1
Will There Be A
Millennium
On This Earth?
by James Willoughby*
[* Mr Willoughby, M.A. was the first principal of the Strict Baptist
Bible Institute which began in
A Period of Remarkable
Blessedness
There is to be on this earth a period of
remarkable blessedness (Isaiah 11: 5-10; Daniel 7:
13, 14, 18, 27).
The events here referred to will not take place
before the coming of the Son of Man with the clouds of heaven (verse13): Behold, He cometh with clouds (Revelation 1: 7).
And again see Revelation 11: 15. The events here referred to will not take
place before the time of the sound of the seventh trumpet, which will be the last trump
and will sound when prophets and saints will be about to receive their rewards
(Revelation 8: 2; 11: 15, 17, 18), that is,
at the coming of our Lord (compare Revelation 11:
18 with 1 Corinthians 15: 52, Luke 14: 14, 2
Timothy 4: 8, 1 Peter 5: 4, Revelation 22: 12).
Accordingly, there is to be on earth a period of
remarkable blessedness which never has been, and never shall be before the
second coming of our Lord.
Two Resurrections
There will be two resurrections, one of
the just and the other of the unjust.
1.
In no passage is it asserted, or
necessarily implied, that all the dead
will simultaneously
arise.
It is not necessarily implied in John 5: 28-29; The hour is coming, in which all that are in the
graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation; for in verse
25 we read, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. Whether the coming to life again referred to
in verse 25 was the coming to physical life
of some dead bodies, as of Lazarus and others, or the coming to spiritual life
of many dead souls ‑ souls dead in sins ‑ they most certainly did
not in either case all come simultaneously to life; therefore verses 28 and 29
do not necessarily mean that all the dead bodies will come simultaneously to
life; for the two passages are parallel.
In fact, the latter passage speaks of two resurrections, one of the just* and the other of the unjust, but does not, of
course, indicate whether they will take place simultaneously or otherwise.
[* See Matt. 5: 20;
Luke 14: 14; 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 11: 35b; Rev. 6: 9-11; 20: 4.]
2.
Thou shalt he
recompensed at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14: 14).
If all the dead were to rise simultaneously
there would be no need of the qualifying phrase of the just. Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection, would
have been sufficient. Thus this passage
also makes it natural to conclude that there will be two resurrections, one of
the just, and the other of the unjust.
3. The children of this world marry, and are given
in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world
[age],
and the
resurrection [out] from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
neither can they die any more: for they are equal to the angels; and are
children of God, being the children of the resurrection
(Luke 20: 34-36).
In this passage the word rendered by world means age, and
the phrase, ek nekron, rendered by from
the dead, means from among the dead.
Accordingly (a) there will be a resurrection from among the dead; (b)
only [regenerate] children of God will be accounted worthy of that
resurrection, and (c) only these [who attain unto that resurrection] will be accounted worthy to live in resurrected bodies during the future remarkable age.
Now, the phrase, ek
nekron (from among the dead) occurs in the New Testament 42 times. In 31 places it refers to our Lords
resurrection [out] from among the dead.
In 3 places it refers to John the Baptist: Herod thought John had risen
from among the dead. In 4 places it
refers to Lazarus, who rose from among the dead. In other places it refers to
other children of God, but in no place does it manifestly refer to children of
Satan. If these will rise in the second
resurrection and if all who will rise in it will rise simultaneously, then there will be no rising of the wicked* from among the dead.
[* Keep in mind: There are many within the redeemed
family of God, who are described in the Holy Scriptures as wicked! 1 Cor. 5: 12, 13. cf. Num. 14: 26, 25.]
Now, manifestly, since the resurrection spoken
of in the last passage quoted will be a resurrection of the just [righteous] from
among the dead there will be another resurrection, namely, of the unjust, from
among whom the just will have been already raised.
4.
Now consider Revelation 20: 4-6.
And I saw thrones
(I beheld till thrones were placed ‑ see Daniel 7: 9), and they (i.e.,
the saints, ‑ see Daniel 7: 18, 27) sat upon them, and judgment was
given unto them (see 1 Corinthians 6: 2 and Daniel 7: 22); and
I saw the souls of them that were (had
been) beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the
Word of God (the apostle here makes special and
honourable mention of one class of the saints, namely those who had been
beheaded), and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands (in the latterforegoing words he
makes special and honourable mention of either another class of the saints, or
else a larger class including the beheaded saints and possibly all other
persons then in Christ), and they
lived (not [just]
the souls, for the word rendered by souls is in the feminine gender, whereas in the
context the pronouns referring to the persons [i.e.,
resurrected persons in glorified bodies] spoken
of in this clause are in the masculine gender) and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. Manifestly those who are to live [after resurrection] and
reign with Christ are those who are to sit upon the thrones, namely, the saints.
The rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were (should be) finished. This is the first
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:
on such (over these) the second death bath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a
thousand years. They lived
means, Their bodies again lived,
for we read, The rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were (should
be) finished,
which manifestly means that their bodies did not again live until the thousand
years should be finished, and it would be most unnatural to suppose that in two
places so very near each other the word lived
could have two entirely different meanings.
That all the dead saints will rise at the sound
of the last trump is clear: We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1
Corinthians 15: 51-52). For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive ... Christ the first fruits; afterward
they that are
Christ's at His coming (1 Corinthians
15: 22-23).
Accordingly, there will be two resurrections of
dead bodies, one of the just, and the other of the unjust, with a millennium lying between.
Even if the language in Revelation 20: 4-6 were all figurative, which it
most certainly is not, could a thousand years mean anything except a thousand
years? This millennium leaves room for the remarkable age in which children of
God [who] were to be accounted worthy to live in bodies raised to life; it
leaves room which we cannot find anywhere else for the remarkable period of
blessedness referred to in Isaiah 11: 5-10,
and for the reign over the earth of Christ and His saints spoken of in Daniel 7 and in Revelation
5: 10, and for the radical change in the government of the earth spoken
of in Revelation 11: 15; and while these
passages do not show that Christ, as man, and His saints, will abstain from
passing to and fro between heaven and earth during the millennium, they do show
that in the said period Christ and His saints will reign over this earth.
*
* * *
* * *
2
The Millennium from the
Old Testament*
by George Barnett
[* This is part of a
message given at an S. G. A. T meeting in January 1949.]
If there is to be no millennium on this earth,
then to me at least the Bible becomes a meaningless book. So much is written of blessing to come to
this earth as also to
Psalm 110: 1 says, Jehovah said unto My Lord, sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. In Isaiah 66: 1,
we hear God saying, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool,
therefore the gathering of the enemies
of
As the coming again of Christ will be to save the spared remnant of Israel and to
destroy their enemies, so it will also be to deliver creation from the bondage
of corruption in which it now travails (Romans
8: 21), hence Isaiah 11: 9, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for
the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea ‑
note the earth, not heaven; the earth has never yet been full of the knowledge
of the Lord, therefore it must be future.
Still speaking of the earth, Isaiah 35: 1
says: The
wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them (
Ezekiel 40 and 41 describe a
Ezekiel 48 describes the future
division of
Now we know that none of this has been fulfilled,
therefore, as the
Scripture cannot be broken, all
must have a literal fulfilment, and that in the millennium on this earth. Finally, in Daniels interpretation of
Nebuchadnezzars dream (Daniel 2: 36-45), we
have a description of the four great world empires, and of the fifth, which is
Christs, like to a stone cut out of the mountain
without hands. There are no
stones or mountains in heaven, therefore it is an earthly figure, and it is
said of the stone (verse 35) that it became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth; so when, as in Daniel 7: 13, the Ancient of days shall sit, one
like unto the Son of Man shall be brought before Him, and to Him will be given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people,
nations and languages shall serve Him.
Then, as in Revelation
11: 15, great voices in heaven will be heard saying, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. Zechariah 14: 9:
And the LORD
shall be king over all the earth: in that
day there shall be one LORD, and His Name one.
[This article is taken
from the book, Text Meditations: in the Form of Short Treatises published in
1903].
This same Jesus, Which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven (Acts 1: 11).
Some persons, who hold the unscriptural notion
of a secret rapture, have supposed that this
passage teaches, that as only a few persons, who were believers in Jesus, saw
Him go into heaven, and none others, that this will be the case when He comes
again; and that, therefore, He will come secretly, and that believers only
(some say all, and others, watchful ones only) will see Him when He comes [at the end of the Great Tribulation]*. But this
notion is rebutted, not only by the positive and absolute statements of
Scripture to the contrary, but by this very passage itself; for the so and in like manner
expressly refer to the going and coming again only of the Lord Himself, i.e. that He went up in a cloud, and from the Mount
of Olives; and so and in like manner it
is also expressly stated that He will return.
[* See Conditional Rapture (by D. M. Panton) a removal of careful and watchful
saints, begging that they might be able
to escape all that is about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke
21: 34-36, lit. Gk.), BEFORE the the Great
Tribulation.]
1. He went up in a
cloud: so also will He return.
Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him
(not
a few only), and they also which
pierced Him: and all the kindred of the earth (tribes of the land, i.e. of
Immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken. And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes
of the earth (land, i.e. of
But in those days, after
that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in
heaven shall be shaken. And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall He send His angels, and shall
gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the
earth to the uttermost part of heaven (Mark
13: 24-27).
Jesus said
unto the High Priests and the Elders, Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of heaven (Mark
14: 62).
And there shall be
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth
distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; mens
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21: 25-28).
For the Son of man
shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels; and then
He shall reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16: 27).
Whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful
generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of
His Father with the holy angels (Mark
8: 38).
2. He went up from the
And His feet shall
stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the
east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east
and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the
mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the
mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall
flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of
[* That is, all
who were watchful and able to escape, by being rapt into heaven before
the Great Tribulation set in. See Luke 21: 34-36; Rev.
3: 10. Always keep in mind:
Scripture speaks of more than one rapture of living saints: some are removed before
the Tribulation; some must endire unto the end.]
For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place, and
will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth (i.e.
the
Out of
A fire goeth before
Him, and burneth up His enemies round about.
His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of
the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory (Psalm 97: 3-6).
Seeing it is a
righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
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 [age-lasting] 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 Thessalonians 1: 6-10).*
[* NOTE. The word and
above, can be used, seen, interpreted and understood as a disjunction, sepatating
the unregenerate
who know not God, from disobedient
regenerate
persons that obey not the gospel.
Paul was writing to those who were perseveraing
in faith, persecutions and trials (1: 4);
and so were (by their lifestyle of obedience to God), to rest with them (the aspostles. [See Heb. 4: 8, 9, 11]), when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven (v.7): but not all who are regenerate can be
included with them, (unless by repentance and obedience to Christ) their
lifestyle is synonymous with that of the saints to which Pauls epistle was
addressed. See 1
Cor. 5: 11-13; Gal. 5: 19, 21; Eph. 5: 6 for examples of divine
threats against the regenerate whose lifestyle is at present contrary to
theirs.
If the word translated everlasting
[Gk. aionios, the adjective equivalent of aion,
which has been indiscriminately translated eternal
or everlasting in various English
translations, is translated as age-lasting; and the word and
is seen and understood as a disjunction and not a conjunction,
we have two distinct classes of people described above the unregenerate
(non-Christians), who know not God;
and the disobedient regenerate (real Christians), who obey not the
gospel.
The Greek word aionios,
translated everlasting
above is misleading. Those for whom
Christ is the source of eternal
or everlasting salvation (all regenerate believers)
already possess eternal salvation and eternal life as a free gift
(Rom. 6: 23. cf. Eph. 2: 8); and, beyond that, this initial
salvation was not acquired through obedience to Christ. Rather, it was obtained by believing
(faith) on the Lord Jesus Christ. (For
example, see John 3: 16, where the word aionios
must be translated as eternal or everlasting;
simply because (by the context in which it is found, and by comparing Scripture
with Scripture) the context in which the word aionios is found demands
this interpretation and translation.
This text above appears to me to be a case in
point, where word aionios (is wrongly translated as everlasting instead of age-lasting destruction.
That is, the reaping of destruction
by disobedient regenerate believers who sow to please their sinful nature (Gal. 6: 7a).
The destruction in Gal.
6: 8, is therefore for a period of a thousand
years (an aeon or millennial age) after the righteous
dead are resurrected. That is, their
bodys (the flesh [v.8]) will remains in the grave, and their
disembodied souls must therefore remain in Hades - the place of the dead, (Acts 2: 27 and 31;
cf.
Acts 2: 34; Rev. 6: 9-11; 20: 4, 6.): and
this is why the apostle Paul encouraged regenerate believers to work
with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know (or rather
they should know) that you will (at the time of Christs return) receive an inheritance (i.e., a millennial
or aionios [age-lasting] inheritance no
doubt) from the Lord AS A REWARD that is, a just
recompense of reward for their hard work for the Lord, (Col. 3: 23, 24; cf. 1 Cor 15: 58).
Two other examples of Scriptural texts in, where
the Greek word aionios should be translated age-lasting instead of eternal
or everlasting are Heb.
5: 9 and 1 Pet. 5: 10, where the
contexts always determine the correct translation and interpretation of this
Greek word is used.]
And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn
from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD (Isaiah 59: 20).
For I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in
your own conceits: that blindness in part is happened to
And I will pour upon
the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace
and of supplications: and they shall look
upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn (Zechariah
12: 10).
In that day there shall be a
fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of
3. And when the Lord
Comes Again, His People will he caught up in the Clouds to Meet Him in the Air*; and will Descend with Him to the Earth
[* Here is another rapture (at the
end of the Great Tribulation) of those who are
still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord
(1 Thess. 4: 15, N.I.V.).]
For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even them also which sleep in (through
‑ dia, i.e. through, or by means of the instrumentality of) Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by
the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are
asleep. For the Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God; and the dead in Christ* shall rise first: then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,
to meet (eis apanteesin, to meet and return with. See in proof Acts 28: 15.
See also Matthew 25: 1-6, where only
the same phrase occurs) the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1
Thessalonians 4: 14-17).
[* Not all the dead in Christ as many imgine, but only
those judged worthy to rise from Hades (the place of the dead) at this time. Scripture must be compared with
Scripture. See also Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 11: 35; Rev. 6: 9-11,
etc.]
For Behold, I shew you
a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment
... at the
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality (1 Corinthians 15: 51-53).
For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order
(or in
his own proper band): Christ
the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christs at His coming (1 Corinthians 15: 22-23).
And Enoch also, the
seventh from Adam, prophesied of these (i.e. of the ungodly in the last
days), saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His
saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of
all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him (Jude 14-15).
He which testifieth
these things saith, Surely I come quickly.
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus
(Revelation 22: 20).
An equally
false notion also prevails, that the preaching of the gospel is to
convert the whole world to Christ; which a few texts only will serve to confute;
for we are expressly told that, God at the first did visit
the Gentiles, to take out of them a
people for His Name(Acts 15: 4);
and that this people would be hated and persecuted by the world: for Jesus said
of such, If ye
were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the
world, but 1 have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you
.... If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (John 15: 19-20).
Indeed, Daniel tells us
that Antichrist shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall
make war with
the saints, and prevail against
them; until the Ancient of days came, i.e.
until the second coming of the Lord Himself; when judgment will be given to the saints of
the Most High; and the time came that the
saints possessed the kingdom (Daniel 7:
25, 21, 22) - a time referred to also by our Blessed Lord, when He said,
And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day
and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will
avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when
the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth (Luke 18: 7‑8) - a question which implies that it will then, in consequence
of such persecution, be at a very low ebb indeed.
So far the from the world getting better before
the second coming of the Lord, the
Scriptures plainly reveal, that it will get worse and worse. For Jesus Himself tells us that, Many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many. And because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold; and that these false Christs, and
false prophets* ... shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect (Matthew
24: 21-22).
[* See also: For I know
this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock. Also of
your own selves (i.e., deceived, regenerate and apostate believers) shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them :(Acts 20: 29,
30).]
While Paul
tells us that, in the last days perilous times shall come, of which he gives a fearful
description; and says that, all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; and that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving,
and being deceived (2 Timothy 3: 1-5, 12,
13).
Daniel also, when speaking of
these times, tells us that the transgressors will then come to the full; and
that this will take place in the last end of the
indignation (Daniel 8: 23, 19) ‑
i.e. against
Daniel speaks of it, when he says, And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince
which standeth for the children of thy people (i.e. of Israel): and there
shall be a time of trouble, such as
never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time
thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the
book (Daniel 12: 1).
Jeremiah also refers to it, For thus saith Jehovah, We have heard a voice of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now,
and see whether a man doth travail with child?
Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in
travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is
like it; it is even the time of Jacobs
trouble: but he shall be saved out of it (Jeremiah
30: 5-7).
Our Blessed
Lord Himself also refers to it, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for
the elects sake those days shall be shortened (Matthew 24: 21-22).
And that this will take place just before the second coming, we have His own express testimony Immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: and then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth (land, i.e. of Israel) mourn, and they shall see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other (Matthew 24:
29-31). (This paragraph is
repeated to complete the connection).
And this gathering will include all that are Christs(1 Corinthians 15: 23) - even the martyrs under the
great tribulation, as we learn from Revelation 7: 14, who are said to have come out of
the tribulation, the great one (so in the original); as well as from Revelation 20: 4-6, which speaks of them as
partakers of the
first resurrection, all of whom are described as blessed and holy
- which is another most convincing proof, that Christ will not come again until after, and not before, the great
tribulation.
But unto you that fear My Name shall the
Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth,
and grow up as calves of the stall. And
ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your
feet in the day that I shall do
this, saith Jehovah of hosts (Malachi 4: 2-3).
* *
* * *
* *
The Plan for this Age
by David Baron
[This article is taken
from Watching and Waiting, April, 1936, some 10 years after Mr
Baron was called home].
Unbelieving men sometimes taunt us with the
little that the gospel has accomplished, and maintain that Christianity has
proved a failure; and truly if, as is supposed by some, the Scriptures held out
the expectation that the gospel was to go on gradually extending, until the
world was converted, there were some appearance of reason in the imputation. For when we contemplate the condition of the
world after eighteen centuries, how far are we from seeing these expectations
realised! Consider how small a
proportion of the human race are even professedly believers in Jesus.
In the wide wastes of heathen, Mohammedan, and
Jewish ignorance that present themselves, how insignificant in point of extent
and numbers is professing Christendom! And
then contemplate this favoured field of gospel culture itself and what a
spectacle does it present to the enlightened mind! Alas! how few, comparatively, profess the
truth, which truth is in Jesus.
Again, consider the condition of professing
Protestantism; look at our own highly-favoured land, the most enlightened in
the world, and ask, is this a Christian nation? Does it even deserve the name? Or does it show any signs of approximation to
such a happy state? My brethren, it is
sufficient merely to glance at the state of things around us to feel persuaded
that to whatever climax the world is progressing, it is not to one of
righteousness and obedience to the gospel.
But if we look into the Scripture and around us,
at the condition of the world, we see that the gospel has and does accomplish
just that which God said it would accomplish in this present age. A remnant according
to the election of grace was to be saved out of
[* Note. The Bride
is taken out of the Body: a selection out from
a previous selection.]
And as the Scriptures have foretold so it is:
Nor does this truth of the elective character of
this dispensation tend to slacken zeal or depreciate missionary labour as some
suppose. Oh, no, this gospel of the kingdom must first be
preached as a witness unto all nations, the whole of Gods great harvest-field
consisting of all kindreds, peoples, and tongues, must
first be traversed for the gathering in of the first ripe ears to constitute
a glorious first-fruits, and then After this I will
return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and
I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of
men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My Name is
called, saith the Lord, Who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the
beginning of the world (Acts 15:16-18).
Then, not only shall all in Israel know God,
from the least unto the greatest of them, but all the nations shall walk in the
light of Jehovah.
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