shall not pass away till all shall be fulfilled;" meaning all those things which he had been specifying, and which we have been considering. If, by this generation, our Lord means the generation of men that shall actually be alive at that time, then it is evident, since we are part of that generation, that we also shall behold the advent of the Saviour's reign. Many interpreters, however, observing that the original word (yevɛa) rendered "generation," also means race, species, or nation, are of opinion, that this word must be applied to the Jewish nation or race; and that our Lord's meaning is, that, although Israel is to be dispersed among all nations, yet they shall not pass away, they shall not cease to exist, until the time when he himself shall found His empire on earth with power. Time alone will shew which of these two interpretations is correct. When the sacred writers speak of the coming of Christ, they make use of imagery, which suggests to us a thought very nearly approaching to the truth. "Ye yourselves know perfectly," says St. Paul (1 Thess. v. 2, 3)," that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." This language seems to indicate, that the joy of the reign of Christ which shall bring forth the whole human race to God as one man, is preceded by political and moral sorrows and subversions. These afflictions, preparatory to the reign of God, succeed, and will succeed, one another after certain intervals. Thus, an interval of fifteen years of peace succeeded that terrible subversion, which for a quarter of a century had shaken the whole world politic to its very centre. Perhaps the subversion, revolution, or commotion, call it what you will, which is now taking place in different parts of Europe, may be followed by a season of tranquillity, until the last visitation shall come, after which the Son of Man will appear with power and great glory. However this may be, we may, I think, conclude, that the reign of God our Saviour is not very far distant. The actual circumstances of the age in which we live are as sure a sign of its approach as the shooting of trees in spring is of the approach of summer. Such is the similitude employed by our Lord, in Luke xxi. 29-31: “Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees: when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when YE see these things come to pass, (namely, the things we have been considering,) know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." And thus we know that the reign or kingdom of God is now nigh at hand. II. But our second inquiry was, What will then take place? Our Lord says (Matt. xxiv. 30), "Then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." The application of these words, which many, most I believe, refer to the appearance of Christ for the last judgment, to his second advent, will perhaps surprise some persons; but if it can be shewn that an intervention of his power, much less great than that which will take place for the establishment of his reign among all the peoples and nations of the world is here intended by our Lord, as being an advent or coming of himself, their surprise, I trust, will be removed. Now, we all know that the ruin of Jerusalem is represented as an advent of Christ in many passages of Scripture; in Luke xxi., and especially in this part of our Lord's address to Peter, concerning John, AFTER his resurrection: " If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" (John xxi. 22.) John was the only Apostle who survived the destruction of Jerusalem. I presume not to enter into the nature of Christ's coming; but whatever that may be, we clearly cannot be surprised that our Lord, in order to convey an idea of the advent of his universal reign upon earth, here makes use of an expression, which he employed when he was speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, in a comparison doubtless less important. us, "With power And how will the advent of the Lord be? He tells and great glory:" with power against his enemies; with great glory in his people. Of the precise order in which his enemies will be destroyed, it were presumptuous to conjecture. Of those enemies there are three described. The first enemy whom the Lord will destroy by his great power, at the advent of his reign, will be the reign and false prophet of the impostor of the East (Rev. xvi. 12): The sixth angel has poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up." And have we not seen in our days the most formidable blows struck at Mohammedanism? Look at its tottering state in the East. See what the pacha of Egypt is doing, in opposition to all the prejudices of the Moslems. The progress of information, through the medium of the journal he has established, will contribute still further to shake the prejudices of the followers of the Arabian impostor. Then again, see what a shake to its very centre the Ottomon empire received in the recent war with Russia, and the dismemberment of Greece. It is true, there is much ignorance and superstition among the many thousands of nominal Christians who are under the Turkish sceptre; but what may we not expect, in addition to the political commotions- I had almost said subversion - from the increasing facilities given to faithful missionaries, to carry the pure Gospel of Christ into every country where Mohammedanism is prevalent. The second enemy whom the Lord will destroy at the advent of his reign, is that man of sin, the son of perdition (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4), as St. Paul terms him, who " opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God;" deciding in an infallible manner upon all truth: so that, Bellarmine tells us, if the pope decree vice to be virtue, and virtue vice, we are bound to believe it. Who further pretends, as God himself, to reign over the kings of the earth, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, rather miracles of falsehood (repara evĉaç) (2 Thess. ii. 9); “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe" (1 Tim. iv. 3). Need I add that this second enemy of all righteousness, is the papal antichrist? But hear the sentence which the Holy Spirit has denounced against him, after having described his rise and his reign: "The Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thess. ii. 8). Already, what formidable attacks have been made in our time against his political and usurped sphere of power. It is true, that the hurt of the beast was healed, at the peace of 1815, by the restoration of the bishop of Rome to those dominions which his predecessors had acquired by fraud, or by pretended donations; and there are (or at least there were not long since) at Rome, professing Protestant diplomatic ministers, who were of opinion, that this man of sin, as being the spiritual head of so large a portion of Christendom, ought, therefore, to be an independent prince: so that it is probable that the nominal reign of the Roman pontiff may be protracted a little longer. But, if we may credit the accounts which appear from time to time in the journals, his power is tottering to its very centre; and, were it not for the dread of Austrian bayonets, the popes, in all probability, would have been shorn of all their ill-gotten dominions. So much for the attacks on the political power of the man of sin. Now for his spiritual tyranny. Though Popery is increasing in some parts of North America, it is principally by the emigration thither of Romanists from Europe, and principally from Ireland and Scotland. It is also increasing most fearfully in various parts of England; through whose neglect or want of watchfulness, I presume not to say. But increasing it is; and I fully expect, that we shall have to fight over again the battles of the Reformation. But while Popery is flourishing in some parts of the world from peculiarly favourable circumstances, on the continent it is tottering. In Italy, almost every man of education is unhappily an infidel. He may, from dread of inquisition, externally conform; but internally he hates Christianity, which he confounds with the abominations of Popery. In Spain, Blanco White has told us how widely infidelity prevails; and his testimony is strikingly confirmed, by the involuntary testimony of an apostate to Romanism, M. de Haller, who, in his German work entitled "Spain and the Revolution," says, "Spain has always been a country where there have been numerous atheists." In Germany, numerous conversions have taken place from Popery to true religion; and the Romish clergy have made repeated reclamations against the constrained celibacy of their clergy: and of the general commotion that exists there, the treatise on Catholicism in Silesia contains numerous very important details. Then, for France, I scarcely need say how small a depth of root Popery has in the soil of that country. Infidelity, contempt of superstition, weariness of the yoke, or thirst for that truth which is still unknown, meet our view, according to the various minds of men. But, with the exception of such men as the Abbé de la Mennais and his adherents, who are zealous sticklers for Romanism, scarcely any where in France do we observe any attachment or veneration towards the corrupt system of Popery, or sincere faith in its doctrines, or obedience to the arbitrary observances imposed by it. These are some of the more prominent features among the various signs of the times, which lead me to think that the reign of the second enemy to Christ's universal and spiritual reign, the papal antichrist, is drawing to a close; and we know, from the sure word of prophecy, that it shall be destroyed,―utterly annihilated by the glorious spiritual advent of our Lord. "The kings of the earth," says the prophet and evangelist John," shall bewail her, and lament for her, standing afar off, and saying, Alas! alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come" (Rev. xviii. 9, 10). The third and last enemy which the Lord will destroy at the coming of his spiritual reign, is Infidelity; that anti-christian spirit which—under the names of neologism, rationalism, anti-supernaturalism, utilitarianism, or the new era of society, as the followers of Robert Owen term it is now dispersed, I might say is rampant, among all the nations which bear the name of Christ. "When the Son of Man cometh," says our Lord, "shall he find faith on the earth?" St. Peter (2 Ep. ii., iii.) and Jude have predicted the infidel antichrist at great length, and in terms too precise to allow us to hesitate a moment as to the application of their predictions. And how has this anti-christian infidelity spread through every rank of society, from the highest to the lowest! It has undermined society, and threatens the subversion of thrones and nations. Ultimately we know that this enemy shall be subdued; for Christ must reign till he hath put all enemies (and infidelity among them) under his feet. But, if the Lord, at the coming of his spiritual kingdom, will thus destroy all his enemies by his power, he will, on the other hand, establish his people with " great glory." The gradual, and now extensive diffusion of the Gospel, from the rising to the setting sun, from the northern to the southern pole-the multitudes which are going to and fro, and increasing the knowledge of the Lord-are all so many proofs of the fulfilment of those predictions which announce the ultimate triumph of the Redeemer's kingdom. I have already occupied so much space that I can only, for brevity's sake, refer my readers to the writings of the divinely-inspired Prophets, for a full display of the splendour of that spiritual reign of God which I consider is at hand. There are, however, two or three characters of that spiritual kingdom, which claim to be noticed first. In this reign of God, the knowledge of the truth shall be diffused over the whole habitable globe. "It shall come to pass," says Isaiah," in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established upon the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isa. ii. 2). "All flesh shall see the salvation of God;" "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord;" "All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him" (Psa. xxii. 27, 29). "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. xi. 9).-Secondly, It will further be a reign of universal righteousness and peace. "The wolf shall lie down with the lamb," &c. (Isa. xi. 6; lxv. 25.) "They shall break their swords into ploughshares, and neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. ii. 4; Micah iv. 3).Lastly, This spiritual advent of our Lord will, to all his believing people, be a reign of joy and glory. For thus saith Jehovah himself, when announcing this reign, "Behold I create new heavens and a new earth. Behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy" (Isa. lxv. 17, 18)," Behold I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the gentiles like a flowing stream" (lxvi. 12). Jesus SHALL reign, where'er the sun Even so come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly. H. ON THE INTERPRETATION OF JOHN XI. 25, 26. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. HAVING lately met with what appears to me an incorrect gloss on John xi. 25, 26, by a correspondent in your volume for 1829, p. 289, I do not hesitate, though at this distance of time, to state the grounds on which I object to it, since every attempt to throw light on a text of such infinite importance, or to guard it from misinterpetation, deserves attention. The writer, J. M., is persuaded that the last clause, "whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die," is intended to refer "to those believers who shall be living on the earth when the Lord comes again." To this I object first, that no expression occurs in the whole dialogue which leads us to surmise that the peculiar case of those believers is here adverted to by our Lord; and that such wholly unauthorized additions furnish a dangerous precedent for interpolating, when it suits a preconceived theory: and, secondly, that the word wv is thus limited to the inferior meaning of the present natural life, while its correspondent terms in the same speech wn and noɛraι have the far nobler sense of a life enjoyed by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ. The reason assigned by your correspondent for his interpretation is, that if it be not allowed, "the last clause will express little or nothing more than is contained in the preceding." To me, the last clause appears to convey an invaluable addition; for it declares that the life into which believers shall enter at the resurrection shall never end. "I am the resurrection and the life," saith our Lord. In and through me is the resurrection, and that life inseparably connected with it, of which the resurrection is the commencement. The believer in me, though he die, shall enter into it; and every believer in me *, who does enter into it shall die no more through eternity.' Indeed, if Martha could have misapprehended wv as meaning our present mode of existence, it would have misled her to expect that her resuscitated brother would not again submit to the sentence passed on every child of Adam. Vitringa, in his pious and elaborate treatise on the "Temporal Death of Believers" (Obs. Sacr. lib. ii. c. 7, 8), strives to press this text into his argument; but I think unsuccessfully. He holds that the life here spoken of is spiritual life, in its most comprehensive sense; that living principle infused into the regenerate soul by the Holy Spirit, which gives to temporal death a character essentially different from its natural one. Scriptural as his doctrine is, I cannot bend this text to the support of it. For it requires that the word aro@avn, ver. 26, should be interpreted in the figurative sense of a spiritual death; while the same word in ver. 25 can only be understood of the literal, natural death. "He that believeth in me, though he undergo natural death, yet shall he live." Vitringa, therefore, is exposed to the same objection which I have urged against your correspondent, though with relation to a different word. Jones of Nayland does not hesitate to expound both vers. 25 and 26 of “that spiritual life which we now live” (vol. vii. p. 185). He must therefore interpret kaν aжоðaνη so as to harmonize with this meaning of Con and as representing the state of spiritual death. But, surely these words mean a definite event, not a state of mind. Νεκρός οντας is St. Paul's expression for an habit or state of death (Eph. ii. 1—5; Col. ii. 13). Both the discourse of our Lord with Martha, and the event which gave occasion to it, relate to death in its popular acceptation, from which the regeneration of the soul gives no exemption. I cannot satisfy myself that the dialogue contains any intimation of the impending miracle. But as this notion is opposed to a whole host of commentators, I propose it with diffidence. It appears to me to refer exclusively to a much higher matter-not to the miracle, which required neither preface nor illustration in order to explain or magnify it, and which, after all, was but a single exertion of Almighty power and beneficence. The general doctrine which Christ seizes this invaluable opportunity of illustrating and impressing is, that through Him the glories of the resurrection, of which the recal of Lazarus to life was but a faint shadow, are offered to, and may be enjoyed by, the whole human race. In answer to Martha's implied solicitation, Christ makes no promise of granting it; he points her faith to the future resurrection, in which every pious Jew reposed his hope. And she, in ver. 24, makes an explicit confession of this faith. Then, in the passage which I have been discussing, he declares that He himself is the great agent in the resurrection, and requires from her an equally explicit avowal of faith in Him as such, before he undertakes to perform this great miracle. She then most solemnly and fully confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah; and by necessary, though tacit, consequence, that she expects every good gift of God through Him alone. This is the whole which I read in the words of Scripture. I acknowledge, however, that at ver. 40, Jesus intimates that he had led Martha to hope for the immediate revival of her brother. But the gracious promise itself, which would naturally follow her confession of faith, appears to be omitted for the sake of brevity. The insertion of it would have given us no information which we do not now possess. A similar omission of a part of the conversation, occurs in the direction alluded to by Martha to call her sister (ver. 28), the insertion of which would have unnecessarily encumbered the narrative. T. B. "He who liveth and believeth in me" is an Hendiadys, a figure of which the Hebrews are fond; for example, Luke vi. 48, coxafe xxi ebatuve, "the living believer in me," the believer thus raised to life. |