“A light that shineth in a dark place.”—II. PET. i. 19

FOREWORD

NO serious person, no devout Bible reader, will dispute the importance of the question that forms the title of this volume. At the present time there is, thank God, a wide and deepening impression on Christian people, and indeed not on them alone, that we have entered upon the closing scenes of this dispensation, and that our Lord’s return is really drawing near. How long the full development of the terminal events will take is altogether another matter, but that they have actually begun is a widespread and undoubtedly a true belief.

Many therefore are turning to the Word of Prophecy, and are earnestly searching for any indications it may give as to the course of final events. To help such in this praiseworthy effort is the purpose of this volume. It contains four Essays on topics intimately connected with the Second Advent, topics that must be taken into account if a right judgment is to be formed as to what we see happening around us. The four Essays are connected one with another, but each is complete in itself. This has involved some small amount of repetition, which the reader will pardon.

May the apathy and indifference that have in too many instances hitherto prevailed speedily pass away, as God’s light shines brighter and brighter on these wonderful prophetic Visions! “It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

THE SECOND ADVENT
Order of Events

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness.”—1 Thess. v. 4.

THE nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Revelation do not go into much detail as to the great events they foreshow; that is done in many another Scripture, which should be ranged alongside to complete the description. But these chapters settle the order and succession of the events themselves; they arrange in their proper rank the details of the Second Advent of our Lord. We are not told how long these several events will take in their accomplishment, but nothing is cancelled, nothing is altered or displaced, of what has already been revealed; and the order and succession being here definitely laid down, no interpretation may disarrange or omit any of them. These prophetic Visions and their time-measures are indeed being unsealed in this time of the end. We have but to compare with what is now being made so clear the explanations in even comparatively recent Commentaries, to see how vague and indefinite they mostly are, and how much clearer all this has become of late.

But every effort is made by the adversary to divert attention from the plain meaning of these prophecies, or to popularise wrong and mistaken interpretations, or at any rate to keep people indifferent about the whole subject.

Explain Matthew by Revelation

Many persons, reading without careful attention, seem to think that directly our Lord appears everything final happens, and the eternal state forthwith begins. That is very far from being the case, as these Revelation Visions show. Moreover, the earlier and more obscure prophecies in the New Testament are to be arranged and made plain by these in the latest prophetical book given by the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, to His Church: “I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the Churches.” It is an entire mistake to try to use, e.g., the prophecy of Matt. xxiv. as a key to the Revelation. The reverse is the correct process. The Revelation itself—the latest, fullest, most systematic and definite of all—is the key to all the rest.

Stages in the Settlement of the Lord’s Kingdom

The full settlement of our Lord’s Kingdom on the earth, even after His glorious appearing, may be—nay, must be—a work of some time. We are not told what interval will elapse between the destruction of His foes by His actual appearing and the firm establishment and organisation of His Kingdom, but for this it is reasonable to allow some space of time. For He comes, not to ascend a vacant throne, nor to reign over a willing and waiting people, but to dispossess a usurper, to overthrow a great rebellion, to right the wrongs of ages, and to introduce order and righteous government in the world. There may then be many stages in the work that follows upon the Advent. Sin still exists. Even at the end of the Millennium enemies arise, and a great conspiracy has to be destroyed.

“I come as a thief”

Under the Sixth Vial (Rev. xvi. 15) the announcement is made, “Behold, I come as a thief,” i.e. during that war mentioned in the preceding verse. But this seems to refer to the outside world, not to Christ’s true people. They need not be in darkness like the rest. St. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians as to the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night, goes on to say: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Note that he does not say “that event,” but “that day.” This means a certain period, within which occur the great events of the Second Advent. Christ’s people will have studied the prophecies, and will have had the promised light on them that will have given the needful warning. They may not know the very day nor the hour, but they will be prepared to recognise the significance of the terminal events, and to expect the Coming of the Lord as being near at hand. In like manner Daniel was prepared by three Visions to expect and to recognise the Second Kingdom when it came, and was therefore able at once to understand and explain the mysterious writing on the wall.

But we must be students of the prophecies. We must learn all we possibly can from the Scriptures about these most wonderful events, so as to know what to look for and to expect; and our expectation of the Coming of the Lord should be based not only on one or two isolated texts, but on an intelligent and comprehensive view of the many predictions, and especially of the orderly Visions. We may not pick out a passage promiscuously, remove it from its context, and explain it as we please. How do we get to it there? Why does it stand just where it does? How does it connect with what precedes and what follows? Only by taking account of such considerations can we hope to get at its right meaning.

Final Events

Laying Vision and History alongside of each other, all the way down the centuries, we have been brought past the Sixth Vial, which foreshows the decay of Turkey, into the era of the Seventh Vial, the last of the series. Here, then, we find ourselves amid final events. What are these? And in what order are they foreshown?

The “lightnings, voices, and thunders” of Rev. xvi. 18 represent the terrific warfare now taking place in Europe, and a new and significant feature agreeing with the prophecy is that it has invaded the air, as well as land and sea. Never before has this happened in warfare.

Then follows the Great Revolution, represented in ver. 18 by a mighty earthquake. Is It “great” in the area it affects, or in the hitherto unreached subversiveness of its principles, or in both? See Matt. xxiv. 29; Mark xiii. 24, 25; Luke xxi. 25, 26.

After it has broken out (ver. 19) the Great City is divided into three parts. The “Great City” may be wider than the area of the Ten European Kingdoms, which is what it usually designates in the prophetic Visions, but it does not include Asia, or America, or Africa except the northern parts. The cities of the nations fall; this may mean, fall from their allegiance to Babylon, the Romish Church.

Then Babylon herself is “remembered” for judgment, and is made to feel the fury of the wrath of God for her long-continued misdeeds. This is represented as an episode in the Great Revolution; for the Revolution continues, and develops into a complete levelling of everything in the social fabric. “Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” This looks as though all social bonds were annulled and disappeared, and all existing governing powers were put an end to.

The great French Revolution of 1789 developed into a military dictatorship under Napoleon Bonaparte. Now the Beast (the Papacy) and the False Prophet (the Papal clergy) come to the front. They are in sympathy with the Revolution, and are acknowledged as leaders, for it is they who in the last conflict lead the kings and their armies against Christ and His people (Rev. xix. 19). In each case —that of the French Revolution and that of this great earthquake — the social subversion leads into what is practically a dictatorship.

BABYLON THE GREAT, THE ROMISH CHURCH

Babylon is not the Papacy, but the Romish Church, of which the Pope is ecclesiastical head. The Pope has a twofold personality, represented by the Tiara and the Mitre. He claims to be Vicar of Christ and King of kings, ruler of the world—this is represented by the Tiara. He also claims to be head of the Christian Church, and in that capacity wears the Mitre.

Three marks of identification of Babylon as the Romish Church are given—two of them are world-wide extension, and slaughter of Christ’s saints. The first of these is present and visible throughout the world today; the second is past, recorded in history, and it cannot be obliterated.

1. Widespread extension among the people of the world. “She sitteth upon many waters,” and “waters are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” She is “the mother of the harlots…of the earth,” that is, of the Roman Catholic churches in other lands, which owe their origin to her. Rome’s boasted “Catholicity” is thus one of the marks of her identification (see the Atlas Hierarchicus).

With all this extension goes corruption of God’s truth, the propagation of unscriptural teaching. The important matter is to test by God’s Word the doctrines taught and enforced, and it soon appears what kind of “wine” is offered in her cup to the souls of men to drink. Hers is a teaching that leads souls astray.

2. Shedding the blood of Christ’s saints and witnesses on a prodigious scale. This is writ large, in terrible characters of fire and blood, on the pages of History, and it cannot be wiped away.

These are two marks of identification given. It is not either of them alone, but the union of the two in the past history and the present extension of the same Power, that so unmistakably establishes the identification. Travel where you will, you will see her cathedrals and churches in the cities of the world. Read the history of the Christian centuries, and you will see her drenched in the blood of Christ’s witnesses. When at last inquiry is made —and it will be made— “in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.”

3. There is a third mark of great importance. Babylon in these Visions is connected not only with the Seven Hills, but also with the Ten-Horned diademed condition of the Western Roman Empire; that is, with Medieval and Modern Europe, which by profession is Christian, not Heathen. Heathen Babylon is on the Seven Hills; Christian Babylon is also on the Ten-Horned Beast.

It is the Ten Horns that get to hate her, and that at last burn her with fire.

These three marks occur together, in the same institution, in its history and its present position, and completely establish the identification.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

In the Sealing Vision of Rev. vii. 2-8, which is part of the Sixth Seal, there had been revealed to St. John the early development of the Antichristian apostasy, that had begun to work even in St. Paul’s day. St. John was shown that it is the Lord Himself alone, and not the officiating minister, who marks out and seals and numbers the true members of the Israel of God from among the visible professing body. Then, in the Vision of the Palm-bearers before the Throne, he is made to see by anticipation the ultimate salvation and blessedness of all the aggregated generations of the true Church of Christ.

It is in this connection that the only mention in the New Testament is made of “the Great Tribulation,” through which they will have had to pass before reaching everlasting blessedness (Rev. vii. 14-17): “These are they which come (present tense) out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb…They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat: …and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

What is this Great Tribulation? It refers chiefly to the centuries of Papal domination, during which the blood of Christ’s saints has been shed like water, in Europe and in many other parts of the world. The facts are plain in History. The guilt of this terrible slaughter rests upon the Papacy and the Romish Church, and therefore great efforts are made to divert attention from this, which is the real “Great Tribulation,” to some other tribulation which is supposed to take effect during a brief period in the last days.

This is to ignore the testimony of History as to the dimensions, duration, and virulence of that great persecution and slaughter of Christ’s saints, and of the ferocious warfare of the Papacy against the witnesses of Jesus. This warfare, which had begun years before, was officially declared in the Third Lateran Council, a.p. 1179, and was continued for several centuries down to comparatively recent times, wherever Rome had the power. If she could, she would carry it on now. It betrays a strange lack of the sense of Historical Proportion and Perspective to divert attention from a tribulation measured by centuries to one that at most is supposed to last forty-two months or three and a half years, at some unknown future date.

A Brief Cessation—Why?

Shortly before the Reformation there was a brief cessation in the slaughter of the witnesses, but only because it was supposed by the Papacy that the “heretics” were at last entirely extirpated. As foretold, the Beast had “made war with Christ’s witnesses, and had overcome them, and killed them.” After their vigorous revival at the Reformation, Papal warfare began again, with more ferocity than ever, with sword and flame, Inquisition, Crusades, Jesuits, and massacres. It has been estimated that fifty millions have thus been slain. The result of this Great Tribulation is the Second Company of Martyrs foretold under the Fifth Seal (Rev. vi. 11). They reappear in Rev. xx. 4, where they are distinguished from the First Company, who were slain, usually by beheading, by Rome Heathen. The Second Company is described not by manner of death, for they suffered in many different ways, but by their protests against the Beast and his teaching.

Babylon Drunken

Babylon, towards the end of her career, is seen by St. John to be “drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus” (Rev. xvii. 6). Not “drinking,” for that has been done by her in the past, but “drunken” as its result. Lecky says that the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind.

Distinct from the Jews’ Tribulation

It is scarcely necessary to remark that this Great Tribulation of Rev. vii:14 is quite distinct from the great tribulation that came upon the Jews at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction and from the Great Tribulation that is to come upon them, in their land, at the time of the end, from the invasion of Gog and his hordes (Dan. xii. 1; Ezek. xxxviii.-xxxix.).

And from the Work of the Three Unclean Spirits

Also the evil influences of the Three Unclean Spirits like Frogs, now at work, may be expected to operate with increased effect as the crisis draws nearer, and to bring about a state of general distress, revolution, and anarchy, which will culminate in the great final war. This also constitutes a tribulation, though it be not the “Great Tribulation” foretold, but only a small portion of it; not so murderous as that one, and lasting but a short time as contrasted with the Papal Tribulation of many centuries. It is the people of God, not the world at large, who come through the Tribulation.

Not Martyrdom Only

But the “Great Tribulation” includes more than this bloodthirsty warfare and persecution. Several suggestive particulars are mentioned, the meaning of which may be understood by noting the allusive contrasts.

Those who come out of the Tribulation have made their robes white by washing them in the blood of the Lamb. It was before their death that these righteous ones had washed their robes, and thus obtained the right to stand before the Throne of God. By contrast, there has been pressed upon the people the constant temptation to place trust in other means than the blood of Christ for washing away sin. False teaching and practice have been forced upon the professing Church during the whole Papal domination of more than twelve centuries.

They have suffered hunger and thirst, sun and heat. That is, no proper spiritual food has been ministered to their hungry souls, and the powers that be have too often scorched them rather than protected them. All this points also to trial by means of false teaching, of corrupt doctrine, in a position of power, rather than only to persecution or martyrdom, though undoubtedly that is the chief element in the Tribulation.

The whole of these trials together constitute a “Great Tribulation” indeed — great in blood-shedding and every kind of cruel persecution, and great in duration as compared with any other known to history. But great efforts are made to divert attention from this, which is measured by centuries, to some other supposed tribulation occupying a brief space of time.

ROME’S SUDDEN JUDGMENT

A warning voice loud and distinct (Rev. xviii. 4) calls upon God’s people to come out of her before judgment falls, lest they perish with her. The Rapture of the Saints has not yet taken place; some of God’s true saints are still in Babylon, like Lot in Sodom, even to the very eve of her destruction. From this it is plain that Babylon is a professedly Christian Church, for in her some of Christ’s true servants are even then to be found. They would not knowingly have attached themselves to a heathen or an infidel system. They have been deceived by appearances, and have had no opportunity of learning better; but though professedly belonging to Antichristian Rome, they do not partake of her Antichristian spirit. They are, however, in imminent danger of sharing in the coming destruction, if they delay to escape. They are not to wait there for the Rapture, but are to come out forthwith. Nor is their coming out the Rapture, for it is to be their voluntary act, which they would neglect at their peril.

All in a moment God’s judgment is executed on her by revolutionary fire (Rev. xviii. 8, 10): “Therefore in one day (in one hour) shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God which judged her.” A strong angel takes up a stone like a great millstone, and casts it into the sea, saying: “Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.” The doom of Babylon is sudden. The blow itself is instantaneous, overwhelming, and final. While she is saying, “I sit as a queen, and shall see no sorrow,” suddenly she is overwhelmed, and destroyed, and disappears for ever.

This is not the Papacy, which still lives on. Nor is it the Roman Catholic religion as a system of beliefs; but it is the Roman Catholic Church as a great public and visible institution. This may be illustrated by the 1905-6 French Law of Separation between Church and State in France, which was itself a heavy blow to the Romish Church in that country.

French Law of Separation between Church and State — 1905-6

This law enacted that the Roman Catholic clergy in France who failed to conform to the requirements of the law should be placed outside the pale of the law. They were to be ejected from their residences and palaces; their churches were to pass to the State, the Departments, or the Communes; their church property would be seized and administered for the poor of the various districts; religious services would be forbidden, and it would be an offence against the law to celebrate Mass, to bury the dead with Roman Catholic rites, to marry, and to baptize. Measures were to be taken against every priest who disobeyed the law, and in the 36,000 parishes of France the Roman Catholic religion would be outwardly suppressed.

This gives an idea of what will happen to Great Babylon, wherever she is established throughout the world. It was a first rehearsal, but only on the scale of one kingdom.

HEAVEN REJOICES OVER HER FALL
(Rev. xix. I-4)

This is in accordance with Rev. xviii. 20: “Rejoice over her, thou heaven.”

There is in heavenly places a mighty outburst of praise and thanksgiving, on the part of the heavenly inhabitants, at the destruction of Babylon the Great which has now taken place, for it is stated in xix. 3 that “her smoke goeth up…”

The angelic hosts above, the twenty-four elders round the throne, and the four living creatures, all join in this song of gratitude and joy; for they have known and seen the evil doings of Great Babylon during her long and triumphant career. She had apparently been forgotten, but now at last she is remembered for long-delayed judgment. Heaven has been called upon to rejoice over her destruction, and here is heaven’s response, a double Alleluia. The Harlot is to be exposed and destroyed before the true Bride is taken to her Lord. So heaven rejoices over the destruction of Babylon the Great, the Harlot Church, the parody of the True Church, the Bride of Christ.

It appears, then, that we are to see the destruction of the Romish Church before the Rapture of the Saints (the Marriage of the Lamb) and the Lord’s Return.

Shall we, here upon earth, be aware of this heavenly rejoicing in the realms above? St. John heard it, and in all these Visions he is a representative man. This looks as if those of his faith then alive here below would in some way or other be aware of this outburst of heavenly praise.

SO DOES THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
(Rev. xix. 5, 6)

Next in order of time the Universal Church also is called upon to raise its Te Deum of praise and thanksgiving for the same act of long-delayed judgment (Rev. xviii. 20): “Rejoice over her…ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.” The Universal Church will hear that call to rejoice, and will forthwith obey it. All God’s servants, official and private, great and small, respond with a voice like the rushing of many waters and the roar of mighty thunders.

What an evil must that have been over whose destruction all heaven and the Universal Church are filled with praise! Note the space assigned in these visions to Babylon and the Papacy. How is it that so many Christian people are apathetic about what fills so large a portion of the Prophetic Word? And how is it that some among us are actually wishing and working for reunion with Babylon? What a perilous delusion!

MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB IMMINENT

The Great Harlot having been destroyed, the Marriage of the Lamb is declared to be imminent, and the Lamb’s Bride “hath made herself ready” for her Bridegroom, who is now known to be near at hand to come to fetch her (Rev. xix. 7, 8). For the Bride was “not in darkness”; she had understood from the notable sign that has taken place that her Lord was close at hand.

The Marriage of the Lamb is the gathering of Christ’s people to Himself, and the statement that it “is come” is to be understood like “Babylon the Great is fallen,” though the fall had not yet actually taken place. But it was so certain and imminent that it is spoken of in the past tense. So here of the Marriage of the Lamb, before the Bridegroom has yet arrived. Now that the Great Harlot has received her doom, it is known that the Marriage of the Lamb is near at hand.

The Marriage of the Lamb, or Rapture of the Church, or the First Resurrection, is announced as about to take place at this point in the series of Visions (Rev. xix. 11), but it is not symbolised by any special vision. It is an event too brief, too rapid, to be dramatised like the historic episodes; it takes place “in a moment,” “in the twinkling of an eye.” It could not be represented as taking place in the Roman earth, for the First Resurrection extends all the world over; nor in the symbolic heavens, for it has nothing to do with the governmental sphere; nor in the upper or true heavens above, for “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven” when He comes to receive His people, and they are caught up to meet Him on His way in the air. In fact, it is not a material event at all, for the bodies in which we are to rise are spiritual, and the union which is to take place is a spiritual union.

A Halt on the Journey from Heaven

The Rapture takes place before the Lord actually arrives at the earth. The saints meet Him in the air; it is as it were a halt on the journey, a pause in the royal progress of Christ from heaven to earth. The length of the interval between this and His actual arrival at the earth is not mentioned, and speculation is useless.

When a king is coming into a city, the more honourable citizens go forth to meet him, and to accompany him into the city. When our Lord and King draws near to this earth, all His people go forth to meet Him in the air as He approaches with the armies of heaven in His train. These two great companies come from opposite directions —the celestial warriors from heaven downward towards earth; the saints from earth upward towards heaven.

It should be noted that to the Seventh Vial belongs this sublime description of the issuing forth of the Lord from heaven, at His Second Advent.

WORLD-WIDE PUBLICITY OF SECOND ADVENT

The Second Advent, which is described in Rev. xix. 11-16, is consistently referred to in the New Testament as one great event, but having different aspects and consequences for believers and for unbelievers. It has a bright and a dark side, like the Gospel, which is at once a savour of life and a savour of death. Christ comes for blessing and for judgment, but it is one coming, not two.

The signs stated as heralding the Lord’s Advent for His saints (1 Thess. iv. 16, 17) are: “a shout,” “the voice of the archangel,” “the trump of God,” “a great sound of a trumpet” (Matt. xxiv. 31), “as the lightning is seen from east to west” (ib. 27). They are signs for ear and eye all the world over, and they occur together. Even if one of them could be disposed of by understanding it to be secret, there are the other three making the great event known far and wide.

Simultaneous Signs

Add to this the sudden disappearance of all Christ’s true people, called up to Him in the air. There are millions of them, all over the world, of every age and condition of life, in the crowded centers of civilisation and in the distant mission fields of heathendom. All in a moment they every one disappear; perhaps, like Elijah, leaving their earthly garments behind them. What an event to arrest universal attention! How could this possibly be secret?

Matt. xxiv. 30: “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31. And He shall send forth 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.” See also Rev. i. 7. Note that the gathering of the elect is after the statement that all shall see Him coming.

Origin of the “Secret Rapture” Theory

Dr. S. P. Tregelles, who was originally connected with the remarkable religious awakening at Plymouth in 1830-31, says: “I am not aware that there was any definite teaching that there would be a Secret Rapture of the Church at a Secret Coming, until this was given forth as an utterance in Mr. Irving’s church from what was there received as being the Voice of the Spirit. But whether anyone ever asserted such a thing or not, it was from that supposed revelation that the modern doctrine and the modern phraseology arose. It came not from Holy Scripture, but from that which falsely pretended to be the Spirit of God.”

To the testimony of Dr. Tregelles is added that of Mr. Robert Baxter, the principal actor in the Irving scandals. He was their most notable prophet, and for a time one of the most deluded men known in Church History. There is an astounding list of the statements uttered by him, and accepted as truths by the deluded congregations. Prior to the fanatical outbreak in Mr. Irving’s church, and before the Plymouth revival, Mr. Irving had publicly taught on the subject what was adopted by Mr. Robert Baxter. In the extravagance of the excitement Mr. Baxter’s predictions were greedily accepted by professed believers, and more and more widely afterwards.

Mr. Robert Baxter subsequently repented deeply of his part in the impiety. Humbly confessing his sin, he separated himself wholly from the partisans of the “fables,” and published a “Narrative of the Facts.” He constantly maintained that the manifestations with which he had been connected were supernatural, but that Satan, not the Holy Spirit, was their author. This explains the features of the movement. It is very notable that the whole movement, including the origin of the “Secret Rapture” idea, belongs to the era when the three unclean and delusive spirits like frogs began to go forth. It would therefore be part of their work.

Such was the birthplace and such the origin of this idea. Set in impiety, the doctrine of the Lord’s secret Coming, before the manifestation of the Man of Sin and before the Great Tribulation, was then first openly promulgated in England. It was adopted by the late J. N. Darby, and was caught up far and near, and hailed as enchanted teaching. There has since been much scheming to give the doctrine a reputable origin, scheming by those who did not know the original facts, not being contemporaries of Dr. Tregelles. Also great efforts are made to prove it from Scripture, in the face of the plain statements that have already been referred to. No such direct proof can be found; indirect inferences, but insufficient, are made to do service instead.

It is a disastrous fiction that the Rapture will be before the Tribulation, and that the Lord will take away His people before the Man of Sin is revealed. The saints themselves are those that endure the Tribulation (Rev. vii. 14), so they must be on earth while it is taking place. One obvious effect of the “Secret Rapture” teaching is to divert attention from the real (Papal) Antichrist of long standing, and from the real Great Tribulation under his reign, to some other personage and to another tribulation supposed to be carried out after the “Secret Rapture.”

The Pope’s Twofold Character

In the Papacy two distinct functions or characters are united in the same personage, hence they are easily confused; but they are distinct, and have distinct symbols.

1. The immeasurably highest, mightiest, but usurped character of Vicar of Christ, with the claim of headship over all kings and peoples. Symbol —the Three-Crowned Tiara.

2. The Patriarchal Headship of the Roman Church, especially of the clerical body, with the claim of headship over the Universal Church. Symbol — the Mitre.

The Pope is both of these characters at once, but they are distinct. It is quite conceivable that the Roman Church should be destroyed, and the Pope’s ecclesiastical functions be brought to nought; while his claims and influence over a large portion of mankind, aided by the army of his priests, should be greatly increased, and he should be recognised and obeyed as a great leader of men.

In Revelation, when the Beast and False Prophet make war against the Lord, no Harlot Babylon appears seated upon the Beast. Before that date she has been suddenly destroyed.

THE LORD HIMSELF APPEARS

After the announcement (Rev. xix. 7) that the Marriage of the Lamb is imminent, the Lord’s Second Advent is next described (Rev. xix. 11-16). St. John sees heaven opened, a white horse issues forth, and on it the Lord Himself. This is the beginning of His journey to this earth. Is it not to some extent leisurely? The disciples watched Him as He ascended, till He got out of their sight, and He is to return in like manner; the inhabitants of earth see Him coming. He now comes with a shout, the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, and widely visible as the lightning. He is followed by the “armies” of heaven, the angelic warriors, as He makes His way to the earth, “accompanied with the angels of His power” (2 Thess. i. 7).

As He draws near, and while He is still in the air, the First Resurrection takes place, the Marriage of the Lamb. All His people, living and dead, are suddenly transformed and go up to meet Him and His hosts in the air on His way. They join themselves to the “armies” of heaven, and the whole great twofold multitude accompany their Lord to the earth. Thus He comes to stand on the Mount of Olives with two great companies, His warrior hosts from heaven following Him, and the whole assembly of His true people having met Him.

This First Resurrection at the Lord’s Second Coming includes His people alone; the rest of the dead do not rise till after the Millennium. Those still alive on earth at His Coming are suddenly transformed, and are caught up with the risen dead to meet Him in the air. They will be but few compared with the rest, only one generation, a little flock at any time amidst the world’s population, whereas the risen ones include all former generations of God’s people.

Our Lord’s Second Advent itself is instantaneously seen and known wide as the world. It is one event, not two. There is indeed a tremendous moral distinction between our Lord’s Coming for His saints and His Coming as regards the world; but so far as Scripture seems to teach, there is no distinction in time. It is one and the same event, but most differently affecting both. It has two widely different aspects, according to the condition of those whom it affects, but the Advent itself is one (Rev. i. 7).

Who are left behind? Those represented by the Foolish Virgins; all those who have attached themselves to the Beast, and join in or support his expedition; all the other non-Christian inhabitants of the earth. The salt of the earth has been removed at the Rapture, and Satan is still free, to tempt and seduce, but only for a time; presently he is imprisoned for the whole Thousand Years.

Beast (Gog), Kings, and Armies

Rev. xix. 19 shows the Beast, the kings and their armies gathered together, but does not say where. Ezekiel (xxxviii. 8-23, xxxix. 2-4) and Zechariah (xii.) tell us that the gathering is in the land of Israel. Rev. xix. 19 tells that there are more than motives of plunder; it is “to make war against Him that sat upon the horse”—that is, against Christ Himself and His army. Ps. ii. 1-3 had its first fulfillment on the very spot (Acts iv. 27), and a Roman governor took part therein. Here is the complete fulfillment of that prophecy.

At the same time, exactly consonant with Isa. xxxiv. 5, 9, 10 and Dan. vii. 11, there is a fire on Magog, the judgment on the country whence come Gog and a part at least of his confederates. To this epoch belongs that magnificent Song of Victory, Isa. xiii. See also Ps. Ixxvi., cxviii., and CXXIV.

Birds and Beasts called to the Sacrifice

An idea of the magnitude of Gog’s expedition and of the destruction wrought may be gathered from the fact that birds and beasts are called to feast upon this great sacrifice. The call of invitation is almost identical in Ezek. xxxix. 17-20 and Rev. xix. 17, 18, the close resemblance arising, no doubt, from both passages referring to one and the same event. But in Ezekiel the place of the sacrifice is definitely stated: “A great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel.” “Beasts of the field” are called, as well as birds of prey. Also it is declared to be the Lord’s own act: “My sacrifice… which I have sacrificed for you.”

The manner of the destruction is by a consuming plague, panic and confusion, mutual slaughter, pestilence, hailstones, fire and brimstone (Zech. xiv. 12, 13; Ezek. xxxviii. 21, 22; Luke xix. 27). The burning of Gog’s weapons and the burial of his army are also described, to impress us with a vast idea of the multitudes overthrown by the Divine Vengeance.

This does not mean the destruction of all mankind who were left at the Rapture, but only of those ranged with Gog against the Lord.

Satan Imprisoned

Next, after the destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet, Satan is laid hold of, and is chained and imprisoned for the Thousand Years of the Millennium (Rev. xx. I-3). That is another enemy disposed of; not the last, for the last enemy to be destroyed is Death, and Death is not annulled till the General Resurrection after the Millennium. Man’s heartis evil still, but the Tempter is no longer there to practise upon it.

THE MILLENNIUM OPENS

These two chief foes having been disposed of, there follows the organisation and ordering of the Lord’s victorious kingdom on earth. At this point begin the actual preparations for the Millennial reign. But its full settlement, even after the Lord’s glorious appearing, may be, nay must be, a work of some time. There cannot be stages in an instantaneous Advent, but there may be many stages in the work that follows, in bringing order into a rebellious world. Even at the end of the Millennium Satan finds materials for a great conspiracy.

In the Vision of the Great Image, the expansion of the stone into a mountain does not take place till after the image has been destroyed by the blow of the Second Advent, and its dust removed by the wind.

The Judgment of the Righteous

Here comes in what is known as the Judgment of the Righteous, for the assignment of rewards and positions in the new kingdom, according to the Parables of the Pounds and of the Talents. This takes place not in the air at the Coming of the Lord, as though there were an interval between that and His appearing for the destruction of His foes, but just where these verses (Rev. xx. 4-6) put it, after the Lord’s victory over the Beast and Satan. Having disposed of those two chief foes, He takes in hand the ordering of His kingdom.

What is the Judgment of the Righteous? We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive the things done in the body. But for those who in this life have trusted in Christ and have washed their robes white in His precious blood, there is no condemnation. They are passed from death into life. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Who is he that condemneth? The Judge Himself is their Advocate, the propitiation for their sins.

Yet there is for them a judgment, for the assignment of reward. There are degrees of reward, differences of rank, among the redeemed, even in heaven. All this arrangement of detail, if we may call it so, comes naturally after the main event of overthrow of foes and establishment of the King of kings. To Christ’s saints, raised and endued with spiritual and sinless bodies, are given positions of authority, responsibility, and honour. Plenteous reward is assigned for plenteous work done for Christ. The Judgment of the Righteous for these purposes takes place now, and their rewards and positions are assigned, as in the Parables of the Talents and of the Pounds.

There was included in the Seventh Trumpet (Rev. xi. 18) “the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great” (see also Dan. vii. 18, 27).

“Thrones” of royalty and judgment are assigned to Christ’s risen saints. Not to all alike; one may have authority over ten cities, another over five. But it is a reign, and this implies subjects, people to be reigned over, on this earth, in the midst of “the nations.” In Rev. v. 10 it is said of the redeemed, “They reign upon the earth” This implies continuance of political and social existence and organisation.

[How comes the Unprofitable Servant here? He must have risen with the rest, yet he is cast into outer darkness. He is discovered at the Judgment of the Righteous.]

Martyrs and Confessors

Two classes of Christ’s saints are noticed by St. John as especially conspicuous and honourably distinguished amid the royal company whom he saw. They are not the only beings present, but they occupy a high and honourable place among them. They are Christ’s assessors in judging and reigning, and to them are assigned the highest positions, the seats of chief honour in the Lord’s kingdom. These two special companies of the redeemed are the martyrs slain by Rome Heathen, and those slain by Rome Papal.

Under the Fifth Seal (Rev. vi. 9-11) the souls of the martyrs slain by Rome Heathen were told to wait till another series of martyrs, those to be slain under Rome Papal, should have been added to them; then would their avenging come. The promise, though long delayed, had not been forgotten; the Harlot, the Beast, and the False Prophet had all received their doom.

The two companies are now combined, and these saints, this noble army of martyrs, slain by Rome at different periods of her history, live and reign with Christ the Thousand Years. They are, first—those beheaded by Heathen Rome. Beheading was a usual mode of putting to death in St. John’s times, and an axe was the familiar Roman emblem of capital punishment. Secondly—those who had not been seduced by Papal Rome, but had been martyrs and confessors under her power. They are described not by the manner of their death, for they died in many ways, but by the character of their protest, and by their refusing worship, allegiance, or obedience to the Power that claimed such blasphemous authority.

The Millennial Reign

The coming kingdom of our Lord is to be divided chronologically into two parts: a first or opening section, to last for a thousand years, which accordingly is therefore called the Millennium; and a second, or main portion, which is to last for ever, and which is therefore called the Eternal Kingdom. The one is the brief introduction to the other. The Millennium is a transition state from the present dispensation since the creation of man to the everlasting reign after the judgment of the Great White Throne.

The Millennial Reign of Christ is an introductory time of putting down all rule and authority and power; of bringing everything into subjection to Divine authority; of giving men one last supreme season of probation under the righteous governing of Christ Himself. It is the final stage in the work of redemption, prior to the introduction of its eternal results. It closes by the destruction of the last enemy, Death, together with the final expulsion and punishment of its author; and the Eternal Kingdom dates from this close and completion of the redeeming work of Christ.

Even the glorious Millennial Reign is closed by a fresh outbreak of rebellious apostasy, bringing down fresh judgments and destructions; but from the new heavens and new earth such experiences are forever excluded. The Millennium is only the first thousand years of Christ’s never-ending reign.

Continued in THE ANTICHRIST – Who? When? Where?

All Sections of The Prophetic Outlook Today by E. P. CACHEMAILLE