# The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated/Chapter 11

CHAPTER XI.
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY.
We now come to treat of the second coming of the Lord. Much that has been said, in preceding chapters, will have prepared the reader for an interpretation of the prophecies concerning it, somewhat different from that to which he may have been accustomed. The phrase, "second coming of the Lord," like that of "the last judgment," is not a scriptural, but a popular method of speaking of that event. It is quite clear from what is written upon the subject that the second advent of the Lord is an occurrence intimately associated with the last judgment. Doubtless the Lord came to effect a judgment; but the execution of that phenomenon in the world of spirits was to be followed by a manifestation of the Divine glory in the world of men. That judgment, as we have attempted to show, consisted in testing the lives of all those who were in the world of Spirits with the requirements of the Divine Word, in raising into heaven those whose characters were in conformity with the demands of truth, and in removing into the opposite kingdom those whose characters were contrary to its teachings. By these means Divine order was restored, especially in the intermediate region of the spiritual world; and so the way was cleared by which the influences of heaven were enabled to reach mankind without interruption from the hindrances which had previously existed. The clouds which had long been gathering were finally removed, and the sunshine which had been obstructed ​was enabled to descend. The first indications observable, when a certain class of natural clouds is about to be dispersed, are the flash of the lightning, the roll of the thunder, the descent of the rain, and other attendants of a tempest, by which life is endangered and property destroyed. After a while, however, the storm subsides, a calm sets in, the blue sky appears, and the sun once more shines forth with brilliancy and beauty. Something similar to this occurs in connection with the last judgment and the second coming of the Lord. The earliest evidences given to the world that these clouds of spiritual darkness, which had been so long overshadowing the Church, were being removed, are to be found in those unhappy commotions which distressed every nation in which Christianity was professed. Wars, with their attendant calamities, inflicted great suffering upon the people. But in the process of time these disasters subsided, and then a new era began to dawn upon the world, fraught with advantages to mankind, unparalleled in the history of our race. The first part of this marvellous drama revealed to us the judgment by which wicked spirits had been consigned to their dire abodes: The second part disclosed the judgment by which good spirits had been elevated into heaven; and by those two judgments the way was prepared for the second coming of the Lord. This coming, however, is not to be understood as a personal advent upon the earth, but as a Divine influence proceeding from the Lord through His Word, and operating beneficially upon the minds of men. It was by means of His Word that He effected His judgment in the world of spirits, and it is by means of His Word that He is to come with power and great glory to ​the world of men. These are some of the points to which we will now direct our attention.
The Lord Jesus Christ plainly said, "I will come again." In other portions of the Gospels, besides John, the same fact is spoken of with much precision, and the expectation of its fulfilment has been cherished in all ages of the Christian Church; but the way in which this promise is to be accomplished is not so clearly expressed: hence much obscurity has prevailed concerning it. The Lord's words upon the subject are, "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." No one who thinks upon the term of this prediction with any exactness, can suppose that by "the sign of the Son of man in heaven," is meant some remarkable appearance in the sky, or that by His coming in the clouds of heaven is signified His descending in the vapours of the earth; and surely His "power" will not be exhibited in the production of disaster, nor His "glory" ​displayed in worldly magnificence. All such interpretations of the prophecy are utterly unworthy of so profound a subject, and they are rather adapted to terrify the ignorant than to instruct the thoughtful. The very fact that "the sign of the Son of man" is to appear in heaven seems sufficient to show that He never designed that statement to be understood as a declaration that He would personally come again upon earth. The prediction that all the tribes of the earth are to see Him coming in the clouds of heaven cannot mean that all the people of the world are to behold Him descending in the clouds of the air. That would be impossible. The clouds, at their greatest elevation, are not far from the earth. When high and large, they can only be seen at a very inconsiderable distance, and ​any object upon them no bigger than a man could not be discerned for half a dozen miles around. How utterly untenable, then, is the idea of such an object being a spectacle for all the inhabitants of the earth. What could the people of America see of any atmospheric occurrence in Europe? At night we cannot see the sun, although he is shining upon the other side of our globe: how, then, could our antipodes see any event which may take place in the clouds with us? However reluctant people may be to give up the common interprctation of the above passage, it is quite clear that it cannot be maintained. The mistake has originated in fastening natural ideas upon figurative terms, and it can be rectified only by a knowledge of that spiritual philosophy which recognises the connection between spiritual and natural things. Of this we shall give an example when we come to show what is the true meaning of the expression, "the clouds of heaven.' There is no more reason for supposing that the Lord will make His appearance in the natural clouds, than there is for believing He will come with natural fire, and be surrounded with a natural tempest, or that He will come to judgment riding upon a natural horse. David said, "Our God shall come: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people." And John writes, "I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge." Every one sees that the Lord coming in fire, with tempest, or riding upon a horse, does not mean that He will come according to these descriptions, understood in a natural sense. The fire, the tempest, and the white ​horse are symbols representing the various ways in which the Divine displays Himself to the differing necessities and conditions of mankind.
None of the Divine predictions concerning the second coming of the Lord were ever intended to teach us that He would again personally come into the natural world. Every one may see that He did for man, at His first advent, all that it was possible for Him to do by means of such a coming. There were, at that time, circumstances in man's spiritual condition which required the assumption of humanity and the consequent presence of the Lord in the natural world, in order to remove the evils with which they were associated. He thereby made provision against the possibility of their recurrence: and, therefore, the necessity for a personal coming could no more arise. Every case which is recorded of the Divine appearing is different, because, at the time of its occurrence, there has always been something different in the condition of the world which has required it. On this principle it is plain that His promise to "come again" will be fulfilled in a manner different from that of any previous coming. Indeed, the Lord expressly said that the occasion for this second coming would be such as had not been from the beginning of the world. If, then, the characteristics which are to distinguish mankind at the Lord's second coming are to be so different from all those which have marked previous comings, it seems plain that the mode in which that coming will be effected must be different from all the rest. This, indeed, follows from the statement that His second coming is to take place under a title different from that by which He was distinguished at His first advent. He then came as the Son of God; it was as such that He was received by ​His disciples, and it was for the assumption of this title that He was rejected by the Jews. But He has nowhere said that that should be the name under which He would come again. Whenever that subject is treated of, He invariably says that it is the Son of man who is to come.
It is exceedingly interesting to observe that all the chief manifestations of the Divine Being have been effected under some distinctive title. Thus, to Adam He appeared as "Jehovah God," to Noah as "God," to Abraham as "God Almighty," to Moses as "I Am," to the seventy elders as the "God of Israel," to Joshua as "the Captain of the host of Jehovah," and to Gideon as "the Angel of Jehovah." When He became "manifest in the flesh," it was as "the Son of God," but it was as the Son of man that He promised to come again. Now, as all the Divine manifestations, preceding that which is called the second coming, differed from each other in their character, as each was suited to the peculiar circumstances of the people to whom it was made, and was indicated by a distinctive name, it is reasonable to infer that the second coming, which is to be effected under a name different from all the rest, will also differ from the rest in its nature.
Moreover, the Lord, when He was in the world, glorified His humanity. The apostle spoke of this as His glorious body. It was, in some measure, revealed to three of the disciples on the mount of transfiguration, but the nature of it was such that it could not be seen with the natural eyes. Hence, "as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead." And why were they told not to speak of it till then? Plainly because the resurrection body of the Lord would then be a ​Divine Humanity, some characteristic of which they had been permitted to see in vision, and which, after the resurrection, the other disciples would also be enabled to see, when their spiritual sight should be opened for the purpose. Every one knows that the Lord, at and after His resurrection, was seen by His disciples only; and when they saw Him it was not with their natural eyes, but with a spiritual vision. Hence, it is expressly said, "Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him." Thus His Divine Humanity is such that it cannot become the object of any natural sight, and therefore it is vain to expect that He will ever again make a personal appearance in the physical world. By glorifying His Humanity He withdrew Himself from the natural sight of men, and thus rendered a personal appearance unnecessary to any future ages of mankind. Besides, how could such an appearance be effected without a re-incarnation? an idea for which no one will contend. It is quite true that after His resurrection the Lord was seen personally, on several occasions, by His disciples; but it is equally true that the scene of those appearances was in some region of the spiritual world, and that the sight with which they saw Him was a spiritual sight. If this were not so, why was He not seen by the common people of the times? Still, very few pretend that by those appearances He fulfilled that which He meant by His promise to come again. In that promise the idea of a personal appearing was no doubt included. This seems to be the simple and unforced meaning of the terms of it; but, inasmuch as the Divine Humanity in which the Lord now is can only be seen by the spiritual sight of men, it follows that the natural world cannot be the scene of it. This conclusion seems to be distinctly revealed to us in the ​history of the ascension. When that phenomenon was about to be accomplished, the Lord, though then personally visible to His disciples, was not living in the ordinary plane of nature, nor did they see Him with their natural sight: remembering those facts, we turn to the narrative. "When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Hence it is evident that the disciples were not in their normal condition when they witnessed this event. They saw the Lord, which men in their ordinary condition could not do; they were steadfastly looking towards heaven, thus not into the sky, but to the dwelling-place of angels, and this is not the privilege of man's natural state; they also saw angels, for this is the admitted meaning of the two men in white apparel, and for this sight their spiritual eyes must have been opened; they heard the angel speak, and for this their spiritual faculty of hearing must have been awakened. It is therefore certain that the scene of the ascension could not have been upon the plane of the natural world; the Lord, after His resurrection, was in the world of spirits, ​and therefore it must have been from thence that the disciples, with their spiritual eyes, looked towards heaven as He went up. When, therefore, the angels said unto them, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven," it seems plain that they referred to His personal coming into the world of spirits, that, as we have before explained, being the primary scene of all His judgments. It is to the world of spirits where the Lord comes to "separate the sheep from the goats;" to give to those who have, and to take away from those who only seem to have; and where, consequently, He "giveth to every man according to his works." The Lord's promise, then, to come again, seems very clearly to involve the idea of His personal manifestation in the world of spirits to execute a judgment there, and afterwards to reveal that event to mankind by pouring out a beneficent influence upon them; and especially by causing the true nature of His Divine Word to be more clearly understood.
The Lord, when speaking of His second coming, said that the sign of it should appear in heaven, and that the Son of man should come in the clouds of heaven. Certainly these terms do not express the idea of His personally coming into the natural world. The scene of the subject treated of is clearly laid in a plane above. He distinctly says that the sign of it should appear in heaven, and that He would be seen coming in the clouds of heaven; now "heaven" and "the clouds of heaven" do not mean the sky and the vapours which arise from the earth, but the eternal habitation of the spiritually good, and all those obscurities of thought by which the bright condition of the heavenly life is prevented from appearing. Thus the appearance of the sign of the Son of man in heaven ​denotes a manifestation of Divine truth respecting Him, in the hearts of the faithful; and by His being seen coming in the clouds of heaven is meant a revelation of Divine truth respecting Him, to those who are in states of obscurity concerning it. All states of obscurity concerning the Lord and His kingdom are as clouds which hinder the "Sun of righteousness" from appearing, and the Lord is said to come in those clouds when that obscurity is enlightened; because then, by means of that light, the Son of man—the Lord in His Divine Humanity—will be acknowledged. Thus the sign of the Son of man in heaven denotes the activity of Divine truth among the angels, and His coming in the clouds of heaven, primarily refers to the Lord's appearing in the world of spirits, and not in the world of nature as is commonly supposed.
But although the world of spirits was to be the primary scene in which the Lord would fulfil His promise to come again, there can be no doubt that the prediction was intended to have a striking significance in reference to the world of men. The Lord's personal appearance in the one was designed to have a remarkable influence in the other.
Whatsoever takes place above must, sooner or later, display itself below. All that transpires in nature is from a spiritual origin. It is from the spiritual world that men think and act. It is common to ascribe those results to the mind of the thinker and the actor; but that arrests inquiry into the origin of thought and act before it has completed its work. What is mind? Is it not a spiritual faculty associated with a spiritual power other than itself? It does not live of itself; how then can it think or act from itself? Do we not sometimes experience the sudden suggestion of ideas which we are not conscious of having made any effort to obtain? Have not ideas sometimes ​come into our minds, which have actually interrupted the progress of a train of thought in which we were engaged? Are not impulses excited, and inclinations inseminated, by some interior forces which we find to be foreign to ourselves? Are we not the subjects of temptation, and do we not feel the influence of some dictate to resist it? Who has not experienced the struggle of two opposing forces within him, and felt that the result would depend upon the way in which he employed his freedom? All these are well-known facts; and they can only be explained upon the principle that men are in continual association with the spiritual world, and that they think and act from thence. If this be remembered, no difficulty need be experienced in seeing that all extraordinary occurrences which take place in the spiritual world must, sooner or later, cause their influences to be felt among men in the natural world.
This is a point which will admit of many ilustrations from the historical portion of the Scriptures. We will, however, only refer to one; it has been cited before, but it is eminently useful to our purpose now. When the Lord made His first advent, He said, "For judgment am I come into this world;" "now is the judgment of this world;" "the Prince of this world is judged;" "be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Now where was the scene of those events? Nothing then took place in the natural world which answers to these descriptions. Where did they occur? The only satisfactory answer is that they must have occurred in the world of spirits: the results of those occurrences were subsequently displayed in the world of men: thus showing the connection subsisting between men and their spiritual associates in the spiritual world. We learn these facts from the Scriptures. All the extraordinary ​events which they relate, as having occurred in the spiritual workd, in due time had their influence with men on earth. The judgment which the Lord executed in the world of spirits at His first advent, was followed, in the first place, as before remarked, by calamities among mankind; of this the Jewish wars afford sufficient example: but that region of spiritual existence having been reduced to order, we find that beneficial influences were brought to bear upon mankind, and that a new condition of humanity was then commenced. What a change did the establishment of Christianity effect among the nations? The external teachings of the apostles, if they had not been accompanied by an internal influence from on high, would not have been adequate to produce such results. External teaching and internal influence were both necessary for their accomplishment. Hence we read that the disciples "went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following." From these considerations it seems evident that whenever the Lord fulfils His promise to come again, it will be indicated by some similar results among mankind. Thus, when the Lord comes personally into the world of spirits to establish a new condition of order there, He will also come influentially into the world of men, to bring about a new state of intelligence with them. Surely a state of order in the one must be followed by some advantages in the other. The Lord does not clear the way and then refuse to send by it the blessings He is wishful to bestow. The ultimate purpose of the Divine coming must be to benefit the world by communicating to men some superior information, especially concerning His Word, the Lord working with it, and raising society unto a higher platform of practical and ​spiritual knowledge. Wheresoever the Lord is acknowledged, it is clear that some advantages must be enjoyed, and the purer that acknowledgment is, the greater will be the blessing. The coming of the Lord to mankind will be like sunshine upon the earth; men will not only be enlightened by His wisdom, but they will be warmed by His love, and be made fruitful in those things which make for their peace. Every one who will carefully reflect upon what is written concerning the second coming of the Lord, must see that it means the exercise of a Divine influence with a view to the conferring of some great advantage upon Christianity and the world.
But how is this Divine influence—this second coming of the Lord—to be recognised and displayed? We answer, that in the first place, it will be seen in those superior teachings of the Holy Word which it will be sure to unfold; and secondly, it will be displayed in all such improvements as will certainly take place in the religious perception and the moral and civil state of the world.
It is particularly to be observed that the Lord has always come to men through the instrumentality of His Word. In that Word He has had for them some wisdom which He desired to communicate for their acceptance and faith. He came to Moses and the prophets by His Word. This is plainly taught in all those passages in which they said that the Word of the Lord had come to them. We also know that His first advent was as "the Word made flesh." As it is evident that the Lord has always come for the purpose of communicating information respecting His Word, consequently concerning Himself, so it is equally certain that in every case He has made known some new intelligence upon those subjects. Thus, although the Lord has always come to men through the medium of some ​Divine teaching, it has always been with some new aspect, and with the purpose of effecting some new blessings by means of it. We believe this is the way in which He will make His second coming, and that the design of it is to promote the wisdom and happiness of men. His first advent was as the Word made flesh, and thus as the Word in humiliation. His second advent is to be as the Word made spirit, and thus as the Word in its exaltation. As His first coming was a natural and personal manifestation to men, so His second coming is to be a spiritual and influential revelation among them. He expressly said the Son of man shall be revealed. All the characteristics of that event are implied in the terms of the prediction respecting it. Those characteristics have been already mentioned, and their meaning in reference to the world of spirits has been indicated; we now therefore come to notice their significance in reference to the world of men.
As the Lord has completed His Word, it may be evident that He will come to men by means of it alone. He expects that they will see Him in that which He has taught them concerning Himself. We could not know half so much about Him by any natural sight, as we can learn from that which He has been pleased to tell us in his Word; therein He has mercifully revealed all that can be spiritually and intellectually known concerning Him, and therefore it is unreasonable to suppose that any personal appearing in the natural world is denoted by the predictions which refer to His second advent.
The heaven of which the Scriptures treat is a state of love, light, and holiness within us, for the Lord said, "The kingdom of God is within you." "The sign of the Son of man" is the testification of the Word concerning Him. ​It is plain that by a sign is meant some distinguishing evidence, and consequently, the sign of the Son of man must denote some testimony respecting the Lord. Every truth which informs us concerning the Lord is a sign, calling our attention to Him and supplying materials for the formation of our faith. Hence the appearance of the sign of the Son of man in heaven is the recognition of the Lord in His Divine Humanity by spiritually minded men. What can be the sign of the Lord's coming to any of us, but an interior perception of Him and of those heavenly truths of His Word which teach us to know and love Him? Surely this must have been the idea which He desired His disciples to accept as His answer to their inquiry, "Tell us, what shall be the sign of Thy coming?"
But on the appearance of this sign, it is said, "All the tribes of the earth shall mourn." By the earth is signified the Church: hence we read of the earth being "full of the knowledge of the Lord," of the earth being full of the riches of the Lord, of the earth being full of the mercy of the Lord, of the earth rejoicing, and many other similar statements, in which it is evident that the Church is signified; and therefore "all the tribes of the earth" do not mean all the inhabitants of the world, but all those who have some spiritual relationship with the Church. This is why they are spoken of as tribes; for it was among certain tribes, and not among all people, that the representative Church was established. Moreover those who are treated of are, properly the tribes (τῆς γῆς, tes ges) of the land, that is, geographically, of the land of Judæa where the representative Church existed. From this it may be seen that by "all the tribes of the earth " are denoted all those ​who are connected with the Church, through a love of truth and goodness. They are said to mourn when the sign of the Son of man appears, because they will experience grief when, by means of truth, they see the errors which have prevailed concerning Him. The sincere will be sure to lament when they learn how truth has been mistaken, and perceive the difficulties which stand in the way to oppose its proclamation and acceptance.
Now it is persons of this character who are to "see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven." As the sign of the Son of man is that Divine truth which calls attention to Him; so the Son of man is the Lord in His Divine Humanity, in which He has mercifully adapted Himself to the faith and apprehension of mankind. Hence He is the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world; that is, of all who come into the Church: for He is not the light of those who are not of the Church. The clouds in which He is to come to men are those literal representations of His Word by which His spiritual glory is obscured. By that Word He teaches and enlightens, as men are disposed to learn and obey. The letter of it is called the clouds of heaven, because it veils the heavenly things contained within, and those things are so veiled to protect them from the profanations of the wicked. The clouds of nature are generally considered as the lowest parts of the natural heavens, covering the light which is above; yet they are always more or less irradiated by it, and they transmit the light which they receive, in a modified form, to the earth which is below. It is on this account that they have been selected to represent the letter of the Word. For that is the basis of all heavenly truth, veiling the light which is within; yet the letter is variously illuminated by it, and this it ​communicates in some modified form to the men of the Church. The analogy is complete.
It is interesting to observe with what frequency clouds are mentioned in the Word in connection with Divine things, and to notice that in all cases they are symbols of that obscurity with which spiritual light is presented in the letter of revelation. The psalmist says, "Sing unto God . . . that rideth upon the heavens;" He "maketh the clouds His chariots:" His "truth reacheth unto the clouds." The prophet, also, says, "The Lord rideth upon a swift cloud." Evidently, in those cases, by clouds are not meant physical vapours, but those literal statements of the Divine Word in which spiritual things are expressed by natural terms. The Lord is said to ride upon those clouds and to make them His chariots, because they are the mediums by which He comes down to convey spiritual light to men. His faithfulness is said to reach unto the clouds, because the fidelity of the Divine character is declared in the letter of the Word. The letter presents conflicting statements concerning the Lord, and therefore it is said that clouds are round about Him. His strength is said to be in the clouds, because the power of Divine teaching is in the letter of the Word, the strength of pure truth must lie in its appropriate utterance. It is by ​means of things external that things internal are brought down to human apprehension; the former is as a cloud in which the authority of the latter resides, and so "upon all the glory there is a defence." The cloud which overshadowed Peter, James, and John at the transfiguration of the Lord, and the cloud by which He was finally received out of the sight of the disciples, represented those literal statements of the Word by which the Divine glory is obscured. Surely it cannot be difficult to see that all natural images, when employed to express Divine ideas, must, of necessity, be as a cloud shutting out some of that pure light which shines above them. Still, like the clouds of the atmosphere, some of those images are more transparent than others. Hence it is that some Divine truths appear in the letter of the Word with greater clearness than others. In many places the truth is so concealed that scarcely anything appears; in other placcs, the mystery is not so great, and there some spiritual teaching is discerned. It therefore seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that the letter of the Word is as a cloud veiling the Divine light which it receives; and that in different parts it varies in its brightness, in order that it may be serviceable to all conditions of mankind. And this being so, it is manifest that the phrase, "the clouds of heaven," is designed to represent the various obscurations of Divine truth, as it is presented in the literal sense of the Word. Every one knows that there are numerous things related in the Word which require interpretation to bring out their significance; and thus that the true light is as it were hidden, as though by a cloud, in the expression. This cloud has been too frequently mistaken for a perfect light, and hence it is that such a varicty of conflicting opinions ​have prevailed respecting the teaching of the Word. The appearances of truth were mistaken for realities; the difficulties which this created led to disputations, until, at length, the Church drifted into darkness; and then she pronounced the most eminent of her doctrines to be a mystery. That, however, which is spiritual in its nature, such as the Divine Word is declared to be, cannot be presented to men in its native brightness during their lifetime in the world; therefore, God has been mercifully pleased to exhibit it in various degrees of shade, so that men may be enabled to see something of its glory.
The Lord not only told His disciples that He would be seen coming in the clouds of heaven: He made a similar statement to the high-priest, who had said unto Him, "Tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." His reply was, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." No doubt the high-priest understood this statement in a natural sense; and therefore he rent his clothes, and declared it to be blasphemy. That, however, was not the sense in which the words were spoken; and this every one may see who will carefully reflect upon them. The whole sentence is couched in figurative terms, and referred to His revelation of Himself at some future time in the letter of His Word, when even the ignorant should see Him.
That the clouds of heaven do not mean the clouds of the air may also be evident from this circumstance, that Daniel said, "I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven." In this passage, an event is stated to have occurred very similar to that which we are considering; it was not, however, in the plane of nature, but above, for it is declared to have ​been a vision. John also relates a similar event. He says, "I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man." How evident it is, then, that the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven cannot have any reference to a physical event transpiring in the domain of nature. And when the apostle said, "Behold, He cometh with clouds," the design was to teach us that the Lord will reveal Himself in the letter of His Word, and make known to the Church that spiritual sense by which it is filled. Thus a period will arrive in the history of the Church when the human mind will be enabled to see the Lord, as the letter of the Word teaches He ought to be seen, because it will be enlightened by some knowledge of its spiritual sense. In connection with the passage, "Behold, He cometh with clonds," it is written, "Every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." This, however, is not to be understood of natural sight, but of mental perception. By every eye seeing Him is denoted that every enlightened understanding will acknowledge Him. The eye seeing is the understanding acknowledging. They also who pierced Him are to see Him; but this evidently cannot mean that single soldier by whom that cruelty was naturally inflicted, nor simply those by whose authority it was done. The passage refers to a class of persons of whose conduct that act was typical. They who have pierced Him are they who have denied His truth: but even those will be led to acknowledge His jurisdiction in that final judgment which His truth will execute. In these considerations we have an intelligible interpretation of the prophecies; one which reaches ​the common understandings of men, and places the matter upon a practical footing. It seems evident that they refer to the renewal of the Church among mankind, after a long period of perversion. This renewal is to be effected by the Lord's revealing the true nature and genuine doctrines of His Holy Word: and who can deny that such a revelation would accomplish all that the predicted second coming can reasonably be expected to effect? The design of that event, as in similar cases, must be to communicate some advantage to the Church, and thereby to the world at large. All the special interpositions of the Lord in the affairs of men are for the purpose of promoting some blessing. What other object can He have in view, and by what other means than His Word can it be accomplished? As His coming in the clouds of heaven denotes the revelation of the Divine truth contained in the letter of His Word, so the "power and great glory," by which it is to be distinguished, signify the power of Divine goodness, and the splendour of Divine truth, which such a revelation will unfold. What other power, or what other glory, than that which is contained in His Word can He be solicitous that men should know? The Word is the medium by which the Lord communicates with His people: by that Word He enlightens, by that He judges, and by that He saves them.
To effect such a revelation a human instrument was necessary. The Lord at various times has mercifully made use of suitable persons to communicate His truth to the world; and the employment of these at one period has not set aside the necessity for similar engagements at another. The calling of Moses and Aaron did not supersede the necessity for the raising up the prophets, nor did the mission of the prophets dispense with the call of the apostles; and no one thinks that the selection of the twelve pre​cluded the necessity for Paul, who was not among them. Nor is there any evidence to show that the Lord would not employ other instruments in later times, if the necessity of His Church should require it. We believe, as we have endeavoured to show, that such a necessity had arrived towards the middle of the last century, and therefore we believe that such an instrument must have been provided. We accept Swedenborg as that instrument; we do this, after having carefully examined his claims, and found that his expositions of the Word, and his philosophy concerning the spiritual worlds, are such as to commend themselves to our reason, judgment, and conscience.
It is admitted, even by those who deny his mission, that he was a most extraordinary man, one whose capacities are not to be measured by any common standard of intellect: but it is objected that he was a visionary. We answer that we are not aware there is anything very odious in seeing visions. When they were enjoyed by holy men in ancient times they were regarded as a privilege, and we do not see why that privilege should be considered any disparagement in modern days. Paul saw visions, and so did some other of the apostles. When the Lord said that "young men should see visions," He surely did not intend that the fulfilment of it should be considered as a discreditable circumstance; on the contrary, He must have designed it as the means for imparting information concerning the spiritual world. Men may ridicule such means of instruction, but they cannot refute the fact of its necessity. And it is an indisputable truth that the illustrious person to whom we are alluding, has made known a spiritual sense of the Word, and shown the philosophy of it in a way that was never known before: his teachings are perfectly consistent with the high purposes of revelation and the re​quirements of the Church; and they maintain throughout a rational dignity concerning spiritual things never before attained.
As then we are now aware of the meaning of the prophecy, and made acquainted with the medium through whom the explanation is obtained, our next step is to inquire concerning the evidences of its fulfilment. We see that the Lord's second coming is an occurrence by which the minds of men are to be affected, and through which the Church and society are to experience renovation. Every one who will fairly consider what is written above upon the subject, must see that this occurrence is designed to be the precursor of a new dispensation of religious teaching, and thus to establish a new condition of the Church and society in the world. Now are there any evidences of such remarkable changes taking place? If so, they may most reasonably be attributed to the accomplishment of the prophecy we are considering. Let us then look abroad, and observe what is transpiring.
It was seen in the chapter on the last judgment, that the Church, about the middle of the last century, had passed into such a state of corruption as to require, for the spiritual safety of mankind, a Divine interposition by means of a judgment. The nature of that judgment was explained; and it was shown that soon afterwards a variety of circumstances transpired which were of so extraordinary a nature, and the cause of so many calamities to the whole Christian world, that they could only be accounted for by considering them to be the results of a remarkable judgment executed upon the wicked. Those calamities were, as it were, the out-births of this event. But that state of things has now in a great measure passed away, and an entirely new condition of society has been established, a con​dition unparalleled for its advantages in the history of mankind; and this also must be accounted for upon the same principle, namely, the execution of a judgment upon the good, these advantages being a revelation of that event. Now as this judgment was to be executed by the Lord at His second coming into the spiritual world, and as the influences of that phenomena are being experienced in the world of men, it will follow that we are now living in the period of His second coming. There may be a reluctance to accept this view of the case, because mankind have been so long and so commonly taught to associate with the accomplishment of the prophecy the idea of the overthrow of the universe; but, as that is an evident mistake, it will be wise for them to put aside their hesitation, and seek for more reasonable interpretations. The materials for this they will find in the startling changes which, within the last century, have taken place in the whole round of human thought; changes which indicate the activity of a new intelligence in the world, and which prove, most decisively, that we are living in a new age of Christianity.
As His personal advent into the natural world was not intended by the Lord's Divine promise to come again, it will follow that He designed to realize that prediction by means of some beneficent influences in the world: this is the only alternative. Whatever be the nature of the Lord's ​coming at any time, it is His influences which benefit: and the ulterior purposes of every advent has been to confer some new blessings upon society. How clear is this in the case of His first advent! By means of the Christianity He then established, a new condition of spiritual life and thought was created among mankind. A new centre of light was provided, and this extended itself to a wide circumference; it produced new thoughts about Divine things, and gave existence to new loves respecting them, so that in the process of time a really new condition of mental and moral life was evolved, and an entirely new state of society was produced among all the nations by whom its revelations were received. This was accomplished after preceding revelations had been rendered of none effect; and as the Lord's second coming is to be occasioned by corruptions setting in upon the teachings of His first advent, we may rest assured that the general design of that coming is to introduce to the world a new condition of religious and intellectual thought: hence we conclude that whenever such a condition of thought is developed in society, and fairly recognised by it, that then is the period in which the prediction is being fulfilled. This view is in accordance with the generally received law for the interpretation of prophecy, which is that the precise meaning of it is scarcely ever to be determined until the time of its fulfilment: thus we must look to events to establish the truth of our explanation of its terms; when the events and explanations agree, we may safely conclude that the prediction is accomplished. Let us carry this view to the promise we have before us.
There can be no doubt that within the last century a condition of mind has been developed and brought into activity in every department of human learning and civili​zation which has not been experienced in any preceding age; it is distributing benefits, and conferring blessings in all quarters of the globe. To what can this be attributed? The facts are certain; where are we to find their causes? Some may say, as intimated in the preceding chapter, it is the activity of the human mind which is producing them. This may be admitted, but what has put the mind into this state of activity in modern times? And how did it happen that it remained for so many centuries before in a state of sluggishness and torpor? These questions cannot be answered upon the principle that the human mind has been the sole cause of these results. The mind does not shut itself up, neither does it put itself in motion. These effects must be referred to some other cause. The degradation of the mind can only be attributed to some unfavourable influences operating upon it; and any elevation which it experiences must be ascribed to some benevolent source higher than itself. As, therefore, the Lord's declaration is divinely true, namely, "Without me ye can do nothing," it will follow that He is the primary Author of all the advantages which society is now beginning to enjoy; and as they have a greatness and superiority over those of all preceding time, it plainly appears that He is by them realizing His promise to "come again." He is "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." "A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven." "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights;" and where His blessings are, there He must be: they cannot be separated from Him, nor He from them. When, then, they are displayed in such abundance and richness as we see them to be in the period in which ​we live, it seems plain that they must be the results of His second coming, and that He is by them fulfilling His prediction of that event in the way which He intended men should understand it. He now comes into this world by the outpouring of a brighter influence upon mankind. It is a coming which is designed to affect the inner perceptions of men, and by this to improve the outer circumstances of society. This being so, it will primarily have reference to the Church, in which the Holy Word is accepted as the medium of all information concerning spiritual and eternal things. The Church, in the world, is really the centre from which the state of society is derived; every one may see this if they will only remember that it is a spiritual institution, designed to keep the mind open to the reception of those heavenly things which are contained in the Word, to spread abroad intelligence, and to lead men on to the love of what is good and wise. The state of the Church creates the condition of society. Hence it is that when the Church has perverted the knowledge of truth entrusted to its care, society has been degraded; and it is only as genuine information is restored, that mankind can be rescued and improved. The Church is as the heart and lungs, which keep up a living circulation to the extreme parts of the body. The love of goodness, as taught in the Word, is as the heart of the Church, and the knowledge of truth, as revealed in the Word, is as its lungs. As from those two fountains of natural life in the human body all its other members are enabled to subsist, so all that is orderly and intelligent in society derives its existence from the love and knowledge in the Church; and by these graces the Lord and His angels bring about all the beneficent results which men enjoy. It will therefore follow that whenever society is raised into the experi​ence of any real and permanent advantages, the Church, more or less directly through the Word, must have been the source of them. The Word is the medium through which we receive all our blessings—not only those of a moral and spiritual kind, but such as are of an intellectual and scientific nature; the reason is because the Word keeps the mind in connection with the light of heaven, and that kingdom is the primary source of all man's mental illumination and practical benevolence.
Now if the second coming of the Lord is an event which is to affect the Church, by removing obstacles which hindered the light of heaven from being enjoyed, and the communication to it of some superior information concerning the Word, it seems plain that those advantages will cause themselves to be felt in every direction, and that they will descend into and excercise a favourable influence upon the common concerns of our daily life. It cannot be supposed that the influence of those advantages will stop at some particular point, and refuse to distribute its benefits beyond it. Whatever is susceptible of amelioration must feel something of that influence. Hence it may be fairly inferred that all our progress, even in matters belonging to our material civilization, is collateral evidence that the Lord has come again to His Church.
That this is the case seems also apparent from the circumstances by which the Church has been distinguished during the last century, and which are still in operation to bring about the acceptance of superior light. To this end, efforts are being made in every direction, and it is quite evident that men now think and speak of spiritual things with more intelligence and freedom than in any previous age. Liberty is felt, and new materials for spiritual thought upon religious subjects, are provided in a thousand directions ​which were utterly unknown to our ancestors a century ago. The creeds and articles of faith which men have invented, which councils have confirmed, and which have shut the mind of the Church and delayed its progress, are now undergoing a process of criticism and inquiry which is welcomed by multitudes as the harbinger of liberty and light. It is seen that such dogmas stand in the way of progressive thought and reasonable freedom, and also that their sentiments are not in harmony with revelation. We find that interpretations of the Word, which for ages have been received as true, are being freely abandoned as mistakes, and this, too, by the learned and thoughtful of all parties. The early chapters of Genesis are now no longer believed to contain that which for ages they have been considered to reveal. Geology has demanded a new interpretation of the supposed cosmogony of Moses. This and other sciences have demonstrated the improbability of that universal deluge, of which the seventh chapter of Genesis has been taken to be the history. The ancient chronology which the Church invented is discovered to be accurate. The assertion that one God exists in three persons is felt to be an improper statement of the subject, and efforts are being made after a more sensible expression of it. The orthodox doctrine of the atonement is being modified by every intelligent thinker. Baptismal regeneration is thrown aside by numerous clergymen as a superstition, and very few of the laity accept it. The article which declares that man is justified by faith only, raises a blush upon the cheek of all who remember that the Lord has said, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Passages which were once accepted as evidence of a material resurrection are now known to treat of no such subject. Biblical criticism has risen into a science, and is ​shaking to the foundation all those mistakes which councils have forced upon the Church, and which have paralysed the progress of religious thought. It is striving to place spiritual truth upon the pedestal of enlightened reason, and to rescue liberty from the bonds by which she has been surrounded. The greatest minds in all the Churches are ranging beyond the limits which they have prescribed; they are endeavouring to break through the barriers which ecclesiastical authority has erected, and are making efforts to obtain for themselves a platform for the freer utterance of advancing thought. A decided movement of this description is felt throughout the whole of Christendom, and multitudes sympathise with it as a desirable thing. All have not the courage to speak out; many suppose that they are not in circumstances to do so with usefulness and prudence; others are silent, either because they are not willing to be considered as disturbers, or think themselves without influence in so serious an affair. But there are some who have resolution for the work. These set conscience above policy; they give utterance to their critical investigations; their conclusions may not always be correct, but it is plain that they have been searching after truth, and that, for the most part, they have conducted their inquiries with honesty and learning. At this the bigots and the placemen of the Church are alarmed. They do not fairly enter the field of biblical criticism. They throw epithets at the inquirers, and strive to put them down, not by argument, but by authority. They take those bold thinkers into ecclesiastical courts, try them by antiquated laws, and get a verdict, which however is soon reversed by an appeal to another tribunal more influenced by the light and liberty of the new age in which we live.
​The papal authority has been diminishing for a considerable period, and it is now shrunk up into a small compass in all the nations in which it was once powerful. Great changes have taken place, and are still progressing, in the Italian peninsula. The people whose energies have been paralysed by ecclesiastical governments have had their patience exhausted, and they are now invoking the return of that liberty of which they have been so long despoiled. The pope is no longer a prince capable of inspiring the nations with a dread of his displeasure. Multitudes of his own subjects, tiring of his reign, are seeking to break up his authority, and this they would have accomplished before now if they had not been prevented by a foreign army, present for a political purpose. No less than nine thousand priests have recently petitioned in favour of the renunciation of his civil authority; and nearly the whole literature of the country expresses the same feeling. Religious reforms are being asked for. Societies are established to promote the reading of the Bible in the vernacular, to obtain a removal of the laws which impose celibacy on the clergy, and to effect many changes favourable to progress and to liberty. It seems impossible to look at these facts and not to perceive that some remarkable influence is at work upon the Church, and that its tendency is to bring about some change favourable to the spiritual welfare and intelligence of men.
​But let us turn our attention to some more direct evidences of this fact. One of the characteristics of the Lord's second coming is that "He will make all things new," and surely no one can look abroad and fail to see that this Divine promise is being fulfilled in almost every department of civilized existence. The cruel system of slavery, which a century ago carried on its hateful traffic with a high hand and a mercenary spirit, has, by the efforts of philanthropy and a liberal expenditure of public money, been put down by the governments of Europe. For a long ​time efforts have been made to promote its extinction in America, and there can be no doubt that in the events which are now transpiring in that country, it has received a blow from which it never will recover. With its abolition there, it will perish upon the shores of Africa. The system of serfdom in Russia has also been abandoned, and nearly thirty millions of peopie have by a peaceful revolution been raised to the level of freemen. They are astonishing their former masters by their industry and intelligence, and are showing to the world that they appreciate their emancipation by establishing schools for the education of their children. This spread of liberty among bondsmen was scarcely dreamt of fifty years ago, and now the very name of slavery awakens indignation and begets abhorrence. The realization of this love of freedom proves that a Divine influence is present in the world, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
The formation of peace societies, also, is not to be overlooked. Their object is to settle national disputes by means of arbitration; thus they belong to a high political morality. They appeal to reason and Christianity, and ​desire to abolish the cruelties of the sword. They regard war as an old barbarity which may result in a triumph of the strong over the weak, but which cannot decide the justice of a cause. Such societies are among the developments of the new age: they exist in England, they are being formed in various nations on the continent, and are known to have exercised an influence favourable to the maintenance of peace upon the governments of Europe. Surely the rise of societies having such an object in view is in conformity with true civilization and Christian sentiment; they have faith in the prophecy that God shall judge among the nations, and that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; they remember that the God of Christianity is the Prince of peace, and they may be reasonably regarded as among the valued fruits of His second coming.
Again: look at the moral changes which have been effected by the teachings of temperance and the establishment of societies for its promotion. There was a time in our own recollection when the odious vice of drunkenness was considered a manly indulgence, and spoken of rather as an accomplishment than a crime. It pervaded all classes of society, from the throne and the court to the artisan and the beggar. Although this degrading vice is not entirely abolished, a most astonishing reformation has been achieved. At the present time scarcely any indulge in this wickedness who are not sensible of the shame which it incurs; and there can be no doubt that this prolific source of musery and crime has greatly dimished. What can be the cause of this improvement? Satan does not cast out Satan; it must therefore be the Lord's doing, and, as such, it should be marvellous in our eyes.
And who has not observed that growing desire for the ​education of the people which has become a characteristic of our time? Schools for this purpose, in great numbers, have sprung up in every direction. All denominations consider such institutions as parts of their establishments. Infant schools and Sunday-schools abound everywhere; and few children are permitted to go to work without some attention being paid to their education. Every country is interested in this labour of love, and in some way or other engaged in the promotion of its objects. It is a national enterprise, and grants of public money are annually made to spread wider its benefits. Teaching has become a science; and the literature of teaching is wide in its range, noble in its simplicity, and admirably adapted to interest and instruct. Every one must have noticed the wonderful improvements in the postal arrangements which have been effected, not only in this country, but throughout the world, and by which the social character of the nations has been raised to a higher condition than that which they previously enjoyed. The rigidity of some of the bigoted tests which have hampered and hindered the progress of education af our national universities has been relaxed, and public efforts and opinion are still pressing to render them more tolerant and useful to the general public: while a mitigation of the severity of the criminal laws of all nations proves with great decision the improved tone of public morals, and the growing respect for the value of human life. All these are new features belonging to modern civilization: they are peculiarities of the century in which we live. Whence did they originate? They did not create themselves; something must have prompted the human mind to their execution; and it must be confessed that as works of benevolence they are the Lord's doings, and the results of some special coming on His part to our race.
​The charitable institutions which have been formed, not only to relieve the sufferings of the body, but to promote the interests of morals, and even to secure the animals from cruelty, cannot be thought of by the pious observer without acknowledging that the hand of Providence must have raised them up; and why now, in preference to all preceding time, if this was not the age in which the Lord, in forms of mercy, displays His coming?
Auother beneficent feature of our times is the formation of Missionary Societies, by which the documents of Christianity are carried to every quarter of the world. And how eminently useful has been the establishment of that noble institution, "The British and Foreign Bible Society!" By this Society the sacred Scriptures have been translated into nearly all the languages of the earth, and distributed in large numbers, without note or comment, to almost every region in which humanity exists. People of all countries have been engaged to assist in the work of translation. They are not simply circulated among the ignorant, semi-civilized portions of the earth: they have become subjects of interest to the learned Mahometan: the pundits of India have had their attention drawn to their contents with favourable results; and a few years ago a million copies of the New Testament were printed in the language of China, for the purpose of distribution among the people of that vast empire; multitudes of whom, by some previous teaching, had been understood to have made some little acquaintance with its religion.
It seems impossible to contemplate these facts with intelligence, and not at the same time to see that they are specialities in the Divine Providence, marking with serious phenomena the epoch in which they have occurred. Surely in this remarkable circulation of the Scriptures, the Lord ​is providing for us some sensible evidences of His second coming. Hereby He is making an effort to widen the borders of His Church by going to all nations, through the medium of His Word. It is by His Word that He effects His advent into human minds, and spreads abroad a knowledge of Himself. It is by the teaching influences of His Word that He comes to individuals and to nations, and it is by means of this, and this alone, that "every eye can see Him." To expect to behold Him in any other way is to mistake the meaning of the promise. In our view of the circumstance, the universality of His advent, and the beneficent purposes it is intended to accomplish, can be readily apprehended. It sets aside all the alarm which "orthodoxy" would raise concerning the occurrence, and awakens, in the minds of the thoughtful, confidence in those orderly operations of the Divine mercy by which all people are to be enlightened. Every one who regards the Word as the source of information concerning spiritual things must acknowledge that the extensive circulation which has been obtained for it indicates that some distinct activity of the Divine Providence is now in the process of being displayed, and that the design of it must be to prepare new planes in the minds of all nations, by which the new influences now proceeding from the Lord's kingdom may be more readily accepted. The means which have been adopted for the spread and perpetuation of the Word among all people, have been accompanied by new developments of religious thought; and nothing can be more plain than that these are tending to remove errors and prejudices from the Church, and to raise it into a condition of intellectual vigour which it has never before attained. Of this conclusion no one can be ignorant who has noted the facts, and who is capable of reading anything of "the signs of the times."
​But these new activities in religious thought have been attended by new discoveries in philosophy and science. The provisions which the Lord made for coming to His Church were not only intended to bring about a superior state of internal and spiritual knowledge respecting the Word, religion, and its laws, but they were also designed to develop a higher condition of external and useful knowledge respecting nature and her processes. The Lord certainly desires that we should live intelligently in connection with the things of this world, as well as in reference to that which is to come. He does not wish His rational creatures to remain in darkness concerning anything He has created for their use. Every object of the outer world has impressed upon it some evidences of Divine wisdom, and surely God is wishful that men should read and learn from it those lessons it was intended to convey. Such knowledges of nature are among the orderly things in the circumference of which true religion is the centre. The one could not be evolved until the other had been brought into existence; and therefore it is that the coming of the Lord, by the opening out of new influences on His Church, has been attended by the discovery of so many new things in philosophy and science. It is amazing to think of the large amount of new information concerning nature, her phenomena, and their application to the uses of mankind, which has been made known within the last century. Every one acknowledges that there is something extraordinary in these features of our time. There is scarcely any department of knowledge that has not been rendered brilliant by new discoveries. So numerous are they that it would not be easy to give even the merest outline of them, and at the same time point out the revolution which they have effected in the social condition of the civi​lized world. It will be enough to mention the steam engine and its application to railroads, navigation, and manufacture; analytical chemistry, and its application to the arts, laws of evidence, and agriculture; gas, and its uses in the illumination of our streets and homes; geology, and the revelations which it has made concerning the structure and antiquity of the earth; electricity and magnetism, by which the most distant nations of the world can hold instant communication with each other; improvements in the printing press, and the extraordinary development of elegant literature adapted to inform, refine, and elevate. These things are no less new and astonishing to our natural reflection than are the new sentiments of religious truth now being presented for our acceptance. Each is the result of the same Divine Providence, though acting upon different planes of the human mind. Hence they have been contemporary in their marvellous displays, the one being intended to ameliorate our condition as dwellers upon earth, and the other to advance our spiritual preparation for admission into heaven. There is an intimate connection between them; and therefore it is that the philosophy of the world is advancing when the spiritualities of the Church are being unfolded. He who originated the one is the Author of the other, and it was only when heaven obtained a freer access to men on earth that these results came to pass.
True religion is intended to be the central life with men in the world; when it declines, morality recedes, intelligence withdraws, philosophy retires, and science decays. And how clearly is all this illustrated by the state of religion as it existed in Europe a little more than a century ago! True religion being nearly dead, all those things were wanting in proper vitality. But since then, a deeper ​and more rational sense of spiritual religion has been unfolded; and this, as a centre, has induced the production of new things in the circumference; for the Divine light, which is the Divine truth, diffuses itself around, reducing all things to order, and out of that order it evolves new activities of use in the world. The existence of those activities, and the advantages which have and are still resulting from them, clearly prove to our minds that we are living in a new age, the marvellous improvements of which have caused it to become a proverb in the history of the world. To what can these achievements be attributed? To say that they have sprung out of the activity of the human mind does not, as we have said, meet the question, because we shall still have to ask, How did that activity originate? How did it happen that no such activity was displayed in the preceding century? And how has it come to pass that this activity has been so largely developed, almost within the memory of living men? These questions can only be answered by admitting the fact that the mind has been acted upon by an influence extraneous to itself. And the primal cause of all the advantages to which we have adverted must be referred to Him from whom all goodness comes. They can only be intelligently accounted for by regarding them as the outpourings of a wise and benevolent spirit upon mankind, and thus as effects resulting from the fulfilment of the Lord's promise to come again. Those marvellous effects are to the age of His second coming what His miracles were to the time of hs first advent. The latter were outer wonders—wonders to the senses; the former are inner wonders—wonders to the intellect. They have all come into being within the period to which we assign the second coming of the Lord, and that event was publicly declared to the world before any of those ​external evidences could be referred to as a proof of it. We have no doubt that they are the real effects of that phenonemon, and that the world, in due time, will be led to see and to acknowledge it.
Here then we close our remarks on these points, earnestly recommending what has been said to the serious notice of the reader. He cannot doubt that he is living in a remarkable period of Christian history; he sees that old things are being broken up and that all things are becoming new. Such events prove most decisively to our minds that there is present in the world an activity of the Divine Providence before unknown; this we take to be among the evidences in proof that now is the time of the second coming of the Lord: and to what other adequate cause can they be reasonably ascribed? We feel that in urging attention to this view of the subject, we are doing something to assist in promoting that better understanding of the Word by which piety, truth, and goodness will be seen as the inseparable handmaids of a pure, precious, and imperishable religion—a religion which demonstrates that men are to love God by an increasing endeavour to add something to the wisdom and happiness of each other.
* ↑ There are some among us who are looking for the speedy coming of Christ. They expect, before another year closes, to see Him in clouds, to hear His voice, to stand before His judgment-seat. These illusions spring from misinterpretation of Scripture language. Christ, in the New Testament, is said to come whenever His religion breaks out in new glory, or gains new triumphs. He came in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He came in the destruction of Jerusalem, by which He subverted the whole ritual law, and, branking the power of the worst enemies of His religion, ensured Him new victories. He came in the Reformation and in Protestantism. He came this day four years ago, when, throngh His religion, 800,000 men were raised from the lowest degradation to the rights and dignity and fellowship of men. Christ's outward appearance is of little moment compared with the higher manifestations of His Spirit."—Address by Dr. Channing, delivered at Lenox, Massachusetts, on August 1st, 1842, the anniversary of Negro Emancipation in the British West Indies.
* ↑ John xiv. 3.
* ↑ Matt. xxiv. 30.
* ↑ A large part of the Christian world is of opinion that the second coming of the Lord is still to be looked for. It appears that in former times this belief was more vivid than it is now; before the year 1000, men were eagerly expecting it when that year should begin. In Michelet's "History of France," it is recorded how the whole Christian world looked with awe and terrible expectation to that time. The churches were everywhere crowded, and the business of life was almost at a standstill; while mankind waited, as the population of a city threatened by an earthquake wait, for the sounding of the archangel's trumpet; but that day of terrible anxiety passed away, and is now forgotten by all but the students of antiquity. Mosheim corroborates this view. He says, "All Europe was alarmed with the dismal apprehension that the day of judgment was at hand and the world approaching to its final dissolution; for, among other effects of this panic terror, the churches and monasteries were suffered to fall into ruin, or at least to remain without repair, from the notion that they would soon be involved in the general fate of all sublunary things."—Eccles. Hist., Cent, xi., chap, iv., sec, iii. Since that period, a year has scarcely passed without some persons announcing the end of the present dispensation; but belief in their prediction grows weaker and weaker, and now such announcements excite but little alarm. The time is passing away in which such misinterpretations of the prophecy can be accepted.
* ↑ Ps. 1. 3, 4.
* ↑ Rev. xix. 11.
* ↑ Matt. xxiv. 21.
* ↑ Matt. xvii. 9.
* ↑ Luke xxiv. 31.
* ↑ Acts i. 6-11.
* ↑ Mark xvi. 20.
* ↑ Luke xvii. 30.
* ↑ Isa. xi. 9.
* ↑ Ps. civ. 24.
* ↑ Ps. cxix. 64.
* ↑ Ps. xcvii. 1.
* ↑ Ps. lxviii. 4.
* ↑ Ps. civ. 3.
* ↑ Ps. lvii. 10.
* ↑ Isa. xix. 1.
* ↑ Ps. xxxvi. 5.
* ↑ Ps. xcvii. 2. The Lord is said to be "love," and to be "angry;" to "repent," and "not to repent;" to have "vengeance," and that "fury is not in Him;" and so the truth is, as it were, enveloped in a cloud, which can only be cleared away by the declaration, "With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with the upright man Thou wilt show thyself upright; with the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward" (Ps. xviii. 25, 26).
* ↑ Ps. lxviii. 34.
* ↑ Isa. iv. 5.
* ↑ Luke ix. 33-85; Acts i. 9.
* ↑ Matt. xxvi. 63, 64.
* ↑ Dan. vii. 13.
* ↑ Rev. xiv. 14.
* ↑ Rev. i. 7.
* ↑ John xix. 34, "One of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side."
* ↑ The Freeman, a newspaper published in the interests of the Baptists, in reviewing, August 19th, 1863, Dr. Vaughan's "Lectures on the Revelation of St. John," says, "We would fain linger on our author's beautiful exposition of the Millennium in Chapter XX., proving, as we think, irrefragably that 'the period that is now is the period of the reign of Christ.'" We submit that as the reign of Christ is truly existent here and now, notwithstanding human imperfection, so the "holy city" may, in like manner, be said to have already come down from heaven to earth.
* ↑ John xv. 5.
* ↑ John i. 9.
* ↑ John iii. 27.
* ↑ Jas. 1. 17.
* ↑ "Out of five hundred journals, only fifty take side with the pope."—Public papers.
* ↑ Since the above was written, the power of Catholicism in Italy, its grand home, has received a great shock. The liberty in spiritual, and thence in natural things, which is everywhere springing into vigour, is causing itself to be felt upon the Italian peninsula in a way most alarming to the priesthood. The rise of a new kingdom is threatening the political authority of the Church, and Catholicism is to stand as much apart from the State in Italy as Dissenters do from the State in England. Baron Ricasoli, the Minister of the Interior, addressed a letter to the Italian bishops on the subject, in which he says,—"The government desires, not less than yourselves, that Italy should enjoy the magnificent and imposing religious spectacle of which the free citizens of the United States of America pride themselves in the council of Baltimore, where religious doctrines are freely discussed, and whose decisions, approved by the pope, will be proclaimed and observed in each city and village, clothed with spiritual sanction, without exequatur or placite. I beg you, however, well to consider that this admirable spectacle is really the production of liberty, a liberty professed and respected by all in principle, and in fact in its largest application to civil, political, and social life. The intention of the Italian government is, as far as in it lies, to prove that it has faith in liberty, and that it desires to apply it as fully as is consistent with the interests of public order. It therefore tells the bishops to return to their ministries, from which they were removed precisely on account of those very considerations of public order. It imposes no other condition than that which is incumbent on every citizen who desires to live peaceably—to confine himself to his own duties, and to observe the law. The State will provide that no one shall be molested nor impeded in the discharge of his duties, but he must not demand privileges if he does not desire bonds, the principle of every free state—that the law is equal to all, admitting of no distinction of any kind." This, from a great Catholic government in the very heart of the Catholic Church, reveals the diminution of its power, and shows that it is undergoing changes little dreamt of a century ago.
* ↑ Since the above sentence was written, America has abolished slavery, though at the cost of an immense amount of blood and treasure.
* ↑ "March the 5th, 1861, was a memorable day in Russia. On that day was read the proclamation of liberty, which tore asunder from twenty-three millions the bonds of ages, and 'let the oppressed co free.' From the steps of the high altar in Isaac's Church, Petersburgh, before assembled thousands was this decree of liberty read by the priests. The reading lasted half an hour, while not a rustle, nor a cough, nor a moving of a boot-heel even on the marble pavement of the church broke the silence. The decree concluded with the words, 'Sign thyself, O Christian native, with the sign of the cross; and, together with us, call for the blessing of God upon thy free labour.'"—Anti-Slavery Reporter, March 1st, 1864.
* ↑ 2 Cor iii. 17.