Q. 4. Is the Millennium the time in which Christ, with those of the first resurrection, will reign on the earth? A. It is. By this is not to be understood, that Christ will personally appear and reign on the earth; for this would be to divest Himself of His celestial glory, and become like man in his unglorified state; as man, in his present condition of existence, could not behold Him, nor have intercourse with Him, in His heavenly effulgence. His present glorified nature renders it wholly improbable, that He should personally appear and reign on the earth. Christ's reign on the earth will be spiritual. He will, most emphatically, reign in the hearts and lives of men by His Spirit for a thousand years. The first resurrection, also, will be spiritual. There will be a revival of the prosperity, reign, and triumph of the cause of religion in those who live on the earth. The Christians of that day will have the spirit of the martyrs and confessors of ancient time, as John had the spirit of Elias.(c) shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. -Eph. iv. 5, 13, 15. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him, in all things, which is the head, even Christ.-Is. xxv. 6. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.-Is. Iv. 12. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.Zech. viii. 12. For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.-Is. xxxiii. 24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.Is. xxx. 23. Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous; in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.-Gen. ix. 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said See to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. reference a. (c) Rev. xx. 4-6. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead Q. 5. Will all Christians in the Millennium be perfectly holy, or arrive at sinless perfection? A. They will not. It will be as true then, as now, that no man liveth and sinneth not; though sin will not greatly abound. (d) Q. 6. Will children in this time be born depraved, as they now are? A. They will. It is agreeable to Divine constitution, that all the human race should partake of the nature of fallen man.(e) Will there be any pain and sorrow in the Mil Q. 7. lennial days? A. There will. All will have more or less tribulation. It is incompatible with the state of probation, that men should be free from troubles and distresses.(ƒ) Q. 8. Will there be any need of a preached Gospel, and the administration of the sacraments in the Millennium? A. There will. A preached gospel will then, as now, be the usual means of the conversion and sanctification of the hearts of men. Baptism will then be, as it now is, an ordinance of initiation into the Church, as the Lord's Supper is to be observed till Christ's second appearance -till He comes in judgment.(g) Q. 9. When will the Millennium commence? A. Whenever the means of grace are enjoyed and rendered effectual throughout the world. The particular day or year cannot, perhaps, be ascertained. Probably it will begin before the seventh thousand years of the lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. is flesh; and that Who can bring a (d) Ec. vii. 20. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not. (e) John iii. 6. That which is born of the flesh which is born of the Spirit is spirit.—Job xiv. 4. clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. (f) Job xiv. 1. Man that is born of a woman is full of trouble. of few days, and (g) Matt. xxviii. 19. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, bap tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.-1 Cor. xi. 26. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. world commence. The prophecies of Daniel and of John the Divine, lead to this conclusion. According to these predictions, the Church is to be oppressed by Papal superstition and Mohamedan delusion 1260 years. These are to commence, continue, and close together. The Papal superstition, most probably, commenced in 606, when Phocas constituted the Bishop of Rome universal Bishop, and Mohamed began his infamous reign the same year. Add 1260 to 606 and it makes 1866, the probable time for the commencement of the release of the Church, and of the destruction of her enemies. About this time the Jews and Gentiles will be converted, and unite together in one body under Christ, their spiritual head. Then will commence the latter day glory of the Church— the season of Millennial blessedness. This is agreeable to the opinion of the most able and learned modern writers on the prophecies.(h) Q. 10. How long will the Millennium continue? A. Most probably 1000 years literally. Some, however, have thought that it will continue 1000 prophetical years, which, a day being put for a year, and reckoning 360 days in a year, would make 360,000 years. Q. 11. How is the Millennium to be introduced? (h) Dan. vii. 25. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times, and the dividing of time, that is, three years and a half, or forty-two months, which, reckoning thirty days to a month, (and this is according to prophetical computation,) make twelve hundred and sixty days, which prophetical days make twelve hundred and sixty years. Rev. xi. 12. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.-Ezek. xxxvi. 24, 28. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land; and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.-Is. xi. 12. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.-Luke xxi. 24. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.-Rom. xi. 25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should be wise in your own conceit,) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until he fulness of the Gentiles be come in. A. By the instrumentality of human means, accompanied with the blessing of Heaven. Q. 12. How ought the benevolent exertions of the present day to be viewed in relation to this subject? A. They ought to be viewed as an indication of good. The Bible, Education, Missionary, Sabbath School, and Tract Societies, will no doubt, be greatly instrumental in advancing the Millennial day. Q. 13. What will immediately follow upon the close of the Millennium? A. Satan will then be loosed a little while, probably as long a time before the close of the seventh thousand years, as the Millennium commences before the close of the sixth thousand.(i) Q. 14. What is meant in Scripture by binding and loosing Satan? A. They are figurative modes of expression, denoting, in the one case, the restraints under which he is laid by God, and, in the other case, the permission or liberty, granted him by God, to tempt and afflict mankind. Q. 15. What will take place at the end of the seven thousand years? A. The world will come to a solemn close, and be burnt up; Christ will be revealed from heaven in great power and glory, and sit in judgment upon angels and men, and award retribution for eternity. These awful and glorious events will conclude all the scenes of this world.(j) (i) Rev. xx. 7, 8. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. (j) 2 Pet. iii. 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a loud noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.-2 Thes. i. 7-10. And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. |
