THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT OF MESSIAH DEMONSTRATED FROM THE SCRIPTURES. FIRST PRINTED IN THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER, AND NOW REPUBLISHED WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. FROM THE THIRD LONDON EDITION. Bv WILLIAM CUNINGHAME, Esq. OF LAINSHAW, IN THE COUNTY OF AYR. PHILADELPHIA: ORRIN ROGERS, 67 SOUTH SECOND STREET. E. O. Doraey, Printer. 1840. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. A period of fourteen years has now elapsed since, in the.fijr.9t. edition of my work on the Apocalypse, which appeared in 1813, I brought before the church the doctrine of the sedoild personal advent of our Lord at the commencement of the Millennium, and his reign upon earth during that dispensation. Opposed however as these views were to the doctrine held in highest repute in the church, and unsupported as I then was in maintaining them, by any other commentator of the present day, I did not, either in the first or second editions of my work, enter into the subject minutely. I was, indeed, well aware, that the mind of the Christian public was scarcely at that time prepared to receive even some distant hints of the nature of the dispensation, which I then believed to be rapidly approaching, and now believe to be near. Contenting myself, therefore, with a simple avowal of the doctrine wherever it occurred in the course of exposition, I purposely abstained from further details; but in the Preface of my book, the sense in which I held the advent itself was thus explicitly acknowledged. “In the following work, the reader will find frequent- mention of the second personal advent of our Lord. I am aware that it is the common doctrine of the present day, both among private Christians and the teachers of religion, to interpret in a figurative sense many of those passages which I suppose to refer to that great event. But I have the support of the greatest writers on prophecy in understanding them literally; and the opinion which I now hold on this point, is not only the result of a long and most attentive consideration of the prophetical Scriptures, but was slowly and reluctantly formed in opposition to early prejudices. In the continued prevalence of the opposite sentiment, we may discern the symptoms of that spirit of unbelief, which our Lord assures us, shall mark the season of his second coming:' IV PREFACE. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?’* by which is meant not faith [or the want of it] in the doctrines of his Gospel in general, but in the particular promises which relate to the second advent. “On this point I shall introduce the following quotation from King’s ‘Remarks on the Signs of the Times.’ ~~ “On the one hand, the Jews would not apprehend nor believe the words of holy prophecy written concerning our Lord’s first coming in his state of deep humiliation and suffering, being dazzled with bright apprehensions of what was written concerning his second coming, his coming in glory; and on the other hand, the Christian world are now too backward to believe what is really written in the same words of holy prophecy concerning his second coming upon earth in glory, being blinded by their constant habit of contending against the Jews, chiefly for the former, and by the presumptuous mystical application which has taken place, by means of applying those holy words that relate to the latter, merely to the fancied prosperity of the Christian church on earth, though such a fancied prosperity is a misapplication of the words, in direct contradiction to all the warnings of our Lord himself, and his holy annstles.” rThe time, however, seems at length to have arrived, when this primitive doctrine of the personal advent of Messiah, at the commencement of that glorius and now nearly impending dispensation, wherein the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom,tjis no longer to be spoken in proverbs, but in the plainest and most intelligible language, in order that a sleeping church J may be aroused to deep and earnest inquiry respecting the signs of the stupendous events which are approaching. It has pleased God to raise up for the above momentous truth, many witnesses in the southern part of the United Kingdom. The doctrine itself is there making rapid progress, and is sounding forth in many pulpits. In Scotland, however, all appears to be still and at rest. No cry is heard—no alarm is sounded—not even a suspicion seems to lurk in the minds of the watchmen, that the morning approaches, and also the night;§ * * * § * Luke xviii. 8. t Dan. vii. 18. t The parable of the Ten Virgins with lamps, Matth. xxv. 1—7,13, manifestly describes the state of the professing church of Christ shortly before the advent. They all slumber and sleep—an alarm of the approach of the bridegroom is suddenly given, and they arise to trim their lamps; while they are doing this the bridegroom comes. It seems to me, therefore, no breach of charity, to maintain that the church is asleep, as it respects the expectation of the coming of Christ. § Isaiah xxi. 12. A glorious morning for the just, viz.t that of the first resurrection—an awful night for the wicked. PREFACE. y and yet we should be apt to think that the evidence for the doctrine, is not of that scanty nature, as to be passed over in silence. Assuredly it is easy to run it down under the appellation of the Millenarian heresy, or, like Nicodemus, to ask, “How can these be?” or to say, as some once said, “Are ye also deceived? have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed it?”* But to meet and confute the Scriptural evidence upon whichlwe assuredly believe, and confidently affirm, that if there be a second advent of Messiah promised at all to the church, that advent precedes the Millennium, and introduces that dispensation of saving health and glory to this miserable world-4-to confute the Scriptural evidence upon which we hazard these assertions, will, we say, be found a matter of far less easy attainment. I shall now inform the reader that the circumstance which gave birth to the following Tract, was the appearance of a letter under the signature of D. D. in the Christian Observer for July last, (1827,) which, after stating the divided state of opinion in the religious world, in reference to the Advent,concludes as follows:— “I am told that the expectation of a personal advent at the approaching crisis is rested by its advocates upon the following maxims as its foundation; namely, that wherever a future advent or Ttpurt*. (Parousia) of our Lord is foretold in Scripture, the same advent is uniformly intended; and that consequently, if in any one place the advent intended be plainly a personal advent, the same construction must be put upon all. I shall be much gratified if any of your correspondents will take the trouble to inform me whether this be indeed the basis of the whole scheme of interpretation alluded to, and if so, on what proofs the rule of construction laid down in it, is asserted and applied.” In consequence of the request of this anonymous writer, I was led to draw up the paper which (having appeared in the above-mentioned periodical work) is now offered to the public; and in republishing it as a Tract, I have not thought it necessary to divest it of its original form, but have simply made such corrections and additions as seemed to be calculated further to elucidate and strengthen the general argument. To the reader who is in no degree conversant with the subject of prophecy, it will doubtless appear that I have assumed in this argument certain positions which ought to have been + I think this is the spirit of some papers which have appeared on the subject in some of the Religious Magazines of the day. No attempt is made to refute our views by Scriptural reasoning. The appeal is rather made to the principles of human reason and the authority of men. 63* VI PREFACE. proved. Now* to this charge I in part plead guilty. I have taken for granted certain first principles, but they are not of that nature that at this time of day I ought to be required to enter upon the proof of them. I suppose that no one can now* be reasonably expected in any prophetic discussion to prove that the four monarchies of Daniel are the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman. That the last of these was to exist in two different states, first as an undivided empire, and next as divided into ten kingdoms, among which was to arise an eccle-* siastical power, (viz, the Popes of Rome,) symbolized, Dan. vii. S, by a little horn with eyes, and described also in St. PauPs prophecy of the man of sin, 2 Thess. ii. And further, that at the destruction of the Roman empire, secular and spiritual, in its last state, the Millennial kingdom of Messiah is to be established, signified in Rev. xi. 15, by the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ. In the next place, no writer on prophecy can now be justly expected to enter upon the proof of the future and certain restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers, and that this event is also to precede the Millennium. If then any of my readers shall feel disposed to quarrel with me, and to impugn my reasoning, because I have not proved these points, I must content myself with telling him, that among the students of prophecy, they are one and all considered as of the nature of prophetic rudiments finally settled and set at rest—no less so than the principles of gravitation and first elements of mechanics and chemistry are in the schools of human science.* Should the reader, therefore, require further information on these points, I shall refer him to the elementary treatises on prophecy, such as the works of Bishops Newton and Hurd; and I shall also just mention a small volume by the Rev. Alexander Keith, “The Evidences of the Truth of the Christian Religion, derived from the fulfilment of Prophecy,” which will be found replete with useful and interesting information. In sending forth the following Tract, I am rather actuated by a hope that it may excite to inquiry, than by an expectation that it will at once convince. I indeed feel that its reasoning is of that nature as not even to be understood by the careless and superficial, or without serious mental exertion and application. It also appears to me, that the species of conviction which is the result of an indolent and almost passive acquies- ♦ Since this was written some of these first prophetic principles have been called in question by Mr. Maitland^ of Gloucester. To Mr. Maitland I have replied in my “Strictures on the Rev. S. R. Maitland’s Four Pamphlets on Prophecy, and In Vindication of the Protestant Principles of Prophetic Interpretation.” PREFACE. vii cence in the arguments of another, is of little value. In order to a profitable acquaintance with truth, she must become the inmate of our understandings, and this she will not condescend to be, unless we importunately woo her approach by such an intimate converse as to show that we justly appreciate her friendship. Now, no branch of theological truth is ip itself more worthy of being cultivated by those who have believed the Gospel, and are walking in its glorious light, than that which relates to the times and seasons of the Lord’s second advent. This is indeed the great event, to which the expectations of the church are uniformly directed in the Apostolic writings. The church of our own times, generally refers her disciples to the period of death, as that of the consummation of their felicity. This is forcibly and justly expressed by Mr. Stewart, in his discourses on the Advent:—“If,” says Mr. S. “we visit a Christian suffering under acute disease, how do we address him? ‘Be patient, my afflicted brother; death will soon come, as a welcome visitor, and release you from all your pains.’ So if called to sympathise with the widow or orphan, we say, ‘Dry up your tears; in a little moment you will follow him;— pursue but his steps, and death will come and take you to the land whither your friend is gone.* ” Not so the Apostles of the Lord. Under affliction they referred believers to the glory to be revealed—under sorrow for the loss of friends, they comforted them with the promise of that day, “When the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” When suffering from unjust oppression, they consoled them by the promise, that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. So intently fixed were their minds upon that great event, that it forms the subject of their earnest enquiries, even before their Lord and Master was taken from them by his death upon the cross;* and it is the subject of the concluding prayer of the Church of God in the volume of the Scriptures, “Even so come, Lord Jesus!” It is manifest also, that the times and the seasons of the first advent were not hid from the Levitical church,—else whence that universal expectation of the coming of the Messiah, which even Heathen historians testify to have filled the minds of the whole eastern world in the age of our Lord’s appearance, and which the Gospel history no less clearly shows to have pervaded the whole body of the Jewish people. It was this knowledge of the times and the seasons, derived from the prophecies of Jacob and Daniel, that prepared the minds pf Simeon and of Anna, of Nathanael, and all who looked for redemption in Je- * Matth. xxiv. 3. PREFACE. viii rusalem, to expect his appearance, and to welcome and receive him when he was manifested. Where then, we may well ask, is the unreasonableness of the supposition, that a similar knowledge shall be vouchsafed to the waiting saints of the New Testament church, to prepare their minds in like manner for the second revelation of their Lord and Master from heaven, and to prevent them from being taken by surprise when he shall come? “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”* It is the ohject of the following tract to prove from the Scriptures that such knowledge is actually conveyed to us; and that as the first advent of Messiah was according to Jacob’s prophecy, when the sceptre was just departing from Judah, so his second advent is to take place when the sceptre is finally departing from the last of the four Gentile monarchies. But as it was with respect to thz first advent, that while its times and seasons were so clearly revealed, that not only individuals, but nations were eagerly waiting for it, yet the precise year or day were hid under an impenetrable veil of mystery, till at length it was revealed to Simeon, just and devout, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah; so is it with regard to the second advent, that while there are marks whereby we may assuredly know its near approach, yet of that year, or day, or hour, knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven. And if we, who have watched every sign in the spiritual horizon for a long series of years, were now asked, “Is any sign of his coming yet unaccomplished?” we should be constrained to answer, “To our feeble view not one sign remains unaccomplished. ”t If we were further asked, “Shall he come this year?” Our answer would be, “We know not.” “Shall he * 1 The??, v. 4. t It may be asked by some, What these signs are! To this I answer, that there are many signs. First, The shaking of all the nations, and every throne in Christendom to their foundations; which, with the exception of our own happy country* [Britain], has been effected within the last forty years. These convulsions seem to have been the fulfilment of the prophecy of signs in the sun, moon, and stars, predicted in Luke xxi. 25. Second, The tumults of the nations have been succeeded by a period of peace and worldliness, corresponding to our Lord’s description of the condition of the world when he shall appear, Matth. xxiv. 37—39. Third, A preaching of the Gospel of unequalled magnitude and extent, among all nations, apparently corresponding in character with that announced by our Lord in Matth. xxiv. 14, as immediately preceding the end. Fourth, Such movement among the Jews as indicate the pe- * This exception no longer exists. It has pleased God in mercy to spare us the evils of bloodshed and civil war, but the great revolution effected in this country during the last seven years, and in the midst of which we still are, leaves what yet remain of our ancient institutions, and the monarchy itself, like the scattered and trembling pillars of an edifice partially overthrown by an earthquake. PREFACE. IX come within the next twenty, or fifty, or one hundred years?” Our answer would still be, “We know not; but this much we know and believe, that he is at hand. ” All our knowledge, therefore, brings us just to that state of expectation and uncertainty which filled the minds of the waiting saints at Jerusalem, in the age of our Lord’s appearance. Now, whatever may be thought of the conclusiveness of the reasoning employed in the following pages to prove the nearness of the advent, there ought, I should think, to be no difference of opinion upon the reasonableness of at least giving to the argument a fair hearing. And did the heart as well as the lips of the church in our days re-echo the words of John, “Even so [or verily indeed] come Lord Jesus!” there would be little necessity for this pleading for a patient hearing of the evidence of his approaching advent, the very sound of which would be sweeter in her ears than the harps of cherubim and seraphim. But it cannot be denied that our doctrine is unpalatable to a considerable part even of the evangelical world. They Will scarcely listen to us when we ask by what analogy of Apostolic declaration or expectation they support this cold repulsive annunciation of a thousand years delay, which but ill responds to the come quickly of the longing Bride, and as ill corresponds with every promise and every warning to the servants of God, and every denunciation of coming wrath and impending judgment to an unbelieving world. We object to this common doctrine in limine, that it supposes the church in our days to be gifted with knowledge above the Apostles of our Lord. We challenge our opponents in argument, to produce one passage from the Apostolic Epistles, to riod of their conversion to be near at hand. Fifth, The downfall of the Ottoman empire, which all the interpreters of prophecy connect with the events of the last times. Sixth, The going forth of three unclean spirits; Is/, the spirit of infidelity and alheiSHLout of the mouth of the Dragon; 2d, the spirit of anarchy and despotism* out of the mouth of the Beast, or secular Roman empire; 3d, the spirit of Popery out of the mouth of the False Prophet, which, as is discernible to all spiritual persons, are now, according to Rev. xvi. 13,14, actually at work preparing the kifrgs and people for the war of Armageddon;t just before which war, Rev. xvi. 15, the note of the advent is given. Seventh, The concurring testimony of the greater number of writers on prophecy in the present day, that the prophetic period of 1260 years ended in the year 1792; and, consequently, that we are far advanced towards the completion of Daniel’s 1335 days, at the end of which the Millennium is supposed to commence. * Anarchy and Despotism are the same principle, viz. the lust of lawless •power, the one working in the multitude and the other in kings. f All the modern interpreters of prophecy seem to concur in the opinion, that the sixth vial is poured out on the empire of the Turks or Ottomans; and it is apparent that the war of Armageddon is in some way or other connected with the affairs of Turkey, as the preparations for it are mentioned under the sixth vial. X PREFACE. prove that the holy Apostles knew the coming of the Lord to be even a thousand years distant from their days; and if they knew not that which has since turned out to be true, but were kept in a state of uncertainty as to the period of the advent, where is the probability of supposing that a negative revelation should be given to us, which has, so far as believed, a direct tendency to neutralize all those indefinite assurances of the nearness of that day, and the consequent exhortations to watchfulness which are interspersed through* the Apostolic writings. Leaving, however, these arguments from analogy to have their own legitimate weight, I remark in the next place, that if the direct Scriptural evidence and reasoning presented to the reader in the following Tract be false or unsound, they must admit of an answer from the Scriptures. I therefore invite my opponents to the amicable refutation of these views by Scriptural arguments. If, on the other hand, as I am firmly persuaded is the case, the doctrine itself be so entirely in harmony with the Scriptures, as that the argument in its favour possesses the most irrefragable strength, and is wholly unanswerable, then how unspeakably important are the consequences which flow from it! for if the advent of the Lord be before the Millennium, then it may be so near at hand that some, nay many, and for aught we know, a great proportion of the generation now alive upon earth may actually witness his appearing. And shall we be told that such a persuasion as this would produce no effect in awakening the secure, in alarming and filling with terror such of the ministers of Christ as have been either slumbering or sleeping at their posts, or have been minding earthly things rather than heavenly? Are there then none such in oun own days? Are there no ministers of the churches established by law, or of the various bodies of dissenters, who are feeding themselves and not the flock? Are there none even who have among men the reputation of preaching the doctrines of orthodox and evangelical truth, who yet, having learned these doctrines not by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, but in the schools and systems of men, are contented with setting before their hearers a form of the truth destitute of life, and power, and unction; and who knowing not the power of godliness, but resting satisfied with a lifeless morality and decency, are manifestly far removed from that deep humility and self-denial,—that heavenly spirit,—that mortification to the things of time,—that ardent and divine charity which well become the servants of Him who upon the cross expiated the guilt of a lost world! Now, if this inquiring into the times of the Lord’s second advent should be instrumental in arousing from sleep, and transforming into an PREFACE. X) humble, spiritual, watchful, and laborious servant, only one of the ministers of Christ, it will not have been sent forth in vain. But I remark, in the next place, that a persuasion of the near approach of the day of the Lord cannot but have a powerful effect in giving new life, and energy, and efficacy, to the preaching even of those servants of Christ who have already, through the grace of God, been in the main faithful, yea, eminently faithful, in the discharge of their pastoral duties, both public and private, and who have with the greatest zeal preached Christ, and him crucified. Who is there of them who does not in secret mourn over his own leanness, and the small effect of his ministry, in turning sinners to Christ? To you, then, brethren, we would say in the spirit of meekness, and love, and feeling our unworthiness to exhort you; yet even to you we would with boldness say,—study deeply this subject, and we are hopeful, yea, confident, that you will arise from the inquiry no less deeply imbued with a conviction of the fallacy of those views of a Millennium of happiness and purity in the absence of the Bridegroom, which constitute a large portion of the popular theology of this age, than with a lively persuasion of the near approach of the day of the Lord, and the advent of the Bridegroom. And say whether this would not give a more intense tone of solemnity and power to your denunciations of the wrath of God against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men; and whether it would not infuse a new pathos,—a new tenderness of spirit into your handling of the ministration of reconciliation, while standing as it were upon the threshold of eternity, you pointed to the Cross of Christ for the last time, as the only refuge of a perishing world! It is, moreover, evident that the matter cannot rest where it now is. In sending forth the doctrinal statement contained in these pages, we in effect controvert so large a portion of the traditionary expositions of the present day, that those who hold them must give to the subject their attention, and either show from the Scriptures that we have erred, or bend to the force of our Scriptural arguments, acknowledging that they have hitherto failed in declaring to the churches the whole counsel of God. If any of our brethren should be displeased at the freedom which we have used, we shall request them to lend an ear to our apology, in the spirit of Christian meekness. We will tell them, then, that it is in the integrity of our hearts, and in the spirit of love to them, that we send forth this Scriptural argument. The author of these pages once thought as they now do, and was weaned from his early prejudices by slow and patient investigation. Believing as he now does, he dares not conceal his sentiments. He loves the approbation of his Ill PREFACE. Christian brethren, but he loves more the approbation of his Lord and Master, who has warned him of the danger of hiding even his one talent from a sinful fear of the frowns and displeasure of his fellow-men. One word more and I conclude. Expecting, as I do, the personal presence of our glorified Lord on this earth during the Millennium, I yet attach to it no carnal notions of a personal and familiar converse with men in the flesh. The presence of the Lord may be manifested in a manner somewhat analogous, but far more glorious than by the display of the glory of the Divine Shechinah in the Holy of Holies. The declarations of his presence are express and unequivocal in the Scriptures, and time would fail me to bring them all before the reader. The special type of that dispensation is (I think) to be found in Jacob’s ladder, as expounded by our Lord himself to Nathanael. But without the knowledge of this doctrine, we conceive that not the prophecies of Balaam, of David, or Isaiah, of Ezekiel, or Zechariah,*—not the typical signification of the Camp of Israel, nor of the Holy of Holies, nor of the reign of Solomon, nor of the Jewish feast of Harvest or Tabernacles can be fully understood, and a great portion of the Scriptures thus remains a sealed book. Without the presence of the Lord with the Millennial church, the glory of the Levitical dispensation would also, in so far as respects external manifestation, exceed that of the Messiah in its most perfect state upon earth,—so that the chronological argument brought forward in the following pages to prove the speedy advent of the Lord, though in itself sufficient to establish it, forms but a part of the mass of Scriptural evidence upon which we rest the general doctrine of Messiah’s advent and reign. January Is/, 1828. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In sending forth a second edition of this Tract, I shall take some notice of a Pamphlet published in Paisley to which my attention has recently been directed by an esteemed friend, a minister of Christ. Its title is, “ The Time of Christ9s Second Coming identified with the Day of Judgment, fyc. By the Author of Millenarianism Indefensible.” The former Tract of the author, which has not come in my way, is so praised by the Religious Magazines, that it is probable both Pamphlets may be widely circulated. The first Tract will be taken up by one every way competent for the task, I shall therefore confine myself to the second; and in the following observations, I shall, for the terms, Millenarians and Anti-Millenarians, substitute as often as possible the words, Literalists and Spiritualists. The anonymous writer having confined his strictures very much to the works of M*. Begg, although he has passed some censures on a small Tract of hiihe, it becomes necessary for me to observe, that Mr, Begg is a writer of a very recent date on the Literal side. I have a high respect fbr him, and have been informed that his writings have been useful to many, though my own laborious avocations have not permitted me to make myself acquainted with more than a part of them. But yet, to prove that Mr. Begg has erred, is not to prove the body of the Literal school to have erred, since on certain points he has widely diverged from the sentiments of the greatest writers of that school. It is, as he says, for the purpose of rescuing the doctrine of the glorious appearing of our Saviour, from the low and paltry conceptions which Millenarians have formed of it, that this author has taken up his pen. He tells us that “in the Scripture the doctrine of the second advent is uniformly associated with the day of judgment, or with the final, irreversible, and eternal destiny of all mankind.”* On the other hand, he affirms that 64 *P. 6. XIV PREFACE. the views of the Literalists “lead inevitably to the conclusion, that a large portion of the ungodly who may be alive at Christ’s coming, and all the wicked dead, except a few of the most flagrant transgressors, will be little affected by that event, because, if among the dead, they are not then to be raised, and though alive, they may not be of those who shall be destroyed —they may be introduced into Millennial bliss and felicity— they may be ultimately saved. Indeed, with respect to the largest portion of mankind, those who have lived and died previous to the supposed pre-millennial advent of Christ, and who were neither righteous nor giants in crime? it is not easy to see—if the views of our opponents be correct—that the coming of our Lord will in the least degree affect them.” After some further observations, he thus contrasts with the Literal scheme, which, as he imagines, has been placed by him in its true colours, that which he calls the orthodox view. “How much better does the orthodox view of this doctrine accord with the general tenor of Scripture on this subject? In this view, the coming of Christ is an event of such transcendent importance, as to have an influence on our life as well as our death. Nor is its importance, or the necessity of making preparation for it, in the least degree diminished by the consideration that it may not happen for upwards of a thousand years." t We, however, can discern no ground for the authority claimed by this anonymous writer, to stamp upon his own opinions the character of orthodoxy. Turning from those whom we account blind guides, we fix our eyes on the Church, in a better age, and we learn from her records, that therJJj£raiy or Millenarian doctrine was then universally counted orthodox. Papias, who conversed with the disciples of the apostles; Justin Martyr; Irenaeus,jvho was the hearer of Polycarp, the disciple of John; Tertulflan,jtnd indeed all the Fathers before Origen J as well as many in the following age, were Literalists. Justin Martyr expressly affirms that he and all Christians who were orthodox in aTTIHings, believed in the first resurrection before the Millennium.§ Even J^pme^who rejects the Literal doctrine, dares not condemn it. His words are, “Quae licet non sequamur damnare tamen non possumus quia multi virorum Ecclesiasticorum et Martyrum ista dixerunt.” “Which things, ♦ Certain of the Literal writers believe that some of the most wicked will be raised at the commencement of the Millennium. I myself have never arrived at that conclusion. t Tract,p. 11. t Even Dr. Hamilton of Strathblane admits this to have been the case. See his Work, p. 308. § His words are Ey» apokatastasis, is properly restoration to pristine condition. It cannot by any possible ingenuity be so perverted as to mean destruction. So also all this lower creation is said to be waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God,t which, as we know from Coloss. iii. 4, shall be when Christ shall appear; and the reason why the creature thus waits, is because it shall then be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. In exact harmony with these passages are the virords of the Psalmist, quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, whereby we are informed, that the end of the folding up the present heavens and earth is not destruction, but change.^ Nor do the words of St. Peter, when strictly analysed, lead to a different conclusion. He does not even use one expression which signifies the destruction of the heavens and earth; in ver. 7, he says, that the present heaven and earth are reserved unto fire unto the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Here is not a syllable of the destruction of the heavens and earth, but only of the wicked of the human race. In ver. 9, he says the heavens shall pass away, which is evidently another expression for the folding up of the heavens mentioned by the Psalmist and in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Then he tells us that the elements being burned shall be dissolved. Now, the word w*, from which is KuOnwrcuy in its strictest sense means to loose or untie, and therefore the sense is, that the present combinations of the elemental principles, which are the effect of the curse on the earth by reason of the sin of man> shall by the fire of that day be loosed. So also the earth, whereby is to be understood the surface of the globe and the works that are therein, shall be * Ps. xcvi. 11—13. See also xcviii. 4—9. t Rom. viii. 19. t Heb. i. 12. PREFACE. xxiii burned. This expression, which is without doubt the strongest in the whole passage/ yet does not imply the destruction of the material substance of the globe, but only a change in it by fire. In the 12th verse, we find it again said that the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved or loosed, and the elements shall melt being burned. Still this language implies only the loosing of the present combinations of the material frame of the world, and we learn from the context, that it is preparatory to new heavens and a new earth. That is, the former frame being loosed, the elemental principles shall, under the plastic hand of the Creator, assume those new combinations of ethereal beauty, and light, and fragrance, under which the earth freed from the curse, shall yield her fruit and bring forth her increase.! Indeed, the very word used, which is melt, seems to indicate that refinement and not destruction is the end of the conflagration, seeing that it is impossible to point out any process of melting excepting for the purposes of refinement, and giving new forms to the substance which undergoes that process. Next, as to the order and the time in which this stupendous event shall be accomplished, we deny not that there are difficulties, but they are just similar to the difficulties which embarrassed the minds of the prophets, when they searched “what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”:): As it is demonstrated in the following Tract, that the coming of Christ is at the destruction of the Fourth Monarchy, or the 1 Roman empire in its last state, so it must hence be inferred that the conflagration then begins. Accordingly, we are informed, both in Dan. vii. 11, and Rev. xix. 20, that the destruction of the Fourth Beast is by fire. This then we believe to be the fire of St. Peter, whereby the heavens, that is, the atmosphere of the earth, shall be dissolved and pass away. With respect to the burning of the earth, the greiater part of the Literal School believe, that during the Millennium the fire is to extend no further than the territories of the Fourth Beast, for his destruction and that of his lawless horn. But as we know that every year on the return of Spring, the change in the atmosphere which then takes place, is sufficient to renew the face of the earth, we find no difficulty in conceiving, that when the * * I must here, however, observe, that the Syriac and also some ancient copies of the Greek have here a different reading; instead of the words, “the earth, &c., shall be burned, they read, the earth, &c. shall not be found ” t Ps. Ixvii. 6, and let the reader attentively observe, that this state of the earth is to be the consequence of Christ’s judging the people righteously. The Psalm belongs then to the time when he shall judge the quick and dead at his appearing and kingdom. t 1 Pet. i. 11. PREFACE. xxiv present heaven shall have passed away by the action of fire, and the atmosphere shall have literally put on the appearance, as well as the reality, of a new Heaven shining with resplendent brightness, and shedding down no pestilential influences, but breathing the zephyrs of Eden,—this mighty atmospheric change alone, will be enough to realize all that the Scriptures tell us of the New Earth. If, on the other hand, the conflagration before the Milled nium is to be universal, extending to the whole surface of the globe, it remains that we should consider the objection of the anonymous writer, that it is impossible that any individual should be able to survive such a catastrophe; and, again, whither shall the nations flee for safety while the heavens and the earth are enveloped inflaming fire. Now, all such arguments, when sifted thoroughly, will be seen to resolve themselves into direct atheism. They are founded not indeed upon the avowed principle that God cannot do this thing, but upon the secret unbelief of his power, or his willingness, to save his creatures from such a conflagration. It seems to have been in the foresight of such atheistical reasoning that the Spirit of God speaking in the 102d Psalm, after pronouncing the end that awaits the heaven and the earth that now are, next adds the words which follow, to show, that in the midst of these mighty changes, the unchangeableness of Jehovah is to be a sufficient security to his children for their preservation: “But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.” If Moses at the Red Sea had reasoned thus, Israel must have perished in the mighty waters—for it was by faith, and not by unbelief, that they passed through the Red Sea,* In reply to the reasoning of this writer with respect to the judgment in Matth. xxv. 31—46, I shall just observe, that it is quite impossible that the all nations gathered before the Lord can mean the whole human race, since we learn from Ps. xlix. 14, 15, that the wicked shall remain in Hades at the time the just are raised. This is also confirmed by 1 Thess. iv. 16, which tells us, that the dead in Christ arise first, and with respect to the quick or living saints, when our Lord comes, we are informed they ascend with the raised saints to meet the Lord in the air, and so sudden is that event that two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken to meet the Lord and the other left.t There is not a word in these passages of all nations being first assembled before him and then separated into two bands. The whole description * Heb, xi. 29. t Matth. xxiv. 41. PREFACE. XXV will, in point of fact, quite as little suit the scheme of the Spiritualists as they conceive it to be reconcileable to ours.* The anonymous writer then passes on to the review of Dan. vii. 9—14, relating to the Judgment of the Ancient of Days and coming of the Son of Man, and there are three things which he here chiefly animadverts upon. First9 The assertion of Mr. Begg that the thrones were placed on the earth. Now, on this point I think Mr. Begg errs. It appears to me quite evident that the thrones must be placed where Christ first arrives on his descent from heaven (see 1 Thess. iv. 17). Secondly, The anonymous writer charges us with inconsistency because we interpret the Session of the Ancient of Days^wra-tively, and the coming of the Son of Man literally. Our answer to this objection is, that the language of the 110th Psalm, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool,” makes it manifest, that there is to be a putting forth of the power of the Eternal Father, in subjecting the enemies of Christ to his righteous dominion. This is also confirmed by Rev. xi. 15, for when the seventh trumpet sounded, “there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” It appears from the distinction of persons that the expression “our Lord” here refers to the FAernal Father. Moreover, when the elders afterwards fall prostrate and say, “We give thee thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned,” it is evidently the Almighty Father who is addressed. This conclusion, at which I had previously arrived in my own mind, I find is also that of the learned Vitringa.t Let the reader also bear it in mind that the kingdom referred to is that of this world, over which the Beast had heretofore reigned. But the sentence of deposition is now passed upon him, and the Eternal Father does for a short time take to himself the kingdom for the purpose of introducing his king, the Lord Messiah, and installing him in his high office. Let it be observed in the next place, that this intermediate kingdom of the Father is no symbol, it is to the wicked an awful, and to the righteous a joyful reality. But the Father himself being essentially invisible, his kingdom is also essentially invisible, as well * There is a Chapter on the order of events connected with the Advent in the 3d edition of my work on the Apocalypse, to which I must refet the reader. It is chap. six. t “Vertunt Presbyteri orationem suam ad Deum Pattern Regem Throno insidentem.” “The Elders direct their prayer to God the Father sitting on the throne.” Scott also seems to acknowledge that the Father is primarily addressed. 65 PREFACE. xxvi as the agency of the judgment which He executes. If, however, these things are to be revealed to the church in prophetic vision, it becomes necessary that it should be done by external imagery manifest to the senses, since the things themselves cannot be seen by mortal eyes; and we are struck with wonder at the exact adaptation of the imagery of Daniel to that which is intended. The reign of the Eternal Father over the earth at this epoch is signified by the removal,,as it were, of his throne to the atmosphere of this globe. The Beast and his lawless Horij are by figure summoned to the bar, and the sentence of death is passed on them, and its execution begins. At length the Son of Man is presented before the throne* amidst the mighty thunderings of the symphonies of acclaiming thousands and ten thousands, that He only is worthy to receive this power: and he is solemn^ invested with the kingdom. Now, seeing that this Son of Man is our brother, one with us, and we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, and He is the Bridegroom come to take to himself the Bride, the Immanuel, God with us, and seeing that all Scripture assures us that his second coming shall be with clouds, and every eye shall behold him, it is therefore just at the moment when he appears, that we believe the transition takes place, from the figurative to the literal, from the spiritual to the corporeal, from the invisible to the visible; and when our opponents continue to symbolize after the coming of the Son of Man, and to tell us, contrary to all Scripture and the unanimous voice of the ancient church, and the very express Scriptural declaration that He shall destroy the man of sin with the brightness of his coming,* that Christ “does not require to come personally” for that end, we must say in answer, let God be true and every man a liar; and though all shall join as one man in this unequalled perversion of the Divine testimony, we shall say, let God be true and every man a liar. , The third point upon which the anonymous writer animadverts, is the assertion of Mr. Begg, confirmed by the testimony fof Mr. Faber, that it is while the Ancient of Days was sitting }in judgment (Dan. vii. 9, 10) that one like the Son of Man icame with clouds and was brought near before him. The anonymous author, however, asserts that so far as the testimony of Daniel goes, the judgment was finished before the Son of Man appeared.t ♦ 2 Thess. ii. 8. t Although I have argued this point below on grounds distinct from the direct testimony of Daniel himself, yet even from this testimony it is plain that the Son of Man comes during the sitting of the Judgment. For is it not while the Ancient of Days is sitting on the throne which is placed for the judgment, that the Son of Man is brought near unto him] Also in ver. 21, 22, it is saia PREFACE. xxvn Mr. Faber has been known as a writer on prophecy for twenty-eight years, and I have been writing on it forJmnty-six i years, nor did I dare to take up my pen on so high a subject \ till after a previous study of four or five years. Now, hersTs [ a point on which Mr. Faber and myself, who have so often \ been engaged in controversy, are perfectly agreed, viewing it I as quite indisputable.* * Without apparently having looked into JVTr. Faber’s Sacred Calendar, where the point is discussed at some length, this author quarrels with him for not producing the evidence. In my dissertation on the Apocalypse, which is the result of thirty years’ labour,t I have by Scriptural induction established an order of events, which necessarily includes the point under discussion. But without having apparently seen my work, this writer quarrels with me because in a small Tract of forty pages I have not produced the evidence. Since, however, he does ask for evidence, it shall be given him. Let him know then, that his own very next paragraph contains the evidence which he requires. He there admits, that it follows from what is said in Rev. xix. 11—21, that the^Beast is destroyed by the special agency of the Son of Man. Now, if so, the Son of Man, being the agent in executing the judgment and treading the wine-press, must be come before the work is done, t. e. before the judgment of the Ancient of Days, which ends in the destruction of the Beast, is finished. This, verily, is a mere truism. It simply affirms that He who actually treads a wine-press is present at the scene of operations. I pretend not to any gift of sagacity in discovering this, and I am sorry to take up my own time and that of my readers with such an argument. We shall give a second proof. The seven vials of the wrath of God are the Apocalyptic representation of the same events as are signified in Dan. vii. by the judgment of the Ancient of Days. This judgment ends in the giving the body of the Beast to the Burning flame, and in like manner the vials end with the treading of the wine-press and the casting the Beast and False Prophet alive into the lake of fire. Now, from Rev. xiv. 15—20, it is manifest Christ comes with clouds, and reaps the harvest of the earth before the wine-press is trodden. From Rev. xvi. 15, it is equally manifest that he comes during the vials, and consequently, for both reasons, he that the Little Horn prevailed against the Saints, not only until the Ancient of Days came, but until judgment, potestas judicandi, judicial power, is given to the saints of the Most High. It hence follows, that before the complete destruction of the Horn, the Son of JVian and his saints are invested with the power in entire harmony with Rev. xix. * Mede also says, “ While this judgment sits, and when it bad destroyed the Fourth Beast, the Son of Man, which comes with clouds, receives dominions,” Ac. t I mean the third edition. PREFACE. xxviii certainly comes during the sitting of the judgment of the Ancient of Days. I hope the foregoing arguments may convince the anonymous author that the above position, which he has rashly asserted to be gratuitous, is supported by the most irrefragable evidence. As it is now time for me to draw these strictures to a close, I shall content myself with very briefly noticing one or two other points. The anonymous author affirms that Christ is even now ruling the nations with a rod of iron. I must, however, assure him that this is an error. The Lord must be set as King on his holy hill of Zion, i. e. He must receive the kingdom of his Father David, before he takes to him his iron rod.** When he is first revealed coming with clouds, he wears not yet the Diadem, but only the Crown. Nor is he first manifested as the minister of wrath, but of mercy. Sitting on a white cloud he reaps the harvest of the earth, which is the gathering of the remnant of his elect; the 144,000 sealed ones having been previously caught up. Now, let me here ask the author to explain to us the exact signification of some of these symbols, as, for example, the Stephanos, or Crown, and the Diadem. Am I doing him injustice when I express my firm conviction that it has never even entered into his imagination that they have any special meaning, and, therefore, that he knows nothing at all of their signification, and of the connection of these various symbols with the order of Apocalyptic events, and the progressive manifestations of the Kingdom of God? I must refer him to my Work on the Apocalypse for the signification of these symbols, and he will learn from what I have written, our reasons for believing that the Lord’s ruling the nations with a rod of iron belongs to a period subsequent even to his first appearance with clouds to reap the earth. He asserts that all the members of the Church cannot be present at the marriage, if it take place before the Millennium. I reply, in the first place, that it is undeniable, from Rev. xix. 7, that the marriage does precede the Millennium. Secondly, It is plain that this author overlooks the distinction between the Church of the First Born, that is, the Bride, and the Virgins which are the companions of the BrideA I must therefore state what we believe on these points. When the wise virgins go in with our Lord to the marriage, it is our belief that the Church of the First Bom or First Fruits is completed, and that door for ever shut; nor shall one of the race of Adam thereafter enter it- * * Compare Psalm ii. 6—9, with Rev. xix, 15. t Psalm xlv. 9,14. PREFACE. XXIX The saved afterwards do not, and cannot, inherit that glory. They shall indeed walk in the light of the New Jerusalem,* but they are not citizens of it They shall inherit a felicity which eye hath not seen nor ear heard; but to be joint heirs with Christ—to sit with him on his Throne—to be the sharers bf his dominion over all worlds, and the heralds of his high behests of light, of purity, of love, and of blessedness, to all orders of intelligent creation, and the most distant regions of immeasurable space, we believe to be limited to those who, having suffered with Christ, shall also reign with him, even the Church of the First Born, whose names are written in heaven.t We know that these high mysteries must appear strange to those who drink only from broken cisterns. But the body of the Church, in these days, being contented with elemental truth, cannot but remain, as to knowledge, in a state of infancy. Still let me add, (to prevent the imputation of boasting,) that we do not by any means count ourselves to hjve apprehended. We deeply feel our remaining ignorance, fit is extremely probable, that, with regard to the order of events at our Lord’s advent, we are mistaken in some things, and there are other things which we confes our inability to explain. But we are assuredly not mistaken in placing the Advent itself before the Millennium, this point being unanswerably demonstrated from the Scriptures, in the Tract, of which a second edition is now sent forth. We are assuredly also not mistaken in placing the conflagration which destroys the Roman Empire before the Millennium,X and there will be enough of fire there for the perdition of every ungodly man on earth.§ Once more, we are assuredly not mistaken in placing the Marriage of the Lamb previous to the Millennium, since, in Rev. xix. 7, we are informed that it happens before He goes forth to tread the Wine Press. Now, as a marriage in the absence of the Bride-groom is an utter solecism in the economy of human life, so do the songs of praise which, in the above passage, ascend up in celebration of the arrival of the celestial nuptials, make it evident, even to demonstration, that the days of the fasting and mourning of the children of the bride chamber, on account of the absence of the Bridegroom, are passed away for ever. September 17**«* t»c TragcuM'tc eturou, and shall destroy (abolish) with the brightness of his coming.” Believing with the whole of the Protestant Churches, that this Man of Sin is an ecclesiastical tyranny * Mede’s Apostasy of the Latter Times, Chap. xii. t Rev. xi. 15. OP MESSIAH. 33 which was to arise in the professing Church of Christ, within the limits of the Western empire, we discern in the prophetic description an exact delineation of the Pope op Rome, and we thus are led to identify St. Paul’s Man op Sin with Daniel’s Little Horn of the Fourth Beast. Now since it is undeniable, and has been acknowledged by the Church of God in all ages, that the Man of Sin is to be destroyed before the Millennium, we are necessarily obliged to conclude that the brightness of our Lord’s coming, whereby St. Paul announces that its destruction is to be effected, does also precede the Millennium; and, therefore, that it is the self-same coming of the Lord with the clouds of heaven, predicted by Daniel in his seventh chapter, at the same prophetic season, viz: that of the destruction of the fourth beast with his lawless horn. This advent must also be identified with that announced in Rev. xix. 11—21, whereby the Beast and False Prophet, i. e. the powers, secular and spiritual, of the Roman empire are finally destroyed—which events are immediately succeeded by the period of the Millennial blessedness. The coming of the Lord with the clouds of heaven, announced in Matth. xxiv. 30, Mark xiii. 26, and Luke xxi. 27, is also proved to be the same advent as that predicted in the former passages, from its being connected in time by the Evangelist Luke with the fulfilment of the times of the Gentiles, and the re-establishment of the Jewish nation;* which events are, by the concurring voice of the best interpreters of prophecy, placed synchronically with the end of the Roman monarchy, and the commencement of the Millennium.! Thus Mede,the father of prophetic interpretation, reasoned, “When,” says he, “St. Luke’s times of the Gentiles are finished, then shall be signs in the sun and moon: the Son of man comes also in the clouds of heaven, (ver. 27) the redemption of Israel (ver. 2S) and the kingdom of God (ver. 31) is at hand.93 Works, Book iv. Epistle viii. In Rev. xiv. 14, one like the Son of Man is seen sitting upon a white cloud. 1 Upon similar grounds we identify this appear- * See Luke xxi. 24. t Let no one suppose that these synchronisms, in which the interpreters of prophecy are agreed, are founded on arbitrary or fanciful principles. The one I have now mentioned may thus be proved. The Armageddon of St. John, Rev. xvi. 16, is evidently the same with the Jehoshaphat of Joel iii. 2, 12. Now in St. John’s war of Armageddon, the Beast and False Prophet, or the powers secular and spiritual of the Roman empire, are to be destroyed, Rev. xix. 19, 20, and in Joel’s war of Jehoshaphat, Judah and Jerusalem are to be restored, Joel iii. 1,2, therefore, the restoration of Judah and the destruction of Rome are synchronical. This accordingly has been the tradition of the Jewish Church from the earliest ages, as might easily be proved, were there room for it, from the Jewish writings. THE SECOND ADVENT 34 ance with the advent already so often mentioned: because it corresponds in time with the harvest or gathering of the elect,* and with the vintage or treading of the wine-press of wrath: which scene of vengeance is in Rev. xix. i5, placed at the advent of our Lord, before the Millennium, as it is in Is. lxiii. 1—9, and Joel iii. 1, 2, 13, 14, connected in time with the national redemption of Israel, which also takes place before the Millennium. Once more, when on referring to the Greek versions of the Old Testament on Zech. xii. 10—12, I find in the Septuagint (according to the reading of Justin Martyr and Ignatius) and in the versions of Aquila, Sy mmachus, and Theodotion, that the words “And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son,” —“and the land shall mourn, every family apart,” have in the Greek so close a resemblance to the forms of expression used by the Apostle in Rev. i. 7, “and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of him,”f that it is impossible for me not to conclude, that the Holy Spirit, in guiding his servants in these places to use such identity of phraseology, intended to point ♦ Compare Rev. xiv. 15,16, with Matth. xiii. 30, and xxiv. 31. t The Greek words in Zechariah are as follows, Kaj vriGy^ovrcu r^oc jut ut ov t^utmuo-etv, xai Ko-^ovreu tm ajutov &c. xai Ko^treu « yn xata uhou rtts ync. All the English editions of the Seventy being from the Vatican, for ov t^txivrMAv read av8’ lv xAraeQurAvro, which, as Horne justly observes, is unintelligible. “But Ignatius, Justin Martyr, and the Pachomian MS. read ifawwav.” See Ewing’s Lexicon on the word Karo#*o/aai. This remark of Mr. Ewing I have verified, so far as respects Justin Martyr, who, in his first Apology, and in his Dialogue with Trypho, has the reading uc ov ^ouvtutav. I learn from the notes of my own copy of the Seventy (Frankfort, 1597) that Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion have the same words; but I have not been able to consult their versions. Should it be asked why I refer to the Greek rather than the English copies, to establish the identity of Zech. xii. 10—12, and Rev. i. 7, my answer is, that I was long wedded, by early prejudices, to the common opinion about our Lord’s advent, and that it was by a very slow and cautious process of investigation, carried on through a series of years, that I was at length enabled to discern the truth. Now in our English version the parallelism of the above two passages is scarcely perceptible. Our translators, by adopting the expression all the families of the land, in Zechariah, while in Rev. i. 7, it is all the tribes of the earth, have given to them features of dissimilarity which have no existence in the Greek versions. An English reader may at once understand this by substituting the words all the tribes of the earth, in Zechariah, for the former expression. Now I argue that the Holy Spirit, in directing John to adopt the very language of the Seventy, has identified the two passages. I recollect well the deep and lively impression of surprise made on my mind, on first referring to these texts in the Greek Scriptures, and discovering their identity. It formed a new and powerful link in the chain of evidence whereby I was, by slow steps, feeling my way to the true doctrine of the Scriptures concerning the advent, and in these explanations the reader will discern the reason of my referring to the Greek rather than the English Scriptures. OP MESSIAH. 35 out to us, that one and the same event is predicted in both* But the prophecy of Zechariah, whereof the above words form a part, evidently relates to the restoration and conversion of the Jews, which confessedly take place before the Millennium: and thus we are led to the conclusion that our Lord’s advent with the clouds in Rev. i. 7, also precedes the Millennium, and is to be identified with the advent in Dan. vii. 13. To the whole of the foregoing passages may be added the words of our Lord in Matth. xxvi. 64, and Mark xiv. 62, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.” There are, it is true, no chronological marks in these texts, to show the precise period to which they refer? yet as the advent of Christ is described in language so nearly similar to that of the prophet Daniel, I may well adopt the words of Mede, to signify my unalterable conviction that our Lord, in using the expressions recorded in the Gospels, intended to direct the attention of the Jewish rulers to the prophecy of Daniel. “I shall never believe,” says Mede, “but that all those places of the Son of Man’s coming and appearing in the clouds of heaven mentioned in the Gospels and the Apocalypse i. 7, are the same with the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds, prophesied by Daniel at the extinction of the fourth Beast (chap, vii.), and that the Holy Ghost in the New Testament hath reference thither both for words and meaning.”—Works, Book iv. Epistle x. Having thus reviewed the principal passages of prophecy, wherein our Lord’s advent is described either chronologically or circumstantially, it remains that I should examine whether the advent spoken of in all the foregoing passages, which has been shown to be one and the same, be, as is the current doctrine of the Protestant churches of the present day, a figurative, spiritual, and symbolical advent, or the real, personal, and glorious coming of our Lord to judge the quick and the dead. In the New Testament there are three nouns substantive used to signify the advent. The first is Apokalypsis, revelation, the second Epiphaneia, appearance, and the third, n*$Gtw*, Parousia, coming or presence. The first of these words, occurs in the following passages; 1 Cor. i. 7, “Waiting for the revelation of Jesus Christ:” 2 Thes. i. 7, “At the revelation of Jesus Christ with his mighty angels:” 1 Pet. i. 7, “Might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ:” ver. 13, “Hope for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The second, Emma, occurs in 2 Tim. i. 10, in reference to THE SECOND ADVENT 36 the first coming of our Lord in the flesh; and in relation to his second coming in the following texts.—1 Tim. vi. 14, “Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:” 2 Tim. iv. 1, “Who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom:” ver. 8, “Unto all them that love his appearing:” Tit. ii. 13, “Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” The third word, n*goi/