Jesus Is Coming Again
Chapter 10
The Church and the Millennial Kingdom.
The second point is: The distinction between the Church
and the Millennial Kingdom.
The Christian Church (ekkleesia) , meaning
assembly or congregation, is distinct from the congregation of the Mosaic dispensation, or Church in the wilder-
ness. For, until after Christ came, it was a thing of the
future. This is proved by His assertion in Mat. 16 :18,
"On this rock will I build my Church," showing that it
had not yet been built.
And, it is likewise distinct from the Millennial Kingdom, which is to follow it.
The Church is a companion of Christ in His humiliation, manifesting His sufferings and filling up the afflictions which are behind.
The Kingdom is the manifestation of the glory of Christ
which shall follow, when He "shall sit in the throne of
His glory," and when they who have suffered with Him
during this time of the trial shall also be exalted to regal
power and authority. This Kingdom was at hand, that
is, it came nigh (or approached, same Greek word),
when Jesus, the King, came. So much so, that the three
favored disciples witnessed a foretaste of its glory and
power on the Mount of Transfiguration.
It was in the future when the thief cried, "Lord remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom." Luke
23 :42. Joseph of Arimathea, who laid Jesus' body in the
sepulchre, "waited for the Kingdom of God," which also
indicates that it was still in the future. Mark 15 :43.
It was still future when Paul exhorted the disciples to
continue in the faith, and said "that we must through
much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God." Acts
14 :22. It was in the future while the persecuted Thessalonians suffered, that they might "be counted worthy of the
Kingdom of God." 2 Thes. 1 :4-5.
It was most assuredly future when, years afterward,
Peter gave his exhortations as follows: "Wherefore the
rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
election sure; for if ye do these things ye shall never fall.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." ,2 Pet. 1 :10-11. And it has been future during all the long, sad history of the faithful and
godly Church, while she has suffered the terrible persecutions of fagot, inquisition, banishment, ridicule and false
accusation.
And it will be future until Jesus, "having received the
Kingdom," shall return to recompense tribulation to
But the Jews rejected it and slew their King. They
were not willing to have this man reign over them, and
therefore the Kingdom did not "immediately appear." It
became like a nobleman which "went into a far country, to
receive for himself a kingdom and to return." See Luke
19 :11-27. By this parable Jesus distinctly taught that
the Kingdom was in the future.
The Kingdom Still Future.
It was in the future when Christ said: "I say unto
you, I will not any more eat thereof (the passover) until
it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God," and again, "For I
say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine
until the Kingdom of God shall come." Luke 22 :16-18;
also Mat. 26 :29; Mark 14 :25.
those who have troubled the Church11 and "sit in the
throne of His gIory."
Then the Kingdom, which, for these centuries, has been
hid in mystery; shall be manifested in power and glory.
Then shall "the kingdom of the world become our Lord's
and His Christ's," and then shall the Kingdom be given
unto the Saints of the Most High.18 Therefore we pray,
as Jesus taught us,
"Thy Kingdom Come."
The Church militant, which was begun on the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2) ends at the Rapture, before the Tribulation.
The Kingdom begins with the Revelation, at the close
of the Tribulation.
It is the personal reign of Christ on earth.
He was prophesied to be king of the Jews. Isa. 9 :6.
He was born King of the Jews. Mat. 2 :2.
He said he was the King of the Jews. Mat. 27 :11.
He was crucified as King of the Jews. Mat. 27 :37.
He came preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, saying,
"The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand."
Mark 1:14-15.
He said the Kingdom was among them. Luke 17:21,'
margin.
He came unto His own, but His own received Him not.
John 1 :11.
He would have set up the Kingdom (Mat. 23:37-39),
but they rejected and crucified Him.
However, God raised Him from the dead and set Him
on high.
He sent the Holy Ghost into the world, and under His
power and guidance the apostles went out preaching the
good news of the Kingdom (Acts 2, etc.) to the Jews
first, but they rejected it, and the disciples turned to the
Gentiles. Thus the Kingdom came nigh unto the Jews,
who spurned it, and while it waits God visits "the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name" (Acts
15:14), breaking down the middle wall of partition to
make of twain (all Jews and Gentiles who believe in His
name) one new man, that is, the Church, or Mystical
Body of Christ.
*This we believe Is the true explanation of this subject.
The Kingdom did come "nigh" when Christ came, and had
they received Him, it would have been manifested, but now
it is In abeyance, or waiting until He comes again.
However the Greek word engizo, which is translated at hand in Mat. 3:2; 4:17: 10:7, and Is come nigh in
Luke 10:9-11, does not necessarily mean Immediately near.
For we find the same word used In Rom. 13:12: "The day
Is at hand," and in Heb. 10:25, ''as ye see the day approaching" and In James 5:8, "The coming of the Lord draweth
nigh," and in 1 Pet. 4:7, "the end of all things Is at hand,"
each of which passages are yet unfulfilled.
So we see that the word englzo (is at hand) covers a
period of more than 1800 years, and reaches unto the second
coming of the Lord.
The Mystery.
Thus the Church came in as a mystery, and was but
rarely, if at all, spoken of in the Old Testament prophecies. For we read in Rom. 16:25 that it is a "mystery,
which was kept secret since the world began," and in Eph.
3 :3-6, "The mystery. . . which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men," and in Col. 1 :24-
27 . . . "Even the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations, but now is made manifest
. . . the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles."
It was this mystery of the Church which so puzzled the
prophets and caused them to inquire and search diligently
what the Spirit meant when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ. See 1 Pet. 1 :10-12. They could understand the glory of the Kingdom, which should follow,
but could not understand the mystery, which has been revealed unto us, and which interested the angels; to-wit, a
suffering Messiah and a persecuted Church.
The Church is to be the Bride of Christ, which He is
going to present unto Himself. Eph. 5 :23-32.
But now she is a Virgin of sorrow and affliction, a companion in suffering with her espoused Husband-the Lord
Jesus Christ.
He said: "Because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you," and "if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:19-20), and "in the world ye shall
have tribulation" (John 16 :36), and the apostle says,
"yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution." 2 Tim. 3:12. See also John 17:14; 1 Thes.
3 :3. And this is perfectly consistent. For this world
bas murdered the Son of God, and is guilty of His blood,
but the Father bears this insult to His matchless love and
grace, patiently staying the day of vengeance, being long
suffering and not willing that any should perish.
If He thus bears with the murderers of His Son, will
He not bear with the persecutors of His Church?
And this persecution will continue until Jesus comes
and takes the Church away, and saves her from the
great hour of temptation (or trial), which shall come upon
all the world, when He shall recompense tribulation to
them that have troubled her. And this spirit of rebellion
and persecution will continue, even through the tribulation and up to the very day of the Lord, when Christ
shall be revealed in flaming fire, with His Saints, to
execute judgment upon the earth. So we see that there
is no place in the whole earthly history of such a persecuted Church, for the Millennial Kingdom. For, in that
time, "righteousness and peace" shall kiss each other,
"truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall
look out of heaven."
"A King shall reign in righteousness, and Princes shall
rule in judgment." Isa. 32:1. With righteousness shall
He judge the poor. Judah and Israel shall be restored
and dwell safely. There shall be no harm nor destruction
in all God's holy mountain, and even the animals" shall be
at peace.
Again, from all of these passages, and especially Isa. 60,
we see that restored Israel and Jerusalem are to be the
very central glory of the Millennial Kingdom. But God
does not restore Israel and rebuild Zion, or Jerusalem,
until He appears in His glory.
"When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear
in His glory." Psa. 102 :16. And He does not build up
Zion or the tabernacle of David until He has taken out
the Church.
Thus we see a clear distinction between the suffering
Church and the glorious Kingdom, which are separated by
the Tribulation, to-wit:
The Church Shall Be Rewarded.
But, do you ask: "Is the Church always to suffer and
be persecuted?"
Surely not. For she shall yet be married. And the
light affliction shall work out a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory in the things which are not (yet)
seen, and the church shall be counted worthy of the
Kingdom of God for which she suffers, when the Lord
Jesus is revealed from heaven. Therefore we glory in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
and patience, experience; and experience, hope. Rom.
5 :3-4. And when Christ, who is our hope (1 Tim. 1 :1)
and our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with
Him in glory. If we suffer with Him we shall also reign
with Him. We shall reign on the earth. Rev. 5:10.
Hence we conclude that the Church shall be recompensed
in reigning, with Christ, over the Millennial Kingdom.
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom." Lu. 12 :32; Dan. 7 :18-22-27.
O! then, let us pray as Jesus taught us: "Thy kingdom.'
come."
Nominal Christians.
But, do you say, "The Church is not persecuted, and
does, even now, enjoy comparative peace?"
We answer, it is because the professing Church (and
by this we include Roman Catholics, Greeks and all nominal Christians-in all perhaps 400,000,000) has conformed
so largely to the world that the world has little, if any,
controversy with her.
Of what avail to God are nominal, cold-hearted, world-conforming Christians' He wants a separate and holy
people, and the command is, "Come out and be ye separate." 2 Cor. 6 :14-18.
We believe that the birds of the air and the leaven in
the parables of Mat. 13 represent the children of the
wicked one, or hypocrites, which have lodged in the Church
and the false doctrines which have crept in and so pervaded the professing Church that it has, in the main, become merely formal and nominal.
God wants zealous Christians, in whom the Word of
Life shall burn as it did in Jeremiah's bones. And are
not the number of these few, even today?
The professing Church is luke-warm, and, we fear, almost ready to be spued out of the Master's mouth. But,
thanks be unto His name, there are those who are rebuked
and chastened, and who are buying gold and white raiment
and anointing their eyes that they may see, and who will
overcome and sit down with Christ in His throne. Rev.
3:14-22.
The True Church.
There is truly a Church, and it is THE BODY OF
CHRIST , one and indivisible, composed of all true believers in Him. It may be called a church within, or
among the churches-the wheat among the chaff. And let
us remember that this true Church of Christ is appointed
unto affliction, and that the intervals of rest (Acts 9 :31)
only strengthen her to endure new and varied forms of
persecution. This has been her history, and we may expect it will be her future, amid the scoffers, evil men and
seducers of the last times.
And yet it is her blessed privilege, in all her affliction,
to know that she travails in the birth of souls,44 which are
born from above by the Holy Ghost (John 3), and that
the gospel (good news) of the Kingdom, which she preaches
is the power of God unto salvation unto all who believe.
The Bride of Christ.
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church,
not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that
it should be holy and without blemish."
In this precious passage (Eph. 5) the Church, as the
Bride of Christ, is typified by the most intimate, tender
and sacred relationship known among the children of men.
Abraham's servant went into a far country (Gen. 24)
to seek a bride for Isaac, who was the honored type of
Christ as a sacrifice. Gen. 22. So has the Holy Spirit
come into the world to seek a Bride for Jesus. The servant said, "Hinder me not." So the Holy Ghost is striving with the world, and pleading with cold-hearted professors, that He may hasten the presentation of the bride
to the Bridegroom. See Mat. 22 :2-10.
Rebekah said, "I will go." So the Bride should be
yearning to go. God has made the wedding and prepared
the feast, and all things (except the Bride) are ready for
the rapturous meeting, and blessed are they who are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Rev. 19 :9.
0h that the Church would work a hundredfold more
earnestly for the conversion of souls and the edifying of
the body of Christ, that the bride might be complete, and
thus hasten the coming of her Lord, ever listening to
catch the midnight cry: "Behold the Bridegroom cometh!"
and "so be ready to go out to meet Him." Mat. 25 :6.
"O! I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved Is mine;
He brings a poor vile sinner Into His 'house of wine.'
I stand upon His merlt-I know no safer stand,
Not e'en where glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.
The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear Bridegroom's
face; I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of Grace;
Not at the crown He giveth, but on His pierced hand -
The Lamb Is all the glory of Immanuel's land."
