Dissertations on the prophecies relative to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Front matter

BT 885 .D833 1842 Duffield, George Dissertations on the prophecies ox gla hve ee

DISSERAFATIONS

~ , ON THE

Preface

Tue author of the following dissertations respectfully bespeaks the reader’s attention before he enters on their perusal. They are the substance of part ofa series of lectures delivered during the winter of 1841-2 to the people of his charge, and are now given to the public in compliance with the desire expressed by many to have them in some visible and permanent form.

He is aware that he needs the reader’s favor, so far at least as to dismiss the influence of preconceived opinions, and dispassionately to examine the subject presented in these pages. But he is satisfied, that the intrinsic merit of the subject, as well as its important bearing on personal interests, on Christian practice, on social welfare, and on the destinies of nations, will gain the reader’s attention sufficiently to examine the evidence presented whether these things are so.

The great question which forms the nucleus of the whole discussion, is one, and very simple, viz. Is the kingdom of heaven a new dispensation, to be introduced on earth by the visible personal coming of Jesus Christ ? or has it been commenced,and is it now in the progress of its expansion, through the influence of moral and political causes, and especially the preaching of the gospel, designed in the providence of God to overcome human corruption, to prostrate every system of superstition, idolatry, and oppression, and to mould society, to control the legislation, to effect changes in the organic laws or constitutions of nations, and to restore to the world the dominion of truth, peace, and righteousness, without any accession of miraculous agency ? The statesmen and politicians of the day will reason and speculate, intrigue and plan, and think that they descry, in the march of improvement, the increase of light, and the very posture of nations, the pledges that

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earth shall be redeemed, and liberty, virtue, science, and intellizence bless the human race. ‘The experience of the past presents but a sad, sad retrospect; and little, very little to afford a ground of hope for the future. What right have we to conclude, that as a people we have attained to superior knowledge and purity, and possess such superior skill in selfgovernment, and such perfect social and political institutions, that we must certainly escape the disasters and ruin which have befallen the highly civilized and refined nations of antiquity. It is the dictate of wisdom to suspect the suggestions of self-flattery when they thus come athwart the experience of the world. Nor should we be blind to the numerous proofs apparent, that some cementing and consolidating principles are yet wanting to give permanence and perpetuity to our institutions.

The Christian will betake himself to the word of God as to his guide, when he attempts to forecast the political destinies of the nations of the earth. No book can be found so full of general politics, so replete with valuable instruction, and so essential to the right understanding of the means, securities, and very elements of national prosperity, as the Bible. ft unravels a thousand perplexing mysteries in human government, and gives a clue to the profitable study and practical uses to be made of the great principles which mark the providence of God, and the development of the plans of Heaven. It is of infinite importance to him, that he should be familiar with this blessed Book, and have drunk deep of its spirit. Erroneous views entertained with regard to the general scheme of God’s providence, will not, and cannot fail to leave us ever at fault in understanding its particular eyolutions.

The writer of these dissertations looks to the ‘‘ more sure word of prophecy” as to the best and safest guide for our researches into the future. God, who sees the end from the beginning, and has laid his wise and holy plans in full view of all contingencies, and of all the various events that might arise, is prepared for every exigency, and has apprised us of the great crises which shall occur, as he unfolds his wondrous scheme. Nor has he. left us without sufficient means of

PREFACE. vil knowing and judging what is the grand design towards which ‘all his movements tend, and what shall be the great and glorious result in which they shall all ultimate. That, it will be admitted, by every student of the Bible, is Taz cominc anp KINGDOM oF Jesus Curist. ‘The first promise implied in the threat against the serpent, brings it into view; and the successive promises and dispensations of God have but enlarged, defined, and eclaircised the Christian’s legitimate hopes and expectations.

These things will scarcely be denied by any professed behever in the truth ‘and authority of the Sacred Scriptures. Yet great is the difference in the results which flow from the use and application of them. According as the church of God, considered as a spiritual society, visibly organized in this world, and destined to ascendant influence, may be regarded, will men’s views of the divine plans and providence take their character, and their estimate of divine procedures affecting it, be made. If we believe that the world is to be converted and blessed by the expansion of the church, and the gradual diffusion of her light, and means of moral influence :—if, in other words, the Gospel is destined to find its consummation entirely through the action of secondary causes, and the moral means, and social and spiritual influences, at present possessed, it is easy to perceive, that our ideas of the second coming of Christ, and of the great results designed by that Gospel, will and must be essentially different from what they would be, were we persuaded, that that coming is as literally to occur as did this first, and the present to be superseded by, and find its consummation in, a new and glorious state of things, as miraculously to be introduced as have been any and all the dispensations of his grace before it.

Whether that long-predicted and expected coming of Jesus Christ, and of the kingdom of Heaven, are matters of literal verity, according to the grammatical import of the expresgions, or analogically to be understood, and therefore to be interpreted altogether figuratively or spiritually, is a question of deep and wonderful bearing: nor is it to be slighted and sneered at, by any one professing to love and reverence the sacred oracles of God. It is vital to all our hopes, and forms

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the very warp and woof of all the-scriptural revelations on the subject. It be met; and will be candidly examined by every man ° loves the truth, and is unwilling to be swayed by the dogmas of others. The decision, we contend, must be had from the word of God itself. It seems reasonable, and is the very dictate of all simple and unsophisticated minds, that the ideas of those who indicted the Scriptures,— their notions of the things of which they wrote and spoke, and their rules and principles of interpretation,—should be respected by us. Weare not at liberty to assign different meanings to their words, and to understand them as teaching things of which they had no conception. Nor are we to take any part of their writings, and apply them to scenes and events which we may have excogitated; and pass it off as their description. ‘The same authority which dictated the oracles, in the first instance, must be appealed to, as interpreter of their meaning.

If words have changed their import, and A SPIRITUAL or analogical system has superseded A LITERAL, WE MUST BE DISTINCTLY APPRISED OF THE CHANGE. It is easy for us to excogitate for ourselves an import of expressions which shall eviscerate the sacred oracles.

This, it is thought, by some excellent and beloved brethren, is what the millenarian has done; while he, in his turn, believes that the spiritualist is the aggressor heres. The most common and plausible objection against the millenarians’ literal interpretation of prophecy, grows out of an assumption of certain things, which must be Proven, before they can be employed as the key to unlock its meaning. The conversion of the world, by means of present appliances and instrumentalities, increased in number and power,—and the universal and ascendant influence of Christianity, as a system of moral and religious truth, at present known and understood amid discordant philosophical and ecclesiastical sects, and expounded by different theologians and metaphysicians,—are points assumed, from which motives to exertion are drawn, and attempts made to urge the Christian community forward in ceeds of Missionary daring and benevolent activity. Too much activity and benevolent expenditure cannot be made, for the accomplishment of the great end, which God designs by his os a *

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Gospel. Nor should we ever look indifferently on, or willingly and unnecessarily throw away, the motives by which the Christian church may be stimulated to action, in obedience to the command of Jesus Christ, to go and “ teach all nations,” to evangelize all nations, and to preach his Gospel to every creature.

But it certainly may be suggested, and is worthy of the gravest consideration, whether we may not appeal to and employ a class of motives, which neither the word nor providence of God will justify. The hope of success, it is correctly urged by Mr. Harris,* is an essential element of activity, and if this be gone, and we are to believe that the world is not to be evangelized by the noiseless and gradually augmented instrumentality of the Christian church, accompanied by the energizing influence of the Holy Spirit, at least one powerful class of motives will be rendered unavailable or inoperative. He has made an issue between those who believe in the instrumentality of man, as designed of God, for the conversion of the world, and for the consummation of the Gospel scheme, and of those whose views in prophecy lead them to look for a fearful and solemn crisis, to be signalized by the personal coming of Jesus Christ for the introduction and establishment of his kingdom, on the ruins of existing nations hostile to his supremacy. He admits, that many, who adopt the latter view, are not only friendly to Missionary enterprise, but profess to derive from it motives to increased diligence in the cause of God: and he bears very honorable testimony to their piety, and to the fact, that some of them “ number among the liberal and active supporters of our religious institutions.” But he allows himself,—certainly by no means conformably with the Christian rule, or the Christian spirit,—to “suspect that in many of such instances, we are indebted for what they do, rather to the very natural desire of recommending their peculiar views to others, than to the views themselves,—that their conduct is in this respect better than their creed,—that it is the triumph of their piety over their opinions,’’—and that whatever of Missionary zeal and benevolent activity they now evince, is to be referred rather to the influence of principles

* See his Great Commission, p. 135.

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which date anterior to their peculiar views of prophecy. The warrant he adduces for these suspicions and fears, will apply with equal force to many who adopt his own views, among whom, as numerous instances may be found, of those, who, at one period of their history, “did run well,’’ but who have subsequently become as inactive in reference to the diffusion of the Gospel, as if a prophet had been deputed to say to them, “your strength is to sit still.”

Such impeachment of motive is not allowable. It is the ARGUMENTUM AD INVrIDIAM, and is totally unfounded, if not suggested by ignorance of the views condemned, and of their legitimate bearing on Christian practice.

Suppose that a man believes the world is to be gradually brought under the dominion of the Gospel, by the present instrumentalities employed. The prospect of success, it is true, will quicken effort, and induce liberality, just in proportion as his benevolence expands, and he longs for the welfare of the human race. But it is necessary, for the activity and efficiency of that motive, to keep him always advised of measurable success, and stimulated by bright and glowing pictures of the future. When disappointment, disasters, and defeat occur; as they often do, what then is the resource? nothing is left, but to fall back upon the promise of God, which presents the arm of Omnipotence, the faithfulness of Jehovah, for our sure reliance, and hope of ultimate victory. Who does not see that, in having recourse to such sources of hope and consolation, we must be sure that we understand the import of the promise, and know the mind of God expressed in it? Imagination may electrify; but it is not for one moment to be admitted as the expounder of God’s word and promises.

As long as he can be kept stimulated, and his passions thus be fired, “he may be roused to action. But the electric fires die—a morbid state of mind and heart ensues upon the excessive use of stimulants, applied to men’s fancies and passions. It is only as we can fall back on fixed and stable principles, that we can look for continuous, increasing and devoted action, Those principles can never be found, but in intelligent and believing views of God’s own mind and will. Our benevolence and action must embrace the objects, and take the

PREFACE. Xi direction, and be with the design, of God’s own, to be truly successful and permanently efficient. It would be just as legitimate here to suspect, were it proper-so to do, that much of the fickleness and spasmodic action of many friends of Missions, who avow their expectation of the world’s conversion by such instrumentality, may be referred to such causes. Suppose, now, on the other hand, thata man believes in the approaching speedy personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to destroy the guilty nations of the earth by positive acts of retributive violence, to raise the bodies of his dead saints, to quicken the living, and to establish the kingdom of Heaven in their joint dominion, and that in the mean time, he will have his gospel preached as a witness to all nations, that he may visit the Gentiles, and take out of them a people for the glory of his own name,—with what peculiar emotions, and invincible energy, will he address himself to the great design and business of his Christian life? He looks upon the kingdoms of this world as being under the dominion of “ the god of this world,” “ the great enemy and avenger,” that foe of Jesus Christ, the old ‘roaring lion” which goeth about seeking whom he may devour. The kingdom of Heaven, he is persuaded, is designed to supersede this accursed dominion, and to fill the earth with joy and blessedness. Its honors, and privileges, and rewards, as administered by the subordinate agency of the saints, he believes can only be attained by the contempt of this world’s wealth and greatness, power and glory, and by a life of suffering, devoted, and faithful attachment unto Jesus Christ. He may, indeed, in common with others, be blinded by a false philosophy, which will not permit him to make a right estimate of human agency, obligation, and instrumentality, in carrying on the designs of God. In this respect, he is, however, no otherwise affected than are multitudes, who do not believe in the personal, visible appearance of Christ, to introduce the reign of Heaven. Whatever inaction and indifference to the Missionary enterprise he may evince, must be referred to his system of philosophy, not to his faith in this matter. With right views of human obligation and instrumentality, and with intelligent views of the great scheme of providence, of which the coming and kingdom of Christ form

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the grand result, he will find in his millenarian faith, not only -a solace in the midst of sorrows, distresses, and disappointments, but an incentive to ever-active effort in bearing testimony to the glory of his Saviour, and in swelling the triumphs of his heavenly kingdom.

He is met, at the very moment of enlisting in the service of Christ, by a solemn question—whether to renounce his hopes and prospects, his pleasures and plans, so far as they stand connected with the kingdoms of this world, and are inspired by the promises of earth, to cast in his lot, for time and eternity, with the people of God, and to prefer the reproach of Christ to the treasuresof Egypt. Till this question is decided, and with all his heart and soul he gives himself to Jesus Christ, he is none of his. There canbe noneutrality here. Indifference and lukewarmness—an attempt to reconcile God and Mammon, Christ and Belial—will only cause him to be spewed out of the mouth of Christ, and to have his name blotted out of the book of life. It is “to him that overcometh,” and to him alone, that the promise will be verified, that Christ will give him “to sit down with him on his throne, as he hath sat down with the Father on his throne. He feels that.as enters on the service of Christ, he enlists as a soldier, ae Tie a warfare, and that both the service and the war are for life. He is not dazzled by great and brilliant prosp of sharing with the world in its honors, and enriching heey elf by. its spoils. He knows that victory is certain, and that nothing can more effectually promote his honor, and swell his share in the triumphs of the Great Captain of salvation, than to fall a sacrifice, as he did himself. He looks not on the governments of the earth, expecting them to be grasped, and under this dispensation subjected to the supremacy of Jesus Christ, but knows that they are under the influence and direction of intrigue and duplicity, of falsehood and treachery, of selfishness and corruption ;—fit illustrations of his character, who has usurped the dominion of earth, and claimed its kingdoms as his own. He is thus fortified against their seductive influence.

‘Tf, in the providence of God, he is called to take a part, and to share in the obligations devolving on those who administer that rule which God has made essential to the welfare and

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PREFACE, XU existence of society, he is reminded of an authority superior to that of man, and of the necessity of keeping a conscience void of offence towards both» He is a witness for Christ, let him be where he may or do what he will. Having made his choice, and preferred the glory.of the heavenly kingdom to that of the kingdoms of this world, he is willing, if needs be, to seal his testimony with his blood, knowing that this will increase the brilliancy of his crown. Firmness, decision, uncompromising fidelity and attachment to Jesus Christ, are promoted by the views he takes, not of the blending, but of the contrast, of Christ’s kingdom with those of this world. Believing that in the present dispensation of his grace, his Lord and Master is calling out a people from the Gentiles for his own glory, and preparing the whole elect company of his priests and kings, who are to share with him in the triumphs of his dominion; feeling the oligation of his Master’s command to preach ihe good uews of his kingdom to every creature, and to enlist recruits in his service; and not being paralyzed by a false philosophy relative to human agency, which has long pervaded the church, irrespective of millenarian views, he becomes, in fact, a Missionary, wherever he is and wherever he goes, telling of the doom of a guilty world, of the authority, glory, and claims of the Saviour, and of his grace and promises of pardon and blessedness to all that will come to him,

His story is very § imple. His testimony is full, and it strikes as” directly against the intrigue, selfishness, violence, and oppression of the haughty potentates of earth, ‘aate does against the ambition, cupidities, and lusts of individuals. The native influence of his faith in this wondrous matter, is to disencumber him from earth, to relieve him of a thousand embarrassments, to fortify him against the ensnarements and fascinations of a world that lieth in wickedness, to enkindle his zeal and devotion to Christ and his cause, to direct him to the source of all inspiring influences, and to the treasures of wisdom and strength laid up for him in Jesus Christ. He is not to be excited and stimulated by the prospect of immediate and speedy or partial success, nor in danger of intriguing with princes, and rulers, and nobles of the earth, to secure the temporary triumph: of Christianity. He falls back upon the re-

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sources of his Saviour. He knows the end to be secured. Every sinner saved is a soul added to the number of the ‘heavenly kingdom. He works in detail, and whether in the full tide of the Spirit’s gracious influences, or in seasons of rebuke and blasphemy, of disappointment and disaster, he feels that the march is steady and onward, and that the triumph is to be hastened by the delivering of his testimeny, in common with the whole company of the faithful, and the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world.

Thus did the apostles feel and act. Thus, too, did the primitive Christians, There was a simplicity, a moral sublimity of character, a transparency of principle, which kept them unharmed by the polluting influence of governmental intrigues, and ever true and faithful to their suffering and erucified Redeemer. To him they looked, and not to kings, and courts, and cabinets, for the success and triumph of their cause. Nor was it till the church construed’ herself into the kingdom of Christ on earth, the hierarchy rose, and governmental powers were claimed as best adapted to promote the Saviour’s cause,—till reliance was placed more upon an arm of flesh than upon the grace and omnipotence of Jesus Christ and the influence of his Spirit, that the work of Missions became almost exclusively that of the officers of the church, and the object of Missions, not so much the conversion of souls, as the subjugation of dominions to her authority. - There is no want of powerful motive to Christian activity, and to Missionary enterptise, in the millenarian faith. It exalts Christ, lifts the heart high as Heaven, and fires with the prospect of entering into the joy of our Lord, of living and reigning with him, if so be that we suffer with him ; and thus reconciles us to toil and sorrow—nay, vives us a complacency in these very things, and helps us, as Paul did, to glory in tribulation, ‘

It is ungenerous, and we feel it to be especially unkind to attempt to charge a faith so fertile in motive, with an ineffi-” ciency that might have been referred, legitimately, to other causes than to millenarianism, even to those which have more or less for centuries paralyzed the church, and which still affect the minds of many, whether believing or not in the pre-millenial advent of Christ.

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The author of the following pages has deemed these re marks necessary, to bespeak a candid attention to the subject presented in them. He has not enlarged on the practical bearing of the millenarian faith, believing that it was unnecessary, and that the good sense and piety of professing Christians, under the guidance of God’s Spirit, will make the proper use of them, whenever and wherever they are seen and felt tobe the truth of God. He commends the work to the Christian public with much deference, and requests that the attention which the subject merits may be given, if not to these pages, certainly to their great and glorious theme. He offers no apologies for the imperfections which must necessarily mark a performance, prepared in the midst of extended pastoral care and labors, and with but limited means of access to the works of the learned, and especially those which are but rarely to be met with, except in large public libraries. The candid and discerning reader will make all due allowance.

The course of lectures, of which the dissertations are the substance, comprised a wider range, embracing, as well the objects or designs, as the reality of the Saviour’s personal and. preanillenial coming. The author has thought it proper to preserve the unity of the work, by confining attention to the latter. Many and very interesting details, in the exposition of prophecy, have, by this course, been excluded. But should the providence oi God indicate it, they may at some future day be given to 9 the public.

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DISSERTATIONS

PRO PHWE'C PES.

ON THE

Introduction

THE DUTY OF STUDYING THE PROPHECIES, AND THE OBJECTIONS COMMONLY URGED AGAINST IT. 7 . 4

Tue diligent and careful study of prophecy is highly commended in the Sacred Scriptures. Motives urging to it also are suggested; so that, whoever may practically undervalue the prophetical parts of the word of God, cannot, with any fair pretext, question either the obligation or the importance of their study. Yet have both been done. In commencing a series of disquisitions, therefore, designed to aid in the discharge of this duty, it becomes proper and necessary to illustrate and to enforce, to some extent, the obliga-| tions binding all to it. Its importance will be manifest, at every stage, in the progress of the investigations proposed.

10 THE DUTY OF ’

I. THE SAME OBLIGATION WHICH BINDS US TO THE STUDY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, ALSO BINDS US TO THE STUDY OF THE PROPHECIES THEY CONTAIN.

The blessed Redeemer has commanded us to “search the Scriptures.”* In having so done, He has enjoined something more than the loose casual reading of them, or the things which pass current with many for their study. It will not suffice, having brought into view this or the other doctrine, the notions of this or the other theological school or professor, to examine and collate the texts by which they may be proved: nor will it suffice to search for all the texts, by which this or the other system of theological truth, this or the other body of divinity, this or the other theory of religion, may have its general and particular parts or features confirmed. This is but studying the doctrines or opinions, the theories or systems, of man’s excogitation and arrangement.

Nor does the careful investigation of the creeds of different churches, and the adoption of that professed by the one to which we may belong, meet our obligations in this matter. It is not designed, either to disparage creeds, or to object to their legitimate use; but the study of any creed, or confession of faith, is not the study of the word of God. No man ever dreamed that he is studying Newton’s Principia, Cavallo’s Philosophy, Gibbon’s Rome, or Hume’s History of England, who does no more than consult the index, turn over their pages, and examine whether this or the other proposition or fact, previously stated, is contained in them. No more can he be said to study the Sacred Scriptures—no matter how diligent he may be in the use of his concordance—who merely collects and assorts his texts under different heads, and either makes his own, or adopts some other, system of theology. BEN AED

Nor can he be said to study the Scriptures, who consults this and the other commentator, and selects, from all their different commentaries, the opinions that strike him most favorably. A man may spend his life in this: way, and manufacture volumes of notes, and scholia, and expositions, and yet, all the time, have been but studying the writings and opinions of men on particular passages, without digging into the mexhaustible mines of truth which the word of God contains.

Nor can he be called a student of the Scriptures, who is always on the search for novelties and recondite meanings, and betrays an anxiety to differ from all that have gone before him, and to startle by the unexpected and extraordinary interpretation piven to plain and obvious passages. This is rather to affect a display of ingenuity, and to study to appear singular.

It behoves us to read the Scriptures attentively, carefully, and with a view to ascertain what they affirm; pondering the language, connection, arguments, and illustrations employed by the sacred writers, so as to ascertain, what ¢hey meant, and what they designed to teach. ‘The obligation to this will be denied by no protestant. But if such be our obligations “to search the Scriptures,” it is impossible for us to discharge them without the diligent and careful study of the prophecies, which form so large a portion of them. It is not a part only—not the New Testament merely—not the Gospels—but both Old and New—the entire word of God, that we are bound, according to our time, means, and opportunities, to investigate. Whoso denies his obligation to study