The second coming of Christ...

Preface

HE theme of this volume has occupied more or less of the thought of the Church ever since the Savior ascended to heaven, and will receive attention till he returns.

There are many reasons why it should be kept prominently before the people. It is within itself intensely interesting as well as important, and its relation to the doctrines of probation and future judgment and eternal retributions invests it with a grandeur and solemnity of transcendent impressiveness.

I have written, not because I wished to advance any strange- theory, nor because of any belief that light had been given me that others do not possess, but because of a conviction that a plain treatment of the subject at this time would be useful, and that such a

4 PREFACE.

grouping of thoughts as is here presented would prove helpful to some who need assistance.

My first intention was carefully to sift the sayings of others, and to support the material positions taken by the opinions of men eminent as exegetes and critics, so as to give the reader a digest of the literature of the subject; but it soon became evident that such a course would swell the volume beyond the limits I determined to observe, and the thought was abandoned and succeeded by a purpose to appeal only to the supreme authority — the Word of God.

My desire was to make the treatise expository, rather than controversial. In this respect I have not altogether succeeded. And yet it is hoped that the controversial spirit has not gained such an ascendency as to weaken the sense of obligation to deal fairly with opposing opinions.

In some instances I have ventured to depart

PREFACE. 5

from the expositions given by able men whose doctrinal positions substantially agree with my own. My reliance in such cases is upon the soundness of the arguments adduced. I have simply followed my own convictions, and endeavored to submit the subject to the the reader just as it lies in my own mind. Self-denial has been required to avoid making a larger book.

Hoping it may be the means of saving some from falling into erratic notions, and of confirming the wavering in the truth, and of stirring up in others a profounder sense of accountability to God in a coming day, I prayerfully send this volume forth upon its mission, bespeaking for it as much of candor in its perusal as has been observed in its preparation.

S. M. M.

Chicago, January, 1879.

Contents

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. Theories, • 9

II. Christ Coming in his Kingdom, . . 18

Chapter I. THEORIES

HE Second Coming of Christ is his coming into the sight of men on earth, so that his presence may be known and felt as sensibly as when he lived in Galilee or walked about in Judea. But it does not follow that he must again live on the earth, as a man, subject to the laws of human life, or again take part in the privations and sufferings, or the joys and pleasures, that make up the sum of human experience and of earthly discipline.

His Second Coming is for another purpose than that which once brought him into the sphere of our probational living. Then he came to meet the covenant obligations

IO

SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.

assumed in our behalf, with a view to our redemption, and the establishment of his spiritual reign, through which he purposed our elevation to the fellowship of the angels, and the blessedness of eternal life. Wheu he next comes it will be to finish the work begun in his humiliation, and to gather and display the results of his mediatorial reign, in the glorification of his people with himself, and in the vindication of his kinglyauthority by the punishment of his enemies.

His Second Coming is therefore to be a revelation of his personal glory, and of his oneness with the Father, and his royal prerogatives as King of kings and Lord of lords. In this revelation he will bring with him all the holy angels, and all his saints. His approach will be heralded by signs that can not deceive. Heaven and earth will feel the majesty of his presence, and respond to his call to witness his glory. The living will stand in awe. The dead will awake to life. Time will cease its flow. The great white throne will appear. And all the line of Adam's race will pass the judgment. It is "the day of the Lord."

THEORIES.

II

Such, in brief, is the theme we have in hand. Many theories have been devised for the purpose of explaining the method and purpose of this Second Advent. Those demanding most attention are put forth by pre- Millenarians and Universalists. The first take away much of the glory of the event by assuming that Christ will come to live on earth again — to reign, it is true, as a king, but upon the earth, and to wield an earthly scepter over the nations. The others, in their latest expoundings, reduce it to an indefinable " figurative" coming, which can neither be explained nor comprehended.

The history of pre-Millenarianism is an instructive study, showing how the habit of speculating upon unfulfilled prophecy, 'with a view to support a theory previously adopted, tends to fanaticism, and ultimately to skepticism. But this line of thought is not to be pursued. Many now advocate the theory who are happily free from the fanatical spirit, and whose devotion to evangelical doctrines is not called in question. There is, however, in their ranks an element by no means inconsiderable, that will require all the wisdom of

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the more cultured to restrain, so as to avoid the excesses so natural where religious enthusiasm links itself to a dogma so easily distorted.

The expositors of this theory insist upon the recognition of the Scriptures as the sole authority in matters of faith, and especially with reference to the future. In this we join with them cordially. They also lay down some canons of interpretation which are mainly correct, but need guarding in their application. We agree with them that the literal sense of the Scriptures is to be accepted when it does not lead to absurdities or contradictions, or to doctrines out of harmony with the general current of Biblical truth. By the literal sense is to be understood the natural meaning of the words and sentences grammatically construed. This does not exclude the proper interpretation of figurative language where there is a figure either expressed or implied. The literal sense, if we rightly apprehend the point, is the real meaning of the words — that meaning which the writer or speaker had in his mind, and put into the terms employed. In this sense we favor the literal interpretation of Scripture.

THEORIES.

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In addition to this, there is a species of warfare being waged against something called the spiritual sense, or the habit of spiritualizing the Scriptures which, while it is not to be condemned at wholesale, is to be carefully restrained from the extremes of its tendency. It is needful to condemn the practice of finding hidden meanings in passages that are plain and easily comprehended, for this has always been a fruitful source of error. It is also proper to hesitate to receive any doctrine that depends on the hidden or spiritual sense of the vScriptures, not found in the words, or supported by the inevitable meaning of the language. Thus far we agree with the literalists in opposition to the spiritual sense. But there are passages that relate to spiritual things. They literally mean spiritualities, and can not be understood if the spiritual meaning be discarded, for they have no other. We insist that in such cases the spiritual meaning shall be sought, and, when found, adhered to as rigidly as the literal sense in other cases. What we want is the meaning of the Scripture, be it literal, figurative, or purely spiritual.

The object of this opposition to spiritualizing is to prevent the application of prophetic language that speaks of the reign of the Messiah and the gathering and glory of Israel, to his mediatorial reign in heaven, and to the spiritual prosperity of the Church of Christ. But if such be the real meaning of the prophecies, that meaning is to be accepted, whether reached by a process of spiritualizing or not. And it is not improbable that a further reason for objecting to the spiritual sense of Scriptural terms, is found in the fact that some of the passages which speak of the coming of Christ are taken as indicating a spiritual coming, or manifestation in the heart. But dread of spiritualizing should not frighten us from the truth. For there is a spiritual coming of Christ, which is not only of intense interest to the believer, as he realizes it in spiritual communion with the Savior, but which is indispensable in the application of important facts and declarations in the sacred Word. Christ comes in his kingdom as really as in the clouds of heaven. He dwells in the heart by faith. The riches of the glory of^

THEORIES. I S

the mystery preached among the Gentiles is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Thus he manifests himself to his disciples as he does not to the world. The richest legacy the Church possesses is this spiritual presence of the Son of God.

The position of "liberalists " — Universalists always leading the way in Scriptural interpretations — is rather difficult to describe, because of its vagueness and uncertainty. It is mainly negative. Mr. Ballou took ground in opposition to the resurrection of the body, and denied the existence of sin or suffering after death, and found neither room nor use for a future advent of Christ, in his system. He assumed that sin belonged to the physical organism, and that death destroyed its source and being, and freed the soul from all its consequences and liabilities, so that salvation was the immediate and necessary result of separation from the body, which in death was abandoned to total destruction. With him the Second Coming was all figurative, and he located it on the day of Pentecost. But a species of materialism soon gained ascendency with his followers, so that in a few years the whole system was essentially changed. The leaders of thought among them assumed that both death and the resurrection affected man in his entire nature. This involved the soul-sleeping idea, and a future resurrection of the whole man. Then a personal advent of Christ was brought in to take place at the end of the Gospel age, to raise the dead, but not to judge the world. At that time the great thought of the system was salvation in the resurrection. Christ was to come and raise all the dead, and clothe them with immortality and holiness and eternal life. That theory took none' to heaven till the resurrection, and then it took all together. But this did not last. The Swedenborgian notion concerning the resurrection crept in and supplanted the doctrine of the resurrection of the body at the end of the world. And with this modification the materialistic conception of sin was largely given up. Then came an idea of probation, and of conditional salvation — sounding like evangelical truth, but extending the probation into the future, and making it a law for all worlds and all ages, and insisting that all

THEORIES.

will at some time comply with the conditions of life, and enter the kingdom of God. This is the form of Universalism that is now proposing to lead the Christian world into the light! It has no place for a Second Advent, as it denies the resurrection of the body and future judgment. It finds only the " figurative" coming, and places it at the destruction of Jerusalem, where Christ foretold that false Christs would appear, and false teachers would affirm his coming, and said to his followers in regard to all such assertions, " Believe it not."

We thus indicate the positions of the parties to the current discussion concerning the promised return of our Lord, so that the bearing of the argument can at any time be seen. We hold, first of all, to a spiritual coming, which completed the opening of the Gospel dispensation, and the establishment of the kingdom of God; and, also, to a personal coming in glory, at the end of the Gospel dispensation, to raise the dead, to judge the world, punish the wicked, reward the righteous, and to deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all.

Chapter II. CHRIST COMING IN HIS KINGDOM

WHEN John the Baptist began to preach in the wilderness of Judea, he said: ' ' Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Immediately after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness, " Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel." In this way the people were induced to expect that the kingdom of God was about to be established on the earth. Was the expectation thus created well founded? Did the kingdom of God appear?

That the expectation was created, and that the people did look for the coming of the kingdom of God, no one familiar with the Scriptures will deny. But some do deny

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that the kingdom has come. They tell us that its establishment on the earth belongs to the period of the Second Coming of Christ, and not to his first coming. This brings us face to face with serious questions. Both the character and design of the Gospel dispensation are involved, as well as the intent and purpose of the Second Advent. If the kingdom ot God has not come, how are Ave to explain the preaching of Christ that produced the expectation of it? How shall we understand the oft-repeated declaration, "The kingdom of God is at hand?" Why were the disciples instructed to say to every house and to every village and city that received them, or that received them not, "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you?" It must be that the kingdom of God is come, — that the Gospel we preach is the "Gospel of the kingdom," — that those who receive Christ, and are "born again," are born of the Spirit into the kingdom of God. We thus believe and teach in all good conscience, and if it be that the kingdom of God is not yet, but is to come when Christ comes again, then must our preaching be "another Gospel."

We have said the people did expect the speedy coming of the kingdom. Let us now see whether this expectation was well founded. Was it the legitimate result of the preaching of Christ and his disciples; or was it a misapprehension of their utterances? There is no doubt that the people formed erroneous notions of the nature of the kingdom, when it was preached as near at hand, and may it not be that they were as far astray in looking for its manifestation within their day? In order to test this question, we must examine those sayings of Christ which limit the time of the coming of the kingdom to the life-time of those then living. These important testimonies are the following: " Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." "Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." (Matt.

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xvi, 28; Mark ix, 1 ; Luke ix, 27.) These are parallel, and the slight variations in the words assist us in gathering the meaning. The "coming of the Son of man in his kingdom" "the coming of the kingdom of God with power," and "seeing the kingdom of God," all refer to the same general occurrence, the setting up of God's kingdom on the earth. This is the coming of the kingdom for which the disciples were taught to pray. It means something that was near at hand.

Let it be observed that no ambiguous term is employed to denote the nearness of the kingdom. The word "generation" is not found here. There is no possibility of stretching the time beyond a very few years. It must occur within the life-time of some that heard him, or the statement must prove false.

And there is yet another passage which limits the time of the coming of the Son of man in his kingdom, or in connection with the manifestation of the kingdom, quite as positively, and perhaps to a shorter time, than those just quoted. It is, "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." (Matt, x, 23.) This occurs in the instruction given the apostles when sent out under the first commission, which ran thus: "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. ,, This was a limited commission. It was preparatory to the coming kingdom. Every point in this ministry looked to that end. That event, whatever it was, was to complete the mission and revelation of the Son of man. He would then be "come in his kingdom." And this mission to the "cities of Israel" w r ould not be be fully accomplished "till the Son of man be come." They could "go over the cities of Israel" in a few months. The journey was not great, and the apostles went two and two. But here is the unequivocal assertion, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." Were these words fulfilled, or did they fail? Evidently

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the coming of the Son of man, in this verse, is the same as his coming in his kingdom, in the verses above; so that if one failed, they all failed together.

In taking the position that these Scriptures did not fail, but were all fulfilled in the time and manner intended, it becomes necessary that we find the kingdom of God, and the revelation of the Son of man in it, within the life-time of those who heard these words as they fell from the Master's lips. But we must first throw off the embarrassment which some have felt at this point, and guard against a mistake w T hich many have made, and which is the source of no little confusion. It is a turning-point in the argument. The embarrassment arises from confounding things that differ, which is the mistake to be guarded against. The coming of Christ in his kingdom, is often confounded with his coming in glory, with the angels, in the clouds of heaven. This is wrong — an error which is the fruitful cause of endless errors and difficulties. The events differ widely in nature, time, object, and result. The one was at hand ; the other in the remote future. The one was known and definitely predicted as to time; and the other was unknown, unrevealed as to time, and kept within the Father's power. The one was to occur within the life-time of those living, and even before the first mission to the ' ' lost sheep" was fulfilled; the other at the "end of the world," after wars and famines and earthquakes and pestilences and after a ' ' tribulation" that was to last many centuries. The one w r as "in his kingdom;" the other is to be with the angels in the clouds, with the sound of a trumpet. With the coming "in the kingdom" there is no mention of the angels, the clouds, the trumpet, the gathering of the elect, the resurrection, or the judgment. And, on the other hand, the coming "in the clouds" is never limited to the life-time of those who heard the Savior. Let this fact be noted, and this distinction be kept in mind, and much the greater difficulties of the subject will disappear. The coming in the kingdom, which was so near at hand, was much more closely related to the j first than to the second advent, and it may not inappropriately be looked upon as the

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completion of the coming of Christ in the work of redemption. It is at the beginning, while the coming in the clouds is at the end, of the Gospel dispensation. The one established the kingdom of God on earth, while the other finishes its work, and " delivers it up unto God, even the Father."

Then, we return to the task of finding the kingdom of God on earth, within the life-time of the then living auditors. When did "the kingdom of God come with power?" When did "the Son of man come in his kingdom?" Let no one imagine that we have in mind the destruction of Jerusalem, or a "figurative" coming of Christ at the time of that calamity. The kingdom of God came with power long before that noted period in Jewish history.

We must here learn the nature of the kingdom, and something of the manner of its coming. When Jesus stood in the presence of Pilate, and was questioned concerning his kingship, he said: "My kingdom is not, of this world." This brief sentence sheds a world of light on the point in hand. The disciples, as did the other Jews, still

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expected a worldly kingdom, when Messiah should reveal himself, and this answer to Pilate ought to have been sufficient to dispel all such thoughts from those who had confidence in him. As the kingdom of Christ is "not of this world," it is not like worldly kingdoms in its manifestation or work. Then, with this statement in mind, let us turn to another testimony in regard to the coming of the kingdom, in Luke xvii, 20, 21: "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Look again at two sentences here. "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation" — or, as the marginal reading is, "not with outward show." Another world of light falls upon our theme ! As the kingdom is not of this world, so its "coming" is not with "trumpets" and banners; not with "clouds" and "angels;" not with any outward pomp or grandeur, or any thing to attract the world, or to command its attention.

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It must, therefore, come quietly, silently, unobserved by the multitude in their heated strife for worldly things. And mark again : " Behold, the kingdom of God is within you !" Here Ave have it. This kingdom, which is not of the world, whose coming is silent, gentle, unostentatious, and unseen by the busy throng, is a spiritual kingdom. Its domain is the human soul. It rules in the heart ; it is the rule of heaven on earth. The Apostle Paul, in after years, under divine inspiration, declared its nature. " For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Rom. xiv, 17.) Every element of the kingdom of God is in the Holy Ghost. Where the Holy Ghost abides, there is the kingdom of God. All who are born of the Spirit are born into the kingdom. Here another flood of light cheers our search for the kingdom of God !

The Holy Spirit was in the world before the coming of Christ, in some of his offices, and to an extent necessary to the dispensations preceding the Gospel; and so was the kingdom of God in its incipient stages. But while Christ was yet on earth, it was said, " For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." As a new manifestation of the Spirit was to follow the ascension of the Son of man, so a new display of the kingdom of God was to take place; it was to ' 'come with power." This gift of the Holy Ghost, in its fullness of energy and love, was the promise of the Father. So, after the apostles had ceased to preach under the limited commission, which kept them from the Gentiles and the Samaritans ; after they had preached the kingdom of God at hand to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ; and after Christ had been crucified and had risen from the dead, and they had received the new commission which sent them into "all the world,' ' to "preach the Gospel to every creature," they were commanded to tarry in Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high. This was to be their final qualification for the new ministry committed to them, and to meet all their needs, and fill all their desires with reference to the coming kingdom. When they were all together, before the ascension, they asked the

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risen Savior, saying, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Here we gain insight with reference to the thoughts of the apostles and their expectations. They still looked for the kingdom, and their anxious expectation was met by the promise of the Holy Ghost. For this they waited; and when it was come upon them, on the day of Pentecost, they began to preach, not a coming kingdom, but the kingdom in the heart. The events of that memorable Pentecost ended all looking for an outward kingdom. Then and there the kingdom of God came with power ; then the Son of man came in his kingdom.

A careful study of the promises of Christ respecting the coming and offices of the Comforter will show that he w T as to reveal both the Father and the Son, so that his presence was to be the presence of Christ for all spiritual ends and work. We give an example from John xiv, 15-23: "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless : I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see me : because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world ? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words : and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." It is

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3 1 unquestionable that in the promises, "I will come to you," "I will manifest myself to him," "And Ave will come unto him and make our abode with him," there is a spiritual presence contemplated, which is fulfilled in the gift and abiding of the Holy Ghost. This was Christ's own spiritual coming, the coming in the kingdom of God, without observation.

Some have objected to this spiritual coming as insufficient to meet all the promises of the Savior to return. We do not propose it as sufficient for that purpose. It by no means answers to the coming in the glory of the Father with the angels. But it meets all the conditions of the speedy coming of the kingdom of God. It is a coming, a revealing, a manifestation of Christ, not to be despised or overlooked. It is not the second coming, but the complement of the first. It took place at the beginning of the Gospel — at the precise juncture indicated beforehand, between the preaching under the limited commission and that under the unlimited. And our premillennial brethren misapprehend the subject when they speak of those who recognize this spiritual coming "as seeking to avoid the doctrine of the personal coming of our Lord." It stands not in the way of the "personal coming," but it takes away from the Pre-millennialists their cherished notion, which is the foundation of their specialty, that the kingdom of God has not yet come, and will not come till Christ comes in person.