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ward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." When our Lord foretold his coming to destroy the Jews, he said, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of the Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom;" Matt. xvi. 27, 28. It seems difficult to entertain a doubt that the Lord refers to the same coming in the Apocalypse, (for the words are represented as coming from the mouth of Jesus,) which Matthew here describes. The event was nearer when the Apocalypse was written than when our Lord was on earth. The language in the Apocalypse, therefore, differs so much from that given by Matthew as the event was nearer when the revelator wrote. In addition to the quotations from Matthew, see Mark viii. 38, and ix. 1; Luke ix. 26, 27; and John xxi. 21, 22.

If we examine the epistles, we shall find a language somewhat different from that of our Lord, because the event of his coming was much nearer than when he spoke. Jesus said it shall come in this generation; James said, "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh ;” v. 8. The writer to the Hebrews said to his brethren, "Ye see the day approaching." Peter, who wrote his 2d Epistle still later, bears testimony that his brethren were "looking for and hasting unto the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;" iii. 12. This was the passing away of the old heaven and earth, to give place to the new heaven and new earth, which John saw, as it were, coming down from God out of heaven. Some became tired in waiting for the coming of Christ, and the scoffers said, "Where is the promise of his coming?" The apostles found it necessary, therefore, to exhort Christians to patience. "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the

earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh;" James v. 7, 8. The time of the coming of the Lord is also represented as the end of the world, or age; 1 Cor. x. 11. “The end of all things ;” 1 Pet. iv. 7. To this the revelator agrees; for if we follow him carefully, we shall find, that after he has described, in his peculiar manner, what we take to be the wonders and signs that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, and as he approaches the great catastrophe of the Jews, he introduces a mighty angel, bearing the marks of the Son of man, who put one foot on the sea, and the other on the land, and lifting up his hand to heaven, swore by Him that liveth forever and ever, "that there should be time no longer ;" x. 6. Does not this exactly agree with the general language of the New Testament concerning the destruction of Jerusalem? Do we read of any other event in the New Testament to which this can so well apply? To what shall we apply it if not to that event?

Having thus looked at the time of Christ's coming at the destruction of the Jews, let us look, in the next place, at the circumstances attending it. With what pomp, with what circumstance, did the revelator describe the coming of Christ? We will listen: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him ;" i. 7. This is precisely as our Lord himself described his coming to overthrow the Jews. "And 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." Can we resist the conviction that the revelator spoke of the same event with our Lord? If the revelator's description does not refer to the coming of Christ at the destruction of Jerusalem, to what event does it refer? Observe, there are three points of

resemblance: 1st. Christ cometh in the clouds of heaven. 2d. Every eye shall see him. 3d. All the kindreds of the earth shall mourn because of him. All three of these facts are stated in both passages. It is demonstrated that our Lord referred in his description to his coming at the destruction of Jerusalem; for he adds, immediately, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." These words the revelator would not naturally have used, because the event was so near; but he supplies in the place of them the admonition, The time is at hand." We ask again, on the strength of this argument, was not the Apocalypse written before the destruction of Jerusalem ?

But there are other facts to be considered. Nothing is more plain than that Jesus foretold, that when his coming should take place, the kingdom of God should be fully established. "Verily 1 say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power;" Mark ix. 1. Luke's language is similar: " I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God;" ix. 27. All the New Testament writers looked forward to the establishment of the kingdom of God as near. They spoke of it in almost every form of phraseology. Now, if the revelator spake of that great event as being near at hand, it would seem to show conclusively that he wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem. In the eleventh chapter, in which the revelator brings up his description of the troubles of the Jews to their climax, he says, "The second woe is past; and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded, [the last of the series, for there was no eighth or ninth angel,] and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." And to this he adds, “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before

God, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned;" xi. 14-17. Is it not reasonable to suppose, that the revelator spoke of the same event to which our Lord referred? The kingdom of God came with power, when the kingdoms of this world became the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Are we not justified, then, in the conclusion that the Apocalypse was written previously to the destruction of Jerusalem ?

Turn we to another fact. Jesus promised his disciples that "In the regeneration, when the Son of man should sit on the throne of his glory, they also should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel ;" Matt. xix. 28. This metaphor of reigning with Christ is of frequent occurrence in the New Testament. "It is a faithful saying, For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him if we deny him, he also will deny us ;" 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12. Now, as to the point of Christians reigning with their Master, the revelator treats of it frequently. They reigned when he reigned; they came to power when he came to power. Jesus told them, when they saw the signs of his coming, to lift up their heads, for their redemption then would be nigh. What does the revelator say about this matter of reigning with Christ? "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne;" iii. 21. Hence the early Christians were said to be made "kings and priests unto God;" Rev. i. 6; and when they sung the new song, they said, "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth;" v. 9, 10. The Gospel reign began in its full power at the destruction of Jerusa lem; and the reference which we find in the Apocalypse to

throne,

Christians being exalted to reign with Christ, as a future event, proves that the destruction of Jerusalem was future when the book was written.

But we pass from this topic. There is another subject, bearing a close relation, which it will be proper to introduce here. Our Lord repeatedly stated, that, at the time of his coming, he should judge the nations of the earth. The time of his coming was preeminently a time of judgment. He foretold, that when the Son of man should come in his glory, he should sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him should be assembled all nations, and he should render to every man according to his works; Matt. xxv. 31, and xvi. 27, 28. Because the event was very near when St. James wrote, he said, " Behold the Judge standeth before the door;" v. 9. St. Paul said, that Jesus should "judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and kingdom;" 2 Tim, iv. 1; and St. Peter said, that men must give account to him "that is ready to judge the quick and the dead;" 1 Pet. iv. 5. There will be no dispute, then, that the judgment of the nations was to take place at the time of the coming of the Son of man at the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, it is very plainly to be seen, that the revelator spoke of the same judgment as transpiring in the course of the events that he described. At the sounding of the seventh angel, (as we have shown,) it was announced, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever;" and to this it is added, "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth." And then, as though the old temple were destroyed simultaneously with this judgment, the revelator adds, in the next words, "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in

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