ON THE ADVENT AND KINGDOM OF CHRIST,

AND THE EVENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH.

No. II.

The Advent of Messiah.

plicit.* The object of the Apostle was to" shew them the mystery" of the resurrection; and therefore I must suppose he expounds it in as plain and literal a manner as possible. And we may hope for equal distinctness in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Thessalonians; for here he expressly instructs the disciples in regard to the state of those, who are dead in Christ; declaring, that he would not have them ignorant concerning them, and thus sorrow for their departure, as those persons sorrow, who never hope to see their dead again. Does he then comfort them with the assurance, that they are now in glory? Does he even say any thing about the living being presently with their departed friends in heaven? Not a word of the kind! though surely this were the very opportunity for such consolation, were it God's will, that the hearts of his people should be fixed on this truth. He gives them to understand that they shall see their friends again here, in this world; he reminds them that the resurrection of Jesus is the pledge of theirs; and that when the Lord comes, he will bring them with him.—“ I would not have you ig

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norant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow 'not even as others, which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.' Then he goes on to assure them, that the promises are not for those only, who shall be alive at the coming of the Lord, but for the departed saints as well,that, when the Lord shall descend from heaven, the dead in Christ shall rise first.

The same thing is stated in the same way by the other apostles. St. James encourages not those to whom he writes with the hope of their reward at death; but exhorts them to be patient until the coming of the Lord.a St. Peter also tells his people, "when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory, that fadeth not away."b So St. John;

we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him."ct

These things are consistent, and to be expected, if the great recompense were generally believed to be deferred till the second appearing of Jesus Christ; and if it were the prize chiefly held up to view. We

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* The Editor of the Record has disparaged the importance of the second advent, on the ground that St. Paul, when writing to the Corinthians, determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; leaving us to infer, that the mere circumstance of the crucifixion, and the doctrine of the atonement, were all which he resolved to bring forward among them. It is not a little remarkable, that in this very Epistle he praises these same Corinthians, "because they came behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ;" (chap. i, 7 ;)—he upraids them for not remembering, that the saints shall judge the world;" (chap. vi, 1, 2 ;)—and one whole chapter of it (one of the longest in the Testament, chap. xv,) is devoted to an exposition of the order and nature of the resurrection; concerning which he says, that if the dead are not to rise, then are they perished! (v. 18.) These passages prove beyond a reasonable question, that much more is involved in the preaching of a crucified Saviour, than the one single fact of the death of Jesus: were we to keep to this only, we must exclude regeneration, sanctification, election, the judgement, and many other topics, which (like the advent, and resurrection, and reign of the saints) though intimately connected with the atonement, may, nevertheless, be distinguished from it,

+ The personal retrospect and expectation of the two apostles, constituting, in some measure, their experience in the immediate prospect of death, has been handed down for us by the Holy Ghost. St. Paul says: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I c 1 John iii, 2.

a Jas. v, 7. b 1 Pet. v, 4.

shall in that case not only find it laid down in the New Testament as a doctrine of the apostles; but we shall perceive the primitive church in general to be affected with this view of the subject; and either speaking, or spoken of, as looking eagerly forward to such an event. There will be other marks of grace discernible; but this mark, at a time when I presume their hopes to have been bound up in the doctrine of his second appearance, and not in the rest entered into immediately after death,—this mark, I say, would then be an essential one; the want of it would imply the grossest ignorance of the prevailing tenets of the church; or the grossest unbelief of those which were perceived. This feature, however, pre-eminently marks the character of the scripture saints, as I shall evince by a few passages from the Epistles of St. Paul.

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In Romans, the earnest expectation of the new creature is said to be waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God-groaning within itself and waiting for the redemption of the body." In Corinthians, as we have seen, he thanks God, "that they came behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;"e and of the Thessalonians he says, that they turned from idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven."f To the Philippians he thus

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speaks of himself and them :— For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ."g In one passage, already in part quoted, the Apostle so decidedly makes loving the appearing of Christ a mark of grace, that he seems in a measure to limit the reward of righteousness to those only, who partake of this desire; “A crown (saith he) which the Lord shall give me at that day: and not to me only; but to all them that love his appearing."h A text in the Epistle to the Hebrews appears to make the same distinction and limitation: "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."i

e 1 Cor. i, 7.
h2 Tim. iv. 8.

We have much more to the same purport in the Epistles, especially in those of St. Paul, without insisting on numerous passages in the Gospels. Whether the Apostle speaks of himself, of his followers, or of both together, he still keeps holding forth to their view the end of this present dispensation; and he treats of it as though, in regard to the church, a succeeding generation might not be recognised. Is it to himself he refers?-His words are: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.m Is it them he

have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me AT THAT DAY." (2 Tim. iv, 6—8.) St. Peter, when admonished by the Lord," that he must shortly put off his fleshly tabernacle, thinks it proper to write an Epistle to the faithful, the whole burden of which is, to confirm them in the expectation, that these present heavens and earth shall be dissolved, as those in the days of Noah were, and again be succeeded by new heavens and a new earth ;-that he had followed no cunningly devised fable, when he made known to them the power and coming of the Lord; but had had a visible specimen of it, when he beheld the transfiguration on the mount;-and that apostate men would arise in the last days, treating the promise of his coming with scoff. (See the Second Epistle of Peter passim.) He finally confirms all by the testimony of St. Paul, who, (he says,) in all his Epistles, makes mention of these things,

d Rom. viii, 19, 23.

8 Chapter iii, 20,

f 1 Thess. i, 9, 10.
i Heb. ix, 28.

o 1 Cor. xv,
o 1 Cor. xv, 52; 1

s 1 Thess. iv, 13-18.