Conclusion
As we take up our pen to write
these closing paragraphs, we do so conscious that we have merely skimmed, here
and there, the surface of a vast ocean of truth. Though upwards of five hundred
Scriptures have been referred to in these pages yet, hundreds more could have
been cited in support of the positions which we have advanced.
An exhaustive classification and examination of all the passages which are
connected, directly or indirectly, with the subject of the Redeemer’s Return,
would necessitate many volumes rather than one. Our opponents greatly err who
suppose that pre-millennialism rests upon a few doubtful and obscure passages.
The texts upon which we rely are neither few nor ambiguous, and their testimony
is neither scanty nor uncertain. No other doctrine of
Scripture can produce a larger, more distinct and more vigorous testimony in
its favor. The Coming and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is a theme which
pervades the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is the central burden of
prophecy. It is the grand solution to the mystery of Divine Providence. It is
the one great hope of the Church, of Israel, and of
creation.
The personal return of the
Lord Jesus Christ to set up His Kingdom on the earth and reign over it in power
and glory is no novelty of a feverish age, no hasty conjecture caught up at
random without consideration and unsupported by reliable evidence.
It is no fable of romance, but sober, Scriptural reality, though far beyond
what fancy ever painted. It is no creation of a disordered mind, but the Golden
Milestone of Scripture to which all lines of prophecy are rapidly converging.
It is no pet theory of certain religious fanatics, but the approaching Climax of
all history. It is no mere dream of idealists, but the promised consummation
and glorious issue of all the confusion and change, the sin
and sorrow, the disease and death which have desolated the earth for six
thousand years. It is the divinely ordained Remedy for those deep and manifold
evils under which humanity now groans and which men are so earnestly, yet
vainly, seeking to cure.
Had we
followed the inclinations of our own heart, we should have devoted a chapter to
the history of Millenarianism. We might have quoted from the early Church
"fathers" and shown that during the first three centuries of the
Christian era it prevailed universally, its only opponents being the Gnostics.
We might have referred to the writings of the Reformers, and shown how they one
and all looked for the imminent coming of Christ. We might
have inserted citations from modern authors whose piety and scholarship are
unquestioned. But we had no desire to buttress our position by human authority
even of the most ancient and honorable mind. Let not our faith stand in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Unless our theses can he unequivocally
maintained from Holy Scripture, it were vain to call in
human witnesses however numerous or however venerable.
The saddest thing of all in
connection with our subject is that Christian theologians have divided into
opposite camps. And yet it need not surprise us that the Second Coming of
Christ is a controverted doctrine—what doctrine of Scripture is not? Nevertheless, it is the bounden duty of every lover of the
Lord’s appearing to pray earnestly that it may please God to lead out a greater
number of His children into the light, and that there may be a more harmonious
and united testimony borne to this most important of all truths. We fervently
trust that one result of our humble labors will be that many who read these
pages will go forth crying "Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh, go ye out to meet Him." That the masses will give neither heed nor
credit to the alarm is only to be expected. When Lot warned his sons-in-law of
the impending doom of Sodom "he seemed as one that mocked" (Gen.
19:14). When Israel’s prophets forewarned the nation of coming judgments, the
people clamored for those who would speak unto them "smooth things"
(Isa. 30:10). And when our Savior announced the destruction
of Jerusalem, His words fell upon ears which skepticism had closed. But,
notwithstanding, our duty is plain. Results belong unto God; our business is to
sound the alarm and "to exhort one another: and so much the more, as we
see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25).
Brethren,
the end of the Age is upon us. All over the world, reflecting minds are
discerning the fact that we are on the very eve of another of those
far-reaching crises which make the history of our race. Their sense of justice
tells them that the unbridled lust, the increasing oppression, the unparalleled
bloodshed, have defied Heaven long enough and that the Judge of all the earth
must soon rise in His wrath to make "a short work"
(Rom. 9:28) of it all. Those who look out on present conditions are forced to
conclude that the consummation of this dispensation is at hand. But it is only
they who give diligent heed to the study of the prophetic Word that have
"understanding of the times" (1 Chron. 12:32). Let the believer ask,
Watchman what of the night? and the infallible answer is, "The night
cometh"! And it never appeared so nigh. Everywhere the
shadows are gathering deeper and broader, lengthening out and falling with
ominous gloom all over the earth. The world’s night is at hand.
The sands in the hour glass of
this Day of Salvation have almost run out. The signs of the
Times demonstrate it. "But," it may be asked, "Have not other
ages, as well as the present, been crowded with signs of distress?" Undoubtedly.
We read, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that
which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the
sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been
already of old time" (Eccl. 1:9,10)! Many of the Signs
which now appear in the sky have been visible to former generations, yet,
today, they shine out more clearly and more prominently than ever before.
"But," it may be objected, "Have there not always been
pessimists who interpreted gloomily the events of their day? Have not others,
again and again, written in similar strain, only to be shamed and
discredited?" Be it so. But were they not wise men who
took the earliest alarm, even though their fears were not immediately realized!
They read evil in the Signs of their Times and gave utterance to their
convictions so that their fellow-men might be aroused; and surely that was not
folly. They unduly magnified the evil, and erred in their calculations, yet it
cannot be denied that their warning was beneficial in its results even though
it was premature. But today, the Signs are so plain they
cannot be mis-read, though the foolish may close their eyes and refuse to
examine them. What these Signs are we have shown at length in chapter six and
if the evidence there furnished has not convinced the reader that the Lord is
at hand, then there is little hope that any further arguments drawn from
Scripture will do so. Notwithstanding, we digress for a moment in order to call attention to one other Sign entirely different from
those previously mentioned. In Nahum 2:3, 4 we read, "The chariots shall
be with flaming torches in the day of His preparation, and the fir trees shall
be terribly shaken. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle
one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall
run like the lightnings." What an accurate description
of the conditions which now prevail in every city and along every public
high-way throughout the land! The enormous increase in the number of
automobiles, so that such a congestion of street traffic is produced it may
literally be said "They justle one against another in the broad
ways;" their glaring head-lights at night time when they appear as "flaming
torches;" and their high rate of speed so that they
"run like the lightnings," are here accurately depicted. What is to
be particularly noted is that this phenomenon is peculiar to this present
generation, and that we are expressly told it is to be a characteristic of
"The Day of His Preparation."
"But,"
it may be asked again, "Why is it that so few of our religious leaders and
teachers are heralding the approach of Christ?" The answer is, Because
many of them are blind themselves—"blind leaders of the blind." As
the Word declares, they are "ever learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim. 3:7). It is greatly to be feared that the
majority of our preachers are following the traditions of
the elders rather than studying the Scriptures for themselves. Their
prophetical views were formed under Seminary interpretations of eschatology and
the Seminaries, in turn, are committed to some system of theology, a system
formulated in most cases by men who lived centuries ago. While the Church is deeply
indebted, under God, to such men as Luther and Calvin, Wesley and Whitefield, yet, it must be borne in mind that they lived in
an age when Prophecy was almost entirely neglected. It was not until last
century that the Holy Spirit stirred up the people of God to the deep
importance of studying prophetic and dispensational truth: Previous to the
nineteenth century all teaching which had reference to the Second Coming of
Christ was, with very rare exceptions, merely traditional,
that is to say, it was nothing more than what had been handed down from one
generation to another, it was merely the reciting of the dreams of others who
had gone before. We say "the dreams," for after the Hope of the
Redeemer’s Return was lost—while the Bridegroom tarried—all the virgins
slumbered and slept, and while they slept they dreamed, and wild and weird were
their dreams. They dreamt that the Church was to conquer
the Devil and that the Gospel would win the world to Christ. This dream
captivated the minds of theologians of every shade of religious belief. Each
succeeding generation recounted this dream in still more glowing language,
until the climax was reached some four years ago. How much we heard of
religious progress, of the march of civilization, and of the "good time" that was coming! The horrible arts of war were to
be nothing more than humbling memories of the past. The labors of our
politicians and the activities of the Church would soon produce an era wherein
the universal rights of mankind were freely recognized, when tyranny and
injustice would be overthrown, and when culture and virtue would reign supreme.
Christian and secular philanthropists congratulated each
other in view of the Golden Age which their joint efforts were hastening on.
But the happenings of the last three years have rudely dissipated this dream.
The dreadful War has shown that much which went under the name of civilization
was nothing but veneered barbarism. The battle fields of Europe bear witness to
the fact that the optimistic and jubilant spirit which possessed our church leaders a few years ago was nothing more than Laodicean
self-complacency, saying "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing," when in reality Christendom was "wretched, and
miserable and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17). The blood-soaked
earth of today exposes the utter vanity of the delusive hope cherished by the
post-millenarians and gives fulfillment to God’s Word which declares
"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them" (1 Thess. 5:3).
Unless men had been strangely
blinded, the analogy, of the past ought to have corrected the blind optimism of
which we have just spoken. Every previous dispensation has
ended in human failure and Divine judgment! The Edenic dispensation saw the
fall of man and his expulsion from the garden of Eden. At the close of the
Noahic dispensation "God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was
corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto
Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with
violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them
with the earth" (Gen. 6:12,13). The Patriarchal dispensation, when the
sword of the magistrate was committed into the hands of man, witnessed the
revolt and overthrow of the Tower of Babel and the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah by fire from heaven. The Abrahamic dispensation ended with the people
of God in the iron furnace of Egypt and with the overthrow
of Pharaoh and his hosts at the Red Sea. The dispensation of the Wilderness
wanderings terminated with the disobedience and death of Moses. The
dispensation of the Judges closed with "every man doing that which was
right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). The dispensation of the kings ended
with God selling His apostate people into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The
dispensation of the Divine Incarnation closed with the
crucifixion of the Lord of Glory. Why then should this dispensation prove an
exception to the general rule? Why is it that men are so loath to acknowledge
that under man’s pilotage everything drifts to shipwreck? Why, except for the
pride of the human heart! According to the inspired declarations of Holy Writ,
this dispensation, so far from closing like a brilliant sunset in a sky from which every cloud shall have passed away, will expire in a
storm-burst of Divine fury, in which the brightest hopes of the flesh will
perish like cobwebs in a flame.
Unspeakably sad have been, and
still are, the pernicious effects of the post-millennial teaching. Instead of
listening to the voice of Divine truth many of the professed
followers of the Lamb have heeded the siren voices of the earth which have
drawn them into entangling alliances with the world, deceiving them as to their
prospects here and persuading them to substitute carnal policy for spiritual
energy and time-serving expediencies for sell-denying faith. O that the
children of God would hold themselves aloof from the world’s plans of social
amelioration and political aggrandizement, and take up
their cross and follow their despised and repotted Lord, remembering that
"the friendship of the world is enmity with God" (Jam. 4:4). Christ
has not left His Church here to "make the world a better world for the.
natural man to live in, nor to make the natural man a better man to live in the
world" (Haldeman). No; Christ has left His Church here to preach a Gospel which shall result in the formation of a new man, a
"perfect man" made meet to live in the world to come. So far as this
world is concerned, nothing awaits it but Divine judgment. Men may busy
themselves with their own plans and think to evolve a lasting good and peace
out of the present confusion and strife, but their hope of setting the world
right is built upon the sand. Yet, as we have seen, there will shortly be manifested a pseudo Prince of Peace who will inaugurate a
false millennium and thus deceive the whole world. This Imposter will gain the
confidence of and obtain dominion over all Christendom. Nor should this strike
us as incredible or impossible. History records how in a few short years a
young lieutenant rose out of comparative obscurity and had Europe at his feet,
and in Napoleon Bonaparte we have a foreshadowing of what
is yet going to be when God’s time is ripe.
"But ye, brethren, are
not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" (1 Thess.
5:4). No; the things which are hidden from the wise and prudent are revealed to
babes in Christ. As the humble believer marks with what readiness educated people accept the most absurd crudities offered to
them in the name of religion; as he observes on every side, thrones and
republics creaking and crumbling; as he gazes upon immorality which has come in
like a flood that is ever swelling and widening in its course; as he beholds
the increasing numbers of those who have a form of godliness but deny its
power; as he looks in vain for any deep sense of sin, for
courageous faith, for an unworldly walk, in the majority of those who bear the
name of Christ; as he takes knowledge of the despised Jew coming into
remembrance, and the nations of the earth taking more and more notice of this
strange people; as he hears men of the world, who pay no heed to the Word of
God, acknowledging that present conditions cannot continue much longer, and
predicting that a momentous crisis is at hand; and, as he
is painfully conscious that there is much to show that the Holy Spirit has
already begun to retire from the earth,—he lifts up his head, knowing that his
redemption is nigh at hand, yea, that the Redeemer Himself is at the door.
At the
door! What a prospect! To look at the present frailty, suffering, and groaning
of our vile bodies, and then to anticipate the moment when they shall be
fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body; to read the histories and
biographies of the apostles, of the early Christian martyrs, of the spiritual
giants of the Reformation, of the choicest saints of the ages, and then to
anticipate the time when we shall meet them, converse with
them, and gather together around our blessed Lord; to anticipate that glad hour
when everlasting joy shall be upon our heads and when sorrow and sighing shall
flee away; When the joy of meeting shall be spoiled by no fear of separation,
and the beauty of holiness shall be defiled by no stain of sin—this is a hope
which may well endure all trials and stay the heart in these days of tragedy and anguish. Amidst the increasing darkness and gathering
storms of these last days, we do not stand bewildered and dejected. But, with
the blessed promise "Surely, I come quickly" ringing in our ears,
love responds, "Come out of Thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings
of the earth; put on the robes of Thy imperial majesty; reach forth Thy hand
and grasp the scepter of universal sovereignty, for the
voice of Thy Church calls for Thee, and all creation sighs to be renewed."
"The dawn of day is
breaking,
Behold! it streaks the sky,
And hearts for Him are waking,
Soon! Soon! in brightness
beaming,
"The day-star" shall
appear,
With glory round Him
streaming,
To see the One we love;
Our feet are pressing forward,
To tread those courts above;
Our hearts do leap with
pleasure,
When love, beyond all measure,
Shall beckon us away.
There "face to
face," beholding
His glory all unfolding
Before each raptured eye,
With nothing there to hinder
But all to call forth wonder,
There on His bosom resting,
Oh! deep and full repose,
No more a time of testing—
But there, in brightest glory,
To gaze upon His face,
And ever tell that story—
"The glory of His
grace."