# The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated/Chapter 1

CHAPTER I.
OF THE DEITY "WHO IS, WHO WAS, AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY."
When it is undertaken to inquire into the nature of the last judgment, and the second coming of the Lord, it seems ​essential that we should, at the very outset of such inquiry, make ourselves acquainted with what the Scriptures teach concerning the Divine Being of whom these visitations are predicted. Without a plain and satisfactory idea upon this subject we shall be liable to get into some confusion while studying those remarkable dispensations of His providence. Permit me then, with much earnestness and affection, to direct your attention to this point.
The Scripture statement that "The Lord our God is one Lord," is very emphatic; and the acceptance of it as a grand truth is one of the marks and evidences of genuine religion. Still, this is only the numerical idea, and, viewed in itself, does not advance us very far into an intellectual acquaintance with Him. He is not a Being for human discovery: man by searching cannot find out God. The fact that He is one is made known to us through the medium of revelation, and all other true information respecting Him comes from the same source. The Bible informs us that God made several communications to Adam; thereby He must have made a revelation of Himself; and from that period some idea respecting Him has always prevailed among mankind. Nothing seems more certain than that the idea of God first came into the world by His own revelation of it: it is also evident that as the purity of that idea has, from time to time, been corrupted or forgotten by the perversities of men. He has been mercifully pleased to renew such revelations, for the purpose of restoring and maintaining the truth of it in His Church.
Doubtless the Scriptures are intended to furnish us with as full and complete an idea of the Deity as it is possible for finite minds to have respecting the Infinite. But as the Scriptures were not given to the world all at once, so the ​complete idea of God which they communicate for the acceptance of our faith must have been gradually developed. Man's necessity for an idea of Him in the natural mind was not a sudden event. Thus, although in the Old Testament He is revealed, yet that revelation was somewhat dim and shadowy, for it is therein written of Him, "Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour;" but in the New Testament He is expressly declared to have become "God manifest in the flesh." In the former documents He is made known with some obscurity; but in the latter He is revealed with remarkable clearness. Throughout the whole history of those revelations, it is the same Supreme Being who is spoken of; but in the latter docnments He is more fully declared than in the former. Hence it is written of Him in both that He is "the first and the last;" and in the Revelation it is added, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." There cannot be two Almighties; and it is important to notice that the clause "who is to come," must refer to His second coming, because it was written subsequent to the first, which is apparently pointed at by the preceding clause, "who was."
The Scriptures not only reveal to us that God IS, and that He is ONE: they also tell us that He is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Saviour. But these titles simply express the merciful activities of His providence in regard to the universe and men. They declare some of His attributes, but they do not enable us to think very clearly of the Being to whom these attributes belong. For this we must go to other facts and other teachings with which the Seriptures abound.
​Every one must have noticed that the Deity is called by a great variety of names; and it is plain that these are mainly employed to express some peculiarities belonging to His nature. Each refers to some distinctive attribute or action by which the one God is characterized, and by which He was most fully apprehended by the people to whom it was first revealed, and by whom it was employed in their adoration and worship. Under the Old Testament dispensations, it is evident that Jehovah was the most distinguished name of the Almighty. He expressly said, "I am Jehovah, that is my name:" "They shall know that my name is Jehovah:" He "whose name alone is Jehovah is the most high over all the earth." Now the idea which this name is intended to convey to us is that of esse, the Exsting One; that is, the supreme Being as He is in His essential nature. But this name is frequently associated with another which, in Hebrew, is Elohim, which term is commonly translated God. This is the most general name of the Deity, because it is intended to convey to us some idea of His existere; that is, His wisdom or manifestation. But in the Scriptures these two names are frequently joined together. In the original they are Jehovah Elohim; in our version they appear as Lord God. In this connection those names express the Deity in respect to two essentials of His Divine nature, namely esse, or love, and existere, or wisdom.
Now it is under these two names that we find the Supreme Being first revealed to the human race. If the narratives describing the creation and fall of man are consulted in a spirit of discrimination, it will be found that in those remarkable histories the Deity is called Jehovah Elohim; that is, Lord God. Thus, "the Lord God" formed man out of the dust of the ground; "the Lord God" planted ​the garden; out of the ground made "the Lord God" to grow every tree which is pleasant to the sight; "the Lord God" commanded the man; "the Lord God" said it is not good that man should be alone; and so on. This fact is peculiarly marked; for in the first chapter of Genesis the term Elohim—God—only is used, and in the fourth chapter we find that Jehovah—Lord—only is employed. The titles Jehovah Elohim—that is, Lord God—were those under which the Supreme Being was first made known to man; and these express those two essentials of the Divine nature, namely, love and wisdom, which were engaged in man's creation, and for the recognition and reception of which he was gifted with the two faculties which we call will and understanding. This is what is referred to when it is said of man that he was to be created in the image and likeness of God.
But when we speak of essentials in the Divine nature, it is requisite to remember that they must have their ultimates; that is to say, they must have some embodiment in which to inhere. Essentials are something, and they pertain to something. An essence without a form is nothing. Neither love nor wisdom can be thought of as abstractions. As they exist in the Divine, they must have some entity in which to exist; and what other entity is conceivable but that of a Divine Person? And is not this idea respecting the Supreme plainly indicated in the declaration, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him"? Some may say that this refers to man's mental and moral image—we say so too; but imasmuch as this mental and moral image does not exist out of a human personality, so its prototype cannot exist out of a Divine personality. This, moreover, is the appearance un​der which He is recorded to have been seen in all the manifestations which He is said to have made to individuals and to communities of men. It is indispensable to any intelligible thought concerning Him. God, as it were, vanishes from the human intellect the moment this idea respecting Him is permitted to pass away; without it, the mind wanders in the universe, and its notions must be either that nature is God, or that He is an infinite—nothing!
Thus we see that although the first communications of the Supreme to men were made under names expressive of His love and wisdom, yet it is plain that those attributes of the Divine nature could not be presented to human thought under any other idea than that of a Divine Person. This, therefore, has been the idea respecting Him which has prevailed in all the best periods of His Church; and when, from the extraordinary perversities of men, the reality of this idea was about to pass away, we find that He provided means for its revival and perpetuity; first, in the personal appearances which He made to special individuals; and, finally, by assuming humanity, and becoming manifest in the flesh. Previous to this last event, the idea which was extant concerning the personality of God was shadowy and obscure; but by that phenomenon the Divine was brought to view with so much fulness, and in a form so clearly adapted to the perceptions of mankind, that all may know Him, from the least unto the greatest. Doubtless, that fact was intended to be a complete revelation concerning the Divine-human personality of God.
Prior to His first advent, the Lord frequently appeared to men. In the Israelitish history many instances are recorded, and all of them show that the Infinite intended by them to reveal Hunself to human apprehension as one Divine Person.
​Whatever other purposes might have been intended by those appearances, that is quite conspicuous. Nothing else could have impressed the percipient with the idea of an intelligent Being, because intelligence had never been presented to the mind of man apart from the idea of personality, either human or Divine. The whole Scriptures keep this fact before us with great precision. The moment we lose sight of the Divine unity on the one hand, and of the actual personality of that unity on the other, that moment we descend into theological confusion, and all clearness of thought upon those subjects vanishes from the mind.
Although, then, the Old Testament most clearly informs us that the Supreme Being has been seen by men, and that He has spoken to many, still a little reflection will show that these statements ought not to be understood as referring to physical seeing and natural hearing. It was not by physical sight that He was seen, nor by the natural ear that He was heard. Therefore those experiences must be understood as adaptations to the interior sight and perceptions of men, accommodations to their spiritual capabilities of seeing and hearing. And the scenes of those phenomena, however they might have appeared upon the plane of the natural world, must nevertheless have been presented im some sphere of that spiritual world which is immediately above; that is, within. We are expressly told that "God is a Spirit; and that the things of the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned. The statement that God is a Spirit is not to be interpreted to mean that He is something aërial, or unsubstantial, but that He is a spiritual entity which cannot be thought of otherwise than as a Divine Person.
But it is written. " No man hath seen God at any time:" ​"Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape." How are these statements to be reconciled with the historical facts to which we have adverted, and the explanations we have given? The answer we think is evident and simple.
There can be no doubt that God, considered in Himself, as to His infinite esse, was never seen nor heard by any man in the universe. The Infinite Himself is above all heavens: He, as such, transcends the capacity of all finite apprehension; and, therefore, at, particular times, and for the special necessities of men. He has "bowed the heavens and come down;" that is. He has mercifully made use of mediums for the purpose of effecting those visitations which are related; to the end that He might furnish men with that idea respecting Himself which should be the nearest possible approximation to that which is actual in Him and which the finite can have of the Infinite. That, then, which has been seen and heard as God, and which, in conformity with the language of appearances, is said to have been God, consisted in those mediums which He was pleased to assume for the purpose of approaching the spiritual vision and hearing of mankind, and thus to convey to our perceptions that human idea respecting the Supreme which it is important we should possess if we would know, serve, and worship Him, as He would have us do. With this view, there is no discrepancy between the Divine statements which have been cited and the histories adverted to. Men frequently say they have seen a person, when, strictly speaking, they have seen little else than his dress.
This brings us to inquire what those mediums were. In connection with those historical manifestations of the ​Deity, we frequently read of "the Angel of the Lord;" or, more properly, "the Angel of Jehovah." This, at first sight, would seem to mean nothing more than some spiritual envoy, whom Jehovah had employed as a being apart from Himself. But a careful examination of some of the narratives will show that the "Angel of the Lord" means the Divine Himself, manifested through the medium of an angel. For instance, it is written, "The Angel of Jehovah appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush, . . . and Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, . . . I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." Here, although the narrative opens with the declaration that the Angel of Jehovah appeared, yet the context shows that it was an angelic medium which Jehovah had assumed and filled with His presence for the purpose. And this medium is also called God. They are called gods, to whom the word of God came.
"The Angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham out of heaven, and said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God; seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me:" and again, "The Angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah." The Angel of Jehovah appeared unto Gideon . . . "and Jehovah looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou ​shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites." Other instances could be cited, but these are sufficient: they clearly show that the phrase "Angel of Jehovah" is intended to express the idea of Jehovah filling an angel with His presence, as a medium for effecting the Divine manifestations intended; this, also, is indicated by the phrase, "Angel of His presence."
From these considerations we learn that the Divine appearances which are recorded in the Old Testament were manifestations of Jehovah; that is, Divine appearances effected through the instrumentality of an angel's nature. It was the same Divine unity, the same Divine personality, who not only said that He is One, but likewise that He is the Creator, the Redeemer and Saviour. It is expressly written, "Thus saith Jehovah who CREATED the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it." "I am Jehovah, and there is none else." It is also declared that, "As for our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is His name;" and again, "I am Jehovah, and beside me there is no Saviour." "A just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me;" and "My glory will I not give to another." He, then, it was, who, to preserve some definite conception of Himself among mankind, made the appearances to which we have adverted, and thereby provided for the spiritual necessities of mankind.
But whatever might have been the immediate uses of those several appearances,—for every manifestation was a Divine coming,—it is clear that there was one, of a more remarkable character than all the rest, contemplated at a very ​early period after the fall, and frequently predicted in after times. Immediately after that catastrophe, it was stated that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head: and He—Jehovah,—who said this, subsequently promised that He would come into the world. It is of importance to observe that this advent is predicted of Jehovah, and that that which at the time of its fulfilment is called "the Son of God" is the humanity through which it was accomplished. In respect to the first of these two facts, we read, "Thus saith Jehovah, sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come and will dwell in the midst of thee." "Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come in strength." "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him: this is Jehovah, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." "Jehovah whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple:" and the temple to which He did come, He expressly declared to have been "His body."
While these passages clearly teach that it was Jehovah who was to come, there are others which show us plainly the manner of His coming. Thus it is written, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel:" "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Thus we learn that it was "the mighty God, the everlasting Father," who was about to render Himself manifest in the world, by means of a humanity derived from a virgin, and called "a son." And this prophecy, we are informed, was ​actually fulfilled in the birth of Him who was called Jesus because He was to save His people from their sins. Upon that occasion it is written, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which being interpreted is, God with us." It was also predicted that some one should "Prepare the way of Jehovah, and make straight in the desert a highway for our God." This prediction is, in the New Testament, distinctly applied to John the Baptist; he was to prepare the way of Jehovah; but the person who followed that preparation,—the preaching of repentance—was Jesus Christ; it follows, therefore, as a logical sequence, that Jesus Christ was Jehovah in His humanity: that humanity being the visible impersonation of the Supreme; He being within it as a soul within its body; thus beautifully and forcibly illustrating His own declarations, "The Father dwelleth in me:" "I and my Father are one."
It is commonly supposed that the human nature, in which God became manifest, was assumed by a second person in the Godhead, called "the Eternal Son." But this is nowhere stated in the Bible: it is the invention of men, and is a contradiction in terms. The Old Testament Scriptures never mention the pre-existence of that which in the New Testament is called "the Son of God." What they say on that subject is prophetical; they announce that that which had been in the Divine power from eternity would become an actuality in time. For instance,—the passage above cited says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The son here promised was not then a reality; the terms of the ​prediction are, "shall conceive and bear a son;" and we are expressly told that this "son" came into being by the birth of Jesus Christ: that event was the fulfilment of the prediction. That which was eternal was not that which was then born, but that Divine principle which was its inmost nature, and which is afterwards spoken of as the Father that dwelt within. It is evident that "the son" treated of under such circumstances ought to be understood in a sense different to that of a filial relationship in the world. It cannot be reasonably contemplated in the sense of a human sire and son. It was an assumption of human nature by the Divine for ulterior purposes, but it was no more a personal separation from the Divine, than the body of man is a personal separation from his soul. The revealed period of its actual existence was when the angel said to Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Here, the Highest, and the Holy Ghost, that is, the Infinite Father and His Divine influence, are spoken of as bringing into existence that humanity which was to be called the Son of God. It, therefore, seems plain that the humanity which "the Highest" assumed, through the instrumentality of a virgin, is that which is called the Son of God. It was God's manifestation in man's nature; in like manner as that which was called "the Angel of Jehovah" was God's manifestation in an angel's nature. In both cases human nature was the medium; but, in the former case, it was human nature as it exists in heaven, and, in the latter, it was human nature as it exists in the world. The apostle forcibly distinguished between these two phenomena, when he said, "Verily He ​took not on Him the nature of angels (as he had before done); but He took on Him the seed of Abraham."
From these considerations we learn that the phrase, "Son of God," does not mean a Divine person separate from "the Father;" but that it properly denotes the humanity of the Father; that in which mankind could see His glory—the "glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And this agrees with the Lord's words, "The Father in me;" "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father;" "I and my Father are one." Thus the Father and the Son are no more two distinct Divine Persons, than the soul and body are two separate men. The terms express distinctions in the Divine nature; but, together, they indicate only one Divine Person, the humanity being the out-birth of the Divinity, in other words, that ultimate manifestation of His essential nature, by which men may have access to some intelligible idea concerning Him who creates, redeems, and saves. Hence. Jesus Christ—that new name of the Supreme—expresses the final and the fullest revelation of the infinite God to finite man.
The angelic forms in which Jehovah was pleased to manifest himself to men, before the incarnation, were temporary assumptions of regenerated humanity as it exists in heaven, for the purpose of approaching the interior or spiritual sight of those who saw Him; and so to keep alive in the Church, with men in the world, some intelligible idea respecting Him. The angelic nature is human nature in a state of glory. But when, by incarnation, God took upon Himself, "not the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham," "made of a woman under the law," it was for the purpose of meeting the degraded conditions into which ​mankind had successively descended; and so to become a Saviour to the uttermost. This was done by glorifying that humanity in time which the Omnipotent had possessed in potency from eternity. It was thus that He took to Himself His great power, and became a Saviour to the uttermost. It was in reference to this glorified humanity that He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me;" "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." It is this humanity which is declared to be "the brightness of the Father's glory, the express image of His person," possessing "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
The Divine humanity of our Lord, as distinguished from the maternal humanity, was plainly revealed at the time of the "transfiguration." Upon that occasion it is said of Him that "His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light"; and the disciples who were present were directed by Him, when descending from the mount, to "tell the vision to no man until the Son of man be risen from the dead." Thus that glorious humanity which they were then permitted to see was above the common plane of the natural world. It was not that humanity which they had been accustomed to see with their ordinary sight; but it was that Divine humanity, the manifestation and glorification of which He was in the process of effecting. It was in this glorified humanity that He was seen with so much distinctness after the resurrection, and at the period of His ascension. That the humanity seen upon those occasions was different from that which men had been accustomed to see, is very evident. This is a reason why the three disciples were told not to speak of what they had seen until He was ​risen again from the dead. The resurrection would confirm the truth concerning that which they had seen in vision at the transfiguration. By this Divine humanity, the Infinite has provided the medium for presenting Himself as a distinct object of thought and faith to the lowest conditions of the human intellect; and so for supplying the means for realizing the prediction, that "all should know Him from the least unto the greatest." The manifestations which were effected through angelic mediums were not adequate to this purpose; but by the assumption and glorification of man's nature in its lowest plane, God became a Divine Person more fully in the ultimates of manhood than the angels are; and so the Invisible has become visible to every degree of rational thought. Hereby He has fulfilled the prediction, "Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." This new name is Jesus Christ; and this name was used because it expresses that new relationship which, by the assumption of humanity, has been established between the Deity and men. Hence the apostle tells us that this name is "far above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come;" "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;" "For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." It comprehends within its meaning the majesty and Divinity of every other name by which the Supreme, the Infinite, and Eternal has at any time been designated; indeed, so holy is its nature, and so profound is its signification, that Paul has distinctly said, "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
​Thus, then, while the Scriptures commence by announcing to us the Supreme Being under the name of Jehovah God, they close, after recording many miracles of His providence, by telling us that He is Jesus Christ: Jesus, in the last portions of His revelation, being substituted for Jehovah in the first; and God, in the first, being transposed into Christ in the last. In both cases we have the twofold appellation of the Deity, because in each they are necessary to express the two attributes of love and wisdom by which He is distinguished, and from which He acts. The name, Jehovah God, expresses those attributes more in the abstract; while that of Jesus Christ expresses the same attributes, but as they exist in, and emanate from, the concrete of a Divine humanity; in this He opened out a new and living way for the salvation of His people; and, as it has been said, took to Himself His great power, and became a Saviour to the uttermost.
Hence. He "who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty," is to be thought of as an infinite, eternal, and omnipotent Person, whose Divine essence has, in the fulness of time, been revealed in a glorified humanity. This essence being the Father, whom no man hath seen or can see; and this humanity being the Son, whom men have seen and may see;—together, like soul and body, they constitute a one; and the Holy Spirit, which was not until Jesus was glorified, consists in those enlightening influences which have resulted from their union. Surely, in the knowledge of these facts, the Lord has realized His own prediction, "The time will come when I will show you plainly of the Father." As there is but one God; as Jesus Christ was "God manifest in the flesh," and "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;" how plain ​is it, that Jesus Christ is this one God, that is, Jehovah in His humanity. It was the Lord Jesus Christ who said, "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
This conclusion presents itself to our minds as being most clear and satisfactory. To others it may not be so; it may be questioned by those who do not believe in His Divinity at all, and also by others who only acknowledge it in part. But the method adopted by the former to maintain their objections, and the difficult consequences which follow the opinions of the latter, are sufficient to indicate the unsound principles of both. The first strike out whole passages of evidence from the Word, which bear upon the point; and the second in thought, however much they may deny it in words, are compelled to set up at least a duality of gods. The one has maltreated the testimony, and the other has confounded its teachings upon the subject. Both parties, in reference to their respective views, have difficulties of their own; but those which they may urge against the acceptance of ours are caused by their not distinguishing between the maternal and the Divine humanity of the Lord. The instances in which inferiority and dependence are expressed, in which temptations and suffering are said to have been endured, belong to the maternal humanity; but that was put off as those infirmities were being conquered; and in those conquests the Divine humanity achieved its triumphs: therefore it is written, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?"
It was the Divine humanity which "came down from heaven," which is one with the Father, and without which we can do nothing. It was this of which it was said, "As ​the Father hath hfe in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself," and to which was "given all power in heaven and in earth." This "life" and "power" are said to have been "given," because, like the soul, which confers all its activity and energy upon the body, not only without diminishing but thus really augmenting their forces and utility; so the Divinity, in the process of becoming one with the humanity, gave to it all that belonged to itself, not only without lessening its own glory, but thereby taking to itself its great power, and providing the means by which all may know Him. Nothing of the Deity can be known by us, apart from our acknowledgment of His humanity. If this be not in some measure perceived, there are no other means by which to gather any reasonable thought upon the subject. No man goeth to the Father but by the Son, and they who know the Son know the Father also.
But although the Lord, as to His Divine humanity, is called "The Son of God," students of the Word will have remarked, that He, for the most part, spoke of Himself as "The Son of man." It is important to notice this circumstance, because it is only as the Son of man that He promised to execute His judgment and to come again. This fact will appear in its proper place. That those two titles were intended to express two different ideas respecting the Lord's humanity is evident from His answers to the high-priest. The high-priest said unto Him, "I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said; nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see the Son of man, sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Here, although he permitted Him​self to be spoken of as the Son of God, yet it was as the Son of man that He was to be seen in His power coming in the clouds of heaven.
It has been supposed that the title. Son of man, was intended to express the idea of His birth from a human mother. But this could not have been the case; for He never, under any circumstances, acknowledged Mary to be His mother. She was sometimes so spoken of by others, but she was never thus recognised by Himself. Moreover, it is plain that the title was intended to refer to something else, for He said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven." In this passage the Son of man is said to have come down from heaven, and also to have been in heaven at the very time the words were spoken in the world. It may be plain, therefore, that the term, Son of man, was not employed to express that nature which was derived from Mary, and in which He was naturally seen by men in the world. That did not come down from heaven; that was not in heaven, and it was to prevent such a mistaken view of the subject from being adopted, that Paul and the other apostles always spoke of the Lord as the Son of God, and never as the Son of man. This, however, was the title under which, as we have said, the Lord, for the most part, spoke of Himself. Thus He inquired of His disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" and by this He plainly indicated His solicitude that men should know Him under that name. It was as the Son of man that He suffered and was raised from the dead; for He said, "The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again;" it is as the Son of man that He is Lord of the Sabbath; it is as the ​Son of man that He forgiveth sins; for He said, "that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," He said unto the sick of the palsy, "arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house;" it is as the Son of man that He effects salvation, for it is written, "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." It is the flesh and the blood of the Son of man that we are to eat, without which we can have no life in us. It was the Son of man that was to be glorified; it was the Son of man who was to ascend; it is the sign of the Son of man which is to appear in heaven; and it is the Son of man who is to come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. It is as the Son of man that judgment is to be executed, for it is expressly said, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man." It is amazing, when the texts are collected together, how frequently, and under what important phases, the Lord is spoken of as the Son of man. And what can be the meaning of this? Every one sees that the two titles, Son of God, and Son of man, are made use of in reference to one and the same humanity; and, as it is plain that the title, Son of God, expresses the relationship which that humanity bears to God, it may be easy to perceive that the title, Son of man, is employed to express the relationship which the same humanity bears to man. The Lord, under this title, has presented to the world an idea of the Deity in the lowest possible form for human apprehension; it is that side of Him about which we can have some intellectual perception; that side which we see to ​have sympathised with our necessities, which could be touched with our infirmities and supply our wants, "for the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." He, however, must be lifted up, elevated in the thoughts and affections of the faithful; and, therefore, Jesus said, "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He [the Father], and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things."
There is, however, another view of those titles which it may be useful to present before closing this point in our subject. It is generally acknowledged that the Lord, as the Son of God, is called the Word, for it is written, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth;" but it has not been so commonly observed that He is also called the Son of man in reference to the Word; there is however a distinction in those references, as will be evident from a little attention to the subject. It is written that "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and hath given Him authority to execute—judgment, because He is the Son of man." Yet the Lord said, "If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." Now although the first of these two passages states that all judgmcnt is committed to the Son, because He is the Son of man, yet the Lord explains this by declaring that it is ​the Word which judges; thus plainly showing that the title, Son of man, embraces within its signification the idea, of the Word. It is in reference to the Word that the Lord always assumed this name; and hence it was that the prophets by whose instrumentality so much of it has been delivered, are so frequently spoken of under the title, "Son of man." It was, as we have said, under this title that the Lord promised to execute judgment and to come again; and, in reference to those events, it is declared that the Son of man shall be revealed, which, doubtless, means that the Word should be made clear; that the sense of it should be manifest. And lest there should be any doubt upon this point, it is written in the Book of the Revelation, where this judgment and consequent coming are treated of, that His name on that occasion "is called the Word of God."
Other evidences in illustration could easily be adduced; but these are sufficient for our purpose: we see from them that besides the Divine Personal idea included in the two titles, Son of God, and Son of man, they also reveal the Lord to us as the Word. It is only by the Word that we can know Him; He is "the Truth," which it contains. It is as the Word that He is to come to execute judgment, and carry on the purposes of His second advent. He is eminently present in His Word. It is by the laws of His Word that the wicked are condemned, and that the faithful are saved. It is through the Word that the Lord communicates his saving blessing to the world: that is the medium which He has mercifully provided for sustaining a mental connection between Himself and man, and of that Word He is the Spirit and the life. As the Judge of all the earth, He always judges by His Word: He comes to ​men in the world, but He comes to them by His Word: the good of this Word being revealed to us by that in the Divine Personality which is called the Son of God, and the truth of it by that which is called the Son of man.
Thus then we learn that the One Supreme Being, whom the Scriptures reveal for our adoration and worship, is the Lord Jesus Christ: He being Jehovah in His humanity. Jesus Christ, under the dispensation of Christianity, is the new name of Jehovah God. Hence it is written, "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved"; and that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow": Jehovah, by coming to His temple—the temple of His body, by becoming flesh and dwelling among us, came into a new relationship to His creatures, and it is because of this that He revealed Himself under a new name; under every name He is the Word, because He is in the esse of all that it reveals; but under the name of Jesus Christ. He became the living embodiment of all the truth which it contains. It is He who by means of the truth of His Word will execute His judgment, and mercifully accomplish all that He intended by His promise to come again.
The presentation of this doctrine was felt to be essential to a right understanding of those views of the general subject which we have undertaken to consider. It seemed important that we should, at the outset, know something of Him "who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty," that we should be reminded that in all cases of His coming, it is the one same Supreme Being, mercifully adapting Himself to the varied requirements of His Church on earth.
In the next chapter we shall endeavour to illustrate some ​of the principles involved in the Lord's judgment and coming, as they are set forth in some of the histories of the Old Testament. This will enable us better to comprehend the real meaning of the predictions which refer to His last judgment, and the second advent treated of in the New Testament.
* ↑ Gen. i. and ii.
* ↑ Isa. xlv. 15.
* ↑ 1 Tim. iii. 16.
* ↑ Isa. xliv. 6; Rev. i. 8, 17.
* ↑ Rev. i. 8.
* ↑ Isa. xlii. 8.
* ↑ Jer. xvi. 21.
* ↑ Psalm lxxxiii. 18.
* ↑ Gen. i. 26.
* ↑ John iv. 24.
* ↑ 1 Cor. ii. 14.
* ↑ John i. 18.
* ↑ John v. 37.
* ↑ Exod. iii. 2-6.
* ↑ Ps. lxxxii. 6; John x. 35.
* ↑ Gen. xxii. 11, 12.
* ↑ Gen. xxii. 15, 16.
* ↑ Jud. vi. 12, 14.
* ↑ Isa. lxiii. 9.
* ↑ Isa. xlii. 5.
* ↑ Isa. xlv. 18.
* ↑ Isa. xlvii. 4.
* ↑ Isa. xliii. 11.
* ↑ Isa. xlv. 21.
* ↑ Isa. xlii. 8.
* ↑ Gen. iii. 15.
* ↑ Zech. ii. 10.
* ↑ Isa. xl. 10.
* ↑ Isa. xxv. 9.
* ↑ Mal. iii. 1.
* ↑ John ii. 21.
* ↑ Isa. vii. 14.
* ↑ Isa. ix. 6.
* ↑ Matt. i. 21, 23.
* ↑ Isa. xl. 3.
* ↑ Matt. iii. 3.
* ↑ John xiv. 10.
* ↑ John x. 30.
* ↑ Luke i. 35.
* ↑ Heb. ii. 16.
* ↑ John i. 14.
* ↑ John xiv. 10.
* ↑ John xiv. 9.
* ↑ John x. 30.
* ↑ Heb. vii. 25.
* ↑ John xiv. 6.
* ↑ John xiv. 9.
* ↑ Heb. i. 3.
* ↑ Col. ii. 9.
* ↑ Matt. xvii. 2.
* ↑ Matt. xvii. 9.
* ↑ Jer. xxxi. 34.
* ↑ Isa. lxii. 2.
* ↑ Eph. i. 21.
* ↑ Phil. ii. 10.
* ↑ Acts iv. 12.
* ↑ 1 Cor. xii. 3.
* ↑ John vii. 39.
* ↑ John xvi. 25.
* ↑ Col. ii. 9.
* ↑ Rev. i. 8.
* ↑ Luke xxiv. 26.
* ↑ John vi. 38.
* ↑ John v. 26.
* ↑ Matt. xxviii. 18.
* ↑ John xiv. 6, 7.
* ↑ Matt. xxvi. 63, 64.
* ↑ John iii. 13.
* ↑ Matt. xvi. 13.
* ↑ Matt. xvii. 22, 23.
* ↑ Mark ii. 28.
* ↑ Matt. ix. 6.
* ↑ Luke ix. 56.
* ↑ John vi. 53.
* ↑ John xi. 4; xii. 23.
* ↑ John vi. 62.
* ↑ Matt. xxiv. 30.
* ↑ John v. 22, 27.
* ↑ Matt. xviii. 11.
* ↑ John iii. 14, 15.
* ↑ John viii. 28.
* ↑ John i. 1, 14.
* ↑ Luke xvii. 30.
* ↑ Rev. xix. 13.
* ↑ Acts iv. 12.
* ↑ Phil. ii. 10.