“BLESSED are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. v, 5.
The Rev. J. W. Brooks, rector of St. Mary's, in Nottingham, England, related to a visitor in 1846, how he was led to see that the earth renewed is to be the abode of the redeemed. He said he was delivering a course of sermons on the Beatitudes, and came to the text, “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth;” which he explained as meaning the meek do now inherit it by having as much of it as is good for them, when his mind became impressed with the idea that he was not giving the true meaning of the passage,—that the blessing is in the future. The impression had such an effect on him at the time that his hearers noticed it, and at the close of the service hastened to ask him if he was not unwell while in his sermon. He then began to examine the subject, and was conducted to the conclusion that the earth restored will be the possession of the meek, and that this blessedness will be introduced at the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the just.
He further said that soon afterward he was in company with the late Rev. E. Bickersteth, rector of Watton, on a missionary occasion, who, in conversation, was dwelling on the future triumphs of the church of Christ. Mr. Brooks gave it as his conviction that this could only take place at the second advent. Mr. Bickersteth, with his characteristic warmth, exclaimed, “And is Brooks among the prophets!” The conversation which followed, however, led Mr. Bickersteth to examine the question; and he embraced the pre-millennial advent, and has written and preached much on the subject—Ad. Herald.