Every reasonably practical movement toward promoting world peace is eagerly watched by all who have the welfare of humanity at heart. And of the eight hundred peace organizations earnestly endeavoring to insure the ultimate recognition of justice and world peace, none is more conspicuous and impressive than the League to Enforce Peace which held its first assemblage in Washington, D. C., May 26 and 27, and of which the Hon. William Howard Taft is president. A full report of this significant conference will be given by Dr. Olsen, who also attended the last Hague Peace Congress. In the next article, addresses of men of national and international fame will be presented, discussing the world problems involved, the relation to the labor movement, and to the Monroe Doctrine. The title will be, “A Declaration of Interdependence.” EDITOR.
The World Cry for Peace
A Proposed League to Enforce It
By M. ELLSWORTH OLSEN
THE HON. WOODROW WILSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
THE HON. WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, PRESIDENT OF LEAGUE TO ENFORCE PEACE
EIGHTEEN years ago, in the summer of 1898, the young czar of Russia startled the world with his proposal for an International Peace Conference and the reduction of armaments. The conference was held at the Hague the following year, and attended by representatives of twenty-six states, and one of its results was the formation of a Court of Arbitration for dealing judicially with such matters as the nations might submit to it.
The second Hague Conference, held eight years later, in 1907, and attended by forty-four states, then practically the whole civilized world, devoted its attention chiefly to strengthening the work of the first. It set out five different methods of adjusting international difficulties without recourse to war: First, the powers signing the convention agreed in general to use their best efforts to bring about the peaceful settlement of all outstanding difficulties. Secondly, in case of serious disagreement, recourse was to be had to the mediation of one or more friendly powers. Thirdly, the powers agreed that it should not be regarded as an unfriendly act if one or more powers not involved in the dispute should, on their own initiative, offer their mediation to the states in disagreement. Fourthly, in disputes involving national honor or vital interests, the nations not able to come to an agreement by means of diplomacy, should institute an international commission of inquiry to render a solution easier by a full investigation of the facts. Finally, arbitration was recognized to be the most equitable means of settling disputes of a legal character.
Both conferences made certain declarations and suggestions which were not agreed to by all the important powers, but the foregoing statements were generally accepted. The question of limitation of armaments was taken up at the first conference, but was waived when the military representative of Germany refused to consider it. It was also waived at the second conference. Thus the chief object assigned for holding the conference was definitely set aside for lack of necessary agreement.
Peace Advocates Disillusioned
How far the general principles that were adopted have been followed in the years that have elapsed since the holding of these conferences, the reader may judge. The Boer war, the Russo-Japanese conflict, the war of the Balkan powers, and the present great European war, vastly overshadowing every previous conflict, have all broken out since the holding of the first Hague Conference.
Peace advocates, if not utterly discouraged, have at least been disillusioned. Evidently the idea of universal peace effected and maintained wholly by moral suasion is not a feasible thing. There must be an element of force in the program in order to make it practically operative in a world made up like the present one. This is what is attempted in the league whose first annual meeting is the subject of this article.
When the present war broke out, a year ago last summer, the Independent began to urge editorially the formation of a great world league to enforce peace, as the one practical means of maintaining international equilibrium. Other friends of peace who saw the weakness of previous attempts in that they lacked the element of force, began to think along similar lines; and the outcome was a meeting held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, a year ago on the seventeenth of June, at which the League to Enforce Peace was brought into existence. A permanent committee was appointed, with Ex-president William Howard Taft at the head, and President Lowell, of Harvard University, as chairman of the executive committee.
Principles of the League
THE league thus organized has expressed its fundamental principles in these words: “We believe it to be desirable for the United States to join a league of nations binding the signatories to the following: “1. All justiciable questions [that is, questions involving only such issues as may be decided by the rules of international law] arising between the signatory powers, not settled by negotiation, shall, subject to the limitations of treaties, be submitted to a judicial tribunal for hearing and judgment, both upon the merits and upon any issue as to its jurisdiction of the question. “2. All other questions arising between the signatories and not settled by negotiations, shall be submitted to a Council of Conciliation for hearing, consideration, and recommendation. “3. The signatory powers shall jointly use forthwith both their economic and military forces against any one of their number that goes to war, or commits acts of hostility, against another of the signatories before any question arising shall be submitted as provided in the foregoing. “4. Conferences between the signatory powers shall be held from time to time to formulate and codify rules of international law, which, unless some signatory shall signify its dissent within a stated period, shall thereafter govern in the decisions of the judicial tribunal mentioned in Article One.”
With this simple statement of its principles, the league has been gradually organizing in the various states; and at this its first annual meeting, there were in the neighborhood of two thousand delegates who signified their intention to attend. The purpose of the gathering was to give a clear setting forth of the objects and scope of the organization, and lay some definite plans for the further promulgation of its principles, with a view to educating the people of this country to take an intelligent part in the reorganization of Europe, and in fact, of the world, which is likely to follow the present war.
The conference convened in the Belasco Theater, just across from the White House, Friday morning, May 26, and closed with a banquet on the following night. The delegates were representative men from all parts of the United States, some being sent by the governors of the various states, others coming at the invitation of the executive committee. There were presidents of colleges and universities, diplomats, members of Congress and of state legislatures, publicists, members of the Cabinet, and a number of prominent business men. All together, it was a meeting long to be remembered for the high moral tone that characterized the speeches, and for the fine enthusiasm and420love of humanity manifested by the delegates generally.
Modest Claims Put Forth
THOMAS RAEBURN WHITE, a lawyer of Philadelphia, gave the opening address, in the course of which he mentioned certain objections that had been brought against the league. Incidentally he pointed out that the claims put forth were modest ones.
“No one contends,” he said, “that the program of the League to Enforce Peace is perfect; no one believes that it will abolish war instantly, even among its members; but that is no reason for refusing its support. We do not condemn our educational systems because they have not put an end to illiteracy, or our religious or moral institutions because there is still evil in the world—we try to make these institutions better. The question is whether the establishment of the program of the League to Enforce Peace will on the whole tend to prevent war, and tend to promote harmony and good will among nations. If so, then we should give it our support. There can be no doubt that it will be of value in the great world movement toward a permanent organization among nations, which will some day provide for the suppression of international disorder as promptly as disorder is now suppressed in the best regulated communities.”
Isolation Henceforth Impossible
EDWARD A. FILENE, a Boston merchant, and a director of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, showed how vitally America is related to Europe and the rest of the world in a business way.
“This war has emphasized the fact that the United States has become a world power. It has compelled America suddenly to think in terms of world civilization. Carefully sheltered from the recurrent storm and stress of European politics by our geographical location and our traditional policy of isolation, we have, as a nation, grown both powerful and rich; but the war has shaken down about our ears the House of Isolation. We have learned that isolation from world affairs is henceforth impossible, and that cooperation in world affairs is imperative. But we are groping for a program. The bigness of world demands makes hesitant a nation accustomed to national demands only.”
“International problems,” the speaker went on to say, “are fundamentally the same as individual problems, except they are bigger. To find a program for relations between nations, we need but to apply the principles of enlightened relations between men. In fact, I know no better guide for American action in the present crisis than a very old story about the duty one individual owes another. The story is familiar to you.”
Ridding Jericho Road of Outlaws
THE speaker here quoted the parable of the Good Samaritan. “To-day,” he continued, “the world is wounded. Civilization has fallen, bruised and beaten, by the roadside. There are only a few nations far enough removed from the conflict to be able to go in peace along the highway. Of all these nations, we are the most powerful. The United States may take either of two attitudes in the present crisis. Like the Levite, it may do the selfishly safe thing, preserving merely its own comfort and safety; or like the Samaritan, it may let the unfortunate situation in which the world now finds itself awaken it to the truth that strength owes a debt to weakness, and that order owes a debt to disorder.”
A FEW OF THE PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE LEAGUE TO ENFORCE PEACE, GROUPED ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENT TAFT, WHO WAS RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE LEAGUE
“We have come to a time when the Good Samaritan is, in theory at least, accepted as an illustration of the minimum social responsibility that any civilized man must accept. The Good Samaritan is the classical example of remedial charity prompted by pity. The millions of dollars we have given to relief funds might indicate that the United States has adequately played the rôle of the Good Samaritan; but I am convinced that were this parable stated to-day, it would not limit the action of the Good Samaritan to dressing the wounds and paying the hotel bill of the victim, but would have him start a practical movement for ridding the Jericho road of outlaws, instituting adequate police protection, and making the road a safe avenue for travel. In other words, remedial charity is no longer a complete answer to give to suffering. We must add preventive measures.
Arms for Defense of Peace
“EVERY counsel of wisdom urges us as a nation to stand upon this platform. It is sound business policy. A peaceful world makes possible a permanently prosperous America. It is sound political policy. It will mean for us a foreign policy under which we shall consciously assume that responsibility in world affairs that duty demands. It will mean for us a domestic policy that will clarify many of our vexed questions. If we unite upon this program, all differences about the degree of preparedness necessary will be easily adjusted; for if we should adopt as our slogan ‘National Preparedness for International Peace,’ every man and woman in America would feel it to be not only a duty but a privilege to prepare themselves to do their share in preserving the peace and order of the world. The fear of militarism would be removed; for if we pledge our arms to the defense of the peace of the world, and agree to submit our disputes to an International Court before declaring war, we thereby protect ourselves against the possibility of our ever waging a war of conquest, and make impossible our hasty entrance into any war.”
A HEAVEN ON EARTH
By E. Hilliard
THE earth is teeming with the evidence of God's measureless love to man. Our heavenly Father has the tenderest solicitude for all His creatures. Man, beast, and bird are abundantly supplied with the bounties of heaven so essential for the maintenance of life.
In view of these blessings so freely bestowed upon mankind, what could be more appropriate and more pleasing in the sight of Heaven than for the head of the family to gather his loved ones about him in the early morning, and after reading a portion of God's word, unite in praise and thanksgiving! A home of prayer is a heaven on earth. Angels of God gather around that hearthstone, and breathe peace and happiness into every heart. Such a home is the special object of God's care and infinite love.
Those who do not learn to praise God on earth will never praise Him in heaven. The gates of the city will be forever closed against prayerless families. In fact the wrath of God is proclaimed upon them: “Pour out Thy fury upon the heathen that know Thee not, and upon the families that call not on Thy name.” Jer. 10:25. But the desire of the heart is granted to the penitent soul who asks in faith. “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24. There is nothing on earth so dear to God as His praying people. “The Lord's portion is His people,” and He keeps them “as the apple of His eye.” Deut. 32:9, 10.
E. HILLIARD.
Self-Love
“SELF-LOVE is the secret of many of the most unlovely things in disposition, in character, and in conduct.”
A Day or an Institution—Which?
By Carlyle B. Haynes
Could Congress Change the Sabbath?
By CARLYLE B. HAYNES
It is important at this point in our discussion of the Sabbath question to discover, if possible, of what material the Sabbath is composed. What is the Sabbath made of? And this question, too, is answered by the Bible.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Gen. 2: 2, 3.
Notice what it was God took to make the Sabbath of. He ended His work on “the seventh day.” He rested on “the seventh day.” He blessed “the seventh day.” He sanctified “the seventh day.”
God took a day and made a Sabbath out of it, and the day he used was the seventh day. The Sabbath is made of the seventh day. Let the passage above be read again, and notice where God puts the emphasis:
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it [the seventh day]; because that in it [the seventh day] He had rested from all His work which God created and made.”
It is the day that is emphasized. The seventh day is the Sabbath.
A Day, Not an Institution
ATTENTION is directed to the fact that nothing is said in the Bible of a Sabbath institution. Some would have the commandment read: “Remember the Sabbath institution, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but one day in seven shalt thou rest, for one seventh part of time is the Sabbath institution; in it thou shalt not do any work.” They would have the blessing and the sanctification placed upon the institution. But God plainly placed His blessing and sanctification upon the day. God did not say, “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy”; but He did say, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it [the day] holy.” It is the day that is to be kept holy, because it was the day that was blessed; it was the day upon which God rested; it was the day that He appointed to be kept.
The Sabbath is not a movable institution, that was placed upon one day, but which can be changed and transferred to some other day, as many seem to think. The day itself is the Sabbath. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it [the day] thou shalt not do any work.” The day itself is the important thing.
Emphasis Placed on the Day
LET the reader turn to Ex. 20: 8-11, and read there the Sabbath commandment, and notice where God again places the emphasis:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it [the day] holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it [the seventh day] thou shalt not do any work.
. . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it [the seventh day].”
God blessed a day because He had rested on that day. And He made that day holy. The seventh day was the recipient of all the things God conferred. The rest, the blessing, the sanctification, and the holiness pertain alone to the seventh day. When, therefore, some other day is used as a Sabbath, every element that constitutes the Sabbath is left out and lost. When another day is taken in the place of that day upon which God rested, then we have a day upon which God did not rest, a day which He did not bless, and a day which is not holy. Hence, whatever else we do have, we do not have the Sabbath, for the Sabbath is the seventh day and that alone.
On the seventh day God rested. That fact can never be changed. We cannot place that rest on any other day, and therefore the blessing and the sanctification cannot be transferred to any other day, for they were bestowed on the seventh day because of the fact that God rested on that day.
To illustrate: The writer was born on May 24. That is his birthday. Nothing that he can do, and nothing that all the nations of the earth can do, can ever change the fact that May 24 is his birthday. He might decide to celebrate June 24 as his birthday, or he might even claim that June 24 was his birthday; but celebrating June 24, or claiming June 24 as his birthday, would not make it so. May 24 would still remain his birthday, simply because of a fact that could not be changed—the fact that he was born on May 24. So with the Sabbath. On the seventh day God rested. That is a truth, a fact. It cannot be changed. I cannot change it. Congress cannot change it. The pope cannot change it. And the fact must ever remain, that the seventh day, and the seventh day alone, is the Sabbath, the rest day, of the Lord.
And it is not the Old Testament alone that places this emphasis on the seventh day as the Sabbath. The New Testament also teaches clearly the same truth. The following passage makes this plain:
“This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher.” Luke 23: 52-56; 24: 1.
In this passage, three days are mentioned, “the preparation” day, “the Sabbath day according to the commandment,” and “the first day of the week.” And it is plain to all, that “the Sabbath day” is the day immediately before “the first day of the week.”
Thus the Old and the New Testament are in entire agreement regarding the fact that the seventh day is the Christian Sabbath.
His Bountiful Care
By Worthie Harris Holden
By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
THE stars looking down from the heights of the night
Whisper ever of God's constant power and might.
The sun riding forth with the strength of the day
Declares the Creator is mindful for aye.
The trees with their spires point always above,
While the birds in their branches are warbling God's love,
And the wonderwork daily in meadow and field
Allures to continual thanks for their yield.
So full to o'erflowing, so fresh every morn—
How can we, God's children, be sad and forlorn?
Wherever I look, countless blessings I see,
And they beckon my thoughts to our Lord's constancy.
'Tis omnipotent power, with a Father's great love,
That so graciously wings our affections above.
Ah, we cannot keep silent, for mighty our King,
And our hearts' adoration the offering we bring.
Though the seraphs give homage forever on high,
Still He yearns for our song from His throne in the sky,
And His quick ear discerns when one voice ceases praise
For His bountiful care that encircles our days.
Light Through a Chilean Jesuit
By C. C. Crisler
Manuel Lacunza, Early Expositor of Prophecy
By C. C. CRISLER
FOR a full third of a century, from 1767 to 1801, in the picturesque old walled town of Imola, in central Italy, there lived a humble Jesuit priest, Manuel Lacunza by name, whose study of Holy Scripture, and particularly of the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, was destined to throw much light on the teachings of God’s word with regard to the second advent of Christ.
The age in which Lacunza studied and wrote, has been characterized by an observant clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. Edward Miller, one-time fellow and tutor of New College, Oxford University, as a period of uneasy desire for a change in the established order of things. “People began to ‘look up and lift up their heads,’ thinking that their ‘redemption was drawing nigh.’” This led to “an eager study of Holy Scripture. . . . And as men were then looking forward, the study of prophecy in particular attracted a great deal of attention.”
“The way had been paved for this,” continues Mr. Miller, “in the works of Sherlock, Newton, Horsley, and Lowth, following upon those of Mede in the seventeenth century. These abounded with general principles ready for application. And now many minds were engaged in finding out modes of adapting the pictures drawn in the Revelation, or in other parts of Holy Scripture, to the events of the age, and in discovering signs, as they supposed, of the approaching end of time.” (“Irvingism,” volume 1, pages 9, 10.)
Light Through a Chilean Jesuit
THE time had arrived for a much clearer comprehension of the prophecies than had hitherto been gained by Biblical scholars; and among those to whom God gave special insight and sound judgment in the interpretation of the books of Daniel and the Revelation, was Manuel Lacunza, the studious recluse of Imola.
Born at Santiago de Chile, South America, July 19, 1731, of noble though not very rich parents, Lacunza had the advantages of as liberal an education as was afforded by the schools of Chile nearly two centuries ago. At the College of the Jesuits, in Santiago, he made good progress in the study of philosophy and theology; and in 1747, he became a member of the Society of Jesus. Later, “he was appointed to the superintendence of the novitiates, in which situation he showed his zeal for the spiritual good of the young people under his care.” (See P. Enrich’s “Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en Chile,” volume 2, page 495; also a recent monograph, by M. R. Urzua, “El P. Manuel Lacunza,” pages 5-7.)
While in Chile, Lacunza took particular pains to instruct the common people publicly in Bible themes, and was held in good repute as a preacher. But in the midst of his labors as a teaching priest, he was suddenly removed far from the scene of his activities. Without warning, and without any apparent reason, Charles III of Spain had sent into all his colonies sealed dispatches, to be opened everywhere on the same day, April 2, 1767, providing for the immediate expulsion of all Jesuits from his realm. Thus Lacunza was compelled to leave his native land, and seek refuge in Italy. Yet by the Lord’s providence, the calamity that had befallen him was turned finally into a wonderful blessing; for Lacunza, living “in retirement, avoiding society, conversing only with his books,” was thus enabled to produce, as the fruit of long study and meditation, a masterly work on the second advent of Christ, which afterwards exercised a profound influence on the minds of students of prophecy in many parts of the world.
A Noteworthy Publication
LACUNZA’S exposition of scriptures bearing on the second advent, was circulated first in manuscript form. Some years after his death, which occurred in 1801, the manuscript, considerably abridged, was printed “at the Isle of Leon” (Cadiz, Spain, 1812). The two small octavo volumes bore the title, “Venida del Mesias en Gloria y Majestad” (“The Advent of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty”).
The time was ripe for the appearance of this scholarly work. Entirely different from any treatises on the second advent which had hitherto been published, and far in advance of them, Lacunza’s work gave definite shape to the study of the signs of the times foreshadowing the approaching Judgment and the end of the world. Not until the next year (1815) did Cunninghame’s “Seals and Trumpets” appear; and the year following, Frere’s “Combined View of the Christian Prophecies.” These men were unacquainted with Lacunza’s work, although in many essentials their interpretations were very similar to his.
MANUEL LACUNZA, THE STUDIOUS RECLUSE OF IMOLA
For some years after the publication of Lacunza’s manuscript, it was not known that a Chilean Jesuit was the author, as the volumes had been issued under the literary pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra, a converted Jew — a name even to this day not infrequently assigned as that of the real author. The printing of the volumes had been accomplished during a short period when the laws of Spain were favorable to the liberty of the press. Shortly afterwards, these laws were repealed, and the book was largely suppressed. God’s providence overruled, however
in favor of seekers after truth in old Spain during those troublous times. “When the inquiring mind of the Spanish youth was hindered from the food which it desired, . . . they formed secret societies, of which the object was to procure and read those books expressly which were prohibited by the Inquisition.” Among the volumes thus searched out and read, was this one written supposedly by Ben-Ezra; and in its teachings the spiritual-minded took great delight. (See translator’s “Preliminary Discourse,” pages 15, 16, in 1827 English edition of Lacunza’s “Advent of the Messiah.”)
The Light Shining in Many Lands
NOT alone in Spain did Lacunza’s work have circulation. It was well received in South America — so well, in fact, that from the continent of the author’s birth the volumes were forwarded in 1816 to England, being sent “to the diplomatic or commercial agent of the Buenos Aires government, to be printed; and an edition of fifteen hundred copies was actually printed for the use of the Spanish colonies.” (Id., page 16.)
In 1818, an abridgment was published in Paris, under the title, “Vues sur le second avènement de J. C.” A contemporary religious journal recommends the acquisition of this abridgment, declaring it to be “truly an excellent treatise, full of light, and the most complete and profound we have regarding the subject of the last days.” It also mentions “a Latin translation made in the presence of Lacunza, known only in Italy, where it circulates in manuscript, and seems to have had a good reception by the scholars.” (The Chronique Religieuse, Paris, 1819, volume 1, page 179.)
In 1825, a Spanish edition was published in Mexico, in three volumes, quarto; and in 1826, another edition in Spanish was published in London.
An English Translation
IT was in the year 1826 that a copy of the 1812 Spanish edition of Lacunza’s work fell into the hands of the Rev. Edward Irving, who at that time was preaching to great congregations in London on the prophecies of the second advent. “When I had read a very small portion of it,” Irving declared, “the hand of a master was made manifest to me.” Immediately the London preacher began planning for an English translation, which he himself finally undertook with great enthusiasm. Referring afterwards to this arduous labor prompted by a love for the truths set forth in the pages of the Spanish original, Irving wrote:
“I prevented the dawning of the morning, and I envied the setting in of the shades of evening, to labor in my work; and when my hands and my eyes failed me, because of weakness, the helper whom God hath given meet for me, served me with hers, and so we labored to bring this labor of love to completion. . . . Oh, that my brethren in Christ might have the same divine satisfaction and unwearied delight in reading, that I had in translating this wonderful work!” (“Preliminary Discourse,” pages 20, 21.)
Irving’s translation was published in London, in 1827 (two volumes, octavo). An abridgment was published in Dublin, 1833.
The Author’s Lucid Style
ONE of the chief merits of Lacunza’s writings is his masterly grouping of passages of Scripture bearing on important events. As an example of his lucid and convincing style in the exposition of Bible truths, the following extract is submitted from his chapter on “The Day of the Lord” (1827 London edition, volume 2, pages 215, 216):
“This day is called, in the Scriptures, ‘the great and terrible day.’ Malachi 4. It is called ‘the day of the tumult of the Lord, the day of His wrath and fierce anger.’ Isaiah 13 and 34. It is called ‘the day of Midian,’ in allusion to the famous battle of Gideon. Isa. 9: 4 and 10: 33. It is called ‘a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm.’ Zeph. 1: 15, 16. It is called ‘a day coming at unawares’; which day, ‘as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.’ Luke 21: 35. It is called ‘the great day of His wrath’; Rev. 6: 17; that is, of the wrath of God Almighty and of the Lamb: and, in fine, for shortness it is called ‘the day of the Lord.’423called
“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Rev. 1: 7. This glorious coming of the Lord Jesus is a divine truth, as essential and fundamental in Christianity as is His first coming in suffering flesh. They say [referring to popular theologians of his day] that this coming shall not happen till the end of the world, when there shall be no longer, in it all, one living man, everything being consumed by fire, and the universal resurrection having succeeded; but if the Holy Scripture saith most frequently, and evidently supposeth, quite the contrary, which ought we to believe?
“This great day, which heaven and earth expect with the greatest longings, being arrived, ‘the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God.’ 1 Thess. 4: 16. Then, at His coming from heaven to earth (and, as I figure it to myself), at the very moment of His touching the atmosphere of our globe, there shall happen in it, in the first place, the resurrection of all those saints ‘who shall be counted worthy of that age and of the resurrection from the dead’; Luke 20: 35; of whom St. Paul says (continuing the passage above quoted), ‘and the dead in Christ shall rise first.’ In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, this first resurrection of the saints of the first order having taken place, the few worthy of that name who shall still be found alive upon the earth, for their uncorrupted faith and righteousness, shall be caught up along with the dead saints who are just raised, and shall ascend along with them ‘to meet the Lord in the air.’ All this is most clear and of the most easy comprehension.”
