We give below a startling description of the state of the churches and of the world, extracted from a discourse by Robert Atkins, preached in London, more than thirty years since:
But, my dear hearers, I must take my leave for the present of the rich churches, the churches that are possessed of goods, the churches that can reign without Christ, the churches that love not his appearing, the churches that scoffingly cry out, Where is the promise of his coming; the anti-Christian, apostate, Gentile churches, who are fitting themselves for the fire with which God will shortly plead with them. And I shall now direct your attention for a few moments, to the awful state of the world, which the divines of the day would have you believe is improving in manners, and in spirit, through its intercourse with the churches which I have just been characterizing as apostate. But where, oh! where, shall I begin? The heart sickens the moment the eye falls upon the mass of iniquitous abomination that lies before it. Take the Christian country in which we live, or it may be better for our purpose, the Christian city in which we dwell, (London) I ask is it an improvement upon heathenism, to see a court at the opera on Saturday night, and at the sacramental altar on Sunday morning? Are balls, concerts, theaters, and race-courses, places of preparation for the judgment-seat, and places of training for the mansions of the blessed, and for the eternal companionship of a holy God? Were there not a Bible in our land, could the iniquities of the heathen be more gloried than they are? And yet this is the capital of the world which is so wonderfully improved by the influence of Christian example. Take your Bible in your hand, and place your finger on that portion of it which says: “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy,” and go through the streets and markets of this city; and if your heart does not sink within you, and if your spirit does not fail you, you have neither the heart nor the spirit of a Christian. On any Sabbath throughout the year, take your stand in Hyde Park, and see how daring and impiously the bulk of our nobility can insult the God of heaven. In front of every equipage, I can see in my mind’s eye, an angel of the Lord crying aloud, for God’s sake and for your own sake, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy;” and I can hear the infatuated worms reply, “Onward, onward, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?” Shall I speak to you of whoredom? There are eighty thousand public prostitutes within the precincts of this wicked city, and who can count the number of the secret ones?
Drunkenness, dishonesty, swearing and lying, and every kind and manner of abomination have uncontrolled license; and there is not a street, lane, or neighborhood, that has not a polluted moral atmosphere. This, my hearers, is but a slight etching of our Christian city, of our improving world, of the wicked harlot with which the Gentile churches have been shaking hands, nay, committing open whoredom, for fifteen hundred years.
Tell me not, by way of palliation, that the persecuting spirit of the world is gone. There is no Christ in the churches to persecute. And as to the individual Christian, there is too little of the image of Christ, and of the power of Christ there, to excite either the jealousy of Satan, or the malice of the world. Be assured, my dear hearers, whatever Christians of Satan’s making may say to the contrary, a God-despising, Christ-rejecting, Spirit-resisting world, doth not lack malice towards Christ and his followers. Let any minister of Christ fully take his Master’s ground; let him begin at the palace, and coming down through the members of the administration, the Houses of Parliament, the bishops’ stalls, and the chairs of justice; let him tell every man, plainly and honestly what he is, what he is doing, and where he is going, and you will soon see the arm of the law stretched out against him. And let the efforts of this faithful minister be zealously backed by a few equally bold and resolute denouncers of iniquity, let one fair stand be made for Christ and for God, and you will quickly behold the fires of Smithfield rekindled, or some other more civilized invention in active operation, to rid the land from troublesome, soul-alarming, and Satan-disturbing disciples of Christ.
But why should I keep my eye and yours so long fixed upon the world? Did not the first glance satisfy you all that it was ripe for destruction? It is true, God is a long-suffering and merciful God; but what can he do, that he has not already done? And after having done everything that was consistent with his own nature, and with man’s position as a probationer for eternity, for the church’s reformation, and the world’s salvation, it were directly libeling God to say he has not done so. And after having done all this in vain, as far as either the reformation of the one or the salvation of the other is concerned, a lengthening out of the day of mercy would, in my estimation, be most unmerciful. I see it to be just a crowding of hell with daily increasing victims, and a seven-fold heating of its flames, by hourly despised privileges. Because I love mercy and pity the sinner, my continual cry, is, Lord, come speedily to judgment! Because I feel for God’s insulted honor, I cry, Lord, come to judgment! And because I know the penalty of continuing to resist the Spirit, and to trample upon the blood of the Lamb, I must cry, Lord, come quickly to judgment. And I am as sure as that there is a merciful God in the heavens, that he is hastening on the day of the wicked’s destruction; and as soon as this, his purpose, can be accomplished, it will be accomplished.
Woe, woe, woe to the Bible-despising, gospel-hardened inhabitants of this land; for assuredly the fearful day of retribution, the terrible day of God’s reckoning, with this worse than heathenish people, is nigh at hand. Sinners of Great Britain, depend upon it, the last offer of mercy and salvation is being made to you—your last day of grace is hastening to its close. I look upon it, that you are placed as a nation in precisely the same situation as the Jews were, when Jesus Christ, weeping over Jerusalem, cried aloud, in the anguish of his soul, Oh! that thou, at least, that thou, hadst known the things that belong unto thy peace; but now—and the sentence is irrevocable—now they are forever hid from thine eyes. Notwithstanding the awful sentence, Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to begin the preaching of the gospel at Jerusalem—and why? simply because, though the national doom was fixed, individuals might, even at the last hour, be induced to accept a Saviour. Apostate churches of Christendom, the measure of your iniquity is full. Godless, Christless world, your destiny is fixed; your destruction is inevitable, but shall I not begin at Jerusalem? Oh! that in these last days God would give me energy of body and of mind, and the mighty power of his Spirit, to warn the individual sinner with effect; that some might yet escape for their lives, and take refuge from the coming calamity, in the hitherto despised, but still outstretched arms of their Saviour.
ADDRESS TO THE MINISTERS OF CHRIST.
Ministers of Christ, and ye men of God, who are scattered throughout the churches, suffer the word of exhortation. What have you to do with doctrinal squabbles, the secularizing policy, and the party interests of existing churches? If you be, indeed, men of God, spiritual men, you must long ago have been tired of their mud, and their filth, and their shallows. I entreat you, in God’s name, and for Christ’s sake put away your apathy, and awake from your slumbers. Come out from among them, lest ye become partakers of their plagues. The cry is raised, Behold the Bridegroom cometh! As you value your souls, disobey not the command; but go ye forth to meet him. ’Tis vain to imagine that by remaining where you are you may still be a leaven for good. The Churchman will remain a Churchman, the Independent an Independent, and the Methodist a mere Methodist, in spite of you; mother’s children are they all. They do not bear the image of the heavenly, and I am satisfied, as regards the great bulk of them, the Father never begot them. The little zeal that they have hath self for its spring, and party aggrandizement for its object; and either self-interest or self-exaltation constitutes the bond of this union. If ever they knew anything of God individually, I am afraid the most of them died in the weaning, when the sensible comfort, the milk that God hath provided for the babes in Christ, was withdrawn, because they had been long enough babes; they would not learn to feed upon the word; they would not take to the flesh and to the blood of Christ; and, consequently, that which was given them hath been taken away from them. The preaching gift and the praying gift—yea, and part of the decently living gift, may remain; and because they must have peace, and joy, Satan will take care that they are furnished with both. But as to the life of God, and the image of Christ, they are scarcely anywhere to be found. Men of God, can you make the members of your several churches sensible of their state? Can you convince them of their delusion by remaining among them? Never. Will such men unite with you in hastening on the coming of the Lord? Will they mourn with you over the apostasy of the churches? Will they weep with you, will they cry with you for all the abominations that are existing in the world? O, no. You will uniformly find them on the side of the scoffer, and they will tell you, We are doing well—we are increasing in goods, we are triumphing, we are reigning, and what care we for the promise of his coming? Men and brethren, from this moment come out from among them, and be ye like unto them who are waiting for the return of their Lord. Bear your testimony boldly and openly against them, and thus you may succeed in alarming some of them. You are injuring them, you are hindering the work of Christ, you are weakening one another’s hands, by continuing in your present position. Oh! may the spirit of Elijah, who must come, and of John the Baptist, be given unto you. Let your loins, like theirs, be girded about. Let your lights burn where they may be seen, and let your united cry awaken both the slumberer and the sleeper. “Prepare to meet thy God.”
I have a conviction on my mind that it is God’s purpose that yet once more the note of alarm shall be sounded throughout these realms, and that this last trumpet will, under God, either have the effect of hardening or saving the sinner. I clearly see that both processes have already commenced under my own ministry, and if you, my fellow-laborers, will only be faithful, and in your several spheres and stations stand out boldly for God, the harvest of this land will soon be ripe. I feel as if death or life was in every word; and every time I make the inquiry, Watchman, what of the night? the answer cometh, with increasing thrill to my soul, The morning cometh, and also the night. And, oh, may every soul now before me tremble at the voice of the Spirit, and take the prophetical warning in time, make haste—return—come! Ministers of Christ! Men of God! to your knees for oil, to your Bible for light. Away with every trapping of worldly policy. Strip your party-colored robes of Satan’s weaving. Take to your locusts and wild honey. Have done with the poisonous dishes of man’s providing. Strengthen your loins as with a girdle, with the promise of his coming, with the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the great God and your Saviour, and let your voice be a united voice—the voice of one crying in the midst of this wilderness of apostasy, blasphemy, ignorance, pollution, and sin—“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Thus will you be “like unto men that wait for their Lord;” and take the promise for your comfort, “When he cometh and shall find you thus watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make you sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve you.” Amen.
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR ?
Thy neighbor ? It is he whom thou
Hast power to aid and bless ;
Whose aching heart or burning brows
Thy soothing hand may press.
Thy neighbor ? ’Tis the fainting poor
Whose eye with want is dim,
Whom hunger sends from door to door—
Go thou and succor him !
Thy neighbor ? ’Tis that weary man
Whose years are at the brim ;
Bent low with sickness, care and pain—
Go thou and comfort him !
Thy neighbor ? ’Tis the heart bereft
Of every earthly gem ;
Widow and orphan, helpless left—
Go thou and shelter them !
Whene’er thou meet’st a human form,
Less favored than thine own,
Remember ’tis thy neighbor worn,
Thy brother or thy son.
Oh, pass not, pass not heedless by !
Perhaps thou canst redeem
The breaking heart from misery—
Go share thy lot with him.
Personal and Visible.
The second advent of Christ will be personal and visible. This proposition is sustained by a large amount of testimony from the highest authority.
1. The Son of God himself, when addressing his disciples upon the subject of his second advent, pointed forward to the generation that should witness the signs of that event in the sun, moon, and stars, and said, “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory.” Matt. 24: 30. See also Mark 13: 26; 14: 62; Luke 21: 27; John 14: 3.
2. Holy angels at his ascension made a most definite and decisive declaration relative to his personal and visible second advent. When Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, his disciples looked steadfastly toward heaven to catch the last glimpse of their Lord as he was taken up from them. And as a cloud was receiving him from their sight, “behold, two men [angels] 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.” Acts 1: 10, 11. The doctrine of the personal and visible appearing of our divine Lord here rests upon the veracity of the two holy ones in white, who testified that the same Jesus would return from heaven, in like manner as he ascended up to heaven. And in agreement with these words of assurance are those of the Revelation: “Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him.” Rev. 1: 7.
3. Paul testifies to the personal and visible second advent of Christ in language not to be misunderstood. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the cloud, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. See also Titus 2: 3; 1 John 3: 4.
Destruction of the Wicked.
When the Lord shall appear the second time, sinners then living will be destroyed by fire, and the earth will be desolated. “And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day.” 2 Thess. 1 : 7—10. “And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” Chap. 2 : 8.
The man of sin, the papacy, is to be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s coming. And, at the same time, those that know not God, the heathen, and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, will perish under the vengeance of flaming fire that attends the revelation of the Son of God from heaven. When the heathen, the papists, and all others who do not obey the gospel of Christ, shall be destroyed, there cannot be one wicked person living.
Christ’s explanation of the parable of the tares of the field proves the destruction of all wicked men who shall be living at the time of his second coming. “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.” Matt. 13 : 38—42. That will be a clean work. When all things that offend, and they which do iniquity, shall be gathered out of the earth, there cannot be one sinner left in it.
The prophet describes the day of the destruction of the wicked, and the desolation of the earth, in these fearful words: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13 : 9. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” Chap. 24 : 1. “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” Verse 3.
The voice of the Lord proclaimed to the prophet the blindness and deafness of apostate Israel, which led him, in anxiety and anguish of spirit, to cry, “Lord, how long?” And the Lord answered, “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.” Isa. 6 : 11.
God speaks by the weeping prophet. The terrors of the day of the coming of the Son of man are portrayed in most fearful words. In the general slaughter there will be no escape for wicked men, though their profession be as high as Heaven. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished: and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.” Jer. 25 : 32—35.
Isaiah is carried forward in prophetic vision to the point of time just prior to the general desolation, and describes the state of things when false professors shall be aroused to their lost condition. “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?” Isa. 33 : 10—14.
Again the Lord hath spoken by another prophet: “I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.” Zeph. 1 : 2, 3. “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Verses 14—18. “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” Chap. 3 : 8.
Prominent and Important.
The second coming of Christ is a subject of great importance to the church. This is evident from the amount of testimony relative to it, in connection with the resurrection of the just and the Judgment, found in both the Old and New Testaments. The inspired writers, in their threatenings against the ungodly, in their words of hope and encouragement for the saints, and in their exhortations to repentance and holy living, hold up the great fact of the second coming of the Son of man, as that which should alarm and arouse, and also comfort the people of God.
Before Adam passed from the stage of life, Enoch, the seventh in the line of his descendants, proclaimed this doctrine in the ears of the impenitent, “Behold,” said he, “the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14. And as we pass from book to book through the Bible, we find that the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, have made the same use of the doctrine; and in the very last book, John describes a coming day, when all classes and ranks of men, because they have not prepared for the coming of Christ, will call for rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the overwhelming glory of his presence, as he appears in the clouds of heaven. Rev. 6: 14–17.
Christ’s coming is also held prominently forth in the sacred writings, as the time when the righteous will be rewarded. “When the chief Shepherd shall appear,” says Peter, “ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Pet. 5: 4. And Paul looks forward to the day of Christ’s appearing as the time when not only he, but all who love the appearing of their Lord, shall receive the crown of righteousness which is laid up for such. 2 Tim. 4: 8.
Most frequently, however, is this great doctrine used as an incentive to repentance, watchfulness, prayer, and holy living. “Watch,” is the emphatic injunction of the Son of God in connection with the numerous declarations of his second coming in the gospels.
Paul exhorts to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,11and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2: 12, 13.
James says, “Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5: 8, 9.
Peter says, “But the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” I Pet. 4: 7. And again, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” 2 Pet. 3: 11, 12.
Such is the use which holy men, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have made of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. Have not they, therefore, lost the spirit of the gospel, who openly contend against so prominent and weighty and precious a doctrine, or who even pass it by in silence?
Ministers and popular professors may cast this doctrine aside as not essential to the Christian faith; nevertheless, it may be traced through the sacred Scriptures, as made prominent by prophets, Jesus, and apostles. The Bible dwells upon essentials. It does not deal in non-essentials. When the Lord in his word gave his people a rule of faith and practice, he was careful to leave the non-essentials all out. Hence, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine.” 2 Tim. 3: 16. And let all the people say, Amen!
THE SECOND ADVENT.
By Editor
MANNER, OBJECT, AND NEARNESS OF THE EVENT.
BY THE EDITOR.
TEXT: Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14: 1–3.
Jesus was soon to leave his disciples and ascend to the Father. And in his words of instruction and consolation he was preparing their minds for that event which would be a grief to them. His presence constituted their joy. His absence would be their sorrow. “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” Matt. 9: 15. The real friends of our Lord will ever desire his tangible presence. Worldly professors, whose affections are placed upon the things of this life, will enjoy his absence quite as well. And while a worldly church may treat with indifference, or reject, or even scoff at, the Bible doctrine of the soon return of the Lord, those who truly love their divine Master will receive the word relative to his coming with all gladness.
Our Lord was tenderly introducing to his disciples the subject of his ascent to Heaven. “Little children, yet a little while I am with you.” John 13: 33. “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” Verse 36. This statement caused distress and consternation in the minds of the disciples, and led Peter to say to his Lord, “Why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.” Verse 37. Then follow the comforting words of the text, assuring the sorrowing disciples that their Lord would come again, and receive them to himself. With such a faith and hope, the waiting church of Jesus Christ may well sing:—
“How bright the vision! Oh! how long
Shall this glad hour delay?
Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time,
And bring the welcome day.”
And while the church waits in joyous expectation of speedy deliverance, her Lord “saith, Surely, I come quickly,” to which the church responds, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Rev. 22: 20. The certainty of the second advent of Christ, the manner and object of his coming, and the nearness of the event, are points of thrilling interest to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will Appear.
He will appear the second time. Paul speaks directly upon this point: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9: 28. Again he says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2: 13. Another apostle testifies to this point thus: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3: 2.
Resurrection of the Just.
At the second coming of Christ, the voice of the Archangel will be heard, the righteous dead will be raised, and the living righteous will be changed to immortality. It is then that victory over death and the grave is triumphantly shouted by all who receive the gift of eternal life at the last trump. “Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15: 51—55.
Again the apostle sets forth the hope and joy of the true church of Jesus Christ in all ages, while passing through persecutions and great tribulation, and while her members have been falling under the power of death and the grave, in these consoling words: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [God brought Christ from the dead, and will also bring from the dead, with Christ, all the righteous dead.] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4: 13—18.
When this visible union of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall take place, then the church will be no more separated from her adorable Lord, but, with all the endowments of immortality, will ever be with him.
Absurd Application.
But the doctrine of the second appearing of Christ, made so very prominent in the Scriptures, is lost sight of by those who receive theories not found in the Scriptures. Thus the fulfillment of all the threatenings of God's word, relative to the approaching day of wrath, and the revelation of the Son of God in flaming fire, to destroy the inhabitants of the earth, as they were once destroyed by water, are put far into the distant future, if not completely lost sight of, by the unscriptural doctrine of the world's conversion and the temporal millennium.
The second personal appearing of Jesus Christ is most absurdly applied to several different things. Some teach that death is the second coming of Christ. This is not only a violation of plain Scripture declarations, but of the laws of language. There can be but a single second advent of Christ; while this misty sentiment has as many appearings of Jesus as there are deaths. The early disciples did not receive the idea that death was the second coming of Christ.
Peter, seeing the beloved John, “saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” John 21 : 21—23. So far were the disciples from holding that death was the second coming of Christ, that when they understood their Lord to intimate that John might remain until his return, they at once concluded that he would not die.
And what foggy theology is this, that makes death the second appearing of Christ! He is coming as the Life-giver, and the believer's best friend. Death is the life-taker, and man's last enemy. 1 Cor. 15 : 26. Christ is coming to give life to the just, and to “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Heb. 2 : 14. The devil has the power of death, and, in the providence of God, is permitted to send the barbed arrow even to the heart of the just, lay him low in death, and lock him in the tomb. But the Life-giver, having passed under the dominion of death, and having been gloriously raised from the embrace of the grave, triumphantly says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades, the grave] and of death.” Rev. 1 : 18. The devil holds the power of death. Christ holds the keys of death and the grave, and at his second appearing he will unlock the tombs of the just, break the power of death, their last enemy, and lead them forth to immortal and eternal scenes of glory.
Again, conversion is to be the second coming of Christ. Then there are as many second comings of Christ as there are conversions. There can be but one second appearing of Jesus Christ. And again, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit are said to be the second advent of Christ. Hence, men talk of the spiritual coming of Christ, and his spiritual reign for one thousand years. But here, also, they are involved in the difficulty of a plurality of second comings of Christ; for in this case they would have Christ appear at each gracious manifestation of the Holy Spirit. There can be but a single second advent of Christ.
The distinction between the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and the personal presence of Christ at his second appearing is made very plain in the Scriptures. Says Jesus, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter.” John 14 : 16. This language implies the distinct existence of more than one comforter. When Christ was with his people, he was their comforter. In his absence, the Father was to send another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth. During the absence of the Son, the Holy Spirit was to be his representative, and the comforter of his sorrowing people.
The facts in the case are distinctly stated in the following impressive words: “But now I go my way to Him that sent me.” “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16 : 5, 7, 8.
And again, the Shakers see the second appearing of Christ in the person of Ann Lee. And the Mormons see the fulfillment of the prophecies relative to the coming and kingdom of Christ in the gathering of “the latter-day saints.” And the spiritualists generally agree in saying, Lo, here is the second advent of Christ in the manifestations of spiritualism.
In the prophetic discourse of Matt. 24 and 25, covering the entire Christian age, our Lord, after speaking of the tribulation of the church under papal persecutions, says of our time: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matt. 24 : 23, 24. The word then in this passage points to a specific period of time when “Lo, here is Christ, and Lo, he is there,” would be heard. Our Lord here describes the spiritual deceptions of the present age. False christs arose not far from the first advent, to deceive the Jews in regard to that event (Matt. 24 : 5); likewise false christs and false prophets have arisen at this day to deceive the people on the subject of the second advent.
Dr. Henshaw, the late Bishop of Rhode Island, speaking of the doctrine of the temporal millennium, in his Treatise on the Second Advent (page 115), says:
“So far as we have been able to investigate its history, it was first advanced by the Rev. Dr. Whitby, the commentator, and afterwards advocated by Hammond, Hopkins, Scott, Dwight, Bogue, and others, and has been received without careful examination by the majority of evangelical divines in the present day. But we may safely challenge its advocates to produce one distinguished writer in its favor who lived before the commencement of the eighteenth century. If antiquity is to be considered as any test of truth, the advocates of the pre-millennial advent and personal reign of Christ with his saints upon the earth, need have no fears of the result of a comparison of authorities with the supporters of the opposite theory.”
And from the modern and popular error of the temporal millennium and the spiritual reign of Christ have grown those mystical applications by which the plainest declarations of Scripture relative to the second appearing of the Life-giver, are applied to death, to conversion, to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, to shakerism, to mormonism, and to spiritualism.