Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 24, 1857
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
By James White
BRIEF EXPOSITION OF MATT. XXIV.
THE twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, and the first thirteen verses of the twenty-fifth chapter, contain a prophetic discourse of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which he speaks of the great events connected with the people of God, from his first advent down to his second coming. And this discourse was not delivered before a promiscuous crowd, but at a private interview with Christ and his disciples.
Verse 3. "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
The questions relate, first, to the destruction of Jerusalem, [see verse 2,] and, second, to Christ's second coming and the end of the world, or Christian age. Notice in particular the caution given by our Lord as he opens his mouth to answer these questions.
Verse 4. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you."
The subject of this discourse is one of vast importance. And, probably, no subject has been treated more blindly; no portion of the Book of God handled more deceitfully, than the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. Hence the fitness of the warning, "Take heed that no man deceive you." While many apply the entire chapter to the destruction of Jerusalem, more spiritualize the stupendous event of Christ's second, personal coming in glory, which is the great theme of this chapter. Yes, death, conversion, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and even modern-spirit manifestations by not a few, are held forth from the pulpits of this day as the second advent of Christ. Men may deceive, but Christ will not. The mystical teachings of this apostate age tend to confusion, and the blindness of error; but when we adopt the plain and obvious meaning of the words of the Son of God in this chapter, we behold in them light, and a beautiful harmony.
We think it will appear evident, upon an investigation of this chapter, that from the fifth to the fourteenth verse our Lord passes rapidly over the important events of the Christian age; that he gives only a general description of the commotions in the natural and political world, the persecutions of the church, and false prophets which should arise to deceive the church and world, down to the END. And that from the fifteenth verse and onward he gives a more particular description of the great events of the Christian age, connected with the people of God, commencing at the destruction of Jerusalem. Our Lord, from the fifth to the fourteenth verse, first states what must take place before his coming, lest the event be looked for, and he proclaimed too soon. He also mentions signs in this chapter, by which the church of the generation in which they are fulfilled may know that his coming is near, even at the doors.
Verse 5. "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many." Buck, in his Theological Dictionary, gives a list of twenty-four false christs which have arisen in the Christian age, and have deceived multitudes.
Verses 6-8. "And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."
The caution to the church, not to expect Christ's coming too soon, is here apparent. There must be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet; for nation must rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places must first come. Here is a catalogue of them.
"By famine and sword 580,000 Jews were destroyed between A. D. 96 and A. D. 180.
"In Antioch, from A. D. 96 to A. D. 180, earthquakes destroyed 13 cities, and over 100,000 lives.
"In Rome, A. D. 169, pestilence destroyed 10,000 daily.
"In Rome, A. D. 187, pestilence appeared and continued three years.
"In London, A. D. 310, by famine 60,000 died.
"In A. D. 446, Sept. 17th, an earthquake shook down the walls of Constantinople, and 57 towers fell.
"In Rome, A. D. 539, in one district 50,000 died.
"In Antioch, A. D. 588, an earthquake killed 60,000.
"In A. D. 590, the plague killed 10,000 daily in Turkey.
"In A. D. 679, a severe famine in England three years.
"In A. D. 717, in Constantinople, 200,000 died of plague.
"In A. D. 1005, earthquakes three months, followed by pestilence, by which it is said one third of the human race died.
"In A. D. 1077, in Constantinople, so many died by plague and famine, the living could not bury them.
"In A. D. 1124, in Italy, there was such famine that the dead lay in the streets not buried; and in England one third of the people died of plague.
"In A. D. 1234, in England thousands died of famine.
"In A. D. 1345, in London, 50,000 died of plague and famine, and were buried in one grave-yard; in Norwich, 50,000; in Venice, 100,000; in Florence, 100,000; in eastern nations, 20,000,000. It was called the black death.
"In A. D. 1352, in China, 900,000 died of famine.
"In A. D. 1456, in Milan, 60,000 died of famine.
"In A. D. 1614, Constantinople, 200,000 died of plague.
"In A. D. 1635, in London, 35,000 died of plague.
"In A. D. 1636, in Lyons, 600,000 died of plague.
"In A. D. 1665, in London, 68,000 died of plague.
"In A. D. 1755, in the East, an earthquake destroyed the city of Lisbon, killing 50,000. In Mitelene and the Archipelago it shook down 2,000 houses. It shook all the Spanish coast. The plague followed, which destroyed 150,000 lives in Constantinople."
Verses 9, 10. "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."
Here is a brief description of the afflictions and martyrdom of the church. Hundreds of thousands of the faithful followers of Jesus were most cruelly put to death in the days of Pagan Rome, yet the prophecy doubtless applies more particularly to the long period of Papal persecutions, in which not less than fifty millions of the saints of the Most High were put to death in the most cruel manner wicked men and demons could invent. In these verses we are brought down over the long period of the martyrdom of the church of Jesus Christ to near the present generation.
FALSE PROPHETS.
Verse 11. "And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many."
The prophets of God foretell future events, being instructed by good angels, and the power of the Holy Spirit. False prophets also foretell future events, by the agency of wicked spirits, and the power of Satan. It is true that false prophets have existed in all past time, but we must regard the present period as abounding with them. Here arises a host of spirit mediums, which, as we shall show in another place, are false prophets.
False prophets may be known. They prophesy peace. "And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; . . . because they have seduced my people, saying, peace, and there was no people." Eze. xiii, 9, 10. "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace, when there was no peace." Jer. vi, 14. "Behold the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine. . . . Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name." Chap. xiv, 13, 14.
It is the duty of those whom the Lord calls to speak in his name, to cry aloud and spare not. "Shew my people their transgressions," saith the Lord. "Sound an alarm." "Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh." "Preach the word." "Reprove, rebuke, exhort." 2 Tim. iv, 1, 2; Joel ii, 1; Isa. lviii, 1.
Said Paul. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine," . . . and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." That time has come. The people love the deceptive teachings of false prophets, and "say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." Isa. xxx, 10. The ears of the people are filled with the pleasing fable of the world's conversion—a good time coming—just entering upon the golden age. The threatenings of God's word on the proud, the haughty, the vain, the rich, "the sinners in Zion," and those out of Zion, are kept back by the false teachers of162these times. Many of them even dare to teach that the Moral Code of Laws given by Jehovah, the Ten Commandments, is abrogated. And as the result of such teaching, what do we see? Ans. In the professed church of Jesus Christ.
INQUITY ABOUNDS.
Verse 12. "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Do you say, reader, that iniquity, here mentioned, is not in the churches, but in the world, then we reply, that in that case its influence would be to lead the churches to more godliness. But in this case, the love of many wax cold, showing that this iniquity abounds in the very heart of the churches.
The Genesee Evangelist says, "Our Zion is in a state of mourning. The Holy Spirit has not visited us as in former years, and we have great cause for deep humiliation in view of the sins, the worldliness, and spiritual indifference of most of our churches."
Mr. O. Scott, Wesleyan Methodist, says, "The church is as deeply infected with a desire for worldly gain, as the world.
"The churches are making a god of this world.
"Most of the denominations of the present day might be called churches of the world, with more propriety than churches of Christ.
"The churches are so far gone from primitive Christianity that they need a fresh regeneration—a new kind of religion.
"They have gone over to the world and have opposed what the world opposed."
A writer in the New York Tribune, speaking of fashionable worship, says, "Now the worshipers one after another glide in, silks rattle, plumes wave, satins glisten, diamonds glitter, and scores of forty dollar handkerchiefs shake out their perfumed odors! What absurdity to preach the gospel of the lowly Nazarite to such a set! The clergyman knows better than to do so. He values his fat salary and handsome patronage too highly. So, with a velvety tread, he walks all around the ten commandments—places the downiest pillow under the dying profligate's head, and ushers him with seraphic hymning into an upper ten heaven."
Says the Golden Rule, "The Protestants are out-doing the Popes in splendid, extravagant folly in church building. Thousands on thousands are expended in gay and costly ornamentals to gratify pride, and a wicked ambition, that might and should go to redeem the perishing, nullified. Does the evil, the folly, and the madness of these proud, formal, fashionable worshipers stop here?
"These splendid monuments of popish pride, upon which millions are squandered in our cities, virtually exclude the poor, for which Christ died, and for whom he came especially to preach.
"No wonder God withholds his holy influences! No marvel the heavens are brass, and the earth iron!
"Go into one of these fashionable, costly, highly ornamented, popular church edifices, what do you see and hear? Christ! Sinners weeping between the porch and the altar! Do you? 'Wo to the crown of pride,' 'Wo unto the idle shepherds,' 'Wo to you ye blind guides,' 'Wo unto them that are at ease in Zion.' Wo, wo, wo."
Says Charles Beecher, "Oh, woful day! Oh, unhappy church of Christ! Fast rushing round and round the fatal circle of absorbing ruin."
Says Dr. Gifford, "The world! the world! the world! This is the object which engrosses every care; this is the supreme deity that is adored. Buy and sell, and get gain—out with the thoughts of death—away with the judgment and heaven—my farms, my merchandise; I will have them, though the earth trembles under my feet, and heaven weeps blood upon my head!"
Says the Christian Herald, "It is a fact that about in the same ratio that the cause of experimental religion declines, immorality and vice increases."
The Philadelphia Times says, "Honesty has fled from the world, and Sincerity has fallen asleep. Piety has hidden herself, and Justice cannot find the way. The helper is not at home, and Charity lies sick. Benevolence is under arrest, and Faith is nearly extinguished. The Virtues go a begging, and Truth has long since been buried. Credit is turned lazy, and Conscience is pinned to the wall."
The North American says, "From the terrible evidences of human depravity which develop themselves from day to day, we begin to think that our cities are rapidly descending to the level of Sodom and Gomorrah."
Says the Hornellsville Times, "The records of the past have never presented a more fearful and corrupt state of society than now exists."
The New York Chronicle says, "Never was crime more rampant than now. Garroting, burglary, stabbing, fraud, lewdness, forgery, embezzlement, and every imaginable form of wrong, cruelty, and murder meet us at every turn."
THE END.
Verse 14. "But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved." This does not mean death, but the end of the age, the end, associated in the New Testament with the second coming of Christ. The disciples did not ask their Lord in verse 3, when they should die; but "when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Neither did our Lord teach them in verse 15 that when the gospel of the kingdom should be preached in all the world, then they would die. No, no. The end mentioned in this chapter is the end of the world.
The love of many has waxed cold. Moral darkness, like the pall of death, is spread over the world, and iniquity, in almost every form, abounds in the professed church of Jesus Christ. "But he that shall endure unto the end," shall press his way through the moral darkness of this apostate age; shall fight the fight of faith, and with the mighty armor of heaven vanquish all his foes; he will win the crown. "The same shall be saved." Blessed promise! Saved from all his foes! For ever saved in the kingdom of God. J. W.
(To be Continued.)
ONWARD.
ONWARD—let our motto be
Onward! faith is victory;
Onward! let the trumpet call
Echo o'er this swinging ball!
Onward! though a cloudy day
Sometimes happens on our way;
Gather courage, onward still—
Clamber up the rugged hill.
Stem the current, breast the shock,
Firmly, like a mountain rock;
Onward! though the deepening gloom,
Like a shadow from the tomb,
Damps our ardor, blinds our sight,
Onward! it will soon be right!
Gather courage, onward still—
Clamber up the rugged hill!
Push ahead—nor fear to fight
Through the shades of deepest night;
Never fail, as cowards do—
God has never made us to;
On! we're gaining every day,
A point has yielded on our way;
We'll scale the barries one by one,
The summit's gained—the victory's won!
[Church.
TRUE GOSPEL FAITH.
By Editor
The following article is taken from a tract entitled The Bible Doctrine, or True Gospel Faith. It was written and published by Joseph Marsh in 1849. Though the writer has since turned a complete religious summerset on some important points, and we now see him wandering amid the vagaries of the age to come, yet the article shows where he stood before he left the "true gospel faith." J. W.
GATHERING OF THE JEWS.
We believe that "all Israel will be saved," or gathered to the promised land of rest, after the first resurrection, and personal advent of Christ: if in this we are correct, consequently the doctrine of the gathering of the carnal Jews to Palestine, before or after the advent, is a fable; for there is but one more gathering to that land promised in the Bible. We shall offer no proof on this last declaration because no one, we presume, will dispute its correctness. But on the first we present the following direct testimony:
"And so shall all Israel be saved." Rom. xi, 26. That Paul speaks of literal Israel, the descendants of Abraham, is evident from the preceding verse, in which they are distinguished from the Gentiles thus, "Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the times of the Gentiles be come in." If he meant literal Gentiles, he must also have meant literal Israel. We believe he meant what the terms literally signify. Then the testimony of Paul is, that all Israel, not a part, but all, will be saved.
The next point in order, to settle, is, Who are Israel? All the children of God, of every nation, is the ready answer of many. But where is your proof of this position? We know not of any in the Bible, or do not now recollect of the existence of such evidence in that book. But, we do remember certain texts, which are considered by many as conclusive evidence in this case. We will give the strongest one. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for we are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal. iii, 28. Does this text destroy all national distinction between Jew and Greek? Many think it does. But does it destroy all organic or physical distinction between the "male" and "female"? It does, in the same sense in which it destroys the distinction between "Jews" and "Greeks." In what sense then is the distinction destroyed? or according to the text, how are they all one in Christ Jesus? They are one in heirship, in their right to the inheritance promised to Christ, the true Seed, and Heir of all things; for, "If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs, according to the promise." verse 29. Then all who are Christ's are one, in heirship: the Jew has no better right than the Greek; the freeman no better claim than the bondman; and the right of the male is no better than the right of the female: all who are in Christ, are his, are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. This is the doctrine of the glorious one-ness, or of equal rights, which this and other similar texts teach. But they no where, to our recollection, destroy the national distinction between Jews and Greeks, or the natural distinction between males and females.
Another class hold that all, good and bad, of the natural descendants of Abraham constitute the Israel of whom Paul speaks. But this cannot be admitted, from the fact that Paul plainly says, "They are not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed [the natural descendants] of Abraham, are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Rom. ix, 6, 7. Isaac and Ishmael were both children of Abraham, yet Ishmael, in the purpose or economy of grace, is not counted a child of Abraham, "but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." So, in reference to all the descendants of Abraham through Isaac, though they nominally are Israel, or Jews, yet in God's gracious designs or promises, they are not recognized as such any more than all who are nominally christians will be acknowledged such by Christ at his coming. They are not all christians, that are of, or belong to, Christendom, neither are all Israel who are of, or belong to, the Jewish nation.
Then who are Israel? Let Paul answer. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." Rom. iii, 28, 29. This testimony shows conclusively who are Jews, or the true Israel. Outward forms and distinctions, exclusively, did not constitute the descendants of Abraham Jews, Israel, or children of Abraham, according to the gracious promises made to him. To become such, they must not only fulfil the letter, but "the righteousness of the law," verse 26. So Paul reasoned, and so all the promises and threatenings run, through the Old and New Testaments. We will name a few.
"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him." Isa. iii, 10, 11. This is spoken of the Jewish nation, and by consulting the 65th chapter, it will be seen that the same distinction between the "righteous" and the "wicked" is observed to the close of the book.
Amos ix, 8-10. "Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us."
"All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword." Such fearful threatenings as these, forever cut off from the promises of God, the sinners of Israel. Well might Paul say, "They are not all Israel, that are of Israel."
Paul settles this question beyond successful contradiction. "But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness; indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon EVERY SOUL OF MAN, that doeth EVIL, of the JEW first, and also of the GENTILE. But glory, honor and peace to EVERY MAN that worketh GOOD, to the JEW first and also to the GENTILE: for there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law: for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS of the law shall be justified." Rom. iii, 8-13. And then, in verse 28th, Paul adds, "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly."
By comparing the testimony of Paul and Isaiah, this question may be put to rest; for they tell us that "all Israel" are those who "turn from transgression in Jacob." Paul says (Rom. xi, 26,) "S. all Israel shall be saved: as it is written." It is "written" in Isaiah lix, 20, which says, "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord."
Further testimony on this point, we deem unnecessary; what we have given, most conclusively proves that none are recognized, in the gracious promises of God, as belonging to Israel, but those who are163"righteous," that "worketh good," "are doers of the law," and "that keep the righteousness of the law." This is the "all Israel," that "shall be saved," or gathered to their own land, in the resurrection morn, at the coming of Christ. In proof of this declaration, we give the following testimony:
"Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live; and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD."—Ez k. xxxvii, 11-14.
This scripture is an exposition of the vision of dry bones, found in the same chapter, and therefore must be literally understood; for it would be absurd to talk of an exposition of an exposition. Then "all Israel," those who are Jews inwardly, or really, not nominally, "the whole house of Israel," will be saved or gathered "into the land of Israel," after they are brought out of their graves, which will not be until the "Redeemer comes to Zion," or the appearing of Christ. This is the only gathering to the land of Israel, that is now promised to Israel, or the Jews. Hence the doctrine which teaches any other gathering in the future, is a fable; consequently, our faith, in this specification, is according to "the true grace of God," or the truth. Therefore we should not doubt, but be strong in the position we occupy in this respect.
DESTRUCTION OF THE LIVING WICKED.
The destruction of the living wicked will be another important event that will take place in immediate connection with the advent of Christ.
After the saints are all caught away, above the atmosphere, and are safely standing on "the sea of glass," or hid in the secret of the Lord's tabernacle, then will his indignation fall upon the ungodly.
Oh, what a wretched world this will then be! Not a saint in it! More abandoned than the antediluvian world, or the cities of the plain, before their destruction! Then, Noah, and Lot, were there; but now, none but the wicked, wholly given over to wickedness. And, sad to contemplate, not a few of this abandoned throng are composed of professed ministers and members of the church of God! They have cried Peace and safety, until the day of their destruction has come upon them; when they, with the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, on this quaking earth, and under these burning heavens, are filled with hopeless lamentation and bitter wailing! Oh God! will this be the doom of all who know thee not, and obey not the gospel! Thy word tells us it will, only more dreadful: for it threatens destruction to all such!
"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom (this world) all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." (Matt. xiii, 40-43.)
This "furnace of fire," into which "all them which do iniquity" will be cast, when the Son of man shall come. (Mal. iv, 1, 3) describes.
"For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of host, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. **** And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the souls of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
That this day "that shall burn as an oven," is the day of the Lord's coming, is clear from the following testimony:
"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. i, 7-10.)
"But the heavens and earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. ** But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat: the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." (2 Pet. iii, 7, 10, 12.)
"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth (that he may judge his people.) Gather my saints together unto me." (Psa. 3-5.)
Testimony like this might be multiplied to a much greater extent, but this is sufficient to show that a fearful doom awaits all the wicked, at the appearing of the Son of man, when the saints are gathered unto the Lord, or caught up to meet him in the clouds. Not one will escape the devouring fire of that day—all must fall beneath its consuming power.
Oh, sinner; unbelieving, opposing, scoffing minister; cold-hearted professor; deceive not yourself with the vain hope of escaping the fearful terrors of that day, nor flatter yourself that probation will continue, after the Lord shall come in judgment, and the saints are gone up to meet and be with him. But remember, that now, under the dispensation of grace, is the only time the Bible offers you to prepare to escape these judgments. Oh, improve the precious moments as they fly, in securing an interest in the saving power of Christ, that you may be his in the day of his coming.
THE LAST DAYS.
By H. L. Hastings
FROM A TRACT BY H. L. HASTINGS.
The period of human probation is not one wide waste of unmeasured ages. It is on the contrary a definite space, selected by the Divine ruler as the appropriate time for the accomplishment of certain important purposes. Of all the ages that have measured man’s misspent existence, none have been accidental. All have been marked with the utmost exactness, by that God with whom one day “is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day;” and who has marked the bounds of human habitation, and “determined the times before appointed.” 2 Pet. iii, 8; Acts xvii, 26.
Hence every important event in human history has its appointed time of accomplishment. It was in “the self same day,” appointed by God, that Israel was delivered from the Egyptian yoke. Ex. xii, 14. It was at the end of a specified period, that the king of Babylon was to be punished, and the weepers by Babel’s silent waters delivered from oppression. Jer. xxv, 11, 12. It was “when the fullness of time was come” that God sent forth his Son into the world. Gal. iv, 4. It was “in due time” that “Christ died for the ungodly.” Rom. v, 6. And so the final ingathering and uniting of all the ransomed of the Lord, whether in heaven or earth, is to be “in the dispensation of the fullness of times.” Eph. i, 10.
The various periods that stretch themselves into the receding past and into the approaching future, find in the Scriptures their appropriate and distinctive designations. Thus the period of the old world’s history is termed “the days that were before the flood.” Matt. xxiv, 38. The period of wandering in the wilderness is termed “the day of temptation.” Heb. iii, 8. The period of Mosaic Law and prophetic inspiration, passes under the general designation of “old time.” Matt. v, 21; 2 Pet. i, 21. The ages of Gentile ignorance and transgression are termed “the times of this ignorance.” Acts xvii, 30. The preaching of Jesus and his apostles introduced “the time of reformation.” Heb. ix, 10. The “accepted time” and “the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. vi, 2. The time from Christ’s ascension to his revelation in glory is “the last time,” “the last days,” “the times of the Gentiles.” Luke xxi, 24. While beyond earth’s scene of toil and strife, are the “times of restitution,” “the times of refreshing,” the “times” of Christ. Acts iii, 19–21; 1 Tim. vi, 15. And the glad and glorious future, which is presented as the theatre of the full revelation of God’s exceeding love to fallen man, is termed “the ages to come,” throughout whose eternal succession the saints shall ascribe glory to God through Jesus Christ. Eph. ii, 7; iii, 21.
It is to a consideration of one of these periods, namely, “the last days,” or “the last time,” that we wish to direct the reader’s attention. The expression, “the last days,” it will be remembered, has an import more or less extensive according to the period in which it is used. Thus, as the pilgrim, while on a journey of six thousand miles, having passed one-third of the distance, would look forward to the last two thousand, as the last miles, so the prophets saw the whole Christian dispensation as the last days; and as the pilgrim after traveling four thousand miles of his journey would naturally at times speak of being already on the last part of it, and yet, at other times, would speak of the last miles as yet in the future, and immediately preceding and extending to the journey’s end; so the apostles standing at the commencement of the gospel age, at times represent themselves as living in “the last days,” and then again speak of these days as being yet in the future, and extending to and closing with the conclusion of the Church’s long journey in a groaning world. One thing, however, is clear, that the expression, “the last days,” in its most comprehensive sense, cannot embrace more than the last half of the specified period. And so, as the apostles spoke of living “in the last days,” or “last time,” the conclusion is inevitable, that the world’s allotted period was then more than half expired—that “the night was far spent and the day was at hand,” [Rom. xiii, 12.] and that the vain imaginations of those men who fancy that myriads of ages will pass ere the end of this dispensation, are entirely destitute of truth.
The view which we shall take of “the last days” will include that period in its widest as well as its most limited signification. We shall view it as extending from the cross to the crown—from Calvary to Zion—and also, as having especial reference to the concluding period of the present dispensation. We shall show that the period of “the last days” is peculiar in its character, and marked by peculiar circumstances—marked by peculiar manifestations of divine goodness, and also by peculiar manifestations of human guilt and depravity. We shall take the word of God as our guide, and shall let those who were “moved by the Holy Ghost” to write and speak, declare the character of this important period. And may we be enabled to sit meekly at their feet to learn and to believe.
I. WE SAY THEN. THAT “THE LAST DAYS” WERE TO BE MARKED BY PECULIAR MANIFESTATIONS OF DIVINE GOODNESS.
And First: These days were to be introduced by the personal manifestation and ministration of the Son of God.
The faint and doubtful utterances of the prophets in days gone by, gave place to something less obscure. Visions, dreams, types and ceremonies, by means of which Divine instruction was wont to be communicated, were displaced, and “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Heb. i, 1, 2. High above the plains of Bethlehem rung the joyous anthem of the herald angels, and brightly shone the guiding star, telling with its silent beaming where the young child lay. The long expected Saviour was born—the woman’s conquering seed—the seed of Abraham, in whom all the world should be blessed—the Son of David whose dominion should be164to the ends of the earth—the Ruler whose goings forth had been of old from everlasting—the Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace—the “Lamb without blemish, and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God that raised him from the dead.” 1 Pet. i, 19-21. To the husbandmen who had before stoned the ‘servants,’ the ‘Son’ was sent. Matt. xxi, 37. The Desire of all nations, the expected Deliverer of the people of God, the Star that was to rise out of Jacob—Immanuel—God manifest in the flesh, appeared and introduced by the works he wrought, the life he lived, the preaching that he preached, and the death that he died, “the last days.”
Second: The last days were to be marked by the especial outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Previously the influence of the Spirit was comparatively restricted in its manifestations. Prophets and “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21. Leaders and reformers were raised up and prepared for emergencies by the same influence, and on rare occasions the spirit of prophecy rested upon private individuals, but the earnest exclamation of Moses, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them,” was to have its realization only in “the last days.”
Thus, by the prophet Joel God had declared that this blessing should be granted. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants, and on my handmaids, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” Acts ii, 17, 18. On the day of Pentecost the infant Church received “the promise of the Father,” were “baptized with the Holy Ghost,” and “endowed with power from on high.” Luke xxiv, 49. Acts i, 4, 5, 8. Thus the “ministration of the Spirit” was introduced, which exceeded in glory the ministration of condemnation which was written and engraven upon stones amid the voices and thunderings and lightnings of Mount Sinai. Those gifts which were once granted to a few “holy men,” were now opened for all the faithful. Servants and handmaids—sons and daughters, were alike to receive the Spirit and prophecy. Those dreams and visions of God which were anciently granted to the prophets were now so extended that “young men” were to “dream dreams,” and “old men” to “see visions.” The promise was not only to the Jewish nation, but to “all that were afar off” even as many as the Lord should call. The apostles preached the gospel “with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,” “in demonstration of the Spirit,” “God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his will.” Heb. ii, 4. The baptism of the Spirit attended the first preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles; [Acts xi, 15;] it gave an unearthly energy to the unlettered fishermen of Galilee; it taught them the strange and various languages of different lands, it gave them a boldness that nothing could daunt, and a power that was irresistible. It brought all things to their remembrance—it comforted their hearts—it directed their labors—and it helped their infirmities. And it has been the strength and power of every minister of Christ from that day to this. He that would win souls, and be approved of God as a faithful servant, must “be filled with the Spirit”—must “be led by the Spirit”—must “walk in the Spirit”—and then, enabled thus to discern the truth, and empowered thus to declare it in the ears of the perishing; he will turn many to righteousness, and finally shine amid the heavenly glory as a star for ever and ever. Blessed is that servant! Glorious shall be his unfading crown, and pure beyond description his everlasting joys.