resurrection, by looking at the body he now has. The saints shall dwell in bodies, but they shall be glorified bodies; and Christ shall reign on earth, but it shall be the earth redeemed from the curse."

Allowing this criticism to be correct, there are no grounds to claim from Peter that this earth is to be annihilated. Solomon tells us, [Eccl. i, 4.] that "the earth abideth forever."

Reason would lead us to object to the idea that this earth is to be blotted out from the universe at the close of the probationary state. It will be freely admitted that since the early history of this earth, sin, rebellion, anarchy, and confusion, have distressed its borders; the mass of its inhabitants have lived in rebellion against the law of God, and, as John has expressed it, "We know that the whole world lieth in wickedness." We can expect nothing better in this probationary state; for Paul informs us that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." If there is no future state for this earth after sin and sinners are rooted out of it, it appears to us, its very existence would be a blot in the universe of God.

THE DUBLIN CHRISTIAN HERALD says: "If the earth was to be destroyed, and man never to have the sovereignty of it, Satan would have a victory to boast of forever; neither would that promise be fulfilled, that Jesus should destroy the works of the Devil. 1 John iii, 8. Frightful indeed is the breach which Satan has made in this fair field of God's creation; but Jesus is the repairer of the breach, . . . nor will he leave a single path unrestored to its original beauty. It is essential for Christ's glory that the earth should be delivered out of the hand of the enemy."

THOMAS DICK, LL. D., says: "To suppose, as some have done, that the whole fabric of creation will be shattered to pieces, that the stars will literally fall from their orbs, and the material universe be blotted out of existence, is a sentiment so absurd and extravagant, and so contrary to the general tenor of scripture and the character of God, that it is astonishing that it should ever have been entertained by any man calling himself a divine, or a Christian preacher. I have already had occasion to remark, that there is no example of annihilation, or an entire destruction of material substances, to be found in the universe. We have no reason to believe that even those changes to which our world is destined at the general conflagration, will issue in its entire destruction. The materials of which the earth and its atmosphere are composed will still continue to exist after its present structure is deranged, and will, in all probability, be employed in the arrangement of a new system purified from the physical evils which now exist, and which may continue to flourish a monument of Divine power and wisdom throughout an infinite lapse of ages."

JOHN CUMMING, D. D., of London, says: "When he (Christ) comes, this earth shall be re-cast, restored, re-constituted, re-beautified, and set in more than its first and pristine glory. I never can bring myself to believe that this beautiful earth, its beauties still outnumbering its blemishes, is to be annihilated. I cannot bring myself to believe that the Devil's success is to be crowned with victory at the last day, and that this orb, which God made fair, beautiful and holy, and which sin has made as it is and over which the old serpent has left his trail, so long, so far, and so wide, he means to resign to Satan. But it is not a matter of conjecture. God has positively stated that it shall be restored. We have got a notion as if there were something essentially impure and hopeless in what is material. We have the old gnostic heresy, that stone, tree, and flower, must be, by their very structure and organization, bad and impure. But it is not so. Only exhaust from the earth the poison, sin—let the footfall of Him who made it be echoed from its hills and valleys, once more, at dewy dawn, and at eventide, and this earth of ours will be instantly transformed into an orb, the like of which is not amid all the orbs of the universe besides."

This leads us to inquire, What is the

PURPOSE OF GOD CONCERNING THE EARTH?

Without the light of revelation we can give no true answer to the above question. But if God has made known his purpose concerning the world, we shall not be considered on forbidden ground in examining a few scripture testimonies on this subject. Was it the plan of God concerning the creation of this earth that it should remain in the hands of the wicked about six thousand years, and then be burned up? We have often heard people speak of what is to take place "amid the crush of worlds." Is this system of planets thus to be thrown in confusion and destroyed? What saith the scripture on this point?

We read in Isa. xlv, 18, "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited." Here it is plainly stated what God's design was in creating the earth. "He formed it to be inhabited." But, say you, It has been inhabited. Yes, but mostly by a race of rebels. Can we suppose that God's purpose concerning the earth has been entirely carried out in the past, while man has possessed the earth? God's purpose was that the earth should "be inhabited."

But it has been claimed by some that the earth will be purified, and then left to new inhabitants. Says POLLOK:

"So burned the earth upon that dreadful day, Yet not to full annihilation burned: The essential particles of dust remained, Purged by the final, sanctifying fires, From all corruption; from all stain of sin, Done there by man or devil, purified, The essential particles remained, of which God built the world again, renewed, improved, With fertile vale, and wood of fertile bough; And streams of milk and honey, flowing song; And mountains cinctured with perpetual green; In clime and season fruitful, as at first, When Adam woke, unfallen, in paradise. And God, from out the fount of native light, A handful took of beams, and clad the sun Again in glory; and sent forth the moon To borrow thence her wonted rays, and lead Her stars, the virgin daughters of the sky. And God revived the winds, revived the tides; And touching her from his Almighty hand, With force centrifugal, she onward ran, Coursing her wonted path, to stop no more. Delightful scene of new inhabitants! As thou, this morn, in passing hither, saw. Thus done, the glorious Judge, turning to right, With countenance of love unspeakable, Behold the righteous, and approved them thus. 'Ye blessed of my Father, come ye just, Enter the joy eternal of your Lord; Receive your crowns, ascend and sit with me, At God's right hand, in glory evermore.'"

[Course of Time, B. x.]

God gave the earth to man, [Gen. i, 26,] and gave him "dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." From this we should learn that God designed that man, not some other race, should inhabit the earth. With this agrees also the language of David, when he says, [Ps. cxv, 16,] "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men." But when the earth was thus given to man, he was in an upright state, and the Lord had pronounced him, with the rest of his works, "very good." Solomon says, [Eccl. vii, 29,] "This only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Seeing the manner in which the Lord has dealt with man, we should conclude his purpose was that man, in an upright state, should possess the earth; for he was in an upright state when God gave him dominion over the earth. This probationary state while in the garden, or rather, the manner in which man rebelled and transgressed the word of the Lord, cut him off from the further enjoyment of even the glorious place he then possessed. When he became sinful, he lost that dominion.

A skeptical mind might, perhaps, be ready to claim here that God's purpose had been frustrated in the fall of man. Although it may seem to them that God's purpose has been frustrated, yet we believe, and shall endeavor to show, that God's purpose will yet be carried out, and the earth will be possessed by man in an upright state. Says Peter, "We look for new heavens and a new earth, (renewed earth,) wherein dwelleth righteousness." Some paraphrase this, "Wherein the righteous shall dwell," which gives probably the correct idea. Then will God's purpose respecting the earth be fully accomplished.

David seemed to have his mind on such a glorious inheritance. While speaking of the final overthrow of the wicked, he contrasts with it a possession of the earth by the people of God. He says, [Ps. xxxvii, 1-3,] "Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. (The reason we would be liable to fret is plainly stated in verse 7: 'Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.') For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Some might claim that this text applies in this life; but being contrasted with the cutting off of the wicked, we must conclude that the "dwelling in the land" is after the wicked are cut off.

Again we read in verses 9-11, "For evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. 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." Some have sought to apply this text to the present state; but it seems that Job saw no chance for abundance of peace here; but speaking of the grave he said, "There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest." There will be a time of abundance of peace; but it will be after the "wicked shall not be." We cannot claim that the cutting off of the wicked in this chapter is simply cutting them off from this life; for he says in verse 20, "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."

These testimonies of the Psalmist clearly speak of a future inheritance of this earth, and, indeed, many of those who have stood high as christians in the past, have believed and advocated a future possession of this earth. Before passing directly to an examination of this subject, we will present a few testimonies under the head of,

FAITH OF GOOD MEN.

MARTIN LUTHER, in his Table Talk, p. 322, says: "God will make not the earth only, but the heavens also, much more beautiful than they are at present. At present we see the world in its working clothes, but hereafter it will be arrayed in its Easter and Whitsuntide robes."

CALVIN, on Isaiah xi, says: The Prophet "asserts here the change of the nature of wild beasts, and the restoration of the creation as at first."

LUTHER said: "God will come to judgment and amend all things in this world." Again he says of the earth and elements: "They will lose their former nature, and be endued with another."

ARCHBISHOP CRANMER in his Catechism authorized by king Edward VI, taught that there would be "a renovation of all things." "So for man's sake for whose use the great world was created, being at length renovated, it shall put on a face that shall be far more pleasant and beautiful."

JOSEPH MEDE, of the seventeenth century, thus paraphrases 2 Pet. iii, 13: "But this conflagration ended, we look according to his promise, [Isa. lxv, 17, and lxvi, 22,] for a new heaven and a new earth, that is, a new and refined state of the world, wherein righteousness shall dwell, according as the same Prophet saith, [Isa. lx, 20, 21,] Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land, or earth, forever."

DR. GOODWIN wrote: "God doth take the same world that was Adam's, and makes it new and glorious. The same creation groaneth for this new world, this new clothing—as we groan to be clothed upon, so doth this whole creation. Rom. viii, 19-23. And as God takes the same substance of man's nature, and engrafteth the new creature upon it, the same man still; so he takes the same world and makes it a new world to come for the second Adam. For the substance of the same world shall be restored to a glory which Adam could never have raised it unto. And this God will do before he hath done with it, and this restitution is 'the world to come.' Heb. ii, 5."

THE ENTIRE BODY OF BAPTISTS, in the time of Charles II, in their Confession of Faith say: "We believe that the new Jerusalem that shall come down from God out of heaven, when the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and he shall dwell with them, will be the metropolitan city of his kingdom, and will be the glorious place of residence of both Christ and his saints forever, and will be so situated as that the kingly palace will be on Mount Zion, the holy hill of David, where his throne was."

MILTON says: 'The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring New heavens and earth wherein the just shall dwell, And after all their tribulations long, See golden days.'

JOSHUA SPAULDING and COTTON MATHER affirm that "The new heavens and the new earth was the country promised to Abraham, and to his seed: which neither he nor they received, but desired and sought, having seen afar off."

PHILIP DODDRIDGE wrote: "We shall go from the ruins of a dissolving world, to the new heavens and new earth, wherein righteousness forever dwells."

GEORGE BENSON said: "We expect Christ's second advent to restore all things—to establish a kingdom of righteousness upon earth—and to begin his glorious reign."

TOPLADY in his sermon on Rev. xxi, 5, affirms that "a day will dawn when a period shall be put to every disorder under which nature at present labors, and the earth will become just what it was, perhaps considerably better than it was, ere sin destroyed the harmony and broke the balance of the well-according system."

JOHN WESLEY says on the text 'Behold I make all things new.' "The line of this prophecy does not end with the present world, but shows us the things that will come to pass when this world is no more. For thus saith the Creator and Governor of the universe, 'Behold I make all things new;' all which are included in that expression of the Apostle: 'A new heaven and a new earth.'"

DR. ADAM CLARKE says: "The present earth though destined to be burned up, will not be destroyed but be renewed, and refined, purged from all moral and natural imperfections, and made the endless abode of blessed spirits."

DR. URWICK OF DUBLIN, on 2 Pet. iii says: "Another mundane sphere will arise out of the ruins of the present, forming a region of perfect sinlessness, to which the saved look forward as their abode." "Novel as the thought may be to some persons, the Lord, mighty in battle, who on the cross spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them openly, and who age after age is breaking the yoke of the oppressor, and emancipating human souls, will not stay in his career of illustrious achievements till he wrest the very earth itself from the grasp of its usurper, re-creating it in unrivalled purity and glory, and taking possession of it with his people for immortality as peculiarly his own domain."

A. THOLUCK, D. D., an eminent German divine, says: "The glorification of the visible creation is more definitely declared in Rev. xxi, 1; although it must be borne in mind that a prophetic vision is there declared. Still more definitely do we find the belief of a transformation of the material world declared in 2 Pet. iii, 7-12. The idea that the perfected kingdom of Christ is to be transferred to heaven, is properly a modern notion. According to Paul and the Revelation, the kingdom of God is placed upon the earth, in so far as this itself has part in the universal transformation. This exposition has been adopted and defended by the most of the oldest commentators; for example: Chrysostom, Theodoret, Jerome, Augustine, Luther, Koppe, and others."

DR. JOHN PYE SMITH, of England says: "I cannot but feel astonishment, that any serious and intelligent man should have his mind fettered with the common, I might call it the vulgar, notion of a proper destruction of the earth; and some seem to extend the notion to the whole solar system, and even the entire material universe; applying the idea of an extinction of being, a reducing to nothingness. I confess myself unable to find any evidence of it in nature, reason, or Scripture. We can discover nothing like destruction in the matter of the universe as subjected to our senses. Masses are disintegrated, forms are changed, compounds are decomposed, but not an atom is annihilated . . . We according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

JOSEPH D'ARCY SIRR, of England says: "Unless the new heaven and new earth were identical with the orb we inhabit and its atmosphere, it could never be said there was no more sea; that it was no more, or no longer implies that it had been before."

EDWARD HITCHCOCK, D. D., President of Amherst College, on 2 Pet. iii says: "Now, the Apostle does not here in so many words, declare that the new heavens and earth will be the present world and its atmosphere purified and renovated by fire; but it is certainly a natural inference that such was his meaning. For if he intended some other remote and quite different place, why should he call it earth, and, especially, why should he surround it with atmosphere? The natural and most obvious meaning of the passage surely is, that the future residence of the righteous will be this present terraqueous globe, after its entire organic and combustible matter shall have been destroyed, and its whole mass reduced by heat to a liquid state, and then a new economy reared up on its surface, not adapted to sinful but to sinless beings; and, therefore, quite different from its present condition—probably more perfect, but still the same earth and surrounding heavens."

THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D., the late eminent Scottish theologian says of the earth: "By the convulsions of the last day, it may be shaken, and broken down from its present arrangements, and thrown into such fitful agitation as that the whole of its existing framework shall fall to pieces; and with a heat so fervent as to melt its most solid elements, it may be utterly dissolved. And thus may the earth again become 'without form and void,' [Jer. iv, 23,] but without one particle of its substance going into annihilation. Out of the ruins of this second phase, may another heaven and another earth be made to arise, and a new materialism, with other aspects of magnificence and beauty, emerge from the wreck of this mighty transformation, and the world be peopled as before with the varieties of material loveliness, and space be again lighted up into a firmament of material splendor."

ALEXANDER POPE, BISHOP HEBER, and DR. ISAAC WATTS have sung of this glorious time. Says WATTS: 'Yet when the sounds shall tear the skies And lightnings burn the globe below, Saints, you may lift your joyful eyes, There's a new heaven and earth for you.'

A host of others have endorsed the same view, among whom we might mention MATTHEW HENRY, MATTHEW POOLE, in his Annotations, RICHARD BAXTER, THOMAS BURNET in his Theory of the Earth, JOHN BUNYAN, INCREASE MATHER, THOMAS JAMES, ANDREW FULLER, JOHN COX of England, and the eloquent EDWARD IRVING, who asks in his Orations, 'And cannot God create another world many times more fair, and cast over it a mantle of light many times more lovely, and wash it with purer dew than ever dropped from the eyelids of the morning?' 'O what a thought, that the deluge of sin shall be baled out, that the long-covered hills and valleys of holiness shall again present themselves, that the slimy path of the old serpent shall be cleansed out of all nations, and the alloy of hell with fervent heat be burnt out of the elements of the solid globe, that the kingdom peopled with the redeemed shall become meet to be presented in the presence of God, and remain for ever.'

SPECIAL PROMISES RESPECTING THE EARTH.

We have evidence which is conclusive to our mind that there is a future inheritance of this earth. This evidence we will present in the form of a logical argument. The first premise of this argument is: God has made certain infallible promises respecting this earth. Second. These promises have not yet been accomplished, and according to the description the Bible gives of the last days they cannot meet their accomplishment this side of the second advent of Christ. After sustaining these promises we shall draw the fair and logical conclusion; therefore there is a future for this earth beyond the second advent when the saints of God shall possess it, and these promises be fulfilled.

The first promise of this character we will notice is Num. xiv, 21. "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." There can be no doubt as to the certainty of the fulfillment of this promise, for the Lord has pledged his own life for its accomplishment. The history of the past presents no testimony that the earth has ever thus been filled with the Lord's glory. But in every age since this prediction, violence, anarchy and sin have reigned predominant. It seems in the days of Habakkuk, prophetic seers were still pointed to that glorious time as yet future. We read [Hab. ii, 14] "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." To avoid the conclusion that this refers to a perfect state, when "the people shall be all righteous," some have suggested that "there are islands in the sea which are not covered by the waters, so there may be people even in this glorious time that are still rebellious." But to show that this is not the prophetic meaning, we would refer you again to the first promise. "ALL the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." And Jeremiah speaking of the glorious time in the future for God's people [chap. xxxi, 34] says: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying Know the Lord: for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

We claim concerning these promises that they will not be fulfilled this side the second advent of Christ. It has been commonly claimed however, that the world is to be converted and a thousand years of peace and quietness be enjoyed by God's people on earth prior to Christ's coming again, and, that during that thousand years these promises are to be fulfilled.

The general tenor of Scripture, especially those portions that describe the last days, cannot be harmonized with the view that there is to be a temporal millennium, or world's conversion before the second advent. The testimony of Christ, as also that of Paul, is clearly against the view of the world's conversion. We read [Matt. xiii] concerning the tares of the field: "The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, nay . . . let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares," &c. Now mark his language when the disciples had demanded an explanation of this parable. Verses 38-40. "The good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one . . . the harvest is the end of the world. . . . As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire: so shall it be in the end of this world." From this we see that both righteous and wicked are to be together on earth till the end of the world. So the world will not be converted prior to the second advent.

Paul, speaking of the state of the world just prior to the second advent, says [2 Tim. iii, 1-5] "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." It seems from the above language that a very degenerate mass of nominal professors are to exist in the very time where it is claimed that the world will enjoy a millennium. There can be no days later than the last, so "the last days" must include the very last day; therefore the above is a description of the state of a class just before the end of probation. In verse 8 Paul says of them, "As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth." It cannot be that "all the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord while such a class are still upon it.

Again Paul speaks of the last days [1 Tim. iv, 1] "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." Then instead of the church exerting her influence to such an extent as to convert the world, many will throw off restraint and "depart from the faith." The doctrine of devils will be taught by seducing spirits, and many will give heed to them. This we understand is already being accomplished in the teaching and progress of modern Spiritualism. We might mention Leroy Sunderland, and scores of others who have once been teachers of God's word, who have now denounced the Bible as priest-craft, and are fully given up to the spirits. This state of things above described, which we see rapidly drawing on, does not look like a triumph of the gospel in the last days, or a binding of Satan prior to Christ's second advent.

But says DR. PRIEST and others, "Christ is coming spiritually, Satan is to be bound, and a thousand years of millennium be enjoyed by God's people on the earth prior to Christ's coming to judgment." We reply. The word of God tells of no spiritual coming of Christ. His testimony to his disciples, when giving them their commission to preach the gospel, was, [Matt. xxviii, 19, 20,] "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost . . . and lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." Of course, we understand he promises in this testimony that his Spirit shall abide with them, even as we read concerning the Comforter which he promised to send. John xiv, 16. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." So it would be folly to talk of a spiritual advent of Christ before the end of the world, unless it could first be shown that the above promises had failed, and his Spirit had left the world.

We know of no testimony which represents that Christ is yet to come spiritually. His coming will be real. When he had given to the disciples their commission to preach the gospel, he ascended up before them literally, and bodily, into heaven. See Acts i, 10, 11. "And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Jesus' coming is to be as literal and visible as his ascension into heaven. There is then no grounds to claim that the promise that "the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord" can be fulfilled this side the literal coming of our Lord from heaven. On the promises we have thus far noticed respecting the earth, we have sustained our two premises, and now respecting them draw our logical conclusion. Therefore there must be a future state for this earth beyond the second advent, when the "glory of God shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea."

Do any still further urge the idea of a millennium prior to Christ's coming? we would say, if you locate a millennium this side his coming, it will be strongly infected with the Papacy. We read of the "little horn," (Papacy,) Dan. vii, 21, 22. "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Again, Paul speaking of this power, [2 Thess. ii,] calls it "that man of sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." He says of him [verse 8,] "Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy by the brightness of his coming." So we clearly see the Papal power is to exist, even down to the point when Christ "shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel," &c.

(To be Continued.)