Another important fact for the reader to seize is this, the church forms no part of the ways of G.o.d with Israel and the earth. The church does not belong to time, but to eternity. She is not earthly, but heavenly. She is called into existence during an unnoticed interval--a break or parenthesis consequent upon the cutting off of the Messiah.
To speak after the manner of men, if Israel had received the Messiah, then the seventy weeks or four hundred and ninety years would have been fulfilled; but Israel rejected her King, and G.o.d has retired to His place until they acknowledge their iniquity. He has suspended His public dealings with Israel and the earth, though most surely controlling all things by His providence, and keeping His eye upon the seed of Abraham, ever beloved for the fathers" sake.
Meanwhile He is calling out from Jews and Gentiles that body called the church, to be the companion of His Son in heavenly glory--to be thoroughly identified with Him in His present rejection from this earth, and to wait in holy patience for His glorious advent.
All this marks off the Christian"s position in the most definite manner possible. His portion and his prospects, too, are thus defined with equal clearness. It is vain to look into the prophetic page in order to find the church"s position, her calling, or her hope. They are not there. It is entirely out of place for the Christian to be occupied with dates and historic events, as though he were in anywise involved therein. No doubt, all these things have their proper place and their value, and their interest, as connected with G.o.d"s dealings with Israel and with the earth. But the Christian must never lose sight of the fact that he belongs to heaven, that he is inseparably linked with an earth-rejected, heaven-accepted Christ--that his life is hid with Christ in G.o.d--that it is his holy privilege to be looking out, daily and hourly, for the coming of his Lord. There is nothing to hinder the realization of that blissful hope at any moment. There is but one thing that causes the delay, and that is, "the long-suffering of our Lord, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"--precious words these for a lost and guilty world!
The salvation is _ready_ to be revealed; and G.o.d is _ready_ to judge.
There is nothing now to wait for but the gathering in of the last elect one, and then--oh! most blessed thought--our own dear and loving Saviour will come and receive us to Himself to be with Him where He is, and to go no more out forever.
Then when the church has gone to be with her Lord in the heavenly home, G.o.d will resume His public actings with Israel. They will be brought into great tribulation, during the week already referred to.
But at the close of that period of unexampled pressure and trial, their long-rejected Messiah will appear for their relief and deliverance. He will come forth as the rider on the white horse, accompanied by the heavenly saints. He will execute summary judgment upon His enemies, and take to Himself His great power and reign. The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. Satan shall be bound for a thousand years; and the whole universe shall repose beneath the blissful and benignant rule of the Prince of peace.
Finally, at the close of the thousand years, Satan shall be loosed, and permitted to make one more desperate effort--an effort issuing in his eternal defeat and consignment to the lake of fire, there to be tormented with the beast and the false prophet throughout the everlasting ages.
Then follows the resurrection and judgment of the wicked dead, and their consignment to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone--tremendous and appalling thought! No heart can conceive--no tongue can tell--the horrors of that lake of fire.
But hardly is there a moment to dwell upon the dark and awful picture, ere the unutterable glories of the new heavens and the new earth burst upon the vision of the soul; the holy city is seen descending from heaven, and these seraphic sounds fall upon the ear, "Behold, the tabernacle of G.o.d is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and G.o.d himself shall be with them, and be their G.o.d. And G.o.d shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are pa.s.sed away. And he that sat upon the throne, said, Behold I make all things new."
O beloved Christian reader, what scenes are before us! What grand realities! What brilliant moral glories! May we live in the light and power of these things! May we cherish that blessed hope of seeing the One who loved us and gave Himself for us--who would not enjoy His glory alone, but endured the wrath of G.o.d in order that He might link us with Himself, and share with us all His love and glory for ever.
Oh! to live for Christ and wait for His appearing!
High in the Father"s house above My mansion is prepared; There is the home, the rest I love, And there my bright reward.
With Him I love, in spotless white, In glory I shall shine; His blissful presence my delight, His love and glory mine.
All taint of sin shall be removed, All evil done away; And I shall dwell with G.o.d"s Beloved, Through G.o.d"s eternal day.
A FEW THOUGHTS
ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOLDING
PRE-MILLENNIAL DOCTRINE
AND
WAITING FOR THE SON
Rev. i. 5-7
In a day like the present, when knowledge on every question is so widely diffused, it is most needful to press upon the conscience of the Christian reader the vast distinction between merely holding the _doctrine_ of the Lord"s second coming and actually waiting for His appearing (1 Thess. i. 10). Many, alas! hold and, it may be, eloquently preach, the doctrine of a second advent who really do not know _the Person_ whose advent they profess to believe and preach.
This evil must be faithfully pointed out and dealt with. The present is an age of knowledge--of religious knowledge; but oh! my reader, knowledge is not life, knowledge is not power--knowledge will not deliver from sin, or Satan, from the world, from death, from h.e.l.l.
Knowledge, I mean, short of the knowledge of G.o.d in Christ. One may know a great deal of Scripture, a great deal of prophecy, a great deal of doctrine, and, all the while, be dead in trespa.s.ses and sins.
There is, however, one kind of knowledge which necessarily involves eternal life, and that is the knowledge of G.o.d, as He is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. "This is life eternal, to know thee the only true G.o.d, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (John xvii. 3).
Now, it is impossible to be living in the daily and hourly expectation of "the coming of the Son of Man," if the Son of Man be not experimentally known. I may take up the prophetic record, and by mere study, and the exercise of my intellectual faculties, discover the doctrine of the Lord"s second coming, and yet be totally ignorant of Christ, and living a life of entire alienation of heart from Him. How often has this been the case! How many have astonished us with their vast fund of prophetic knowledge--a fund acquired, it may be, by years of laborious research, and yet, in the end, proved themselves to have been displaying unhallowed light--light not acquired by prayerful waiting upon G.o.d! Surely the thought of this should deeply affect our hearts and solemnize our minds, and lead us to inquire whether or not we know the blessed Person who, again and again, announces Himself as about to "come quickly;" else, if we know Him not, we may find ourselves of the number of those addressed by the prophet in the following startling words:--"Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light? even very dark and no brightness in it?" (Amos v. 18-20).
The second chapter of Matthew furnishes us with a very striking ill.u.s.tration of the difference between mere prophetic knowledge and the knowledge of Christ--between the exercise of the intellect on the letter of Scripture, and the drawings of the Father to the Person of Christ. The wise men, manifestly led by the finger of G.o.d, were in true and earnest search of Christ, and they found Him. As to Scriptural knowledge, they could not, for a moment, have competed with the chief priests and scribes; yet what did the Scriptural knowledge of the latter do for them? Why, it rendered them efficient instruments for Herod, who called them together for the purpose of making use of their Biblical knowledge in his deadly opposition to G.o.d"s Anointed.
They were able to give him chapter and verse, as we say. But, my reader, while they were a.s.sisting Herod by their knowledge, the wise men were, by the drawings of the Father, making their way to Jesus.
Blessed contrast! How much happier to be a worshipper at the feet of Jesus, though with slender knowledge, than to be a learned scribe, with a heart cold, dead, and distant from that blessed One! How much better to have the heart full of lively affection for Christ than to have the intellect stored with the most accurate knowledge of the letter of Scripture! What is the melancholy characteristic of the present time? A wide diffusion of Scriptural knowledge with little love for Christ, and little devotedness to His work; abundant readiness to quote Scripture, like the scribes and chief priests, but little purpose of heart, like the wise men, to open the treasures and present to Christ the willing offerings of a heart filled by the sense of what He is. What we want is personal devotedness, and not the mere empty display of knowledge. It is not that we would undervalue Scriptural knowledge; G.o.d forbid, if that knowledge be found in connection with genuine discipleship. But if it be not, I ask, of what value is it? None whatever. The most extensive range of knowledge, if Christ be not its centre, will avail just nothing; yea, it will, in all probability, render us more efficient instruments in Satan"s hand for the furthering of his purposes of hostility to Christ. An ignorant man can do but little mischief; but a learned man, without Christ, can do a great deal.
The verses which stand at the head of this paper present to us the divine basis on which to found all Scriptural knowledge, more especially prophetic knowledge. Before any one can utter his hearty amen to the announcement, "Behold he cometh with clouds," he must, without any question, be able to join in the blessed burst of praise, "To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
The believer knows the One who is coming, because He has loved him, and washed him from his sins. The believer expects the everlasting Lover of his soul. The meek and lowly One who served, suffered, and was emptied down here, will speedily come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, and _all_ who know Him will welcome Him with glad hosannahs--they will be able to say, "This is the Lord, _we have waited for_ him, we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
But, alas! there are, it is to be feared, very many who hold and argue about the Lord"s coming who are not waiting for Him at all, who are living for themselves in the world, and "mind earthly things." How terrible to be found talking about the Lord"s coming, and yet, when He does come, _to be left behind_! Oh! my beloved reader, think of this; and if you are really conscious that you know not the Lord, then let me entreat of you to behold Him shedding His precious blood to wash you from your sins, and learn to confide in Him, to lean upon Him, to rejoice in Him, and IN HIM ALONE.
But if you can look up to heaven, and say, "Thank G.o.d, I do know Him, and I am waiting for Him," then let me remind you of what the apostle John says, as to the practical result of this blessed hope. "Every man that hath this hope _in him_, purifieth himself, even as _he_ is pure." Yes, this must ever be the result of waiting for the Son from heaven; but not at all so of the mere prophetic doctrine. Many of the most impure, profane and unG.o.dly characters, that have made their appearance in the world, have held, in theory, the second advent of Christ; but they were not _waiting for the Son_, and therefore they did not, and could not purify themselves. It is impossible that any one can be waiting for Christ"s appearing, and not make efforts after increased holiness, separation, and devotedness of heart: "Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that watcheth." Those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, and love His appearing, will daily seek to shake off everything contrary to their Master"s mind; they will seek to become more and more conformed to Him in all things. Men may hold the doctrine of the Lord"s coming, and yet grasp the world and the things thereof with great eagerness; but the true-hearted servant will ever keep his eye steadily fixed on his Master"s return, remembering His blessed words, "I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also" (John xiv. 3).
What a day will that be when the Saviour appears!
How welcome to those who have shared in His cross!
A crown incorruptible then will be theirs-- A rich compensation for suffering and loss.
C. H. M.