1
Collected
Writings of J.N.
Darby
Prophetic 4
By John Nelson Darby
B&P
Bibles & Publications
5706 Monkland, Montréal, Québec H4A 1E6
BTP #nnnn
BibleTruthPublishers.com
59 Industrial Road, Addison, IL 60101, U.S.A.
BTP# 15236
3
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
4
Contents
Are ere Two Half-Weeks in the Apocalypse? ..............6
e Blessing of the Tribes by Jacob ...............................15
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s Second Coming: Is It Pre-
Millennial?” ...........................................................17
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the
Church ..................................................................92
Brief Analysis of the Book of Daniel ...........................114
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12” .125
Elements of Prophecy in Connection With the Church,
the Jews, and the Gentiles...................................149
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the
Jewish Remnant ..................................................168
Brief oughts on Revelation ......................................237
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ .................. 255
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ .................. 271
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ .................. 305
5
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ .................. 338
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ .................. 357
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ .................. 391
Short but Serious Examination of Principles in “Daniel
the Prophet” ........................................................432
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey
Given? ................................................................496
What Saints Will Be in the Tribulation? .....................528
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
6
62483
Are ere Two Half-Weeks in
the Apocalypse?
Dear Mr. Editor,
It has long been assumed that two half-weeks are
spoken of in the Apocalypse. In this I have for years myself
acquiesced, and I think rested on the contrast of the beast’s
overcoming the saints, and the witnesses destroying their
enemies, as conrming this assumption. I hardly know
how I was led some time back to call it in question; but
I have been: and I should be glad to present the point
as a question, in case you or your readers were given of
God to throw any light upon it. ough strongly calling
in question that two half-weeks are spoken of, my mind is
still quite open to conviction; and I have nothing whatever
to sustain in it, and desire only to know what the Spirit
of God has really meant to teach us in the word as to it. I
hardly know whether such a question enters into the object
of the “ Bible Treasury “; but it may elicit some light from
others as to the matter. I shall give a kind of exposition of
the subject from Scripture, considered from the point of
view I have spoken of.
Seventy weeks are determined on Daniel’s people and
his holy city, to complete the blessing and close their
eventful history-the display of divine government in the
earth. After seven and sixty-two weeks Messiah is cut o
and has nothing. ere are seven and sixty-two till Messiah
the Prince. His cutting o is indenite; only it is after the
sixty-two weeks. en the prince that comes establishes a
Are ere Two Half-Weeks in the Apocalypse?
7
covenant with the many (that is, the mass of the people).
Messiah’s relationship, on the contrary, had been with the
residue, though presented to all the people. en, in the
dividing of the week, he causes the sacrice and oblation to
cease; and then, because of the protection of abominations
(idols), there is a desolator. I give you Daniel as I understand
it.
No persecutions are here spoken of in the rst half-
week, nor indeed is any rst half-week spoken of. e
prince conrms the covenant one week, and the half-weeks
are marked by his change of conduct in the middle of the
week. In Dan. 7 we have, without any note of period, the
general characteristic of the beast-that he wears out the
heavenly saints, and in general makes war with the saints
till the Ancient of days comes. But the times and laws
(not the saints) are delivered into his hand for half a week,
i.e., for a time, times, and half a time. In Matt. 24 there is
general testimony, such as there was in Christ’s time-only
it reaches the Gentiles-till the last half-week, which begins
the abomination of desolations. is exclusive allusion to
the last half-week in Matt. 24 had often struck me. In Rev.
13 the beast is given power to act forty and two months.
He blasphemes God and them that dwell in heaven; and he
makes war with the saints (not “ those that dwell in heaven,
compare chapter 12: 12), and overcomes them. One would
surely, at rst sight, suppose that power to act forty-two
months hardly meant that he does so eighty-four.
us far, certainly, the last half-week seems to be noted.
e second beast acts in presence of the rst, who is the
beast with the deadly wound healed. Compare Rev. 17:8.
In this last chapter no date or period is given; it is the
description of the beast; but his existence is stated, and it
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
8
is as ascending out of the bottomless pit (he who kills the
witnesses in chapter 11) when all worship him save the
elect. e Gentiles (chap. 11:2) tread the city under foot
forty and two months-one would suppose therefore no
longer. It is true the temple and the altar are spared; but
I surely think that this applies to the destruction of true
condition of worship and true worshippers, not locality,
though in Jewish connection.
But if this be true of verse 2, verse 3 applies to the period
spoken of in verse 2. is would put the third woe (Rev.
10:7, when he sounds, as he is just about to do, I apprehend
is the sense), at the close. e casting down of Satan, the
ight of the woman, and the changing of times and laws,
would coincide as to epoch with the ascent of the beast out
of the bottomless pit. I have thus given a kind of statement
of the whole matter, sucient to present the question, “
Are there two half-weeks spoken of in the Apocalypse? “
I do not reason on it, nor reply to objections which might
suggest themselves. If my question draws out any remarks,
that will be the time to inquire into their justice.
A collateral subject suggests itself, on which I would
say a few words. ere are heavenly saints spoken of in
Dan. 7 Does this bring the church into the scene? It
implies, I think, nothing as to the church; rather, I think,
the contrary-makes its distinctive place more clear, though
the church be heavenly. We have, in Daniel, the saints
of heavenlies, as belonging to, and connected with, these
earthly questions, where there is not the smallest allusion
to the church, where all is connected with the beasts and
the true kingdom over the earth. Abraham was a heavenly
saint, though he saw Christ’s day and was glad. He looked
forward with joy to this, but was himself obliged to take it
Are ere Two Half-Weeks in the Apocalypse?
9
in another way. Such is the case supposed in the sermon
on the mount. “ e meek shall inherit the earth “; but the
reward of the persecuted will be great in heaven. So in the
Psalms, especially book 1 (Psa. 1-41), where even Christ
is shown the path of life (Psa. 16), so as to be in God’s
presence, and the saint (as Christ Himself) is satised (Psa.
17), waking up after Jehovah’s likeness. Yet the remnant are
promised earthly blessings very plainly and clearly. See Psa.
1; 37, whence the expression in Matt. 5 is drawn; so Psa.
34, and others, as Psa. 9; 10, and indeed also Psa. 8, show.
e passages, then, in Daniel, as others, point out clearly
a residue, who, connected with earthly things, and passing
through them, but puried by trials out of them, and led
to look up on high, have nally their portion there where
they have been taught to look. But, in general, I apprehend
their desire after heavenly things is more connected with
weariness of heart in conict while under the law-for
they are under the law-though no doubt they do in spirit
thereby dwell in heaven, for the enjoyment of which the
new nature renders them capable.
As to the church, remark that in Eph. 1 it is brought out
quite apart from the full blessing of individuals, developed
with such inexpressible beauty; rst, in their calling; then,
in the knowledge given them of the purpose of God to
gather together all in one, in Christ, and in the inheritance
obtained in Him. After that the apostle prays that they
may understand these two points of God’s calling and
inheritance in the saints. But then he adds another demand,
brought in addition, that they might know the exceeding
greatness of His power, which He wrought in Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead; and then rst brings in the
church as His body, the fullness of Him who lls all in all;
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
10
thus giving the church, which He had not before spoken
of, a peculiar place in union with Christ, as raised from the
dead (compare Col. 1:18),
1
and sitting at the right hand
of God. God gave Him, the raised Jesus, to be Head-over
all things-to the church, which is His body, the fullness of
Him who lleth all in all. It has no existence but united to
Him, and has its existence consequent on His exaltation.
Hence it is said we are “one body in Christ” (Rom. 12:5),
and still stronger, “ so also is Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12).
And here note that in Eph. 1 Christ is considered as
the exalted Man. e chapter speaks of His (God’s) mighty
power which He wrought in Christ. Christ is looked at as
man, and subjected to death, and raised again by another,
even God; that is, it is a Christ really living in time. When
the forming of the body on earth by the Holy Ghost is
spoken of, the word leads us to the same truth: “ By one
Spirit are we all baptized into one body,” 1 Cor. 12:13. ere
is (Eph. 4) “one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith,
one baptism.” I go on to “one baptism,” because it shows
that the apostle is speaking of those who are brought in by
the known death and resurrection of Christ. e testimony
of 1 Corinthians is beyond controversy; and while the
Ephesians shows individual privilege, in the highest way, as
relationship, position, and character, making the individual
the proper object of every ministration of the church,
the more the Scriptures are searched into, the more the
church-the assembly-will be seen to have a distinct and
1 e Colossians speaks only of the resurrection. is falls in
with another point observable in this epistle: life, or the new
nature, is referred to, rather than the Holy Ghost, as in the
Ephesians; for the presence of the Holy Ghost depends on
Christ’s exaltation. is dierence of the epistles, which I
cannot follow out here, is full of instruction.
Are ere Two Half-Weeks in the Apocalypse?
11
peculiar position, and to be a special and distinctive body.
Heb. 12 shows it very clearly. us, in the midst of the
general assembly of heaven,” to an innumerable company
of angels, the general assembly, and to the church of the
rstborn whose names are written in heaven.” It is really
forgotten that, unless the question of authorship be raised
on the last mentioned passage, in the apostolic writings
none ever speaks of” the church” but Paul.
I resume the points as to the half-weeks. Christ’s
connection with the rst half-week is left entirely vague.
Seventy weeks are determined on the city and the sanctuary
to bring in blessing.
en there are seven and sixty-two weeks till Messiah
the Prince. A week thus remains. But after the sixty-two
weeks Messiah is cut o and has nothing-after their
fulllment, but His time passes for nothing; it drops
through, as He is rejected. We can say that in His death He
laid the foundation of the new covenant, and that, in some
sort, during His life, He may be said to have been dealing
with the remnant in establishing a covenant associating
them on certain principles with Himself. I apprehend
what is called “ conrming a [not the] covenant “ means
forming it as on established principles of association. is
the prince does with the mass or the many. is prince
(not the Messiah) is alone said to do it, and in the dividing
of the week, which is referred to in connection with him
only, he subverts the whole order of Jewish worship, breaks
their apparent link with God, making sacrice and oering
cease. In Dan. 9 we have only the earthly historical view of
the matter.
But, at this epoch, Satan is cast down from heaven, the
blasphemous beast comes up out of the bottomless pit-he
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
12
whose deadly wound was healed. us, incontrovertibly,
the last half-week is the great subject of testimony: it alone
is referred to by the Lord; nor indeed is the rst referred to
as a half week when its existence is proved; Dan. 9:27. Of
course, as the prince changes his conduct in the dividing
of the week, there must have been a half-week before; but
the “ conrming “ is referred to the week in general. Satan’s
(to him, probably, unlooked for) rejection from heaven
changes the whole scene. He, as to the mass, sets aside the
public outward testimony to God. is would account for
the witnesses being raised up, as witnesses before the God
of the earth; because (Satan being become the Satan of
the earth then) God’s witness must be there where Satan’s
power is and refer to it, just as the church’s ought to the
heavenly now. e particular protection of the witnesses
accounts for their subsisting in spite of it. ey were as
Moses and Elias in reference to the power of evil.
In reply to the questions of your correspondent, “ J.M.,
etc.”, in the number for February, I remark: First, if the
seven vials are the details of what passes under the seventh
trumpet, the question is decided. But where is the proof of
this? I have always held chapter is as a distinct vision (“ I
saw another great sign in heaven “), chapters 12-14 to be
continuous, or rather to belong to one subject, giving the
origin and dierent aspects of the same series of events up
to the nal judgment executed at the coming of the Son of
man, and then chapter 15 to give another special course of
judicial events up to the destruction of Babylon, before the
coming of the Lord, which is only brought in subsequently
in chapter 19. is part of the diculty, therefore, falls
to the ground, for chapters 15-18 precede the last event
of chapter 14. e question whether chapters 15-18 are
Are ere Two Half-Weeks in the Apocalypse?
13
included in the last trumpet remains untouched, but at any
rate to be proved, and not, as yet, a proof of anything.
Next, it is assumed that chapter II: 7, the beast that
ascendeth out of the bottomless pit means “ who then
ascends out of the bottomless pit “; but of this there is no
proof. It is a characteristic, and not a date. Is it not rather to
be believed that he takes this character when Satan is cast
down from heaven, and has great rage, and that the dragon
then gives him his throne and great authority?
Further, your correspondent assumes too much when
he says on chapter 12: to, that heavenly celebration long
precedes earthly accomplishment, if he would use it as
proving that the announcement that the worldly kingdom
is come, may precede by three years and a half its coming.
e cause of the celebration in chapter 12: 1 o, which does
anticipate, I do not doubt, ulterior results, is given, and is
a present thing, and it is not said “ the kingdom of the
world,” etc. as in chapter 11: 15-a very notable dierence.
e cause is that after open war, Satan or the dragon is
cast down, and though there is an application to the state
of certain suering saints, the heavens only and their
inhabitants are called on to rejoice. To the earth and its
inhabitants woe is announced from the power of Satan.
Surely this is a dierent thing from Christ’s kingdom of
this world is come; though they might well say, “ Now is
come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God,
and the power of His Christ; for the accuser is cast down.”
For in truth the whole state of things was changed, and the
heavenly saints delivered, and power established in heaven,
in contrast with the meeting accusations.
ere remains only one diculty, that three days and a
half occur before God interposes in deliverance. e same
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
14
diculty presented itself to me long ago, on the other
scheme. For if the seventh trumpet be the beginning of the
last half-week, as it is alleged to be by the connection of
chapter 12: 10 with chapter 6: 15, then we have at least three
days and a half and something more from chapter 11: 14
(cometh quickly) intercalated between the end of the rst
half week and the beginning of the second. I hardly think
the fact that a short interval elapsed between the last act of
the beast and the public execution of judgment upon him
can make a substantial diculty. It may be the time of the
gathering of the armies when Christ is coming as a thief, or
the reaping of the earth before the vintage, neither of which
could be called the practicing of the beast. e diculty
seems to me to be less than intercalating something more
than three days and a half between the half-weeks. If
the three days and a half be put into the last half-week,
which would not be, in itself, I apprehend, a diculty, the
whole connection of chapter 11 with chapter 12 and the
explanation of chapter 12:10 and following verses falls to
the ground. Yet that we have, certainly, some denite half-
week in chapter 12 seems clear. I think the subject requires
a fuller investigation. I can only here answer the diculties
presented by “ J.M.”, which do not seem to me to result, as
yet, in the rejection of the thought that there is only one
half-week spoken of in the Apocalypse. e removal of an
objection is not a proof necessarily of the thing objected to.
For that I still wait with my mind entirely free.
Your aectionate brother in Christ,
J.N.D.
e Blessing of the Tribes by Jacob
15
62484
e Blessing of the Tribes by
Jacob
It seems to me that we have the whole moral history
of Israel, the purposes of God, and the accomplishment
of them in Christ as regards this people, in the blessing of
Jacob in Gen. 49 I can only briey set it forth here. First,
Israel as it was, and its moral failure in Reuben, Simeon, and
Levi. e universal characters of the development of sin are
given: corruption and violence; deling and instruments
of cruelty. God in the testimony of the Spirit rejects their
assembly. e violent passions are the latter form. e
beast is destroyed after Babylon. God’s purposes are in
Judah. e King, the Lawgiver, is there; the gathering of
the peoples is to be to Him. But we know when presented
to the responsibility of Israel He was rejected. ere was
no gathering of the peoples. e staves of Beauty and
Bands were broken-those by which the people were to
be gathered and the two divisions of Israel united in one
under one head. en, in Zebulun and Issachar, Israel is
presented as mixed up with the world, like Tire in Ezekiel,
and content to be subject to strangers for ease, as if they
were not God’s people at all. Dan is still, in spite of all,
owned, and represents Israel recognized as God’s portion
in spite of all, but at the same time points out the apostasy
and power of Satan in Israel. e remnant, taught of God,
look beyond the whole position of the people to God’s
own salvation, who cannot but be faithful to His word.
ereupon we have unmingled blessing, crowned with the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
16
heavenly and earthly glory of a rejected Christ-channel of
all the resources of God’s blessing to His people beyond all
previous knowledge of blessing. Israel had been overcome,
but overcomes at the last. Asher (not like Zebulun) has his
fatness in his own pastures, and royal dainties are there.
In Naphtali is joyful liberty-the liberty God has given,
and full of goodly words. en comes the crown of all-the
rejected one of his brethren sorely tried and shot at: Christ-
personally considered the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel
made strong by the power of God, exalted when rejected,
to be at the King’s right hand and Head over the Gentiles-
is the exhaustless source of every divine blessing with
which the heart of man can be made glad; all richly coming
from God are upon the crown of the head of Him who was
separated from His brethren. Such is Christ as rejected and
gloried, and the medium as partaking of heavenly glory
of all divinely given blessings which are to His glory who
was separated from His brethren. In Benjamin, nally, we
have the royal strength, a kingly power in Israel, and of the
people when Christ is returned as King amongst them, and
makes Judah His goodly horse in the day of battle, and lls
His bow with Ephraim. Such in general is the prospect of
which the outlines seem to me to be given in this prophecy.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
17
62494
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s
Second Coming: Is It
Pre-Millennial?”
I have, in the lectures delivered at Toronto, stated my
views at length as to the Lord’s coming, and the divine
purposes and plans in connection with that great event. I
do not repeat them here, merely summing up in a sentence
or two the whole scheme. But since I delivered those
lectures, Dr. Brown’s “ Second Advent “ has been put into
my hands as a kind of unanswerable text-book of those who
oppose Christ’s premillennial advent. My object therefore
here has been to show the utter untenableness of his views,
and unscriptural character of his arguments. I have been as
brief as possible, answering a book of nearly ve hundred
pages in a not very long tract, but I do not think I have
omitted anything very material. I have found diculties
greater than those he has alleged, and I believe have solved
them, and by a principle Dr. B. admits, so that I have not
gone into them in detail here. e direct proofs of Christ’s
second advent I believe to be irrefragable for one taught of
God-His advent to judge the world and bless it before the
end. I have not thought it necessary to follow Dr. B. in all
his comments on men’s views. It suced to take up those
of Scripture.
Two great subjects, after our personal salvation, ll up
Scripture-the government of the world; and the church,
the special fruit of sovereign grace. Prophecy treats of the
former, and, as Paul-who alone in the epistles speaks at all
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
18
of the church or even names it
2
-declares, never speaks at
all of the church. It was a mystery hid in God, could not be
revealed; for it was founded on the breaking down of the
middle wall of partition, on the maintenance of which the
Jewish system was founded.
Now the true pre-millennial view is that God’s purpose
is to gather together all things in heaven and earth under
one head, Christ. e church is the center after Christ of
the heavenly system, the Jews of the earthly. e church
is caught up, when He comes, to take her place with Him
there, as are all raised saints with her; and then He comes
with them to establish peace and blessing on the earth. For
the world (Greek-the habitable earth) to come-to come,
mark, after Christianity was set up in the world-is not
subjected to angels, but to man. We have a heavenly place,
nor does Christ give up His heavenly place because He
takes the earth to bless it. He holds both under His power-
only His agents are gloried saints, who certainly appear
with Him (Col. 3), and to whom He has given His glory,
that the world may know (not believe) that they are loved
as He was, proving distinctly the existence of the heavenly
visible glory of the saints while the world and men subsist-
not the angels, though these ever minister to His glory.
Such is the express testimony of Scripture. See Psa. 8, Heb.
2 He waits at the right hand of God till the time comes for
Him to take His power and reign. Psalm Ito and Hebrews
to). Such is the statement of Scripture. (See Eph. 1 and
Col. 1)
Now I agree with Dr. B. that this, while leaving orthodox
foundations where they are, changes the whole nature and
2 John speaks of a particular church; but elsewhere none but
Paul even employs the word.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
19
character of Christianity. Salvation remains the same, but
all the thoughts and relationship of the saved are dierent.
“ Pre-millennialism is no barren speculation-useless
though true, and innocuous though false. It is a school of
scripture interpretation; it impinges upon and aects some
of the most commanding points of the Christian faith,
and when suered to work its unimpeded way, it stops not
till it has pervaded with its own genius the entire system
of one’s theology, and the whole tone of his spiritual
character, constructing, I had almost said, a world of its
own; so that, holding the same faith and cherishing the
same fundamental hopes as other Christians, he yet sees
things through a medium of his own, and nds everything
instinct with the life which this doctrine has generated
within him,” p. 6.
3
is is thoroughly true, and shows how
necessary it is, in all grace and patience, to see where the
truth lies. Above all, Christ’s Person, and our being with
Him, acquires special importance in the heart of him who
holds it. e bride looks for the Bridegroom as a present
hope; Christ is coming again to receive us to Himself, not
to judge us, though we shall surely be manifested before
His “ Bema,” but already gloried; for we are raised in glory.
e post-millennial Christian may, nay must, love His
appearing as an abstract idea; but it is no present hope: he
looks to the gospel spreading and lling the whole earth (I
do not say desires-that abstractedly every saint would say
Amen to), and thinks it must be so. He can therefore love
the appearing though it has no practical reality for him,
but he could not say “ We which are alive and remain “ (the
remainers, the apostle putting himself in the class, without
3 e numbers enclosed thus denote the pages referred to in Dr.
B.’s book. New York Edition, Robert Carter, 1856.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
20
xing a day) “ unto the coming of the Lord.” He could not
place himself in such a class at all. He could not seek to be
kept without rebuke in service till the appearing, nor say of
the dead, as Paul in essalonians 4, ‘Weep not, he will be
brought with Jesus when He appears, for, raised or changed,
we are going to meet Him’ Such a comfort no saint thinks
of now. A present hope it cannot be. It is not that he cannot
morally love it (though the making the earth blessed by it
he does not believe); but he must look for it across at least a
thousand years, and hence (though not altogether with Dr.
B., yet given he speaks of a perfect analogy) we constantly
see death take the place, as an equivalent, of the Lord’s
coming-a thing unknown to Scripture, blessed as death is
for the saint.
But this catching up of the saints to meet the Lord in
the air and be forever with Him, and His appearing, and the
day of the Lord, are all confounded by these theologians.
ey all abide His appearing to be judged-a senseless thing
for those already centuries in heaven. en Dr. B. says the
Redeemer’s second appearing is the very pole star of the
church (p. 14). It is not so at all. It is His coming to receive
her to Himself, that where He is, she may be also. It is
expressly revealed that when He appears, she will appear
with Him. is mixture of hope with judgment leads him
to quote its terror for sinners as a part of this hope. Now
as no apostle speaks of the church, so no apostle speaks
of its rapture, but Paul. He was minister of the church to
complete the word of God. But he never confounds the
appearing with the rapture. Joy of grace belongs to this last;
all responsibility is referred to His appearing. e general
thought of His coming runs through all as gladness and
joy to saints. e class of texts which present a diculty
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
21
are those which speak in a general way of judgment. But,
as Dr. B. says, the church is seen as a whole from beginning
to end. is is true: and not only so; often the principle
of judgment, applied as it was to come on those then on
the earth, as 2 ess. 1, as the Lord says, “to receive for
himself a kingdom, and to return “
4
(the whole space now
of one thousand years being taken as no time because
the principle only was in question); this goes yet farther.
Judgment is spoken of morally without reference to time
or circumstances. “ He that confesseth me before men, him
will I confess before the angels of God.” It does not speak
of when. So judgment day is used as characteristic, not as a
point of time-” more tolerable for Sodom in judgment-day
than for that city.” It may be a point of time. In this case I
suppose it will, but it is not the point which is before the
Lord. e result of judgment is given, not the circumstances
of it.
Before treating of details, I would notice the way in which
traditional theology obscures the truth and complicates
men’s thoughts as to it. Christ is spoken of in Scripture
as Prophet, Priest, and King. Nothing can be simpler. But,
having got hold of these three ocial positions, everything
must come under them. Now these titles grow from Jewish
analogies, and the full gospel light is dropped by this. He is
King-king to save, they say, to give life, and the like.
All this is unscriptural. He was the great Prophet on
earth. He is Priest in heaven. He is in title, and will be in
fact, King of Israel, and over the nations. Scripture never
speaks of His being King of the church, nor of His saving
in the spiritual sense of salvation as king. e whole system
4 It is a mistake of Dr. B.’s to suppose Matt. 25 corresponds
with Luke 19. It certainly was at another time.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
22
of thought is narrow, and, if Scripture be simply received, it
is much simpler. He is Son of God, and gives life as such-
quickens whom He will. He has suered as Son of man,
and will be head over all things as such. He is Advocate
with the Father. He is Head of the body, the church, His
bride-the rstborn, too, among many brethren. I only
notice these as examples to point out the narrowness of
the system and the far greater simplicity and richness of
Scripture.
I proceed to my examination of Dr. B.’s proofs. e rst
question Dr. B. puts on this subject of judgment, which
I take rst as the only one having any diculty for my
reader, shows how tradition usurps the place of Scripture.
He inquires (p. 261), speaking of judging-ruling and
governing being admitted to be a scriptural sense of the
word, “ Are these the senses in which Christ will come
to judge at the great day? “ Now this is the traditional
assumption that the great day of judgment-the great white
throne-is the great day. Now the great day is never used in
Scripture for this-save in Jude as to the angels, which does
not apply to the judgment of men at all-but for a terrible
day on the earth; for Jacob’s trouble, Jeremiah 30: 7; the
day of Jezreel, Hos. 1:11; again, Joel 2: 11-31, quoted Acts
2:20, showing clearly it is on earth. ose who call on the
name of the Lord are saved in it (Zephaniah 1:14), where
it is unquestionably on the earth; Mal. 4:5, where smiting
the earth is in question. Does the New Testament help us
further? Jude 6: here we have the judgment of fallen angels,
as to which we have no further light in Scripture. e
expression is general. ere is not the smallest hint that it
is before the “ great white throne “; but the contrary. e
dead only appear there. As far as there is any intimation of
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
23
scripture, it is not there; for we read (1 Cor. 6) that we are
to judge angels, so that the character of the judgment is
quite dierent; nor is it a judgment of details of conscience.
e devil, not necessarily included in Jude’s words, is cast
into the lake of re, as an adversary, before the great white
throne is set up. Rev. 6:17, and 16: 14, both expressly speak
of a terrible day on earth. To begin with, therefore, the
great day is not a general day of judgment of the dead. at
thought is the fruit of tradition, not of Scripture. e dead
will surely be judged; but that is not called the great day in
Scripture. e terrible time of God’s judgment on earth is
so called. e fallen angels are reserved for it; but we judge
them.
I now occupy myself with the passages. Matthew 10:32,
33: Dr. B. (p. 269) very culpably, I think, adds a passage in
Mark-words certainly not spoken at the same time, but
which adds “ when he cometh “-which is not in Matthew
10. In Mark 8:38 there are not two classes at all; the passage
merely states that, when Christ comes in glory, He will be
ashamed of those ashamed of Him in His humiliation. It
is the contrast of state. Matthew 10: 32, 33, which refers to
both classes, does not say a word of His coming. It is said,
without any reference to time at all, He will confess or deny
before His Father. e statement of Dr. B. is positively and
totally false. He says, “ Here the acknowledging of the one
class, and the disowning of the other are expressly said to
take place at the same time, namely, when Christ comes
in His glory.” is is false, and it is a disgraceful way of
dealing with Scripture. When Christ’s coming is spoken
of, there are not two classes; when two classes are spoken
of, His coming is not alluded to.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
24
As to Rev. 21:7, 8; chap. 22: 12-15, one is in the eternal
state of the new heavens and new earth, and at that time
Christ does not come at all. He had come at a preceding
epoch, when the time of restoring grace was over, and the
things which were shortly to come to pass had come to
their climax. Nor does “ every man “ include necessarily
the coming dispensation, though there is nothing at all
in pre-millennial views to hinder anyone thinking so; for,
according to these and Scripture, the judicial period, as Dr.
B. says, is contrasted with this present time. Christ is to
judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His
kingdom. is general application of judgment in contrast
with the time of responsibility is universal in the Lord’s
teaching, where details are not gone into at all. ere is
a time of responsibility; another time when actions are
weighed.
Here the quotation, however, is unfortunate; for it is
closed by a reference to the transguration, which in every
one of the three gospels follows these words, as in Mark
8:38, and is declared by Peter to be an exhibition of the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. is is the
Son of man coming in His kingdom, where we have the
excellent glory of the Shechinah, into which the saints
enter-the Father’s house-the Lord and His saints displayed
in glory on earth, and living saints witnesses of it. Hence
we learn that when He speaks of rewarding every man
according to his works, He refers specially to the coming
in His kingdom, not to the nal state, though surely the
judgment will endure then.
Matt. 7:21-23. e question is of those t, not to enter
into heaven, but into the kingdom of heaven; and it speaks
of their then existing dispositions, as the whole sermon on
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
25
the mount does, while Christ was on the way with them.
eir righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees, or they could not enter, etc. Christians are in the
kingdom of heaven. at is clear. All Christ adds is, that
those who have made a profession, and wielded spiritual
power, if not godly, will be rejected, which is very clear,
in that day-the day He judges in (the epoch being left in
perfect obscurity). e truth is, the kingdom of heaven was
coming in a wholly unexpected way (as shown in chapter
13), as to which the Lord does not lift the veil here.
e virgins are still more plainly the opposite of what
Dr. B. says. e Christian epoch is, as he admits, looked at
as one whole, and as if no one would die, as the parables of
the servant (chap. 24) and of the talents prove. But none
are spoken of but Christians here-those of the kingdom of
heaven -showing that, while He tarried, all would forget
His coming. ey are both classes; but certainly not, as
Dr. B. asserts, of every age. e judgment refers solely to
Christians, real or bearing the name. It proves the contrary
to what Dr. B. says, but only gives the principle and the
true character of Christians: they have gone out to meet
Christ; showing how His coming was to be their present
expectation and hope, what characterized them and their
faithfulness-not a distant thing, but a present expectation;
no thought touching on the resurrection, and the principle
applicable solely to this time in connection with the coming
of Christ. e discourse refers to the Jews in chapter 24:
1-31; to Christians to chapter 25: 31; to the nations on
earth then to the end. e great white throne does not
appear at all. Matt. 25 is thus made as plain as possible; it
is the judgment of the nations of the earth.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
26
Matt. 13 refers to the end of this age; and there is
avowedly an age to come-a habitable world to come (Heb.
2) subjected to man. Here we nd the work of Satan on
earth when the good seed had been sown; it is mingled
with tares, and the crop spoiled, and this must continue so
till harvest; so that a millennium is impossible till judgment
comes, and the saints are in glory. First, the evil doers are
gathered together on earth providentially; then the wheat
taken to heaven; then the wicked are cast into hell, and the
righteous are like Christ in the Father’s kingdom. But this,
which is the end of this age, applies only to Christendom,
save so far as the explanation declares that Christ clears
His kingdom as Son of man, that is, the earth; for there
were the things that oended, and the eld embraced
the world, though it is not said all of it was sown. is
parable wholly sets aside Dr. B.’s system. It is a judgment
of Christendom to purge the eld, when the wheat is taken
to heaven and shines as the sun; when Christ does not give
up the kingdom, but takes His power (left in abeyance till
then).
As to John 5, “ e hour is coming,” Dr. B. admits, gives
no argument from the word “ hour.” It is stated there is a
resurrection to life, and a resurrection to judgment. ere
are “ no multifarious and broken transactions “ at all. ere
is a resurrection to life, and a resurrection to judgment
quite distinct. How long apart, the passage does not say.
Dr. B. admits their entirely mutually exclusive character.
Acts 17:31. Dr. B. cannot have looked at the Greek, in
which this passage is a very strong proof of the falseness of
his system. It is this habitable world which is judged. ere
are no fragmentary judgments, but there is a judgment of
this “ habitable world,” which is not the judgment of the
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
27
dead at all. en, according to Heb. 2, we look for a world
to come, “ habitable world to come.”
Rom. 2:5-16. Here Dr. B. has most culpably changed
by leaving out, as before by adding; nor has he even
noted it here. Verses 11-15 are left out, and verses 10
and 16 put together as if they were connected. e direct
connection is not with verse io; but with verse 12 (verses
13-15 being parenthetical as marked in every Bible I can
lay my hand upon), so that it applies only to sinners, and
teaches no general judgment day; while no one will deny
that the general term “ that day “ may apply vaguely to all
judgment. It is only in the vagueness of such language that
Dr. B. has the smallest ground to stand upon. “ at day
“ is used all through the prophets, as a Concordance will
chew, to signify the judgments which are to burst forth
when Messiah comes; and as His rst and second comings
opened out when He came, so through this present time it
is used in the same general way to signify coming judgment.
Yet herein revelation opens out a further vista of heavenly
glory, and an age and habitable earth to come before the
end. is the opposers of the hope of the Lord’s coming
seek to obliterate, and take refuge in the vague term, as the
Jew does, in the one coming of Christ. “ Last day “ and “ last
days “ are similarly used, and “ last time,” so that John could
say in his day it was “ the last time.” is vagueness might
cast obscurity on the subject. I have therefore examined the
passages in detail: one or two remain.
e reader will see the direct arguments of Dr. B.
examined in what follows: 2 Cor. 5:10, 11 is quoted. We
must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ.
Some have taken this to apply to believers only; I believe
it applies to all, and simply believe it. We must all give
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
28
an account of ourselves to God: of the time, manner, or
anything else, the passage says nothing.
1 Corinthians 4: 3. Certainly the Lord will make bare
the secrets of men’s hearts, of all hearts. No one doubts it.
Here, however, the apostle is not thinking of the unjust,
though it be most surely true of them, but of Christians
judging their fellow Christians. God’s praise is what they
had better be looking for, man’s day was little matter.
Nothing can be more general than the truth referred to,
however solemn.
2 ess. 1:6-10 refers to an immediately expected
coming, looking only to those on earth, and gives its
character. e saints were troubled now by sinners; when
Christ comes, that will not be so. e tables, as men
speak, will be turned. e following chapter proves the
impossibility of an intervening millennium. But this dwells
on the character of the coming, and that character it will
surely have. It did not concern the essalonians to explain
the great white throne. is is sessional judgment, not the
coming in power for every eye to see Him and the saints
with Him. ey thought the day was then: the apostle
shows that the character of the day made that impossible.
e wicked were to be punished then- so they will be.
1 Corinthians 3: 12-15 is merely a judgment of Christian
labor in a gure. It has nothing to do with the Christian’s
works. If even it had, they will surely be judged at Christ’s
coming, and each get his place accordingly. Col. 1:23; Heb.
13:17; 1 ess. 2:19, 20, call for no remark at all, nor 1 John
2:28, which is again the workman, nor chapter 4: 17.
As to Rev. 3:5 Tim. 5:24, 25; Rom. 14:10, 12, we
have simply to believe them as they stand. ey oer no
diculty nor question. 2 Peter 3:7, 10, 12 might. I have
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
29
noticed it elsewhere; I only say here that it is the day in
the which, etc.; and with others I am fully persuaded from
other passages, it is at the end of the day. Peter (rather the
Spirit of God) takes care to add that God does not count a
day as we do. Into this Dr. B. does not enter. I have spoken
of this and other texts further on.
I now enter on Dr. B.’s general proofs of his views. I
would remark in passing, the day-star arising in their
hearts is not to be waited for till the end. It was desirable
for the apostolic Christians. ey did well to look at the
prophecies which showed the judgment of the world, till
Christ Himself, their own proper hope to receive them to
Himself as His bride, became a brighter and better power
in their hearts: Christ, before the day of the Lord, is the
day-star; the prophecies a candle in the dark.
e writer has borrowed enormously from Millenarians,
and partly admits the good they have done, but even so
cannot really enter into what they say, or rather what
Scripture says. us, he says death is a perfect analogy with
the Lord’s coming, as it is the saints’ summons to appear
before the judgment-seat. But death is not resurrection.
We are predestinated to be conformed to the image of
God’s Son, not when He was dead. When He shall appear,
we shall be like Him. Surely death is gain (this too Dr.
B. does not reach), for we are absent from the body and
present with the Lord. But they are forced to admit the
importance of the Lord’s coming, and blame the opposers
of it, and learn the language of those who hold it-but they
speak the language as foreigners. It is not even necessary
that we should die: we shall not all sleep. Mortality can be
swallowed up of life, and Paul (2 Cor. 5) was looking for
this in contrast with death, and puts himself in this category
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
30
(1 ess. 4)-a thing impossible if the thousand years were
to come rst; and (p. 27) no confusion as to its beginning
or ending, or comments on watching or waiting, can alter
this. e notice of it is only throwing dust in people’s eyes.
Men may love His appearing who never thought of the
time-perfectly true; but they could not speak as Paul did, if
they put a thousand years between.
Dr. B.’s statements as to the mystery of the kingdom
are entirely mistaken (pp. 34, 333). It is not said, the eld
was to be sown; nay, there is plain prophetic proof it would
not. e kingdom title reaches over the world. ere is
not a word of the tree’s overshadowing the world, nor of
Christianity leavening the mass of human society. All these
statements, which are the very pith of Dr. B.’s argument on
this point, are not in Scripture. It is said Satan would spoil
the crop where it was sown; this Paul looked at as a present
time, and so did John, and so did Jude, and dealt with as a
then immediate evil. e great tree is merely a great power
in the world- Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, the Assyrian. e
three measures are not all human society. Paul speaks of it
as in principle, “ come into all the world.”
e times of the Gentiles being fullled was as uncertain
as the Lord’s coming. Men’s speculations as to this are not
scripture, and I believe wholly false. e measure is Daniel’s
seventy weeks; and sixty-nine and a half (or at any rate
sixty-nine) were fullled in the apostle’s time; when the
seventieth would begin to run, no one could nor can tell.
If the apostles were to be witnesses to the end of the earth
(p. 34), they gave it up; and Paul went to the Gentiles, and
says it had come into all the world.
e passages Dr. B. quoted (pp. 36, 37) as to the
degeneracy of the church, he admits, might be in no long
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
31
time. His answer is simply his own addition to the parables.
But that degeneracy is of all importance; because, if it took
place according to Rom. 11, the whole system would be cut
o, instead of bringing in a millennium. Apostasy or falling
away (2 ess. 2) is not continuing in God’s goodness. As
to Acts 3:2o, 21 (p. 37), the simple answer is, It is a proposal
to the Jews, founded on Christ’s intercession on the cross,
for His present return, cut short by the chief priests.
Dr. B. quotes Luke 19 the parable of the pounds as
correcting any speedy expectation of Christ (p. 39). ey
thought it was then and there to appear on earth. Christ
teaches them it would not be, and that He must go away,
and the Jews thereon refuse to have Him as king, which
they did; Acts 3 and 7. If it is said in Matt. 25 that the
bridegroom would tarry, the eect is not to be the spreading
of the gospel, but the going to sleep of the saints; and
what awoke them was the cry of His coming pressed on
them. e present order of things contrasted with a then
earthly kingdom was taught by the Lord; so was the delay
parabolically; but then the opposite to a millennium of
blessing was declared to be the eect- sleep, till they were
awakened by the cry of His coming, which made it too late
for those not ready to prepare. ey were asleep till thus
awoke. He teaches us we ought to watch; and He teaches
us the church did not when He tarried, but lost the sense
of His coming and fell asleep. Note, too, when it said, “
My Lord delayeth his coming,” as Dr. B. does, it became
worldly and hierarchical, and was treated as a hypocrite.
I do not believe the importunate widow is the church,
which is never widowed, but the Jewish people, which
is. e connection shows it; and Christ’s coming may
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
32
be expected at any time: the last days were come in the
apostle’s time.
Next I turn to 2 essalonians (p. 42). All Dr. B.’s
statements are wrong. Paul insinuates nothing: he refers
to false means employed to say, not that the day was at
hand or imminent, but then come. e word is always
used in the New Testament for present,’ or come ‘-twice
for “ things present “ in contrast with “ things to come.”
e essalonians, excessively pressed by tribulation, were
tempted to believe “ the day “ there-an expression always
used for a time of trouble, of darkness and not of light. In
chapter the apostle urges it could not be the day of the
Lord; for then His people would have rest, not tribulation,
and their enemies the trouble; and then he urges them, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
together to Him, not to be shaken in mind, as if the day
were there. We are to be gathered to Christ rst, and before
the day of the judgment of evil comes. Next the evil must be
there to be judged. e passage therefore largely conrms
our thoughts, because we are to be caught up before the
Lord appears to bring in the day; and events refer to the
day, not to our rapture. Of all this Dr. B. is ignorant. He
always confounds the day and Christ’s coming for us-
which, whatever the interval, are certainly distinct; for
when He appears, we shall appear with Him, and thus
must be with Him before.
When the twelve hundred and sixty days are made
years of (save as a general possible analogy) all is false.
e three times and a half are the half week of the seventy
weeks of Daniel. e days are already years. ere have
been analogies, as there were many Antichrists (not the
Antichrist); but there is no proper date but Daniel’s weeks;
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
33
when it begins is nowhere stated. e church is a heavenly
timeless gap in the world’s history, while it is said, Sit at
my right hand, till-when God puts Christ’s enemies under
His feet, earth’s history, and the Jews, and computation of
time, begin again.
Chapter 4, Dr. B. insists that the mystical body is
complete when Christ comes. Hence, he concludes that
it must be at the utmost end of the world. e mystical
body is complete: this is clear; and I fully admit it. It is
exactly what makes the subject clear. His reasoning is the
eect of judging new truth by old traditions. He assumes
that all that are to be saved are the church, which is totally
unscriptural. e church, or God’s assembly, Christ’s body,
what He builds on earth, is solely what is His between
Pentecost and His coming. ere was the congregation of
Israel before, the vast majority of whom were not saved
at all; and before the exodus there was no congregation at
all. ere could not be the body before the Head was in
heaven. e baptism of the Spirit, by which the one body
was formed, as Scripture expressly states, took place on
the day of Pentecost; and whatever the millennium is, the
marriage of the Lamb takes place before it. (See Rev. 19 and
2o.) 1 Cor. 15 proves nothing good or bad. It does not even
comprehend some of the church, for in the verse referred
to, and up to verse 51, it speaks only of resurrection, and
thousands, it may be millions, of the church, will not die at
all, but be changed.
Hence, his whole argument fails, because those that
are Christ’s do not comprise all, but only those that are
His who are dead; 1 Cor. 15:22, 23. I simply believe,
however, that the church is complete; Scripture leaves no
doubt of it. 2 ess. 1:10 proves He will be admired in all
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
34
them that believe, i.e., who believe the gospel. Paul speaks
only of Christians, though I doubt not He will in those
who believed before He came; but Paul is speaking only
of Christians. All that Dr. B. says here is nothing to the
purpose. So Col. 1:22 is conned to Christians reconciled
through the death of Christ, once alienated Gentiles; i.e.,
Christians and the gospel; though, I doubt not, from other
passages, Old Testament saints come in. But against the
thesis I have no objection, I accept it fully. But I deny that
saints before Christ’s rst coming, or after His second, are
part of the church. e Head of the church is Christ, once
dead, exalted above every principality and power, the body
[consists] of those united to Him by the Holy Ghost. Dr.
B.’s eorts to get rid of Zech. 14:5: “ e Lord my God
shall come, and all his saints with thee,” are pitiable. ey
that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Angels will come, but these cannot be angels. Angels are
not called.
I do not admit the last two chapters of Revelation to
be the everlasting state (Gentiles are not to be healed
then) but only chapter 21: 1-8; and “ as a bride adorned
for her husband “ is a mere description of the beauty of
ornament, not the time of marriage. ere is not a word of
presentation to one another of Christ and the bride there,
as Dr. B. states. ere is a great dierence: before, she was
in the heavens; now, descended, whatever follows thereon,
the kingdom being given up. e quotation of Heb. 12:23
(p. 64) is a blunder; it is not our gathering together to Him
at all. Next, “ the general assembly “ and the “ church of
the rstborn “ are wrongly connected. e rst in Greek
refers to the general assembly of all the Grecian States, and
is used here for the whole heavenly host, the innumerable
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
35
company of angels, the general assembly. en, “ the church
of the rstborn, which are written in heaven “; and besides
this, there are the Old Testament saints, “ the spirits of
just men made perfect “; and the new covenant saints, yet
another class, alluded to. e divisions of subject in the text
are by “ and.” I leave all the reasonings of men. All Dr. B.’s
argument is founded on the church’s comprising all the
saved, which is wholly unscriptural.
e dierence of the millennium on earth Dr. B. has
not laid hold of at all. Now there are a faithful few, Satan
being the prince and god of this world, going against
the stream. en Christ will be the prince of this world,
and Satan bound, and obedience will be paid to Christ’s
manifested power even when men are not converted.
When this obedience is not paid, excision takes place, so
that all is peaceful and happy. It is a perfect government
of the earth made good everywhere. When Satan is let
loose and temptation comes again, those not kept by grace
follow him. I have an impression that piety will decline
in the millennium; but it is founded on a gure (Num. 28
and 29), so that I do not insist on it; but the rest of what I
have said is revealed. at men should fall when tempted,
however sad, is nothing but what is very simple. It is the last
eort of Satan. Dr. B.’s reply (p. 73) to its being only such
as have lived up to the millennium is only abuse. Besides, I
have already answered it.
e assertion that His mystical body is the universal
family of the redeemed, is unscriptural; all the declaration
is founded on this gross and unscriptural error, that all
the saved belong to the church. Before Christ’s exaltation
there was no Head for them to be united to, though, as Son
of God, doubtless He was the source of life to them. But
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
36
life is not union. e scripture expressly reveals that the
church was not formed, nor the Holy Ghost who formed
it given, till Christ was gloried. See John 7:39; Eph. 2:20-
22; Matt. 16:18; 1 Corinthians 12: 12, 13; John 1:33; Acts
1: 5. Men’s reasonings about it I cannot give heed to, nor
the inconsistencies of men who do not at all know what
the church is. Bickersteth (p. 82) has stated it justly as far
as he goes. Only he talks of union with Christ as if it were
something else than the church, leaning on tradition, and
so lays himself open to Dr. B. Union is by the Spirit and
belongs to Christ’s body, the church, only. e Duke of
Manchester had learned it with “ Brethren.”
To this, accordingly, Dr. B. gives no answer, because
he has none, except that it is founded on most untenable
and dangerous views of the dierence of Old and New
Testament dispensations. Of course, as Dr. B. is ignorant
of what the church is, he cannot tell what this dierence is.
But he might have known that the disciples were far before
the Old Testament saints, for Christ says so: yet, that it was
expedient that they should lose that, in order to get the
Comforter. And, to say nothing of the church, the least in
the kingdom is greater than the greatest born of woman.
I suppose then there is a dierence. ere is no church of
God under both dispensations, as Dr. B. and tradition say.
If there is let it be shown. Could Abraham say, I am united
by the Holy Spirit to a Man in heaven? Is this nothing? Is
it nothing to know that we are in Christ and Christ in us?
is is by the Comforter. Surely they will be made perfect
with us or we with them; that is, we shall have resurrection
together; but God, that passage says, had reserved some
better thing for us. What is that? e child then diered
nothing from a servant. We have the Spirit of adoption
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
37
consequent on redemption. e Old Testament saints
could not even talk of esh and spirit. is degrading the
eect of known redemption, a Man at God’s right hand,
and the consequent coming of the Comforter, is deplorable.
And just see the maze Dr. B. gets into. “ ey without
us could not be made perfect, that is, without Christ and
the Spirit [!!!], whose proper economy ours certainly is “
(pp. 86, 87). And this in a sentence which says, God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us,
etc. ey will not be excluded from the glory; but that does
not make them the church. On this, which is the whole
point he has to meet, Dr. B. has utterly broken down. But if
this be so, the completing of the bride for Christ’s coming,
which he brings forward to disprove it, is the pregnant
proof that the millennial saints are another class.
Dr. B. (p. 90) says, “ united to him by faith as a man
“-all this is traditional language. We are never said to be
united to Christ by faith. It is wholly unscriptural. All this
is unproved by Scripture. All Dr. B., wholly destitute of the
word, can say is, “ Who ever doubted? “ I am satised his
order of thought dates from Augustine only. His reasoning
from John 17:2, 24, is wholly without force. John never
speaks of the church, but of life, of individuals-another
truth equally precious. “ All the elect get eternal life from
Christ’s hands “-an ugly expression; but what it means is
fully admitted-Will any get less, Dr. B. asks, can any get
more? Now this proves distinctly only one thing: that the
idea of the body and bride of Christ has never entered
into Dr. B.’s mind at all. By life we are sons with the
Father, Christ the rstborn among many brethren. Innite
privilege and blessing! But by union with Christ we are the
body and the bride of our ascended Head, the Man Christ
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
38
Jesus. e very existence of this as a distinct truth does not
cross Dr. B.’s mind. See Eph. 1
His reasoning on Rom. 8 is the only passage that
aords the semblance of an argument. But it really proves
the contrary; for Paul is speaking all through of the saints
of the present day, now delivered from the law, their rst
husband, and married to Christ risen from the dead, the
saints knowing the eect of Christ’s resurrection, set free
by the death of Christ, God having sent forth His Son to
do what the law could not do, and having, as a sacrice for
sin, in Christ condemned sin in the esh. He is speaking of
those who know it, who had received the rstfruits of the
Spirit. If it be used (though as a present thing, we only are
spoken of, those whom the Holy Ghost calls “ we “) to prove
as a consequence that the millennial saints will be nally
gloried too, since they are elect: I have nothing against it.
It proves nothing at all as to their’ state and circumstances
in the millennial period, which may or may not be (as far
as this goes) the same as ours. Paul is speaking of those
who have the Spirit of God as come down from heaven,
consequent on redemption. Whether with that he uses
general terms which, as to what is said in them, go farther,
is a question whose solution does not touch the point we
are upon. “ Whosoever “ Paul uses to bring in the Gentiles.
is is spoken of those for whom Christ intercedes now,
while at the right hand of God. Whether general terms
apply to others, when God’s purposes are accomplished, is
a question on one side of our argument. e deliverance of
the creature from the bondage of corruption when we have
the liberty of glory, which does not take place in the liberty
of grace, proves that there will be a deliverance of the present
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
39
creation system when those who have the rstfruits of the
Spirit are gloried and nd this deliverance themselves.
I am aware in page 1 it this is said to be a new earth after
its melting with fervent heat. But I ask if all being burned
up with the re of judgment (for such it is according to
Peter) is not a singular deliverance of the creature into the
liberty of the glory of God’s children from the bondage
of corruption. I admit suerers with Christ mean all
true Christians; but what then? It does distinguish (not
martyrs-they suer for Him, but) those who live in the
time of Christ’s rejection and share in it, and those who
live when He reigns and do not suer with Him at all.
ose who suer with Him will be gloried with Him;
those who do not will not, but enjoy the full blessing of
His reign. ere is glory celestial and glory terrestrial: and
this dierence of a present Christ and an absent Christ is
an immense one. Dr. B. calls these dierences in external
circumstances contrasted with inward and spiritual ones.
I have already shown that his view of the internal ones is
wholly unfounded in Scripture, but Christ has too small a
place in his mind here. “ omas, because thou hast seen,
thou hast believed: blessed are those who have not seen,
and yet have believed.” is is the stated dierence. Finally
the kings of the earth do not bring their glory into it, but
unto it- own it as the source of power. Finally, saint-ship
is the same thing for all; but union or membership of the
body is not the portion of all saints.
Dr. B. makes a great handle of the pre-millennialists
having nothing to say as to the saints of the one thousand
years. ey have something to say, but not more than
Scripture does. at Dr. B. omits, and concludes against
plain full statements because of what he says must be.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
40
e Scripture states that after the destruction of Gog and
Magog-as to which Dr. B.’s statements are the wildest
fancy and nothing else-there is the judgment of the dead
(of which hereafter), the heavens and the earth pass away,
and there is a new heaven and a new earth, and no more
sea, and that then the tabernacle of God (nothing more
being said of the Lamb, as being in a distinct mediatorial
oce) is with men, and men are His people. Now here
the tabernacle, the bride, the Lamb’s wife, is distinguished
from men, when the kingdom has been given up and all
things made new. I am not aware, save general principles,
that anything is said of the transmutation. It is not only
positively said, “ As the days of a tree shall be the days of
my people “; but it is said “ he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die.” Death is not yet destroyed; but I
do not see why they should die during the millennium.
God has told the church what is to happen to the church.
He has not indulged curiosity: only we know corruption
cannot inherit incorruption. is may show that they will
be changed into an incorruptible state, though the passage
speaks only of the saints of this time. Where nothing is
said I respect the silence of Scripture; as I receive implicitly
what is distinctly and fully revealed. God shall be all in all,
the kingdom be delivered up to the Father. e tabernacle
of God is with men, this Scripture tells us. Can Dr. B. tell
us more? If so, let him produce the passage. His reasonings
as to passages that speak of Christ’s coming, we have or
will examine. His telling what must be is of no avail; he
must tell us what will be according to Scripture. is is very
plain indeed as regards the church: we openly avow that we
dare not go beyond Scripture, and are content to be silent.
Scripture does say that the Lord is to be gloried in the
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
41
church forever, and that this tabernacle of God will be with
men. is prophetical distinction of the church we believe.
How the millennial saints are transformed, Scripture does
not say; nor do we therefore pretend to know. But we will
show that the scriptures as to the Lord’s coming are so
plain that they cannot be set aside, as Dr. B. wishes.
We have next to deal with the cessation of the means
of grace, chapters 5 and 6. Dr. B. argues that all the means
of grace absolutely cease at Christ’s coming: hence none
can be converted after, as pre-millennialists allege (p. 100).
is reasoning is singularly futile, and shows the eect of
traditionary teaching as contrasted with Scripture. For
if they could not be saved without our means of grace,
neither could the saints before Christ. Special means of
grace are to be contrasted with the work of grace. at this
last is needed no Christian doubts; but to reason from this
to the means is to the last degree idle. It is perfectly clear
that if the Lord Jesus is manifested in glory, there must
be a change as to the means and ordinances of grace. His
death and the Spirit’s work remain the unchangeable way
of salvation; but the forms of presenting it, of course, must
be dierent. e word will have lost none of its value. e
Old Testament is far more valuable for us than for a Jew,
though in a dierent way. We have the divine key to connect
it. “ e Lord is that Spirit “: the true and pure mind of the
Spirit in it; not as Dr. B. says, because it was an opening out
and carrying forward of the former, for the law was given
by Moses, and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. e
church was a mystery wholly hidden, hidden from ages and
generations, hid in God. It required the breaking down of
the Jewish system entirely to set it up. e middle wall of
partition, required by the one to be maintained, must be
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
42
broken down to allow the other to exist. Judaism had its
existence by maintaining what the church had its existence
by throwing down.
I have no doubt the New Testament will be the source
of the deepest instruction to saints in the millennium, a
door into the knowledge of the heavenlies, where they
are not, and to the understanding of the innite grace
of God which led there. e direct connection between
the millennium and the Old Testament is much closer
than ours. It is the fulllment of the new covenant there
promised, the presence of the Messiah there foretold, and
the scene of peace and blessing, of the restoring of all things
of which the prophets spoke. at people cannot expect
Christ when He is come, nor suer with Him when He
is reigning, needed no sagacity to discover. But I cannot,
with the Old Testament saints, look in patient hope to His
rst coming, or the suerings of Christ. Have they, or the
testimonies as to them, therefore lost their value?
As to the sacraments, they will not have, surely, such
as we have. What then? If this proves there cannot be
salvation, there could not have been among the Jews, for
they had not the same; nor the patriarchs, for they had
not either. All this is of a futility tedious to reply to.
Ministry, in its present form, is peculiar to this, as a distinct
priesthood was to the Jewish time. But a certain ministry is
spoken of, at any rate, at the beginning of the millennium;
otherwise its distinctive revealed character is: “ ey shall
not say, Know the Lord.” Does Dr. B. object to this, when
he says that as to the sacraments, passages so implicate the
grace conveyed with the means of conveying it, that both
disappear together? It is as rash as it is false to say that
the communication of grace from Christ is dependent on
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
43
these means. at the form is suited to the time is certain.
It will be in the millennium. It was in Judaism: it is in
Christendom. What then? Grace in all has eect according
to the wisdom of God’s ways.
As regards the priesthood, I deny entirely that priesthood
is for conversion. We have to deal with great ignorance of
Scripture in all this class of theologians. Priesthood, save
the nished act of sacrice, maintains reconciled men at
the height of their calling and relationship to God, in spite
of the actual weakness in which they walk, or restores them
to the enjoyment of it. But it supposes man in relationship
with God. Our place is in heaven, our priest is there. In the
millennium, Christ will be a Priest upon His throne, and
the counsel of peace will be between Him and Jehovah. It
is another order of priesthood suited to the time. Christ
has taken this as to the power of an endless life already; but
He exercises it after the pattern of Aaron in the heavenlies
now, then as Melchisedec on His own throne.
e statement, that “ the old order of things which
Christ’s coming is to supersede (p. 114) includes not only
the present means of grace but the grace itself conveyed
by them,” is of a character so monstrous as to show where
Dr. B. is. It is tying up the possibility of God’s grace to the
outward ordinances of the Christian system, and denying
all grace before Christ’s coming, when their ordinances and
means certainly did not exist. When he talks of a revelation,
he forgets that Christ Himself is there revealed, and that
grace so works that it will not then be said, “ Know the
Lord.” ose who are militant now will reign, not merely be
saved. ose who, because Christ reigns and Satan is bound,
are not militant may be saved, but will not reign. So utterly
blind is Dr. B. to the force of this fact of his argument, that
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
44
he insists that the agencies of salvation cease, and takes
as a rst proof Christ’s intercession. “ When intercession
is done, salvation is done “ (p. 119), he maintains; yet he
says, it stands intermediate between His rst and second
coming (p. 116). None, therefore, were saved before His
rst, if they cannot be after His second. Christ’s priesthood
in heaven is conned to His being as man in the holiest.
Be it so; for we have access there, boldness to enter into the
holiest. While the rst tabernacle had its standing, the way
there was not made manifest. As I have already said, In the
millennium He is Priest on His throne.
As regards the work of the Spirit (p. 119), Dr. B. equally
admits that this is consequent on Christ’s exaltation. is
work of the Comforter ceases at the Lord’s coming. Now
the passages he quotes show the sending of the Comforter
(p. 12o), consequent on Christ’s going away. Hence, if this
were needed for salvation, none were saved before. He has
confounded the work of the Spirit and the sending of the
Comforter. is last was consequent on Christ’s being
gloried. All direct work on the creature is by the Holy
Ghost, yea, even creation. ere is no divine work in the
soul but thus wrought. But this is not the sending of the
Comforter. However, I do not doubt from Scripture that
there wilt be not a sending of the Comforter, but the latter
rain of the Spirit. Dr. B.’s “ continued eusion “ (p. 120) of
the Spirit is wholly unscriptural: the Comforter came and
was to abide forever with the disciples. He acts continually
and as He will. e whole reasoning is simple ignorance
of Scripture, and inattention to the force even of what he
himself says.
We have now to treat of the kingdom and oces of
Christ, and to rescue plain Scripture statements from the
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
45
garbage of theology. As regards the comments of men who
mingle both, I have little to do with them; but Dr. B. is
not just in his comments even on them. In the rst place,
the Duke of Manchester is wholly opposed in his views
to nearly all the others. He holds that Christ’s kingdom is
now, and that He gives it up in the millennium; the others
exactly the contrary. ese, though there may be confusion
in their views, because they mix up traditional theology
with the word of God, and do not see what the church is
as essentially one, are practically right. ey hold that it is
a kingdom now, but one of which the proper power is not
in exercise, but will be in the millennium; and this is what
Scripture teaches.
Speaking of Christ as prophet, priest, and king, and
reducing all saving grace to these oces, is a very poor and
confused way of considering the Lord’s grace. e Son of
God quickens whom He will, and with the Father (John
5) is by the Spirit the one source of life to whosoever
receives it: He is the one only accomplisher of redemption
by which any are delivered and saved. But to make Him
always prophet, priest, and king for this, is theology
and confusion. He is the Truth. It was by His Spirit any
prophet spoke. But to say He was always prophet is only
making confusion. God declares by Moses, that a Prophet
should the Lord their God raise up unto them. is Peter
assures Israel God had done: though all testimony of truth
owed from Him by the Spirit, He was a prophet when
God raised Him up in the midst of Israel according to
promise. He became a priest after He was made like to His
brethren in all things. In other words, He became a man
that He might be a priest. But even this, though laying the
ground for it in the sacrice of Himself as the high priest
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
46
representing His people on the great day of atonement, He
did not exercise, the apostle tells us, till on high in heaven.
He was King in title when He became incarnate, but did
not exercise His royalty.
It is not a question of the ecacy of His sacrice reaching
backward and forward in God’s mind, no Christian doubts
it, or rather there is no backward and forward there-nor
if the love of God be the source of life. It is a question
of special positions, taken in time, and which attach
themselves to His manhood, and are exercised in it: Christ
was a King when a man on earth. He witnessed a good
confession to it before Pontius Pilate. But He did not take
His kingdom; He sat on no throne; He was accomplishing
a far more important work. And after having, as necessarily
faithful to promise, presented Himself to Israel, a minister
of the circumcision for the truth of God, He forbids His
disciples to say He was the Christ (saying, “ the Son of
man,” a much larger title, in which He passes from Psa.
2 to Psa. 8, “ must suer “), and so, riding in on the ass,
passes from that to the cross. Remark here how He shows
that, in the literal interpretation of the prophecies as to the
kingdom, the Jews did not deceive themselves. He is King
as to His title now, but He has not taken His kingdom; He
is not sitting on His own throne, but on His Father’s; and
He Himself makes the dierence. To him that overcometh
will I give to sit down on My throne, as I have overcome,
and am set down on My Father’s throne. To Him alone, the
Son, it appertains in righteousness to sit on His Father’s
throne. It would be blasphemy to set us there.
He gloried God His Father and is gloried with Him;
we with Himself when He takes the kingdom. He is gone
to receive the kingdom and to return.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
47
To say the Father’s throne is David’s throne, is nonsense.
God was to raise up one of David’s seed to sit on David’s
throne, and that means, they tell us, the Father’s (p. 139).
Cannot a child see the perversity of such an interpretation?
e royalty is not, and is never said to be, to save (p. 186
and following), unless in outward deliverance by power. If
it be, let Dr. B. quote the passage. He saves, in giving life
as Son of God, in redeeming by His precious blood, in the
exercise of His priesthood, from weaknesses. But salvation
of souls is not attributed to His royalty, nor is He King over
His church. On the contrary, Scripture declares that when
He reigns, we shall reign with Him. It is in vain to use large
words about it. ere are those who must have Scripture
testimony for what they believe. Nor does a teaching which
makes the Father’s throne David’s throne, commend itself
to those who have received their teaching from Scripture.
Neither the apostles nor the Lord seek to overthrow the
prophecies of the kingdom. ey give something better.
e Lord sanctions the expectations of His disciples when
they speak of restoring the kingdom to Israel. ey ask,
Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? What
is His answer? “ It is not for you to know the times or the
seasons which the Father hath put in his own power.” Is
that the times and the seasons for not doing it at all, or for
doing it? It is impossible that a child could not see that
it is to be done, but that the time was not revealed, and
that the Lord gives them another work to do now. But
He explicitly sanctions their expectations. So Paul declares
that the restoration of Israel will be by the Redeemer going
forth out of Zion. e object of the New Testament is not
the kingdom in Israel; but a rejected gloried Christ and
the church, and our present condition. But the prophecies
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
48
of the Old Testament are expressly sanctioned. “ Ye shall
not see me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed be he that
cometh in the name of the Lord.”
When once the place of the church is seen, and its place
with Christ in heavenly glory, all falls into its scriptural
place, and the church itself is not reduced to an improved
Judaism, as it is by these teachers. But it is important to
notice here that the kingdom is not everything, but the
lower part of the glory, the glory terrestrial. Moreover
Scripture carefully distinguishes Christ’s headship over all
things and His headship to the church. God will gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth, in Him, in whom we have
obtained an inheritance; Eph. 1. We are joint-heirs with
Christ. As Son of man He is set over all the works of God’s
hands, His own creation. All things, the Father excepted,
are put under Him. ey are not yet actually so (Heb. 2),
and He sits on His Father’s throne till they are-till His
enemies are made His footstool. ey are not so yet. us
He has not taken the exercise of His kingly power to reign,
though owned of God and believers as King. But He is
given to be Head over all things to the church which is
His body.
But though all things are not reconciled, believers
are, marking the dierence between the heirs and the
inheritance, see Colossians r. He is the rstborn of every
creature for He created them: there is one pre-eminence.
He is the rstborn from the dead, the Head of the body,
the church: there is another. God is to reconcile all things
in heaven and earth by Him. “ You [the saints] hath he
reconciled.” us, His universal supremacy, supremacy
given to Him as man, is distinguished from His headship
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
49
to the church. Compare Eph. 1:22, and Heb. 2:6-9,
commenting on Psa. 8: see also 1 Cor. 15:25-28.
As to the passages quoted by Dr. B. to prove His
personal sitting on the throne of David now and His kingly
rule, it is striking that not one speaks of His being King,
or of sitting on David’s throne. David had prophesied
(Acts 2:25-36) that God would raise up Christ to sit on
His throne, and in view of this, that His mercies might be
sure, tells of His resurrection: they are sustained according
to the power of that. e fact, Christ’s resurrection, Peter
testies to, and we all believe it. He then explains, not the
kingdom, but the point contrasted by Christ in Acts 1:6,
7, with the kingdom as a distinct and dierent thing, and
shows that Christ had been exalted by God the Father.
Dr. B. then leaves out a material point, namely, that David
was not ascended into the heavens, not a word being said
of his throne or kingdom. It shows that Christ was to sit
as Lord on God’s right hand, according to Psalm when
His enemies were not made His footstool, i.e., it contrasts
Christ’s heavenly headship with His royal power exercised
against His enemies, and solemnly declares that God has
thus made Jesus Lord. at is, that He has the exaltation
He was to have till His enemies were made His footstool,
an exaltation contrasted with the exercise of His royal
power which He was to exercise when He left His Father’s
throne; and, this being left out, the passage is used to show
He is King in fulllment of a previous part of the passage.
Is this quite honest? Dr. B. leaves out what Peter insists on
in express terms, and applies what he says to another part
which is in contrast with it (p. 138).
As to Zechariah, it seems to me as plain as can be that
it is the reign of Christ on His throne, not on the Father’s.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
50
He is to re-establish Jerusalem blessings, for that is the
question and the only question there.
As to Rev. 5:6, it is not the Father’s throne nor Christ
sitting on it, nor a throne of grace at all, but Elohim-
Jehovah-Shaddai’s throne-a throne of judgment with the
Lamb in the midst of it-a throne where, if intercession be
used, it brings in judgment, not the gospel-the throne, not
of the kingdom indeed, but which establishes the kingdom
by power. Such it must be evident to all is the book of
Revelation. Not one word of the gospel is in it save the
everlasting gospel which declares that the hour of God’s
judgment is come. And it leads, in Dr. B.’s rapturous
hallelujahs, to the conclusion that they will reign over
(not on) the earth; i.e., the reign is not come, Christ is
not seen building the temple of the Lord. ere is nothing
about a benign sway (p. 142), but judgment, ever more and
more terrible, till He come to smite with a rod of iron. Is
a rod of iron Dr. B.’s idea of what he would call the gospel
kingdom? When Christ is king in Zion, that is His scepter
to break in pieces the nations as a potter’s vessel. He that
sits on the throne is carefully distinguished from the Lamb
in Revelation. Nor is there a hint on the seven Spirits of
God of any gospel service.
Nor is this all. Christ’s dealing with the church was
complete in chapters 2 and 3, and this is what is to come
afterward, “ after these.” e question was the opening of the
book, not the gospel of salvation. e seven Spirits of God
are not the description of the Holy Ghost as Comforter in
the church, and the strength of gospel witness in those sent
to proclaim it: of this there is not a word here.
As to the key of David, it is used guratively as one who
has a right to shut and open. But Dr. B. has forgotten that,
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
51
while Christ surely exercises this power, the key of David
was not in the king’s hand, neither Shebna nor Eliakim
was king or David’s son. No Christian denies Christ is
Lord; none that He has all power in heaven and in earth.
But while having the personal title to be king, they say that
Scripture shows He has not taken the proper power of the
kingdom: of this further on. I notice now a remaining text-
Isa. 9:6, 7. A very short answer suces. e reader has only
to consult the passage, and he will nd that the increase of
Christ’s government is consequent on the great battle day
of God’s judgment.
e next quotation proves only one thing-the extreme
weakness of Dr. B.’s cause, and the desperate condition he
is reduced to. It is said God has gloried His Son Jesus,
that is, that Christ is gloried. Dr. B. adds, Ye have killed
the Prince of life. is, says he, proves His princedom. Does
killing the Prince of life prove that Christ is reigning-is
king? is I may leave.
Next (p. 147), a time of restoring all things of which
the prophets have spoken (Acts 3:21), is spoken of, and
it is said that the heavens must receive Him till then-till
the time of restoring takes place, and that then He will
be sent. e Jews must repent, the apostle tells them, that
this time of refreshing may arrive: till then the heavens
must receive Him. is proves, we are told, He must be
reigning now and come to put an end to all. e prophets
speak of Messiah’s kingdom, and that blessed time when
all, subjected to Him, shall be set in order (which, being
accomplished, we learn in the New Testament that He
will give up the kingdom). Till He is sent for this exercise
of royal power, the heavens receive Him. He must be sent
for its accomplishment. is, we are told, proves that the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
52
restoring cannot take place after He comes! e new birth
of souls has nothing to do with this restoring. at has
been going on from Abel, whereas this time does not come
till the end of Christ’s present sojourn in heaven as a man
at the right hand of God, and it is the time of restoring
all things spoken of by the prophets. It is really tedious to
reply to such reasoning.
e quotation (p. 15o) of the comment on Psa. 2
in Acts 4 by Dr. B.. as a proof Christ is now a king, is
curious. Peter declares that the rulers, etc., had combined
to accomplish God’s counsel, that is, in the death of Christ.
is, we are told, was to overthrow the gracious rule of
Christ. But if this is it, He was a king ruling on earth, and
they succeeded; for they did not rise up against Christ
in heaven, but on earth. Not only so, but the psalm does
not speak of a gracious rule, but God’s mocking at men’s
eorts, and Christ’s rule set up in Zion; and there He rules
them with a rod of iron, and breaks them in pieces like a
potter’s vessel-a singular description of a gracious rule, and,
moreover, one which the church is to possess in glory with
Him when He comes, according to the promise made to
the overcomers in yatira. As to Acts 5:29, 31, it is not
said at all that Christ is a king, but Leader, nor even prince
at all, but a Savior to give repentance. Christ is called the
Author of faith in Heb. 2 A Savior Prince is simply a false
interpretation.
On Psa. 110 I have commented. It is the declaration
that Christ is made Lord, but would not have royal power
over His enemies during the present period. e passage is
important. Dr. B.’s reasoning is simply from the assumption
that His sitting at God’s right hand is His own throne and
kingdom; but that is just what he has to prove-the time, he
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
53
says (p. 153), of this glorious session and enthronization,
for they are both one. My answer is, e passage is to show
that the session is to continue till His enemies are put by
God under His feet, then He begins to subdue them by
His own power; and when all is complete, He gives up
the kingdom. Now the epistle expressly contrasts the
glorication and the putting of things under Him. But
now we see not yet all things put under Him, but we see
Him crowned with glory and honor. at is, though Jesus
personally has the heavenly glory of a crown, the rest of the
psalm is not fullled, is not the same thing. erefore He
has the glory, but all things are not put under Him. He sits
at the right hand of God till God makes His enemies His
footstool. He does not, and as to God’s counsels cannot,
touch them till that-the present time-is past. Indeed, Dr.
B. admits it (p. 153). “ He is in the attitude of tranquil
expectancy till the enemies of His regal authority be made
His footstool.” He has royal title in the believer’s eyes,
but He is expecting the exercise of the power, and must
till another, God, even His Father, makes His foes His
footstool. en, “ He rises up to the prey “ (p. 154). One
thing is clear beyond all controversy (for it is the object
of the passage to state it), that the time of subduing His
enemies with His royal power does not come till the time
of His session on the Father’s throne has closed. Christ
contrasts that throne with His own.
Let us add here that Mr. Gipps’ distinction of the
Greek eita being short, and epeita long, is a mere fable
(one is “ then,” the other “ consequent on “). e reader
has only to consult i Corinthians is: 5, and following, and i
Corinthians 12: 28, where these words are interchanged, to
see that there is not the smallest possible ground for such a
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
54
notion. Eita is the common word where one is used; epeita
for a euphonious succession when there are many things
succeeding.
e notion of Christ “ giving an account of His
stewardship “ of the kingdom to the Father (p. 160) is as
unscriptural as it is incorrect. It is very bad indeed. at
Christ remains eternally mediator (p. 162) as to His Person,
as man, I do not doubt; but ocial mediation is over when
the kingdom is given up.
I now turn to some notices of the kingdom, which
show how it is not now His kingdom, properly speaking.
He reveals to His disciples that it is a kingdom which
is not one. And the Scripture is more full on this than
is supposed. e kingdom of God is the general idea of
the king of God’s power, and the rule of God’s principles.
Hence, Jesus could say, “ the kingdom of God is among
you,” “ come nigh to you “: for He was there. He could not
then call it “ the kingdom of heaven,” because the kingdom
was on earth, not in the heavens. is was only at hand.
Matthew alone uses the expression, “ kingdom of heaven.”
But what, when it comes, is its character? A kingdom is
the government of a king over his sphere of rule. A great
tree, three measures of leavened our, a eld sown with
tares and wheat, and the like-these are the characters the
kingdom takes, the mysteries of the kingdom; because the
king took no direct rule. Secretly, He orders all things with
divine power; but as the Christ He lets all go on without
direct intervention of His power: so the Lord teaches in
Mark. “It is as if a man should cast seed into the ground-
that Christ did personally-and should sleep and rise night
and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he
knoweth not how … But when the fruit is brought forth,
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
55
immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest
is come.” Christ acted personally at the beginning, then
leaves it to spring up without interfering (though secretly
ministering grace), and at the harvest acts personally again.
He is sitting hid in God, though seen by faith, in the holiest
during all this time.
I turn to another character of passage relating to the
kingdom (p. 334). Whatever Joseph Mede’s version, one
thing is simply certain: that the stone never grew at all, nor
exercised the smallest inuence on any part of the image
till it destroyed it utterly. Judgment was its rst act. e
kingdom of the Stone is a pure invention. Not a trace of it
is in the vision or the interpretation. e rst act of the
stone is to smite the image in the very last divided state of
it, and then it becomes a mountain which lls the whole
earth. No statement could more distinctly show that the
proper kingdom of Christ does not yet exist. e language
is as remarkable as Mede’s is inconsistent with its tenor.
Daniel sees the image on to the toes of iron and clay. He
then sees till a stone is cut out without hands, which smites
the image on the toes. Of course it is in the days of these
kings that God sets up a kingdom; for it destroys them
all in order to its setting up. ey were there together, for
the one destroyed the others. But the statement is distinct
that the whole image, toes and all, was there before the
stone, and that the rst act of the stone was the destruction
of the image by smiting the toes, and that there was no
growth of the stone till afterward, no action or inuence
before. It could not therefore be Christianity, for this had
taken possession of imperial power before the toes existed
at all. e toes destroyed its then existing power. To such
straits is Dr. B. reduced here that he declares, “ as kingdoms
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
56
simply-as a mere succession of civil monarchies-the vision
has nothing to do with them [!]. e mission of the church
is, not to supplant, but to impregnate and pervade it
[civil government] with a religious character, and render
it subservient to the glory of God “ (p. 340). e former,
Christianity had done before the toes existed; whether the
latter, some may question.
But let the reader only consult Dan. 2 and see if it is
possible more to contradict what is denitely said. ey
were “ broken to pieces together, and became like the
cha of the summer threshing oor, and the wind carried
them away that no place was found for them.” is is
impregnating them and leaving them to subsist! If this last
be Christianity, it is clear Daniel does not describe it. I do
not see how the infatuation of tradition could go farther.
As to Dan. 7, Dr. B. tells us it means substantially
the same (p. 342). Quite true. Taking and possessing the
kingdom is the same, he says, as the stone smiting the
image. It is rather the eect; but I admit it is the same
epoch practically.
But we are told by Dr. B., the second (the latter of these
chapters) has the additional character of a judicial assize
(p. 345); yet, solemn as all the imagery is, nothing more is
meant than “ to intimate to us how righteous will be the
destruction of that wicked instrument.”
5
Let us, after seeing
the kind of comment Dr. B. gives us, which needs none
to be made on it, remark the real character of this scene,
which is analogous to that of chapter 2. e judgment sits,
and the beast is destroyed and given to the burning ame,
5 Compare remarks (p. 266) on Matt. 25, where a far less
solemn description, we are told, forbids its being used but for
the great nal judgment.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
57
and then the kingdom is given to the Son of man. at is,
the Son of man does not get His kingdom in possession
till the judgment is executed. His power is exercised in
the destruction of the enemy. To use the language of the
Revelation, “ in righteousness he judges and makes war.”
us the adversary is destroyed and the kingdom set up.
It is urged that the Son of man comes to receive the
kingdom from the Ancient of days. e remark is just;
but it has been overlooked that the horn made war with
the saints, and prevailed till the Ancient of days came. For
Christ who comes is Jehovah; as He who is shown by the
only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords, is found,
when He comes, to be (Rev. 19) King of kings and Lord of
lords Himself.
I do not know why Dr. B. leaves out a part of the passage
(p. 343): “ He shall think to change times and laws.” is
it is precedes the words; “ and they shall be delivered
into his hands.” It is not the saints (long as it has been
so interpreted) who are delivered into his hands, but the
times and laws, the regular words for the Jews’ periodical
ordinances. God may allow His saints to suer, but He
never delivers them into Satan’s hands.
As to Dr. B.’s interpretation of its being ecclesiastical
Rome, etc., whatever analogies there may have been, I deny
wholly the application of it to Pagan or Papal Rome. Bad
and horrible as this last, this Babylon, may be, she is not
the beast whom she rides. e horns and the beast subsist
together, which has not taken place yet, and Babylon is yet
another thing.
We have come to Dr. B.’s statements as to the rst
resurrection. He prots by the timidity of the advocates of
pre-millennialism who are shackled by conventional views.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
58
It is alleged on the authority of Mr. Birks that Rev. 20 is
the only passage which speaks directly of it (p. 220): I have
never quoted this as any proof of a rst resurrection, till
I had shown that a common resurrection of all is wholly
unknown to Scripture. But even Dr. B. is forced to admit
that the resurrection of the just is a thing wholly distinct,
peculiar to believers, exclusively theirs (p. 195): only priority
in time is not to be alleged. Now this of itself is all important,
the time comparatively immaterial; for it refers more to the
duration of the reign consequent on the resurrection of the
saints. But if all Scripture, which is the case, presents the
resurrection of believers as exclusively theirs, we have made
an immense step: a common resurrection, a coming up as
one set to judgment, is false.
Let us examine where in the distinction lies. It is
exclusively of the children of God (Luke 20:35, 36): such
alone are counted worthy to attain the resurrection from
the dead and that world. ey are raised on a dierent
principle-by (or because of) the Spirit of God which
dwells in them (Rom. 8:11)-with a dierent object; it is
a resurrection of life in contrast with a resurrection of
judgment ( John 5:29)-a class whose righteousness is already
wholly established and clear; it is a resurrection of the just;
Luke 14:14. It is not together with the wicked in point of
time; they that are Christ’s only rise at His coming; 1 Cor.
15:23. e end comes afterward, whatever the interval: the
Greek signies a distinction in time. I have already said
(page 360) that the dierence of eita and epeita is a mere
blunder. Here is the proof-I Corinthians 15: 6. en (eita)
of the twelve; then (epeita) to above ve hundred brethren;
then (epeita) to James, then (eita) to all the apostles. So
i Corinthians 12: 28: rst apostles, secondarily prophets,
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
59
thirdly teachers, then (epeita) miracles, then (eita) gifts of
healing. e excellent Mr. Gipps must have been singularly
prejudiced by his views to make the observation. A qualm
of conscience as to it, perhaps, made Dr. B. put the. passages
in a note. Further, these possessors of life who rise do not
come into judgment. Christ shows His power in grace in
giving life: His power against the wicked in judgment, that
all may honor Him; John 5:24. is resurrection is in glory,
heavenly glory like Christ; 1 Cor. 15: 42, 49.
Such is the teaching of Scripture as to the resurrection,
without looking at the Revelation. A common resurrection
is a wholly unscriptural thought-one which has owed
from the loss of the knowledge of redemption. e saints
are raised, because they have life, because they are the just,
because they have the Spirit dwelling in them, because they
are the children of God, and are consequently raised in
glory, not to come into judgment, though to stand before
the judgment-seat of Christ and receive their reward,
giving an account of themselves. It is late to judge a man
when he is gloried, when Christ has come to receive him
to Himself, that where He is the saint may be also, before
the saint gives an account of himself: when he does, it is
certain from Scripture he will be like the Judge (1 John 3);
conformed to His image (Rom. 8); transformed into the
image of His glorious body, Himself, His righteousness.
(1 Cor. 1)All this is certain by positive texts of scripture,
is indeed but the quotation of them. See I Corinthians
15; Phil. 3; 1 Cor. 1; John 14. If the gospel is obscure, the
rst resurrection is obscure; and this is the case with these
evangelical teachers. And if the rst resurrection is not seen,
the gospel is obscure. Men have to be judged after they are
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
60
saved-men who have been even centuries in heaven. I insist
on this point because it is a vital one.
I have not quoted Revelation. My readers will judge
how far this is the only text. It teaches us one point, namely,
that they who have part in this rst resurrection will live
and reign with Christ a thousand years. at is all. It adds
the duration of the reign over the earth, which itself is
amply revealed elsewhere; the duration alone is exclusively
found here. Instead then of Revelation zo being the only
passage, it merely adds the length of reign over the earth to
a doctrine uniformly taught in the New Testament.
As regards the expression “ from among the dead,” I
must beg also to dier from Dr. B. He says, If the Greek
bears it out, it would have weight, but it will not bear an
hour’s examination (p. 198). He never loses anything by
want of boldness; but boldness, as with Peter, may bring
us into a scrape it cannot bring us out of. But, whatever he
may think of Greek, or whatever the force of Mr. Elliott’s
silence, I arm that Scripture never confounds resurrection
of and resurrection out of the dead.
It is a very important doctrine that there is a resurrection
of the dead. For a heathen that is the urgent point; it
distinguishes the Pharisee and Sadducee. Martha could
believe that, just as Dr. B. does: for in this point Dr. B. goes
no farther than an orthodox Jew-a position he seems to
dread. A resurrection “from among” or “out of the dead” is
a special doctrine for a Christian, the essential character of
privilege belonging to his resurrection-what makes it like
Christ’s resurrection and gives it all its peculiar importance.
A resurrection of the dead is as true of the wicked as of the
just. A resurrection out of or from amongst the dead is a
divine favor which separates the accepted ones out from
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
61
among those who have entered into the place where sin has
brought us. Christ was raised from among the dead by the
glory of the Father. All that is in that name and relationship
was righteously and necessarily in exercise in raising Him,
and is so in raising us as in Him. God’s delight was in
Him. He does not leave Him among the dead. In His case
it could not be. He is called up out from amongst them. Is
this nothing? Is it nothing that we have part in it?
I shall take the passages referred to by Dr. B. himself,
and show that this dierence always has place (p. 198).
Acts 24:15. Here a resurrection of the dead both just and
unjust makes it impossible to say out of, and it is not found.
Acts 17:31, 32. In speaking of Christ, as proof that God
will judge this habitable earth by that man, the apostle says
He raised Him out of-from among-the dead. Whereas
the Athenians, hearing of the resurrection of the dead,
mock. e fact of the resurrection of dead people, not any
particular favor shown to Christ, was the subject of their
ridicule.
1 Corinthians 15:12. Christ is preached that He rose
out of, from among, the dead; the evil-taught Corinthians
denied a resurrection-a resurrection of the dead, not merely
a special resurrection. Such an evil would have been quite a
dierent thing. Dr. B. denies a resurrection from among the
dead. No one charges him with denying the resurrection
of the dead. So by man comes the resurrection of the
dead-the great fact, as death came by man. Resurrection
“ from among “ would be wholly out of place here (p. 42);
“ resurrection of the dead “ is its character. It is not here
their being taken out from among others, but what the
resurrection is as to the change that takes place in it.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
62
Mark 9:9, 10 is very marked. ey were not to tell the
vision till the Son of man was risen from among the dead.
ey wonder, inquiring among themselves what this rising
from among the dead should mean. Now they certainly
had Martha’s faith, or Dr. B.’s, that men would rise in the
resurrection at the last day. ey were not Sadducees. ey
had the common faith of Jews. ey were familiar with
the resurrection of all; but a resurrection from among the
dead-this they could not understand at all. ey inquire
what it should mean. Could we have a clearer proof that
a resurrection from among the dead with a distinct and
denite idea?
Acts 10: 41 is, as others have noticed, Christ’s rising
from among the dead. As to Acts 13:34, it is Christ’s
distinctive resurrection out from among the dead to assure
the mercies of David.
Acts 26:23 is of more doubtful signication, but not on
this point. e translation in English cannot be sustained.
I suppose it is “ he rst, through resurrection (of the dead)
should show light to the people, and to the nations.” at
is, the doctrine of resurrection was the starting point of this
light to them. Hence we must have it general.
So in Rom. 1:4, it is just the same. He is determined
Son of God with power by resurrection, not by a special
deliverance from amongst them, but by the great fact of
resurrection-His own, ours, yea even that of the wicked. It
is by resurrection.
us I have examined all the passages quoted; and they
amply bear out the dierence and prove it. Phil. 3, Dr.
B. is obliged to admit, points unequivocally to a distinct
resurrection. e word is unique, formed to express it, a
resurrection out from among others. Many add another Greek
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
63
preposition, but the important point here is that the apostle
was willing to suer anything to obtain this resurrection
out from among others, to which he gives emphasis by
putting the Greek preposition ek (if it be not repeated) to
the beginning of the word itself. is resurrection he was
looking for was a resurrection out from amongst. e force
of the Greek word is therefore evident.
e rst resurrection does not then oer a trial to the
faith, as Mr. Birk says, but blessedly brightens the hope of
him who trusts Scripture. He believes in the redemption
which will give him a place in it, in the power which
will accomplish it, if he be not here to be changed into
the glory of his Master, and in the truth of His word who
has promised it. He does not look to being called into
judgment (though giving an account of himself to God)
in a common resurrection; because he believes that he will
be changed, or raised in Christ’s own glory, before he can
come before the judgment-seat, for the word of God tells
him so.
Dr. B. is surprised at the use of Isa. 25, and that we
should apply the taking the veil of the covering o
to men here in the esh, and swallowing up death in
victory to others who are raised. As to the last, Paul is he
who is guilty of it in i Corinthians 15. He declares it is
accomplished in the resurrection of the saints. Clearly it
does not extend to the wicked. We have only to inquire if
Isa. 25 refers to blessing to men on the earth. is Dr. B.
holds himself (p. 426). “ e dark places of the earth to be
irradiated by the beams of the Sun of righteousness.” For
this I only ask the reader to read through the chapter and
the following, or, better indeed still, to the end of chapter
28, which is incontrovertibly one prophecy, and see if there
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
64
be not the most unequivocal prophecy that can possibly
be of the blessing of Israel, and of the Gentiles-the whole
world with them. at is the burden of the prophecy and
nothing else. What is destroying the veil that is over the
nations? Is it not bringing the Gentiles into the full light
of blessing? e whole prophecy is clear as possibly can be.
e iniquity of Jacob is purged; they are gathered one by
one. He smites them only as discipline. Peace is ordained
for them; the rebuke of His people will He take away from
all the earth, etc., but another great event will take place at
the same time- death will be swallowed up of victory. is
the apostle tells us is resurrection. But if this be so (and
that it is no one subject to the word will deny), all Dr. B.’s
system is false, and what he denies is true. For the passage
describes the lling the earth with the knowledge of the
Lord; yet, if Paul is to be believed, the resurrection of the
saints takes place then.
How Dr. B. can appeal to the reader of the Bible, if any
one ever saw the distinction of celestial and terrestrial glory,
is hard to tell. 1 Corinthians 15 plainly tells us there is this
dierence of glory celestial and glory terrestrial. Ephesians
gives, as the proper and peculiar knowledge given to the
saints, that God is going to gather under one Head, Christ,
all things in heaven and on earth. Colossians 1 teaches
the same thing. at we shall rule over the earth is equally
clearly taught. If we suer, we shall reign with Him; and
what is celebrated in Rev. 5 is that the heavenly ones will
reign over the earth.
As regards Dan. 12:2 (pp. 199, 201), it is clear that it
has nothing to do with a literal resurrection, for it is said, “
Many of them which sleep,” which it is impossible to apply
to the resurrection. It would be a partial resurrection of
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
65
wicked and saints. It applies to the land of which the Lord
Jesus speaks, referring only to the Jewish people distinctly.
Verse refers to the great tribulation which comes on then in
the land of which the Lord Jesus speaks, referring formally
to this chapter; verse 2 shows that this reawakening of
Judaism will extend to those lost among the Gentiles.
Sleeping or dwelling in the dust is a gure of common use
to express utter ruin and abasement. I am not aware that
it is ever used for death, literally speaking; I believe not.
(Compare Isa. 26:19-21 and verse 14 of the same chapter.
If we take the English, Nah. 3:18.)
As regards the resurrection being necessarily continuous
in John 5 (p. 203), because the quickening of souls is, if we
take an hour in each to mean an epoch, there is no ground
for it whatever. It is a matter of revelation. “ Hour “ in one
case we know to have been eighteen hundred and sixty years
or more. “ Hour “ in the other is an analogous period; but as
to what is done in it, or how, is a pure matter of revelation.
Souls are quickened in one period, bodies in another; at
what epoch or how far successive, we must inquire from
Scripture. It does not speak of a rst quickening of souls,
and then another; it does of bodies.
As regards the expression “ dead, small and great “
necessarily including all (pp. 210, 211), I reply, clearly all
the dead. But, as the beginning of the chapter had been
assiduously showing that a large and blessed class lived
and reigned, it as clearly does not include those carefully
stated to be alive. Dr. B.’s argument destroys his own thesis.
“ ey that fear thy name small and great “ gives that class
universally. No doubt, but as evidently to the exclusion of
those who do not fear it. So “ the dead, small and great “
gives the dead, as he says, universally or indiscriminately (p.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
66
212). Clearly, but to the exclusion of those who were alive:
nothing is more simple. “ Now, in the passage before us,”
are his words, “ the only party to whom the small and great
‘ belong, as far as appears, is the dead.’ “ Of course, hence
not to the living who had been spoken of in the beginning
of the chapter-not, even on his own showing, to the living
changed when Christ comes. On his principles what will
he do with them?
As to reigning with Christ only a thousand years,
the reason is as simple as possible-Christ gives up the
kingdom at the end of this period; of course they do not
reign afterward save in the general sense of the glory. It is
expressly said, they “ shall reign over the earth “: this being
kings and priests is expressly referred to Rev. 20:6.
As to Rev. 20:4 being all exclusively a martyr scene (p.
244), I deny it. e promise to overcoming saints, and to all
redeemed saints, in the Revelation is to reign with Christ.
In Daniel, and in i Corinthians, judgment is given to all
saints. is is here fullled. “ I saw thrones, and sitters on
them, and those who had been beheaded, and those who
had not worshipped.” ese might seem to have missed all,
as the essalonians thought in a similar case, and hence
are specially named.
6
Dr. B. complains of there being none but the wicked in
the last judgment. I answer, If God enters into judgment
with any one, he is certainly condemned. John 5:24
carefully tells us that having everlasting life we shall not
come into judgment (krisis all through the passage), but are
passed from death unto life. ink of bringing Paul after
6 If the church was gone before they suered, as I do not doubt,
they would have seemed to have lost the heavenly place as too
late, the earthly as being killed. Hence the gracious Lord takes
care to show they had part in the rst resurrection.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
67
living eighteen hundred years in heaven to be judged with
the wicked! I repeat, we shall give an account of ourselves
all; but the bringing of the saints into judgment is wholly
unscriptural. Christ has put away sin for us. He is our
righteousness. We shall then be like Him who is the Judge.
Dr. B. connects the expression, “ rest of the dead,”
Rev. 20:5, with those slain, chapter 19: 21. e smallest
attention to the passage shows the absurdity of this; “ the
rest of the dead “ contrasts with some dead who had been
made alive. Now these are expressly spoken of in chapter
20: 4. ese lived and reigned; the rest of the dead did not.
e words, “ rest of the dead,” cannot apply to chapter 19:
21, unless some of these had been raised. I recognize fully
that the end of Rev. 20:4 refers to the martyrs of chapter 6
and those they were to await (p. 246). But, save by a general
analogy, which I admit in the sense in which there were
many Antichrists (and such an analogy I believe exists, and
is intended by the Holy Ghost), I wholly deny they are
pagan and papal suerers. e conclusion drawn from this
reference is without force, because the rst part of the verse
takes in the whole company of saints, who, according to
Paul, are to judge the world.
Dr. B. urges the diculty that the saints judging means
their being avenged, and that consequently their individual
persecutors must be raised. is is every way wrong. e
judging by the saints goes much further; as is evident,
they reign in judgment. But even as to avenging, it is a
mistake. If they sought vengeance against their persecutors
individually, it would be evil and sinful. It is not so. ey
are avenged on the class of the wicked, those that dwell on
earth, when these are righteously judged. So the apostles
on Babylon, where all the blood of the earth is found. ere
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
68
is no sense in the objection. Dr. B. does not believe in it. He
knows it is the power of evil, and those who there wield it,
which is to be judged.
As to Matt. 25 (p. 263) nothing can be simpler. ere is
no resurrection at all. It is a continuation from Matt. 24:31,
of what follows on Christ’s coming, the intermediate verses
being warning to Christians. When the Lord has taken
His seat on the throne of glory, having restored the Jews,
He will judge the nations. It is the judgment of the quick,
and of course, a nal judgment. ere was a judgment in
war. is closes by the binding of Satan: then a sessional
judgment. e saints are seen with Christ in both, Rev. 19
and 20: not so on the great white throne. ere Christ does
not come at all. Dr. B. says it is implied, He has just come.
is is a mere invention. In Matt. 25 there are more than
two classes. ere are sheep, and goats, and brethren, who
had been Christ’s messengers to promulgate the kingdom.
As to 2 Tim. 4:1 (p. 286), when once God’s ways as
plainly revealed in Scripture are seen, that there is an
accepted time, a time of grace, and a time of government
and judgment, this passage is as simple and clear as possible.
He says nothing of the when in that latter period, but that
when that kingdom comes, He will judge both quick and
dead. Now He judges no man; then He will judge all.
Two things may be remarked: that the living and the dead
cannot be judged together. e dead-small and great-stand
before God, and earth and heaven ee away before the face
of Him who sits on the throne. e living are not there; the
living are judged on the earth where they live, and judged
as living. is judgment of the living has been quite lost
sight of by the anti-millenarians. e Jews knew that much
better than the judgment of the dead. Next, if the period
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
69
of the kingdom had not been needed for the judgment,
the apostle had not said His appearing and His kingdom.
But He shall judge at His appearing and His kingdom.
His appearing did not suce to tell the truth He would
teach. Nothing can be simpler or clearer. It is certain that
Christ will judge the quick at His appearing. e Lord will
plead with all esh. Details are given. e majority of the
Jews will be cut o in the land; Zech. 13 ose of the ten
tribes will never get into it; Ezek. 20 e beast’s armies
will be destroyed, not a sixth part left of Gog’s. He will
send a re on them also who dwell carelessly in the isles;
He will sit, as it is stated, to judge all the heathen round
about. is is at His appearing. Now when He appears, it is
equally certain we appear with Him. e judgment of the
dead is certainly a thousand years after we have appeared
with Him, for the armies in heaven follow Him clothed
in the righteousness of the saints. ey that are with Him
are called, and chosen, and faithful. Nor are judgment
and war ever confounded with sessional judgment. But it
is a mistake of Dr. B. to say that there is no individual
judgment. e day of the appearing of the Son of man is a
day like that of Lot and Noe, a sudden and sweeping day
of judgment on the earth; yet two shall be in one bed, the
one taken the other left; two at one mill, the one taken
and the other left. Sweeping, earthly, and sudden as it is,
judging the living, yet two associated as closely as to lie in
one bed, will be severed one from the other by it. It is better
to give heed to Scripture than to speculate on what can be.
I am perfectly aware that this is applied to the destruction
of Jerusalem. Whatever analogies there may have been, it
is impossible. Let any one do what the Lord tells us to do-
read Dan. 12, and, Dr. B. himself being judge, he must see
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
70
it is the day of judgment come. Further, take days or years,
what is stated in that prophecy has had no fulllment
whatever. Further, the destruction of Jerusalem cannot be
the Lord coming, in Matt. 24, for the Lord comes after
the tribulation is over. I know it is said, the destruction
of Jerusalem is His coming as there spoken of; but here
the tribulation is over, and concludes by a subversion of all
orderly authorities, and then the Son of man comes.
Luke does speak of the siege of Jerusalem, and
consequently says nothing of the abomination of desolation,
but does of Jerusalem being trodden down till the times of
the Gentiles are fullled. As to the generation not passing
away, a reference to Deut. 32:5, 20, will give the plain and
sure sense of it, and that in reference to this very subject.
e mere common use of the word is a class of persons, as,
the generation of the wicked, not the period of a man’s life.
It is curious enough Dr. B.’s insisting that the solemnity
of the scene in Matt. 25 requires one general judgment
(p. 266), the setting of the throne in Daniel with the
judgment set and the books open, nothing of the kind.
e arbitrariness of this shows an object in interpretation
not a simple reception of the truth. Dan. 7, for Dr. B., is a
mere conict of interests, in which Christianity triumphs
(p. 341, 342), religion shall be uppermost in the world (p.
438).
Dr. B. asks, in his summary (p. 288), how remnants
can be spared and converted by occasion of the millennial
judgments on the Antichristian nation. e answer is, Every
scriptural statement of such judgment declares some will
be spared, as Zech. 13, Ezek. 20; 38, Isa. 66, Dan. 12, Isa.
18, and Isa. 26 It is expressly stated, “ when thy judgments
are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
71
righteousness.” at they will be the means of converting
others at the beginning of that epoch has nothing I
suppose wild in it. e wise will instruct many, says Daniel;
the sheep had had brethren whom they had received; the
everlasting gospel will be preached; and, when the Lord
has appeared, messengers at least will go out to announce
it to the nations who had not seen it yet. And I know of no
proof that the warlike judgment is a nal judgment, save as
to the beast and false prophet. e sessional one as in Matt.
25 clearly is. We make the judgment of Rev. 20, that of one
class only, namely, of the dead, for the simplest reason that
it speaks of that class exclusively.
As to the believers in the millennium-believers have not
to be judged at all in the proper sense of the word. Every
knee shall bow to Christ, and every soul give an account of
itself to
God. e wicked will do this before the great white
throne. Of the saints who have not died in the millennium,
If any have, giving an account of themselves, we have no
detail in Scripture.
As to the conagration, Dr. B. says (p. 293), 2 Peter 3,
Rev. 20:11; chap. 21: 1, “ describe a conagration to take
place when Christ appears the second time.” e simple
answer is, None of them say a word of Christ’s appearing.
As to Revelation, Dr. B. is rather bold to arm such a thing,
because there is a long description of Christ’s appearing
the second time and the saints with Him (p. 19), and there
is no other account of His coming at all in Revelation; and
the passages Dr. B. cites are confessedly a thousand years
after this and something more. I am aware Dr. B. explains
away Christ’s coming, as King of kings, and Lord of lords.
But there is no other coming in Revelation. As to 2 Peter 3,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
72
there is nothing of the coming of Christ save the scos of
the unbeliever, and then the apostle urges how everything
the scoer trusts in will be destroyed in the day of the Lord,
but says nothing of His coming. And this suits the subject
of Peter’s epistles. His subject, after laying the foundation
of the gospel, is the government of God, and the path of
the saint in connection with it; in the rst epistle in favor of
the saints; in the second, as against the wicked. Hence he
follows out this government to its nal close, the melting
of the elements with fervent heat, showing the folly of the
wicked in reckoning on the continuance of earthly things,
and what the saints ought to be, seeing all earthly things
were destined to be burned. He does not say that this would
be at Christ’s coming, but in the day of the Lord, i.e., the
time of His judgment, and so it will.
As regards the state of the millennium (part 2), Dr. B.
has no apprehension of the great leading truths as to it at all;
he loses himself in details, nding dierences in teachers;
cannel-. as it is said, see the wood for the trees. Nor does he
see the force of the argument as to the subsistence of evil up
to the time of Christ’s coming and the distinctness of the
character of the millennium. He looks at it as a question
of how many tares
7
and the like (p. 325 and following). It
is one of God’s relationship with men, and His ways of
government with them.
Up to the death of Christ man was under probation in
every form-innocent, without law (promises being given to
Abraham), under law, the priesthood given, royalty in Israel,
imperial power among the Gentiles, prophets, and at last
7 It is revealed that the spared ones of Israel at least, and the
nations at large, are all righteous (Isaiah 60: 21; Matt. 25); but
it is not said of the multitudes afterward born.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
73
God’s Son. As to all man failed wholly and irremediably. e
mind of the esh was found to be enmity against God. is
was one great scene-the display of the relationship of God
with man, when man was tried and found wanting, tried in
every way, and by all God could win him by, saying, “ I have
yet one Son, it may be they will reverence my Son “-not
only proved failure, when innocent and departing from
God; but when God, in perfect grace, sought him when he
had failed and where he was, irreclaimable. Man was lost,
and had rejected, as far as his act went, Him that had come
to save him. Before then God set up His glory publicly in
the second Adam, in whom every one of the failing forms
of relationship are fully and perfectly established: He calls
a people to be joint-heirs with this second Adam-to be
in a special place of association with Him, His bride, His
body, the church, composed of children of God, conscious-
through the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven-of their
relationship of sons with the Father. ese are heirs of
God, joint-heirs with Christ. eir union in one body,
with Christ head over all things, was a mystery hidden
from ages and generations, and only now that Christ was
gone up revealed to the sons of men. God’s purpose is to
gather together in one all things in heaven and earth under
Christ. Called to be in the same relationship to God and
the Father as Christ Himself, who is gone to His Father
and our Father, His God and our God; we are joint-heirs
with Him of this inheritance of all things. (Compare Rom.
8, Eph. 1, Col. 1) When the gathering of these is complete,
Christ receives them to Himself; and then, setting aside by
power, the power and reign of evil, establishes peace and
order on the earth, and reduces everything into subjection
(everything having been put under Him, as Man, by the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
74
Father); and, when all is subjected, delivers up the kingdom
to the Father. e mediatorial kingdom of man ceases,
though surely not the personal glory of Christ.
All this divine scheme is set aside by Dr. B.’s millennium,
and his confounding the fact of ecient grace and salvation
with the ways of God on the earth for the revelation of
Himself and the instruction of men. From Adam to the end
of time no one was or will be saved but by the redemption
and the work of the Spirit. But this does not make promise
law, nor law gospel, nor any of them God’s government of
the world.
us, promises apart, before Christ, God’s way of dealing
with men (after His leaving them to themselves, though
not without testimony, had closed) was that of denite
responsibility by a law, and man’s bearing the consequences.
“ is do, and thou shalt live “; “ Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law.” After redemption was accomplished, it was
the revelation of sovereign grace saving the lost, Jew or
Gentile, the middle wall of partition being broken down.
In the age to come- for that there is one is declared in
Scripture-God’s power in the government of this world
will be displayed, setting aside the power of evil, according
to the clearest prophecies. Now, by grace and the power of
the Holy Ghost, saints make their way in patience against
the prevailing power of the god and prince of this world.
en, the power of Christ will have set aside and bound
down the power of evil. In all, people are saved in the same
way.
But the destruction of Babylon and the marriage of the
Lamb, the church being complete, are not small things in
their nature, though they are not individual salvation. And
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
75
it is beyond controversy that this, and the destruction of
the beast by Christ’s coming, and, note, the saints’ coming
with Him, precede the millennium; while, as I have already
stated, on the setting up of the great white throne and the
judgment of the dead, Christ does not come at all.
To make the working of grace and the execution of
judgment and wrath on a whole system like Babylon the
same, as Dr. B. does (p. 353), is really monstrous. And to
call the public destruction of Christ’s enemies by power,
contrasted with gracious inuence, carnal, is as irreverent
as it is unsound. “ Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet
will he not learn righteousness; yea, when thy hand is lifted
up they will not see, but they shall see and be ashamed
for their envy at the people; yea, the re of thine enemies
shall devour them.” us grace and judgment are denitely
contrasted, and it is stated that it is not by grace but by
judgments that righteousness will be introduced into the
world. e references in this part of Dr. B.’s book to Daniel
I have fully answered.
As regards Dr. B.’s views of Satan’s power, I can
see nothing but the same ignorance of scripture truth
as to what the character of that power is. He says, If
unregenerate and regenerate still continue, the doctrine
which supposes a cessation of Satan’s inuence must be
erroneous. All this is a mistake, and besides that, leaves the
true question untouched. When Adam was innocent there
was no distinction; he was neither, but Satan’s inuence
was shown. When the Lord was tempted by the devil,
when his power returned to try Him after having left Him
for a season, it had nothing to do with regenerate and
unregenerate. Christ bound the strong man and spoiled
his goods even in this world. Dr. B. confounds the state of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
76
a soul with Satan’s action. When the Lord prospectively,
as Dr. B. justly says, saw Satan fall from heaven, it had
nothing to do with the whole conquests of his people (p.
419), but with casting out devils, the power (miracles)
of the world to come when he will be wholly cast out. I
have already said that the binding the strong man was rst
between Satan and Christ in person. When he had failed
in tempting the Lord, the Lord removed here below the
whole power of the enemy, as manifested wherever He met
it-diseases, want, possession, death. But he had departed
from Him only “ for a season,” because another diculty,
the carnal mind, enmity against God when He is displayed
in goodness, had to be met. Hence he returns at the end. “
e prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.”
Still it was Satan’s hour and the power of darkness; yet that
the Lord might triumph over him, accomplishing the work
of redemption.
All this is not merely a conict of interest on earth (p.
420). It is a change in the whole condition of the world, and
the relationship in which it stands with God, the world’s
condition. Satan was not yet cast down from heaven by
power and victory in conict carried on there. e promised
Messiah present in Person had been rejected, and with
wicked hands crucied and slain. Was this simply a battle
between Christ’s truth and the devil’s lies, in the persons
of their respective adherents among men? (p. 409). at
battle there was, and Christ’s adherents ed, and then-
God’s purposes were accomplished surely, in the deepest
personal humiliation of Christ, self-humiliation (blessed
be God it was so!) but in which, an event to which none
is parallel, took place by the public power of Satan, we can
thank God-the destruction of his power in a total change
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
77
of everything. And He who was humbled will be gloried,
and the head of him who bruised the Lord’s heel will be
itself bruised.
I will now go through the passages Dr. B. refers to, to
show how monstrous his glosses are; because, once this
setting aside of Satan’s power by power, as contrasted with
overcoming his temptations by grace, is made clear, the
whole question is settled between us. In the passages referred
to we shall nd the proof of that judicial destruction of the
public power of Satan, which. Dr. B., by a fatal mistake,
confounds with the victory of the heart over him by grace,
when his power subsists. For this reason I do not insist on
the proofs of that destruction now. e discussion of the
passages will provide it.
Dr. B. rst refers to Rev. 20:7, 1-3. His rst objection is
that it is found nowhere else: but this is a mistake. He must
be aware, or ought to be, that, with the exception of Job
and Zechariah, Satan is not mentioned by name in the Old
Testament, save in Chronicles 21: 1, Satan provoked David
to number Israel, and Psa. 109-both as an adversary. In Job
we see Satan as an accuser, raising a storm to destroy Job’s
sons, smiting Job with diseases. He is only seen to excite
lusts in urging Chaldeans and Sabeans to plunder; and in
no case of lies and truth in any persons. In Zechariah he
is seen in a vision resisting the high priest, as an accuser.
So, in Psa. 109:6, it is a judgment on a wicked man to have
Satan at his right hand.
e truth is, till the true light came, neither the
opposition of esh and Spirit nor the deceitful working
of Satan formed part of the public teaching or experience
of the saints. But where the coming of the Lord in the
judgment of this world is spoken of (Isa. 24), introducing
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
78
the millennial state, even as Dr. B. admits, then we are told
He shall punish the host of the high ones on high, and the
kings of the earth upon the earth. (Compare chapter 32:1.)
I do not doubt that the esh was at work, nor that the devil
tempted and deceived them; but it is not the subject of Old
Testament teaching, nor the acting of Satan’s power in the
world, nor is its destruction. Satan is never recognized as
prince of this world, till he was able to lead the world, Jew
and Gentile, against Christ. He could not, while Jehovah
ruled in His personal presence in Israel; and till Messiah
came, God kept up that system more or less. e rejection
of Christ marked out Satan as the prince of this world, yet
the rejected One was to bruise his head. is was not done
by Christianity nor individuals overcoming while Satan
held his power. We wrestle against spiritual wickedness
in heavenly places-there where our promises are; as Israel
against esh and blood where their promises were.
e possession of the Holy Ghost and the true light has
shown us the spring and power of evil-the devil and Satan;
and we see the Father opposed to the world, the Son to
Satan, and the Spirit to the esh. In Isaiah we have seen a
distinct reference to the casting down of these powers on
high at the renewal of the world: in the New Testament,
this being his place of power, his falling from heaven-his
being cast out of heaven, on which ensues a total change of
governmental order, while to heaven he never returns. It is
declared he shall be bruised under our feet shortly. at is,
Scripture clearly contemplates the closing of the exercise
of his power. e order of the setting aside of his power
is stated. ere was war in heaven. Michael and his angels
fought, and the devil fought and his angels; and the place
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
79
of these last was no more found in heaven. According to
Dr. B. this is Constantine.
Let us see how this hangs together. e accuser
8
of the
brethren is cast down. Did this cease in Constantine’s time?
If so, the whole condition of the Christian was changed.
But no: this only means “ he lost his party “ at court (p. 406);
and the court, I suppose, was to rejoice, and on the earth
(the lower orders, says Dr. B.) woe (those who wished to
be pagans: who can tell why?). He has great rage, knowing
his time to be short-just twelve hundred and sixty days.
But rage against whom? On this, or on what the woman
is, total and convenient silence. e woman ees into the
wilderness. I suppose we must hop over to Popery here.
But that will not do, because those who follow this system
say that commenced two or three hundred years later;
and at any rate, if all is joy by the triumph of Christianity,
how comes the same epoch to be the time of the woman’s
ight? Was there ever a lamer interpretation, or one more
calculated to bring scripture interpretation into contempt?
Is it not evident that here a display of divine power in
heavenly places has cast down Satan from the place where
we, it is expressly said, have to wrestle with him? While
he was there, he accused the brethren; while he did, they
overcame by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony.
is accusation had ceased. Satan could no more enter
heaven, as in Job, to do it. e dwellers in heaven could
rejoice; their trial in this way was over. e rage of Satan
8 is cessation of the heavenly accusing power is collaterally
conrmed by the fact that in chapter i3 the rst beast only
blasphemes those that dwell in heaven-cannot touch or injure
them; and the second beast, Satan’s active power, is false
prophet and false king, as a lamb with two horns, but has no
pretension to be an anti-priest now.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
80
was now to vent itself on earth. e woman, the Jewish
people as God’s people, became his object. Satan could be
no longer an accuser. at salvation, strength, the kingdom
of our God and the power of His Christ, was come, meant,
we are told, that it had taken a glorious start. at it is “
the progress of what had been for centuries nding it hard,
in the heat of continual persecution, to keep its ground “
(p. 406). Yet, strange to say, the chapter tells us that the
change was to the great rage of Satan and persecution, so
that the woman had to ee entirely out of the scene. Only
Christianity was well at court. His being cast out to the
earth is his seeking to create a party among the people (p.
407), which, note, he had before.
Dr. B. says the expulsion was brought about by the
Christians overcoming by the blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony. But the chapter states that
they overcame him while he was the accuser, and in heaven
in this way. His overthrow was by the exercise of power
in Michael and the angelic host. In every case it is not a
victory of faithfulness, but a judicial destruction of power,
which brought about a new state of things. It was not
adherents to Christ’s cause victorious over the inuence
of Satan’s lies, but a judicial action of God overthrowing
Satan’s royal, power in their favor. It is not a battle “
between Christ’s truth and the devil’s lies in the persons
of their respective adherents amongst men “ (p. 409 or p.
417), “ just the Christians, or Christ in them, believing
men sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb undaunted in
witnessing for Jesus, as become pardoned men, and ready
to go as sheep to the slaughter for his name’s sake.” “ us
is the devil represented as cast out of the pagan world by
the instrumentality of believing men.” is is Michael and
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
81
his angels ghting in heaven, and Satan and his angels
cast out, so that he accused the brethren no more there,
but persecuted them with relentless rage on the earth-the
Christianizing of the empire, that is! (p. 405). Afterward,
when the twelve hundred and sixty days are nished,
during which the blaspheming beast had his power, the
precise period of Satan being on the earth when cast out of
heaven, but which is the Christianizing the empire, if we
are to believe Dr. B., then the beast makes war against the
Lamb (the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet having
gathered the kings • of the earth for the nal struggle). e
beast is taken, and then Satan, who had raged the three
years and a half, is bound in the bottomless pit. Such is the
progress of the exercise of the Lord’s power against Satan,
not of the saints’ overcoming.
But there is a statement of this book just alluded to
which shows the more than absurdity of this whole system
of interpretation. e coming of the kingdom and salvation
of God, and the power of His Christ, is Constantine’s
accession to the throne, we are told. ereupon, says the
passage, the three years and a half of Satan’s great rage and
the persecution of the woman begin; but this three years
and a half is the time of the reign of the blasphemous beast
out of the bottomless pit; so that the coming of salvation,
power, and the kingdom, is, according to Dr. B.’s system,
the setting up of the power of the blasphemous beast, who
is worshipped, and has every one killed he can, who does
not do so. Can absurdity of a system go farther?
Now take the chapter simply. e woman is the Jewish
system. Satan, the prince of the power of the air, is really
cast out from his place of heavenly power, where the church
had to contend with him when he was the accuser of the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
82
brethren. He is victoriously expelled thence by angelic
power. And he thereupon comes down to earth, but raging
at his defeat and casting down, to remain yet three years and
a half on earth. He then persecutes the woman-the Jewish
people, faithful to God; but they are preserved by God-
setting up the last blasphemous state of the Roman Empire.
At the end of this period (the same as that stated in Dan.
12, to which the Lord refers in connection with Jerusalem)
the Lord comes as King of kings, and Lord of lords, the
persecuting beast or blasphemous empire is destroyed, and
Satan bound, so as not to deceive the nations till a thousand
years are over. It is not grace given to overcome his wiles,
as is expressly said to be the Christian position, and that in
its most advanced state as in the epistle to the Ephesians;
but Satan not allowed to exercise his wiles. Power external
to man, divine power, guratively represented by an angel
with a great chain, binds the adversary and hinders his
attempts to deceive the nations.
It is evident that grace given to overcome is dierent
from the putting down the power, so that it is not there
to be overcome. God has taken to Him great power and
reigns (Rev. 11), and the worldly kingdom of our Lord and
of His Christ is come. It was not come before as God’s
taking to Him His power and reigning. e saints were in
the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. Christ is now
expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. en He
will trample on them. But He has not them now to trample
on: He is sitting on the right hand of the Father, expecting
that time. Nothing, it seems to me, can be simpler, and
proved by, or rather stated from, concurrent passages from
various parts of the Scripture.
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
83
e dierence of interpretation arises from this: Dr.
B. judges of what must be from his own notions of what
ought to be; the statement I have made is taken from
Scripture itself. He says (p. 411), speaking of the binding
of Satan, “ Has the church, in all time before, come to the
help of the Lord against the mighty? and has the Lord,
reversing all His former methods, come now to the help
of the church against the mighty? I think not. It is Christ’s
doing, doubtless; but it is His doing in and by His church.”
He then refers to Rev. 19:20; and says the church will
do both (p. 411). I believe the church will have been caught
up to meet the Lord in the air; but let that pass. e Lord
does reverse His former methods. Up to this, Christ was
expecting till His enemies were made His footstool. Now
they are made such, and the Lord takes to Him His great
power and reigns. Satan, heretofore an accuser in heaven,
is now cast down; the salvation and kingdom of God is
come, and the power of His Christ, and Satan is bound
who before was not bound, and no longer allowed to
deceive the nations which hitherto he had done. is is
a total change in the state of things. “ I think not “ is no
answer to scriptural statement such as this.
e other passages quoted by Dr. B. hardly need a
comment. He quotes 1 John 3:8-10, and pretends that no
one can sin unless actuated by Satan in all the sin which
he cherishes and commits (p. 399). Now that this is the
case I do not deny, though most clearly lust exists, and
therefore sin, without the present action of Satan. at is
fundamental truth. But the apostle has given altogether
another explanation of what he says (not what Dr. B.
says); the reasoning plainly is, “ For the devil sinneth
from the beginning.” e sinner has the same character;
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
84
consequently, by the universal Hebrew idiom they are
called his children. ere is not a word of being actuated by
him in the passage. e reason given as to good is not that
God actuates the saint, true as that is, but that he is born
of Him-has His nature. e great subject of John in his
epistle is life and nature, not the power of the Holy Ghost,
which he only refers to as a proof of dwelling in God. ere
is no ground for what Dr. B. says at all, important as the
subject is in its place and far too much forgotten.
e next is Heb. 2:14, 15. To this I have nothing to say.
Death is the last enemy to be destroyed. What then? It is
not destroyed till death and hades give up their prey. But
how does that hinder Satan, who has the immediate power
of it, being bound for a thousand years? Christ can surely,
if He see t, cut o the wicked out of the land. He has
the keys of hades and of death, and this scripture speaks
of, not of the saints dying at all. ese He would not cut
o; Psalm l00, Isa. 65 He quotes Rom. 16:20, alluding
surely to the old promise. But it is a fatal mistake, which
showed itself in a previous passage less closely, to suppose
that Satan being set aside “ is equivalent to the complete
destruction of all that stands in the way of our salvation.”
It is a fatal lie against the truth. ere is our own sinful
nature besides. How it acts when temptation is not there,
men may have foolishly speculated on. But Dr. B. is utterly
and fundamentally wrong. It is even false to say he actuates
us in hell. ere is no scripture for it at all. He is the most
grievously punished there-has no power. All this argument
is a total failure. at sin cannot exist without Satan’s
presence and tribulation, he has no ground for whatever.
at they go together constantly now in us is true, not
necessarily always. But there is temptation without sin
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
85
being yet there, as in Adam, who fell under it, and Christ,
who did not; there is temptation and sin as in our case;
and there may be a sinful nature without temptation, for it
certainly subsists now without it and before it. It is there
already when temptation is applied to it. Dr. B. sees only a
moral internal state in Satan’s power, not external power, of
which scripture largely speaks. “ Behold I give you power
to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you.”
So the cases of possession, and Job’s history to which I have
referred.
He refers further to Rev. 2 (Satan’s throne being in
Pergamos), and says it “ certainly refers to the powerful
party which Satan had in the place.” Why? A throne is not
a party, and no way of expressing it, but the contrary. Satan
is the prince and god of this world, the prince of the power
of the air, the ruler of the darkness of this world. He has
the throne. His having a party is a miserably false gloss.
I have only now to notice Dr. B.’s description of the
millennium, which requires little remark, because he applies
the same passages to it I should, and our controversy is as
to how it is brought in (i.e., whether by Christ’s coming
again or not), which he does not here speak of, and we have
considered it already. But I must object to this constant
tendency to set aside Christ’s personal glory and its display.
us Dr. B.’s view of the millennium is founded on 1 Peter
1:1 r, the suerings of Christ and the glories that should
follow. Here he takes glories for no personal glories of
Christ at all, but “the glorious results of the suerings”
(p. 424). Now that tells the tale of the system. It is one
which excludes Christ’s Person and personal glory, to
substitute results in man for them. I love the view I have,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
86
just because it brings in Christ personally. He quotes Isa.
11:9 (p. 425). It is diusion of revealed truth! Isaiah says
the knowledge of Jehovah (as elsewhere the knowledge of
the glory of Jehovah), which is not revealed truth as known
by the revelation of the Father in the Son, the Holy Ghost
declaring it. Otherwise, of course, we expect the earth to
be full of the knowledge of Jehovah. Isa. 25:7: he speaks
of the progress of fulllment; the passage, of destroying a
covering at a particular time. e rod of Christ’s strength
out of Zion is assumed to be the gospel. Why so? We
have already seen it is the time of the resurrection of the
saints, if Paul is to be believed. e serpent’s power is to be
destroyed, judgment executed on the earth. Let the reader
only read Isa. 24 and 27 and see if it be the gospel.
But a few words more precisely as to the quotation: “
e rod of thy power out of Zion.” It is from Psa. 110,
where the time of Christ’s sitting on God’s right hand, that
is, the present time of the gospel, is explicitly contrasted
with the time of the rod of Christ’s power. He is to sit there
till God makes His enemies His footstool, and then rule in
their midst in the day of His power, the rod being sent out
of Zion which had rejected Him, smiting through kings in
the day of His wrath. Is that the gospel? It is easy to quote
the passages to which theological tradition has given an
interpretation. Reading the passages always dispels these.
Again, Dr. B. quotes Psa. 2:7; but what follows was too
plain, and he omits it. It is this: “ ou shalt rule them
with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces like a potter’s
vessel.” Is this the gospel too? Let the reader consult the
promise to yatira in Rev. 2, and he will see that this
promise is reserved for the overcomers also, when Christ
comes. Till then, Christ sits at God’s right hand, and His
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
87
saints go to heaven. In Isa. 2, also quoted, He judges among
the nations, arises to shake terribly the earth; the day of
the Lord of hosts is on everything exalted for judgment,
so that they would hide themselves in caves of the earth.
How ridiculous it is to quote this for the gospel! In Isa.
66 the Lord comes with re to render His anger with
fury, and His rebukes with ames of re, and pleads with
all esh, judging and destroying the wicked. is, for Dr.
B. is the gospel. He is bold enough to quote Zech. 14:9,
where the Lord gathers all the nations against Jerusalem
to battle, goes forth and destroys them, and His feet stand
on the Mount of Olives, and then the Lord is King over
all the earth. To quote this for the spread of the gospel is
infatuation. A person may say, I do not understand it; but
to quote it for the gospel is presuming on carelessness or
folly in the reader. e examination of the other passages
would show rather that they had nothing to do with the
matter, or that they prove the contrary.
A time of peace (p. 428) it will be. But Israel will be
denitely owned as God’s people (Isa. 1), which cannot
be while the gospel endures-a fact which, of itself, suces
to overthrow Dr. B.’s system. Isa. 2 I have examined. Mic.
4 equally refers to Israel in the most explicit way, and
judgment and vengeance on the heathen “ such as they
have not heard,” and Christ’s presence in Israel after Israel
had been given up for rejecting Him. Its application to the
last days is as plain as language can make it. Dr. B. says that
the millennium will be distinguished by much spiritual
power and glory (p. 431), and to prove it, quotes the revival
at Northampton under President Edwards. He afterward
quotes Isa. 56 and 60, both referring exclusively and
expressly to Jerusalem and the Jews: the former insisting
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
88
on the judgment of the Gentiles, the latter, as we have seen,
of all esh.
To quote Rom. 11: 26-29 is more than boldness. It is
adduced as a description of the millennium, as it surely is,
and declares that then there shall come out of Zion the
Deliverer to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Nor is that
all. It is explicitly contrasted with the gospel, “ as concerning
the gospel they are enemies for your sakes.” So far from
Israel being brought in by the gospel, they were enemies as
regards that; yet as a nation (as which they cannot possibly
come into the church, where there is neither Jew nor
Gentile) they are beloved for the fathers’ sake-a principle
which can have no place at all in the gospel as we possess
it. And in quoting Zechariah, Dr. B. is obliged to add “ by
faith “: “ they look [by faith] on him.” What right has he to
change the express text of Scripture? “ omas, because thou
hast seen, thou hast believed; blessed are they who have not
seen who have believed.” Hence there are those who believe
not having seen, and those who believe when they see. And
in Revelation we nd “ behold he cometh with clouds; and
every eye shall see him, and they who pierced him.” And
in the passage itself (the next preceding verse), the Lord
destroys the nations which come against Jerusalem (all the
people of the earth being gathered together against it). It
is the day of the Lord, we further read, and His feet stand
on Mount Olivet. Is it not as clear as daylight in all these
passages that it is a time of judgment and display of the
Lord’s power, as dierent from the gospel as one thing can
be from another?
e last character is the ascendancy of truth and
righteousness on the earth (p. 437). Why not of Christ?
No, this must not be. What is the proof given of that
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
89
ascendancy? “ I saw one like unto the Son of man.” When
the judgment of the Ancient of days was set, and the beast
destroyed, and his body given to the burning ame-” and he
was brought near before him. And there was given to him
dominion, glory, and a kingdom.” Why is Christ carefully
excluded by Dr. B. from the fulllment of this, and the
thought changed into the ascendancy of truth? Christ’s
personal glory they will not have. Are not all things in
heaven and earth to be brought under Him as Man? Is
it not the special purpose of God to put all things under
man’s feet as man? to reconcile things to Himself in heaven
and earth (not the infernal things, compare Phil. 2), and
that contrasted with the reconciliation of the church? (Col.
1). Not only so, but in Dan. 7 the Ancient of days comes.
Temporal prosperity there will be; I need not insist on it.
But if it be the life of faith still, it is only a great danger,
not a blessing.
All own this happy state will end in a nal rebellion
when Satan is let loose. I believe there will be a decline, as
I have said, but this is not Satan’s being let loose. He did
not deceive the nations then. He is let loose, and does it
afterward. Dr. B. tells us it cannot be an immediate change
from piety to impiety-from the hypocritical form of piety
to impiety it is, so as to form a complete and denite
separation of the good and the evil. ey are deceived and
gathered together to battle, and the saints crowded into
their own camp. ere is no description of a decay of love,
nor cry of saints, nor failure of faith as to the Son of man’s
coming. He does not come at all. ere is not a hint of
it, but a plain description of His coming a thousand years
before, after the marriage of the Lamb, which Dr. B. says
is not His coming. Now re comes down from heaven and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
90
destroys them; and then, without any coming, the great
white throne is set up, and the dead judged.
I have done: if Scripture is to be believed, Dr. B.’s
system cannot stand. It is founded on tradition, not on the
word. Diculties of detail there may be: we may expect
them. Human additions of theologians, Dr. B. may array
in antagonism one to another; but no one can read the
scripture with intelligence, and not see the dierence
between the gospel gathering the saints as Christ’s joint-
heirs and bride, while He is sitting on the right hand of
God, and His judging this world when He takes to Him
His power (God having put His enemies under His
feet). ese Dr. B. everywhere confounds, mixing up the
judgment of the quick with that of the dead, and making
the redemption of the church uncertain by bringing it
into the same judgment as the wicked; whilst the plainest
statements and language of scripture are explained away,
so as to leave the personal glory of Christ out of the scene,
where the word of God says it will be displayed.
As much excitement has been caused by the question,
as to whether Louis Napoleon is the Antichrist or not, I
add that I have not the smallest doubt that he is the great
agent of the formation of the Latin or ten-horned beast at
present, and that his operations distinctly mark the rapid
approach of the nal scenes. Blessed be God! But rstly, I
do not think that beast to be the Antichrist, but that a false
Christ in Judea, who will minister to his power and deceive
the nations, will be. Secondly, the saints will be caught up
to meet the Lord in the air before Antichrist is revealed.
And, thirdly, the computation of dates is all unfounded.
ere are general analogies, I have no doubt, as there have
been many Antichrists who were not the Antichrist. But
Brief Remarks on “Christ’s S econd Coming: Is It Pre-Millennial?”
91
the precise computation of time begins again with Daniel’s
last week (or, more accurately, half-week), when the
abomination of desolation is placed in the holy place, and
then the computation is by literal days, God’s short work
on the earth. In a word, exact computations are by literal
days, though general statements and analogies may be by
years. It is to be feared England will be dragged into the
vortex of the ten kingdoms: God knows.
At any rate, for the Christian, his place, and country,
his citizenship, is in heaven always. ere evils will not
come, nor Satan’s power. Even out of the created heavens
he will be cast for the power of evil to begin on earth. We
justly mourn over the progress of his delusions on earth,
and how the wise men of this world are deceived by him.
But he cannot touch our portion; and his progress only
brings us nearer to it. “ Now is your salvation nearer than
when ye believed.” May we have our hearts delivered from
this present evil world! I think Louis Napoleon a sign of
prophetical progress towards the close; but I earnestly desire
that the hearts of the saints may be in heaven, where evil or
its signs cannot come. I may add that, though events have
made progress, the view of the position of Louis Napoleon
falls in entirely with Faber’s view of the rst Napoleon, that
he was the seventh head of the beast who was to continue
for a short time; indeed, it was that of others too.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
92
62485
e Coming of the Lord and
the Translation of the
Church
9
Direct testimony to the existence of a Jewish remnant
with Jewish hopes, sanctioned of the Lord, having been
published elsewhere, and the doctrine of the church
also having been briey brought out, as connected with
the Lord’s coming, the object here is to examine, in a
supplementary notice, some diculties which a serious
mind might nd in the suggestions of those who oppose
the rapture of the church. It is true that if the statements of
Scripture be adequately weighed, and the truths which have
been drawn from it received into the heart, the answer to
all these diculties is already possessed; or if we be unable
to explain these objections, they have no force against the
direct proofs Scripture gives of the truth, save to prove our
own incapacity to solve them.
us it is insisted on, in the pamphlet before us, pages
13, 14, that we wait with the world for the appearing of
Christ. “ In 1 ess. 5:1-4, after speaking of the day of
the Lord coming on the world as a thief in the night, the
apostle adds, ‘ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that
day should overtake you as a thief.’ e natural inference
being, that the day of the Lord will come simultaneously
9 An attempt to answer the questions, “ May the coming of the
Lord be expected immediately? and Will the translation of the
church be secret? “ By George J. Walker. London: Whittaker
& Co.
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
93
upon the world and the church; only it will nd the latter
prepared for it, while it will be destruction to the former.”
Now, take the plain expression of one passage which sums
up the declarations of many, “ when Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” It
at once shows that, whatever may be the divine reasons for
referring us to the Lord’s appearing, as a time of blessing,
or in connection with our responsibility (and Scripture
does both), it is perfectly certain that it is not meant that
we shall not be with Christ before He appears, nor that we
shall be personally on earth as others are, so that He will
appear to us and the earth at the same time. is we know
to be false doctrine; because the word tells us that we shall
then appear, or be manifested, along with Him.
But we learn more as to the teaching of those who would
persuade us of it. e aim of that teaching, its direct and
necessary tendency, is to destroy our distinctive relationship
with Christ, and to connect us with the world, reducing us
to the lowest possible level of hope which can be true for one
who is not actually lost. Our proper heavenly connection
with Christ is lost. is aim is accompanied by so obvious
a loss of all spiritual intelligence, such an obliteration of
the positive teaching of Christ and the Holy Ghost, that it
becomes at once evident, to those not under its inuence,
what its source is.
Nor can anything be more groundless than the special
objections. e rst is a very favorite one of this school. “
It [i.e., the view combated] takes away from us our direct
and full interest in considerable portions of the gospels,
and almost the whole of the Apocalypse; for these are
regarded as strictly and properly belonging only to certain
parties, Jews and Gentiles, which will come under the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
94
divine dealings after the removal of the church,” etc. (pages
5, 6). To talk, then, of robbing us of much in the gospels
and the Apocalypse is, we repeat, the more absurd, since
the special privilege of the heavenly saints is to know what
does not concern them. In virtue of this, they are “ friends,”
not because of having external signs given. To encourage
the weak faith of the tried Jewish remnant they were
really given, as will appear more clearly when we come to
examine Matt. 24, and kindred Scriptures. But it is a hollow
and false principle that the gift of a revelation to any one
implies that he will be in the circumstances described: least
of all is it true of the church, to which all Scripture is given.
But thence to argue that we must be there, that this or
that prediction is about us, is as unreasonable as contrary
to fact. Yet ought the church to have an understanding of
all, for “ we have the mind of Christ.” e Lord’s grace
communicates to us what concerns others, and sometimes
that we may intercede for others. us it was with
Abraham: the Lord revealed to him what did not concern
himself. Did Abraham lose by the Lord’s communicating
to him what concerned Lot? or would he have gained by
imagining that it was about himself? Was Enoch worse
o than Noah because the one declared what was coming
on the world, not on himself, and was translated before
there was a sign of the judgment, while the other received a
warning of what concerned the circumstances he was in, so
that, moved with fear, he gave heed and was saved through
the deluge of waters? So with the church in the Revelation.
None can deny that there is absolute silence as to the
church (we do not say saints) on earth when the terrible
judgments, symbolized by seals, trumpets, and vials, issue
from the throne. Churches are spoken of before Rev. 4, and
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
95
they are addressed after the visions close in Rev. 22 For no
doubt the church ought to be the vessel of divine testimony
as to what is coming, as Enoch was, and ought to be in the
place of intercession, as was Abraham; but the church is
outside the scene of judgment in the Revelation, as both
these types were in Genesis.
But the second objection surrenders, in fact, the
principles of which the rst complains so loudly; for it is
owned, though it seems reluctantly, that there are passages
in the gospels (and so much the more in the Revelation)
where the apostles are not our representatives. us, while
we are privileged to prot by Matthew 10, it is plain that
the commission there given is, in important respects, the
reverse of our service as Christians now. It is only through
the Holy Ghost enabling us to compare aright scripture
with scripture, that we can discern what concerns a Jewish
remnant of old or by and by, and that which describes
or supposes our position. e author asks somewhat
triumphantly in page 7, “ Do they represent us, and listen
for us, at the sermon on the Mount, at the last supper, at
the concluding discourse in John; and yet represent another
set of people in Matt. 24, and Luke 21? Are we on church
ground with Martha and Mary at Bethany; and in company
with the Jewish remnant when we place ourselves with the
disciples on the Mount of Olives? (Matt. 24:3).” Now, so
far are the distinctions in question of an arbitrary nature
that the argument used to expose them demonstrates their
reality. For imbedded in the sermon on the Mount are
words of our Lord which apply far more closely to Jews or
the remnant than to the church. (See Matt. 5:25; 6:12, 13,
33, etc.). And as to the prophetic discourses in Matt. 24
and 25, it carries on its front and within its own compass,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
96
the clearest evidence of these distinctions. For in the early
part the Lord speaks of the temple and its destruction,
of the abomination of desolation, with express reference
to a prophecy which professedly relates to the Jews and
the remnant up to the last days. But this is not all. What
has this character and is connected with Jerusalem, Judea,
and that nation, is plainly distinguished from the parables
which relate to Christians during the absence of the Lord
(viz., the household servant, the virgins, and the talents).
ese last are not Jewish, but in some respects in marked
contrast with what precedes, as well as with the closing
sketch in Matt. 25 which gives the Lord’s dealings with the
Gentiles on His return as King. To deny these distinctions,
then, is ignorance, and nothing better.
Nobody arms that the church existed as a fact at
the last supper in Jerusalem, or when the Lord uttered
His discourses, etc., in John 13-17, or at Bethany; but it
is abundantly clear that these scenes contemplated much
which was afterward veried in the church, and outside
the remnant, while the remnant had special provision for
it made in Luke 21. Nothing simpler than what the writer
seeks to mystify.
Again, in this late defense of the system which denies
the distinct portion of the church and its rapture previous
to the Lord’s appearing, the time of vengeance in which
even the Jewish remnant is desired to ee-the time of
visiting the unbelief of the nation with anguish and trouble
unheard of; in a word, the most awful chastisement for
unfaithfulness the world ever saw-is confounded with
the privilege of suering for Christ by faith! “A further
objection to it is the extraordinary result, that the church
will be removed from the earth at the very time of all
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
97
others when we should think its testimony would be most
needed, and when suering will be most glorious [!!].
Surely, of all others, the church of Christ is best tted to
be confronted with the great Antichrist and his followers.
Strange, indeed, should its martyrology break o at that
critical period! Strange if tribulations, closely linked in the
apocalyptic visions with the brightest glories of heaven,
should be reserved for another than that body, which
for nearly two thousand years has been associated in the
kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ! “ (Attempt, page
7.) Can ignorance of God’s ways be shown more painfully
than this confusion of suering with Christ, and suering
fearful penalty for having slighted Him and His will?
e last of these general presumptions is that Scripture
intimates delays and impediments to the coming of Christ
(pages 7, 8); and it is argued, that if to know what shall
befall others be a privilege, still more what personally
aects ourselves. Can anything exceed the blindness here
manifested as to what spiritual privilege is? Is knowing
what applies to ourselves the proof that we are friends of
God? After Abraham had promises relative to himself and
his seed, the Lord says, “ Shall I hide from Abraham that
thing which I do? “ And what did He make known to him?
What concerned himself? No; but what concerned Lot,
of which there was no need. Lot heard in due time what
concerned himself. So, says the Lord, in a scripture which
the writer cites in the same paragraph, “ I have called
you friends, for whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I
have made known unto you.” I tell a man what concerns
himself as a matter of business or duty; I tell my friend
what my heart is interested in, whether it concerns him
or not, because he is my friend. (Compare Eph. 1:8-10.)
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
98
How entirely this system destroys spirituality and divine
intelligence!
And here we would say a word on the practical eect
as indicative of the real character of these views. We are
told that it is impossible rightly to be expecting the Lord
from day to day; and this because all the predicted signs
must rst come to pass. Now, we ask any serious Christian,
if this be not in direct contradiction of all the teachings
and warnings of Scripture (those passages excepted whose
proper application is in debate)? Does the Lord direct us to
be habitually waiting and watching always for Him? Be it
Christian or Jewish remnant that it refers to, does He not
insist earnestly upon it? and that in such an hour as those
He addresses think not, the Son of man cometh?
Further, the whole order of God’s dealings is subverted.
“ We do believe the church and the remnant to be on earth
together,” etc. (page 39). at is, they believe that the full
explicit revelation of the church, wherein is neither Jew
nor Gentile but all one, and a recognition, on the part
of God, of a body of persons as to whom He sanctions
hopes exactly contrary to this (furnishing inspired terms
for the expression and encouragement of them), will go on
together on the earth. As an analogy to this, the state of the
disciples during Jesus’ life, and the condition of the church
afterward, and the case of the disciples of John (Acts 19),
are brought forward. at is, the progress of the same
saints out of Jewish thoughts into a church standing by
the coming of the Holy Ghost, in the former case, and the
instant cessation of the Jewish state of hope because of the
Christian revelation, when it came to their knowledge, in
the other, are alleged to be analogous to the simultaneous
sanctioned subsistence of the two contradictory states at
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
99
the same time. e value of the reasoning here is a specimen
of the superciality of this publication.
Another sample of the extreme levity and carelessness
of the writer is this: “ To say that while we are here, it
[the Apocalypse] is of use to us, is to plead for a very
secondary concern in it “ (p. 6). e view of the writer
is that its warnings are to be of use to the church when
it is in the circumstances referred to. Is it not evident,
then, according to the author’s theory, that this destroys
its usefulness as to at least eighteen hundred years and
more of the church’s history? e necessity of being in
the time of its fulllment to make it useful, destroys its
constant use for the church; whereas the knowledge of its
application to a body traversing the time of trial, after the
church’s rapture, makes its usefulness apply to all, though
its accomplishment is for others. If men must be in the
circumstances to render it useful, the Apocalypse has had,
on the author’s showing, no utility yet. 2 Peter 1:19, which
he quotes, is strongly against his arguments, besides being
altogether misinterpreted. e point here is the excellence
of the prophetic word as a lamp, till a light still better
dawns on the heart. e apostle does not mean till the day
of the Lord actually come upon the world, but till the heart
is imbued with daylight, and the morning star arise therein
(i.e., till the saint is awakened to the heavenly hope, apart
from the events of prophecy).
e parable of the tares of the eld (Matt. 13) is the
rst of the special scriptures adduced as positively adverse.
“ Both grow together until the harvest (v. 30); a statement
clearly decisive of the whole question, for unbroken
certainty cannot possibly be more plainly expressed “ (page
9) … “ and at one denite point of time, the harvest, or
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
100
the end of the age “ (page 0). e short answer is, that the
harvest is not one denite point of time. “ In the time of
harvest,” it is written, “ I will say to the reapers, Gather
ye together rst the tares and bind them in bundles to
burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” First do
this, and then that. In other words, it is a period in which
dierent events take place, the order and meaning of which
is exactly what is in question. It is also alleged (page 9), that
“ gathered together “ is the same as “ rooted up.” But it is
no such thing: quite a dierent word is used for rooted up.
Again, “ gathering together,” or up, is said to be removal
from the eld by reaping or plucking up, that is, the end of
present existence-a very singular explanation. We all know
such is not the eect of reaping. e removal of the wheat
from the eld is expressed in quite a dierent way. Indeed
the tares are never said to be removed from the eld at all,
and notoriously, if we turn to the thing pregured, they will
be judged in the eld when the harvest comes, and to this
the parable looks on. In truth, the subject is the eld, as to
which there is one only exception-” Gather the wheat into
my garner.” e thorns, we read elsewhere, will be utterly
burned in the re in the same place. e tares are gathered
together to be burned-clearly declaring that the gathering
together is not the nal judgment.
Further, none can read the parable and its explanation
without seeing that they describe dierent scenes, as is
always the case in such prophetic statements, because
public results before men explain what is parabolically
stated when the results are not there. us, gathering the
wheat into the garner is not shining forth as the sun, nor is
gathering into bundles to be burnt the same as gathering
out of the kingdom and casting them into the re. Note
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
101
here, that the uniform testimony of Scripture is that the
saints will appear, or be manifested, when Christ appears
for judgment. (Col. 3; Rev. 17:14; chap. 19.)
Hence the gathering the wheat into the garner must be
before the gathering evils out of His kingdom and casting
them into the furnace of re. e making the heavenly saints
to remain on earth while the judgment is being executed, is
against the universal statement of all scripture. And this is
what is alleged. For if the gathering the tares in bundles to
be burned be the same as their nal burning (an allegation
indeed manifestly absurd), then their complete judgment
takes place before the saints are taken into the garner; “ the
end of present existence “ as regards the tares is before the
saints are with Christ. Further, the righteous shining forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father is clearly not
in the present age, which the harvest of judgment closes.
It is the new age, while the gathering into the garner is
part of the harvest or end of this age. e harvest, then,
or end of the age, is certainly not one point of time. e
Lord Himself states a “ rst “ in what happens. e only
question then is, Does the rapture of the saints take place
before the execution? All Scripture answers, Yes. ey
come with Christ to judgment: they appear with Him in
glory. e order of the parable and its explanation is, rst,
gathering the tares in bundles, then the wheat is put into
the barn; and when it comes to the execution of judgment
the tares are gathered out of the kingdom and burnt, and
the righteous shine forth as the sun.
One point of the old system is avoided. It used to be
maintained that when Christ rose up from the Father’s
throne the present age closed. But the parable of the tares
described the end of this age. Hence the judgment of the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
102
earth was before Christ came at all, and the catching up
of the saints too. e absurdity of this was evident, and it
is now avoided; but the elements of the error remain-only
concealed. e harvest is made one denite point of time
as the end of the age. If it be not Christ’s rising up, it must
be the moment of His executing judgment which closes it.
Where are the heavenly saints then according to
Scripture? e wicked are punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord. When this
judgment is executed, are the saints still unchanged on the
earth or already caught up? If still unchanged on the earth,
and the resurrection yet to come, then is there a negative
to all these statements together: “ e Lord shall come
with ten thousand of his saints “; “ e Lord thy God shall
come and all his saints with thee “; “ ey that are with him
are called and chosen and faithful “; “ e armies which
were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed
in ne linen, white and clean “; “ When Christ, our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
But Scripture declares these things positively. at is, the
saints must have already been caught up to meet Him. But
if so, the whole proered explanation of the parable of the
tares is false, and hangs on the blunder of interpreting the
gathering of the tares together in bundles to be burned
as meaning their actual burning, accompanied by the
contradictory allegation that the harvest is one denite
point of time. at anyone should not see clear on such
points is evidently to be borne with. We are all ignorant on
many points.
On 2 ess. 2 the less may be said, because it has
been already entered into in a previous paper.
10
But it is
10 See “ What Saints will be in the Tribulation? “ page 110.
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
103
well to note it as an additional specimen of this writer’s
reasoning. He says in page 15, “ Surely the terrors of the
day of the Lord are for His enemies, and the enemies of
His people. How then could those terrors be present, and
those enemies be unchecked in their cruel persecution of
the essalonian saints? Could these saints have had such
a notion? “ Now the reasoning against the fact of the day’s
being there is most just. e only misfortune is that it is the
apostle’s own reasoning with the essalonians, because
they thought the day was there, as Paul says in 2 ess. 2:2,
and as the writer quotes Mr. Alford, explaining it in the
same page. “ Its object is to make it clear to them that the
day of Christ … was not yet come.”
As to what is insinuated on Dan. 7, and the endeavor
to connect the Son of man with the kingdom after the
blasphemies of the little horn, the way of putting the matter
is incorrect, and, to say the least, the one-sided result of
prejudice. For the account of the reception of the kingdom
is not merely after the horn’s blasphemies, but after the
beast’s judgment and destruction for those blasphemies. So
that if it were just to apply the passage to the remaining of
the church on earth during the whole career of Antichrist,
the passage would equally prove that the church was on
earth after the destruction of the beast. at is, the whole
argument and application of the text is entirely groundless;
for the heavenly saints come with Christ to judgment. e
prophecy speaks of the earthly kingdom, rst of the beasts,
and then of the Son of man. e place or portion of the
church is not touched on at all in the statement. It is the
kingdom under the whole heaven; while the following
explanation of the prophecy (as all Scripture), declares that
judgment is given to the saints of the Most High. It is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
104
but an additional proof how the whole tenor and bearing
of Scripture is lost by such as maintain this system. If we
enter into details, we shall nd that the thrones were set
before the judgment begins, and indeed in order to it.
As to the argument on Luke 19:11-27, in page 11, viz.,
that we are not to look for the Lord as our immediate
hope now, because there was a premature expectation of
the kingdom during His ministry on earth, it has really
no force, nor even sense. Some then expected Messiah
to appear in glory and deliver Israel. e Lord shows
that, being rejected, He must go to the Father, receive a
kingdom and return, and that meanwhile His own servants
were to serve Him. Does this prove that His servants are
not to expect Him now more than the Jews then? Strange
reasoning?
Passages, such as John 16:2-4, which speak of trials and
persecutions for the saints, need not be rested on. It was
not the best, but one of the strongest reasons for looking
for Christ continually, who was to take the saints out of
trouble. e suerings of the disciples would make them
desire His coming.
If we turn to the epistles, another class of texts, to
which reference is made (page 12), is that which involves
responsibility in connection with Christ’s appearing. In
order to understand such passages as 1 Tim. 6:14, some
remarks are needed. e rapture of the church has nothing
to do with responsibility; it is the fulllment of the highest
blessings of sovereign grace-Christ’s coming to take us to
Himself, that where He is, there we may be also. Now, none
but Paul ever speaks of the church save the Lord Himself
prophetically (Matt. 16; 18), or the historical facts that He
added to it, etc., in the Acts. It was a mystery hidden in
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
105
God; it is not named in the epistles but by Paul, for we do
not speak of allusions to a local church or churches. Various
privileges of its members individually may be, but however
strange it may appear to some, in the epistles none ever
speaks of the church itself, nor names it, but Paul. Hence
none speaks of the rapture but he; for this is connected with
its known privileges. Where the coming of Christ is spoken
of elsewhere, it is spoken of as the time of judgment; or of
the display of the eect of righteousness and of glory in
the saints; or as a general expectation connected with the
ways and government of God-a very distinct thing from
the privileges conferred by sovereign grace. e judgment
connected with Christ’s coming includes the judgment of,
and retribution to, the saints, because this is a part of His
display of government, and not the portion of the saints
given them in sovereign grace in Christ. By the deniers of
what is called the “ rapture,” all this is mixed up together,
for the counter-scheme is one of unmingled darkness.
Now, as regards the world, this manifestation for
judgment is Christ’s coming. e term coming, or presence,
embraces all that passes in connection with His return from
the moment of His entrance into the created universe, be
it heaven or earth. As regards the world, His coming may
be called His appearing, His manifestation, the appearing
of His coming, or His revelation. It has all these titles. e
saints joining Christ is never referred to anything but His
coming; for when He appears, they appear with Him.
Do they not wait for and love His appearing? To be sure
they do. is removes evil and destroys the power of evil
on the earth; in this they appear with Him in glory. e
whole display of God’s glory in righteousness, and its fruit,
blessing and power, takes place then; and those who groan
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
106
under the sense of a creation subjected to the bondage
of corruption rejoice in the thought of its deliverance.
e entire scene will be changed by Christ’s taking the
power, Satan being bound, and the rule of goodness and
righteousness established. e saint cannot but delight in
the thought of the setting up of the kingdom, the glory
of Christ, and the blessing of man and creation. at
everything should be ordered according to Christ’s will is
the joy of the heart. It is the time of the divine blessing in
government. Oppression will cease, peace and true liberty
will reign without evil, all God’s promises be fullled, His
goodness satised, and Christ gloried. As regards the
government of this earth, it is what our hearts as we walk
on it, and what we in our nature, as creatures belonging to
it, must desire. We love His appearing-the rising of that
Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings. at we
shall not be those subject to this government, to the rightly
taught soul, enhances the joy of it, though, on the principle
of wretched selshness, which characterizes the system we
are combating, this may seem to enfeeble its interest for
us. On any ground, we shall not be the subjects of that
government, because we shall be gloried.
But which is most blessed-the family in misery which is
relieved, or he who has a share in relieving, and participates
in grace in the joy of it? No properly ordered heart can
doubt a moment. All love His appearing, for Christ will
have His rights, and the dreary scene through which we
pass will (blessed be God) brighten up under the rays of
the Sun of righteousness, as a morning without clouds, as
the clear shining after rain. As to our own portion, indeed,
the appearing of Christ is the time of our being manifested
in glory with Himself. But, doubtless, the loving His
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
107
appearing looks to more than this. It is the substitution of
the blessed reign of Christ for the power and dominion of
Satan in a world which is God’s, but now oppressed-the
taking of His just place in the universe by Christ Himself.
But the being caught up to meet the Lord in the air is
for our own proper and higher blessing; it is in order to be
forever with the Lord. ere the apostle closes all he has
to say to it. But in all that respects the government of God,
the appearing or the manifestation of Jesus in this creation
is the thing referred to. Hence our loving His appearing is
a test whether we delight in His authority and the divine
blessing, or whether we nd our pleasure where Satan is
prince. Hence also, when our responsibility is in question,
as this relates to government and reward; the appearing
is always referred to. Christ will take account with His
servants as well as with the world. But the dierence is
in every way evident. We all go up together: there is no
distinction. e life and righteousness of an apostle are
the same as mine. We shall all be conformed to the image
of God’s Son, that He may be the rstborn among many
brethren. But the essalonians will be Paul’s crown, not
ours; and every man will receive his own reward, according
to his own labor. Every man’s work shall be made manifest;
for the day shall declare it.
Other objections are founded on the declaration that
Peter would die (John 21:18; 19:2 Peter 1:14-16); Paul’s
expecting his own death, and predicting evils that should
arise, and especially in the last days. One thing is clear
about Peter’s death-it can have no possible force now. But
this remark has not all its force, if we do not perceive that
it required a particular revelation that a person was to die:
otherwise it was said, “ we which are alive and remain,” and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
108
that by the apostle confuting this thought when it was in
question; but of this anon. So the word “ If I will that he
tarry till I come “ was interpreted. It required a particular
revelation to point out a particular event as intervening,
and when that has intervened, the general truth ows on
in all its force. at is to say, the rightness of the general
expectation is largely conrmed by a person’s death, before
Christ’s coming, requiring a revelation to have it supposed
possible. It was an event, too, which might have happened
at any time after the church’s expectation had in fact been
fully brought to light. e only word at all applicable to
delay even then is “ when thou art old “; it is in comparison
with “ when thou wast young “-a proof he was no longer
so-suciently vague to leave all open. But further, the
church, probably, was very little or not at all cognizant of it.
When Peter was in prison (Acts 12), they thought his death
might well happen then. When Peter refers to it, he does
so as imminent. As to the expression “ after my decease,”
the expectation of the Lord’s coming never enfeebled the
most assiduous care of the church, while waiting for Him,
but just the contrary. Nor certainly can the case apply now.
Again, what is more material to remark, it was never given
as a sign to the church, but as a testimony to one individual.
ere is no proof that the church had the least knowledge
of it before it was past. It certainly was not addressed to
the church by the Holy Ghost before, for John’s gospel was
given after Peter’s death-and this is the grand point.
As to the predictions of the last times, the case is even
stronger; for the Holy Ghost has declared by John that they
were come. at is, the expectation of Christ was constant
then. e word of God gives us, in its own contents, the
ground for constant expectation now, for it declares the
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
109
last hour or time come before John was gone. At rst, the
expectation was constant; next, as time went on, and in
fact faith and hope fuller, particular events were noticed as
immediately imminent. Paul says, in Phil. 2:17, that he was
a victim on whom aspersion had been made already. Would
this be ground for delaying hope or awakening it? Peter
announces that his decease was just at hand, John that the
last time was already there, and these are alleged as reasons
why we should not expect Christ! None of the cases were
ever given to the church in any sense as signs. Before the
announcement was given to the church by John that Christ
had said it to Peter, Peter was long dead and gone. No: they
were no signs, and have no application at all now; and what
came on to be revealed as a necessity for the church, for its
seeing the evil of the last days, the Holy Ghost has taken
care to tell us is arrived. How wise are the ways of God!
He establishes, as a doctrine, the expectation. Particular
revelations are given to individuals, and they speak of them
only when they are close at hand, God knowing well that
there would be this delay. When the church needs it, He
warns them of evil and dangerous days, but takes care,
before His instruction closes, to keep one there to tell us
they were come. And this is alleged as a reason for our not
waiting for the Lord! No: we must get down to another
and an earthly hope before signs come in or are applicable
to us. e virgins in the parable did sleep, and the saints
have slept, but they went out to meet the Bridegroom at
the rst, and awaited nothing else: when divinely aroused
at midnight, they were to go forth to meet Him, and not to
await aught else but Him.
e case of the essalonians is exceedingly strong.
ey so expected Christ to come in their life-time that they
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
110
were uneasy if a saint died. Paul relieves them from this
anxiety by telling them the dead in Christ would be raised.
But does he correct their expectation as an unfounded
one, saying, Signs must be fullled, all should die, and I
know not what? Far from it. He shows the dead will have
part, but strengthens their hope and associates himself
with it, saying, “ We which are alive and remain.” Unbelief
and Satan may seek to divert from this; the Holy Ghost
sanctions and insists on it when the question is raised.
Such are but a few of the proofs the publication aords
of the absence of spiritual intelligence inseparable from
the system it maintains, as well as of the utter futility of
its reasonings. Hence it was not thought worth while to
answer it, save briey. It professes to review the question,
but is little more than a re-assertion of Mr. Newton’s
prophetic theory, as it seeks also to accredit his “ oughts
on the Apocalypse.” Now every reader ought to know that
it is hard to say whether the absurdities or the blasphemies
of that book are the more glaring, and that its system is
inevitably identied with a false doctrine of as audacious
dishonor against the Lord Christ as ever was known. Here
are some of the proofs from the rst edition, 1843•
Page 45, speaking of the elders it is said, “ their
eldership and proximity to the throne of the Most High,
are suciently plain indications of their being called into
participation of His counsels.”
Pages 48 et seqq. “ Nothing perhaps amongst all the
attributes of God is more wonderful than this universality
of present control, all the merely executive agents of His
government being subordinate thereto … it gives a view of
almighty and omnipresent power more wonderful perhaps
than the original power of creation, or that whereby He
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
111
continually upholds that which He hath created. is
power is at present possessed and exercised by the Lord
Jesus … but His saints do not possess it yet … But since
it is said in Scripture that we are the fullness of Him that
lleth all in all … it cannot be doubted that the church will
participate in this branch of His glorious power “-that is,
have almighty and omnipresent power.
Page 51. “ But there is yet another character of power
which the church is to exercise in the glory. Admission into
the counsels of God is represented by the throned elders--
omniscient power of superintendence by the seven Spirits;
but the execution of the will of God, and the omnipotent
power necessary to such execution, is also committed to
the redeemed. is is a third sphere of their glory. ey are
represented in it by the living creatures, or cherubim.”
us, the church will be omniscient, omnipresent, and
omnipotent. Is not this open blasphemy? e last form of
power, for which he refers to Ezekiel, is thus described: “
Nowhere absent, but everywhere present, in the perfectness
of undivided action: aord the mysterious but tting
symbol of the omnipotent agency of the power of Him,
before whom all the inhabitants of the earth are reported
as nothing,” page 52. “ And when we consider what the
state of the earth will be when that period arrives … we
may see the necessity for such a power, and the high calling
of the church in being entrusted with its application to the
circumstances of a terried but delivered earth,” pages 53,
54.
So in page 55, still speaking of the church as the cherubim,
“ as such will apply to the earth and to the universe the
wisdom of the elders and the throne.” “ And although all
that we have yet seen in this chapter appears to exalt the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
112
creature almost into co-equality with God, yet we nd His
due supremacy most carefully maintained. e glorious
power of the cherubim does not prevent their giving all
glory, and honor, and thanks to Him that sat on the throne;
nor does the higher exaltation of the elders prevent them
from falling down before Him that sat on the throne, and
worshipping,” etc. But can the nauseousness of blasphemy
be carried farther than when, in ascribing omnipotence
and omnipresence to the church as executive power, it is
declared that they apply the wisdom of the elders and the
throne, setting the elders (i.e., the redeemed) before God
Himself? It would be hard to nd, in the wide circle of
what printing has given to the world, such pages as 48-55
of Mr. Newton’s “ oughts on the Apocalypse.”
For recklessness of assertion, for self-contradiction, for
pseudo-criticism, we might produce a host of examples,
if need were. And this is the book sought to be anew
accredited by the publication under review. We enter no
further into its character here: but is it not painful to see
a certain class of Christians greedily receiving this mass of
unscriptural fancies and follies, which, alas! have an object
behind them, viz., the blotting out of Christ’s various glory,
and the denial of the true place of the church as His body
and bride? On the side of truth such a work would not
have been borne an instant. It contradicts itself, parades
bad Greek, details gross absurdities and bold statements,
without the smallest proof; but all this fades away before
the real blasphemies which we have noticed lying on the
surface. One of the phenomena of the human mind is
its disposition to receive error rather than truth. It likes
error. And when imagination would be detected in a book
pleading for truth, it is passed by in its most unbridled
e Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church
113
form, and even like when it is employed to teach error. It is
a humbling fact. One only can deliver from its power.
e eort to re-accredit the “ oughts on the
Apocalypse,” which contains such blasphemies, and
identied as it is with yet worse, cannot be too strongly and
earnestly denounced. It is perhaps not wrong to add that
the attempt has been made by one who has distinguished
himself by another pamphlet written to prove the
resurrection of brutes and dedicated to a dead cat. ere
is no wish to do more than allude to such a fact; but many
things help us in judging how far the guidance of God’s
Spirit is with a man.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
114
62496
Brief Analysis of the Book of
Daniel
11
I send you some analyzes of books of prophecy, which
I may be enabled at some future period, with the divine
permission and blessing, to ll up with some further
details. I feel this to be a more satisfactory method than
framing any system which the study of Scripture makes
me feel I possess. What does appear plain and distinct to
me, I trust may be occasion of study and of information to
other minds.
I would begin with Daniel. e book is clearly divided
into two distinct parts. e former comprises visions
and dreams of un-renewed heathens, or circumstances
connected with their conduct. is ends at chapter 6. e
latter consists of communications to the faithful prophet
of the events in their moral character connected with the
people of God; many of them in point of time, antecedent
to what is related in the former part, but separated into a
distinct portion or book of themselves, as having a specic
character. us the visions of chapter 7 and 8 clearly
precede in point of time the circumstances in chapter 6,
or we might, I think, add even chapter 5. But they are
revelations to Daniel instructing him in the bearing of
the subjects of previous visions on the state of the saints.
e former portion shows the history of the world in its
outward character, its manifested forms, and the question
thereon raised between their powers and God. e latter
(as might naturally be expected in revelations to a prophet
11 “ Christian Witness,” Vol. 2, Plymouth, 1835.
Brief Analysis of the Book of Daniel
115
standing as the representative of the people of God) reveals
the position and character of the agents in relation to the
saints, their full moral character, and all that internal history
in which those saints were most especially concerned. e
latter part is from chapter 7 to the end.
I shall give the briefest outline of this structure now.
We have then Daniel’s visions only from chapter 7
inclusive; the former are facts, or the king’s visions. But
in the former we shall nd distinct portions. Chapter I
merely gives us the character of Daniel as separated from
the pollution in which he was mixed up by the judgment
of God on the nation; and the privileges of him and the
three other children; and Daniel’s continuance to the year
of deliverance to his people. We have then, in chapters
2, 3 and 4, Nebuchadnezzar’s history. In chapter 5, the
destruction of the remainder of his empire, for the profane
usage of what belonged to God. And then, in chapter 6
another scene-the kingdom of Darius.
In chapter 2, the rst prophetic one, properly speaking,
we have the divine wisdom setting forth distinctly the man
of the earth, in all his varied characters; beginning with,
and represented by, the head of gold-Nebuchadnezzar; that
which attracted the attention and comprised the power of
the visible world beneath. e destruction of this by the
agency of power in its last form; and the substitution of
that power which lled, not merely awed and overlooked
as it were, the whole earth. Daniel’s God owned therein in
the acknowledgment of Him; as it is written, “ that seek
thy face, O Jacob “: and Daniel’s exaltation over the known
world-he stood there as the Jew.
We have in chapter 3 the general character attached
to this period in the person of the golden head of the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
116
whole. It was connected with religion-that was not left
out. It was not merely secular power: and while the man
was the power in the world in the previous dream, here
is that which it did openly: the exercise of its power, or
Satan’s power by it would not be complete. It was not
indelity, in the common sense of the word, or atheism,
but a compulsory religion; in which the power and will of
this man of the earth was shown, to which the honors of
the state were compelled to bow; an image all of gold set
up-a most beautiful and gorgeous display, and calculated
to attract by its own excellency, and illustrate the honor
of him who had set it up. It was, however, an image in the
province of Babel-a furnace to the faithful: not however, I
remark, to Daniel, who I believe to have represented the
Jew distinctively, but those whose help was found in one
like to the Son of God being with them in the furnace,
while they were thus in it, making them free.
Chapter 4 states the external glory of a tree, the symbol
of exaltation in the earth, which God had made to ourish;
and this change takes place. Instead of subduedness and
intelligence (to wit, of God), there is given to this exalted
representation of power a beast’s heart-ravening and
ignorance of God, till they should learn that the Most
High ruleth. at a man’s heart signies this quietness and
subjection, is shown chapter 7: 4. e result is, that those
that walk in pride He is able to abase. Compare Ezek.
17:24.
In chapter 5 it seems to me (sorrow is it to think) that
profaneness against God in a degraded state, will be the
mark of nal judgment on this apostate state of things.
We have then in chapter 6 another state of things
entirely- an utter open casting o of God; bringing Daniel,
Brief Analysis of the Book of Daniel
117
the prophetic representative of the Jew, into the den of
lions. at which had taken the place of the previous state
of things, seized on Babylon, but was not it, in its power or
its source; openly throwing o God in folly, and thereupon
the Jew made a prey, but delivered, and the everlasting
kingdom acknowledged, and the princes taken in the net
which themselves had laid. I do not excuse the Jews from
the former similar case; but this seems exclusively and
denitely to belong to them. e character of the apostasy
is dierent. Darius sets up himself as God, or at least as
alone to be prayed to, not setting up in his glory an image
to be worshipped. Both perhaps may characterize, in
some form, the apostasy of the latter day. is seems in
all its character conned to it, and to make way for the
everlasting kingdom. e King of heaven, the Most High,
is the acknowledgment of the former; the everlasting
kingdom of the living God, of the latter.
All these things are consequent upon “ Lo-ammi “
being written upon the Jews, and the manifest throne of
God amongst the Jews, having ceased and been cast down.
en, I take it, the beast’s heart properly had its rise. Man
could be given up to folly, and Babylon become the seat
of exalted madness and folly of heart: he might exercise it
uncontrolled, save by the watchful eye of God ruling from
the heavens; for Jerusalem was cast down-the throne of
God had departed from the earth-His earthly care was now
hopeless. (See Ezek. 10:19, and the reasons in the previous
chapters; chap. 11 and the statements following to the end
of chap. 12) Dan. 4:30 shows what took its place; and then
properly came in the beast’s heart for the seven times.
We have now arrived at the second portion of the book,
wherein their general characters and characteristics of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
118
apostasy are brought into far greater detail in connection
with the saints; and the book assumes the form of regular
though symbolical prophecy, being direct communications
to the prophet himself. We had before the beast’s heart-we
have here the beasts described.
But in this portion also there are distinct and denite
parts: chapters 7, 8, 9 and Io to the end, are all distinct
visions-four distinct visions, as may be seen by their dates.
However, we shall see there is further order amongst them.
Chapters 7 and 8 describe the conduct and circumstances
of the four beasts, with interpretation and prophecy added.
Chapter 9 is the specic consideration of the desolation of
Jerusalem, with its appointed time.
Chapter 10 to the end, what shall befall Daniel’s people
in the latter days, preparatory to this; as God had not
taken His eye o them, and yet they were “ Lo-ammi.”
e circumstances through which they should be passed
until connected with the prince that should come, as given
in chapter 9 at the close, are detailed most accurately and
minutely in the former part of chapter 1-the real history,
God’s history, of what is given apocryphally in the uncertain
books of the Maccabees.
us chapter 9 also, it appears to me, more particularly
connects itself with chapter 7; and chapter 11 with chapter
8--the close of it, however, connecting both in “ the king,”
and the king of the north, and the king of the south (the last
being the conclusion of the whole matter). us chapter 9,
like the judgment on Belshazzar, comes in, dividing the
general history of the beasts, and the specic detail of the
last climax of deliberate open apostasy. e king shall do
according to his will, not regarding any god.
Brief Analysis of the Book of Daniel
119
Let us turn back to chapters 7 and 8; and here I must
remark as to what is called interpretation in the prophecy,
that it is by no means merely explanation, but a use and
application of some previously declared general symbol
to specic results; often involving therefore material
additional revelations, or omission of circumstances, not
aecting those particular results. is we shall see plainly
in those two chapters. I turn to their analysis. Chapter 7
contains three distinct visions, and then interpretations.
e rst vision is from verse 2 to verse 6-four beasts, but
the description only of three (the last being reserved for
a distinct vision). e second vision is from verse 7 to the
end of verse 12. e third is contained in verses 13, 14.
e rst vision sees the rst beast reduced from violence
to subserviency, and is so disposed of-it ceased to be a beast.
e other two are merely described. e second describes
the fourth beast, its little horn, and the judgment of the
Ancient of days upon the life and body of the beasts
because of it; but only considered as between it and the
judgment. e third is the subsequent and consequent
giving of the kingdom to the Son of man brought before
Him, with its character and extent. Verses 15, 16 contain
the request for interpretation. Verse 17 is the interpretation
of the rst vision-kings arising out of the earth, with (v. 18)
an additional revelation, that the saints of high places take
the kingdom. Verse 19 is the request of the truth about the
second vision, with some additional character in verse 20
of the little horn; and an additional vision in verses 21 and
22; for it is to be remarked that, in the visions, the outward
position of the beasts in the world with the saints, or their
internal history, is not at all introduced.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
120
From verse 23 to the end of verse 26 is the interpretation,
with many additional particulars. Verse 27 gives the result
of the third vision on the earth; but, being identied
and involved in its causes with what precedes, it is given
continuously. e interpretation, in a word, is the bringing
in of the heavenlies into the subject, though only as known
in eect upon earth; but attaching that name which implied
the possession of heaven and earth-the Most High. It has
been already observed, I believe, in some previous paper,
that this word, when connected with “ saints,” is, as in
margin, “ high places,” or “ things “; the same, I doubt not,
with the heavenly places of Paul. I would also refer the
Christian reader to Psa. 2:4: to me it opens a distinct eld
in Rev. 13:6. is is all connected with the fourth beast,
which, as well as the rst, was thus far previously passed
over.
In chapter 8 there is quite a distinct vision. We have two
active powers, with characters sucient to identify them
with the beasts, but given in distinct and peculiar forms-
their own actings to the exclusion of the other two. We
are told that they are, the kings of Media and Persia, and
of Grecia. e vision continues to the end of verse 12. In
verses 13 and 14 there is testimony as to the continuance
of a given point of it.
Verse 15. e prophet seeks the meaning of the vision.
e vision is to be at the time of the end (the former part
being merely designative of character, for it includes the
rst king); and the interpreter is only occupied in showing
as his object, what shall be in the last end of the indignation.
is connects itself, in my mind, with Isa. 10:25. It appears
to me, that the accomplishment of the indignation is a
distinct thing; as the fullling or accomplishment of a
Brief Analysis of the Book of Daniel
121
storm, and the end of a storm, would be dierent. Having
then identied the parties in verses 20-22, verses 23-25
give the account of the person who is to appear when
the transgressors are come to the full; the people are to
suer under or be destroyed by him, and he is to stand up
against the Prince of princes, but be broken without hand.
In verse 26 the vision of verses 13 and 14, which was told,
is declared to be true; wherefore it was to be shut up, for it
was manifestly for many days.
It is remarkable, that in the vision there is no mention
of the putting an end to the practices of the little horn. In
the interpretation, no mention whatever in his misdoings
of anything to befall the daily, or the place of the prince
of the host’s sanctuary, but he is to stand up against the
Prince of princes. I do not mean to say that nothing has
struck my mind in connection with these circumstances,
but I prefer leaving them at present to the consideration of
my brethren taught of the Lord. I would just add that in
verse II “ from him “ appears clearly the right translation;
and I confess I should read in verse 12 “ a settled time of
aiction was appointed to the daily.” is I leave to better
critics to inquire into.
On chapter 9 I have little to add, as a continuous prophecy,
including petition and answer. Only I would refer to verse
7, that it involves all Israel as well as Judah and Jerusalem;
so in verse 11, “ y city and thy people,” and the matter of
supplication. I would only remark, how intercession in the
time of intercession holds the expression, “ y people “ (as
with Moses in the mount), in spite of Lo-ammi written
upon them, or a broken covenant; but the reference is at
once in Moses to God’s covenant, not the people’s: so here
the confession is complete.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
122
e answer includes, after the decree to rebuild,
Messiah, the people of the prince that should come (i.e.,
the Romans), and I believe Antichrist
12
as that prince
therefore, and consequent desolations-a desolator, till the
consummation, and that decreed shall be poured upon the
desolate. is is the portion of Jerusalem. Where dened
it is connected more particularly with the fourth beast, but
merely under the character “ of the people,” etc.
In chapter to we have a much fuller account of all the
doings of the ram and the he-goat, founded upon the
statement that the full exercise of the angelic providential
power of God was continuing for the Jews, for the purposes
of God, however as a nation they might be tossed to and
fro in the times of the Gentiles: the power of evil in Persia
was contending against, and though the prince of Grecia
should come, all his doings were measured and understood
in the counsels of God; the diculty was felt, but measured.
Michael their prince stood with the angelic messenger in
these things, and he was now sent to let him know what
would befall his people in the latter day. e history is
complete, but abrupt, whilst Jerusalem stands restored; all
the actings of the kings of the north and the south are
detailed particularly, but the whole scene changed by the
introduction of the ships of Chittim. It was not as the
former, or as the latter. Sword, ame, captivity, and spoil,
many days await the people, though those that understood
instructed. e sanctuary of strength was polluted; so they
continued to the time of the end. en one well known in
Jewish history (i.e., prophecy), “ the king,” is seen in his
willful career, one whose character is indelity, disregard
12 e author would now probably say the beast.-En.] See “
Inquiry as to the Antichrist of Prophecy,” in Prophetic Vol. 2.
Brief Analysis of the Book of Daniel
123
to what is loyal to God, and the honoring a false god-who
that is we may well know. e previous powers of north and
south shall push at and come against him: still he
13
shall
pursue his career, till tidings from the north and east arrest
him; he shall come to Jerusalem, set up in blasphemous
array on the mountain of God’s holiness, and come to his
end with none to help him. Here it appears to me both the
parties we have spoken of before are brought before us; the
prince that should come and the king of the north, and the
king of the south, of the which, save the king, nothing is
told us here.
But there shall be a time of trouble such as never was
since there was a nation, and then every one written in
the book shall be delivered; it is then Michael (leaving
it previously to the service of angelic messengers, merely
standing with them in these things in ministrations,
counteracting and controlling the power of evil) himself
stands up, in connection with the people immediately, for
the people; and deliverance comes. Many scattered ones
are brought in, and all receive their just place. I speak
entirely of Jews, to which this prophecy refers. It is sealed
to the time of the end; and again we have, not a vision, but
a distinct separate account of periods connected with, rst,
the nishing these things when the scattering of the holy
people was nished; and then, after further petition and
sealing these things, the period from the setting up of the
abomination, and till the blessing is told; with this word
added, that the faithful prophet should in the end of the
days stand in his lot, making known to us (i.e., revealing)
the resurrection of the expectant Jewish saints; and though
13 e author holds this to be, not “ the king,” but the king of the
north.-ED.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
124
he told not then the precise times revealedly, he did tell
that he should be then in his lot at their conclusion.
I remain, sir, yours, etc.
J.N.D.
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
125
62489
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a
Letter on Revelation 12”
My dear brother,
I have read the tract you gave me. I confess to you such
reading is an unwelcome task. I do not speak of this tract
in particular, but in general of those that are written to
maintain particular views, and not to act on souls. I am not
blaming- I leave liberty to-those who think it right; but
it is a very ungracious task, that of examining a brother’s
views to see if they are right, instead of learning what one
can, and leaving the rest aside. However, as various views
are maintained, it may be well to examine them with all
patience, that brethren may, on the one hand, judge quietly;
and that, on the other, there may not be the uneasiness
in the minds of those who think these views wrong, of
supposing mistakes current unanswered-a feeling which
often produces restlessness of mind; and the fruits of
righteousness are sown in peace.
Many points, which seem of importance when un-
discussed, dwindle wonderfully when all that is to be said
is brought out; for saints, as all men, are apt to be fonder of
their own ideas than other reasonable people are of them,
when they see the light. On the other hand, the most
unfounded have weight with many when unexamined;
and are supposed to be unanswerable because they are
unanswered-a supposition that it is natural enough their
authors should be prone to encourage-a sorrowful ground
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
126
this for saints to be on, but this does not make what I say
untrue.
But to proceed to the examination of the tract, the rst
paragraph struck me as showing considerable inattention
to the force of phrases in Scripture. e throne of Jesus
promised to him that overcomes is spoken of as being to
the same eect as the man-child being caught up to God
and His throne. Surely there is little or nothing in common
between these two passages.
Sitting on the throne of God is never promised to
the saints overcoming; nor does catching up seem to me
the same thing at all as being seated on Christ’s throne
as a reward. e man-child was saved from the mouth of
the dragon ready to devour it as soon as born; and was
caught away, and the woman left to be persecuted. Yet
if this interpretation be not right, the whole structure of
this chapter, on which the entire argument of the tract is
founded, falls with it.
I also have a word to say about hope. I am very
happy to say that I do believe the hope of the saints is
quite independent of the question, “ How long will it be
before what we are hoping for will be realized? “ But, is it
independent of it, if it is laboriously sought to be proved
that I must not expect it before a certain course of events
is accomplished? is seems to make my hope dependent
on these events. I do seriously believe our hope to be the
bride’s hope of the Bridegroom in virtue of the Holy Ghost
dwelling in her, and not to be founded on mere prophetic
testimony as to events. She is waiting for God’s Son from
heaven, independent of all events, and ignorant of how long
it will be ere He returns. But, if it be a delusion- hoping
to see Him before certain events occur-my hope is hardly
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
127
independent of these events. And, if there seem delay,
God is careful to assure us that He is not slack concerning
His promise; and this reason and no other is assigned for
the seeming long procrastination, that God is not willing
that any should perish. is is God’s way of treating this
subject. It never occurred to the Holy Ghost to say it was all
imagination to expect the Lord from heaven until certain
earthly events should occur.
14
If the accomplishment of the
hope be dependent on certain events, its eect in the soul
cannot be entirely independent of them. Nor do I see, if its
moral power be really entirely independent of them, why so
much pains is taken to press them as necessarily happening
before it arrives. If it be not important to think it near, it
seems at any rate to be so to prove that it is not. I do not
call this its being “ quite independent of the question, How
long will it be before it is realized? “ I believe it is so. But, if
so, why so anxious to prove it cannot yet take place?
But there is another point which is important, and that
is not merely that the thing promised is sure. e Lord
considers it important that the saints should be always
expecting it as a present thing, and wishing for it as a
present thing-I say expecting it as a present thing, uncertain
when it will come. us He speaks in Luke 12:35-40: “ Let
your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye
yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he
will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and
knocketh, they may open unto him immediately … And
if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third
14 It may be alleged he does so elsewhere in 2 ess. 2 But I do
not hesitate to arm that he does exactly the contrary, and
contrasts the presence of the Lord for the church, and His day
for the world, so as to leave the present hope untouched, and
set the saint’s mind free from all uneasiness as to the day.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
128
watch, and nd them so, blessed are those servants … Be
ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an
hour when ye think not.” And again, verses 43, 44 “ Blessed
is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall nd
so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him
ruler over all that he hath.” Here surely they are told to be
expecting always. Now, would the certainty that it must
be two or three thousand years o not aect this state of
mind?
15
I say also, wishing for it as a present thing, as it is
written, “ e Spirit and the bride say, Come. And … He
which testieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus,” Rev. 22:17, 20.
e certainty, glory, and heavenly character of the hope,
most important as it is, is not all. e Lord insists a great
deal on a constant expectation of it, uncertain when it
will be; a great deal on the tone and character of mind
connected with this state of expectation of the Lord, coming
and nding us so in our service. Now I do not deny that
particular revelations may have been made to individuals,
which showed them that they should depart rst, and so
far modied their individual apprehensions. And I do not
doubt that a saint may have a just and true conviction that
his service is not yet nished, and yet be always waiting
because he knows not when the Lord may come. But this
does not the least aect the general state and expectation
of the church. And is there the least analogy between such
a particular revelation, and putting a whole train of events
on earth as necessarily to happen before the church can
expect the Lord?
15 As the letter says, “ Nor should we say it at all the less if we
were sure his coming would not take place for thousands of
years.”
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
129
And, indeed, were I to adopt the system proposed to
me, I should not expect the Lord at all until a time when I
was able to x the day of His appearing. And this is what
we are told is a sober and true way of expecting Him. I
say x the day, for I cannot expect His coming until the
abomination of desolation is set up at Jerusalem, and then I
can say, Now in twelve hundred and sixty days the Lord will
be here. And this xing by signs and dates, I am told, is the
sober way of waiting. But it is quite clear that it is contrary
to the way the Lord Himself has taught me to expect Him.
It is clear that, if these signs are to be expected for the
church, I have nothing to expect till they are fullled. I may
expect them, and have my mind xed on them, but not on
Christ’s coming. And, when one particular one happens, I
can name to a day His coming.
is is not what Christ has taught me, and therefore I
do not receive it. And remark how, in predicting to Peter
that he would be cut o-not telling it to the church, but to
him- the Lord, by His reply to his inquiry as to John, leaves
the church again in this vague expectation. “ If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? “ is was soon
disseminated; and the rumor spread that he would not die.
But the conclusion, like most drawn from Scripture, was
very wide in fact, though plausible in reasoning, from what
the Lord meant, or had said. ere is not, nor can be, faith
in a conclusion, because a conclusion is not a revelation.
Note, moreover, that a particular revelation to an
individual about his death is the strongest possible proof
that the ordinary doctrine of the Lord to the church as to
His coming was such, that it could not be expected that such
persons should so die before it, and that this ought not to be
expected, since it required a special revelation to make them
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
130
think they would. “ I must shortly put o this tabernacle as
the Lord hath showed me.” Was it not curious that there
should be such a revelation of an individual’s death, if the
sanctioned [? constant] expectation was, not that they were
not to expect it [death], but the Lord’s coming in their life-
time? ough it was never said positively when. Hence the
apostle says: “ We which are alive and remain to the coming
of the Lord.” And this expectation was so vivid that, while
he sanctions it by saying “ we which are alive,” etc., he has
to reassure them by explaining that those deceased would
be raised rst, and enjoy the same coming and glory.
I nd then the positive teaching of Scripture quite
contrary to the reasoning that it makes no dierence.
Scripture teaches me otherwise, and I reject the reasoning.
I pass over the
triumphant argument which was used by the millenarians
against the opposers of the personal reign, that if there
were certainly a thousand years to come rst, we could not
be expecting the Lord from heaven.
16
It appears that this
was all a delusion. It served its turn. But, as any rate, it
would be more honest now to tell them it was all a mistake.
And now, before I examine the critical explanation of the
chapter, let me advert to some other important statements-
admissions of truth I would say, though the grounds on
which others have armed these truths are disputed, as
(for so we shall see by and by) those of the champions of
this system are contradicted also. And I notice this, because
I am sincerely glad, while noticing freely that with which I
do not agree, to bring forward that with which I do.
16 “ We should not say it (‘a little while’) at all the less if we were
sure His coming could not take place for thousands of years.”
ere is nothing like saying a thing plainly. But is that the way
Scripture speaks?
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
131
e whole body of the saints treated of in the Revelation
are recognized as being quite distinct from what is
commonly spoken of as the church. I do not mean that it
is stated that they do not form part of the church; but that
both classes of suerers noticed in this book are treated
as quite distinct from us-considered perhaps superior; but
quite distinct. e book of Revelation does not apply to
the church in its present state save in principle. e saints
spoken of in it are not the primitive church, nor the church
in its fallen state since (save in chapters 2 and 3), but an
entirely new class of persons, and a dierent state of things.
It is not stated whether there will be saints of the old or
actual class of believers at the same time; but if so, they are
not mentioned. Nothing can be more positive or decided
than the writer’s statement on the subject.
But what is there for us in all this? Nothing, except for
the principle of the unity of the body.
Again, “ us it would appear that the latter part of the
Revelation, that is, from chapter 4 to the end is, as far as
the history of the saints in the earth is concerned, a history
of a certain company of saints, born in the latter end of
this dispensation, that is, a short time before Christ comes
with His saints to execute judgment,” etc., “ that this part
refers to the closing period of our dispensation-the last
few years of it, and that it is all unfullled.” I do not dwell
on its being our dispensation or not now-it is quite a new
company which does not yet exist. So that there is nothing
for us in it all, save on the principle of the unity of the body.
“ e primitive church as a body had failed, but in the
last part of this book we have the history of a company of
saints who do overcome.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
132
“ Who this company are, further, time can only show.
ey are such as have not been from the beginning hitherto.
For their sakes I believe this book of the Revelation was
very principally written, to lead them up to their gory bed,
though, of course, in principle, it belongs to all who are
appointed unto suerings for Christ’s sake and so to all
the church.”
Further: “ e martyrs seen in chapter 20: 4, etc., are two
parties of martyrs belonging to the company represented by
the man-child,” etc. We are going to discuss the manchild
in a moment; but here we have the two parties of martyrs,
besides the church in general and previous martyrs who are
clearly to sit on the thrones that were placed, but who are
not, as regards the saints in the earth, the immediate object
of the Revelation. So that we have the church in general,
and two distinct parties of martyrs, to whom, as regards
the saints on earth, the Revelation specially belongs in its
statements. Having then the distinct common ground, that
there are these three classes (namely, the church in general,
primitive and fallen; those beheaded for the witness of
Jesus, etc.; and those who had not worshipped the beast),
let us now inquire as to the detail of these last two classes,
as there is no diculty as to the primitive and fallen church:
and indeed these two parties form the subject of the tract.
e author begins by telling us, that the original literally
translated would be “ those that remain of her seed.” Now I
humbly suggest that it would not. I am not indeed exactly
aware of the dierence sought to be established between
the remnant “ and those that remain,” unless it be meant
to convey the idea that, some of her seed having been cut
o, certain others remain. Otherwise it is a distinction
without a dierence. At any rate “ those that remain “
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
133
may convey this meaning to a reader who must take on
trust that this is a more literal translation. But I would
very much caution the unlearned reader against these new
translations, unless they are accompanied with reasons
which other competent scholars can weigh. I avow broadly
here that I have hardly ever found they could be trusted.
Now I judge here, that “ the remnant of her seed” is much
more correct than “those that remain of her seed,” so far as
there is any dierence between them. ere is no verb used
as in the new translation, nor word answering to “ those.”
It is true that the word translated “ remnant,” is plural and
not singular. But in English, whenever “ remnant “ is used
of what relates to individuals, it has a plural signication.
We may say “ a remnant of a piece of cloth “; but when I say
“ some of the men did so and so, and the remnant so and
so “; or “ one of the men did thus, and the remnant thus “;
that would always in English convey the idea of several. If I
meant only one, I should say, in the rst case, “ another “; in
the latter case, “ the other.” But “ the remnant “ or “ the rest
“ would never be used for one. e translation therefore is
perfectly exact. e Greek word used, for sense, may always
be translated “ others “ or “ the others.” e English idiom
would hardly bear “ the others of his seed,” “ the others,” in
English, being generally used absolutely.
17
e writer then takes the man-child as identied with “
her seed,” and so as a company, but considers “ the remnant
of her seed “ not to be those besides the man-child (which
would seem the natural use of the words: inasmuch as
this child having been mentioned, the rest of her seed
17 Where the class rst mentioned, with which the Greek work
‘loipoi’ is used has a characteristic force as a class, it generally
includes also, I think, the idea of another character. But this
depends on its use, and not its meaning.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
134
would seem to mean others besides the one who had been
spoken of), but the man-child to be a whole company, and
those that remain to be part of that company, left after
another part have been martyred: to wit, those of verse 11.
But rst, these are never said to be her seed at all. Nor
are they in any way whatever connected with the woman.
ere is a manifest break between verses 6 and 7, as is clear
from-this consideration, that the woman ies into the
wilderness in verse 6 (up to which, I believe, the account
is characteristic more than historical), and she does not
ee into the wilderness (v. 14) till after the consequence
of what happened in verse 7. Hence it is clear that verse
7 precedes verse 6 in historic time. Now, when it is said
the dragon persecuted the woman, it is repeated (v. 13),
“ which brought forth the man-child “; and, after having
again brought her on the scene (only on earth), as mother
of this particular child, it is said, when she ed, that the
dragon went to make war with the remnant of her seed. I
believe the remnant of her seed to be characteristic, and to
refer to the woman, intimating the seed was hers; but as far
as it relates to any other seed, the only seed of the woman
mentioned is the man-child. And any specic reference to
verse 11 I believe entirely a mistaken one; though in a very
vague general way I should recognize every saint as the
woman’s seed,
18
as far as I have any denite notion of what
the woman means.
18 And in this sense the remnant of her seed would be connected
with those mentioned in verse 2 as a remnant. But this is quite
another view of the matter.
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
135
But I do not believe the man-child to be properly a
company of saints.
19
I believe the term to be characteristic,
and not, so to speak, aggregate. What the woman (whose
weakness as on earth, whatever God’s counsels were, was
afterward apparent) brought forth was a male son, to be a
man of might; a male that was to rule with a rod of iron.
e woman was left to be persecuted in her weakness;
the one who was to be the mighty holder of the rod of
iron was caught up out of the way. is is to me evidently
characteristic. at Christ will hold this place is certain
from Psa. 2, and that it is given to the church along with
Him is clear from the promise to yatira. But this only
proves their adjunction to Him, without showing that
19 Still less a company of saints divided into these two parts by
the chapter, namely, those of verse 11, and the remnant of her
seed.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
136
this man-child is a company,
20
which seems to me to be
entirely unproved; because the expression “ remnant of her
seed “ does not in the smallest way prove that which was
mentioned of her seed before to be a company.
I have already said I believe the term more general, and
to bring the woman more forward than the previous seed;
but, so far as it refers to it, it is to me characteristically,
not as a company. At all events the only seed mentioned,
and that repeated immediately before, is the man-child.
But if this fall, as the proof does to me, entirely, then all
the system of the writer as to these two remnants goes
with it-as he says “ adopting this … we come at once to
those conclusions.” But then, not adopting it (and I think
it entirely false, of which every one will judge for himself),
all the conclusions fall with it. For all the peculiar views
20 It is curious to compare the apostle’s reasoning in Galatians
with the author’s in pages 2, 3-where it is clean contrary on
the same word. e only symptom of proof alleged is, that
then the remnant of her seed would be also symbolic children
representing companies. But it is the author’s assumption that
the man-child is a symbolic child representing a company. He
recognizes that some consider it to mean Christ: and, as the
apostle reasons in Galatians, therefore them that are His; but
merely by a subsequent process of reasoning. I have already
said it is characteristic in my judgment. Besides the remnant
of her seed is to me a general idea of relationship with the
woman. Nor are they necessarily used as a symbol because the
other is-no more than the very same word in chapter 19: 21, “
the remnant were slain,” proves that they were all symbols like
the beast. ere is no force whatever in running one symbol or
gure into another where they are not used together. But this is
the only argument attempted. Christ as the seed of Abraham,
in a certain sense, represents a company. We are Abraham’s
seed by faith in Him. Do each of us represent a company of
Abraham’s seed?
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
137
as to these remnants are founded on this-a slender base it
seems to me for such important conclusions. But this is not
all: I admit the two parties, or remnants, besides the body
of the church in general. It is only their character which is
in question.
First, “ e man-child does not mean Christ.” If Christ
is to be excluded, it is very singular that this child should
be designated by the title which is intrinsically Christ’s-a
man-child who should rule, etc. is is the way he is to be
known. Now this title properly belongs to Christ.
Next, “ e brethren mentioned in verses to and iI are
those represented by the man-child; a part of whom having
been slain,” etc. Now the brethren, verses to and II, are
spoken of as a distinct and complete class, who had been in
a given position previous to the casting down of the accuser,
and had overcome therein: not of a whole company, part
slain, part left. Nor, indeed, is there anything said of the
slaying of the remnant of her seed in the chapter. At any
rate the brethren are not a company, partly slain, partly left,
but a distinct class denitely described whose case is ended.
is third allegation is sustained by a reason (assumed,
as we have seen, without proof) that the remnant of the
seed are a part of those represented by the man-child;
and that, as we shall see, contrary to the word itself: thus
conrming the incorrectness of the whole supposition.
Because, if the man-child be caught up before this
war against the remnant of the seed, it is clear that this
remnant cannot be a part of the man-child, so previously
caught up as its nal reward. Now what does the word say?
e child was caught up to God and His throne, and the
woman ed into the wilderness. e order here is pretty
plain, I apprehend: that these two events take place on the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
138
birth of the male child, He is caught up, and the woman
ies. And in the order stated. Now it is upon the woman’s
eeing into the wilderness, that the dragon proceeds to
persecute the remnant of her seed. Now against this very
plain statement of Scripture, what is the reason given why
the catching up of the man-child is after the making war
with the remnant? Simply that it must be so because the
remnant is part of the man-child. Would it not be much
safer to conclude that it is not a part, because the scripture
places the catching up previous to the woman’s ight, and
the woman’s ight previous to the war with the remnant?
But, further, deliverance from the devouring mouth of
the dragon is not surely our ultimate destiny, nor catching
up to God’s throne either. It may be a general idea of
glorious security and honor, but it is not what is anywhere
presented as our ultimate destiny. As to our sitting on a
throne (that is, on Christ’s throne as a Son of man), this
is an important point, because if so (and I have no doubt
of the justness of the objection), the whole system of the
writer entirely falls with it. For my own part, I am satised
that the catching up of the man-child has no kind of
reference to any nal state at all: whereas it is assumed
as the basis of the argument, and then the brethren and
the remnant made the dierent parts which compose it in
their previous condition. It seems to me that reading the
chapter attentively would refute this. At least the basis of
it ought not to be assumed, to wit, that the catching up is
the nal glory.
e fourth conclusion is a like argument. e remnant
are assumed to be a part of the man-child, and therefore he
cannot be caught up. e answer is, e scripture says he
is. Moreover, the war of the dragon and the persecutions
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
139
of the beast are assumed to be the same: or at least that
the saints of God and the remnant of the woman’s seed
are the same, and the time spoken of the same. is may
be, but it is a great deal to assume without any proof. e
fth merely assumes what we have been discussing, and
therefore I pass it over.
As to the sixth, I do not understand why it is said that
the blood of these saints is mentioned (chapter 17: 6; chap.
18: 24; chap. 19: 2), and that the martyrdom of the rst
part takes place under her reign, part being under the
beast’s, when the passages quoted state that the blood of
all the saints was found in her.
Seventh: I admit fully that the martyrs of the two last
classes, though “ they are such as have not been from
the beginning hitherto,” are the brethren of the saints
previously at rest. But I would ask why it is said, “ hailing
the casting out of the accuser through the martyr spirit of
those represented by the man-child.” ere is not a hint of
this in the scripture. at, in general, God considers His
saints in His judgments is true; but here, the casting out is
attributed to another thing entirely-namely, a certain war
in heaven, whereon those above rejoice, because a company
whom they call their brethren are thus delivered. Where
we may remark that there is a company in heaven who
can rejoice in this, who call these others their brethren.
Moreover, if this were so, it seems strange that what
delivered the one, if this were the reason for it, should
plunge the remnant into war and persecution at the same
time. And why “ the morning star of their expectations “?
“ Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom
of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser
of our brethren is cast down,” etc. And, let us remember,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
140
that this proclamation of strength and power is consequent
on the ‘victory over the dragon, by which he was nally
cast out of heaven. All the statements made here are really
merely gures of speech. Again, twice it is repeated that
the souls under the altar were long since martyred. Perhaps
so: but there is not a word to rest this on, save the cry, “
How long, O Lord? “ We are also told, that the answer is
given “ to make us know that the former must wait for the
latter.” Wait for what? Not for everything clearly. For white
robes were given to them. What they had cried about was
vengeance on those on the earth: and they are told they
must wait till their brethren were killed.
How “ we come at once “ to the eighth conclusion I
cannot tell. I can only say, I do not see one word of the
paragraph borne out by Scripture. ey are, it is said, this,
and they are that. But in vain I search why. e term virgins
is clearly misunderstood. Believing a lie, and guile in the
mouth, are hardly the same thing. And I would humbly ask
how a remnant at the end are the rst-fruits. ough there
is nothing for us, in all this, still, the terrors of that day are
sought to be inicted on the soul,
21
by being told that we
should not be unprepared for all this: though I know not
why, if there is nothing for us.
We are again told that the circumstances of the saints
under the former of the persecuting powers were not so bad
as under the latter. Scripture, I repeat, tells me that “ in her
was found the blood of all saints “: that “ she was drunken
“ with it. e rest of this page tells us that the chapters
of Revelation before this chapter 12 are a preparation, by
21 It is worthy of remark, that wherever the New Testament
speaks of latter-day trials and signs, it tells disciples not to be
troubled, to lift up their heads, and so on. Let this be compared
with the use often made of things with saints.
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
141
the display of millennial glories, and the judgment of the
ungodly, of these precious ones for their trial. Is this the
great object of the Revelation? at it may be so used I
will not dispute. But is the church at large not instructed
by these millennial glories? “ e unnumbered multitude
who came out of great tribulation, I consider to be the
whole church of God.” But why is the word “ the “ great
tribulation, so much insisted on elsewhere, omitted here?
But I pass over this.
But I must ask, Why is the woman the new covenant?
Is the new covenant to ee into the wilderness, while those
who are born of it do not, war being made against them?
Or why is the moon (Israel) put under the feet of the new
covenant? Or why is the moon Israel? or the crown of stars
a heavenly family? ere may be some elements of truth
in all this, but a system thus arranged (might I not say,
previously in the mind, and passages thus adapted to it?)
cannot inspire condence, when they are accompanied by
no proof at all. And what is the meaning of the dragon’s
knowing how to cast down the saints of the heavenly
places? e dragon does cast the stars to earth. Is he able
to take Christ’s saints out of heavenly places? And here,
page 3, we nd the contradiction too of the order on which
all the previous argument of the tract was based; and the
plain order of the passage, to which I already adverted, is
recognized. e child is caught up, etc. “ Next the woman
has to ee.” But then how is the catching up the nal
destiny of those who are persecuted after the woman has
ed? or how can it take place after their martyrdom?
And again I ask, How do the saints ascribe this victory (“
now is come the kingdom “) to their brethren in the earth?
ey had overcome while he was not cast down. at was
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
142
their victory; and a glorious one it was, to overcome by
blood, and testimony when the kingdom was not come;
but that is not what is celebrated here. at these saints
overcome is clear, or they would not be crowned; but I see
nothing at all of a company that overcame. eir brethren
overcame; but they are spoken of as all other overcomers.
Nor do they cause the accuser to be cast out of heaven. Nor
is it said that they cause the beast and the false prophet to
be cast into the lake of re. at dreadful fate happens to
them because they are found openly opposing and making
war on the Lamb. No doubt they had sadly treated the
saints in the way, and thus accumulated guilt on their
heads; but the cause of their casting into the lake of re
was their being found in open arms against the Lamb. “
ey overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,” is not said
of those under the beast. See chapter 15: 2.
Nor is the dierence unimportant. e saints had
gotten victory over the accuser through that blood, when
he was not cast down. at is very intelligible; nor is any
other victory ascribed to them, unless we add victory over
the fear of death: nor other instrument of victory besides
the blood, but the word of their testimony. All this part of
the statement therefore is unfounded too. When it is said
that the church’s faithfulness casts him out, I am not aware
upon what it is founded. Christ’s power casts him out;
and I am not aware, save what we have already discussed,
where its exercise is attributed to the church’s faithfulness.
I used to hear quoted, “ when the Son of man cometh will
he nd faith on the earth? “ e promise to the church
of Philadelphia, which is connected with the promise of
His coming quickly, is connected with a very dierent
description of the state of the church.
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
143
e latter end of this rst paragraph of page 10, is very
strange. e accuser is cast out only by the owing of the
blood of the saints. No doubt this is avenged therein; but
how does this cast him out? Or why has all the blood
previously shed not done so? Besides, how is going out
used here? Again, if this owing of blood casts out Satan,
how is it he makes it still ow when he is cast out? It is
in vain to say, “ verse 11, I consider, belongs to the whole
company (I might ask, why so?) the others being in the rst
struggle though not put to death in it “: because, according
to the writer’s system, they are put to death after the
accuser is cast out, and that casting out they have obtained
by identication with those who were joined with them in
casting him out in the rst struggle.
Lastly, we are told, “ the view which counts those not
of the church at all who are among the noblest of her
sons, or if of the church, that their brethren will be caught
up before their martyrdom, thus nipping in the bud the
noblest ambition on the earth, namely, that of being of the
company of those who, with their lives in their hands, go
forth in testimony against earth’s chiefest destroyers. is
view, I believe, a more careful reading of this book will
show to be utterly without foundation.”
Now all this may, forgive me the word, sound very well.
But let us search the scripture as to this same period. Are not
those who listen to the Lord’s words (and I suppose these
are the noblest sons of the church, assuming now that it is
the church) desired to ee when they see the abomination
of desolation, because the time of their testimony against
the earth’s chiefest destroyer is over? Are the disobedient
then, who do not escape from the tribulation through the
neglect of Christ’s counsel, to be considered as cultivating a
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
144
noble ambition? ey are told to go forth from, not against,
this chief destroyer.
But there is another diculty. e writer refers to Mr.
Newton’s “ oughts on the Apocalypse “ as giving help on
this subject. But a nipping frost sets in from this quarter also;
because there we are taught that, during the reign of the
beast, Christianity will be removed according to Rev. 12
22
and Matt. 24 from Judea, and even from the whole scene
of his power,
23
though a few disobedient Christians may be
found, and a new testimony, which is not the church’s at all,
will have been raised up, namely, that of the two witnesses
who testify of judgment, not of peace, etc., and cannot
give Christian blessings, nor Christian promises. So that
the second class, which had the most dicult and so the
noblest part, turn out not to have the testimony against
earth’s chiefest destroyer at all. eir brethren, indeed, Mr.
N. will not allow to be caught up; but they are bound to ee,
and the testimony is to be decidedly in other hands. I know
not whether putting another testimony in other hands on
the ight of the remnant be better than the catching up of
the saints who may be faithful before the great tribulation;
or whether it more encourages the noble ambition of the
saints. But of this I am sure, “ the more careful reading of
the book “ cannot sanction, actually nor morally, both these
views; perhaps, as I fully believe, neither. And let me be
forgiven for saying that a more careful, humble reading of
the book, with less of a system, would (at least so it seems
to me) decide a good deal less and learn a good deal more.
22 See “ oughts on the Apocalypse,” B.W.N., pages 124, 125.
e whole subject of the man-child is interpreted entirely
otherwise in the same work: see note, page 146
23 See “ oughts on the Apocalypse,” B.W.N., pages 148, 149.
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
145
I feel the spirit and tone of this tract to be incomparably
superior to the others that I have read in support of the
same system, but I nd the same essential fault: a principle,
deduced itself from a train of reasoning that has the support
of the system in view, is laid down; and then, assuming
this as a basis “ we come at once “ to a whole train of
conclusions, instead of learning from the direct text of the
word. And then something is urged that suits the natural
and so popular feeling, such as here the noblest ambition
of the saints, which I nd contradicted in every way the
moment I turn to the word. is carries away many. But
where? A system takes the place of godly subjection to the
word. And alas! this is suited to a decline of spirituality.
As this becomes feeble, the exercise of mind, and the play
of the mere natural feelings, become a necessary aliment.
But to the soul, fresh in its spirituality, the word of God
(and oh! how can it be otherwise?) has more sweetness in
its least statements (for they come from God) than any
indulgence whatever of the mental powers.
I know not what has led the author to publish this tract.
For my own part, I desire the freest communication of the
brethren’s thoughts. It seems to me desirable. ey correct
and are corrected. ere is more condence and all are
helped on. Still, where they are to be published, I cannot
help thinking that what one would desire would be, either
the fresh, even if imperfect, communication of powerful
truths calculated to act by the Holy Ghost on the soul, or
the matured result of spiritual inquiry. Such seems tter to
see the public day than every thought that suggests itself.
At any rate, it will be owned that that which we publish,
we should do so by the guidance of the Spirit of God. If it
do not ow from this source, and if it be not done under
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
146
His direction, it can be but the working of the esh. I trust
I have not erred against this rule in what I now commit
to the press. In the particular subject which now occupies
attention, I, for my part, desire the fullest publicity of every
one’s thoughts. Even in human aairs things generally nd
their level in the long run; and in the things of God surely
their level in His sight.
I do not feel it necessary to say much on the postscript
or last page of this tract. I agree that chapters 12, 13
and 14 are to be kept apart. It is indeed material to the
understanding of the book. But I think it will be found that
chapters 15 and 16 are a separate part too, “ another sign
in heaven.” I do not see that the announcing the blessing
rst hinders the chronological order; and, after the general
introduction of chapters 4 and 5. I do not see but that all is
in orderly narration to the end of chapter 11. I do not exactly
understand, however, how there is not particular diculty
in the order of this book, when three chapters in the middle
are to be kept apart, the rst seal is to be taken last, and the
sixth seal, nobody knows why, is later than the seventh seal,
and indeed, though in chapter 6, comes after chapter 19:
19.
24
is seems tolerably intricate. Further, what is there
about the tares in chapter 14? It may be so, but what proof
have we? And, if so, does not the harvest apply to the same
sphere of judgment, namely, the earth, as the vintage? But
that upsets all Mr. Newton’s system, referred to in the same
page as aording much help: because, according to him,
the harvest of Matt. 13 is of Christendom, outside the
earth where the vintage of chapter 14 takes place. Again,
is it in order without diculty to have the great whore
24 I do not see any possibility of connecting these two passages,
or how chapter 59: 19 leaves any room for ight.
A Few Brief Remakrs on “a Letter on Revelation 12”
147
destroyed rst as a moral system, chapter 17: 16, and then
as a city, chapter 16: 19, and chapter 18? I do not see any
very great diculty in the order of the book myself; but
surely it is not putting the rst seal last, and the sixth after
the seventh, that will render it clear and easy.
I think also anyone reading attentively Rev. 12 will nd
its structure not very dicult. Certain mystic characteristic
personages are rst given: the woman ready to bring forth
seen in God’s view and purpose as to her; the dragon; then
the man-child (he who was to rule) being caught up, the
woman is obliged to take the place of weakness on earth
and ees to a place prepared of God.
en, verse 7 begins the historical part of the chapter
from heaven downwards-the war of Michael with the
dragon and his victory over him. e dragon is cast from
heaven to earth, and, he nding no more any place in
heaven, they who belong to it triumph, and are called upon
to triumph; but woe is on the inhabiters of the earth. en
we have the dragon’s doings upon earth, in order to show
us specially the woman’s place, and, historically, what drove
her into the wilderness. She having escaped, the dragon
goes to make war with the remnant of her seed, who,
as I have said, are characterized as her seed (the dragon
making his attack upon them because he was wroth with
the woman). I confess I do not see a trace, either of the
catching up being the nal destiny, the man-child being a
company, or the two classes being described afterward as
composing the man-child.
e heavenly history from verses 7-12 inclusive being
given, the history on earth of the woman and the dragon is
resumed, to wit, the woman who brought forth the man-
child.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
148
Regarding the reference to the “ oughts on the
Apocalypse,” I think it will be found by an attentive reader,
that there is an entire discrepancy, on almost every point,
between that work and the “ Letter on Rev. 12” But I
cannot enter into the detail of the comparison here.
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
149
62495
Elements of Prophecy in
Connection With the
Church, the Jews, and the
Gentiles
e rst grand and capital point is to have the end
and design of God clearly and settledly in mind, so that it
should be constantly before us as the key and test of all. For
“ no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation …
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.” e divine glory is ever the end of all things;
but I speak now of the eect of divine counsels in which
God glories Himself. Now this is altogether in Christ,
known in the various glories in which He is revealed. In
the church the oce of the Holy Ghost, who moved the
holy men of old, is to take the things of Christ and show
them to us. Hence, though Jerusalem, or Israel, or even
the church, may be that in connection with which Christ
may be gloried, it is only as connected with Him that
they acquire this importance. So of the word even of the
Old Testament scriptures: they are all to make us wise
unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
On the other hand, as it is evident that this alone gives,
to whatever subject may be mentioned, its true and just
importance, so, if Jerusalem is connected with Christ, with
His aections and glory, Jerusalem becomes important; and
I get in its connection with Christ, so far as I understand
His glory, the key to interpret all that is said of it. It has, in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
150
the mind of God, its development in connection with the
manifestation of His glory.
ere may have been in the times of Israel certain
manifestations of the governmental dealings of God,
important for their faith and subjection to God by the
way, which were partial accomplishments of such or such a
prophecy. But these, though true, and though research may
discover them, are, in a certain sense, comparatively lost
now in the sum of the whole scheme of all which closes in
Christ. It may be interesting and instructive historically, as
regards God’s dealings, to observe them in their place, but
they become history-important, interesting history-not
prophecy, for us.
e rst point, then, important to understand is, that
neither the church, nor Jerusalem, nor the Gentiles, are
in themselves the objects of prophecy, still less Nineveh,
or Babylon, or the like, but Christ. But this is what gives
us the true scope and intelligence of the real importance
and place of each subject; namely, as Christ is to be the
center in which all things in heaven and earth are to be
united, various subjects become the sphere of His glory, as
connected with Him, and each subject is set in its place in
its connection with Him, and by this connection I get the
means of understanding what is said about it. us, if the
church is the Lamb’s wife, it is in this character and in this
relationship I must apprehend what regards it. If Jerusalem
is the city of the great King, it is in this that I shall get the
key to the dealings of God with it. If the saints are to live
and reign with Christ, and to be kings and priests unto
God and His Father, here I shall nd the intelligence of
what concerns them in this character: not united with the
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
151
Bridegroom, but associated with the King and Priest. And
so of the rest.
Not only is this the only way of understanding prophecy
as to the objects of it, but, the aections being right, the
understanding is clear-the eye is simple and the body full
of light. I see with God in the matter, for He regards Christ;
and thus prophecy becomes sanctifying, not speculative,
because what it teaches becomes a part of Christ’s glory for
the soul. e importance of this cannot be well overrated.
I ought not to have to persuade Christians of the truth of
this; I gladly would of its importance. is, however, is the
work of God. Objectively, I may cite Eph. 1:9-11 as stating
this great truth according to the purpose of God.
I may now endeavor to present some of the main
subjects or landmarks for the study of prophecy; that is, of
the revelation of God’s ways for accomplishing His glory
in Christ. No present circumstances, note, though they
may be historically instructive and also conrmatory of
faith, can be the proper accomplishment of prophetic truth;
because, though they may be conducive to it, under God’s
superintending government, and a lesson at the time and
afterward, they are not identied with the manifestation
of God’s glory in Christ, nor the immediate objects in
which that manifestation takes place (for we are supposing
things precedently accomplished). is shows that, in
accomplishment, all necessarily is found in the actors of
the scene at the close, when judgment will fully manifest,
not in measure to intelligent faith, but by the public acts
of God, what His judgment is; and as this judgment is on
ripened evil, the full character of this (whose principles
have from the beginning been working, been discerned
spiritually, judged partially so as to stay their power for
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
152
the accomplishment of God’s gracious designs)-the full
character, I say, of their fruit will then be shown, and God
publicly justied in His judgment before all, as well as
bringing in blessing, by setting aside in power the evil, and
replacing it by His own reign in good. And this is the vast
moral dierence of our present state, as well as of true saints
in all times, from the world to come. We have the power
of God internally, through grace and by the Spirit, to make
good the will and glory of God in the midst of evil while
subsisting; whereas then, i.e., by the presence of Christ, the
evil will be put away by power, and good be at ease.
e next simple remark that I have to make is that,
though the relationship of heaven with earth may be
discovered to us, in so far as heaven and those there are
revealed as the established governing power (that is, that
there are, in the seat of government placed above, objects
of special revelation), yet the proper subject of prophecy
is the earth, and God’s government of it. And it is only
so far as the heavenly company are connected with the
government of the earth that they become a collateral
subject of prophetic revelation.
Further, providence is not the subject of prophecy. By
providence I mean the ordering of the course of all things
by divine power, in such sort that all results which happen
in the world are according to the divine purpose and will.
Often inscrutable to us in its reasons and even the means
it employs, and leaving the government of God obscure,
still it is certain to faith, and that by which it remains true
that God is not mocked-what a man sows this will he
reap. Faith will recognize the hand of God in many things,
and believes it in everything; but to the world all of it is
hidden. Certain principles, universal with God in their
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
153
application, by this means are veried, as “ righteousness
exalteth a nation.” e men of this world see nothing of
the bearing of the moral causes on the eect, or, if they do
see the causes, the result issuing thence is that they ascribe
the eect to them, and God is shut out. His immediate
action and government is excluded. Now the subjects of
prophecy are the contrary of this. e public products of
God, coming in power, are revealed. ey are either the
day of the Lord, or the characteristic results which bring
it about-a judgment which man has to acknowledge as of
God. Now it is evident that the day of the Lord, properly
speaking, closes the history of this world; it is the opposite
of that secret course of government which is carried on,
and from the checks of which the pride of man rises again
to pursue his course of evil. When God sets to His hand,
the proud helpers do stoop under Him.
I do not deny that certain grand and remarkable judicial
interventions of God are called, in a subordinate sense,
the day of the Lord, in virtue of their practical analogy
with that time of which it shall be said “ the Lord alone
is exalted in that day.” But even these are in contrast with
the course of providential government, which, in its very
idea, does not interrupt but regulate the ordinary course
of events. ere are prophecies which may, to some, seem
to refer to the course of providence, but these conrm, in a
remarkable way, the distinction.
Take the ten horns. What is the providential history
of these horns, taken as usually applied by commentators?
Scourges, which continued some one hundred and fty
years, from rst to last, working the overthrow of the
Roman Empire, as previously settled, and establishing
themselves as conquerors in all its Western territory. We
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
154
may inquire, if done humbly, with prot, why this scourge
was permitted. Whether it was the public civil evil, or the
corruption of the church. What moral causes led to it. How
it executed the moral judgment of God on the evil. Why
the East was spared. How it led the way to a more terrible
spiritual tyranny than had yet been seen in the world.
Take the prophetic account. A beast rises out of the
sea with ten horns all full grown, after which a little horn
comes up, and the beast, horns and all, are the subject of
God’s judgment, not the executors of it. is is prophecy;
that was providence. We have what characterizes the object
of prophecy and its judgment, and the reason of it. All the
providential part, out of which commentators have woven
an immense system, is left out-so of the statue. It is all
there at once, the application of it to the empires given, the
character of four, the closing object of judgment in the feet
and toes, and the execution. Of the providential course of
events, by which one takes the place of the other, we nd
nothing.
I have taken the cases which would seem to give the
greatest room for it, and of which in this respect men have
said the most. And with what result? Such that, if taken as
a literal accomplishment, a child can see the discrepancy.
What analogy between one hundred and fty years’ war
to destroy an empire, and ten kingdoms, all in full energy
and growth, arising out of it and forming part of it as the
symbol of its force?
In the Apocalypse, before the end, we nd summary
judgments executed with progressive severity in the
seals, trumpets, and vials, before the King comes forth
to destroy the beast: judgments inicted of God; but
not, in Scripture, providential history. ey are all proper
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
155
immediate judgments, though they be but preparatory, and
introductory, inicted on either the circumstances or the
persons of the men of this world-on the wicked. e hand
of God is seen. But there is no explanation of causes or
providential course. We nd their moral state, exceptionally,
in that which they refuse to repent of in one case; but, in
general, it is not the course of events guided by providence
to order all things well, but the earth subject to the judicial
vengeance of God. No careful reader can question this.
e end of providence is the present ordering of God’s
government to bring about His designs. e Apocalyptic
history consists of judgments inicted.
Further, we may add, that providence is occupied in the
daily discipline of the children of God. Prophecy treats of
the judgments of God (removing out of His sight those
whom He judges), and of the full blessing of His people.
I do not think any prophecy can be alleged speaking of
a course of events applied to His people while they are
owned. e nearest approach to it is Isa. 9:7 to 10: 25; but
these are inicted judgments, and no course of providence.
Having thus spoken of the subjects of prophecy morally,
I may turn to the positive subjects it embraces.
Besides the creation, of which He is the Head, in which
we may comprise angels, there are three great spheres in
which Christ’s glory is displayed-the church, the Jews,
and the Gentiles. e church, properly speaking, is not the
subject of prophecy. As to Old Testament prophecy, the
New declares in the most absolute and positive manner
that it was a mystery hidden in all ages, and now revealed
to the apostles and prophets by the Spirit. e church
belongs to heaven, is the body of Christ seated there, and
while He is so seated. Prophecy relates to earth. e church
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
156
is viewed, it is true, when it takes part in the government
of the earth for that reason; and the marriage of the Lamb
and the description of the heavenly Jerusalem give the
epoch from which dates the character of this relationship
with earth.
In the New, the relationship of the church with Christ
caused the Holy Ghost to remain in it, and communicate
the needed light on its position while waiting for the
Lord. ere was no presence of God attached to formal
institutions subsisting, to consistency with which a series
of prophets was to recall a people (necessarily, while they
subsisted, the people of God). In one respect, however,
though the church was not the proper subject of prophecy,
while it subsisted as owned of God, certain things connected
with it are predicted; that is, its decay and corruption, as a
present moral warning; but this passes into mere apostate
wickedness, as a distinct object of judgment.
Hence when, as I doubt not, and as a vast number of
Christians believe, the Lord would give a picture of the
church’s history as an external body in the world, in a
state for the most part in which He could not at all own
it as His heavenly body, He selects, with divine wisdom,
seven churches which aorded the moral character of the
states into which it would successively fall, and presses His
judgments morally on them. But it is not made a positive
subject of prophecy. Whatever may be our judgment of the
subsequent part of the Apocalypse, which treats of events
subsequent to the period of the seven churches, it certainly
consists of judgments on the world, not of any prophecy of
the church, save as stated at the close. ere is the simple
fact, that the beast overcomes certain saints, and that he
puts to death two witnesses. No general prophecy of the
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
157
church itself is found in the course of the Apocalypse. It
was right to give these facts.
e reason is evident to one who knows what the
church is. It is not of the world. It, as such, sits in heavenly
places in Christ, where prophecy reaches not. It never will
be established on earth, as the Jews. It is not its calling. e
government of God will never settle it there in peace. His
blessing for it will be to take it away from earth, to be with
the Lord in the air. A partial application of the Apocalypse
to what has the name of the church, but is the power of
evil in the world, I do not deny; but this does not make the
church a subject of prophecy. Accordingly, we nd, as we
have said, the church in heaven at the end in connection
with the earth, when all is united in Christ; but no account
of any dealings of God to establish it, or a progress towards
a result of any kind. She is to reign with Christ, and suer
with Him.
e remaining spheres of the display of the glory of the
blessed Lord are the Jews and Gentiles, subjects in dierent
degrees of His earthly government, as the church was the
full exhibition of His sovereign grace in redemption, which
places her in heavenly places in Christ, that in the ages to
come God might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. is distinction is
full of interest. Man is not governed in introducing him
into the church. He is taken as a rebellious lost sinner, a
hater of God, a child of wrath, be he Jew or Gentile, and
set in the same place as Christ. is is not government,
it is grace. e Jews are the center of God’s immediate
government, morally displayed according to His revealed
will. e Gentiles are brought to recognize His power and
sovereignty displayed in His dealings with them. I speak
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
158
of the thing, properly speaking, in its revealed character;
for every sinner in all ages, is saved as such, individually,
by grace, and every Christian is under the immediate
government of the Father as of the heavenly family; but
even so the object of government is dierent. With the
Christian, it is to prepare him for heaven; with the Jews,
on the contrary, it is to display God’s righteousness on the
earth: I speak of them as a body or people. Christ and the
church suer for righteousness, and reign. e Jews, as a
people, suer for sin, and the result of their history will be,
“ Verily, there is a reward for the righteous; verily, there is a
God that judgeth the earth.”
Further, prophecy does not apply to a state where God’s
people, responsible under the government of God, walk
well, so that He can bless them as walking under His own
eye in testimony of His favor. is special intervention,
for such prophecy is, applied to the case of their failure.
Hence, when Shiloh was overthrown and the ark taken,
Samuel was raised up, of whom the Lord therefore says, “
Beginning at Samuel and all the prophets.” is character
of prophecy is completely evident in reading the prophets,
who addressed their prophecies to the people in general.
Indeed, its principle is evident. But, if they showed the
people their transgressions, they pointed out constantly the
Messiah, the great Deliverer. us it is in Hannah’s song
(1 Sam. 2:9, 10), where the government of the world by
Jehovah in sovereignty
25
and the exaltation of Messiah are
fully brought out. So, historically, Samuel was raised up
on the failure and ruin of Israel, and introduced David.
25 It will be well for the reader to consult this passage, which, as
the introduction of the new order of Israel, gives the character
of prophecy in a very remarkable manner.
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
159
Prophecy judges the people in their responsibility, and
announces the sovereign purpose of God.
But this leads me to note two characters of prophecy,
arising, as regards the Jews, from two dierent positions
in which we nd them in Scripture: rst, a people more
or less fully owned of God (God acting amongst them on
known principles of government); secondly, rejected for a
time (the sovereign power in the earth being conded to
Gentiles). is last period forms the times of the Gentiles.
For the moment, I conne myself to the Jews. God,
while He could in any sort own His people, addressed
Himself directly to them. Until Nebuchadnezzar’s time,
God’s throne and presence was in the midst of Israel.
From that period, the sovereign power in the earth ceased
to be immediately exercised by God and was conded
to man, among those who were not His people, in the
person of Nebuchadnezzar. is was a change of immense
importance, both in respect of the government of the world,
and God’s judgment of His people. Both lead the way to
the great objects of prophecy developed at the close-the
restoration, through tribulation, of a rebellious people, and
the judgment of an unfaithful and apostate Gentile head
of power. However the previous relationship of Israel and
the nations is not left out; but we must introduce another
all-important point for the development of this.
Israel, we have seen, as between it and Jehovah, had
been unfaithful, and Ichabod written on it; the ark of God,
His glory and strength in Israel, delivered into the enemy’s
hand; enemies left in the land by their unfaithfulness. But
God comes in, in sovereign grace, and raises up David,
gure of Christ, who descended from him according to the
esh, king of Israel in grace and deliverance. Evil arising
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
160
in his descendants, the major part of Israel revolt from
the king of his family: two tribes remain, and to a residue
of them brought back from Babylon, Christ is presented
and rejected. Hence two things gave occasion to Israel’s
judgment-idolatry and rebellion against Jehovah, and the
rejection of Christ.
Having brought out this second ground of judgment,
I leave it for the moment, in order to consider the former
ground, rebellion against Jehovah. Israel ought to have
been the witness of the blessedness of being in such a
relationship with the Lord. “ Happy are the people who
are in such a case; yea, blessed are the people who have the
Lord for their God.” Israel, on the contrary, learned the
ways of the heathen; yea, became more corrupt than they,
and the Lord allowed the surrounding nations to attack
and distress them. is had its full development in the ten
tribes; the house of David, raised up in grace, being for a
time a stay to Judah. ough all the surrounding nations
had their share in these attacks, the principal in result
was Asshur. Accordingly, in the end, this power prevails
entirely against Israel and overruns Judah, the Lord only
at the close defending Jerusalem, where the son of David
was a stay in righteousness. Still, if Israel had deserved
all this chastisement, these rods of chastening had in
their animosity despised the Lord, His people, and His
throne. Asshur especially had exalted himself against Him
that hewed therewith. Hence they become the objects of
destroying judgment themselves.
All these elements are found at the close, though they
have a partial historical fulllment, Nebuchadnezzar
executing the judgment at that time. e nations will
overrun the country. e Assyrian, in particular, will be the
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
161
scourge of God as an overowing ood, and the double
event will take place; rst Judah and Jerusalem then (by
an attack before the end
26
- proof of its application at
the close) the whole people will be overwhelmed; but
afterward, when the true Son of David shall be there, and
the land will be actually Immanuel’s land, Jerusalem will be
preserved and all these nations judged. Jerusalem shall tread
them down as sheaves upon the threshing oor. ese vast
circumstances, under God’s teaching, open out a vast mass
of prophecies, of which Isaiah gives the most complete and
orderly course, other prophets taking up divers parts of it.
But the family of David itself, as placed responsibly
on the throne of the Lord at Jerusalem, was, we know,
unfaithful, and the sin of Manasseh made their government
insupportable to Jehovah. Judah was removed out of His
sight, as Israel had been. But, then, what remained of the
sphere of the direct government of God on a given law?
Nothing. His glory left Jerusalem and the earth, for it
had lled the temple of Jerusalem. (See Ezek. 1-10.) is
judgment then was of a far weightier character and import.
It removed the government of God from upon the earth,
and conded power to the head of the Gentiles. Israel was
laid aside for a time. But Judah, providentially restored in
a partial way, have Messiah presented to them, but, as we
have seen, reject Him, declaring that they have no king
but Cæsar. is placed Judah under the Gentile power, not
only as a chastening for their rebellion against Jehovah in
the person of their King and of David’s race, but on the
ground of their own rejection of the promised Messiah and
26 ere will be two attacks. Jerusalem will be trodden down by
the rst; at the second, Christ will be there, and the judgment
takes place. Isaiah and Zechariah are clear as to this.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
162
taking the Gentile for their head. is also consequently
has its accomplishment in judgment in the latter days.
e special Gentile part of it is scarcely alluded to in the
prophets, who address Israel as more or less owned. It is the
subject of Daniel, and we may add of the Apocalypse, for
a reason we will add just now. Judah is seen in prophecy in
the latter days under the oppression of the head of Gentile
power, deceived by a false Christ, and oppressed. But God
regards Israel still as His, having caused it to pass through
the deepest tribulation. ose who, through grace, cleave
to the Lord, call upon His name, and receive the word of
the Spirit of Christ, instead of joining idolatry with the
Gentiles and their chief, will be delivered, and the apostate
Gentile power and the false prophet judged.
Another element introduces itself here. On the rejection
of the Jews, as we know, Christianity came in. But alas! man
was as unfaithful here as in Judaism. Early in the apostles’
time, the mystery of iniquity began to work, resulting in an
apostasy, and the ten kings of the Gentile world make war
with the Lamb. In a word, a public apostasy in the sphere
of Christian profession and the revelation of the man of
sin, the open war of the beast and kings associated with
him against the Lord, came in as an element of the latter-
day events, completing the character and description of the
Gentile power, which had taken the place of God’s throne
at Jerusalem, and to whom He had conded authority in
the world. is, with its antecedents, is that which the
Apocalypse furnishes of the prophetic volume.
e result of the destruction of this power, as well as of
that of the Assyrian and other nations, is the establishment
of Israel in blessing under Christ upon the earth, the throne
of the Lord being thus re-established in surety at Jerusalem.
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
163
e destruction of the Gentile power does not reach this
latter period entirely. Hence Daniel, who treats of the
period of Gentile power, never speaks of the millennium.
He is made just to reach the deliverance, and stops there.
e eect of the destruction of the Gentile power is to
reunite the Lord, Jerusalem and Israel, and then comes the
judgment of the Assyrian and the various enemies who
have risen up against the Lord and His people. is brings
in the full reign of peace.
27
eir connection with Israel has
led in many respects to the anticipation of what regards the
Gentiles. However, it will be well to speak of them also.
We have a double character of the Gentiles in Scripture,
as will have been already seen: their opposition to the people
of God when they had this character, at least externally; and
their pride, and rebellion, and oppression of those who had
borne the name of His people, when power was given to
them of God. e dierence of these two states was great.
Until the time of Nebuchadnezzar, various kingdoms and
nations were owned as such in the providential government
of God, though left entirely, morally, to themselves, their
existence being the fruit of His own judgment in Babel.
As regards the ten tribes, at least the great body of
them, this will not be their history. Having determined to
be like the Gentiles, God has not suered it; they are not
27 As regards Israel, the moral eect is this. In order to save
themselves from the overowing scourge, Judah, who had
rejected Christ, will associate themselves with Antichrist and
the apostate Gentiles, and even join in idolatry; but the scourge
will for all that pass through. A residue, despised, suering, and
rejected, will recoil from this, own Jehovah, and gradually grow
up into more light, but in the midst of such distress as never
was. When all hope is shut out and the enemy is coming up
again in pride, the Lord will appear and save them, and take
them up against all their enemies.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
164
under Antichrist and not cut o in the land, but brought,
like Israel coming out of Egypt, under God’s rod, and the
rebels cut o, so as not to enter. Israel and Judah will then
be under one Head, Christ, who will gather from all sides
any left in divers lands.
Israel was the center of this general system, being
owned as His people (known alone of all the families
of the earth), the Lord having, in separating the sons of
Adam and dividing to the nations their inheritance, set
the bounds of the people according to the number of the
children of Israel. But Israel having failed in this position,
and the nations, and especially Assyria, having been guilty
of wrong, God judges them all, for “ it contemneth the rod
of his son “ (Ezek. 21: io), and how should the rest subsist?
e whole governmental order is set aside, and with Israel
the independence of all the nations is lost; and wheresoever
the children of men dwell, the dominion of Adam is placed
in the hands of the head of the Gentiles. Of all these nations,
which existed previous to Nebuchadnezzar (besides which
Isa. 18 refers to some unnamed people outside their limits,
and Ezekiel introduces the northern Gog in his inroad in
the latter days), the history and judgment in the latter day
is given in the prophets; and they are found in one way or
another hostile to Israel, and gathered against Jerusalem in
the latter day. In general, we nd Zech. 12 and 14, Isaiah
30, Mic. 4, and other passages, reveal the gathering of the
nations against Jerusalem. But these passages reveal also
that it is taken once, and a second time is not, because the
Lord is there and defends it. e nations themselves are
judged. In this the haughty pride of the nations is broken,
as that of Israel (who, save the residue, have sought help far
from God, and have been broken and oppressed) is brought
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
165
down by their own trials. And, however the nations may
have exalted themselves, they are found to bow to the
sovereignty and power of God, and own that He is in the
midst of Israel whom they have despised. ose spared of
them will own Jehovah in Zion when He has appeared-
Zion established in peace by the presence of Jehovah.
Such is the history of the nations, as such, but the
statue (or the beasts) is besides all this a distinct history,
as we have seen, and also a distinct prophetic subject. Man
used the power conded to him of God to exalt himself
against Him, to oppress His people and trample down
His sanctuary. Nor was this all: the last beast in particular
imbrued his hands (vainly washed before men) in the
guiltless blood of the Son of God, and thus associated
himself with the apostate part of the Jewish people.
Alas! this was not all. e mystery of iniquity working
in the midst of the church brought on apostasy there, and
evil men, crept in, brought out the peculiar character of
those to be judged by Christ at His coming in the last day.
is apostasy gave occasion to the rise of the man of sin,
the full expression of the wickedness of the human heart
under the full power of Satan. Owning no God, setting up
to be God, deceiving as a false Christ by signs and wonders;
such is the religious end of man left to himself; all this
associated with and maintaining the public power of Satan
on the earth. Such is the last character of the power of the
Gentiles where Christianity had been introduced. It will
have at once an atheistical and an apostate Gentile form,
growing out of and accompanied by apostate Christian
forms. e last rebellious and self-exalting actings of
power at Jerusalem will bring down ruin on the chief and
his supporters by the manifestation of the Lord Jesus.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
166
ereon will follow what we have already spoken of-the
taking up of royal power in Israel by the Lord Christ, and
the destruction of all the enemies who will have gathered
together against Him.
Here it is we nd the church in prophecy. e marriage
of the Lamb having taken place with the church already
gone up on high, the saints come forth with the Lord
on the white horse to the triumphant destruction of
the beast and the false prophet. And then the church is
seen in her relationship with the earth in blessing, as the
heavenly Jerusalem: striking contrast with the corrupt and
corrupting intercourse of Babylon with the kings of the
earth, which ends in the nations and the beast hating and
destroying her.
In this scene of woe, which precedes the destruction of
the beast, we nd in the prophets a remnant of Jews, who,
in the depth of their distress, look, and learn more and
more to look, to Jehovah, being animated by the prophetic
Spirit of Christ and taught by it. To this the whole body
of Psalms apply, giving us, besides Christ’s sympathy with
them, the various expression of it. Isa. 65 and 66 dwell
upon this remnant. One other circumstance must be noted
here, of which prophecy speaks. Before the execution of
judgment, there will be within the circle of special evil,
and without it, a testimony of God. ese must not be
confounded. In the earlier half of the last week of Daniel,
there will be a testimony rendered to the God of the earth.
e beast, rising up in his last form, will put an end to this,
adding this to his other wickedness, in order to please men
and pursue his career of evil unchecked. During the last
half week there is none, save the refusal to adore the beast.
At the same time, there will be a testimony of the coming
Elements of Pr ophecy in Connection With the Church, the Jews, and the Gentiles
167
kingdom sent abroad among the nations, that all who
have ears to hear may, through grace, escape the coming
judgment. is gives occasion to the judgment of Matt. 25
For this the reader may consult Matt. 24:14; Rev. 14; Psa.
96
e result will be the full establishment of what was
shadowed, or rather connected with the responsibility of
man, in the previous condition-namely, the full blessing
of that people and the throne of the Lord at Jerusalem;
but there is added what was shadowed out in the Gentile
power-the full dominion of the Son of man over the world.
It remains to add, that Old and New Testament prophecy
alike declares that Satan will be bound, driven from on
high (whence he has corrupted even the good that God has
placed in the hands of men), and from earth soon after. He
is shut up in the bottomless pit, the blessing of the world is
uninterrupted till he be loosed again. Even then it does not
appear that the saints will suer. ey will be assembled
together apart from those seduced. e judgment of the
dead follows, and the new heavens and the new earth, the
mediatorial kingdom being closed and delivered up, and
the family of the last Adam enjoying the full everlasting
blessing acquired for them by their Head.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
168
62482
e Rapture of the Saints
and the Character of the
Jewish Remnant
Showing the Position Which the Scriptures Give to the
Remnant in Israel, in the Latter Day, in Prophecy, in the
Psalms, and in the New Testament; and the Rapture of
the Saints, Gathered by the Holy Ghost Sent Down From
Heaven, Before the Tribulation of the Last Days.
e rapture of the saints to meet the Lord in the air,
before His manifestation to the earth, and the existence of
a Jewish remnant, in whom the Spirit of God is graciously
working, before the Lord manifests Himself to them for
their, deliverance, is happily attracting the attention of
Christians. It has made sucient way to be the occasion of
a renewed opposition, which can only do good by urging
serious Christians to examine the scriptures on the subject-
an examination, which will, under grace, spiritually enlarge
their apprehensions on many most important points, full
of blessing and interest for their souls. e true character
of the church of God will appear, and the nature of its
connection with Christ, on the one hand, and the ways of
God in the government of the world on the other-the two
great topics of which the Scriptures treat; besides that rst
of all concerns, the reconciling of the soul with God. On
this last also, indeed, a right intelligence of the other two
casts abundant light. e rapture of the saints before the
appearing of Christ, strange as it may appear to some, has
nothing to say to the church, directly or exclusively; but as
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
169
we form part of those caught up, it, of course, interests us
in the highest degree.
28
e rapture is in connection with
the glory of the kingdom; and the saints in general, who
are to reign in the kingdom, have part in this rapture. Still,
indirectly, the inquiry leads to the question, What is the
church? because the doctrine of the rapture of the saints,
before the appearing of Christ, connects itself with the
existence of a Jewish remnant waiting for deliverance after
the rapture and before the appearing; and the position of
this remnant connects itself, more or less, with the spiritual
condition of the saints before the manifestation of the
church on the earth.
ose who believe in the rapture of the church before the
appearing of Christ hold that the church has a special and
peculiar character and connection with Christ, in virtue of
its being formed into one body by the descent of the Holy
Ghost from heaven; and that, while salvation is always
necessarily the same, the relative condition of the saints
previously was a distinct one. ey are convinced that in
the Psalms a Jewish remnant is found, and that thoughts,
feelings, hopes, fears, into which the Spirit of Christ enters
prophetically with and for them, are there expressed in
their behalf. is remnant is believed to be continually
spoken of in the prophets, as existing before the appearing
of the Lord, and waiting for that appearing, and delivered
by it. But, further, the Lord Himself being a minister of
the circumcision for the truth of God, as well as a Savior,
presented Himself necessarily to Israel, according to these
promises, and became associated with the remnant, and the
28 Hence, indeed, it is often, in a practical way, treated of, in
Scripture, as applicable to those who now believe, without
going farther.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
170
leader of it, as far as it was awakened to know Him. Hence
the interpretation of many passages of the New Testament
also became involved in this question; and, indeed, the
whole order of the dispensations of God. But above all,
the question of the church and its privileges, as formed by
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, is important and
essential in this matter, and a right understanding of it a
key to the interpretation of the word of God.
On the other hand, the denial of the existence of a
Jewish remnant, such as is above spoken of, involves the
most grave and, indeed, fatal consequences; because it
connects, especially through the contents of the Psalms, the
Spirit of Christ, which speaks in them, with the ungodly
and unconverted Jews, and makes the declarations of
integrity and uprightness, not the breathings of a righteous
soul pleading with God-yea, its pleadings furnished to it
by the Spirit of Christ-but the pride of self-righteousness
presenting itself to God. It is hard to suppose that any could
allege that the Lord should give all this self-righteousness
by revelation in connection with-yea, identied with-the
breathings of Christ’s Spirit and the piety owing from
it; but such is the theory of those who deny the rapture of
the saints before Christ’s appearing, and, consequently, the
existence of a Jewish remnant, in which the Spirit of Christ
is at work in connection with the hopes proper to Israel.
A point connected with this has been insisted on by the
adversaries of the truth, to which I advert here only to leave
it aside, as not touching the main point, even if true, and
used by them only to obscure the great and vital truth of
the rapture of the church-I mean the secrecy of the rapture.
e two points on which it is important to have the clear
testimony of Scripture are-rst, that there will be a Jewish
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
171
remnant at the end, with a place belonging to itself as such;
secondly, the true character of the church of God.
at there will be a Jewish remnant at the close, delivered
and blessed by the Lord at His coming, blessed on earth,
is, beyond all controversy, the doctrine of Scripture. is
remnant has neither the church’s heavenly blessings nor
the church’s hope. For those who have inquired into these
subjects, it ought not to be necessary to quote passages of
scripture to prove this. Still, as it is in its consequences a very
important point, I will reproduce here some of the principal
passages which prove the fact that there is a remnant, and
show the state in which that remnant is. First, as regards
the Jews, Zech. 13:8, 9: “And it shall come to pass, that in
all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut
o and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will
bring the third part through the re, and will rene them
as silver is rened, and will try them as gold is tried: they
shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is
my people: and they shall say, e Lord is my God.”
As regards the ten tribes of Israel, the case is somewhat
dierent; the rebels will not enter into the land. Of Ezek.
20:33-38 I quote a part: “ And I will bring you into the
wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you
face to face … And I will cause you to pass under the rod,
and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: and I
will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that
transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the
country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into
the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
Still they will be united in the land. See Ezek. 37:11-28. In
verse 19: “ Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is
in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
172
and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah,
and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine
hand.” Verse 24: “ And David my servant shall be king over
them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also
walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes and do
them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to
Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt … my
tabernacle also shall be with them.”
As regards Judah, Daniel tells us: “ And at that time
shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth
for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time
of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation,
even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall
be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the
book.” I have no doubt verse 2 refers to those scattered in
the countries; but on this point I do not dwell here. Only
let the reader remark that the wise and those that instruct
the
29
many in righteousness are distinguished from the rest
(v. 3; see chap. 11: 32-35). e general blessing and promise
to Israel may be seen at the close of Hos. 2 and 3. I do not
quote in detail here, because these passages do not touch
the question of a remnant. For the great day of trouble the
reader may compare Jeremiah 30: 4-9, and for the certainty
of their blessing in general, that chapter, and chapters 31,
32, and 33. I might refer to a multitude of chapters besides,
but this may suce.
What I have quoted also shows that it is the remnant
of Israel which is blessed with Israel’s blessings. As it is
said in Isa. 10 “ For though the number of the children of
29 Not “ turn many to righteousness.” It refers to chapter 11:
33, and other passages, where these wise ones are noticed. (See
chapter 11: 35; 12: 10.)
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
173
Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall return “;
and verse 21, “ the remnant shall return, even the remnant
of Jacob, to the mighty God.” e points thus made clear
are that it is the remnant which is blessed, and blessed with
Israel’s blessings, according to promise, in the land, with
Jehovah as their God. e next and capital point (for what
precedes is generally admitted), is their previous state: is it
a Christian or church state? And now I pray the reader to
mark one most important consequence of any supposition
that this remnant of Israel is previously in a Christian
or church standing. eir blessings are, the earthly glory,
under Christ, in the land, according to the promises made
to them.
Now, if their hopes have been church hopes, and their
spiritual condition the same as ours, their hopes are not
fullled, they are disappointed in them; or (and it is this
I pray the reader especially to remark) if they are not,
our hopes are reduced to the level of Jewish earthly and
temporal ones. Now this is the great object of the enemy
in all this scheme, for that it is the positive work of the
enemy I have no doubt at all. In denying a distinct Jewish
remnant, having Jewish faith, Jewish hopes, and resting on
Jewish promises, it reduces the church to the level of these;
and the value and power of spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, and the place of Christ’s body in union
with Him, is denied and lost. It is this which makes the
question vital for Christians themselves. e great object
of the enemy in denying the rapture of the saints before
the appearing of the Lord, and in the consequent rejection
of a distinct Jewish remnant, with Jewish hopes and Jewish
piety,. is to deny and destroy the proper faith of the church
of God, and to set the church itself aside. Far be it from me
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
174
to say, that all who have fallen into this system have any
such purpose, or are even aware of the eect; but the eect
is nothing the less produced, and the loss theirs, though the
intention be not. ey are deceived by the enemy, though
far from intending to deceive with him.
But my task now is to show, from Scripture, that this
honored and gloried remnant are previously under the
inuence of God’s Spirit-a people waiting on the Lord;
I repeat, that those who are blessed as Israel by the Lord
are previously waiting on the Lord, and that the Lord
recognizes them in this character.
ere are two classes of texts referring to Israel in the
latter day, to one of which I only refer here, and leave
aside, though full of interest, as not bearing on our present
subject. I speak of the texts which speak only of the
intervention of God in power, whether to deliver or gather
Israel, blessing the nation in contrast with their previous
depression and misery, without touching on the question
of a remnant, or the state in which that remnant is found.
I refer to such passages as Amos 9, Jeremiah 30-33, and
many like passages.
e other class refers explicitly to the despised remnant
and its state previous to Jehovah’s intervention in power
to deliver. Texts of this character are what I would now
lay before the reader, quoting as many as are needed to
show the existence of a godly though oppressed remnant,
which is under the inuence and working of the Spirit of
God. is truth rests not on a few casual texts, but on the
constant teaching of the Scriptures. For the Lord shall
judge His people, and repent Himself concerning His
servants, when He seeth that their power is gone, and
that there is none shut up nor left. Not only this, but it
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
175
will be found that these scriptures connect this remnant
of the latter day with those who had ears to hear when
the prophets spoke. e connection of “ the day,” or “ that
day,” with the testimony delivered by the prophet at the
time, and that without supposed interruption or interval,
is characteristic of prophetic scriptures. But we shall nd
that this is applicable to the testimony of Christ viewed
as the great Prophet of Israel, by whose Spirit alone the
prophets prophesied; and that thus the prophetic witness
is continued in connection with a waiting remnant during
His life, and even after His lifetime, in connection with
God’s government of Israel, and as long as God dealt
with that people as such; and that the doctrine of the
church alone took the witness of God entirely out of this
connection. e doctrine of a heavenly calling paved the
way for this, though not the same thing as the church,
though the church had surely a heavenly calling; while the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the judgment of the nation
connected with this event, and the warnings which refer
to it, closed and broke all connection of God’s testimony
with the nation, and left the church and the Gentiles the
only acknowledged place of witness, as such, until that of
the Jews is resumed, according to the clear testimony of
the prophets.
Our rst duty will be to produce the testimony of
scripture to the existence of a godly Jewish remnant in
the latter day, with Jewish hopes sanctioned of God. is
once distinctly shown, the whole question as to the state of
things in the latter day is really solved, and the modied or
transitional state of the remnant becomes easy to discern.
God would not deprive the Jews of the hopes of Israel till
they deprive themselves of them; meanwhile He introduced
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
176
the church, and their hopes gradually died down, giving
place to exclusively heavenly ones, till judgment closed all
other relationship between God and them. I shall begin by
a very plain and strong testimony, which will set the state
of the Jewish remnant in the latter day in the clearest light,
and then quote passages to show it was a constant theme of
prophecy; some showing the fact that a remnant will exist,
others its character.
Mal. 3:16: “ en they that feared the Lord spake often
one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and
a book of remembrance was written before him for them
that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that
day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as
a man spareth his own son that serveth him. en shall ye
return and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him
not.” Chapter 4: “ For, behold, the day cometh, that shall
burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall
burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my
name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in
his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of
the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall
be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall
do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of
Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb
for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I
will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the
heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
177
children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth
[land] with a curse.”
Such are the last solemn words uttered by the prophetic
Spirit to Israel before the coming of the Messiah and His
precursor. e provisional application to Christ and John
the baptist will be noticed, and is most important, to show
the way in which the testimony of their day took a Jewish
character and application; but the last days are denitely
here in view. A godly Jewish remnant is the very subject of
the prophecy. ey are contrasted with the wicked, they fear
Jehovah’s name, and unto them the Sun of righteousness
arises with healing in His wings. ey triumph judicially
over their wicked oppressors in that day. ey are identied
with the godly in Israel in the prophet’s time; they speak
often one to another: God will spare His in that day. ey
are called on to remember Moses and the law given to
him for all Israel. Nothing can be more distinct and plain,
more specic and positive in its character; and it has all the
peculiar weight of a nal and closing testimony, the last
words of prophecy to Israel.
Let us now see if this doctrine of a remnant is constantly
recognized in the prophetic testimony, and in what way.
Isaiah, a prophet who unfolds to us the ways of God with
Israel as a whole, will abundantly instruct us on this point.
e general principle, which connects the remnant with
all God’s moral dealings with Israel, is found in chapter 1:
18, 19.
Before I proceed to quote the passages in detail, let
me here state the great principles which this rst citation
suggests. I have already noticed that, after the question of
personal salvation or relationship to God, two great subjects
present themselves to us in Scripture: the church, that
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
178
sovereign grace which gives us a place along with Christ
Himself in glory and blessing; and God’s government of the
world, of which Israel forms the center and the immediate
sphere. Only we have to remember that in this government
grace must have a part, or it would not be the government
of God. It would be simple judicial condemnation, and
impossibility of blessing. ese ways of God are revealed
in Ex. 32; 33; 34, and Deut. 32 e prophets, founding
themselves on the law given in Horeb, are sent in grace to
seek the fruit which the vine of the Lord’s planting ought
to have borne. ey reproach Israel with not producing
it; and solemnly warn the people of the consequences in
judgment.
But as God, and therefore grace, was at work, there
were the purposes and will of that grace to be revealed:
only that it was not in Israel’s case made eectual in a
simple sovereign gift to the divine glory in a new creation,
but in a display of God’s ways in divine government in
connection with the responsibility of man. is grace must
be in Christ, for He is the center of all God’s ways. He is
the Messiah, then, of the Jews, the King that is to reign in
righteousness, and to display fully and in perfection God’s
immediate government. (See Psalm 101.) Hence there is a
double test applicable in the ways of God in government
in Israel. Have they proted by and gloried God in the
privileges, in the enjoyment of which they were originally
placed? Are they in a condition to meet Jehovah in glory,
coming in the Person of Christ? ese two questions may
be seen treated in Isa. 5 and 6.
e question of the remnant is treated, let the reader
remark, entirely in connection with the second of these
subjects (i.e., in connection with Christ). It is the same
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
179
nation, of course: the residue have the law necessarily
before their consciences, and this fully maintained; but it
is, after all, the presenting of Christ, the dealing of God
in grace, which brought the state of the nation to an issue,
separated the remnant, and brought judgment on the
body. After sending the prophets, speaking by the Spirit
of Christ which was in them, to seek fruit, the Lord of
the vineyard said, I have yet one Son: it may be they will
reverence my Son when they see Him. We all know the
result. Judgment came upon the nation, a remnant clung
to Him through grace. But this necessarily raised another
point, “ the kingdom “ as well as the law. e kingdom was
not set up, but the King was there, and the kingdom in that
sense among them; and, moreover, since John the baptist,
it was preached as at hand. It passed, on the rejection of
the King, into its mysteries as unfolded in Matt. 13 It will
be established on the earth; but on the return of the King
from heaven, where He is gone to receive it. e reader
may see that in Isa. 5 the remnant is not brought into view;
in chapter 6 it is, while the people’s hearts are made fat.
Now, the whole of this process of government is
unfolded in Isaiah: in the early part, before the history of
Hezekiah, in judgment, and connected with all God’s ways,
and the national condition ending in the millennial glory
and blessing in connection with Emmanuel the King; in
the second part, after the history of Hezekiah, in grace,
showing that Israel had failed in maintaining Jehovah’s
glory as His servant, that Jehovah had substituted Christ
come in humiliation as His servant, “ the true vine,” and
that He (rejected and despised of men) would inherit the
Gentiles also. e restoration of Israel was a small thing;
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
180
but still God would, in and with the remnant, bring in the
nal glory of Jerusalem and His people.
us the whole of the ways of God in government, in
connection with Israel, are unfolded in this prophet. e
question which exercises many saints connects itself with
this whole in this way: Christ having been rejected, and
having gone on high, has become the Head of the body,
the church; but how far can we, admitting this great and
blessed truth, consider the disciples, viewed as associated
with Christ during His life-or even in some respects for a
time, through God’s patience, after His death-as entering
(though, in result, then merged in the church) into the
scheme and course of God’s ways with Israel? Are they
ever, whatever higher privileges God may have granted
to them, viewed and treated as the remnant of Israel
according to promise? How far did Christ act and speak in
this character, or did He at all? And will not a remnant be
found in the latter days, associated, according to God’s will,
with the hopes of, and promises to, Israel; taking up the
link where it was suspended and broken o, a remnant to
whom Jehovah (Jesus) will show Himself in glory, to bless
them on the earth, as having waited on Him and for Him,
the Lord Jehovah, for their help in their trouble? Or is it
the church which will continue to the appearing of Christ?
And will there be no remnant of Israel waiting, with a right
Jewish faith owned of God, for the accomplishment of the
promises? is is the point at issue.
Let us now examine the testimony of Isaiah as to
the remnant. Firstly, we get the fact stated. e prophet
(i.e., the Spirit of Christ), representing the testimony of
judgment against sin, and God’s grace pointing faith to
Jehovah’s faithfulness and a Messiah to come, thus lays
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
181
down the state of Judah: “ Why should ye be stricken any
more? … Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very
small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and made
like unto Gomorrah.” is is the general prophetic view of
the condition of Israel. At the prophet’s point of view, such
is Israel. Further, the nation must be restored by judgment;
chap. 1: 24-31. But there shall be a remnant left, and full
glory and holiness with Christ for those who have escaped;
chap. 4: 2-6.
Judgment having been used to purify them, the glory
is connected with Jerusalem on earth. We have already
noticed the judgments of chapters 5 and 6; the former in
respect of conferred privileges, the second of expected glory.
In this second case, as the glory is necessarily connected
with Messiah, the doctrine of the Jewish remnant is fully
brought out. First, in general desolation and forsaking, the
people’s heart being made fat. is, we know, carries us on
to the time of Christ, connecting Israel’s state under the
prophets with their state under Christ, in whose time this
judgment was accomplished; Matt. 13:14, 15. And let the
reader remark Acts 28:26, 27, showing that there was a
dealing with Israel, as such, in patience, after the Lord’s
rejection and departure.
But, secondly, the same passage shows us that there is
a remnant (Isa. 6 13)-a holy seed, which is the substance
of the old and seemingly withered tree. It shall return and
be eaten. Chapters 7 and 8 unfold this fully in connection
with Emmanuel. e local enemies of Judah are set aside;
and through the inroad of the Assyrian, the circumstances
of the Jews connected with the latter day; for the enemy
who then overran Judah is the often-named enemy of
the latter day, of whom the prophet speaks continually
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
182
as the overowing scourge. At the same time, the sign of
the virgin’s Son, Emmanuel, is given to them. Assyria will
overow Judah. But this is not all; there is a confederacy
of nations against Judah. Now we get the resource of the
faithful, connecting this history with our particular point.
In presence of Judah’s dangers from the confederacy of
her enemies they were not to lean on human sources of
strength, and confederate as men would. e Lord of hosts
was to be in the sanctuary. Where found? Here it is Christ
comes in. He separates the remnant, being a stone of
stumbling to the nation itself: for He is the Lord of hosts.
(Compare chap. 1.) He is a sanctuary for those who look
to Him as such; for there is no question of atonement here.
However needed it may be, it is not the subject. e Person
of Christ is before us. e testimony is bound up and the
law sealed among His disciples; and He teaches them, in
the spirit of prophecy, to wait on Jehovah, who hides His
face from the house of Jacob, and look for Him. In a word,
He maintains by faith the connection of Jehovah with
Israel in the remnant. He and the children which God has
given Him are for signs and wonders to both the houses
of Israel, from the Lord of hosts who dwells in mount
Zion. Trouble and judgments are then announced and the
full deliverance of Israel through Messiah by victory and
judgment. He shall reign upon the throne of David with
judgment. (Chap. 9: 3-7: in verse 3, read hast increased,
instead of not.)
What is so important in this passage is, that while the
church’s position, undoubtedly assumed subsequently by
the remnant who adhered to Christ, is passed over, their
connection with Israel’s hopes, and the accomplishment
of Israel’s hopes, are fully established through Him who
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
183
teaches them to look to Him who hides His face from the
house of Jacob, and wait for Him; for church blessings
and grace they had not to wait. e church still waits for
the accomplishment of this also; its own proper hopes are
dierent, as we shall show in due time. Here the remnant
connected with Christ are connected with a proper and
exclusively Jewish national hope.
e prophecy that follows (chap. 9: 8) takes up the
general history of Israel, its chastisements and hardness of
heart, till the inroad of the Assyrian, the nal instrument of
God’s anger, and in whose destruction His indignation is
to cease. Here Israel, in Zion at least, is encouraged not to
be afraid when the Assyrian is there; for God’s indignation
shall soon cease in his destruction. at is, God owns and
warns in that day His people, has to say to them as such,
and counsels and encourages them. Be it that the mass will
not have heard, will have joined, as I believe they will have
done, with Antichrist, to ward o the inroad (see chapter
28); still the remnant will hear, and will reap the fruit of this
grace. All I insist on here is that there is a Jewish remnant
who will have Jewish blessings, and who have Jehovah’s
witness and testimony for them to rely on, before He
comes to deliver. In this general history the ultimate result
is more in view for the nation than the previous detail as
to the remnant. Still, necessarily, general principles are
maintained. Hence we nd, in chapter 11, where the rod
out of the stem of Jesse is introduced, that while in the main
the millennial blessing is introduced, yet He reproves with
equity for the meek of the earth. at is, He introduces
a new order of things, in which pride is put down, and
the poor and meek (that is, the remnant) vindicated. e
Lord, when He was here, refused to judge thus, but the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
184
connection of this passage with those whom He owned
in His testimony, and owned as those that should inherit
the earth, is too evident to every reader of Scripture for me
to insist on. ere is, therefore, a remnant who are blessed
with Jewish blessings, and who have previously a character
suited to them, and who are owned in this character even
by the Lord, and as heirs of this blessing.
at in the new establishment of the kingdom in
heavenly power at the time of Christ’s rst coming they
succeeded- and sometimes with very slow and reluctant
faith-to other and higher blessings, is quite true; but this
did not aect the truth suspended in its eectuation by
Israel’s unbelief for a time, but to be accomplished yet by
Him who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and
for whom, and whose time of mercy, they must now wait.
When we examine the Psalms and Gospels, all this will
come out with the clearest evidence. Chapters 13 and 14
I only note as showing the way in which prophecy passes
over from these present or near approaching judgments to
the last day. e same remark applies to chapter 17: while
there we nd, verses 6, 7, the remnant and its moral state
in the last days. In chapter 24 the remnant are again found
(v. 13, 14, 16); the righteous are owned. Judgment then
comes in to establish the glory and blessing: but we nd
therein (chap. 25: 4) the character of the delivered remnant
very plainly recognized. Jehovah has been a strength to the
poor and needy. Not only so, but this pious expectation is
clearly stated (v. 9), and it shall be said in that day, “ Lo!
this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save
us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will be
glad and rejoice in his salvation.” is is very clear; but the
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
185
whole of chapter 26 sets this position of the remnant in the
strongest possible point of view.
“ In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls
and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation
which keepeth the truth may enter in. ou wilt keep him
in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because
he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the
Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: for he bringeth
down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it
low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it
even to the dust. e foot shall tread it down, even the feet
of the poor, and the steps of the needy. e way of the just
is uprightness. ou, most upright, dost weigh the path of
the just. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we
waited for thee: the desire of our soul is to thy name, and
to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired
thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek
thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor
be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness:
in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not
behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand is
lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see and be ashamed
for their envy at the people; yea, the re of thine enemies
shall devour them. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for
thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our
God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us:
but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. ey
are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall
not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them,
and made all their memory to perish. ou hast increased
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
186
the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou
art gloried: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends
of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they
poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of
her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have
we been in thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we
have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind;
we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither
have the inhabitants of the world fallen. y dead men shall
live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake
and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew
of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my
people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors
about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until
the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh
out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and
shall no more cover her slain.”
Here the true state and character of these poor and
needy are the special subject of the Spirit’s teaching. God
“ most upright weighs the path of the just.” ey have
waited for God in the way of His judgments. eir prayer
was to Jehovah when His chastenings were upon them: “
With my soul,” says the righteous, speaking by the Spirit
of Christ, “ have I desired thee in the night.” Jehovah will
ordain peace for them, and nally desires them to enter
into their doors and hide themselves for a little moment,
till the indignation be overpast, for He was coming out
of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth. is
passage needs no comment; its whole object is to own and
show the character of the remnant of Israel in connection
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
187
with Israel’s peace and glory, and before the judgment is
executed (they waiting for and desiring the Lord).
I pass rapidly over chapters 28: 5; 29:19; 30:18; 31:6; and
cite them merely as conrming the same truth, which they
do, however, very clearly. Chapter 33 furnishes a testimony
to the point which I must not pass over. “ e sinners in
Zion,” says the Lord, speaking of the last days of Zion, “
are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who
among us shall dwell with the devouring re? who among
us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh
righteously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the
gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding
of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood,
and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on
high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks;
bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. ine
eyes shall see the king in his beauty,” v. 14-17. Here the
righteous remnant in Zion, in her last day of trouble, are
brought under view as denitely as can possibly be, and
their security announced on this very ground that they
walk righteously. Chap. 35: 3, 4. e feeble remnant are
encouraged while waiting for the Lord, who will surely
come with vengeance. e ransomed of the Lord come to
Zion with songs. It is a Jewish deliverance.
at part of Isaiah which extends from chapter 40
to the end has quite another character. It is a series of
reasonings with God’s people, rst, mainly on the point
of idols in contrast with Babylon, introducing Cyrus by
name; and, secondly, on the rejection of Christ. In the
former part (chap. 40-48) the general restoration of the
nation, taking the Babylonish captivity for its point of
departure, is prophesied; so that a remnant previously in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
188
Jerusalem could evidently have little or no place. In chapter
49 Christ, who has labored in vain in Israel, takes the place
of Israel as servant; He is the true vine. Here the remnant
at once comes in view (chap. 49: 6); but after the rejection
of Christ (chap. 5o) their character in the last days (v. 10) is
distinctly and denitely brought out: “ they fear the Lord,
and listen to the voice of his servant.” In chapter 51:1, they
follow after righteousness; and they know righteousness-
have the law in their heart. Yet the comfort of Zion is not
yet come, nor has His arm put on strength. But it does; and
the redeemed of the Lord return to Zion with singing. e
whole chapter follows out the progressive development
of the appeals of Jehovah to the righteous remnant, and
their deliverance by Him, in the most remarkable manner,
with the remnant’s appeal also to Jehovah, bringing in that
deliverance. Remark, that in these appeals, righteousness,
the circumstance of the grace shown to Abraham, and the
law in the heart, are spoken of as characterizing or called
for in the remnant who follow after righteousness; and
their deliverance is wrought, and Jerusalem called to stand
up.
Afterward (chap. 53) the exalted servant is introduced
when the Lord has made bare His arm in the eyes of all the
nations, and all the ends of the earth see the salvation of
the God of Israel; and the spared remnant recognize that
the despised and rejected One had been bruised for their
iniquities. en comes out the full blessedness of Jerusalem.
Her Maker is her husband. e call of chapter 55:6, 7,
conrms the great principle; but I do not insist further
upon it. Chapter 57, some of the righteous ones perish-
have the lot of the Righteous One: the wicked will never
have peace. Chapter 58 commences anew with warnings,
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
189
showing the spirit in which the godly Jew should walk;
the result of which will be walking on the high places of
the earth, and being fed with the heritage of God’s servant
Jacob. Yet he that departed from evil made himself a prey.
Here was a suering, godly remnant, in the midst of an
ungodly nation; and Jehovah comes in in righteousness.
Chapter 61 is remarkable in this, that the Lord quotes the
early part of the statement, to apply it to Himself, but stops
before the part which speaks of the day of vengeance, which
is a part of the same sentence in the prophecy. Yet that day
of vengeance comes to comfort all that mourn, to appoint
to those that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He might be
gloried: and they shall build up the old wastes, and raise
up the former desolations; and then all the blessing and
glory of God’s people is entered on.
Now here we get the Jewish remnant in the latter day,
clearly connected with Christ’s personal service on the
earth when He rst came, and all Christian or church
blessing dropped out (the link of the latter day blessings of
Zion, with His ministry being immediate, and the blessing
being earthly, Jewish, and millennial, just indeed as in
chapters 8 and 9). It is hardly possible to have anything
clearer to prove, not only the existence of a Jewish remnant
in the last day, owned of God as such, and blessed with
Israel’s blessing on the earth, but the connection of this
with Christ’s ministry as the great Prophet on the earth,
to whom Israel was to hearken, the minister of the
circumcision, the character withal of the remnant being
in terms such as He owned in that ministry, though in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
190
order to the introduction of the church all was for a time
suspended. is introduction of the Gentiles is explained
in chapter 65, quoted by the apostle for this purpose, as
well as to prove God’s patience with Israel. In this chapter
the remnant is again very distinctly and prominently
introduced, declaring that, because of these, His servants,
He will not destroy all Israel; they are the elect of Jehovah,
who shall inherit His mountains-His servants, contrasted
with those who forsake Him. ey shall sing for joy of
heart when misery and judgment shall come upon the
rest. ese (chap. 66) had hated those who trembled at
Jehovah’s word, and cast them out for His name’s sake, and
said, Let Jehovah be gloried: but He will appear to the joy
of the poor, despised, but faithful remnant, and they shall
be ashamed. ey are righteous in heart and spirit before
He comes; and, therefore, He appears, and gives them the
earthly blessing.
I have gone through these prophecies that the reader
may clearly see that the doctrine of a Jewish remnant
(owned in this character by Jehovah, with Jewish hopes
pressed on them by God’s word, by Jehovah Himself-
hopes to be fullled in the possession of earthly blessings
in Zion, the holy land)-a remnant, pious, and waiting on
Jehovah before His appearing to deliver them, and whose
piety and condence are owned by Him-is not a matter
of speculation, or of the interpretation of some dicult
or obscure text; but the clear, constant, impressive, and
prominent testimony of the Spirit of God. He may have
seen, too, that this remnant is directly and immediately
connected, in character and in the divine testimony, with
the position and character of the remnant at the time of
Christ’s presence on the earth, though meanwhile, for
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
191
other purposes, the Lord may hide His face from the house
of Jacob.
e Psalms will aord us the thoughts and feelings
of this remnant in the double aspect of the righteous in
connection with Jehovah, and the purposes of God as to
His anointed, Christ-respectively the subjects of Psa. 1
and 2. e gospels will aord us (only that John’s from its
very nature treats the Jews from chapter I as reprobate) the
transition to the previously hidden counsels of God as to
the church- which last forms the second subject we have
to treat of.
e Psalms begin (Psa. 1) with distinguishing the
righteous man from the nation; that is, marking out the
remnant morally. e ungodly are not so. ey shall not
stand in the judgment, nor in the congregation which
the righteous will form. As Isaiah had said, in what we
have examined, “ ere is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked.” Not only this, but the godly man is promised
the present temporal blessing of the righteous Jew; and,
further, the law is the measure of righteousness, in which
he delights. us the rst thing the Psalms do is to give the
position of the remnant, and the results of that position
in the government of God, while the blessing of God is
pronounced upon the godly remnant itself.
e next thing is to present to us the heathen and Jewish
rulers rising in rebellion against Jehovah and His Anointed,
and the sure decree which sets Him, as Son of God, upon
the throne of Zion, and calls upon the kings and judges of
the earth to submit to Him lest they perish. Such are the
thoughts of God, the eect of His government.
But another scene is opened out before it is accomplished.
e godly man (and Christ, as such) nds himself a prey to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
192
the relentless hostilities of the ungodly. In Psa. 3-7 we have
the various relative feelings of the faith of the remnant
in this position-faith in spite of the taunts of enemies
as to apparent desertion, calling upon God in peaceful
condence; appeal to God in contrast with the wicked, the
distress so strong that God’s chastening in displeasure is
deprecated, and appeal against the wicked in this distress,
looking to God’s bringing it to an end as the righteous
Judge. en, in Psa. 8, the remnant own Jehovah their Lord
as having made His name excellent in all the earth, while
the Son of man, rejected when He came as Messiah,
30
is set
over all the works of His hands: that is, the full universal
dominion of Christ is owned.
Now we have the remnant here very distinctly, and
Jehovah their Lord; but we have the godly man. In Psa. 1,
the righteous is plural in verse 6. But what undoubtedly is
specially presented is Christ’s entering in spirit, as the true
godly one, into all the sorrows of the righteous remnant,
which, though stated in principle, and specially in principle
from Christ’s rst coming (when the position of the godly
remnant and the rebellion of the nation were denitely
and in their full character brought out), reach on to the
nal destruction of his enemies, as indeed stated in the two
introductory Psalm at it is stated in principle is evident
from Psa. 1; that it is true in its main principle of Christ, the
application of Psa. 2 by the apostles to the circumstances
of Christ’s death, and by Christ Himself of Psa. 8 on the
same occasion, are ample proof. at it runs on to the close,
and gives the suerings of the remnant, and the judgment
30 Hence, when drawing to the close of His ministry, Christ
forbids to say He is the Christ: the Son of man was to suer.
Compare Luke 9.
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
193
of the wicked then, is shown by Psa. 1:5; 2:8-12; 3:7, 8;
7:6, and following; while Psa. 8 gives the result in blessing
when the Son of man takes His place in the glory.
us the general character of the book (more correctly
of the ve books of Psalms, in which there is much more
method than is supposed) is clearly given. It is the position
of the godly remnant in Israel, and Christ entering in
spirit wholly and fully into the position of this remnant,
sometimes animating their feelings according to His mind
in them in it, while sometimes the Spirit rises up to the
expression of His own, as entered personally into it, so that
what is there said becomes direct prophecy as to Christ
Himself. e Lord, entering fully in grace (for in all their
aiction He was aicted) into their trial, appropriates
more than once language which is also true and applicable
in the mouth of the remnant, though sometimes, as we
have seen, it is exclusively Himself. In all, it is His Spirit
graciously furnishing the expression of sorrows and desires
in the trial by His perfect sympathy, or of which He is
the source-sorrows and desires into which He has so
personally entered, that often the terms employed belong
prophetically to Him.
To proceed (Psa. 9 and 10), the trial and judgment of
the last days are denitely gone into, and the state of the
remnant plainly set forth; the needy expectations of the
poor would not always be forgotten. e connection of the
Lord with the remnant, and their praise for deliverance,
is unfolded in Psa. 9; the extensive power of wickedness
and distress of the remnant in Psalm 10; but the general
subject and result is the same. In Psa. 11-15 the various
thoughts, feelings, and apprehensions of the remnant in
these circumstances are developed, Psa. 15 showing the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
194
Jewish character of godliness which shall nd its place in
God’s holy hill. All this, and its unquestionable carrying
on of the subject to the last days (for we have in Psa. 8 the
full nal exaltation of Christ and blessing of Israel under
the glory of Jehovah’s name; and in Psalm 10 the heathen
perished out of the land, and the Lord king forever and
ever) shows the existence and character of the remnant in
that day, and its connection with the remnant in the time
of Christ’s personal presence in humiliation here on earth,
in the very clearest possible way.
is is completed in Psa. 16 and 17, especially the rst,
by Christ’s denitely taking this place of association with
the godly remnant, as He did historically when He was
baptized with John’s baptism (the submission to which,
on the part of the remnant, was the rst expression of the
action of the Spirit of God in their separating in view of
the thoroughly purging of the Jewish oor). In the path
of that action, Christ, who surely needed no repentance,
at once goes with them. e principle laid down in the
beginning of this Psalm is brought forward in the epistle to
the Hebrews,
31
to show that “ both he that sanctieth and
they who are sanctied are all of one.” In the Psalm, Christ
says, I take the place of a servant to Jehovah, not My divine
place. He says to Jehovah, ou art My Lord; My goodness
extendeth not to ee. He says (for that is the connection)
to the saints on earth, the excellent, In them is all My
delight. Having taken this path, and owning, leaning on,
and desiring none but Jehovah, He follows the path of life,
does not see corruption, and nds His eternal joy as Man
31 e quotation, as is shown by reference to the LXX, is from
Isa. 8:17. But if this be referred to, it will only still more
strongly conrm this connection of Christ with the place of
the remnant, as the Securer and inspirer of their Jewish hopes.
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
195
in the presence and at the right hand of Jehovah. As Psa.
16 was His trust in God, so Psa. 17 is His appeal to His
righteousness. He will behold His face in righteousness
and be satised, awaking up in His likeness, the true
eternal image of the invisible God. But here He brings in
the remnant as associated with Him in His sorrow. In Psa.
16:2, it is absolutely Himself passing through death in the
power of life. Mainly so in Psa. 17; only He associates the
rest of the godly with Himself.
Psa. 18 is, I doubt not, the application of Christ’s death
backwards and forwards (to the deliverance of Israel from
Egypt, and to their nal deliverance when, under the gure
of David, all is subdued under Him). e Psalms which
follow are remarkably interesting. In Psa. 19 we have the
testimony of the creation, and the law. Psa. 20, Messiah;
but now it is the sympathy of the remnant with Him, as
suggested by the prophetic Spirit. Psa. 21 the full result of
His sorrows and desires recognized in His glory. Compare
Psa. 20:4, and Psa. 21:2. e result is, length of days forever
and ever as man, and glory laid on Him. In result, His right
hand nds out all His enemies. In Psa. 22 we have, not His
sorrows from man merely, but the forsaking of God. He
mentions these sorrows, and appeals to God not to forsake
Him, and is forsaken as none other had been. e result
is all grace, which He exercises on His full deliverance, in
making known the deliverer’s name to His brethren, and
associating the remnant in praise with Him, then all Israel
(for He has been heard as the poor man, so that they may
trust in their cry); and then all the ends of the earth bow
to Him in millennial fullness; and generations to be born
learn what He has done as the source of their blessedness.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
196
I will close this rapid review of the early Psalms with
noticing Psa. 23 and 24. Psa. 23 as showing Jehovah’s faithful
shepherd care through every diculty, now exercised in
our favor by Christ, is in principle the portion of every
believer; but as He knows His sheep and is known of them,
so He has walked in the path in which the sheep had to
walk, and when He put them forth, went before them;
and though the place of sheep was properly still theirs, not
His, yet He has really walked in it; and, in that sense, this
Psalm is the expression of His own condence. Restoring
is not exclusively from sin-though He does that for us, but
from sorrow and oppression of heart; as, “ now is my soul
troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour.” In Psa. 24 we nd, that He who has walked in the
path of the sheep themselves in grace is the Lord of Hosts
Himself; and in the last day will take His place in glory
in the hill and in the house of the glory of Jehovah. e
character of him who shall have a place there, and blessing
and righteousness from the God of his salvation, is found
in verses 3-6. For the righteous remnant are all forgotten;
only here, I apprehend, it goes out to Gentiles (so verses
5 and 6 seem to imply), for they shall rejoice in that day
with His people. From this to Psa. 41, which closes the
book (Psalm 40 giving the source of all the blessings in the
counsels of God, and the willingness of Christ to undertake
the accomplishment of His will), are largely and blessedly
unfolded the various exercises of heart in condence, joy,
and sorrow, with exhortations and warnings suited to the
godly in such circumstances, and Christ’s entering into
them given as a ground of condence: “ is poor man
cried, and the Lord heard him,” though this be in principle
true of many a saint.
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
197
In this part, consequently (for it is never the case
before Psa. 25), sins are referred to, and the blessedness of
forgiveness; for, after all, the remnant had sins, and Christ
took them. But the true godly character of the remnant, as
under the inuence of Christ’s Spirit, is what is put forward
in the rst place as the true essential characteristic of the
book, and of the position of those who are its immediate
subjects. Even in Psa. 22, where the fact of God’s forsaking
is spoken of, the “ Why? “ shows the perfectly righteous
man. rough grace we can answer the “ Why? “ but in
the Psalm itself Christ is the righteous suerer forsaken of
God. Of Psa. 6 we can say, that the occasion of such fear
to us would be our sins; but sins are not spoken of there-it
was grief: but the wicked who pressed him he sends away,
as apart from them. In a word, sins are not spoken of before
Psa. 25 is is after the whole introductory part of the
connection of Christ with the remnant. ence to the end
of Psa. 41 every kind of practical exercise is gone through
to which the remnant will be in fact subject, of which they
need the exposition from God; but it is always of the godly
these Psalms speak, even when forgiveness is sought or sins
confessed. ey acquaint us with the circumstances of the
godly remnant in the latter day, though often on principles
which all, by grace, can use. See Psa. 35 and 37.
Remark also the essential dierence between the
suerings of Christ from man and from God; the rst were
for righteousness, the second for sin. e consequence of
the rst (Psa. 21) is, that He will make His enemies as a
ery oven in the day of His wrath. In the second He was
bearing wrath: the consequence is all unmingled blessing,
and nothing else, as its fruit. (See Psa. 22:11-23.)
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
198
Now, the reader has only to take up these Psalms and he
will see the remnant recognized as a godly Jewish remnant,
and their deliverance wrought by judgment (which is not
the case of the raised or heaven-born saints in any case);
their blessings, Jewish blessings; the character of their
righteousness, Jewish. ey wait on God, are owned;
their cry is heard. ey are exhorted to perseverance and
dependence. e earth is their portion in many exhortations.
Yet they go back to the place Christ held on the earth, and
show Him buried-not seeing corruption-and ascended on
high. For their piety and waiting on the Lord for earthly
deliverance, see Psa. 27:4, 13, 14, and indeed the whole
Psalm; for their separation from the ungodly, Psa. 26; for
their trial and appeal, Psa. 31; for the positive reassuring
of the saints, and condence founded on Jehovah’s ways
with the poor man, Psa. 37, which is the full heart guidance
and encouragement of God, the inheritance of the earth
promised to those blessed of Jehovah. e whole Psalm
should be read.
In Psalm 4o we have Christ’s example to encourage. He
waited patiently for the Lord. en His whole work from
His rst undertaking it is shown, and His taking the place
Himself of the poor and needy. I only notice Psa. 41 as
an example of a statement fullled in the case of Christ,
but not properly a prophecy of Him. He was, above all,
that poor man so often spoken of in the Psalms; but His
brethren will tread in the same path, however feebly, and
meet similar treachery, and what is done to one of the least
of them is done to Him. e Lord God of Israel would
accomplish His purposes in blessing.
I need not go into the same detail with the remaining
four books. is gives the position of the remnant in the
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
199
midst of Israel, all its great principles, and the place Christ
has taken in their sorrows, Jehovah delivering, though in
the end He is proved to be Jehovah.
In the second book, Psa. 52-72, they are cast out, the
power of Antichrist established; but (Psa. 45) Messiah
appears, and full deliverance is celebrated to the end of Psa.
48 Psa. 49 is the world’s instruction by the judgment; Psalm
5o the general judgment of Israel; Psa. 51 their confession
of Christ’s death now He has appeared; then the various
relative exercises of heart under these circumstances. In
Psa. 65; 66, 67 that praise which only waits for God’s
deliverance to burst forth in Zion is sounded out, and thus
the nations are to be made glad. Psa. 68, an ascended Christ
is the real secret of all this; Psa. 69, a suering Christ the
basis of that ascended glory, and the security of the poor
and needy in Zion. Psa. 70 and 71 apply it in the remnant,
and against the wicked, in the Person of David, I doubt
not to Israel, seemingly past hope; and Psa. 72 describes
the full reign of peace. But take the end even of Psa. 69,
which applies to Christ’s suerings; you will nd the poor
and needy owned in Zion, and the earthly Jewish types
recognized and opened by God. e seed of His servants
shall inherit it, and they that love His name shall dwell
therein.
e third book, Psa. 73-89, goes out to all Israel, not
simply the Jews, and gives God’s government and dealing
with them from the beginning, their fuller history in the
latter days, the glory and blessing of Zion. e judgment of
Israel under law, but election brought out, and the certainty
of mercy by infallible promises to David’s seed.
e fourth book is the bringing in the First-begotten
into the world, directly connected with God’s faithfulness
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
200
to Israel, but reaching out to all nations. It shows how the
suering Christ could have a share in the restoration of
Zion. He is the Eternal Creator; Psa. 102 In Psa. 101, we
have His government as man.
In the closing book, the fth, we have various
consequences and eects on the bringing back of Israel-
explanatory Psalms of the scheme of God, as Psalm 110;
the law written on Israel’s heart, Psa. 119; the Psalms of
degrees commenting on God’s ways; and then the praises
of God, with their various grounds, and pursued in view of
millennial blessedness.
I have just thus run rapidly through the whole book to
give a general idea of its connection with Christ and Israel.
It would evidently be impossible to enter into the detail
of the hundred and fty Psalms here. I think, if the reader
looks at them, he will see the leading ideas borne out. What
he cannot fail to see, if anything can impress the truth, as I
would trust it may, on his mind, is, that there is a godly pious
Jewish remnant-ever true in principle-tried, oppressed, all
but overwhelmed, in the latter day; whose piety Jehovah
owns and encourages before their deliverance; which He
rewards with Jewish blessings according to promise; with
which Christ identies Himself in spirit, as He did, in fact,
when on earth with those of the like spirit; into all whose
sorrows He enters, His own having given Him the tongue
of the learned; whose sins He has borne; and that in this
state of things the case is supposed of dying (Psa. 16 and
17) and heavenly joy provided in that case, but the hopes
held out are of Jewish blessings, the earth, the holy hill,
and deliverance wrought by judgment, that they may enjoy
it (which we learn in the second and fourth books); that
the ascension and sitting at God’s right hand precede these
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
201
blessings, Christ returning to judgment to bring them in-
returning withal as Jehovah, and entering into the temple
as such-assuring all things to Israel as David’s seed, having
all things under His feet as Son of man, and while King
in Zion, subjecting all the nations as Son of God born in
this world. e name of the Father and the thought of
the church do not appear: room is left for one after His
resurrection, when He calls the saints brethren; and some
gure of the other in Psa. 139, but no direct reference to
either. e Holy Ghost’s work, as come down from heaven,
is intimated in the form of gifts in man, but so as Israel
also will have them in the latter day-” Yea, for the rebellious
also, that the Lord God may dwell among them “-only so
far, however, intimated, as to say that Christ has received
gifts for men.
Such is the testimony of the Psalm While ministering
to piety at all times, though often a piety with imperfect
intelligence, their subject is the remnant of Israel, and
the blessings of that remnant as such, of course, through
Christ, the ministrations of His Spirit, preparing them to
enjoy it with earthly though divinely given hopes, and in
an earthly way. Note here, too, that all this connects itself
with God’s government of this world, and in no way with
that sovereign grace, which sets a sinner in heavenly glory
as one with Christ Himself, and a member of His body.
But a heavenly calling is shown in Him, and the possibility
of passing to it by death; but it is only stated as to the
Person of Christ directly, or in the general expression, “ e
heavens shall declare his righteousness.”
What we have now to inquire into, is the extent to
which the New Testament seals these hopes and promises
to Israel, while introducing higher and heavenly hopes.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
202
For it is absolutely impossible that it can set them aside.
It does not undo what God had before promised and
assured to His people; that is certain and evident. “ e
gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” It is said,
in speaking of Israel, Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God, to conrm the promises
made to the fathers. Has His rejection and death set them
aside? Far from it. It is just this the apostle insists on in
Rom. 11. It has made their accomplishment to be of pure
grace, and has secured that accomplishment.
Our only research, then, is as to this point: Was the
remnant owned in connection with the kingdom then? Is
this connection carried on to the latter days, so as to link
the future restoration with the remnant then owned of and
owning Christ, so as to show that there will be a pious
godly remnant owned of God, such as the Psalms speak
of, before the manifestation of the Lord, and waiting for
Him?
e beginning of the gospel of Luke announces Christ
fully as thus coming in connection with Israel, before
entering on the wider moral ground connected with the
Gentiles, which Luke more especially does, and I think
we may say because he does. e Spirit of God, at the
commencement of this gospel, has put His seal on all the
promises to, and hopes of, the godly remnant (that is, of
Israel). e pious remnant were looking for redemption in
Jerusalem, and knew one another thus; Luke 2:38. ere
were just and devout ones waiting for the consolation
of Israel, who saw in Christ a light indeed to reveal the
Gentiles, but the glory of God’s people Israel. e angels
brought good tidings to the shepherds, which were such to
all the people (not all people). In the city of David a Savior
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
203
was born to them, which was Christ the Lord. e angels
of the heavenly chorus alone, in this part of the gospel,
celebrate the full result of Christ’s coming to the earth-a
result not yet produced, but, as the Lord Himself states, for
the present the contrary, but which will be produced fully
on the earth hereafter.
Prophetically, it was declared that many of Israel should
be turned to the Lord their God, through him who came
in the spirit and power of Elias: he was to make ready a
people prepared for the Lord. Note the last expression, for
it gives the divine intention as to any Elias service, and
what the essential character of the remnant is. It is not
sovereign grace visiting a sinner of the Gentiles in his sins,
but a people prepared for the Lord before He comes. To
Mary it is announced that the child born of her on the
earth should be called the Son of the Highest, and that the
throne of His father David should be given Him. He was
Jesus, i.e., Jehovah the Savior. Help to His servant Israel is
the nal subject of praise with Mary in the touching and
beautiful interview between her and Elizabeth. And the
song of Zacharias (Luke 1: 67-79) is wholly composed of
the divinely-given celebration of God’s having visited and
redeemed His people, and raised up a horn of salvation
for them in the house of His servant David-a temporal
salvation aorded-promises to Abraham in favor of his
earthly seed to be fullled. e whole is too clear and
denite to need any comment: a remnant already waiting,
a people prepared for Jehovah, full earthly deliverance from
Him. ese are the topics divinely given by inspiration
on the occasion of the birth of Christ. at they were
interrupted, for the accomplishment of brighter and
more blessed purposes, by His rejection, is quite true; but
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
204
to suppose that He was to invalidate them would be to
subvert divine testimonies and destroy divine faithfulness.
at it is only a remnant is clearly shown. He was for the
fall, as well as for the rising up, of many in Israel. Further,
all that passes, Mary’s purication and the whole scene,
places us on Jewish ground.
Matthew’s whole gospel reveals to us the presentation
of Christ to the Jews, and the substitution of the new
divine order for the Jewish on His rejection. Hence it
becomes particularly important to see how far it assures
us that, notwithstanding this new divine order, the old
32
is still according to the mind of God to be accomplished
in its time. We shall nd that the yet future testimony of
the servant of God in Israel is expressly linked up with
the service of Christ’s disciples in His lifetime, passing
over, as the prophets are wont to do, the whole intervening
church period unnoticed. is evangelist, from the outset,
introduces Christ as the accomplishment of prophecy and
promise. e very genealogy itself, and Matt. 1:22, and
chap. 2: 5, 15, suce to point out this-the last showing
that Israel’s history is taken up afresh in Christ, the true
Vine, according to the principle of Isa. 49:5.
In the sermon on the mount the remnant are morally
distinguished; the qualities of those who should have part
in the kingdom, are clearly and fully stated in contrast
with the current self-righteousness of the Jews. Two
great principles characterize this teaching of the Lord-
the spiritual character of the law, and the revelation of
the Father’s name. It is to be remarked that persecution
32 When I say the old, it is not, of course, under the old covenant.
It was God’s wisdom to accomplish all promised and predicted,
but on the pure ground of grace. (See the close of Rom. 11
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
205
is supposed, and reward in heaven presented as the fruit
of it. us we have the Lord’s teaching in Israel clearly
and fully brought before us. Obedience to His teaching
was like a man building his house on the rock; while Israel
was warned he was in the way with God, and if he did not
come to agreement with Him, he would be cast into prison
till all was paid. Compare Isa. 40:2. It will be remarked,
that all this is divine government, not divine salvation.
I pass by a multitude of indications of the same
relationship of God with Israel, accompanied with
warnings of the introduction of the new order of things,
to draw my reader’s attention to a chapter which brings
the point which occupies us out into the fullest light. In
chapter to Christ sends out the twelve. ey were not to
go in the way of the Gentiles, nor to enter into a city of
the Samaritans; but to go to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel, and declare the kingdom of heaven at hand; to
inquire who was worthy (i.e., seek the righteous remnant,
not poor sinners), and repel with fullest condemnation,
shaking o the dust of their feet, those who did not receive
them. ough in Israel they were “ as sheep in the midst
of wolves “: it was an ungodly nation. ey were to seek
the worthy ones in it, speaking peace everywhere, but that
peace resting only on the sons of peace. But in verse 18
this goes on to circumstances out of the Lord’s lifetime.
ey were to be brought before Gentiles, and the Spirit of
their Father to speak in them; not only so, but they would
be hated of all men for Christ’s name sake, and when
persecuted in one city, go to another; for they would not
have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man was
come.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
206
Now here we have a mission exclusively to Israel,
carried on during the Lord’s lifetime, carried on by the
Spirit afterward, in which they were to endure to the end-a
ministry which would not be closed nor completed, and
still conned to the cities of Israel, till the Son of man
came. How often do we see the prophets passing on from
some notable circumstances in their day to “ that day “!
Here we nd the Lord establishing a ministry exclusively
to Israel, drawing out the remnant; carried on after Him
by the Spirit, and carried on with the same objects still
unnished even when He comes as Son of man. ey have
only to do with Gentiles as enemies, along with the wicked
and hostile nation of the Jews. Nothing can be plainer
in all its parts. ey were, according to Jewish hopes and
prospects, to gather out a remnant and prepare a people
for the kingdom which was at hand. Such is the direct
teaching of the Lord.
I note, in passing, that, besides the history of the
mysteries of the kingdom to its close, consequent on
His rejection, the church itself (chap. 16) and the glory
of the kingdom (chap. 17) are announced in connection
respectively with His titles of Son of the living God and
Son of man. He and His disciples are (chap. 17: 24-27) the
sons of the kingdom. e judgment of the nation, viewed
in their own responsibility, is clearly announced in divers
parables under law and under the grace of Christ’s mission
at that time.
But in chapter 23 we come again to positive instructions
on this point. e multitude and the disciples are both put
on distinct Jewish ground, subjected to Moses’s seat; yet
they who lled it-all the teachers and the righteous of
the nation- put under awful condemnation. Further, the
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
207
apostolic mission (v. 34-36) is presented as “ prophets, and
wise men, and scribes,” sent to the nation, as the prophets
rejected of old had been), their rejection bringing present
temporal judgment on that generation. Often would Jesus-
Jehovah have gathered Jerusalem’s children together-that
Jerusalem who thus, in all times, stoned the prophets, and
killed those sent to her; but she never would listen. Now
her house was left desolate to her; she would not see her
Lord till she repented. When, through grace, she was in the
spirit of that by which God had perfected praise, in putting
it into the mouth of babes and sucklings when Christ was
rejected by the nation-namely, the confession of Psa. 118-
then, and not before, she would see Christ again. In a
word, there must be a prepared people, a people prepared
to receive Him, saying, “ Blessed be he that cometh in the
name of the Lord,” before the Lord would appear to them.
Nothing, I apprehend, can be clearer than this, as to the
position in which the Lord sets the multitude and the
disciples; the character He gives to the witness of these last
in Israel, after His decease, and the desolation of Jerusalem
and the house, till repentance and a prepared heart had
made them ready to receive the Lord, ready for the home
here on earth, now to be desolate no more.
e Lord then proceeds in Matt. 24 to announce
the judgment of Jerusalem, and the circumstances of
His disciples in connection with the end of the age. e
disciples inquire when should the temple be destroyed,
what the sign of Christ’s coming, and of the end of the
age. at the questions here relate to the Jewish people is
perfectly evident: the end of the age (it is well known that
“ world “ is a mistake) has no sense or application out of
the sphere of Jewish thought. at it referred to this, in the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
208
mind of the disciples, is most clear; that the other question,
when the temple should be destroyed, had this reference,
it is not needed to say. Does the Lord’s answer continue
on this ground? His answer is divided into two parts; a
general warning to the end of verse 14, and particular
circumstances from verse 15.
As to the rst part, to whom do persons come, saying,
I am the Christ? Not to Christians, as such, I suppose. It
was an expectation that Christ might appear, into which
the disciples, with Jewish expectations, might be seduced.
e scene, sphere, and character, of deception are Jewish.
Many troubles and wars would arise; but the end of which
they inquired was not yet. Before that arrived, the gospel of
the kingdom, which Jesus, and even John the baptist, had
announced, would be sent to all the Gentiles, and then the
end come. Why even this dierence, if the previous part
were not Jewish in its sphere?
e latter part, from verse 16, demonstrates, as clearly
as any language can do, that the Lord was referring to what
was Jewish. e abomination of desolation of which Daniel
spoke in a prophecy specially referring to his (Daniel’s)
people, is the point of departure: it would stand in the
holy place. ose who were in Judea were to ee to the
mountains; they were to pray that their ight should not be
on the sabbath day. What language can be plainer, to show
the place, the people, the circumstances which occupy the
Savior’s thoughts? the rather because we get the saints, and
the nations, and their judgments, in chapter 25.
at is (to resume the evidence this gospel aords us),
it takes up the ministry in Christ’s time (chap. to), and
pursues it to the close-the coming of the Son of man-in an
exclusively Jewish character. e Lord takes up the disciples
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
209
and the multitude (chap. 23) on denitely Jewish ground,
subjecting them to Moses’ chair, while rejecting those that
sat there; and declares, at the close, that repentance must
characterize the remnant before they would see Him again:
and then, showing the judgment on the house, shows the
nation guilty- iniquity abounding-the testimony of the
remnant in the midst of this iniquity-the true witness of the
kingdom-and extending before the end to all nations; and,
nally, He returns to the last great tribulation and occupies
Himself with the godly remnant in Judea and Jerusalem,
previous to His own appearing; warning them that new
pretenses would arise of His being there, a suggestion
having no application whatever to Christians, properly
so called, because they are to be caught up to meet the
Lord in the air. A person must have renounced Christian
hopes before such a pretense could be a snare to him. To
an earthly remnant the presence of Christ upon earth is the
sum of all their rightful hopes.
As regards the subsequent continuation of this
testimony in the midst of Jerusalem the Lord on the cross
(Luke 23:34) intercedes for them, saying, “ Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.” To this the Holy
Ghost, in witness, responds, saying by the mouth of Peter
(Acts 3:17), “ Now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance
ye did it, as did also your rulers. Repent ye, therefore, and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that
[not “ when “] the times of refreshing may come from the
presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus, whom the
heaven must receive till the times of the restitution of all
things, of which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.” Now, this gracious
continuation of the testimony to Israel, as such (see verses
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
210
25, 26-the remnant is distinguished by the reception of the
testimony, v. 23), shows that repentance was called for in
order to Christ’s return. ose would be cut o who did
not receive his prophetic testimony. Stephen bears witness
to their always resisting the Holy Ghost; and to Saul, the
most active resister of the Spirit amongst them, the willing
helper of the slayers of the witness, the full doctrine of the
church is revealed. e persecuted witnesses are owned to
be members of Christ Himself; yet, though the church
be set up (and we have it in fact in Acts 2 before Peter’s
testimony), and Paul be made a minister of it, he preaches
rst to the Jews only; when they count themselves unworthy
of eternal life, he turns to the Gentiles, and pronounces, as
witness of this church ministry, as the Lord in His living
witness here (Matt. 13:14), that the judgment pronounced
by Isaiah must soon fall upon them; but it is only in Acts
28 that this is nally said-the last scriptural witness that we
have historically.
e general doctrine of a remnant in Israel is clearly
stated in the epistle to the Romans; an elect remnant spared,
who, not continuing in unbelief, will be graed in again,
and that into their own olive tree; not into the Christian
assembly, which was not their own olive tree-they had never
been broken out of that, nor had the believing branches
continued in it. ere is an elect remnant of Israel which
shall be brought to believe, and be graed into their own
olive tree, and become the nation-the “ all Israel.” ere are
many passages in the prophets, as Joel 2, Zech. 9, to which
it may suce thus to refer.
We will now proceed to take up the other capital
point of which we desired to speak-that in which God
shows the sovereign fullness of His grace. e historical
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
211
development of the doctrine we have hinted at, and we
will briey state it here. We have the largest and fullest
warrant for saying, that it was entirely unrevealed in the
Old Testament. Speaking of the mystery, the admission of
the Gentiles to be of the one body in the assembly of God,
Paul says (Rom. 16:25, 26), “ e preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept
secret since the world began, but now is made manifest and
by prophetic scriptures [not “ the scriptures of the prophets
“], according to the commandment of the everlasting God,
made known to all nations for the obedience of faith,” etc.
In Eph. 3:4, 5, “ e mystery of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs and of the same
body “; and (v. 9), “ the fellowship of the mystery which
from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God:
to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers
in heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose
which he purposed in Christ Jesus.” So in Col. 1:24, “ for
his body’s sake, the church, whereof I am made a minister,
according to the dispensation of God, which is given to
me for you, to fulll the word of God; the mystery which
bath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is
made manifest to his saints.” is doctrine, of which Paul,
as he states in the Colossians, was a minister, as well as
of the gospel, in order to complete the word of God, was
thus wholly unknown to the saints of the Old Testament.
Much more was utterly obscure; but this was hid in God.
Other things they might have were for an age to come,
not for themselves, as the promise of the Spirit and the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
212
Messiah’s glory and redemption; but this they knew not
at all. When the Father had revealed to Simon Bar-jonas
the truth of the Person of Christ, that He was the Son of
the living God (not merely the Christ), Christ could then
speak of the church; for it was to be founded on that. But
He spoke of it only prophetically, and as a future thing-”
on this rock I will build my church.” It was by resurrection
He was declared Son of God with power; so that Satan’s
power was of no avail; and His death was needed to gather
together in one the children of God, wherever scattered
abroad-His departure, that the Comforter might come.
Except the corn of wheat fell into the ground and
died, it abode alone. When Christ had died-had gone up
on high- the great foundation was laid for all blessings,
and in particular for the church. And the Holy Ghost,
the Comforter, came down according to promise; and the
assembly, the church, was formed; and the Lord added daily
to the church such as should be saved (the residue); Acts
2:47. at was the way He now disposed of them, though
His promises to Israel remained sure. e doctrine of the
church, however, was not taught as far as Scripture informs
us. e Christians remained strictly attached to Judaism,
zealous of the law; priests were obedient to the faith, nor
seem to have ceased to be priests. Peter never even teaches
that Jesus is the Son of God; his doctrine is, “ Him whom
ye have crucied, God hath exalted to be a Prince and a
Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and remission of
sins “: God had made Him both Lord and Christ.
What will, perhaps, surprise the reader, the church
is never named in the epistles but by Paul. A particular
assembly is named by John; but the assembly or church as
a whole, the body of Christ, is spoken of by Paul only; nor,
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
213
consequently, I may add, the rapture of the saints before
the appearing of Christ. God raised up, we learn in the
Acts, a free ministry outside the college of the apostles. is
brought out the fullest hatred of the Jews; and Stephen,
an eminent instrument of God in this ministry, is put to
death. Heaven receives its rst-fruits of the power of the
Holy Ghost, of the church; heaven itself is opened, and a
heavenly Christ is seen-a man in glory is seen. Conformed
to Christ, the spirit of Stephen joins Him on high, and the
nal tale of Judaism was told in blood: they always resisted
the Holy Ghost. God did not dwell in a house made by
hands. is changed everything; a heavenly gathering
before Christ’s return was actually begun.
is, however, was individual; but the enmity of the Jew
was to assume a yet more active and violent character. Not
content with making havoc of the church at Jerusalem, Saul
must persecute them to strange cities; but while occupied
with this, and close to Damascus for the purpose, he is
arrested by the Lord’s revealing Himself in glory to him, and
telling him that those he was persecuting were Himself-”
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; why persecutest thou
me? “ Here, then, sovereign grace abounded over nal
resistance to the Holy Ghost Himself. e foundation for
the gospel of the glory was laid, and the identication of
all the saints on earth with their gloried Head in heaven
was made the starting-point for Paul’s testimony as to
what His church was. Of this he became minister. For a
heavenly, glorious Christ, Jew or Gentile were all one; they
were all one in Him.
e reception of Cornelius was entrusted to Peter, that
the new truth might not be a separate one; but unity, as
manifested on the earth, continues, with a new element
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
214
of truth introduced. e unity of Jew or Gentile, as one
body in Christ, was entrusted as a testimony to Paul. He
was minister of the church to complete the word of God.
He who alone verbally speaks of the church, what does he
teach? “ God hath put all things under his feet [Christ’s,
exalted on high], and gave him to be head over all things
to the church [assembly], which is his body, the fullness of
him who lleth all in all.” Such, then, is the church. It is an
assembly which, when Christ is exalted on high and lls all
things, is His body, the fullness or completion of the Head.
So in Col. 1 “ He is the Head of the body, the church,
the rstborn from the dead.” So in detail, Rom. 12, “ We
being many are one body in Christ, and members one of
another.” So I Corinthians 12, “ For as the body is one,
and hath many members, and all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we
be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have
been all made to drink into one Spirit … Now ye are the
body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Another character as to the formal existence of the
church on earth is, that we, Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2), are
builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit. e manner of its building is the breaking down
the middle wall of partition, and to make of twain one new
man; or, as is expressed in a passage already quoted, the
mystery is, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and
of one body. e baptism of the Holy Ghost, by which it
was formed, took place on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:8),
which it was the distinctive title of Christ to confer (John
1:33, 34), and which for the saints He ascended up on high
to receive. Acts 2:33; compare John 16:7.
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
215
In a word, the church, or assembly, is the body of
Christ, formed, when the Head was exalted, by the Holy
Ghost, which He then sent down to gather together the
saints into unity. Before Israel’s being owned as a nation,
the saints walked in individual faith; when Israel was
owned, they were individual members of a nation owned
as such as God’s people, but of which the vast mass were
unconverted, the unity of which, such as it was, was in the
esh-a unity with which the Spirit had nothing to do, and
which, consequently excluded Gentiles. After the death
and exaltation of Christ, who gave Himself, not for that
nation only, but to gather together in one the children
of God which were scattered abroad, all was changed in
this respect; the distinction of Jew and Gentiles eaced;
both alike (through faith) reconciled to God, and gathered
into the unity of one assembly by the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven, which assembly is the church, i.e., the
assembly of God, the body of Christ, the dwelling-place of
the Holy Ghost on earth. We are not inquiring here how
far it could be corrupted or ruined, viewed as the house
of God, or dwellingplace of the Holy Ghost on earth; but
what it is in the primitive scriptural view of it. Nothing is
that but itself.
is assembly is, as may be seen (Eph. 5), the bride of
Christ. e word is applied to the particular assemblies
of Christians in dierent places, because they formed the
assembly of God in that place; but, if the word be taken as
Scripture uses it, it is not possible to attach any equivocal
sense to it. It is God’s assembly, formed by the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven, when the Head had been exalted
as Man on high. It is His body and His bride. Translate
the Greek word by the natural English one, and no one
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
216
would have a moment’s hesitation as to what it meant-the
assembly, or the assembly of God. e Lord added daily to
the assembly. He set some in the assembly; rstly, apostles;
secondly, prophets.
It is called to participate in the suerings of Christ,
and He will present it to Himself as His bride, as Eve to
Adam, a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing. When the Lord added to the assembly such as
should be saved, it is quite clear that it was not to that to
which they belonged already; and their adding to it, an act
which showed they did not belong to it as members of the
Jewish nation, not even if they were previously pious. It
was a newly instituted body, formed in unity by the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven, and united to the Head,
Christ, who was there.
We have now to inquire what the testimony of God is
as to its joining Him there. e church’s joining Christ has
nothing to do with Christ’s appearing or coming to earth.
Her place is elsewhere. She sits in Him already in heavenly
places. She has to be brought there as to bodily presence.
Christ could not remain with His disciples here, and tells
them, “ I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
to myself; that where I am there ye may be also.” e thing
she has to expect for herself, then, is not, though sure of
that also, Christ’s appearing, but her being taken up where
He is. And so the apostle, speaking of it in detail, “ e
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and
the dead in Christ shall rise rst; then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
217
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be
with the Lord.”
We go up to meet Christ in the air. Nothing clearer,
then, than that we are to go up to meet Him, and not await
His coming to earth; but that this coming to receive us
to Himself is not His appearing is still clearer, if we pay
attention to Col. 3, which shows that we are already with
Him when He shall appear. “ When Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
is identication of the church’s hope and glory with
Christ Himself is of the essence of the church’s blessing.
He is our life, our righteousness; the glory given to Him
He has given us: we are members of His body, we are of
His esh and of His bones. We reign with Him, suer with
Him, are gloried together, being like Him-conformed to
His image. He is hid in God: our life is hid with Him in
glory; but for this we must be caught up to meet Him, and
that before He appears at all when He does, we are already
with Him and appear with Him. is does not state the
epoch of the rapture of the church, but, what is far more
important, it does clearly show the entire dierence of
relationship of the heavenly saints with Christ, and of those
who only see Him when He appears. e one are blessed
under His reign, and are connected with the earth; the
others are identied with Himself-with Him who reigns-
appear and reign with Him. Wherever this is enfeebled,
Satan is at work.
ere are truths common to all, such as being manifested
before the judgment-seat of Christ. ere are those which
are the prerogative of faith; and such is our association with
Christ, the Firstborn among many brethren, the being His
bride and His body. He who awaits Christ’s appearing, as
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
218
the time in which he is to go to be with Him, has denied
the proper hope and proper relationship of the church
with Christ. On this point there can be no compromise.
Ignorance of privilege is one thing (it is our lot, all of us, in
one shape or other), the denial of it another. When once
we have seen that we are to appear with Christ, and that,
consequently, our hope of Christ’s coming for us is not
properly His appearing, all our habits of thought and our
spiritual aections are changed. Our proper hope is not
even the glory in which we appear with Him, wonderful
as that is, but this, “ I will come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” “ So shall we
ever be with the Lord.”
ree several ways of presenting the return of Christ
are found in Scripture. ere is, rst, the general fact.
We do not expect things to go on to an unknown end of
dissolution; we are converted to wait for God’s Son from
heaven. Nothing precise and distinctive is here presented.
We do not think that things go on as they were from the
creation of the world. Christ will come again, and we wait
for Him. is is the abiding thought in every instructed
Christian, whatever degree of light he may have as to
details. He expects Christ, so that, morally, the fashion
of this world is closed for him • the object of his hope is
elsewhere.
Next, the scene of this world is confusion and evil to his
spirit; he knows that it will ripen into rebellion, and that
God will judge this world by that Man whom He hath
ordained -that Christ will therefore judge the quick and
the dead at His appearing and His kingdom-that He will
set up His earthly kingdom by judgment-further, that the
eect of His governmental judgment will be manifested
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
219
in the saints at that time-that if it be the day of the Lord
for this world, it is the time when the responsibility of the
saints will be brought to its manifested issue or result. He
will return and take account with His servants, and set
one over ten cities, another over ve. He knows that the
appearing of Christ is naturally and necessarily connected
with manifested judgment; hence he nds responsibility
always referred to this in Scripture.
irdly, besides the facts of Christ’s coming and
manifested righteousness, there is, through grace, special
privilege, the proper association of the saints with Christ,
which must have their accomplishment also. No doubt
the saints will be manifested before the judgment-seat of
Christ, to give an account of themselves to God; but this is
not separated from privilege, for they arrive there already
like Himself. Yea, He has come Himself to fetch them
there. is special association with Christ is made good, not
by Christ’s appearing, as we have seen (though manifested
there), but by His coming to receive them to Himself
where He is; His introducing them into His Father’s
house, and in the kingdom placing them in the heavenly
seat of government with Himself. is is eectuated by His
coming, and causing them, raised or changed, to come up
and meet Him in the air. is is the rapture of the saints,
preceding their and Christ’s appearing: at that they appear
with Him. So that at their rapture He has not appeared yet.
Such is the general doctrine of the rapture of the
church- a doctrine of the last importance; because it is
immediately connected with the relationship of the church
to Christ, its entire separation from the world and its
portion. It is the act which crowns its perfect justication.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
220
is rapture before the appearing of Christ is a matter of
express revelation, as we have seen from Col. 3:4.
As to the time of this rapture, no one, of course, knows
it. But the dierence, in this respect, between it and the
appearing is very marked, in what is most important. At
the appearing comes the judgment of this world: hence it
connects itself with, and closes, its history; and before it
that history must have run on to its revealed result, revealed
events must have occurred, and the objects of judgment
must have appeared on the scene and accomplished what
is predicted of them. e church is associated with Christ
already gone, is not of the world as He was not, is risen
with Him, has its life hid with Him in God. ere is no
earthly event between it and heaven. It must have been
gathered, and Christ rise up from the Father’s throne to
receive it: that is all. It is this conviction, that the church
is properly heavenly, in its calling and relationship with
Christ, forming no part of the course of events of the earth,
which makes its rapture so simple and clear; and on the
other hand, it shows how the denial of its rapture brings
down the church to an earthly position, and destroys its
whole spiritual character and position. Our calling is on
high. Events are on earth. Prophecy does not relate to
heaven. e Christian’s hope is not a prophetic subject at
all. It is the promise that Christ will come and receive him
to Himself, that where He is the Christian may be also.
Although the question be already answered in principle,
it may be well to put it formally here, When is the Christian
to expect the Lord? I answer, Always. It is his right spiritual
character. His always doing it is that by which his right
spiritual state is characterized. Be ye “ as men that wait
for their Lord when he shall return from the wedding,
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
221
that they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those
servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall nd
watching. Verily, I say unto you, that he shall gird himself,
and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and
serve them … Be ye therefore ready also, for at such an
hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” And, after
speaking of service to the saints, the Lord adds, “ Blessed
is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall nd
so doing. Of a truth, I say unto you, He will make him
ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in
his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, and begin to beat
the men-servants and the maid-servants … he will appoint
him his portion with the unbelievers.” Here, as a general
principle, the constant waiting for the Lord as a present
thing is given as characterizing those who are blessed when
the Lord comes, and who reign over all things. at which
leads the wicked servant into all mischief is, not the denial
of the Lord’s coming, but the loss of the sense and present
expectation of it.
is was the origin of the church’s departure from
simplicity, and its fall into clerical authority and worldliness-
the cause of the loss of its spiritual authority. e saints
went out, left the world and worldly religion by going
out, to meet the Bridegroom. It characterized them as a
present thing. It was recalled to its primitive position and
liveliness by the renewal of the immediate expectation of
Him. He did tarry, in fact; and the sense of His coming was
lost. “ Behold the Bridegroom cometh! “ was what aroused
and prepared them. No events, no earthly circumstances,
intervene or modify the direct summons. ey go out to
meet Him. ere is no other thought, no confusion with
the government of this world, none of any previous dealing
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
222
in respect of the marriage feast (His union with the Jews).
ey go back with Him to it.
at the apostle lived in, and taught, this immediate
expectation, as the proper primitive doctrine of the Spirit
of God, is evident, whatever degree of light as to detail may
have been possessed. e essalonians were converted to
wait for God’s Son from heaven; with very little clearness
of light; but they had been so taught, and Paul approves
of their expectation as a divine witness to the world, of
which the world itself spake. It was his manner of entering
in-they were waiting for Him. It was not a prophetic
explanation of events they possessed: there is no event,
I repeat, between us and heaven. God’s Son was coming
from heaven; and they were waiting for Him as the fruit
of Paul’s entering in among them, owned and delighted in
by himself. ey drew certain conclusions from it in which
they erred, which Paul corrected (as he did another mistake,
induced by false teachers, in the second epistle); but their
constant expectation was right. e word even is used only
here, and speaks of awaiting; but Paul was doing as much.
He speaks to them of “ we which are alive and remain to
the coming of the Lord.” We are told this is a class. Be it
so. But it is a class in which Paul reckons himself, showing
that that class could and ought so to await the coming of
the Lord. Why not we?
But there were, as we have seen, errors. e essalonians
were distressed about those who perished for Jesus’ sake;
fearing, as it appears (so much did they expect Christ in
their life-time), that they would not be there to enjoy
His coming. Paul corrects this error, by showing that the
dead would be raised, and then the living go up to meet
Christ with them. But he is so far from weakening the
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
223
essalonians’ present expectation of Christ during their
life-time, that he conrms it by associating himself with
them in this expectation. e circumstance, that it was a
conclusion drawn from this expectation which misled
the essalonians so that they were troubled about the
saints’ dying, gives uncommon force to the statement of
the apostle. How anxiously would he have set them right,
had they been wrong on this, and shown them that he
never had led them, nor meant to have led them, to such
an expectation-that it was an excited and erroneous way of
looking at the Lord’s coming! How would he have shown
them (the occasion and need of correcting error being thus
oered), as do many now, that there were many events
to occur, much history of the church and world to be
accomplished, before the Lord could come! But, quite the
contrary, he corrects the mistake they did make as to the
dead, showing them that they should rst rise; and they,
being changed, all go up together on high; and conrms
in the strongest way their own present expectation by, as
I have said, associating himself with it. Was he deceived,
as rationalists allege, in having and conrming in others
this thought? Surely not. e moment was not revealed, as
we know: the constant expectation was right. It produced
a liveliness of expectation, a courage in persecution, a
brightness of heart-association with the Lord’s Person and
personal approval, of which Paul will reap the blessed fruits
when the moment does come-of which the essalonians
did reap the fruits every day, in the liveliness of their faith,
and the brightness of their hope, and the labor of their love-
and of which we do: in a witness of liveliness of aection
and liberty of heart, and superiority to circumstances, of
which no epistle in Scripture aords a like example. Would
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
224
there were a little more enthusiasm in Christians, if it be
founded on a hope sanctioned by the apostle himself!
But those circumstances to which the essalonians
were exposed, were very trying; and if lively, they were
young in the faith. ey had heard that the day of the Lord
would come -a terrible day of trouble and of judgment. False
teachers came and sought to upset their minds, alleging
even a letter of Paul, and declarations of the Spirit, that that
day was there. If hope was somewhat enfeebled by their
suerings, as perhaps was the case (as the apostle speaks
only of their faith and love here), this unsettling of their
minds is not dicult to conceive, entirely inexperienced as
they were, and subjected to trial.
But the Lord was there to help them, as the wicked
one to trouble them. It is to be remarked that the verse
translated (2 ess. 2), “ as that the day of the Lord is at
hand,” should be, beyond all controversy or question, “
as that the day of the Lord were present.” It is the word
translated elsewhere present, in contrast with things to
come. ey were troubled and upset by the impression that
the day of the Lord, that great and terrible day, was actually
come. No wonder the apostle could not speak of their hope.
Before the apostle touches on their mistake, and unfolds
the true order of events, with heavenly skill he sets their
minds at ease. is he does in the rst chapter. He glories
in their patience and faith in their persecutions. It was a
righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to
those that troubled them, and to them that were troubled
rest with Paul and others (he was associated in the sorrow
and the rest too) when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven in aming re to take vengeance on them that
know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
225
Christ, when He shall come to be gloried in His saints,
and admired in (not “ to receive to himself “) all them that
believe (for the essalonians had believed) in that day.
Here all is set in its place. It was Christ’s appearing in
glory which would bring in the day. If that day had been
then present, it was without Christ. If His appearing
brought it in, He was not going to trouble those that
were His, but surely those who troubled them. at was a
righteous matter with God; so that the terrible persecution
the essalonians were undergoing was but a pledge with a
righteous God that, when the kingdom came, they would
have rest and glory. ey would not have trouble when
Christ appeared, and when the kingdom was established
by judgment. In that day their portion would be ease and
delight; nay, indeed, more than that-they would be the
admiration of the world, or rather Christ in them, in that
day.
us, by introducing Christ and God’s righteous ways,
all was as clear as possible, and the delusion dispelled. e
essalonians’ minds were re-established. It is ever so:
introduce Christ and God’s ways, and all is clear and peace.
ey can now, calmly and with a restored soul, in which
known truths had their place, receive fresh and satisfying
light on the point which troubled them. e moment we
see that they thought the day of the Lord was there, all is
perfectly simple and clear.
It has been supposed that “ rest … when “ means
the moment of relief. Nothing is more unfounded. e
reasoning of the apostle is that, Christ introducing the day,
it was not when He had the upper hand that His people
would be troubled and ill-treated. Was He going to treat
them so? In the day exactly the contrary would be the case:
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
226
they would enjoy rest and blessing; the persecutors would
be troubled. e Greek used for rest by no means conveys
always the same meaning of a moment of relaxation
arriving; it is never so used in Scripture. e other passages
are Acts 24:23 Cor. 2:12; chap. 7: 5; chap. 8: 13. It is used
in the same sense here. In 2 Cor. 8:13, the Greek words for
‘ burden,” tribulation,’ and ‘rest,’ are in a similar opposition
as here in 2 ess. 1:6, 7.
We come now to the very easy understanding of 2
ess. 2, in which to the relieved essalonians the apostle
unfolds, by fresh instructions, the order in which events
will really take place. I only remark, before turning to it,
that if “ rest with us “ meant relief at the moment of the
revealing of Christ, it would mean that the essalonians
and Paul were to expect Christ’s appearing in their lifetime,
as the term of their trials, and the moment of their rest.
is reply would be complete and absolute to those who
allege this; but it would not be the truth, nor scriptural. It
is not the force of the Greek here, nor is it the meaning
of the passage, nor would such an expectation, using the
same Greek word in this way, be a scripturally enlightened
one, such as an inspired apostle would give. It proves the
absurdity of their reasoning, but no more.
As regards 2 ess. 2, as I have said, the apostle unfolds
additional truth. He had already told the essalonians,
that they would be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Hence their being under the day of Christ on the earth was
an absolute impossibility, since they would be in heaven,
with the executor of the wrath of it, before it arrived.
is motive he now pleads. ey fancied (or at least were
unsettled as to it by the false teachers) that the day was
actually come- consequently, without Christ’s coming.
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
227
Hence he says, “ We beseech you, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him,
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled … as that
the day of Christ was come.” Both facts, and both together,
proved that the day of Christ was not there; already evident
by the moral absurdity of the day of the Lord being against
the Lord’s people; but here he leads them on to positive
ground. Christ must come for it, and their portion was to
be gathered up to Him before the day arrived.
Another thing which showed the day was not then
come (this supposition being the groundwork of all the
apostle’s reasoning, and, indeed, the occasion of the whole
epistle) was, that the day would not come till the apostasy
came, and the man of sin was revealed. Before the day of
Christ could be present on the earth, events must occur-
the object of judgment must be there. us the mistakes of
the essalonians only gave occasion to clearer and surer
light. And here I must remark, that confounding the day
of the Lord and His coming to receive the church is not
a mere mistake in terms, but a subversion of the whole
nature of the relationship between Christ and the church,
and Christ and the world, an apostate world; and a losing
sight wholly of the great moral bearing of a day coming on
the world, of which the Old Testament is full as well as the
New. To mix this up with “ I will come again and receive
you to myself, that where I am there ye may be also,” is to
confound the whole bearing of Christ’s aections towards
His own, with the terror of an apparition which every eye
shall see-a confounding the aming re of destructive
judgment with the dearest condences of perfect grace,
and bringing down the hopes of the saints, founded on
the all-perfect grace and truth of Christ, to the level of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
228
an event common to all, and terrible in its glory. It is the
practical establishment of the error to correct which the
second epistle to the essalonians was written. It not only
sets aside the distinctive revelation of our being caught up
to meet the Lord in the air, and the distinctive existence
and position of the church with it; but it denies the
position which (it is here, as elsewhere, revealed) we shall
have with Christ when He appears. When He appears we
shall appear with Him; He will come to be gloried in His
saints, and admired in all them that believe (not to receive
them up to Himself). e scripture is as plain as possible.
He who confounds the day of Christ with His coming to
receive the church knows neither what His day is, nor His
coming, nor the church.
Do the saints not await His coming to earth, and His
appearing? Undoubtedly: but not as the time of their
joining Him; for, I repeat, they will appear with Him: as
walking on earth, they await this event. ey await it as the
great eventful act of God’s government, in which Christ
is gloried, as that which will set the earth right, as that
in which all responsibility will be brought to its manifest
result. It is the grand act of that display of power which sets
everything in its place according to the divine judgment,
and by which evil power is set aside. But they do not expect
it as that which is to fulll and accomplish their own
personal blessedness according to sovereign grace in their
own relationship with Christ (that is, in the Father’s house).
Christ’s appearing will be the full establishment of divine
power in government, and the result of responsibility; the
rapture of the church, and its entrance into the Father’s
house, the accomplishment of sovereign grace towards
the saints in their full individual blessedness-of the hopes
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
229
which communion with the Father and the Son has given
them. Another special result will follow for the church-the
marriage of the Lamb. But this is distinctive and peculiar,
not the completing of individual grace.
e moment of the rapture none can know. Its
distinctive character is vital for him before whom the truth
is set. I will now cite some passages of detail, which show
our exemption from the tribulation predicted, a position
in which the world will nd itself, and in an especially
manner the Jewish people restored to their land. In the
address to the Philadelphian church, and in reference to
the near coming of the Lord, and giving, as the ground
of the promise, that they had kept the word of Christ’s
patience (for He waits also), it is declared that they shall be
kept from the hour of temptation which shall come on all
the world to try them which dwell upon the earth. is last
description of persons is frequently so designated in the
Revelation, and expresses, surely, much more than the fact
that they live on earth. ey are characterized by having
their dwelling-place there.
In Rev. 12:10-12, it is said, “ And I heard a loud voice
saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused
them before our God day and night. And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
erefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! “ Now I
do not take this as the rapture, because I believe it had taken
place before, and is pointed out in the timeless rapture of
the man-child, for the church is one with Christ, and shall
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
230
rule the nations as He. But I nd a positive revelation,
that three years and a half before the close (that is the last
half-week of Daniel), Satan is cast down, the accuser of
the brethren is no longer in heaven, the triumph of those
accused is come-their trial passed; they had been in trial
and conict, and had overcome, and conict is ended for
dwellers in heaven. It begins, and with great wrath of Satan,
for the inhabiters of earth. ere had been persecution,
there had been death. For one class it had now ceased, and
for another it was just going to begin. And note, this is
exactly the epoch spoken of by Daniel, which the Lord
refers to as the tribulation such as never was since there
was a nation; not have I the smallest doubt that the woman
represents the Jews. I am aware, as to the remnant of her
seed, diculty has been raised from the expression, “ the
testimony of Jesus Christ.” But the answer is in the book
itself: “ e spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.” It
will be a prophetic, not a church, testimony-a very dierent
thing. Compare with this the end of Isa. 50, where the
remnant are expressly declared to hear the voice of God’s
servant (that is, of Christ as prophet).
I only notice these as accessory and explanatory, as
my object is not controversial, but to bring out plainly
the testimony of Scripture on the Jewish remnant and
on the church. Renewed opposition to these truths has
come recently under my eye, but what is alleged was only
proof to me how, when men are not taught of God on
any subject, little diculties hide and obliterate immense
and fundamental truths, which a child, learning of God
in simplicity, could not go astray upon. Indeed, wherever
the connection between Christ and the church is not seen,
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
231
reasoning on these subjects can only bring into deeper
darkness.
But, as I have said, my object is not controversy here;
and I pursue not my impressions on this point farther,
however clear and strong they may be. If the reader has
laid hold of the truth, clearly proved from Scripture, that
there is a distinct Jewish remnant at the end, with Jewish
hopes given of God, and a Jewish character, that the church
has its own and peculiar association with Christ, as the
body with its Head, called into union by the Holy Ghost,
sent down from heaven; if we have seen that we shall not
abide down here till Christ appears, since it is positively
declared-revealed-that we shall appear with Him when He
appears, he will have got hold of clear land-marks which
will guide him safely through details, in the discovery and
order of which patience will surely be needed; but through
the knowledge of these landmarks, the details will not
take him out of the main road, will never enfeeble divine
relationship, upon which the holiest and most precious
aections are necessarily dependent, and in which, indeed,
they have their origin. It is, indeed, this last consideration
which makes these subjects so vital and important to my
mind. All right aections depend on divinely constituted
relationships, and cannot exist out of them. If I know not
the relationship of the church to Christ, and the position in
which He has set us, along with Himself in reference to the
Father, none of the aections suited to these positions can
have any place in my soul; and my spiritual discernment
and judgment as to everything will suer in proportion.
e recrudescence of opposition to the truths on these
points shows that it is making progress. What I have seen
written against it only seems to me to mark deeper darkness
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
232
and more ignorance of the great outlines of scripture than
earlier opposition, though the general spirit and character
be the same.
As regards passing through the tribulation (a question
which everyone knows is that which always arises on
this matter) the scripture seems to me to make it very
simple. How can I tell there will be a tribulation? I shall
be answered, Passages of scripture positively declare there
will be such.’ I admit it: but there are no passages which
reveal it, which do not also show that the church will not
be in it. As far as I am aware they are these: Jeremiah 30: 7;
Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21; Mark 13:19; to which we may add
Rev. 3:10; 7: 14. I am not aware of any other which can be
applied to this subject. Now who are in this tribulation in
the passages which speak of it in Scripture? Rev. 7:14 could
alone leave open the smallest question. Of this I will speak.
Of all the rest, the positive evidence is, that the Jews are in
it-the church not.
Jeremiah tells us, “ It is the time of Jacob’s trouble,” the day
which none is like. is shows to whom it belongs. Daniel
shows us that that day of “ trouble, such as there never was
since there was a nation,” was the day of indignation upon
Israel. Daniel’s people, as the whole prophecy declares, are
there in question, and they will be delivered (that is, those
written in the book). e Savior, who applies this passage
in Matt. 24, leaves not the smallest doubt that it applies to
those of Israel, and, even exclusively, to Palestine, or, still
narrower as to locality, Judea and Jerusalem. ey are to
ee to the mountains. e abomination of desolation is in
the holy place. ose in the country are not to return. ey
are the days of vengeance to accomplish what is written.
ey are to desire their ight should not be on a sabbath
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
233
day. In a word, the tribulation is in Jerusalem, in Judea, and
among Jews. Mark 1 need not comment on; it is evidently
the same event. us Jeremiah, Daniel, the Lord Himself,
in Matthew and Mark, citing and applying Daniel, declare
that the tribulation regards the Jews. It is the time of Jacob’s
trouble.
But Rev. 3 speaks of a time of temptation; and here it is
said that it shall come on the world, to try them who dwell
on the earth. is, therefore, is more general; it is not the
great tribulation of Jeremiah, Daniel, and Matthew, which
is exclusively Jewish. Here we have the church. But what
is said of this time of temptation as regards the church
who await Christ? ey shall be kept out of it. at is, the
passages which speak of the tribulation “ which none is
like “ (and from which alone we know there is one) declare
unanimously it is for the Jews and not for the church. e
passage which, addressed to the church, refers to an hour
of temptation, declares in a precious promise that, having
kept the word of Christ’s patience, she shall be kept out
of that hour. If I turn to Rev. 12, which, in eect, speaks
of the three years and a half trial, I am told the conict
of the heavenly saints is over before it begins. e woe is
for others (that is, for Jews). Christ was not born of the
church; nor is it the church who has to say, “ To us a Son
is born.” e positive witness is as clear as clear can be.
e statement, that there is a tribulation, declares the
Jews will be in it, the church kept out of it. But there is
a passage obscure to most; Rev. 7. It is one of the signs
of error and the enemy’s work, that he takes an obscure
passage to trouble the minds of saints and unsettle them
by this means in great and plain truths. is passage may
be employed so, and hence I notice it also. at it is not the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
234
church which is spoken of here is clear from the promise to
Philadelphia. All conrms this. It is a dierent class from
the elders, who represent the heavenly kings and priests
to God. One of the elders explains who they are. I would
remark that the expression (v. 15) “ dwell among them “ is a
wholly false translation. It is “ shall tabernacle,” or “ dwell,”
over them. e word is used for “ dwelling with,” with
other Greek prepositions, as en meta, en meso, but not with
epi, whereas this is the preposition used for overshadowing,
as in Num. 9, with the word translated “abode” (v. 18) and
“tarried” (v. 22), it is true; but the Greek word in John 1:14,
“ to tabernacle,” is not used in the LXX (unless once in
some MSS, where it has nothing to do with this). ere
can hardly be a doubt of the allusion, I think, to the cloud
which was a shelter over Israel.
Hence the only conferred blessing spoken of as the
result is this protection, nourishment, refreshment, and
the cessation of sorrow. ey come in after the sealing of
the elect of the twelve tribes of Israel, as a distinct class
from all before-a new and distinct class from the elders;
one of whom has to give an account who they are as such.
Hence their position is as dierent as possible from those
in chapter 5: 10. ey are talked about, and it is explained
who they are; but, save as to owning their own salvation
through God and the Lamb, they are silent. ey are
sheltered, refreshed, fed, blessed, but take no part with
others; indeed, the elders do not praise here. ey have
the privilege of serving God continually in His temple;
33
but they are no part of the scene above, who celebrate and
33 Remark, that in the heavenly Jerusalem there is no temple; so
that the service here spoken of does not apply to that blessed
place.
e Rapture of the Saints and the Character of the Jewish Remnant
235
unfold the acts of God: on the contrary, as we have seen,
those who are, are presented as a separate class, capable of
explaining the enigma of this additional class of persons
who are found standing before the throne and before the
Lamb. ere is no praising for others, no intercessional
language. One has only to compare the passage above cited
to see the dierence-to see they are another class. To use
this passage, certainly obscure in its application (in which
those who have been in the great tribulation are denitely
distinguished from the heavenly company of crowned and
enthroned elders, their whole position being dierent), to
destroy the force of one expressly declaring that those who
have kept the word of Christ’s patience will be kept out
of it, is certainly the opposite of a sound interpretation of
Scripture.
In result, what is the evidence of Scripture on this
point? ere are six passages which speak of tribulation,
and by which we know there will be tribulation. Four are
clear and positive in applying it to the Jews; one declares
that the faithful church saints will be kept out of it; and the
last, speaking of Gentiles, distinguishes them, in the most
marked way, from those who represent the church, and
saints in heaven, the crowned and enthroned elders. us
direct Scripture is as clear as clear can be. We have seen
that, indirectly, Rev. 2 conrms this view. What remains?
General principles. Hence the attempt to bring the church
into the tribulation;
34
and this is the secret of the whole
34 One tract I have seen goes so far (showing the utter destruction
of all spiritual discernment, which is the result of these views)
that it speaks of the loss to the church in not going through
this tribulation (thus confounding suering for Christ with the
terrible chastening of God for sin and unbelief-the temptation
which the disciples were taught to pray to be kept from).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
236
matter-the confounding the church of God with the Jews
and with the world, their hopes, and the trials that come
upon them.
Brief oughts on Revelation
237
62486
Brief oughts on Revelation
e book is prophetic: it does not deal with the church
in respect of itself, as in relationship with God, save
incidentally in the preface (chap. 1: 5, 6), and conclusion.
(Chap. 22: 16,17.) It is the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus Christ. e address, though of grace and peace, is
governmental. us it is from Him who is, and who was,
and who is to come (not from the Father as such), and
from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; and
from Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the First-begotten
of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, i.e.,
not mere Messianic glory, yet connected with earth, in life,
resurrection, and rule. e mention of Him draws out, by
the way, the church’s, or Christian’s, own consciousness and
feeling as to Christ. is is followed by the testimony of
what He is to the world, and to the Jews, at His coming
in judgment. en we have the personal seal of the eternal
glory. And so the whole book, in its relationships and results.
e word of God and the testimony of Jesus applies both
to prophecy and to Christianity, though not properly to the
church; for Scripture looks at testimony continuously, as
in Heb. 1; 2 or separately from what went before, as in the
epistle to the Ephesians.
Next, we have the vision of Christ, revealed in the midst
of the churches, governing them. ere are two parts in
the description-what is personal, and what is relative; the
former, in verses 13-15; the latter, in verse 16. Personally,
He is a Son of man, not now a servant at His work: His
garment is the long owing robe, and not tucked up. His
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
238
girdle is divine righteousness as such. Verse 14 marks
Him as Ancient of days. His eyes search, His eyelids try,
the children of men in the power of judgment. His feet,
as seen here, represent judgment, not abstractedly divine
in the sanctuary, but applied down here to the ways and
dealings of men-to sin, in government, and this with a
peculiar character. Ezek. 1:7 and Daniel 10: 6 (dierent
in the English version) are the same; but we have here “
passed through the re.” I apprehend it means here that
the application of righteousness in judgment to man was
according to the full absolute trial of the re of God (i.e.,
judgment allowing no evil). Governmental judgment has
not this character exactly. Brass is not used for immediate
divine righteousness-i.e., intrinsic divine righteousness
as such, remaining immutable in itself; to be met and
satised, no doubt, by what is suited to it, but not exercised.
is last is in power and ways. But in Christ, this last had
all the perfectness which that re, which consumes all
dross, has or can have. In the relative characteristics, we
have maintenance, by His power, of all the subordinate
administrative power of the churches; judgment, according
to and by the power of the word, of what had possessed
that word, and the manifestation of supreme sovereign
power, as regards the whole world.
Human nature fails before this, but while the First and
the Last, God Himself, Jehovah, He was also the Living
One- not the power of death-for His servants: He had
gone through death and destroyed it, and was alive for
evermore. Life was His, and not only so, but life after death
and resurrection, after His going through that which man
was subject to; and He has thus the keys of power over
Brief oughts on Revelation
239
death and hades. Christ was to be revealed in this way, then
the present existing things, and the things after them.
In Ephesus, we have the great principle of His
government in, and survey of, the professing church. He
has the seven stars and walks among the candlesticks. e
principle of departure from rst standing is taken as the
general ground; the result of faithfulness is also individual-
he eats of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of the
God of Jesus (read “ my God “ in verse 7), while the general
fact of judgment is threatened-the candlestick removed. It
is in every respect the great general principles of departure
and judgment, though there was still much good.
e Smyrna state is clear. Christ, who was before all,
and will be after all, and in this present world, has overcome
death, sustains faith in the midst of needed persecution, and
promises the crown of life. It is the title by which He met
the withering of eshly life in the apostle before His glory.
Note, the profession of hereditary religion accompanies
persecution- the trial was external, and the blessing here
is general; they were to hold good their faith among the
polluted.
Next, in Pergamos, we have the searching judgment by
the word, where corruption was allowed. So the blessing
is distinctive also. Next we have-not trial by God’s word,
revealed truth, but-the Lord’s searching of all that is within
the heart: His eyes as a aming re; and the governmental
judgment. And this closes the public history of the church
in general. And the morning star, and the coming, and
Christ’s kingdom, are brought in as the object of hope. Nor
is there here invitation to repent. In the rst there was. In
the persecuted church there is encouragement. In the third
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
240
there was. In this fourth the bad had space to repent, and
did not. “ Behold, I will cast,” and “ I will kill,” is absolute.
e church of Sardis clearly begins afresh. Christ has
the seven stars. ey are His; but He does not say He holds
them in His right hand. And He has the seven Spirits-a
point not noticed yet, but which marks that whatever the
state of the church, He has the full supply of gift-the Spirit,
in all competency to act and glorify God. But I think it
looks out beyond the former church. It is irregular, but a
competency above order, and a competency proper to Him
personally. Hence it will be found, as each characteristic
of Christ in the last three churches, to reach over into the
coming scene, i.e., the characteristic itself. ey are none of
them mentioned in the description of the Son of man. ey
are new objects and grounds of faith; not the regularized
characteristics for ecclesiastical dealing, or of that revealed
use.
Hence, if not faithful, Sardis is not judged as the church,
like yatira, but treated as the world. e overcomers have
the general result of righteousness, not being out of the
book of life, and being confessed individually before the
Father, as they had confessed Christ before the world. In
Philadelphia, all ecclesiastical pretension is against them.
But Christ’s personal sovereign title to shut and open is
for them. ey have to keep the word of His patience. All
this is un-ecclesiastical. Christ waits for His enemies to
be made His footstool. In this respect He continues even
His life on earth. So do the saints. ey walk in the midst
of a corrupt closing dispensation, keeping Christ’s word.
Hence the word “ my.” Laodicea goes further. For Christ
takes up the witness in the new creation, instead of the
church, which He rejects. Divine righteousness must be
Brief oughts on Revelation
241
had-saints’ righteousnesses, according to God’s purity, and
true discernment from God, known only through Christ.
He has not ceased to love the church, and looks for zeal
and repentance. e kingdom is all that is here promised.
e dierent place of the warning in the last three has been
noticed.
As to the sequel, I do not see how it can be questioned
that we enter on a dierent sphere of prophecy in chapter
4. I do not mean merely that it is the third division, as often
remarked; but that chapters 2 and 3 were the judgment of
the church on earth, and this is not. e world is dealt with
from the throne, not on earth either, but in heaven. When
this is the case, the saints are seen there. It is not merely
that the blessing is anticipated before the judgments come,
through which the blessed have to pass; but the body of
saints is seen enthroned, encircling the great throne of
God before any history of judgment begins at all. And the
sources of all are revealed in this place. ey are associated
with the throne in its then place and character. It is not
Christ’s throne on which they sit. ey are enthroned
and crowned priests and kings before the government
revealed in the book begins. And it is not the revelation
of any place acquired or reached through them, as may be
said in chapters 7 and 15. Before the Lamb has taken the
book to bring about circumstances to go through, they are
associated with the throne. e throne itself is very clearly
the throne of divine government and providence; and
that set in majesty of judgment, but connected with the
rst creation. e rainbow is round it. It is not a throne
approached with blood-the golden throne. And the living
creatures, though in the midst of the throne, can be apart
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
242
from it. But it is a heavenly throne. Jehovah-Elohim-
Shaddai is celebrated.
e elders worship Him as Creator and Sovereign. It
is His throne of government (in the rst creation), and
they can sit on thrones, but in heaven. ey are in rest
as to judgment, and active in worship. ough the living
creatures were in and around the throne, next it thus, the
elders as to place are rst mentioned as morally associated
with the throne. On their own thrones they were part of
the scene. e creatures are only part of the character of the
throne. Reasons for praise are here with the elders only. e
creatures’ part is the unceasing celebration of what He is.
Chapter 5. We have now competent power to act on the
unfolding of divine purpose. In the center of all God’s ways
of power and providence was the Lamb as slain. He could
open the purpose of God’s right hand of power. Other
saints are here with prayers yet to go up. e creatures and
elders fall down before the Lamb. I should leave out “ us
“ in verse 9, and naturally read “ them “ instead of “ us “ in
verse to, as Tischendorf, etc., unless perhaps “ they reign.”
Here, if connected with “ living creatures,” these give
reasons for worship also, the angels do not. en note the
living creatures put their amen to this ascription of power
and glory. e twenty-four elders worship; I doubt a little
the worshipping, etc. (v. 8), of the living creatures; but in
chapter 19: 4 they do. In chapter 5: 14 “ him that liveth,”
etc., is to be left out. e living creatures, join with Amen.
e elders worship. All may own the Lamb by falling
down. It is all most due and right, but the intelligent song
is morally, I think, with the elders: they sing (not “ they
sung “). It is in the main (besides the Lamb’s glory, having
perfect power and the eyes of the Lord which run through
Brief oughts on Revelation
243
the earth) the interest of the heavenly saints in, and their
connection with, the earthly ones, and the same place as
to the kingdom. In what follows, to the end of chapter i
r, we get the general history, and in the earlier part of it,
in parenthesis, the special nal history of the beast, so as
to get its place in the series. Remark, we have not yet the
ospring of David. Only the Lamb is Lion of the tribe of
Judah; but it is redemption out of all nations which gives a
title to take the book and open the seals.
But I suspect there is something more as to creatures
and elders. It is not till the Lamb has taken the book that
the creatures get their place with the elders. Now it has
been long remarked that the creatures are the symbols of
providential power (attributes in exercise), and that the
instruments may be angels as in this world and saints in
the world to come. Now it will be remarked that, before the
Lamb appears on the scene and takes the book, there are
no angels who praise, and the creatures, while celebrating
the character of God-expressing it, are not associated
with intelligent praise and worship. Now this is always
their proper oce and character; but when the saints
take this oce, they are also the intelligent worshippers,
though remaining another aspect of them. Hence, before
the Lamb is in the scene and has taken the book, they are
completely distinct, and no angels are spoken of; when He
has, they are connected, and the angels are distinct. Still
the creatures say Amen to creature-praise, and the elders
worship. In point of fact, after Christ has risen up and taken
the church up, the angels expel the dragon from heaven;
but in power connected with the Lamb, here held up to
view, the saints must be associated. When in chapter 19
the Lord is coming out, the elders have the rst place, for
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
244
that is the rst heavenly part and place, the governmental
attributes relating to the inheritance and the earth. So they
have in chapter 7:11.
A question arises out of the change of reading in chapter
5: 9, 10, whether the redeemed are a distinct set, or the
redeemed in general. e saints, whose prayers are oered,
are earthly-that is clear. But I have been rather disposed to
think verses 9 and to are general. e Lamb has wrought
this work. But “to our God” is a diculty in this view, and
the prayers of others must be considered.
en, after the general history of public judgments, after
conquest, etc., we have the souls under the altar-martyrs in
general, I conceive, though this is a very important point as
to the structure of the book. ey are owned (for there is a
break in God’s ways here), but must wait for judgment; but
all is broken up in order of existing powers, so that a way is
made to the accomplishing prayers.
But special things, a scene of special dealings and
judgment, were rst to come in, yet part of the general
history (i.e., not the beasts of chapter 13). But before this
new scene is opened, the perfect remnant of Israel is sealed.
e angel came from-was connected with-the dawn of the
new day upon the earth. I cannot think that “ before the
throne and before the Lamb “ is physical locality, but moral.
e angels do not stand round the white-robed multitude.
I apprehend they are the delivered saints on earth, who are
perfectly secured and sheltered forever-God dwells among
them; His tabernacle is over them. I do not say they are
seen on earth, for I do not think so, any more than the
woman in chapter 12:1; yet her history is on earth, but in
both cases in the purpose and mind of God. God views
them thus, and their place is moral. ey are never “around
Brief oughts on Revelation
245
the throne,”
35
which is remarkable; nor are they seated as
the elders; nor do they give motives for praise as they do.
eir salvation is of and from the throne before which they
stand. ey have known God and the Lamb only there.
ere is, however, I apprehend, victory. ey have come
out of the great tribulation. ey are not those born in the
peace of the millennium. So that they have a place before
the throne, as then set, and serve him inside, and with a
knowledge not possessed by merely millennial blessing.
ere is no temple in the heavenly Jerusalem. It is not the
Son of David, or of man, who feeds them, but the Lamb
on the throne; and they are before God on the throne.
ey have an inner place and better knowledge than the
millennium. e elders can explain for them-are interested,
so to speak, in them-though they are not in their place.
ere is a connection with Christ, to the elders’ minds,
which themselves do not fully understand-something as if
they said “ When saw we thee? “ Compare chapter 14 for
a somewhat analogous class, though there we are not in
the general history. ey have heavenly connection, though
they are not in heaven.
Chapter 8.1 suppose to be general judgments on the
Roman Empire. In chapter 9 we begin more special dealings
of God: the rst woe-trumpet on the rebellious part of Israel,
then an inroad of eastern cavalry-characterized nations, but
in the Roman Empire. (See, for the Roman Empire being
characterized by a third part, chapter 12: 3, 4.) But men
do not repent. en before the third woe a more special
and peculiar subject is parenthetically introduced. From
chapter 8, the ministrations, as noticed long ago, are angelic
35 See Notes, Rev. 4:3, in New Translation, New Testament, by
J. N. Darby.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
246
in character; previously, from chapter 5, the actings of the
Lamb: I suppose the latter connected with the throne in
heaven, the former with administration towards the earth,
before the Lamb takes His title as King of kings and Lord
of lords. As such we again nd the Lamb. is, if just, is a
help to the interpretation and moral placing of these two
parts. Hence we have a step lower down, and John takes
the book from the angel (Christ), not the Lamb from Him
that sits on the throne. is is no sealed book of counsels
and universal ways towards Gentiles, but the open dealings
of God with Israel and the earth again, not providential,
but in already revealed circumstances, God’s known ways
on earth. We are here, then (chap. 11), on direct Jewish
ground; the inner remnant are owned, the general outer
body given up to be profaned by Gentiles. It is not, I judge,
locally, though speaking of Jews and Jerusalem, but morally,
that the distinction is made. It is trodden under foot forty-
two months.
Some have put the twelve hundred and sixty days of
verse 3 after this. Now, though I admit the possibility of
recurring to a previous dealing of God, it seems to me
forced to attempt it here with the meaning of the Greek
translated “ And I will give,” Rev. 11:3. is is important in
another point of view; because, in this case, there is only one
half-week here, as in Matt. 24; for the city’s being given up
to be trodden down forty-two months, and twelve hundred
and sixty days following after in which it still is, does not
well hang together. It is not sucient, I think, to say, e
rst period was characterized by this, without testimony,
and the last half-week by testimony, not by this, because
forty-two months is an exclusive measure of time. If so,
as in Matt. 24, we are in general time up to the last half-
Brief oughts on Revelation
247
week-no commencement here, but the conclusion marked.
en I hardly think, if the forty-two months came after the
twelve hundred and sixty days, the beginning of treading
down by the Gentiles could be celebrated as the coming of
the worldly kingdom of Christ. e witness, however, goes
farther than the Jews; it maintains (as must be in them) the
claims of God over the earth-His ruling title there.
We have worshippers in an earthly way, and witnesses
or prophets. ey are like Moses and Elias in testimony-
in the midst of a captive people and an apostate people.
ey act in power like them-shutting heaven, as Elias,
and turning waters into blood, as Moses-over heaven, the
waters, and the earth, but in view of the earth. But they are
only witnesses (testifying what is fullled in Zechariah).
e power of evil, the beast from the abyss, overcomes and
kills them (properly it is the great street of the city). But
they go to heaven and judgment strikes the city; names of
men fall; the remnant own the God of heaven, not of the
earth-the new testimony.
Note, there is the completing the testimony; till then
they are safe. ey of the nations kept their bodies-ready to
go up. is closes the second woe. e time is thus placed;
and this seems to me to conclude a second half-week,
because the forty-two months must be within the second
woe; and if the third woe gives the last half-week, we have
three half-weeks-two closed by the end of the second woe,
and one forming the third. It can hardly be said that verse
2 is not within the closing of the second woe.
Note here, “ the kingdom of our Lord.” It explains the
reign forever. It is the establishment of God’s government
in contrast with man’s misrule. So in Rev. 11:16, we have
“ before “ (enopion) the throne. is partly shows its moral
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
248
force, for they were “ round “ the throne; chap. 4: 4. We
have in chapter 11 the elders in their own distinctive place
again as intelligent worshippers, not the living creatures.
See chap. 19: 4. ey only give an amen to the voices in
heaven. Both are there; only elders, as we have remarked,
rst. ey are noted here, too, as sitting before God on
their thrones. But the setting up the governmental power
of God draws them to prostrate worship, as the celebration
of creative glory had done in chapter 4. e whole scene
is judging the quick and the dead at His appearing and
His kingdom, and destroying them that corrupt and
destroy the earth. It is thus the whole scene of judgment
of the kingdom-not the destruction of the elements, but
judgment of all living corrupters of every sort.
We now come to the direct and complete development
of the parenthetical matter of chapters 10 and 11. We get
the counsels and thoughts of God, not the history of His
ways and man’s conduct, but His view of what He was
bringing about, and the formal design of Satan to oppose
it. is is connected with His covenant with Israel. e ark
of His covenant was seen in His temple, which was opened
in heaven. He was going to act openly on the earth in
connection with the covenant with Israel, and rst we have
the heavenly aspect of it all before the history. at is to say,
Jerusalem or Israel viewed according to God’s sure counsel,
clothed with supreme authority, all legal ordinances under
her feet, crowned with perfect administrative subordinate
authority. Of her the Man-child that was to govern all was
to be born (i.e., Christ and the church in Him). Opposed
to this is Satan’s power in the Empire of Rome. is
empire is looked at, however, not historically, but as the
power of Satan. But the Child was not yet set up in power,
Brief oughts on Revelation
249
but caught up to God’s throne-hidden there. e woman’s
(Israel’s) place is in the wilderness, driven out in desolation,
but kept of God for twelve hundred and sixty days.
Next, we begin our history from heaven downwards.
e dragon is cast out thence, but into this earth-he
becomes a mere earthly power. e heavens are set free, the
accuser gone, and those who suered in connection with
his and their place are there freed from all his eorts. He
then begins to attack the woman (now seen historically
on earth). She ees from him three and a half years into
the desert, is saved from his pursuit, and he turns to
persecute the godly of her seed. Here I certainly think we
have still only one half-week. e woe on the earth, on the
heavens being set free, is not, I judge, the coming of the
worldly kingdom. Divine power was set up in heaven, to
the exclusion of the accuser, and in favor of the heavenly
people. But the. earthly kingdom of the dragon came; not
the judgment and worldly kingdom of Christ.
In chapter 13 we get the earthly agent of Satan, the
Roman Empire; but not as a direct subject in its heathen
character, but in its blasphemous one; still it is viewed as
being the last of the four empires that came out of the
sea, but with ten horns and seven heads, and embracing
characteristically the other three. e slain head had been
slain, and continued “ as if slain,” but had been healed.
is is part of his character, showing previous existence
and history of a beast who now rises, to whom the dragon
gives his authority. But the world would be indel in it,
and take up, independent of Christianity, the admiration
of that power which would have destroyed Christ in its
imperial character. Blasphemy is the new character of the
beast, and he continues in this character forty-two months-
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
250
half a week, not a whole one. He blasphemes God, and in
the shape of His name, dwelling-place, and the dwellers
in heaven. is is characteristic. e church, as a heavenly
thing, could not be endured. But it intimates that in the
close, historically, the church is already caught up. He can
only blaspheme them. But he makes war with the saints on
earth (i.e., who are not dwellers in heaven). e dwellers
on earth worship him, save the elect remnant. I apprehend
this latter is more universal in character; while the saints he
overcomes are active in witness, more or less, and answer
to the saints of the high places (Dan. 7) whom he wears
out. ough more generally expressed here, they are the
understanding ones of Dan. 11; not the church, but not
merely faithful, but aware of God’s title and ways, as the
Most High, and their testimony obnoxious to the beast.
Hence they are slain and go up-though they do not dwell
there. e changing times and laws is the Jewish part, and
not brought in here; but the period is the same. And the
two former parts of Dan. 7:25 are found here (read “ written
from the foundation of the world “). As yet, God not being
come in judgment, submission, not actual resistance, is
the patient path of faith. He will bring judgment on the
persecutor. e rest of the chapter and chapter 14 do not
oer, I think, much diculty. We have active satanic agency,
bearing the form of Messiah’s power, and ministering to
the rst beast’s throne and blasphemous claims.
Chapter 14 is the work of God in this time-the perfect
remnant of Jewish suerers preserved under the beast’s
reign; the gospel of the kingdom and coming judgment
before that judgment is executed; the fall of Babylon; the
warning as to the beast, and the lot of those who worshipped
him; the judgment of the earth, sparing many, and of the
Brief oughts on Revelation
251
vine-the religious corporate character of evil connected
with the apostasy of Israel and Antichrist, sparing none.
It is the utter destruction of apostate religiousness in the
earth-the vine of the earth. e judgment of the beast as
such is not here.
I apprehend the beginning of chapter 15 is anticipative,
as the judgments are made manifest. But they are what
follows (v. 5), it is the naos, holy place. “ Tabernacle of
testimony “ is the word used by the LXX for the tabernacle
of the congregation. So Stephen in Acts. What follows is
the inauguration of it (like Ex. 40:34, and 1 Kings, or 2
Chronicles). But here it is the smoke of glory and power,
wrath being to be executed as from it. Still God takes
His place-though not Himself-by His presence. is and
chapter 16 come in before chapter 14: 8. Chapters 12 to
14 have no date till Satan is cast down, and the last half-
week. at casting down changes the whole character of
the working of evil. Note, these last chapters are testimony
or conict, and the ways of God when He does not execute
judgment, though ending in the Son of man’s doing so.
Evil has the upper hand as far as man can see. Deliverances,
then, are by special or providential interventions. e ark of
His covenant was then securing through the power of evil;
but not judging. Chapters 15 and 16 are the judgment and
wrath of God-not yet the Lamb. And they act (not on the
power of Satan as an adversary, but) on men and the world
and what is worldly, as such, according to responsibility to
God. You get God’s doings in chapter 14 in the period; and
the closing judgment by Him to whom denite judgment
is committed. God’s ways in His government of the world
are only noticed in recital (v. 8).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
252
In chapters 12 to 14 the people are secured; and the
world, till the Son of man comes, has its way. e ark of the
covenant is seen, ordered and sure, but not made to grow.
e men of Belial are taken at the end. In chapters 15 and
16 there is no ark of the covenant, but the house lled with
smoke, so that none can enter; but it is glory and power
active in wrath. In both we have to do with relationship
with Israel, and the world; only as yet from heaven, not
from Jerusalem on earth.
In the rst, directly with the Jews-their whole state is
unfolded; in the last, the judgment on the proud of the earth,
who leave no place for them, have displaced them, and in
wickedness taken their place. e earth and everything in
it is providentially judged.
I have nothing particularly new to remark on chapter
18, only the time is drawing on close, “ has drawn near,”
1 Peter 4:7. In chapter 18 I apprehend the fall is before
the violent throwing down, but immediately preparatory
to it, a total degradation of its state-a nal call to God’s
people to come out of her, to avoid her sins and imminent
plagues. I apprehend there will be some strange union
under secular inuence connected with the false Messiah
(see Rev. 13 and 2 ess. 2 for extent and association too)
between idolatrous Romanism and idolatrous Judaism.
e Jews only, I apprehend, are His people here. e ark
of the covenant has appeared, but it would have a moral
application whenever Babylon was spiritually discerned,
as even now are there many Antichrists. She was now in
her last stage; her sins had reached unto heaven, and God
had remembered her iniquities. So in Jer. 51:9, where also
her fall precedes her being taken. e last verse shows the
Brief oughts on Revelation
253
religious character, answering to Jerusalem in the Lord’s
time. She has taken in a worse way Jerusalem’s place.
In chapter 19 it is, rst, heavenly (not church) worship;
i.e., not of intelligence of divine ways, but celebration when
divine judgments are made manifest. It follows chapter 15.
Hence it is entirely God’s judgments. e Lamb is not yet
spoken of. e twenty-four elders and four living creatures
only add their amen, worship, and hallelujah. Here it is a
universal summons to praise of every one that fears God,
for He reigns as Jehovah-Elohim-Shaddai. is must be
connected with chapter 11: 17, and helps to a date, and Psa.
95-98 is introduces the marriage of the Lamb (His wife
being already made ready). is closes thus far the divine
communications. It is on the assertion of the truth of them
here, and chapter 22: 6, on the reigning of the saints, that
John was going to worship. Read, “ e spirit of prophecy
is the testimony of Jesus “; i.e., this book was the same
service and had the same object as John’s own, who was in
Patmos for it. ese were all in heaven.
Now heaven is opened, not on Jesus-not to the spiritual
man-but for Jesus, who, with the name taken to Laodicea
only there in witness), comes to judge and make war. He
was characterized by the garment dipped in blood. He is the
Word of God. Verse 15 is not solely or properly applicable
to the destruction of the beast and false prophet (though
they may come under it as rst opposing the other). It
is the place Christ is taking in the world to introduce
His kingdom. e beast and the false prophet and their
armies gather themselves together to oppose this. ey are
therefore rst met, themselves cast into the lake of re, and
their armies become the mystical supper of the great God
for the fowls of the air, slain by the judicial authority of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
254
Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords. e dragon
was then laid hold on and bound for a thousand years in
the abyss-then to be loosed for a little season.
I have nothing new to add here, save that, if the thought
of there being only one half-week be just, the slain for the
testimony of Jesus are a general class, and those who do
not worship the beast belong to the half-week. Indeed this
makes it simpler.
In chapter 21: 1-8 there is, remark, no dispensational
name. In the description of the city, which follows,
we have the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. It is a
dispensational state.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
255
62487
Lectures on the Second
Coming of Christ
Delivered at Toronto, Canada
Lecture 1
1 essalonians 1
What I would desire to bring before you is, the coming
of the Lord as the proper hope of the church, and to show
you that it is constantly, increasingly brought before it as
such by the Spirit of God. When once the foundation is
laid of His rst coming as that which brings personally
peace and salvation (and even before it, so far as it is a
means of awakening the conscience), the one thing the
saints were taught to look for was the coming of the Lord.
No doubt the rst thing the soul needs to know is the
ground of its salvation. When this is known, the Lord
Himself becomes precious to the believer; and when the
church was in a healthy state, we shall nd that the hearts
of the saints were altogether set upon Him, and looking
for His coming. And now our hearts should understand
(as I shall show you from Scripture was the case then) that
the coming of Christ is not some strange speculation, or
the advanced idea of a few, but was set before the church
as elementary and foundation truth, and formed a part of
all their habits and feelings, and mingled itself with every
thought. It was and is the keystone of all that keeps up
the heart in this solitary place (looking at it as journeying
through the wilderness). us with a heart full of love for
God, and the desire to see Christ, we can appreciate the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
256
apostle’s prayer for us-” e Lord direct your hearts into
the love of God, and into the patient waiting
36
for Christ.”
We have not long to wait; and it is worth being patient for.
We shall nd, too, that the teaching of Scripture as to
Christ’s second coming casts wonderful light on the value
of His rst coming. For His second coming, as it concerns
the saints, is to complete as regards their bodies (so
bringing them into the full result of salvation) that work of
life-giving power Christ has already wrought in their souls,
founded on the complete title in righteousness which He
has eected for them on the cross. He comes to receive
them to Himself, that where He is there they may be also-to
change their vile bodies and fashion them like His glorious
body. For the saints the resurrection is a resurrection of life,
not of judgment. It is a raising in glory, or changing into it
by the Lord’s power, those that are already quickened and
justied. When people, Christian people too, are looking
for judgment, and saying with Martha, “ I know he shall
rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” they forget
the judgment of the quick-that then is the judgment of
this world. ey are to be all caught eating and drinking.
“ Sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape.” People
do not like that. ey put o God’s judgment to a vague
and indenite period, when they hope all will be well.
ey think that then will be decided their nal state, they
trust, for blessing. ere is surely a judgment; but all their
thoughts about it are a mistake. e matter is decided now:
“ He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that
believeth not is condemned already.”
36 Properly, “ the patience of Christ,” who is also waiting.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
257
If we receive the statements of Scripture, all is as simple
as possible: that the rst coming of Christ to do His
Father’s will was so complete in its ecacy that they who
belong to that rst coming, who have part in its ecacy
by faith, are forgiven, cleansed, justied, by its virtue; and
that when He comes the second time, He comes to bring
them to glory. e moment I get hold of the truth that the
coming is, for believers, to receive them to Himself, the
moment I see that His coming the second time is to bring
in the glory-to change us into His own likeness and to
have us with Him, it aects everything, instead of being an
unimportant thing.
I believe death is the most blessed thing that can
happen to a Christian; but it is not the thing I am looking
for. I am looking to see Him. He might come to-morrow,
or tonight, or now. Do you not think it would spoil all
your plans? Suppose you thought He might come, would
it not make a dierence in your thoughts? You know it
would. Suppose a wife expects her husband to return from
a journey, do you not think there would be an eort to have
everything ready?
Another thing I have found to be specially blessed is,
that it connects me with Christ so nearly that I do not
think merely of going to heaven and being happy-a vague
thought this.
Of course, I shall be perfectly happy: surely we shall. e
divine presence will shed sure and endless blessing around.
But one is coming whom I know, who loves me, who has
given Himself for me, whom I have learned to love: and
I shall be with Him forever. Christ becomes personally
more in view, more the object of our thoughts. Nothing is
so powerful as Scripture for everything. It deals with the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
258
soul in the power of divine light. It reveals Christ, bringing
the heart’s judgment into His presence. It convicts every
thought of the heart, showing what it is in truth.
ere are three ways in which Christ is pointed to in
Scripture: on the cross at His rst coming; He is sitting
on the right hand of God; and He is coming again. In the
rst, He has laid the foundation of that which I have in
Him: the foundation was on the cross. And now that He is
sitting on the right hand of God, He has sent us the Holy
Ghost the Comforter while awaiting His return, giving to
those in whom He dwells the full certainty of faith as to
the ecacy of His work and their own redemption. God’s
love and their own adoption thus lead them to desire with
ardent hope His coming again.
Having thus given a general idea of the place Christ’s
coming holds in Scripture, I will take a few passages in
dierent parts of the word, without going fully into them
now, to show that it is the great truth of Scripture hope,
and that all the thoughts, feelings, hopes, interests of God’s
children are connected with it-that not only it is not a false
idea, but that it is not rare or strange, but enters into the
whole structure of Christian feeling.
us 1 ess. 1:9, 10, “ For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come.” Here we nd that the world was talking about this
expectation of the Christians: so sure was their expectation
and so strong the inuence which it exercised on their
conduct. ey (the disciples) were looking for God’s Son
from heaven; it formed a part of that to which the heathen
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
259
were converted- to the present waiting for God’s Son from
heaven-so that the world took notice of it. In chapter 2: 18,
19, “ For what is our hope, our joy, or crown of rejoicing?
“ Most beautiful here to see the aection of Paul for the
saints; but to what did his heart look as the time when
these aections would be satised in their blessing? e
coming of Christ. Again, as regards holiness, we see exactly
the same thing in chapter 3: 12, 13, “ And the Lord make
you to increase and abound in love one toward another,
and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the
end he may stablish your hearts un-blamable in holiness
before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ with all his saints.” e coming of Christ (and
His coming with all the saints, so that it can confer but
one thing) was so near to his spirit that he looks at their
being found perfect then as the object his heart desired.
And in chapter 4: 13-18, “ But I would not have you to
be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall
not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise rst. en we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
We nd that, instead of the Lord’s coming being a
strange doctrine, while he could not look for the Christian’s
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
260
dying without his going to heaven, yet the comfort he
gives is not that, but their return with Jesus. Death did not
deprive them of this; God would have them with Him.
First note, beloved friends, the full assurance expressed
here for living and dead saints alike. How do people persist
in saying it is impossible to tell on this side the grave? e
apostle does tell for both. e rst coming of Christ has
so nished redemption and the putting away of sin, that
His second is glory and being with Him, for the dead
and living saints. But see how present the coming of the
Lord was to their minds. If I were to comfort the friends
of a departed saint by saying that God would bring him
with Jesus when He came again, what would they think of
me? at I was mad or wild. Yet such is the comfort Paul
gives to the essalonians, and no other, though he plainly
teaches elsewhere that the soul of the saint will go to be
with Christ when he dies.
But these examples show how the coming of the Lord
mixed itself with every thought and feeling of Christianity
then. So in his wish for Christians in chapter 5: 23, “ e
very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But the world
rejects this news, and the church becomes worldly--has
lost her value for it. Not so the rst disciples: their hearts
were attached to their Master; and they desired to see Him
to be like Him. ey waited as a present condition of soul
for God’s Son from heaven. I have gone through these
passages, not merely to prove the doctrine, but to show
the way in which it connected itself with the whole of the
Christian’s life.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
261
We will turn back now to see the universal testimony
of Scripture to the truth of this doctrine and the various
aspects it takes; and rst Matt. 24:30, 31, “ 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. And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other.” When the disciples ask Him the time when these
things are to be, He tells them to watch; and in verse 44, “
erefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of man cometh.” But the Lord goes father in
the following parables, which apply to Christians. e mark
of the evil servant given there is that he says in his heart
“ my lord delayeth his coming,” and thereupon begins to
eat and drink with the drunken. ey lost the expectation
of Christ and sank down into hierarchical power and into
the world, into comfort and pleasure. But the Bridegroom
did tarry, and the church lost the present expectation of
Christ and the blessed fruit of it on their souls. Matt. 25:1,
“ en shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten
virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the
Bridegroom.” ere is the essence of the church’s calling.
ey went forth, but while the Bridegroom tarried, they
all slumbered and slept-saints as well as professors, no
exception. ey all lost the sense of what they had gone out
to, and gave up watching. And what is it that aroused them
from the sleepy state into which they had fallen? “ And at
midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh: go ye out to meet him “ (v. 6). ey had to be called
out again; they had got into the world, into some place to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
262
sleep more comfortably (just where the professing church
is now), eating and drinking with the drunken, and the
cry is, I trust, again going forth, “ Behold, the Bridegroom
cometh.” And what made the church depart from the sense
of what they had been called out to was, saying (just what
people, and Christian people too, are saying now) “ e
Lord delayeth his coming.” ey do not say He will not
come, but He delays it; we are not to expect Him.
I will pass over Mark, not that there are not plenty of
passages there, but that what we nd there is substantially
the same as what we nd in Matt. 1 will go on therefore to
Luke 12:35-38, “ Let your loins be girded about, and your
lamps burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait
for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that
when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him
immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord
when he cometh shall nd watching; verily, I say unto you,
that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall
come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and
nd them so, blessed are those servants.” Remark here that
the waiting for the coming of Christ is what characterizes
the Christian according to the mind of Christ. Men speak
of death, but death is not “ my lord.”
We nd the same truth pressed on men in Luke (chap.
17: 22-37), where this passage does not warn people as to
sin, but as to the unholy thought that the world may go on
indenitely. As soon as Noah entered into the ark, the ood
came and destroyed them all. As soon as the church is taken
up, Satan having lled men’s hearts with lies, judgment will
come. And as in the days of Noah and of Lot, they ate,
they drank, they bought, they sold, planted and builded,
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
263
even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed. Remark here how impossible it is to apply this to
the great white throne. When He sits on the great white
throne, the heavens and the earth ee away; there is a total
destruction of everything. Men will not then be eating,
drinking, planting, building. Now look at chapter 21: 26-
36. People apply this to the destruction of Jerusalem, but
this is spoken of in verses 20, 21 of this chapter: “ en let
them which are in Jerusalem ee to the mountains; and let
them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not
them that are in the countries enter thereinto.” But then,
after that, Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles till
the time of the Gentiles be fullled (the time running on
now till the last beast’s wickedness is lled up). en come
the signs and the Son of man is revealed.
John 14:1, 2, 3. “ Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are
many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also.” Such is the promise left
us, the comfort Christ gave to His disciples when He was
leaving them: He comes to receive them to Himself.
Acts 1:10, 11. “ 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.” is too,
though it be Christ coming in the clouds, is not the great
white throne: but it is striking here that they are losing
Christ; and what is the angel’s word to them? Why are ye
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
264
looking up into heaven? He will come again in the same
way. What the angels brought before them, to comfort
them, when Jesus left them, was that He would come
again; and that to which Scripture points people’s hearts to
comfort and strengthen them is, that He is coming again.
It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the
judgment. at is the allotted portion of the seed of the
rst Adam; but as that is man’s portion, so Christ was once
oered to bear the sins of many, and to them that look for
Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation; Heb. 9:27, 28. And Christ is waiting only till the
fullness of the Gentiles be come in. We are not even all to
die. We shall not all die; 1 Cor. 15:51. Rom. 1 I: 25: “ For
I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that
blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness
of the Gentiles be come in.” When the church is formed,
its last member being brought in; when the fullness of the
Gentiles is come in, Israel will be saved as a nation, and
the Deliverer come out of Zion. Christ will appear for
their deliverance. Again, turn to 1 Cor. 1:6, 7. “ Even as the
testimony of Christ was conrmed in you: so that ye come
behind in no gift: waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” All the promises of the prophets will be fullled
at that coming.
Turn back to Acts 3:19, 20, 21. “ Repent ye therefore,
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when
[read “ so that “] the times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, which
before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution of all things, which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
265
since the world began “as had been before preached to
them; but it is the same Jesus that had been spoken of to
them. We cannot apply it to the Holy Ghost; for it was
the Holy Ghost then come down who spoke by Peter and
declared that He should come whom the heavens had then
received. In Acts 17:30, 31, the apostle is testifying that
though God winked at the times of their ignorance, He
now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because
He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the
world (i.e., this habitable earth) in righteousness by that
man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given
assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from
the dead.
e distinctive resurrection of the saints will be at His
coming. 1 Corinthians 15: 23. “ But every man in his own
order: Christ the rstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s
at his coming.”
Ephesians and Galatians are the only two books in
the New Testament in which you do not nd the coming
of the Lord. e Galatians had got o the foundation of
faith-absolute justication by faith in Christ; and Paul was
obliged to return to the rst principles of justication. e
epistle to the Ephesians takes the opposite extreme, and
you see the church in Christ in heaven, so that it cannot
speak of Christ coming to receive it. It is viewed as now
united to Him there. But we shall nd constant reference
to it in the other epistles that it is a point kept before the
mind for present practical eect.
Phil. 3:19, 20, 21. “ Whose end is destruction, whose
god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven, from
when also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
266
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Col. 3:1-4. “ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your aection on things above, not on
things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
In the essalonians it is the main subject of both
epistles. In the rst epistle, except the warning in chapter
5, it is the blessedness of it to the saints; in the second
epistle, the judicial character, though the glory of the saints
is included in it (for when He executes judgment on the
living, we shall appear with Him in glory).
Timothy 6: 14. “ at thou keep this commandment
without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ.” e apostle exhorts Timothy to go on
diligently and faithfully looking for the appearing. When
the word of God is speaking of joy to the saints, it is the
coming. e moment he speaks of responsibility to the
world or to the saints, it is always His appearing. What
would have been the use of his saying to Timothy to keep
the commandment until His appearing, if it were not
practically a present expectation? and then, how mighty its
power on the conscience (not the very highest motive, but
one we need)! And if through grace the Lord has delayed
His coming, not willing that any should perish, those who
have acted on that expectation will have lost no fruit of
their delity: it will nd its recompense in that day.
2 Tim. 4:8. “ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
267
shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all
them also that love his appearing.” “ Love! “-do you love,
can you love, that which will put a stop to everything that
is pleasant in the world? it asks the heart. How does this
mark a spirit entirely in contrast with that of the world!
Heb. 2:5, 6. “ For unto the angels hath he not put in
subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one
in a certain place testied, saying, What is man, that thou
art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest
him? “ e world to come is the habitable earth. Christ
is now at God’s right hand till God puts all things under
His feet. In chapter 9: 24, “ For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the gures
of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us.” ere was a state of probation
before man was turned out of paradise. Since then man has
indeed been tried up to the death of Christ, whether law or
prophets or the mission of God’s Son could win him back,
but in vain. What man nds out now is, that he is lost; but
then, that when man’s sin was complete, God’s work began,
and redemption is by the cross on which man crucied the
Lord. Sin was complete then: but He appeared to put away
sin by the sacrice of Himself. at work is completed, and
those who through grace believe and have part in it await
the same Savior to come again for their nal deliverance.
James 5:8. “ Be ye also patient: stablish your hearts; for
the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” Here again we see
how it is presented as a present motive for patience and to
be looked for in daily life as sustaining the soul in patience,
yet as that which was to change the whole state of the
world.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
268
In 1 Peter we have a remarkable testimony to the order
of God’s ways in this respect. First are the prophets, who
learned, in studying their own prophecies, that what they
testied was not to be fullled in their day. Next is the
gospel, but this not the fulllment: in it the things are
reported with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. e
saints are called on to be sober and hope to the end for
the grace to be brought to them at the appearing of Jesus
Christ, “ whom, having not seen, we love.” e time of the
saints’ receiving the promise is the appearing of Christ; 1
Peter 1:10-13.
In 2 Peter you may remark that he makes the slighting
this promise, the calling it in question because the world
was going on as it had, to be the sign of the scoers of the
last days.
In 1 John it is mentioned in chapter 2: 28 for the
conscience as ground of warning, but in chapter 3: 1-3 we
have it amply used for the heart and walk of the saints.
Now are we sons of God. “ It doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall
be like him; for we shall see him as he is: and everyone that
hath this hope in him purieth himself, even as he is pure.”
Our blessed and assured hope is to be like Christ Himself:
this we shall be when He appears. e present eect of this
special hope is that the saint puries himself even as He is
pure, seeks to be as like Him now as possible, takes his part
with Himself at His appearing as his motive and standard
of walk.
Jude 14. “ And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints.” e epistle is striking in this; it
shows the decline of the church-the false brethren coming
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
269
in unawares, who in character designated the state of the
professing church in the last days and the object of the
judgment of the Lord when He would appear.
e whole book of Revelation refers to this; it is an
account of the preparatory judgment of God on to chapter
19, when the Lord comes forth to execute judgment. He
has accomplished the work of salvation, and is sitting at the
right hand of God, and then comes to set all things right.
is makes His coming (besides the righteous display of
His own glory, of God’s eternal Son as man the center
of all things) of such importance. It alone actually makes
good the plans and counsels of God.
Glory is founded on His rst coming. at, morally
speaking, surpasses all glory. It is the absolute display of
what God is, when evil is come in. But only at His second
coming will the actual result be made manifest. He comes
to receive the church to Himself, the witness of sovereign
grke, and to order the world (subject to Him in the power
of His kingdom) in blessing, and so display the government
of God. Till He comes neither can take place. We enjoy the
full revelation of Him from whom all that blessing ows,
and enjoy it here in a nature suited to it and owing from
it; but we wait for the results for ourselves and for this
burdened world. We love His appearing. How is it with
you? Are you linked with the world He subverts when He
comes, or with Him who brings the fullness of blessing,
though with judgment on what hindered it? Were He to
come now, would it be your awaited joy and delight, or
does it alarm and try your hearts? e Lord give you to
answer before His face!
I have sought this evening to show you how it forms
the constant topic of Scripture, and enters as a present
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
270
expectation into the whole structure of the habits of
thought of those who were taught by the apostles-by the
Spirit of God Himself; and how its loss was the sign of the
church’s decline, sinking into worldliness and the world.
I leave it to the blessed Spirit of God to bring this divine
teaching home to all our consciences. To wait truly for
Christ, we must have our consciences purged by His rst
coming, and our hearts xed on Him that is to come.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
271
62488
Lectures on the Second
Coming of Christ
Lecture 2
Ephesians 1
At the last lecture I mentioned that the two epistles
in which the second coming of the Lord is not spoken of
are the Galatians and the Ephesians. It may seem strange
that, this being the case, I should have selected on this
occasion the chapter we have just read. But I have done so
(and shall refer to other passages with the same intention,
desiring to found all I say upon Scripture) because that
chapter gives us a general view of the whole scene and plan
that will be fully accomplished at the second coming of
our Lord. It does not speak of the fact of Christ’s coming,
but it does tell of the purpose which God has, and that
will then be accomplished. And not only that, but it shows
us the way in which the church of God (I mean all true
saints gathered to Christ by the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven) at the coming of Christ have a portion or
part in it-what their place in this great plan of God is, that
plan having necessarily for its center the exaltation of the
Son, “ the brightness of God’s glory.” He was humbled to
be exalted.
e way in which God has dealt with us, beloved
friends, is this-He has brought us completely to Himself,
having respect to the whole value of Christ’s work; and,
in doing that, He has given us a place with Christ. He
makes us like Christ; and, having thus made us near to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
272
Himself, He then unfolds to us all His plans. It is not
merely being made safe, but, being brought as children to
God: “ all things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ
is God’s.” But then, having done this, He treats you-as His
expression is to Abraham, and as Christ’s expression is to
His disciples-as friends. e Lord says, “ Shall I hide from
Abraham that thing which I do? “ And what He then told
Him was not merely that he personally was in His favor-
that He told him long before. He does not merely show
him the promises which belonged to him and his seed: but
He told him too what concerned the world, and did not
immediately concern himself. is was the special mark of
friendship.
If I am dealing with a man with whom I am on good
terms, but not on terms of friendship, I tell him whatever is
needed with regard to the business between us, according
to the common courtesies of life; and there it ends. But
if I have a friend, I tell him what is in my heart. is is
what God does with His children-as Christ said to His
disciples, “ Henceforth I call you not servants, for the
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called
you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I
have made known unto you.”
And there is not a greater proof of the extent to which the
church has lost its conscious identity with Christ, than its
giving up its expectation of the coming of Christ. And why
is that, but because there are so many whose hearts do not
enter into this thought, that God has brought them so near
to Himself that they are considered as having been taken
into His family? “ Sons and daughters,” the expression is,
and sons and daughters too of full age. at was not their
position under the law. erefore it is said that “ the heir,
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
273
as long as he is a child, diereth nothing from a servant
though he be lord of all. But when the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying, Abba Father.” And, because you have
the Spirit, because you have an unction from the Holy
One, you know all things, having the consciousness of
being sons of God, sons of full age, so as to possess the
condence of the Father.
And the same Spirit, who is the Spirit of adoption,
unfolds to us all the things which are freely given to us
of God. “ It is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him.” And
there people generally stop; whereas the apostle goes on to
say, in order to show the dierence between that and our
state, “ But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit;
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God … Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things which are freely given to us of God,” 1 Cor. 2: 9-12.
Now is it not a strange things that people should quote that
passage which declares that man’s heart hath not conceived
the things which God bath prepared for them that love
Him, and should pass over the declaration which follows,
and which contrasts the position of Christians, saying God
had revealed them unto them, and given them the Spirit to
enable them to understand them? And is it not a sorrowful
thing, when the Lord bath put us in such a place that He
condes to us (poor creatures as we are), in a certain sense
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
274
the glory of Christ, having conded to us all His thoughts
about Christ, that we should say, “ Oh! we cannot pretend
to such things as that? “ I will not say it is ingratitude-
it is worse; it is dishonoring the love God has shown to
us. Suppose a child were to say, “ I do not pretend to the
condence of my father; I do not want that; I am simply
willing to obey him.” I would say to such a one, “ You are a
very unhappy child, extremely unhappy; you do not know
what a child’s place is.”
It is just that which the apostle brings out in this chapter.
He rst speaks (although I do not dwell upon that now-
not that it is not precious: I thought, while reading, how
sweet it was), in the early part of the chapter, of the place in
which we are set before God-” that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love, having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved; in whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins.” You are brought into God’s
likeness of righteousness and holiness before God-” holy
and without blame before him in love.” You are brought
into the place of sons, having the adoption of children, and
you have got the forgiveness of your sins and are accepted
in the beloved Himself. at is the place you are brought
into: there is no other place for a Christian. And now,
says the Lord, having put you there, I am going to tell you
what my plan is for Christ’s glory and your glory along
with Him. He says, “ Wherein “-that is, “ in the riches of
his grace “-” he bath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
275
purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times “-He hath not only given us this redemption, so
that we know where we are in our relationship to God, but,
being in this relationship, has shown us all this of His plan-
” that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are
in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.”
Mark where we are connected with it, “ in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance.” We are heirs, as the
apostle says to the Romans-” heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ.” at is, God says, I am going to give all to
Christ; I am to gather together in one all things which
are in heaven and on earth in Him; and with Him you are
joint-heirs-with Him you have got the inheritance. at
is the way in which the chapter presents to us the purpose
and thought of God.
Now just look at various passages which show how He
brings this about, and the way in which, beloved friends,
He will take us to put us into the inheritance. For it is for
this we are waiting. We are not waiting to be heirs, but we
are waiting for the inheritance. We are not waiting to be
sons-we are all the sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus; but we are waiting to get what belongs to the sons.
Poor earthen vessels that we are here, in the wilderness, we
are waiting for that. He has given us “ the Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory.” at is, the glory of His grace we have got-
the redemption; but the glory we have not got-this we are
waiting for.
Such is the order of his prayer withal: our calling, our
nearness to God; our inheritance, that is, everything of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
276
which we are heirs along with Christ; and, then, there is
the power which brings us into it. at is, the very same
power which raised Christ from the dead has raised every
believer out of his state of death in sin to the same place
with Christ. And, having brought them into one, at the end
he shows us the place to which Christ is raised-” at his own
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that
is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is
to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave
him to be the head over all things to the church, which is
his body, the fullness of him that lleth all in all.”
is enables us to see a little of the way in which God
accomplishes His plan; and it was to show what that plan
is that I read this chapter-” at in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth
“under Christ as the Head. But when Christ takes this
place as man (of course as God He is over all always; but
when He takes this place as man), we take the inheritance
along with Him. We are joint-heirs-” in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance.” And, again in Romans, “
if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ.”
Now the principle of that is what many Christians are
sadly unmindful of, having lost the consciousness of the
way in which they have been brought by God into the same
place as Christ, who became a man on purpose to bring us
into the same place with Himself. “ e glory which thou
gavest me I have given them.” If He is a Son, so are we. He
is our life, our righteousness; and we share His glory, the
fruit of righteousness. When He was transgured, Moses
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
277
and Elias appeared in the same glory, talking familiarly
with Him. And we should consider that the Lord has come
down in lowliness and humiliation amongst us, that our
hearts might get near enough to Him to understand that.
Having got the plan then, we shall now go through some
passages of scripture to show how the Lord brings it about.
If you will turn to Psa. 2, you will see the way in which
the Lord was rst presented on earth to have the earthly
dominion, and was rejected:
37
we shall see immediately
how the two things are connected. “ Why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing? e kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and against his anointed.” is is quoted
by Peter with reference to Herod and Pilate, etc. “ He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have
them in derision.” at is, Christ Himself shall have them
in derision. “ en shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure.” is is not come yet.
“ Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion “-in
spite of all this rejection-” I will declare the decree: the
Lord hath said unto me, ou art my Son; this day have I
begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession. ou shalt break them with a rod of
iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
ese judgments, of course, are not come yet.
And now, as conrmatory of what I have just said, let
me ask you to turn to the book of Revelation, at the end of
chapter 2 to show the way in which we are connected with
Christ. “ He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto
37 e words are quoted in the New Testament, but do not give
our portion of the inheritance at all.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
278
the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter
shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my
Father.” I refer to this now for the purpose of showing that
even in such things the saints are connected with Christ,
although these, of course, are not the most blessed things in
which they are connected with Him. It is said immediately
afterward, “ and I will give him the morning star “-Christ
Himself; and this is innitely more precious. But still He
associates them with Himself in all His glory. He receives
these heathen for His inheritance and breaks them in
pieces; and so shall you with Him if you are faithful.
It is strange to see how the church of God has lost
the sense of all things; and I refer to these passages to
show how the saints are associated with Christ, even with
reference to those extreme cases. “ Do ye not know,” says
Paul to the Corinthians, “ that the saints shall judge the
world? “ He tells them just to think of that, and then to
consider whether they were not worthy “ to judge the
smallest matter “ (speaking of saints going to law with
one another). Are you not able, any of you, to settle the
commonest things between yourselves? “ Know ye not that
we shall judge angels? “ It was necessary to tell them this,
because they had not got hold of a right understanding
of the place in which Christ has put the saints, because
they did not see their association with Christ in all the
fullness of its meaning. I have referred to this association
with Christ in judgment, not at all because it is the most
blessed part of it, but as conrmatory of what I have said
about the association of the saints with Christ.
Observe that Psa. 2 speaks of Christ’s coming and
being rejected. Peter quotes it in that view, and Paul also
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
279
the words, “ ou art my Son; this day have I begotten
thee.” And, being rejected, the Lord (that is, Christ) is
there represented as laughing-which is, of course, a gure-
at all the raging of the nations; and it is said that the time
will come when He will sit in Zion in spite of them all,
and have all the world given Him for His inheritance. is,
however, does not present Him in the place in which the
New Testament largely represents Him. Here He is only
connected with the fate of the Jews, and the judgment of
the heathen and rebels at the time of the end.
At His rst coming, He was rejected as Christ, the
Messiah, the Anointed. And mark what light this throws
even upon the gospel. We nd Christ charging His disciples
strictly that they should no more say He was the Christ,
because He was to be rejected, for “ the Son of man,” He
says, “ shall suer many things.” It was, as if He had said,
“ I am not now to take my place as King of Zion. I come
in another way. I come to be the suering Son of man, in
order that I may afterward take a far higher place of glory.”
You nd accordingly, in Luke and the other gospels, that
He strictly charges His disciples not to say that He was
the Christ, because that was really over in consequence
of His being rejected. Now take Psa. 8” O Jehovah, our
Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who
hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because
of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and
the avenger.” is, you know, was fullled when He rode
upon the ass’s colt into Jerusalem. “ What is man, that thou
art mindful of him? and the Son of man that thou visitest
him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory and honor. ou madest
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
280
him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou
hast put all things under his feet.” It is there intimated that,
though as Christ He was rejected, the consequence of His
being rejected was that He takes His place as Son of man,
in which He was to have everything put under His feet.
You will see how the apostle reasons on that in the New
Testament.
ese two Psalms show His coming among the Jews
and being rejected, and yet His taking His place over
these rebels in spite of them at the end. But the present
consequence of His rejection is that He takes the place
(which He always gives Himself in the gospels) of being
the Son of man. Coming to the New Testament, I have just
read from the Ephesians, “ He hath put all things under his
feet,” and, being in that place, “gave him to be head over
all things to the church, which is his body.” e church is
His body, making the complete man, and is therefore said
to be “ the fullness of him that lleth all in all.” Christ is a
divine Person, though a man, and lls all things; but it is
the church which makes Him as the Son of man complete-
makes up what is called the mystical Christ, of which He
is the Head, all the members of the church making up His
body.
e church, therefore, is as closely associated with Him
as a man’s own esh is with himself. is is the comparison
employed in Eph. 5, “ No man ever yet hated his own
esh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church; for we are members of his body, of his esh,
and of his bones.” And in this body there being but one
Spirit, the church is associated with Christ as taking the
headship over everything We see Christ, the Son of man,
in the counsels of God set over everything in heaven and on
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
281
earth; and we, as being close to Him, His redeemed ones,
His brethren, joint-heirs, and members of His body, are
completely identied with Him in His place of headship.
You thus see the connection of the church with Christ’s
glory at His second coming.
You nd the same thing in Heb. 2, where the apostle,
citing Psa. 8, shows how far it is accomplished. “ But one,
in a certain place, testied, saying, What is man that thou
art mindful of him? or the Son of man that thou visitest
him? ou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou
crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him
over the works of thy hands. ou hast put all things in
subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection
under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But
now we see not yet all things put under him.” at time
is not yet come. “ But we see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the angels, for the suering of death, crowned
with glory and honor.” Mark what we have got here. Here
is God’s purpose of putting everything in subjection under
Christ without any exception- there is nothing excepted
that is not put under Him. In fact He created it all, and
therefore is heir of it all. But the point is this, that what He
created as God He takes for an inheritance as Man, in order
that we might take it with Him; but that time is not come
yet. We do not see all things put under Him; but we do see
Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned
with glory and honor; we see that half accomplished, but
not the other half; we do not see all things put under Him.
is is what the apostle states, and the reason of it we get
in Psa. 110, which the apostle also quotes in the Hebrews,
and to which the Lord Himself appealed in reasoning with
the Pharisees on this very matter. “ e Lord said unto my
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
282
Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, undid make thine enemies
thy footstool.” And therefore in Hebrews to the apostle
says, “ He hath perfected forever them that are sanctied
“-that is, the work of their redemption-” from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool,” till they
are all put under His feet by God.
I shall have another opportunity of referring to that.
But I am speaking now of the blessed assurance it is to the
saints, that Christ is sitting at the right hand of God until-
and expecting till-His enemies are made His footstool.
ey are not made His footstool yet: if they were, He would
not allow matters to go on in the world as they do now. It
is another thing which God is doing now. He is gathering
out His joint-heirs, and, having this purpose, He says, Sit
thou at my right hand until the time when thine enemies
shall be made thy footstool. As to the question when that
time shall be. Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but
the Father.” But it is said to the Son, Sit thou at my right
hand till that time is revealed.
We have the plan then as clearly set forth as language
can put it. We see Jesus, when He has by Himself purged
our sins, “ set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty
in the heavens,” and then by the gospel gathering out the
joint heirs. And we are associated with Him while He is
there at the right hand of God-associated with Him as
united to Him by the one Spirit.
If you will turn now to another passage, 1 Cor. 15, you
will see the way in which we get this place of glory at the
resurrection, all things being under His feet. “ As in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every
man in his own order: Christ the rstfruits; afterward they
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
283
that are Christ’s at his coming “-those that are His heirs,
they and nobody else. “ en cometh the end when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under
his feet. e last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he
saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is
excepted which did put all things under him.” at is, God
the Father is not put under Him, but that very exception
proves in the strongest way that everything else is-God the
Father being alone excepted.
But it is said we do not see that yet. Do you think that
all the oppression and wars and wickedness and horrors,
which now mark the history of the earth, would go on if
everything were put under Him? It is Satan, and not Christ,
who is now the prince and god of this world. It is strange
how many people fancy that the cross put an end to that;
it was exactly the contrary. e cross was the one grand
demonstration-and there never was such a demonstration
before-that Satan is the prince and god of this world. “ e
prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me,” said
our Savior. Until Christ had been rejected, Satan was never
called the prince of this world. Before that, Jehovah was
on the earth, and in the temple was the Shekinah of glory.
But when at last He came into this world in the Person of
Christ, and the world rejected Him, then from that time
Satan is the prince of this world. And it is after this that
the apostle says, “ In whom the god of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not.” When the
Lord comes again, He will be the Prince of the world; but
till He comes again, Satan is that prince.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
284
If you will now look to Luke 19, you will see how the
Lord Himself puts it, when He speaks of going into a far
country to get the kingdom, and there receiving it, and
then returning and executing the judgments to which He
refers. “ As they heard these things, he added and spake
a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because
they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately
appear.” ey were looking for this, and fancied that,
instead of His being rejected as He was, they would get
the kingdom with Him in an earthly way directly. “ He
said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country,
to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he
called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and
said unto them, Occupy till I come.” is is the service of
Christians, while the Lord is away. He has gone away to
receive the kingdom, and has not returned yet. en He
judged the servants when He came back. “ And it came
to pass, that when he was returned, having received the
kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called
unto him,” and begins -to take account of their service.
And then, that being nished, he says, “ But those mine
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring hither, and slay them before me.” is is after He has
received the kingdom and come back again.
He does not judge while He is away. It is said, “ e
Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that
all men should honor the Son even as they honor the
Father.” But, if He were to begin to judge now, He would
have to close the time of grace and the gathering in of
the church. e Father judges the saints, but it is in the
way of discipline” If ye call on the Father, who, without
respect of persons, judgeth according to every man’s work.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
285
But, as regards denite judgment, it is said in John, “ e
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son.” When the Son returns, He will take notice
of His enemies and execute judgment upon them. But
meanwhile He has gone away to receive the kingdom, and
has not returned. When He does, He will not allow all this
wickedness which we now see to go on. But for the present,
this is the time when we must watch in faithfulness,
occupying till He comes, and trading properly with those
talents, the spiritual gifts He has given us.
You will nd this remarkably brought out if you turn to
Col. 1 I wish to dwell a little on this, that we may get to as
full an understanding as possible of the thoughts and scope
and plan of God, which seem to me to be very plainly set
forth in Scripture. Begin at verse 12, which shows where
we (I mean all believers) are: “ Giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet.” He has made us meet-
that is all settled. You will always nd this in Scripture;
you will not nd anything there about growing to be meet;
it speaks about growing up to Christ in everything, but
this is a dierent thing. “ Which hath made us meet to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; who is the
image of the invisible God, the rst-born of every creature;
for by him “-this is the reason why He is set over all things-”
by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,
or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were
created by him and for him.” He is to take them all under
subjection, but not in this state of wickedness in which
they are now. “ We see not yet all things put under him.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
286
And how does He take them? He takes them as Man- “
whom he hath appointed heir of all things “ (Heb. 1:2): and
we are appointed joint-heirs with Him, as the scripture tells
us. You will see, therefore, how the second part comes in.
“ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist
“that is, because He is a divine Person-” And he is the head
of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the rst-
born from the dead; that in all things he might have the
preeminence.” He has this double headship, which is also
brought together in the chapter of Eph. 1 was reading-
head over all things, and head to the church. “ By him to
reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether
they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you,
that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind
by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the body
of his esh through death.” He has reconciled-it is always
‘hath’ as regards the saints. It is not said He will reconcile,’
but “ hath reconciled.”
But the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth
is future, because Satan is not yet bound. Even Christianity
itself has been corrupted in the most awful way, because
Satan is not bound; and the corruptest thing in the whole
universe is corrupted Christianity. e apostle says, “ By
him to reconcile all things unto himself, whether they
be things in earth or things in heaven “; or, as it is in the
Ephesians, “ to gather together in one all things in Christ “;
but he does not say he has done this yet. Nor does he speak
at all of those who are under the earth. When he talks of
subjection, of everything bowing to Him, it is said, “ at
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
287
Of these things he does not say ‘ reconcile ‘ but “ bow “; “
but you,” he says, “ hath he reconciled.”
You thus see the truth about the double headship of
Christ- His being Head of the church, and His being
Head over all things; and then the double reconciliation,
the present reconciliation and redemption of the church
through grace, and then the reconciliation of all things in
heaven and in earth. Now we see not yet all things put
under Him, but we see Him by faith, sitting at the right
hand of God, until His enemies are made His footstool.
And when that time comes, and they are all put under Him,
He will take possession, according to the character given to
God in the appellation used by Melchisedec when he came
out to bless Abraham- “ e most high God, possessor of
heaven and earth.” us, when Christ becomes in all its
fullness the King and Priest upon His throne, God will
have that title.
We come then to the next thing, which I will just
state-I do not know how far we may be able to go through
it this evening. Taking these two statements, that He is
to reconcile everything in heaven and earth, and again,
that He is to gather together in one, all things which are
both in heaven and on earth; we also see, in several of the
passages which I have quoted, that the church, or the saints
who compose it, are joint-heirs with Him. What I have
been seeking to show you is, that the church of God (all
the saints whom in this present time God is gathering by
His grace in the gospel) are being associated with Christ,
as the center of blessing; that they get the central place
with Himself, under whom all possible existences are to
be placed. But the time for this which the scripture speaks
of is when Christ receives the kingdom and returns, when
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
288
the dispensation of the fullness of times comes. en
everything will be brought into order and blessedness
under the authority of Christ. When God the Father has
put everything under His feet, He will bring everything
into order, and will then deliver up His kingdom. But the
central thing during the dispensation of the fullness of
times in the heavenly places will be the church, and the
central thing in earthly places will be the Jews.
is brings in what are the two great subjects of holy
Scripture, after personal redemption. e church is that in
which He displays sovereign grace, bringing its members to
share the glory of Christ. e Jews are those in whom He
reveals as a center the government of this world. ese are
the two great subjects in Scripture after personal salvation.
e Scripture speaks of the church of God as those who
are associated with Christ, who are the heirs of Christ’s
glory. But the moment we say this, we cannot but think
how wondrous it is that poor wretched creatures like us
should be brought into the same glory with Christ-should
be brought into the same place with Himself. And the
work of reconciliation is to embrace all things in heaven
and on earth.
is world is not to remain forever the sporting-place
and playground of the devil. at will not be allowed forever.
e Son of David will yet have His place in it, and His glory
too, as its ruler, and the world will then be altered. “ None
shall hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.” ere is a
time coming when Christ will be the Prince of peace. He
has declared positively that this is not at the present time.
“ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell
you, Nay; but rather division. For from henceforth there
shall be ve in one house divided, three against two, and
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
289
two against three. e father shall be divided against the
son, and the son against the father; the mother against the
daughter, and the daughter against the mother,” etc, at
is, this is the time when the bringing in the light awakens
the passions of men; and until Christ’s second coming puts
them down, they continue their raging.
And Christians now have to take up the cross and
follow Him. Do you think if Christ were reigning, His
followers would only have the cross? Why, they would have
the crown. We are positively told that our part is the cross.
We must now take it up every day. But, when Christ reigns,
that will not be the part of His people. He will “ come to be
gloried in his saints “; and a glorious place they will get,
when He comes to reign.
When this time comes to gather together all things in
one, the church of God will be the center of all things in
heavenly places, and the Jews the center of all things on
earth, Christ being the Head over all. is is what we nd
stated in the chapter of Ephesians which we have read-
”at ye may know what … is the exceeding greatness of
his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working
of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come “-the time namely of which we are speaking-” and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body.”
It is the same power which raises the saints, and so, in
the next chapter, he says, speaking of it now as already got
spiritually, “ and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
290
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages
to come he might chew the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” God, in
setting us over angels and principalities and powers in the
world to come, is showing the exceeding riches of His grace
in the place He has given to us, in His kindness towards
us. is, beloved friends, is what I have been anxious to
show you, by bringing before you these various passages,
that thus in the ages to come God is going to show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward you.
Angels are going to learn the immense riches of God’s
grace; and how? By our being made partakers of the glory
of Christ, in God’s kindness to us through Christ Jesus;
so that, when they see Mary Magdalene, the thief on the
cross, the woman of the city that was a sinner, any one of
us, in the same place of glory with Christ, they may admire
the exceeding riches of His grace. Laying hold of this now
even by faith in the teaching of God’s Spirit, although we
have not got all the fruits of it as yet, we may nd our
present place very protable in the way of discipline, and
exercise, and spiritual education; still its full development
is in the future, when God’s kindness to us shall be shown
to the angels.
And now let me try to show you a little the way in
which the Lord brings us into this place of association with
Himself. And rst I will refer you to the passage in John 17,
where the Savior states the fact that the saints share with
Him His glory and the love of the Father. A wonderful
passage it is, as showing that love of Christ which passeth
knowledge. “ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word; that
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
291
thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me.” is refers to the present
time, or, at least, to what ought to be the case in the present
time. And then He goes on to the time to come: “ And the
glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they
may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me,
that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world
may [not believe, but may] know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” All the glory
thou hast given me, He says-that is, the glory He takes as
man, for as a divine Person, His glory was eternal-I have
given them, and this, that the world, when they see My
people like Me, and having the same glory as Myself, may
know that thou hast sent Me. It is not “ believe “: this is
spoken with reference to the present time. Saints should be
one now, as a testimony that there is a power in the Spirit
of God which overcomes all eshly dierences. Alas! that
is not so. is, too, is a precious subject; but I must pass
it over just now, conrming myself to the one I am more
immediately dealing with. Of the present time it is said, “
that the world may believe”; of the future, “ that the world
may know.” “ e glory which thou gavest me I have given
them, that the world may know that thou hast sent me.”
ey will know it plainly enough for their condemnation-
for the condemnation of those who are rebels- when they
see those whom they have been accustomed to despise
coming with Christ in glory.
Now do you believe this, beloved friends? Our hearts
ought to know and recognize that love-not fathom it, for
this they cannot do, but conde in it, and to that extent
know it, although it passes knowledge. And, as you see, the
time is coming when the world too will know that love of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
292
God to us. We pass on to verse 25-” O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee; but I have known thee,
and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have
declared unto them thy name, and will declare it.; that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them,
and I in them.” at is the present good we enjoy-that the
love wherewith Christ is loved should be in us-that we
should have it in our souls. No one can fathom it: it passes
knowledge; but still we are to have it and to know it, and
that by Christ being in us. I am not to wait till the world
sees I am with Christ in glory, to know it myself; for the
Father now loves me as He has loved Christ.
If you turn again to 1 Cor. 15, you will see this same truth
brought out in its relation to the resurrection. e point I
am now to impress upon you is, that Scripture shows us
these two things-that we are to be like Him, completely
like Him, save that He is a divine Person; and that the time
we shall be like Him is when we shall be raised from the
dead. It is then we shall appear with Him. We are not of
the world now, but it is said that the world will only know
that we have been loved as Christ was loved, when they
see us in the same place of glory with Him, when the Lord
takes us up to be with Him and to put us in this glory; so
that when He appears to the world, we shall appear along
with Him in the same glory.
e fact that it is so, that we shall so appear with Him in
the same glory, we have seen already from various passages
which I quoted on the last occasion; but I shall refer you to
some more particularly. At verse 47 of 1 Corinthians is, it is
said, “ the rst man is of the earth, earthy; the second man
is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also
that are earthy “-all like to their father Adam; and, “ as is
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
293
the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly,” that is,
like what Christ is, not speaking of His divinity; “ and as
we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly.” We shall be like Him, we shall
be just the same as Himself. He does not say merely that
we shall be there, in heaven, but like Him. But rst, “ as is
the earthy, such are they also that are earthy “-that is, like
Adam, poor wretched sinners, mortal creatures, like him;
whereas, “ as is the heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly.” is is the full absolute statement of the fact.
en he adds, with respect to the fact of the glory-putting
it, of course, as in the future, not having yet come-” as we
have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly “; and he goes on, “ Now this I say,
brethren, that esh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” As
it is said before, “ it is sown in corruption, it is raised in
incorruption: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.”
Now let us refer to some of the passages which show
how Christ receives us to Himself. I follow the teachings of
Scripture throughout, that we may get solidly grounded in
what Christ communicates to us. He says, “ In my Father’s
house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” He has
gone into His Father’s house, but He will come again and
receive us to Himself, that where He is, there we may be
also. He was going up then with a body, going up glorious,
not as yet having all things under His feet, but crowned
with glory and honor; and He says to His disciples, You
must wait and occupy till I come again. But now, before He
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
294
comes, we see what He is to do with us who are in the same
glory-” I will come again and receive you unto myself “; as
He said in the previous chapter, “ If I wash thee not, thou
hast no part with me.’,’ It was as if He had said, I cannot
stay with you, as King and Messiah now, but I am washing
you that ye may be t to reign with Me when I come again.
I am, therefore, still your servant in the sense of intercession
and the like, and by My all-prevailing intercession I will
wash you daily, because, if you are to have part with Me in
My kingdom, you must be made like Myself.
In like manner we get what may be called the public
announcement of this in 1 ess. 4-” em also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord,” etc. See how the
apostle constantly expected the coming of the Lord. Some
people have boldly dared to say that Paul made a mistake
in expecting the coming of the Lord in his day. It is they
who are making an awful mistake. It was never revealed
when Christ would come, and Paul did not pretend to
know it. But he knew that that time had come when we
should always be expecting Him (instead of saying, My
Lord delayeth His coming, and beginning therefore to eat
and drink with the drunken, and to beat the men-servants
and the maid-servants). It was, therefore, that Paul put
himself in this class, “ we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord.” And what was the eect
of that? He lived like a man who expected Christ every
day; and when Christ comes, he will get the fruit of that,
while those people who put o the expectation of Christ’s
coming, and do not wait for it, allowing their hearts to go
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
295
out after covetousness and such like things, will also get
the fruit of their so doing.
e time of the second coming of Christ is declared
not to be revealed. Paul got a revelation that he should
soon die, and he knew it. Peter also got a revelation that he
must shortly put o this tabernacle, and of course knew it.
But it was not revealed to them when Christ should come.
erefore Paul says, “ We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed,” Christ having overcome death. We may
all die before Christ’s coming-no one knows the moment
of it; still we may use the language, “ we who are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord.” It is said of the man
who thinks Christ is delaying His coming, that he turns
to what is bad, smiting his fellow-servants, and eating and
drinking with the drunken. And it is said, that while the
Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept, the wise
virgins as well as the foolish; that is, the church lost a sense
of the present expectation of Christ. Even the wise servants
had to be waked up again; and it was a mercy to them
to rouse them up in time, because to His people Christ
is ever faithful. But it is the characteristic of the faithful
servant that he is expecting. e church of Philadelphia
was expecting the coming of Christ, and it is called the
word of His patience, “ Because thou hast kept the word of
my patience.”
e passage in essalonians goes on-” We which are
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in
Christ shall rise rst “nobody else. I shall dwell upon that at
another time, but I just notice it now in passing. e shout,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
296
the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, are not
to be taken as the voice of God to all the world to raise
the righteous and the wicked. “ e shout “ is a military
term; whatever the precise term now equivalent to it, it is
that which follows “ Stand at ease.” It was rst used with
reference to calling rowers in the trireme, and afterward as
a military term. When soldiers are left to go about their at
ease, and are then all suddenly called back into the ranks,
it is the command given them for that purpose, to which
the word “ shout “ here used is equivalent. But the only
persons who hear it are “ the dead in Christ,” Christ being
represented as in this way gathering together His own
troops. “ e dead in Christ shall rise rst. en we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words.”
Here, then, we have the details of it. e Lord has
declared that He will come and receive us unto Himself;
and now the apostle, by the revelation given unto him,
explains how it will be. He will come and call us up to
meet the Lord in the air. e passage in 1 Corinthians,
which I have already read, refers to the same thing, when
it says, “ afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
“ But every man in his own order: Christ the rstfruits.”
e specic thing here is that it is not a resurrection of the
dead, but a resurrection from among the dead. e raising
of Christ was not a resurrection “ of the dead “ simply, but
a resurrection “ from among the dead.” is was its whole
character-a taking up from among the dead; and why?
Because the Father’s delight was in Him. And why are we
in like manner taken up from among the dead? Because
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
297
His delight is in us. And therefore at the proper time the
Lord comes (it is not said, appears) and calls us up to be
forever with the Lord, to take our place associated with
Christ, partaking of that glory which you have already seen
referred to in the words “ as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”
But what we are called to expect is, not to die-we may
die, and a blessed thing it is too, to die; but what we are
to look for and expect is, as it is expressed in 2 Cor. 5, “
Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon,
that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” at Christ’s
power over death may be fully shown, He takes to Himself
mortal men, whether alive or dead: if alive, He changes
them into glory without dying; if they are dead, He raises
them. is is the rst thing He does. He raises the dead
rst, and then the living are changed; and they go to
meet the Lord in the air. He has predestinated us “ to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
rst-born among many brethren.” And, as we have seen, “
the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them.” is
then is our portion of heavenly things.
And if you turn to Col. 3 you will see that when Christ
appears, we shall appear in this glory along with Himself
and be like Him. He will have already come and taken us
up to Himself; and then He comes manifesting Himself
to the world, and we appear with Him. You will remember
what I have before quoted, that the glory which was given
Him, He has given to us, that the world might know, etc.
Now, turn to Col. 3, and you will see how thoroughly the
apostle identies us with Christ. Look rst at chapter
2:20, “ If ye be dead with Christ.” en, at the beginning
of chapter 3, “ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
298
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your aection on things above, not on
things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God.” He is hid in God; He is your life,
and your life therefore is hid there. “ When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in
glory.” When He appears, we shall appear with Him. ere
can be no separation. If He is hid in God, our life is hid in
God. If He appears, we appear. If He appears in glory, we
must appear in glory with Him. We are heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ.
You will see the same thing in the rst epistle of John:
only the same truth comes out in dierent shapes-” Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God “-this, that we
should get Christ’s own name! (what a wonder of love is
this that we should get Christ’s own title of relationship!)
“ therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not,” showing that we have got the same place with
Him. He says, “ I ascend unto my Father and your Father,
and to my God and your God.” I have accomplished your
redemption, and the eect of this is, that I have put you in
the same place with Myself. “ I will declare thy name unto
my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise
unto thee.” “ erefore the world knoweth us not, because
it knew him not.” It is no wonder that it does not recognize
us, if it did not recognize Him. “ Beloved, now are we the
sons of God “-this is the present time, “ and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Further, as to this appearing with Him, I shall now refer
to the book of Revelation; but, before doing that, you may
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
299
turn for a moment to Zech. 14, where it is said the Lord
shall come and all His saints with Him, and His feet shall
stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives. is is referred
to by the angel, when, after Christ’s ascension from Mount
Olivet, he said to the disciples, “ 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.” Again, in verse 14 of the epistle of
Jude, you nd “ And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all.”
Here they are associated with Christ in the executing
of judgments. “ e Lord cometh with ten thousands
“-properly myriads, that is, an immense number-” of his
saints to execute judgment.” is shows how entirely we
are associated with Christ. And what a place does not that
put us in! Yet Scripture is so simple and plain upon the
point, that it cannot be misinterpreted.
You will nd the same truth in 2 ess. 1. I prefer
quoting many passages to enlarging upon them, that our
faith may stand, not in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. e essalonians were suering dreadful
persecutions; and the apostle told them, “ We glory in you
in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all
your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure; which
is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,
that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God,
for which ye also suer; seeing it is a righteous thing with
God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels,
in aming re, taking vengeance on them that know not
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
300
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 gloried in his saints, and to be
admired in all them that believe.” He comes with these ten
thousands or myriads of His saints.
You nd a distinct statement of their coming given in
gure in the Revelation. At chapter 17 it is said, “ ese
shall make war with the Lamb.” All the kings of the
earth shall be found, not in blessing, joined with Christ,
but in open war with the Lamb, joined with the beast. “
ese shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings;
and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and
faithful.” Other passages show us that angels will be with
Him, but it is not angels that are here spoken of as being
with Him. e angels may be described as “ faithful “ and “
chosen,” because the scripture speaks of the “ elect “ angels;
but these that are with Him are the “ called,” and it is the
saints who are called by the grace of God. ese “ called “
persons then who are with Him are the saints. Having seen
who they are, turn now to chapter 19, “ And 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 and make war.”
You have seen all through that He is coming to judge the
wicked on the earth-a thing greatly forgotten, that there is
a judgment of the quick as well as the dead. “ As in the days
that were before the ood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered into the ark, and knew not, until the ood came,
and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
301
Son of man be.” “ His eyes were as a ame of re, and on
his head were many crowns; and he had a name written
that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed in a
vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called e Word
of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed
him upon white horses, clothed in ne linen, white and
clean “-which, he says elsewhere, is the righteousness of
the saints. I close now, as regards the quotation of passages.
On the last occasion we found, running through the
whole series of passages quoted, that the Lord’s coming
was the one thing kept before the church as its hope in
the Scripture, that it connected itself with every kind of
thought and feeling the saints had, that they were even
looked upon as being converted to wait for the Son of God,
that every other doctrine of Scripture was connected with
it, that what marked a decaying church was the thought
that “ the Lord delayeth his coming,” and that what woke
them up was the cry, “ Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.”
en tonight we have found that the Lord reveals to
us with wisdom and prudence His plan, namely, “ that he
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth “-reconciling
them all in Christ-not merely for their own selsh good,
but as a plan for Christ’s glory. And with this view He has
associated us with Christ in the place He takes as Head
over all, so that, being associated with Him as heirs of God,
joint-heirs with Christ, we have the inheritance with Him;
that, when He takes it, we shall have it with Him; that,
when He comes, we shall come with Him; that, whereas
He was presented to the earth among the Jews according
to the promise of God, and they would not have Him, He
then took another place-that of Son of man. at place
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
302
He will take in His resurrection and in His glory, and will
raise us up to have it with Him when the time comes; and
not we alone, but all saints will have it with Him. us we
see not yet all things put under Him, but we do see Jesus
crowned with glory and honor, and are waiting, as He is,
till His enemies are made His footstool. But when that
time comes-when it will be, nobody knows; God has not
revealed it-the rst thing He will do will be to have His
body; He is not to be Head without the body, but will catch
us up to meet Him in the air; then, if dead, He will raise us;
if alive, He will change us, and take us up to meet the Lord
in the air. He will come and take us to His Father’s house;
for this is our place; and He will have everything there in
order for us-only He must have His heirs with Him; for
He cannot take a step in entering on the possession of His
inheritance, without having His heirs, His body, His bride
with Him.
In the Revelation you rst have the marriage of the
Lamb, and then you see the Lamb coming out with His
armies following Him. ey are the bride-that is what
they are; for the Lamb must have an associate with Him, a
help-meet to share His inheritance. He has not yet taken
to Himself His great power and reigned. We see not yet all
things put under Him. But when He comes, He will take
us up to be with Him, because we are perfectly associated
with Him. When He appears, we shall appear with Him.
When He executes judgment, we shall accompany Him-
that is, when He executes judgment on the world, breaking
them with a rod of iron, and dashing them in pieces like a
potter’s vessel. at is anything but the blessedest part of
our sharing His inheritance. e blessedest part is being
with Him. But when He does appear, the world will see
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
303
us with Him. He comes to raise the dead saints, and take
them up to be with Himself: then when He appears we
shall all appear with Him, and “ shall bear the image of the
heavenly, as we have borne the image of the earthy.”
But meantime, while Christ is sitting at the right hand
of God, He has sent down the Holy Ghost to gather His
heirs together. ey must now carry the cross: when the
kingdom comes, they will have the kingdom and the glory.
But until that time, while He is sitting at the right hand of
God, His people must bear the cross, and it is only by the
power of the Spirit of God that anyone will follow Him.
Whatever glory He has, in the time of glory He associates
us in it with Himself, and, as a consequence, we shall reign
with Him-we who are now reconciled in Him. And when
He comes again, He comes, but not to judgment as regards
us. “ As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment; so Christ was once oered to bear the sins
of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time, without sin, unto salvation.”
And now, beloved friends, I would only ask, With
whom are you associated? Are you associated with Christ,
rejected by the world, and now sitting at the right hand of
God? Are you by the Holy Ghost in spirit associated with
Christ? or are you associated with the world which He is
coming again to judge, and all His saints with Him? With
which are you associated, while Christ is away? Having
been rejected, He says, Occupy till I come, having gone
to receive a kingdom and a glory far better than that from
which He was rejected. With whom are you associated?
You have to go through the world, you must go through
it: do you really believe that Satan is the prince and god
of this world, which has rejected Christ? and do you really
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
304
live as if you believed this? Do you believe that Christ
sitteth at the right hand of God, and that He will come
again to receive you to Himself, to share with Him the
same blessings as Himself in His Father’s house, to witness
His Father’s glory, and to share His love? Are we doing
anything to recommend Him? Is there that in our hearts
which is like the conding love of a child to his father, that
which shows we are sons by adoption? Is there anything
in us which identies us with those who are the heirs of
that blessedness and glory? e world knew Him not; the
world knows us not. Can we say this? Are we like Him in
our place in the world? When Christ was in the world,
they saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him.
How is it with us? Is it the things that are not seen, or the
things that are seen, that have power in our hearts? Christ
is not seen; does He dwell in our hearts by faith, so as to be
our portion? If He does, then, when He appears, we shall
appear with Him in glory; and, better than that, shall be
taken up to be forever with Him. e Lord give us to be
able to wait for Him, and to be ever saying, “ Even so come,
Lord Jesus.” May we have all our treasure, and heart, and
portion, associated and identied with Himself. A little
while, yet a little while, and He that shall come will come,
and will not tarry. He only knows how long the gathering
of the saints to be with Him will last.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
305
62490
Lectures on the Second
Coming of Christ
Lecture 3
Revelation 12
What I intend speaking of this evening, and the idea of
which is given in this chapter in allegorical expressions, is,
rst, the gathering up of the church of God, the heavenly
saints, to be with Christ; and then, secondly, if the time
allows, the promises which we have, and thereby the
infallible certainty of the restoration of the Jews to their
place as a nation upon the earth. Both connect themselves-
otherwise it would be impossible to go into the whole
subject this evening- with the manifestation of judgments
in this world: only that the taking up of the saints is the
taking them out of the way of those judgments. On the
contrary, the Jews who are to remain on the earth, and
other Gentiles also, when they come to those judgments,
must pass through them, as Lot passed through, and from
all that happened to Sodom, making his escape, yet so as
by re, while Abraham looked on upon the judgments
that fell on the guilty cities of the plain. So also Noah was
saved, passing through the ood, while Enoch was taken
up to heaven. ose two cases are spoken of as analogous
to what shall be at the coming of the Son of man. We have
in these two cases the two things of which I have spoken-
the one class of persons out of the reach and out of the way
altogether of the judgments that are coming, and the other
class passing through those judgments which destroyed
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
306
the great body of men, and thus escaping them. I have said
that this class consists of the Jews and some Gentiles also;
but I do not enter into details on that point at present-I
wish now merely to present the general thought.
We saw, last evening, that the church forms the center
of the heavenly glory-under Christ, of course, who is the
center of everything-and that the Jews are the center of the
earthly dominion, the earthly blessings. is is what gives
their importance to the two points on which, if time allow,
I shall dwell this evening-that is, the taking the saints in the
last time to be with the Lord Himself in heaven, and their
sharing His own glory and blessedness; and then the Jews
brought into blessing with this earth, as reigned over by
Christ, and not reigning with Him, but still a great nation
on the earth. ese two facts are the two great centers of
God’s ways.
In the chapter we have read you have rst Christ Himself
and the church gured in the man-child; and then, in the
woman which ees from persecution for twelve hundred
and sixty days, you have the Jewish remnant-those who are
spared in the time of judgment but are not yet brought into
glory. It thus brings before you the two subjects of which I
have spoken. And I add this, that the consideration of the
blessing of the church will lead us necessarily to another
point; and that is, that what is called a general resurrection,
common to all together-and I state it now that we may get
fast hold of the idea at once-is a thing entirely unknown
to Scripture.
I do not deny that it was the notion entertained among
the Jews, at least by the Pharisees, that all Jews at all events
(as for the Gentiles they looked upon them as dogs) would
rise again together; but our Lord corrected this notion. A
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
307
right conception on this point is necessarily connected with
our understanding the taking up of the church to heaven,
because those saints who are dead must be raised for that.
When I say “ saints,” I mean all the saints, those of the
Old Testament, as well as those under the New Testament,
dispensation.
And I mention another point for those persons who are
not familiar with these subjects, and that is, that God is
not now dealing with this world-providentially of course,
He governs all; but that He is not dealing with this world
as He afterward will, at this time while Christ is sitting at
His right hand in heaven, and while He is gathering the
joint-heirs of Christ to reign with Him when He takes
the inheritance. He alone knows at what moment this will
be fullled. en, when He hath put Christ’s foes under
His footstool, Christ will rise up from His Father’s throne,
and take His own throne. But, while Christ sits on His
Father’s throne, the Holy Ghost having been sent down,
consequent on His ascension, He is gathering out of the
world a people for His name, to be heirs of God and joint-
heirs with Christ.
is lapse of time, this parenthesis in the ways of God,
is brought in, in the most distinct way, at the end of Dan.
9; and I refer to it because we should never understand
God’s dealings with mankind, unless we get hold of this.
At the end of Dan. 9 you nd the Spirit of God showing a
certain period which was to elapse before Jerusalem got its
full blessing; and you will see the reference that is made to
what I was calling the parenthesis, or lapse of time, during
which the Jews were all set aside. At verse 24 it is said, “
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon
thy holy city, to nish the transgression, and to make an
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
308
end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the
vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know,
therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the
Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore
and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall,
even in troublous times.” at took place: you know it was
forty and six years going on. “ And after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut o “-the threescore and two
weeks, with the other seven, making sixty-nine” but not
for himself “; or rather, instead of this, take what is in the
margin, which is undoubtedly the true sense, “ and shall
have nothing.” He did not take the kingdom at all; He was
cut o and got nothing; in heaven He got all the glory,
but He got nothing as regards what we are speaking of. “
And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be
with a ood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
determined.” at is- what almost everyone is familiar
with-Titus coming and destroying the city, until there was
not left one stone upon another that was not thrown down.
But there is still a week left-we have only had sixty-nine
weeks; and here, without entering into details, is the great
principle I want you to get hold of. We have the sixty-
nine weeks, and then there is a lapse. Messiah comes, is
rejected, and is cut o, does not get the kingdom at all,
gets nothing- He gets the cross it is true, but that is all He
gets. He ascends to heaven, and therefore our hearts must
follow Him up to heaven, while He is there. en comes
the time of the end.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
309
“ And he shall conrm the covenant with many for one
week.” For remark what was said before, “ unto the end of
the war desolations are determined.” As to the time all is
left vague; these desolations are to go on for no one knows
how long after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Messiah
having gone and taken nothing. “ And he shall conrm
the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrice and the oblation
to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations
“-that is, idolatry: “ abominations “ mean idolatry in the
Old Testament-” he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon
the desolate.”
ere then we get this simple but very important fact as
to the interpretation of prophecy-that there was a term of
seventy weeks, which would come upon the holy city-upon
the Gentiles too, but specially the Jews-until all prophecy
about them was to be accomplished; but when the sixty-
nine weeks had elapsed, Messiah comes, is cut o-that is
actually fullled-and takes nothing; and there go on wars,
etc., and the city is destroyed; and then there run on the
times of the Gentiles; and blindness in part, according to
Rom. 11, has happened unto Israel, until the times of the
Gentiles are fullled.
So again our Savior, in Luke’s gospel, after speaking of
the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, says that Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of
the Gentiles are fullled. Now that is what is still going on.
Jerusalem is still trodden down. Christ has not taken to Him
His great power and reign, spoken of in a chapter of the
Revelation, preceding that which we have read. Jerusalem is
still desolate, and the times of the Gentiles are still running
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
310
on-I doubt not, running close unto their completion, but
still running on; and Christ is sitting on the right hand of
God the Father, according to that word, “ Sit thou at my
right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.” But while
He sits there, the Holy Ghost comes down from heaven to
declare that, if man had rejected Him, heaven had accepted
Him, and that (redemption having been accomplished, and
the grace appeared that brings salvation) He sits there to
associate with Himself the joint-heirs of whom we have
been speaking.
But in the meantime the Jews are set aside, and the times
of the Gentiles are running on, and nothing is fullled or
brought to an accomplishment, because what He is doing
is gathering the heavenly saints. Now those heavenly saints,
as we saw in the last lecture, are completely identied with
Christ Himself. He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
He is the Firstborn among many brethren, who have been
conformed to the image of God’s Son, and are “ members
of his body, of his esh, and of his bones.” For it is said,
“ no man ever yet hated his own esh, but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are
members of his body, of his esh and of his bones.” And the
saints too are the bride of Christ. What Eve was to Adam,
that is the place the church of God lls in reference to
Christ. And what He is doing now is gathering the saints
to ll this place. It is not the fullling of God’s dealings
with the earth, but the gathering of saints for heaven; and
while He is gathering saints for heaven, Christ sits at His
right hand until His enemies be made His footstool. As
the apostle expresses it in Heb. 2, referring to Psa. 8, “ but
now we see not yet all things put under him; but we see
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
311
Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the
suering of death, crowned with glory and honor.”
ere is an extremely beautiful thought connected with
this, which we cannot dwell on now, and that is, that if you
look for the church in the Old Testament, you can only
nd Christ, but when you nd the blessedness and glory
which belongs to Christ, the church is the sharer of it. So
that what we have to see in connection with the fulllment
of the prophecies of God is, that previous to this the
church is to be taken out of the scene altogether, because
He cannot begin these dealings with the Gentiles in the
last week until the gathering of the saints to be heirs with
Christ is over. Until He has got the heirs, Christ cannot
take the inheritance; and, therefore, all the dealings of God
(or of Christ, if you please, who is the power of God)-all
these dealings of God with the world-we do not speak of
His providence, of course, for not a sparrow falleth to the
ground without Him-but all the direct dealings of God
with the world through the Jews are suspended until the
church is taken up.
But you never nd in prophecy, until the end of
Revelation -you never nd the church revealed in
prophecy, except in connection with Christ. I may give you
some instances of this. For example, I have no doubt that
the “ man-child “ spoken of in the chapter that we have
been reading, includes the church as well as Christ. But it
is Christ that is principally meant; for the church would
be nothing without Christ, it would be a body without a
head. It is Christ who has been caught up, but the church
is included; for whenever He begins to act publicly (even
as regards the casting down of Satan), He must have His
body, His bride with Him; He must have His brethren,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
312
His joint-heirs. If you examine what we nd here, you will
see that the church is certainly included. You read, “ And
she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God
and to his throne.” e man-child is to rule all nations with
a rod of iron, but there is an interruption. And as we have
seen that Christ came to this earth, was cut o, and took
nothing, we get the other side of the picture here. He takes
nothing, but is caught up to God and His throne, and sits
at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens.
is sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the
heavens belongs personally to Christ, but when it comes
to ruling the nations with a rod of iron, the saints are
associated with Him. e quotation is from Psa. 2, where
it is said, “ Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
thy possession: thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” at is
not asked yet. And He has prayed for the saints, not for the
world-” I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for
them which thou hast given me.” He only intercedes for
the world when He asks for dominion over them, and, of
course, it will be given Him-it is in God’s counsels that it
will; and He will take judgment in hand, the rod of iron. But
then the saints will judge the world too; that is positively
revealed, “ Know ye not that we shall judge angels? Do ye
not know that the saints shall judge the world? “ And not
only is this stated in the general, but in the detail, especially
as to the rod of iron. At the end of Rev. 2 you will nd that
this is given to the church, exactly as it is given to Christ. “
He that overcometh, and keepeth my words unto the end,
to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
313
them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they
be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father.” And
the same thing is said in Dan. 7, “ Until the Ancient of
Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the
Most High “ (the saints who will be in the heavenly places
with Christ, when Christ comes)-the “ rod of iron “ being
there spoken of as “ judgment.” at is not the most blessed
part: the blessed part is to be with Him; but it is true, and
it is part of what we have to look for. And so in Rev. 20,
where this time is spoken of, “ And I saw thrones, and they
sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.”
How sadly has the sense of this blessedness and glory
of the saints been lost! I was speaking of it on the last
occasion- their identication with Christ, their being
joint-heirs, members of His body, His bride. e sense of
all this has dropped away from the church. It is common
to say that it is enough to lie at the foot of the cross. Now
to me it is a blessed thing to see a person coming to the
foot of the cross; but it is dreadful to stay there, because
for a person to do so is the same as saying that he does not
own that the whole thing is accomplished. It is a want of
boldness “ to enter into the holiest, through the veil, that
is to say, Christ’s esh.” It is the same as saying that he
is unt to pass through the veil to be a priest in the holy
place. He says, “ No; I must stay outside.” I say that is a
very wretched condition to be in. He must come to the
cross in order to get in; that is perfectly true. And it is
blessed to see a person who has been careless so coming; he
can never get in any other way. But always to stay outside-
always to say “ I am staying at the foot of the cross, and
do not know whether I have the right to enter in or not
“-that is a great mistake. If you say, you cannot tell whether
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
314
you are redeemed or not, how then can you call yourself a
Christian? Christians are redeemed, of course. Why then
do you take the name of Christians, and yet remain unable
to say whether you are redeemed?
In this chapter of Revelation which we have read, you
have it positively revealed that it is nished with the saints,
as regards all their trials and all their accusations, before the
time that the trial of the Jewish people begins in the last
half-week of Daniel. In the rst six verses of the chapter,
you have the statement of those who are concerned in these
last days. First, you have the “ woman clothed with the sun,
and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown
of twelve stars.” is, I have no doubt, is the Jewish people,
nothing else; because Christ is not born of the church, but
looked at as reigning and glorious in the world, was born of
the Jews, “ of whom, as concerning the esh, Christ came.”
ere is no kind of sense in the idea of Christ’s being
born of the church. Being “ clothed with the sun “ is being
clothed with supreme authority. She has the moon-all her
previous reected state-under her feet: “ and upon her
head a crown of twelve stars.” Twelve is the number always
used to indicate power- the power of God’s administration
among men. You have the twelve apostles sitting on
twelve thrones-the city built on twelve foundations, and
having twelve gates, etc., the number being used to express
administrative power-God’s administrative power over
man. Well, Christ was to be born. “ And she being with
child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”
And so the Jews say, in Isa. 9, “ To us a son is born.” e
church cannot say that at all. We can say that we believe
He is the Son of God; but we do not say He is born to us.
As concerning the esh, He was born into Israel.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
315
en you come to the opposing power-the power of
Satan -exercised through the Roman Empire. “ And there
appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven
crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part
of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth; and
the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”
at is the power of Satan resisting Christ, and seeking to
put an end to His power. He could not, of course, but he
seemed to have done it for a while.
“ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule
all nations with a rod of iron “-clearly Christ-” and her
child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” He did
not take the power-He took nothing, but was caught up
to God.
en, having seen who are the persons engaged, you
get the woman’s place, “ And the woman ed into the
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that
they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred and
three-score days.” You will see now the reason why I referred
to the gap, with regard to all God’s dealings with the world,
which there always is in prophecy-without, however, giving
any dates at all- between the time that Christ is taken up,
and the time that the church is taken up; and they are both
united together. As I have said, it is not merely a notion
of men, but it is positively revealed, as God’s own order in
Dan. 9, that Messiah was to be revealed, and cut o, and
take nothing; that blindness in part happens to Israel till
the times of the Gentiles are fullled; and that then the
Jews would be brought to repentance, as Jesus Christ says
in the gospel of Matthew, “ Ye shall not see me henceforth,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
316
till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord.”
us we get the church, united with Christ, taken up
to God, and the woman ed into the wilderness. Now we
come to the progress of events, not as regards the church
at all, but as regards Israel and the world. “ And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven.” e whole power of Satan will then be cast out.
at is in direct contrast with the result of the church’s
warfare: “ We wrestle not against esh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places.” is is the conict we have to wage as to our
title to sit in heavenly places with Christ; and the result of
this spiritual conict is, that the power of Satan is cast out.
In the prophecy we are considering this is all over, and you
see the joy there is in consequence among the dwellers in
heaven, the heavenly saints.
“ And the great dragon was cast out-that old serpent
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night. And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death. erefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the
inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! “
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
317
We nd here, that while all the heavenly people, that is,
the church of God (because our conversation is in heaven
and we are one with Christ in heaven) are called upon to
rejoice that the accuser of the brethren is cast down-that
they have overcome him-at this very moment when these
heavenly saints have overcome, it is just the time when
Satan comes down to earth, having great wrath, knowing
that he has but a short time. us we get entire rejoicing in
what is heavenly, and at the same time most desperate woe
in what is earthly. is makes the contrast very distinct and
denite between these heavenly ones and the dwellers on
earth, who, all through the Revelation, are contrasted with
those persons who are heirs of heaven, whose citizenship
is in heaven.
“ erefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because
he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the
dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted
the woman which brought forth the man-child.” We see
here very clearly that by the woman it is not the church
of God that is meant, because the church of God is called
upon to rejoice on account of all their aictions being over,
and the accusations against them past. ey are called upon
to rejoice because they have overcome the accuser by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. But
this woman is in a dierent position, all the rage of Satan
being now directed against her. e church of God has
been taken out of the way, and Satan has another object for
his great wrath, namely, the Jewish people. is is for them
the time of great tribulation that is elsewhere spoken of.
Christ said to the Jews, “ I am come in my Father’s name,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
318
and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own
name, him ye will receive.” If they would not take the true
Christ, they must have a false Christ.
I have read this chapter of the Revelation, in order to
show that while one class of persons-those associated with
Christ- are caught up to God, and there is triumph and
rejoicing and gladness amongst them when Satan is cast
down, that is the very time when tribulation begins on the
earth. “ And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto
the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth
the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings
of a great eagle, that she might y into the wilderness, into
her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” ere in the
wilderness, in this time of tribulation, God takes care of
her. She makes her escape from the tribulation, the gure
being employed that she receives this great power of ight,
as if the wings of an eagle: and God secures her, not as He
did Abraham who saw the destruction of Sodom from the
top of the mount, but as He secured Lot who was saved
by ight. e people in heaven rejoicing are like Abraham
on the top of the mount; while the woman upon the earth
is like Lot, saved by God giving her the great wings of an
eagle to escape while all this great rage and power of Satan
is being displayed. “ And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a ood after the woman, that he might cause her
to be carried away of the ood. And the earth helped the
woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed
up the ood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”
at is, providential means were used for the purpose of
saving the Jews from the violent assaults made upon them.
“ And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
319
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.”
I shall now refer to a more literal prophecy, which will
help us to understand this same interval, these times of the
Gentiles, so far as they are going on now-because I have
no doubt that they began in the days of Nebuchadnezzar.
Turn to Isa. 8, where, after the circumstances of the
moment having been spoken of as leading to it, it is said,
“ Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself “-a blessed testimony
to the deity of the Lord Jesus as Jehovah” and let him be
your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for
a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock
of oense, to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a
snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among
them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared,
and be taken.” e Lord, you know, spoke of His being
a stumbling-stone, and said that whosoever should fall
on that stone should be broken. “ Bind up the testimony,
seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the
Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I
will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the
Lord hath given me.” is, you remember, is quoted in
Heb. 2 Although God is hiding His face from the house of
Jacob, Christ says, “ I will wait upon the Lord “; or, as the
Septuagint has it, “ I have put my trust in the Lord.” And
again, “ Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath
given me.” ese are the disciples of Christ in all ages.
And then, in chapter 9, you have the close of all that-” For
that hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the sta of his
shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
320
garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning
and fuel of re. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder;
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be
no end; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,
to order it, and establish it with judgment and with justice,
from henceforth, even forever.”
Here, then, we have the fact of Christ’s coming and
being a stone of stumbling, and He says, “ I will wait upon
the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob.”
en follows a period of dreadful sorrow for Israel, “ ey
shall look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness,
dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.”
And then comes-what? A dreadful battle; only it has the
re of God’s judgment in it -” this shall be with burning
and fuel of re “-which is a gure of God’s judgment. And
then it is said, “ Unto us a child is born.” Christ is this child
that was born; but when He comes back, it shall be said of
Him, as in Isa. 53, “ we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and aicted.”
What I refer to the passage now for is, the revelation
it gives of the same fact of Christ’s coming and being
rejected; His waiting upon the Lord that hides His face
from the house of Jacob; and of the fact that at last He
goes forth in glorious power, in this terrible battle of God’s
judgment, “ In righteousness doth he judge and make war.”
And then it is said, “ unto us a child is born, the Wonderful,
the Counselor, the mighty God,” and the like, and lie sits
upon the throne of David to give peace upon the earth. All
this comes after the time that He had been waiting. His
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
321
waiting was consequent on His rejection, while God was
hiding His face from the house of Jacob, as He is doing
now. But that is not forever. I refer to it that if possible our
souls may get hold of the ways of God, the framework as
it were of His plan: that is, that Christ comes, is rejected,
and is caught up to God; and then He sits on His Father’s
throne, but He does not yet take to Him His great power
and reign. Meanwhile the times of the Gentiles are running
on. God hath hidden His face from the house of Jacob, and
Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles till the times
of the Gentiles are fullled. And, while that is going on,
while there is that parenthesis in God’s ways as regards
the government of the world, Christ, having sent down the
Holy Ghost, is gathering His joint-heirs to be associated
with Him when He does take His great power.
Now let us turn to the accomplishment of this, as regards
the church, that is, its being taken up to be associated with
Christ; and then, if time permits, we shall turn to the other
part, the accomplishment as regards the Jews. My object will
he to chew that the resurrection of the saints is a thing, in
nature, time, and character, entirely apart from, and (except
in the fact of its being a resurrection) in every particular
the opposite of, the resurrection of the wicked-that the
resurrection of the saints is a special favor of God, such as
was manifested in Christ’s own resurrection, because they
are saved already, because they have got eternal life, because
they are the delight of God, not as they are in themselves,
but as they Are in Christ-that they are taken up and dealt
with apart, by themselves, as not belonging to this world’s
government; except in so far as they are kings of it; whereas
the wicked (while it is quite true that they are raised, for
Christ will raise everybody) are raised, not however, because
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
322
they are the delight of God, but because the contrary is
the case-not because they have life in Christ, for they have
not-but they are raised for judgment, which is nothing but
condemnation. is is another part of the subject and a
very solemn part of it, which I cannot dwell upon now,
that the judgment of the nations and of the earth is for
condemnation.
I purpose now to go through all the passages which speak
of the resurrection, and to show you that the resurrection
of the saints is an entirely distinct thing in nature, time,
character, and everything else-that it is the consequence
of redemption, so that now we can look for it, because we
are saved-that it will happen when Christ comes, whereas,
when the wicked are raised, Christ will not come at all;
but that when He comes He will raise the saints, and the
saints only, to be with Him in blessedness and glory. Mark,
beloved friends, how solemn and practical this is for all of
us-that the distinction is so clearly made, that, where the
life of Christ is, where we have a part in the redemption of
Christ, when Christ comes, He will take us up into glory
with Himself-that we who are redeemed and have eternal
life shall appear with Him in glory; whereas, where there is
not repentance and a receiving of Christ into the heart, this
will not be the case; but when the time comes, those who
are in that condition will be raised solely for judgment, and
that while all are to appear before Christ, wherever a person
has to do with judgment, he is infallibly condemned.
Hence you nd the words which are familiar to all of
you, “ Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord,
for in thy sight shall no esh living be justied.” Beloved
friends, you can feel how important this is. It applies the
subject we are now considering directly to the state of our
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
323
souls. ere is no judgment without condemnation. No
man with whom God enters into judgment can be saved;
for sentence has been pronounced already, as plainly as
God can pronounce it” ere is none righteous, no, not
one.” I do not know what the great white throne can say
plainer than that. Such is the declaration which is brought
home to our hearts; but before the day of judgment which
shall execute the wrath, the wrath to come, Christ comes
to deliver us from it, and wherever He is received into the
heart we are delivered from it, and are placed with Himself-
He is our righteousness, our life, everything.
Before referring to the passages which speak of the
resurrection, I will only add in passing that in the very
nature of things the judgment of God can never be
anything else than condemnation. I speak of the judgment
upon men, not the rebel angels, although it is true of them
also. We have made a judge of God-and how? By sin. God
could not judge Adam, if he remained as God created him;
for if He judged the thing that He created, He would be
judging Himself. He could not judge him unless he sinned.
Suppose I made this desk, and I began to judge it, I should
be judging myself, the workman who made it. God made
Adam such as he was, and saw him to be very good; and
while Adam remained such, God could not judge him.
What brought him into judgment was, that Adam left
God, listened to the devil, and turned to sin. What then
can judgment be but condemnation? God may save us out
of it through Christ-that is another thing; but our prayer
must be “ Enter not into judgment with us, for there is
none righteous, no, not one.”
Now the resurrection of the saints is the fruit and
nal power of Christ’s deliverance; whereas the other
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
324
resurrection is the righteous execution of judgment against
those who have hardened their necks against God’s mercy
in Christ, treasuring up unto themselves wrath against the
day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment
of God. First, then, as to the nature and character of the
resurrection of the saints, turn to Rom. 8:11-” If the Spirit
of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you
“-that is, if you are Christians (for if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of His), “ He that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” is is not true of the
wicked. e reasons why they and we, if we are saints, are
raised, are totally dierent; for we are raised in virtue of the
Holy Ghost dwelling in us-that is, because we are saved
and sealed by the Spirit of God already. ere, then, we get
the principle.
Now turn to John 5 and see how strongly it brings this
out. It says nothing as to time, which is comparatively
immaterial; but it is a most solemn and instructive passage
with regard to the point we arc considering. Christ says,
at verse 21-” For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and
quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he
will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed
all judgment unto the Son.” ey both quicken; but the
Father does not judge: all judgment is committed to the
Son, “ that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor
the Father “-even the wicked themselves, they cannot help
doing so. “ He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not
the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, hath everlasting life.” You see that after He had
said the Father and Son quicken, but judgment is given to
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
325
the Son, He puts it to us which we are to have. Am I to be
the subject of judgment? at is what He is asking us here.
“ He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, bath everlasting life “ (it is given to him), “ and
shall not come into condemnation “ (the same word in the
Greek as stands for judgment), “ but is passed from death
unto life.” Christ has exercised His life-giving power, and is
not going to deny it by bringing into judgment those upon
whom it has been exercised. “ Verily, verily, I say unto you,
e hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live
“-by which, no doubt, is meant spiritual quickening. “ For
as the Father hath life in himself, so bath he given to the
Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of
life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation “-which is the same word (“ judgment “) again.
I do not want to insist on the word “ damnation.” It is
damnation no doubt, but I do not insist upon that word,
because the point all through is that it is judgment ‘; it is
a resurrection of life, and a resurrection of judgment. How
far they may be apart is another point, which has nothing
to do with this fact, that there is a resurrection of life, and
a resurrection of judgment. Where there has been spiritual
quickening, where they have everlasting life, they shall not
come into judgment, but have passed from death unto life;
but then, if dead as to their bodies, they must be raised up
to make that life complete, because they must have bodies
in unison and in harmony with the state into which they
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
326
enter. And on the other hand, they that have done evil shall
come forth unto the resurrection of judgment.
It is said, “ e hour is coming, in the which,” etc.; but
this is really nothing as to the two things being at the
same time. It is no more than if I were to say, “ the hour of
Napoleon’s greatness,” meaning the period during which
he was great, as contrasted with the period of his fall and
littleness. So here, when it is said, “ the hour is coming and
now is,” we know that it has already lasted since Christ
spoke of it, for more than eighteen hundred years. e
real intention of the expression is, to contrast the time of
Christ’s life with the time since; it is the same as saying
there is a time for quickening and a time for judgment,
and therefore a time for raising up. Here, then, are two
distinct characters of Christ’s power-His giving life, and
His executing judgment; those to whom life is given
(gracious, spiritual life) have part in the resurrection of life;
those to whom it is not given have part in the resurrection
of judgment or condemnation.
You thus have the great principle that is involved, and I
now turn to other passages which illustrate other parts of
the subject. In Luke 20 the Sadducees put the case that,
according to the law of Moses, if a man, having a wife,
died without children, his brother should take the wife;
and they supposed the case of seven brothers marrying her,
and asked whose wife should she be in the resurrection. It
was a quibble they raised, tempting the Lord; and Jesus
answered them, “ e children of this world marry and
are given in marriage. But they which shall be accounted
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the
dead,” etc. Now what is the meaning of this-” accounted
worthy to obtain the resurrection from the dead? “ You
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
327
see it is accounted a special favor. If you only get the
resurrection from the dead, you will be “ equal unto the
angels.” It cannot be meant that, if people are raised to be
condemned, they are equal to the angels. But it is said, If
you get the resurrection, you will be equal to the angels”
And are the children of God, being the children of the
resurrection.” It is quite impossible that this can be said of
those who are raised only to condemnation.
Again if you turn to 1 Corinthians 15, you will nd that
nothing can be more plainly set forth than this is. At verse
22 it is said, “ For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. But every man in his own order.” en
we get the order of the resurrection, and this is just what
we want. Let us see then if it is to be a common thing, in
which all classes are to go up together. “ Every man in his
own order:
Christ the rst-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s
at his coming.” Nothing can be more plain. “ en cometh
the end.” ere comes another time when others shall be
raised, but it is they who are Christ’s at His coming.
And what I arm is, that not merely can this be
proved from Scripture, but that there never is the slightest
appearance of anything else-that this fact I am speaking
about is linked up with the very foundation truths of
redemption. Many have redemption who do not see
it-I admit this fully; but nevertheless it is the eect of
redemption, and you can see the light that is thus thrown
on the fact of my not coming into judgment, because I
have passed from death unto life, as stated in John 5, and
what the church has lost by losing sight of that.
Again, in Phil. 3, the apostle speaks of it as his own hope,
“ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
328
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith; that I
may know him, and the power of his resurrection “-that is a
present thing you see-” and the fellowship of his suerings,
being made conformable unto his death; if by any means
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” Now
what is it to which so much importance is attached, that
the apostle desires to be made like Christ, if by any means
he may attain something very special-the resurrection
of the dead? When the apostle uses such language, is it
possible that all, both the wicked and the righteous, should
be jostled up together in the resurrection, leaving it to be
found out afterward which are the righteous and which are
the wicked? e truth is, it is a word used by the apostle in
a new sense, in which it is not used in classical Greek, to
express a being raised up from among the dead, on purpose
to distinguish the raising of the saints from out of or among
the dead, from the raising of the wicked.
I do not like to deal in critical points, but the fact is
that in a number of passages the power is lost, because the
word is translated “ resurrection of the dead,” instead of “
resurrection from among the dead.” is was the character
of Christ’s resurrection, when He was declared to be the
Son of God with power by being raised from among the
dead. And we shall be like Christ, in that He will raise us
up from among the dead, because we have got the Spirit of
Christ, and life from Christ.
e reason why I dwell on this is, because it goes right
to the root of the question of our redemption. Nothing
can be so absurd-forgive me for saying so-than the idea
of what is called the general judgment. Not that we shall
not all appear before Christ-this of course is true. Take
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
329
Paul himself. He has been in heaven one thousand eight
hundred years, absent from the body and present with
the Lord; are you going to judge him after that? He is in
heaven because he was entitled to go there; and to speak
of judgment after that is absurd on the face of it. To do so
only shows that the church of God, even true saints, have
lost the sense of being redeemed already. If Christ’s dying
has put away my sins, and given me a place with Himself;
if, having received the Holy Ghost, I am joined to the Lord
as one spirit; am I, thus joined to Christ, still to be judged?
To say so is to forget the true place which we hold.
I turn now to the proof of this. Look back for a moment
to Corinthians 15, where, having got the order, to show
further how entirely and distinctly it is saints and none else
who are raised, we nd, “ So also is the resurrection of the
dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.” How can you
apply that to a general resurrection? “ Raised in glory “-can
you apply that to the wicked? It is impossible to read one
sentence about the resurrection without seeing-not that
the others will not be raised, but-that it is distinctly and
denitely the resurrection of the saints that is spoken of,
because they are redeemed and have life in Christ.
Take again 1 ess. 4 which we quoted another evening
with reference to the Lord’s coming, and now with reference
to which we have already seen, that it is “ they who are
Christ’s at his coming.” At verse 16 it is said, “ For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the
dead in Christ shall rise rst “-and no one else. is is the
plain language uniformly held. It is indeed the capital truth
of the New Testament, that as Christ, by resurrection from
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
330
the dead was declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, so we through grace are
(not like Christ in Person but by adoption) also declared to
be the sons of God, by attaining, when the time comes, the
resurrection of the body.
e only point that I refer to the Revelation for is, that
there will be a thousand years between the two resurrections.
But, whether it be a thousand years or a thousand days, the
point which I feel it to be important to insist upon is, that
they are two totally distinct things-that the resurrection
of the saints is God’s taking those He delights in, who are
already redeemed and quickened by the Spirit, because His
Spirit dwells in them, His taking them to be with Christ
in glory; whereas the other, whether a thousand days or a
thousand years after, is the resurrection to judgment-quite
a dierent thing.
ere is one passage more I will refer you to, in order to
show how the same truth is everywhere armed-to John
14. “ I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” at is the
way in which Christ takes us up. He will take us up to be
with Himself at His coming. He comes again, and receives
us to Himself, that where He is, there we may be also.
ere is one passage which people quote to prove the
erroneous notion about a general resurrection. ey cannot
apply to that purpose any of the passages which speak of
the resurrection; but they quote Matt. 25 where the division
between the sheep and the goats is spoken of. Now there is
not a single syllable there about the resurrection. In chapter
24 our Lord has been speaking of the dealings with the
Jewish people until Christ comes. Afterward, in three
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
331
parables, He describes His dealings with the saints; and
then lastly He describes His dealings with the nations; and
then He speaks of the time when He comes in His glory to
sit upon the throne of His glory, and to gather all nations-
the Gentiles, if you please, for it is the same word-before
Him to judge them. And this is the judgment, whose
existence people have strangely forgotten-that there is a
judgment of the quick as well as of the dead-a judgment of
the living (and a terrible judgment it is too).
I now refer to the passage which speaks of the thousand
years. I went over the other passage rst, because people
are apt to think that this “ rst resurrection “ is merely the
explanation of some symbolical ideas which we nd in the
Revelation; but, as I have shown you, there is no passage
in Scripture referring to the resurrection, which does not
show that there is a rst resurrection of the saints. Turn,
then, now to Rev. 20
But remark, that in the preceding chapters you nd
that Babylon has been destroyed-she in whom “ was found
the blood of prophets and of saints.” en you have the
judgment of the wicked on the earth, which I do not enter
into now; and then the marriage of the saints and the Lamb,
and their coming with Him when He comes to destroy the
beast. “ e armies which were in heaven followed him.”
Whenever Christ comes, His heavenly saints will come
along with Him, as it is said, “ the Lord my God shall
come, and all the saints with thee “; and “ the Lord cometh
with ten thousands of his saints “; and “ when Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with him in
glory.” Here, in Revelation, they are seen in gurative
language, coming forth, clothed in white garments, which
is the righteousnesses of the saints. I refer to this merely to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
332
show the place they hold. en Christ comes forth as King
of kings, and Lord of lords, with His saints, and the beast
and false prophet are taken and destroyed.
en Satan is bound, and then John says, “ 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.” ere we nd the saints, those to whom judgment
is given, and not only so but who execute judgment, sitting
on thrones, and reigning with Christ a thousand years. “
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were nished; this is the rst resurrection.” Mark how
the whole statement shows the perfect absurdity-and it is
a sad and solemn thing, the inuence which this delusion
exercises on people’s minds-the perfect absurdity of what
is called the spiritual millennium. Not that the Holy Ghost
will not be there, for He will; but you see now, before all
this, the marriage of the Lamb is come with the church,
the bride of Christ; the whole as regards the church is
complete; and Christ comes forth to execute judgment on
the beast and the false prophet, accompanied by the armies
of the saints, the bride having made herself ready, and the
marriage of the Lamb having taken place before that.
And yet people are looking for the millennium as a state
of the church down here! I admit that it is presented in a
gure; but this is certain, that if the bride is gone up, and
the marriage of the Lamb is come, it is not the state of
the church down here that is meant. For we read also that
Satan is to be bound then; whereas the character given to
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
333
us while down here is that we are to overcome Satan. “
Satan will be bruised under your feet shortly.” Our place
here is that we have to wrestle, not with esh and blood,
but with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places; whereas
when the Lamb comes out with His saints, Satan is bound,
and then begins the period of a thousand years.
I wish to refer you to the connection of the passage in
1 Cor. 15 with Isa. 25, because the connection of these two
things-the resurrection of the saints, and the restoration of
Israel-will thereby be strongly brought out. e apostle says
that “ when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory.” If you turn to Isa. 25, you will
see that this takes place at the time which we call the
millennium, when, the Jews being restored to their place
on the earth, there is that era of blessedness among the
nations which is commonly called the millennium. It is
there said, “ ou shalt bring down the noise of strangers,
as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow
of a cloud; the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought
low. 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
rened. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of
the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread
over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory.”
at is at the time the resurrection takes place; for it is
said in Corinthians, “ en shall come to pass the saying
which is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” And
thus it appears that the time when the resurrection takes
place is the time when the Lord restores Israel, when He
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
334
establishes Israel’s place in Zion, and takes away the veil
from o the face of all nations.
It is said, “ Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that
the people shall labor in the very re, and the people shall
weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall be
lled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea.” is is the condition of the earth
when this time of which I am speaking comes-” ey
shall labor in the very re and shall weary themselves for
very vanity.” Again, it is said, “ Let favor be showed to the
wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land
of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold
the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up,
they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for
their envy at the people; yea, the re of thine enemies shall
devour them.” We thus see that, though favor is shown to
the wicked, they will not learn righteousness. But “ when
thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world
will learn righteousness.”
I am adding these few texts to show that the
millennium is not spiritual in the sense in which it is often
understood. Whenever God speaks of the earth being full
of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, and the like, it
is always in connection with judgment. You nd this in
Numbers, when God said He would destroy Israel, that
in connection with that it is written “All the earth shall
be lled with the glory of the Lord “; and you nd the
same thing in the passage from Habakkuk, which I have
quoted. You never nd the idea presented of the gospel
going forth and bringing all nations under its inuence. In
Rom. 1:1 the apostle puts it in this way, “ For I would not,
brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
335
ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in
part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved.” at is, he
treats that expectation of the church not being cut o, as
being wise in their own conceit.
Again, in another passage it is declared that what
gathers together to battle the kings of the earth and of the
whole world will be three unclean spirits that come out
of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the
beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. I do not
now go into the details of that; but this must be evident to
you, that when it is stated that these three unclean spirits
go forth to gather the earth and the whole world to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty, it cannot be the
gathering of the saints that is spoken of-it is a gathering of
the powers of Satan.
I have now gone through all the passages in the New
Testament, which, so far as I am aware, speak of the
resurrection; and I think it must be as plain to you as
anything could possibly be, that all those passages show
very distinctly that the resurrection of the saints is an
entirely distinct thing from the resurrection of the wicked,
being founded on their redemption and their having
received life from Christ, the power of which is shown
by the resurrection of their bodies; that that resurrection
of life is denitely distinguished from the resurrection of
judgment by a thousand years elapsing between the two;
and that, while the rst is the fruit of redemption, the other
is the fruit of the rejection of redemption.
Time will not allow me to enter on the subject of
the restoration of the Jews. But let me just return, in a
few words of application, to these solemn truths, that,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
336
before judgment comes, Christ has come to save; that, if
He entered into judgment, nobody could be saved; that,
whenever He enters into judgment, no esh living can
be justied, because there is none righteous, no, not one;
but that, because this is true, the Lord has sent a perfect
salvation in order that we might escape the judgment-a
salvation that delivers us from the wrath to come; that
there is wrath coming, but that there is deliverance from
it; and that when God interferes in this way to deliver us
from that wrath to come, He does not merely save us from
wrath, but gives us a place with His own Son. us not
merely are our sins forgiven, but we are united to Christ
by the one Spirit, Christ being the Firstborn among many
brethren, who are the members of His body, of His esh,
and of His bones; so that He nourisheth the church as a
man nourisheth and cherisheth His own esh, and prays,
“Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be
with me where I am “; so that when He appears, we also
shall appear with Him; and if He is the Judge, the saints
too shall sit with Him on thrones, and judgment shall be
given to them; for, says the apostle, “ Know ye not that the
saints shall judge the world? “
Now is that the thought, beloved friends, which you
have of redemption? Have your souls believed that this
world is a condemned world? I know that the world will
not bear this, but it must bear, when it rises to judgment, to
hear that it is a condemned world. Individual souls are tried,
but it is not true that the world is in a state of probation.
Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost; and a
man that is lost is not in a state of probation. When we are
judged, we are judged of the Lord, that we should not be
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
337
condemned with the world. at is all a settled thing with
the world.
How do your hearts take this up, that all this busy scene,
in the midst of which you live, is a condemned world; that
this is the world which said, “ is is the heir, come, let
us kill him “; that this world has rejected Christ, and that
Christ has said, “ Now is the judgment of this world “?
He says, “ e world seeth me no more “; and “ when the
Comforter is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment-of righteousness, because
I go to my Father, and ye sec me no more,” etc.
But, because the world is thus condemned, there
is oered to us redemption, a new life, a Second Adam
instead of the rst; and all the promises of God are in Him.
ere arc no promises to men; but all the promises of God
in Him are Yea, and in Him, Amen. When Adam sinned,
the promise was not given to Adam-there was no promise
given to Adam- it was to the Seed of the woman, that the
Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. at
is, the promise was given to the Second Adam, not to the
rst. And then, in Christ, we have not merely forgiveness,
but glory. We are one with Christ, the bride of Christ, and
have our place, not according to the demerits of the rst
Adam, but according to the merits of the Second Adam.
Do you take hold of that blessed truth? e Lord give you
to feel more deeply than you have ever felt before what it
is to be in a world which has rejected the Lord; and then
to know, with joyful hearts, that you yourselves have bowed
and received Him as your Savior, who in unspeakable love
suered and died for us.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
338
62491
Lectures on the Second
Coming of Christ
Lecture 4
Romans 11
Of the two great subjects, besides our individual salvation,
of which the Scriptures treat, as already stated (namely, the
church and the government of the world), the latter leads
us at once to the Jewish as its center, as the church is of the
heavenly glory under Christ; under whom as their head
all things in heaven and earth are to be gathered together
in one. at government will extend over the whole earth,
but the royal nation and seat and center of government
will be the Jewish people. To Jerusalem, as the center alike
of worship and government, all nations will ow. So it
was ordained from the beginning, as we learn from this
remarkable passage, “ When the Most High divided to the
nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of
Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the
number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is
his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance,” Deut. 32:8,
9.
e diculty we have to meet in men’s minds on this
point is this: that that people having been set aside for
their sins- rst, idolatry, secondly, the rejection of the Lord
Jesus-and the church and kingdom of heaven having been
established, it is supposed they will not be restored, but
merge in the profession of Christianity. But this sets aside
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
339
alike the prophecies of the Old and the declarations of the
New Testament.
I will refer to this last rst, as correcting this very
mistake; and this will make way for the direct and positive
testimonies of the Old which concern this people of God’s
election. In Rom. 11 this question is treated: “ I say then,”
is the question with which it begins, “ Hath God cast away
his people? God forbid … God hath not cast away his
people which he foreknew.” en the case is put of their
rejection, and the apostle argues that the casting of them
away was the reconciling of the world, and proceeds, “
for if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the
world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from
the dead? … And if some of the branches be broken o,
and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graed in among
them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of
the olive tree, boast not against the branches: but if thou
boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. ou
wilt say then, e branches were broken o that I might be
graed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken o,
and thou standest by faith. Be not high minded, but fear;
for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest
he also spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and
severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward
thee goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise
thou also shalt be cut o. And they also, if they abide not
still in unbelief, shall be graed in: for God is able to gra
them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree
which is wild by nature, and wert graed contrary to nature
into a good olive tree,” etc.
en he warns the Gentile Christians against the very
notion to which I refer, assuring them that they are in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
340
danger of being cut o in their turn, as we shall see more
fully when we treat that subject. In verse 25 he adds, “ For
I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, … that blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all
Israel shall be saved, as it is written, ere shall come out
of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob.” ey are partially set aside till the church
be called, and then a deliverer, Christ, shall, after all the
church is brought in, come out of Sion and turn away their
ungodliness. is is not by the gospel as now preached, for
he adds, “ As concerning the gospel they are enemies for
your sakes,” the Gentiles being thus let in; “ but as touching
the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
Here we have God’s ways towards them clearly set forth:
partial blindness for a time, during which the church, the
fullness of the Gentiles, is called; when that is closed, their
Deliverer comes out of Sion. Our gospel is not the means:
they are as a nation enemies as respects that; but they have
not ceased to be beloved for the fathers’ sakes. at is a
matter of God’s election, and as to His gifts and dealings
He does not change His mind.
38
us it is certain that God maintains His purpose as to
them as a people, and that it is not by the gospel as now
preached they will be called in. As to that they are enemies.
So the Lord at the close of Matt. 24, when declaring the
38 Verse 31 should be translated, “ even so these have now not
believed in your mercy that they might be objects of mercy.”
e Gentiles clearly were, but the Jews had promises; but,
having rejected the grace of the gospel, they became objects
of mere mercy like the Gentiles. is calls forth the apostle’s
admiration of God’s ways.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
341
judgment coming upon them, says, their house should be
desolate till they say, accomplishing Psa. 118, “ Blessed be
he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” And He carries
on their history till His coming again, consequent on which
He will gather together the elect among them from the
four winds; nor should they cease to subsist as a distinct
class till all was fullled. Compare Deut. 32:5-20. en
the Lord gives His ways with His servants meanwhile, and
afterward with the Gentile nations when He returns.
us we learn distinctly the teaching of the New
Testament, of the Lord, and the apostle, as to the plan and
ways of God in respect of His ancient and elect people. If
we compare
Deut. 32:26, 27, and what follows, we shall nd this
abundantly conrmed. In the end the Lord will judge
His people, and repent Himself concerning His servants,
and the nations will be called to rejoice with them,
39
and
Jehovah will be merciful to His land and to His people.
I may now turn to the direct declarations of the prophets,
which leave no shadow of doubt on their restoration and
blessing; and that as a people, with Jerusalem for the center
of their dominion and glory. at these prophecies have
never been accomplished the passages themselves will
prove; but there are certain general considerations that
aect this question, which I will here notice. at Israel
as a people were not brought into their promised blessings
when Christ rst came, is evident. It was the time of
their casting away, and the grafting in of the Gentiles-the
reconciling the world; and their receiving again is set in
39 e apostle Paul quotes this to prove as a principle that God
will bless the Gentiles. But the accomplishment is clearly yet
to come. e smallest attention to the passage makes this clear.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
342
contrast with it. Jerusalem was destroyed, not rebuilt; the
people scattered, not gathered.
eir restoration after the Babylonish captivity is
sometimes alleged to be the fulllment of these promises;
but it was far indeed from accomplishing them. eir
blessings are to be under the new covenant; but the new
covenant was not established then. ey are to be under
Messiah, but Messiah was not then. e Jews were still in
captivity, so that Nehemiah speaks thus: “ Behold, we are
servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto
our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof,
behold, we are servants in it. And it yieldeth much increase
to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our
sins. Also they have dominion over our bodies and over our
cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”
Further, when Christianity was introduced, not only was
Jerusalem destroyed in judgment, but the Gentiles were in
full glory and triumph. When the Jews are re-established
according to prophecy, they are judged and brought under.
I will now quote the prophecies which predict this
establishment of the people. You will see its connection
with Christ, with the judgment of the Gentiles, with the
new covenant, and even with the resurrection. It will be
the sparing of a remnant, in the rst instance, which will
become a great nation. I rst quote Isaiah, who furnishes
us with some very remarkable prophecies on this subject.
After describing the universal evil and the judgment of this
nation, he closes his introductory prophecy thus, “ In that
day shall the branch of the Lord he beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely
for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to
pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
343
Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written
among the living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have
washed away the lth of the daughters of Zion, and shall
have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof
by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And
the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount
Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day,
and the shining of a aming re by night; for upon all the
glory shall be a defense. And there shall be a tabernacle for
a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of
refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain,” chap.
4: 2-6.
us the glory will be restored to Zion when the Lord
shall have purged away her guilt by judgment. Two causes
of judgment are there stated: the unfaithfulness of Israel
to her rst calling; and their untness to meet the glory
of the Lord when He appears. In this last (chap. 6) that
judgment which the Lord recalls is pronounced, “ Make
the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert,
and be healed.” e prophet then inquires, “ How long?
“ e answer is, “ Until the cities he wasted without
inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be
utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away,
and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.”
en it is added, “ But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it
shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an
oak, whose substance is in them, when they have cast their
leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”
Nothing could more strikingly depict the long winter of
Israel’s desolation; but here God would in the remnant give
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
344
a principle of restoration and blessing, as Paul shows in
Rom. 11
is point is more historically prophesied of in Isa. 8
and 9, where the rejection of Christ is denitely spoken
of, verses 14-18; and His manifestation in glory in favor
of Israel, yet in judgment, in chapter 9: 5-7.
40
Chapters II
and 12, the closing ones of this series, largely declare the
restoration of Israel, terminating thus, chapter 12: 6: “ Cry
out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the
Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.”
In chapters 24 and 25, which form the close of the next
series of prophecies, the testimony of God is carried on to
the utter desolation of the earth. “ e earth shall reel to
and fro like a drunkard, … and the transgression thereof
shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fail and not rise again
“; that is, it is its denite and nal judgment as the earth
of man’s power. It is added, “ And it shall come to pass in
that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high
ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the
earth … en the moon shall be confounded, and the sun
ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount
Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”
Here, therefore, again we nd judgment on the earth, and
the Jewish people brought to the enjoyment of Jehovah’s
presence and blessing. But there is more than this. In
chapter 25 universal blessing comes on the Gentiles then:
“ 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
rened. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of
40 Verse 3 should be read “ou hast multiplied the nation, hast
increased its joy; they joy, etc.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
345
the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread
over all nations.” At this time also it is that the resurrection
takes place, verse 8: “ He will swallow up death in victory:
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from o all faces:
and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from o all
the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.” In the mountain of
Zion is the awaited blessing and power that sets aside all
that is hostile. In chapter 26 all is celebrated in a prophetic
song. In chapter 27 Satan’s power is destroyed, and God’s
dealings with Israel reviewed.
In taking up these closing chapters of the two series of
prophecies (chaps. 5-12 and 24-27), the rst, God’s dealings
with Israel as in the land, the second with the Gentiles,
I have passed over a remarkable chapter in the midst of
the Gentile series, to which I must now return, chapter
18, dicult in expression, but very plain in its purpose.
Messengers are sent by a mighty protecting power to a
nation scattered and feeble-a nation wonderful from the
beginning. e Lord summons all the inhabitants of the
world to attend. He holds Himself aloof in His dwelling.
e Jews come back, looking for full national blessing in a
carnal way; just as it seemed blooming they are cut down
again, and the beasts of the eld, the Gentiles, summer
and winter on them. Still at that time a present is brought
of this people to the Lord, and then from them to Him
in the mount of Zion. We learn thus their return by some
political movement, their subsequent desolation in their
land; yet they arc brought to the Lord, and they themselves
bring their oering to Jehovah in Zion.
You will nd in chapter 29, and remarkably in chapter
32, and largely in chapters 34 and 35, the Spirit’s testimony
to the nal restoration of Israel. You may compare chapters
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
346
54, 62, 65, and 66 for enlarged testimonies of the restoration
of Jerusalem in the glory. e prophecies of Isaiah have
the character of a general revelation of the ways of God,
having the Jews for their center, including their guilt in
separating from Jehovah, and in rejecting Christ; Babylon,
their scourge when disowned, and the Assyrian when they
were owned.
But Jeremiah lived when the house of David had
completed its guilt, and Jerusalem was about to be given
up to the captivity of Babylon. Hence, while pleading with
them as to their sins, he enters into specic detail as to the
restoration of the Jews and Jerusalem, announcing (as the
other prophets) the judgment of the haughty Gentiles. To
his prophecies I will now return. e whole of the chapters
from 30 to 34 are worthy of your fullest attention. I can
only quote the most striking passages.
In chapter 30 the prophet speaks of that day of Jacob’s
trouble which there is none like, of which the Lord speaks
in Matt. 24, but declares he shall be delivered out of it-a
declaration which, as we know, was not accomplished at
the rst destruction of Jerusalem by Titus; and he adds that
in that day the Lord of hosts would break the yoke from o
his neck, and strangers should no more serve themselves
of him, takes notice of the utter desolation of Jerusalem,
but declares He would bring back the captivity, and the
city should be built on its own heap, and the palace remain
after the manner thereof; and then announces the utter
judgment of the wicked when Israel should be His people:
it would be in the latter days.
Both families (chap. 31) should be His people. is
shows at once it was not the restoration from Babylon
merely. It is declared that His love is an everlasting love.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
347
Jacob was redeemed (v.11); they would come and sing in
the height of Zion. is is declared (v. 31) to be founded
in establishing the new covenant, and the chapter closes
with these remarkable words: “ us saith the Lord, which
giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the
moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth
the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of hosts is
his name: if those ordinances depart from before me, saith
the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being
a nation before me forever. us saith the Lord, If heaven
above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth
searched out beneath, I will also cast o all the seed of
Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built
to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of
the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go forth over
against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to
Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the
ashes, and all the elds unto the brook of Kidron, unto the
corner of the horse-gate toward the east, shall be holy unto
the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any
more forever.”
In chapter 32 Jeremiah is commanded to redeem land at
Anathoth; and the chapter closes thus: e Lord declares,
He will gather them and they will be His people, and He
will be their God. “ And I will give them one heart, and
one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of
them, and of their children after them: and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away
from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their
hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
348
land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole
soul. For thus saith the Lord, Like as I have brought all this
great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all
the good that I have promised them.” And, returning to the
occasion of the prophecy, “ Behold, Hanameel the son of
Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee
my eld that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption
is thine to buy it. So Hanameel, mine uncle’s son, came to
me in the court of the prison according to the word of the
Lord, and said unto me, Buy my eld, I pray thee, that is
in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the
right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine;
buy it for thyself. en I knew that this was the word of
the Lord. And I bought the eld of Hanameel, my uncle’s
son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money,
even seventeen shekels of silver.” e promises are renewed
in chapter 33, and God declares David shall never want a
man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. “ If ye
can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the
night, and that there should not be day and night in their
season; then may also my covenant be broken with David
my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon
his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the
sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of
David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying,
Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying,
e two families which the Lord hath chosen, he hath
even cast them o? thus they have despised my people,
that they should be no more a nation before them. us
saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and night,
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
349
and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and
earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my
servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers
over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause
their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.”
Nothing can be more positive than these promises. e
Lord takes the ground of His unchangeable faithfulness,
refers to all the evil man has been guilty of, and declares
He will not cast him o for it, but put the law in his heart,
gives local details as to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and
says that as He had pulled down and destroyed them He
would build them up again; so that it is impossible to apply
it to any others.
We get details as to their restoration, which passing on
to Ezekiel leads us to. In chapter 20 of that prophet we are
told that, as regards the ten tribes, they will be brought out
of the countries, and as in the days of leaving Egypt the
rebels fell in the wilderness, so now they would pass under
the rod like a ock told by the shepherd,• and the rebels
would not enter into the land (v. 34-38). is is not so with
the two tribes: they will return in unbelief, a remnant only
being faithful; Daniel’s wise ones,’ and two thirds will be
cut o in the land and the third part pass through the re
and be rened as silver is rened. See Zech. 13:8, 9.
But I must quote some other passages of Ezekiel. In
chapter 34 God judges the shepherds. He there declares
He will take the ock into His own care (v. 11-22) He
then, in verse 23, passes on in un-symbolical language to
say what He will do in the latter days. “ And I will set
up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even
my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be
their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
350
my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have
spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace,
and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and
they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the
woods. And I will make them and the places round about
my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come
down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And
the tree of the eld shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall
yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the
bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand
of those that served themselves of them. And they shall
no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast
of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely and
none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a
plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with
hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen
any more. us shall they know that I the Lord their God
am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are
my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my ock, the ock
of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord
God.”
In chapter 36 we have the well known passage in which
being born again is declared to be the work which God will
accomplish in them that they may enjoy their land before
Him. “ For I will take you from among the heathen, and
gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your
own land. en will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and
ye shall be clean; from all your lthiness, and from all your
idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
351
the stony heart out of your esh, and I will give you an
heart of esh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you
to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments,
and do them. 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. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses;
and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no
famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree,
and the increase of the eld, that ye shall receive no more
reproach of famine among the heathen.” en the heathen
would know that this restoration was Jehovah’s doing. is
last point, which we nd more than once in Ezekiel, is an
important element in the re-establishment of Israel, and
(like the others, and especially their occurrence at the same
time) has never yet been fullled.
In chapter 37 we see a further point insisted on. e
dry bones of Israel would be clothed with esh, and the
people brought to life again, and placed (v. 14) in their own
land. But when this takes place in the last days, the long
separated ten tribes will be reunited to Judah, and have
one head, never to be divided again (v. 19, 20). David (the
beloved), that is, “ Christ,” is to be king over them; God’s
tabernacle will be amongst them; He, Jehovah will be their
God and they His people; and the heathen will know
that Jehovah sancties Israel when His sanctuary is in the
midst of them for evermore. is dwelling of Jehovah in
their midst has never been, if not by the presence of Christ
whom they rejected, since the Babylonish captivity.
Ezekiel wholly passes over the times of the Gentiles,
and introduces Jehovah again in their midst in the land.
Connected with this is the account of the inroad of Gog, in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
352
the two following chapters. When restored to the land, and
appearing outwardly to be restored to blessing, Gog comes
up against them; God pleads against him and sancties
Himself in this judgment. Gog falls on the mountains of
Israel, and God makes His holy name known in the midst
of Israel; He allows them no more to pollute His name: and
the heathen shall know that He, Jehovah, is the Holy One
in Israel. “ Behold,” it is added in remarkable language, “ it
is come and it is done, saith the Lord God. is is the day
whereof I have spoken.” e prophecy is closed by these
words: “ en shall they know that I am the Lord their
God which caused them to be led into captivity among the
heathen, but I have gathered them unto their own land,
and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I
hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out
my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God,”
Ezek. 39.
us the revelation of the full restoration of Israel in
both parts of the divided kingdom, reunited in one under
Christ, and of the new covenant-connected with the
judgment of the heathen, and their learning that Jehovah is
in the midst of Israel, Jerusalem being rebuilt and gloried,
as in Isaiah 40--is made as plain as words can well make it. I
will conrm this, however, by some remarkable testimonies
of the minor prophets.
Turn to Hos. 3:4, 5, “ For the children of Israel shall
abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and
without a sacrice, and without an image, and without an
ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children
of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David
their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the
latter days.” You will remark that the blessing of Jehovah
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
353
and the often mentioned David are spoken of in the latter
days; meanwhile, they have not the true God, and they
have not false gods-no sacrice, but no image either. us
they abide many days, and thus have abode. In the latter
days it shall be otherwise.
In Joel 3 we have again the judgment of the Gentiles
summoned to awake up and come to the great day of God
to the valley of Jehoshaphat (the judgment of God). ere,
says Jehovah, will I sit to judge all the heathen round about,
and the harvest, separating judgment, and the vintage,
judgment of pure vengeance, arrive. Of the Jews it is said (v.
20, 21), “ But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from
generation to generation, for I will cleanse their blood that
I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.”
See Amos 9:14, 15. Here we get what has clearly never
yet been fullled, while it applies to temporal blessing in
the land: “ ey shall no more be pulled up out of their
land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.”
It is here a question, which is not one for faith, whether
God’s word will be fullled.
In Micah we have a beautiful description of what Israel
will be in the world in that day under Christ. ey will not
be added to the church one by one, and merged as blessed
in it; they will be gathered as Israel; chap. 5: 3. en Christ
will be their strength against the Assyrian their foe, when
owned in the land. en they become as dew in the world,
the freely owing blessing of God, but as a lion among
the beasts of the forest to all that oppose them and the
counsels of God in them (v. 8), while all evil is purged out
from them and the heathen judged, as we have never seen
(v. 9-15).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
354
In Zeph. 3 we have another passage full of instruction
as to the Lord’s ways with this people. First, Jehovah’s
long and gracious, but useless, patience (v. 7). So the godly
ones had to wait till judgment came on the nations, would
subdue them, and bring in blessing. In Israel there would
be a poor and aicted and sanctied remnant (v. 12, 13),
but peace should be their portion. en Zion, Israel, and
Jerusalem are called to rejoice with all their heart; Jehovah
was in their midst: they would not see evil any more. God
would rest in His love-the blessing so great that His love
would be satised and in repose. Blessed thought! still
more blessedly true of us when Jesus shall see the travail of
his soul and shall be satised. en all that aict Israel will
be undone, and the people made a praise among all peoples
of the earth (v. 14-20).
In Zechariah, the whole of chapter to describes the
restoration of Israel in the latter days, speaking of each
division of the people, Judah and Ephraim; then chapter 11
tells of Christ’s rejection; and in chapter 12 all the nations
gathered against Jerusalem are judged, and she becomes a
burdensome stone for them (so that it has no application to
past events), and there is a detailed account of how Jehovah
will save the people: “ In that day will I make the governors
of Judah like an hearth of re among the wood, and like
a torch of re in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the
people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and
Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even
in Jerusalem. e Lord also shall save the tents of Judah
rst, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of
the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves
against Judah.” en there is the mourning over Christ’s
rejection, and they look on Him whom they have pierced.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
355
ey are sifted (chap. 13: 9), and two-thirds cut o, and the
third part pass through the re. e last chapter (14) closes
this striking history with full details of what shall take
place. e Lord comes. His feet shall stand on the Mount of
Olives. At evening time, when men would expect darkness,
it will be light. Living waters shall ow out from Jerusalem.
Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; He alone shall
be owned. Jerusalem shall be inhabited in her place; there
shall be no more utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be
safely inhabited.
e testimonies I have cited are amply sucient to
show, to every one who receives the testimony of God’s
word as true, the certainty of the restoration of Israel to
their own land to be blessed under Christ and the new
covenant. e circumstances of the return of Israel and
Judah are distinguished. Of the former, the rebels are cut
o outside the land, which they never enter; of the latter, in
the land: the residue of these last passing through the re.
is involves the history of Antichrist and the Gentiles,
which will be spoken of when the prophecies as to them
are considered. But Israel and Judah are united under one
head. Further, in the series of events which usher in the
blessing, the Gentiles are gathered against Israel and are
judged, and afterward blessed in connection with, and
subordinate to, that people. Jehovah is King over all the
earth. It is noticed, too, that these events take place at the
epoch at which the resurrection does. Peace reigns, and the
curse is removed: Jerusalem is never deled any more, nor
does Israel lose its blessing.
Such is the establishment of the divine government of
the world at the close. Of this government Israel is the
center, according to the xed purpose and unchangeable
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
356
calling of God. ey reject now the gospel, but are beloved
for the fathers’ sake: they will believe when they see. We
have brighter blessings, because we believe without seeing;
and this is one thing which renders the understanding
of the prophecies, as to the Jews, important. Not only is
it precious to us as a part of Christ’s glory, but our clear
apprehension of the application of prophecy to them
hinders our misapplying it to the church. is takes its own
heavenly character. It is witness of sovereign grace, giving
it a place with Christ where no promise was; Israel, the
testimony to God’s faithfulness to His promises-Jehovah,
who was and is to come. Israel will, indeed, be the royal
people, the center of Christ’s earthly power and dominion,
but they will be reigned over. We, by pure grace, shall reign
with Him, suering rst with Him. e church has its place
with Him, Israel its own blessing under Him according to
His promises of old.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
357
62492
Lectures on the Second
Coming of Christ
Lecture 5
Matthew 13
e part of the subject which will occupy us this
evening, beloved friends, in treating of the coming again
of our beloved Lord, is the sorrowful side of it. What we
had before us in the previous lectures was the blessings and
joys of the saints, founded on the sure promise of Christ
Himself that He would come again; and we found that their
looking for the fulllment of that promise was connected
with their every thought and action. But it is of the greatest
importance that we should look at this sorrowful side as
well as the other, that man may see the consequence and
eect of his responsibility.
e coming of Christ has a double aspect. As regards
the professing church, and the world at large too, Scripture
speaks of His appearing; because then it is that the result
of their responsibility is manifested. As regards the body
of Christ, it speaks of His coming, and our taking up to
Himself. It is one thing to own the church as a responsible
body in the world- another thing to look at it as one with
Him. When we turn to that which has been set by God
as a system down here, and see the failure of it, it is to be
judged in respect of that failure as every system set up by
God has been (each having been rst established on the
footing of man’s responsibility).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
358
ere is never anything else but failure exhibited in man.
Look all through the Scripture, where we have man’s history
from the very beginning of creation, and we nd nothing
but failure. Adam most signally failed in what God had
entrusted him with. And then when law was given, even
before Moses came down from the mount, man had made
the golden calf to worship it. So when Aaron and his sons
were consecrated, on the eighth day-the rst day of their
service-they oered strange re; and, as a consequence, the
free and constant entrance of Aaron into the holy place
was stopped. Solomon, the son of David, was given glory
and riches by God, but his heart was turned from Him by
strange wives, and he fell into idolatry, and the kingdom
was divided. God trusts Nebuchadnezzar with power, and
he is the head of gold among the Gentiles: he gets into
pride, and throws the saints into the re; he loses his reason
and senses for seven years (a gure of the Gentile empires),
and eats grass like an ox. So with everything. So it is with
the church, and man cannot mend it.
Grievous wolves, says Paul, will come in after my
decease; and there will be a falling away, and then Antichrist
be fully revealed. e church itself as a system, trusted to
man’s responsibility, has been all a failure.
All was set up in the rst Adam, who has failed. All
will be made good in the second Man, who is perfect, and
has overcome. But it is hard to get saints to lay hold of the
entirely new position in which all is set by redemption, and
by the resurrection of Christ. e rst Adam failed, and
was cast out; the last Adam, perfect, is come into a better
paradise. So of everything. In the same way, law, which man
broke, will be written on his heart. Christ will be the true
Son of David. Christ will rise to reign over the Gentiles.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
359
So, as the church has failed, He will yet be gloried in His
saints, and admired in all them that believe. In each position
in which God has tried man, what Scripture teaches us is,
that man has failed in his responsibility, and that God’s
plans will go on in His patient mercy till all is fullled in
Christ.
If we now turn to this responsibility, we shall nd there
are two subjects before us as engaged in it; the professing
church is one; power in the earth, shown in the beasts, is
the other. Both are found corrupt, or at open enmity with
God; that which is called the church will be utterly rejected
of God--spued out. e thing which Scripture teaches
us is, not that we shall ll the world with blessing, but
entirely the contrary. e evil introduced by Satan, where
Christianity had been planted, will never be remedied
until the harvest. Such a thought is humbling, but gives no
ground for discouragement, for Christ is ever faithful. It is
the occasion, dear friends, for those who have the grace of
God to walk more in accordance with it. But it is a solemn
thing, if what we have to look forward to is the cutting o
of the professing church.
Geographically speaking, Christianity was more widely
spread in the sixth century than now; the world as then
known was more acquainted with the gospel than it is
now. Whatever man may say about progress and the like,
a great part of what was then the Christian world had
heard of Christ, but is now overrun by Mohammedanism
or Popery; and, where that is not so, how far have indelity
and Puseyism prevailed! But it is this very thing that calls
for earnestness in those who have the Spirit of God. He
is surely working very specially in these days; and in the
tide of evil we have the strongest possible motive for
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
360
energy and activity. It is always right, but the inroad of evil
specially calls for it, as in the days of Noah, in the sense
of approaching judgment. e false idea of converting the
world may give a stimulus for a time, but it destroys the
solemn sense of what God is, and enfeebles the authority
of God’s word, which gives no such hope. When it is
gradually found, too, that evil is growing up, and that the
world is not converted, the reaction tends to subvert the
faith, and cast into indelity.
e evil which works now was declared from the
beginning, and will continue its course (such is the
declaration of Scripture) till God interferes-will not be
remedied until the harvest. Such is the clear teaching of
the parable I have read to you (v. 24-30). It is a similitude
of the kingdom of heaven.
People very often take the kingdom of heaven as if it
were the same thing as the church of God; but this is in
no way the case, though those who compose the church
are in the kingdom. Supposing for a moment that Christ
had not been rejected, the kingdom would have been set
up on earth. It could not be so, no doubt, but it shows the
dierence between the kingdom and the church. As it was,
the kingdom of God was there in the Person of Christ, the
King. Only as He was on earth, it was not the kingdom
of heaven. But Christ being rejected, He could not take
it outwardly then, but ascended on high. us the sphere
of the rule of Christ is in heaven. e heavens rule, and
the kingdom is always the kingdom of heaven, because the
King is in heaven; only at the end it will be subdivided, so
to speak, into the kingdom of our Father, the heavenly part;
and the kingdom of the Son of man, the earthly part. If we
understand the kingdom of heaven as the rule of Christ
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
361
when the King is in heaven, it is very simple. If Christ had
set up a kingdom when He was with the Jews, it would not
have been the kingdom of heaven, because He was not in
heaven. Hence, it is said, “ the kingdom of God is among
you,” but “ the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
e gospel is the only means we have of gathering
souls into the kingdom, and such are properly the children
of the kingdom; but, within its limits, Satan works and
sows tares, and they are in the kingdom. Take Popery,
Mohammedanism, all manner of heretics: these are tares
which have been sown where the good seed had been.
Church means, or is rather, simply an assembly-an idea
which has nothing to do with the thought of a kingdom.
e parable I did not read, where we have Christ sowing
the good seed, is not a similitude of the kingdom of heaven.
A kingdom is a sphere where one rules as king. Christ is
simply there sowing the word in men’s hearts. It does not
describe the kingdom of heaven, nor even the kingdom
begun by the King being on earth; it is individual in its
character.
e moment He comes to this and the two following
parables, we have a similitude of the kingdom of heaven.
ey describe the outward result in this world of the fact
of Christ the King’s being in heaven. You will remark
that these are spoken to the multitude; the last three, and
the explanation of the tares and wheat, to the disciples,
showing the mind and purpose of God-what divine
intelligence knows and does, not mere public result in the
world. e tares and wheat show the outward result, in the
world, of the gospel. In the next, it becomes a great tree-a
great tree, in Scripture, signifying great power. at is what
Christianity became in the world from a little seed-a great
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
362
political power, like the kingdoms of the world. e next
shows it as a doctrine pervading a mass of measured extent,
as a little leaven penetrates through the lump of dough.
en the Lord goes into the house, and explains God’s
mind about these things (v. 36). “ en Jesus sent the
multitude away, and went into the house, and his disciples
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of
the tares of the eld.” e servants inquire if they should
gather the tares up. ey are forbidden to do it. Our part
is not judgment or excision in this world. We have not to
root evil out of the world by persecution. We have seen
often that the wheat was rooted up. ey must grow in the
eld (that is in the world) till harvest. “ But he said, Nay;
lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat
with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.” We
learn from this, not only that Christianity does not spread
everywhere, but that where it does spread it becomes
corrupted. And, if we look at the state of Christendom, we
cannot but see that this is the case. We see how the tares
have been sown and sprung up, how false doctrines have
crept in, Popery, and all kinds of errors. en our Lord,
having sent the multitude away, and gone into the house,
explained the parable to His disciples.
You will now remark that, as I have said, in these
parables, with the explanation of the rst, you have two
distinct things- the outward result, and the unfolding of
God’s design in it. us, with regard to the grain of mustard
seed, you have the outward result-it becomes a great tree,
which, in Scripture, is simply a great public power. e
king of Assyria is represented as a great tree. So Pharaoh
is represented as a great tree. And Nebuchadnezzar was a
great tree, which was hewn down, but whose stump and
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
363
roots were left in the earth. In a word, it means simply a
great power. And that was what Christianity became in the
world-the greatest power in it. e gure in the parable
does not raise the question whether it was good or bad,
but simply represents that it was a great public power in
the world. e little seed of the truth, sown at the rst,
took root, and grew up to be a great tree. So in the case of
the leaven, working within a certain sphere, represented by
three measures of meal-it worked there until the whole was
leavened. e doctrines of Christendom penetrate through
the whole. But no reference is there made to godliness or
sanctity. Christianity is represented as a public outward
thing, making its way in the world. But, having sent tire
multitude away, the Lord takes up an entirely dierent
thing, and explains, not the outward eect, but God’s mind
in the transactions represented by these parables. And He
begins by explaining the parable of the tares of the eld.
Verse 34 “ All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude
in parables … en Jesus sent the multitude away, and
went into the house: and his disciples came unto him,
saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the eld.
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good
seed is the Son of man: the eld is the world.”
Mark how perfectly absurd it is to think, as some do,
that it is the church which is here spoken of. e Son of
man comes to sow the gospel, the word of God, in the
world-not in the church. e church has received it already.
e church is composed of those who professedly or really,
as the case may be, have already received the good seed. He
does not sow it in the church, which would be repeating
what had been done before, but in the world. “ e eld is
the world “; and nothing can be more absurd than to apply
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
364
this to the church, or to bring it up in connection with any
church question.
“ e eld is the world; the good seed are the children
of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the
wicked one.” It is not that the wheat is spoiled. e Lord
will gather that and have it in His garner. But the crop
is spoiled. Christianity, as an outward thing in the world,
has been corrupted through the prevalence of all kinds of
error and wickedness. “ e enemy that sowed them is the
devil: the harvest is the end of the world “ (that is, “ of the
age “). It is not the end of the world, in the ordinary sense,
that is spoken of; it is “ the end of the age “: there is no
dispute about that for anyone acquainted with the original:
“ And the reapers are the angels. As, therefore, the tares
are gathered and burned in the re; so shall it be in the
end of this world “-of this age. “ e Son of man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom
all things that oend, and them which do iniquity, and
shall cast them into a furnace of re; there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth.” at is, the mischief which Satan
has done will go on until the Lord executes righteous
judgment on the world. e corruption of Christianity, the
spoiling of the crop-not of the wheat, because God takes
care of that, and gathers it into His garner, but of the crop
(the public outward thing, which Satan has set himself to
corrupt and spoil)-will go on until the harvest.
And indeed on this point we get a little more precise
information. e rst thing, we learn, will be the gathering
together of the tares (those who have grown up as the fruit
of the corrupt principles, sown by Satan where the gospel
had been planted) in bundles to be burned. And then He
gathers His wheat into His garner-takes His saints to be
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
365
with Himself. is is all the parable states. e explanation
goes farther, and gives the manifested result when Jesus
shall appear, “ en shall the righteous shine forth “-they
have been gathered already-” then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father “; as the
wicked are cast into a furnace of re, where there is wailing
and gnashing of teeth. We have rst, then, the tares growing
till harvest; and then the Lord gathers out of His kingdom
all things that oend, and them which do iniquity. ere
is much instruction here, but I will not detain you now
with entering into more than the general idea. We have
this, however, very distinctly brought before us, that while
the Lord gets His own wheat in the garner, yet the crop
sown in the world is spoiled; while men slept, the devil
comes and spoils the plan by sowing false principles of
Judaism or legalism, and immorality or Antinomianism,
and false doctrines about Christ. By all these things the
crop is spoiled, and this is never mended in the world until
judgment comes.
You will now see, by comparing other passages, that the
church, having a certain responsibility entrusted to her in
the earth, has not fullled what that responsibility made
incumbent upon her, and comes under judgment. Turn
to Romans and you will see distinctly this principle laid
down: as to the facts we shall refer to other passages. ere,
after speaking of the cutting o of the Jews, the apostle
says, “ Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast,
thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. ou wilt say
then, e branches were broken o, that I might be graed
in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken o; and
thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear. ‘ For
if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
366
also spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and
severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward
thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise
thou also shalt be cut o … For I would not, brethren, that
ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise
in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened
to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” It
is exactly through being wise in its own conceit that the
professing church has fallen. It has looked on the Jews as
entirely set aside, forgetting that “ the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance “-that He never changes His
mind-that, though He can create and then destroy, He
never sets aside His own design and purpose; and that,
God having called the Jews as a nation, He never will lay
aside that purpose. But the church has been wise in their
own conceits, thinking that the Jews are set aside, and that
the church never can be.
But we shall nd exactly fullled, as regards the church
as an outward thing in the world, what is stated in this
chapter, that, if it continue not in God’s goodness, it will
be cut o. is is the specic instruction contained in this
passage, with reference to those brought in by faith, after
the natural branches were broken o, that is, Christendom,
that they are placed on this ground; that, if they do not
continue in God’s goodness, they will be cut o like the
Jews. e only question is, how long forbearance may be
extended to them. “ ou wilt say then, e branches were
broken o that I might be graed in.” Quite true, the
apostle replies, but “ because of unbelief they were broken
o, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but
fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed
lest he also spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
367
and severity of God,” etc. Now, what I ask is this: Has the
professing church continued in God’s goodness? Do we
not see Popery and Mohammedanism prevalent where
Christianity was originally planted? Have they continued,
then, in God’s goodness? ere is nothing said about being
restored. is will not do: what is required is to “ continue.”
It is the same as when a man who has broken law, says,
“ I will do right for the future.” is does not meet the
law’s claims; he has not “ continued in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them.”
And I ask, Has the church continued in God’s goodness?
Is that which we now see in Christendom what God set
up in His church in the beginning, or anything like it?
Has not the professing church turned to ceremonies and
sacraments, and all kinds of things other than Christ, in
order to be saved by them? ey have not continued in
God’s goodness. You can see that most plainly. Our own
consciousness testies to it. But, if they continue not in
God’s goodness, the whole of Christendom, the apostle
says, will be cut o, and the Jews will be graed in again.
ere cannot be the least doubt of that. “ And they also, if
they abide not in unbelief, shall be graed in; for God is
able to gra them in again “ … “ For I would not, brethren,
that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should
be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be
come in.” As soon as the Lord has gathered the real church
of God, and taken them up to heaven, He sets up the Jews
again.
Turn now to the positive testimony. What I have been
reading is conditional; it shows what will take place if
they continue not in God’s goodness. We shall see now
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
368
if they have continued. You will nd that Jude brings it
out in a very striking way, because he takes up the whole
history of Christianity from beginning to end. “ Jude, the
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that
are sanctied by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ, and called “that is, the true saints-” Mercy unto you,
and peace, and love, be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you
that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints.” at is, I would have
written in order that you may be built up in the truth, but
through the coming in of evil I am obliged to exhort you
that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints. “ For there are certain men
crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation; ungodly men, turning the grace of our God
into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and
our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We see, then, the cause of the falling away-that already
in Jude’s time these men had crept in unawares into the
church of God, and were bringing in corruption. And he
warns them that the same thing had happened in the case of
Israel, when brought out of Egypt, and had caused them to
fall in the wilderness: they had not maintained faithfulness.
He refers them also to the case of the angels who kept not
their rst estate, because the principle of apostasy crept in.
And mark the way in which he speaks of these men that had
crept in unawares-of these tares that Satan had sown. Look
at verse 14: “ And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all;
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
369
and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all
their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed,
and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have
spoken against him.”
at is, under the ‘inspiration of the prophetic Spirit of
God, he sees the mischief and evil done by these persons,
and sees that it was to grow and ripen up to judgment,
as we shall soon see appears elsewhere. And he tells the
saints that the mischief has begun, and therefore he warns
them that they “ should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints.” And the Lord
executes judgment, because, instead of the world becoming
lled with the blessedness of the gospel, the church has
got corrupted. at it is prophesied that the lling the
world with blessedness is to be brought about by Israel and
not by the church, you will see, and that very distinctly
indeed, when we come to other passages. But here we
get a remarkable prophecy, showing that (as in Rom.
11 was declared that, if they did not continue in God’s
goodness, they should be cut o) they will not continue in
God’s goodness; and it gives us the history of the church
in the world from the beginning to the end of it, when
the Lord shall come with ten thousands of His saints to
execute judgment. It is as plain and distinct a declaration
as it possibly could be; and you will nd that the whole
testimony of Scripture concurs, as of course it must concur,
in the same truth.
Turn now to Habakkuk, where you have one of those
passages which are constantly in people’s minds, as showing
that the gospel is to go on and spread until it lls the world.
I refer to them merely for the negative purpose of pointing
out that they show nothing of the kind. Hab. 2:12: “ Woe
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
370
to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth
a city by iniquity. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
that the people shall labor in the very re, and the people
shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall
be lled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as
the waters cover the sea.” e people are all laboring in the
re, and wearying themselves for very vanity, and then the
glory comes and lls the earth.
Turn now to other passages, where it is not stated
conditionally, or in a general prophetic manner, but where
distinct details are given of that which would come about.
Turn to 2 essalonians, and you will nd there the
connected details of the course of that of which Jude has
already given us the beginning But the general fact we also
have stated in the Philippians, where the apostle says, “ I
have no man likeminded; for all seek their own, not the
things which are Jesus Christ’s.” at surely was an early
period in the history of the church to say that Christians
were in a state of such decline and decay that they were not
seeking the things of Jesus Christ, but their own interest.
When we return to the second epistle to the essalonians
we get this very distinctly brought out. “ Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ
[rather of the Lord] is [not “ at hand,” but] here.” e
expression “ at hand “ makes it almost impossible to get
at the sense of the passage; it means “ here or present,”
the same word being used as when things “ present “ are
contrasted with things “ to come.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
371
e whole point of the apostle’s statement rests on this,
that the essalonians thought that the day of the Lord was
“ here “-that it had already come-that their having got into
so much dreadful tribulation and persecution proved that
it had come. e expression “ the day of the Lord is at hand
“ is often made use of as occurring in this passage, while
in fact there is nothing of the kind in it. e essalonians
thought, not that it was at hand, but that it had come, and
therefore the apostle says, “ Let no man deceive you by
any means, for that day shall not come, except there come
the falling away rst “that is, the not continuing in God’s
goodness.
erefore, as the apostle had stated that, if they did
not continue in God’s goodness, they would be cut o,
we have here the positive revelation or prophecy that they
would not continue in God’s goodness, that there would
come the falling away, and that the day of the Lord cannot
come until that falling away or apostasy takes place. So
it is plain on the face of it that, in place of the church
continuing in God’s goodness, the distinctly opposite is
the case. e apostle shows how the declension goes on:
“ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall
not come, except there come a falling away rst, and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that
is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of
God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not
that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And
now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed
in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.”
at is the important point here, that already, as to its
general principles, it was going on in the apostle’s day.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
372
Even then the enemy was at work, sowing tares. Only it
was a mystery; it was going on secretly, in a hidden way.
ere was Judaism, and Antinomianism, making high
professions of grace with a corrupt practice, and various
other forms of heresy, as the denial that Christ was a real
man, etc., all of which are mentioned in Scripture-we do
not require to go to church history at all to nd them. ey
denied the humanity, quite as soon as they did the divinity,
of the Lord.
We nd then that this mystery of iniquity was already
at work in the time of the apostle, and it was then only
hindered from going on; it was not to he set aside. e
time will come when it will be set aside, when Babylon will
be destroyed, but not by the word. I may rst refer for a
moment to this point. In the book of Revelation (chap. 17)
you nd that it is the ten horns and the beast which shall
destroy the great whore, and burn her with re, and then
men will be given up to even still greater evil-giving their
power to the beast; and then judgment.
Returning to the passage in essalonians, we nd the
apostle says, “ e mystery of iniquity doth already work;
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of
the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of his coming.” We get here
this very important truth, as regards the responsibility of
the church, that what was working to corrupt it in the time
of the apostle himself would go on until what hindered
the full development of iniquity was removed, and then
that wicked would be revealed, etc. is, as I have said, is
the very opposite of continuing in God’s goodness. It is
intimated to us, that what was mysteriously working then
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
373
would ripen and mature up to the open revelation of the
man of sin, whom the Lord will consume and destroy-”
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan,
with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish,
because they received not the love of the truth that they
might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” at is the
way in which the professing church will be dealt with.
Having refused to retain the truth-the, real truth of God,
God will send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie-” that they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
e Lord then comes and destroys the wicked, the evil
being open and evident; it is no longer a mystery. is is
for us a very solemn view of God’s dealings. It is not the
pleasant and bright side. e pleasant bright side is the
blessedness the saints will have at the coming of the Lord
Jesus, in being gathered together to Him. e apostle says
to the saints, You will all be taken up to meet the Lord in
the air, and therefore you cannot think that the day of the
Lord is here, for that day will not nd you here at all. at
day is the execution of judgment on ungodly men. It is as
if a rebellion were going on at Toronto, and the Queen
were to say, I will have all my loyal subjects with me at
Montreal rst, and then judgment will be executed. And
so long as you were not at Montreal, it would be evident
that that day of judgment had not arrived yet. at is the
reason why, when it is said Lo here and Lo there, we know
it does not apply to us. To a Jew it is dierent. If you say
to a Jew who is expecting Christ, Lo here or Lo there, it is
a snare to him. But if it is said to us, we can only answer,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
374
It is impossible, for we are going up to meet the Lord in
the air, not to nd Him here; and I am not there yet. So he
beseeches them by our gathering together to Him not to
be troubled as if the day was come.
In this passage then which I have read you have the
positive declaration, that what had begun in the apostle’s
time goes on, until Christ comes to execute judgment; and
you nd another distinct and denite declaration of this
kind in 1 Tim. 4 “ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron.”
en, in 2 Tim. 3, we have very denitely and distinctly
stated what the last days will be: “ is know also that
in the last days perilous times shall come “-not that the
earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord (that is
a blessed time), but that “ in the last days perilous times
shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural aection,
truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, erce, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof.” at is the
character of the last days. ere will be a great form of
godliness, much superstitious worship, but a denial of
the power of godliness. at is not a continuing in God’s
goodness, when the professing church in the last days, with
a great form of godliness, denies the power thereof.
It is a remarkable proof of the power of Satan, that in
the face of these passages, men, wise in their own conceits,
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
375
will bring reasoning to prove that they are to go on and
ll the whole world with the gospel-that, at the very
time that judgments are hastening upon them, men will
cherish the expectation of the earth being lled with a
widespread blessed- ness-is the strongest possible evidence
of the power of that delusion of which the apostle speaks.
It is not that God is not working, and turning men from
darkness to light. It was the same before the destruction of
Jerusalem; three thousand were converted in a day. If we
had three thousand converted in a day now, would it be
a proof that the millennium was coming? No, but rather
that it was judgment which was coming. It was because
the judgment was coming that this happened. It was the
Lord’s gathering out His saints before the judgment, and
adding to the church such as should be saved. And, if He
is now working in a special manner to gather out souls, it
is not because the gospel is to ll the world, but because
judgment is coming upon the professing church.
e apostle shows that the declension will go on, that it
will not be set aside. For “ evil men and seducers,” he says, “
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
And then he gives the resource under such circumstances.
“ But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned
and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the
holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” It is as
much as to say, You cannot trust the church, which will
have but a form of godliness, denying the power; your
resource must be the holy scriptures of truth.
You will nd, again, how this mystery of iniquity began
to work at the very outset, by turning to 1 John 2, where
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
376
this very question is treated of. “ Little children, it is the
last time.” It seems a remarkable thing for the apostle to
speak of the very time when Christianity commenced to
be diused as the last time. God’s patience has nevertheless
continued to go on from that time to this day; for with
Him one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day. “ And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall
come, even now are there many Antichrists.” It is not the
Antichrist whom he speaks of, but he says that already there
were many antichrists-already the mystery of iniquity, the
spirit of evil, was working” whereby we know that it is the
last time.” We have seen that the last days are a perilous
time; and here we see that the apostle knows it to be the
last time, because there are many Antichrists. Is it possible
then that the last time will be a time when the whole world
will be lled with such blessedness as some speak of? e
whole testimony of Scripture is as plain as can be to the
contrary: “ Whereby we know it is the last time. ey went
out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they
went out, that they might be made manifest that they were
not all of us.” ey adopt false principles: their Christianity
becomes corrupted; and they go out.
Turn now to Luke 18, which occurs to my mind in
connection with this, showing how far the professing
church is from continuing in God’s goodness (v. 6): “ And
the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall
not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that
he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son
of man cometh, shall he nd faith on the earth? “ at is
not like having the world full of the gospel. He puts the
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
377
question, Will there be some individuals still expecting His
interference and intervention? but He does not say there
will be. e church will be gone, and the question is, Will
there be any looking for His interference? will there by
anyone expecting the Lord to descend on the earth?
It may be well now perhaps to turn to a few passages-
because they rest in people’s minds, in looking at this
subject- about the gospel being preached to all nations and
the like. I believe that this ought to have been done from
the beginning by those to whom God has given grace. But
that is not the question. e question is, whether there
has not been a failure on the part of the church, as to the
discharge of its responsibility. It is not a question whether
they ought to diuse the gospel-of course they ought. In
the sixth century, Christianity was the all but national
religion of China, and there are fragments of it there still.
e limits of nominal Christendom are now very much
contracted from what they were in former times. Formerly
they embraced all the north of Africa, and in a measure
all Asia. Now they are almost conned to Europe, except
that in these modern times they include also the scattered
populations in America.
Let us turn then to the passages which speak of the
prevalence of the gospel. at in Matt. 24 is one of them. “
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same
shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and
then “-not the millennium, but-” shall the end come.” ere
is nothing here about lling the world with blessedness.
But the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached for a
witness to all nations, and then will come the end-the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
378
judgment, the end of this age. It is not said that the world
is to be lled with blessing. To suppose so is being wise
in your own conceit. It is said that the knowledge of the
glory of the Lord will ll the world, but it is not said that
the gospel will; although men, fancying that they have the
power to bring it about, speak as if it were the gospel that
was to do this.
If you look at Rev. 14 you will nd this brought out
still more distinctly and clearly, that the end comes when
the gospel is sent for a witness to all nations. You often
hear the passage quoted to show that the gospel is to be
preached to all nations, which is no doubt a blessed truth
in its place. But, to see the eect of it, we must take the
whole passage: verse 6, “ And I saw another angel y in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation
and kindred and tongue and people, saying, with a loud
voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his
judgment is come.” It is almost a miracle how people read
Scripture without understanding it. Whoever has been in
the habit of frequenting public meetings, and listening
to speakers from public platforms, must have heard that
passage quoted hundreds of times, as if it meant that the
gospel is so to be preached to all nations that it is to ll the
whole world with light, while a moment’s consideration
would show that this preaching of the gospel is a precursor
of judgments. I shall now refer to the passages which speak
of the knowledge of the Lord covering the earth as the
waters cover the sea.
But, before doing that, let me just quote one passage in
Isaiah (chap. 26), where you will see that this is brought, not
by the gospel, but by judgments. Verse 9: “ With my soul
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
379
have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within
me will I seek thee early; for, when thy judgments are in
the earth “ (not the gospel, but judgments) “ the inhabitants
of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor “ (that is,
grace, or the gospel) “ be showed to the wicked, yet will
he not learn righteousness.” ere must be judgment; the
time of harvest must come, as in the parable of the tares. “
In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly and will not
behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand is
lifted up “ (when He is just going to strike), “ they will not
see; but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the
people; yea, the re of thine enemies shall devour them.”
Turn now to Habakkuk, where you have one of these
passages which are constantly in people’s minds, as showing
that the gospel is to go on and spread until it lls the world.
I refer to them merely for the negative purpose of pointing
out that they show nothing of the kind. Hab. 2:12: “ Woe
to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth
a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts
that the people shall labor in the very re, and the people
shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall
be lled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as
the waters cover the sea.” e people are all laboring in the
re, and wearying themselves for very vanity; and then the
glory comes and lls the earth.
Turn now to Numbers-another of the only three
passages in which what I am now referring to is spoken
of in that way; and in chapter 14 you will nd what the
Lord means by lling the earth with His glory. When the
people had sinned against the Lord and murmured against
Moses, God said He would destroy them, and Moses then
interceded for them. “ Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
380
of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy,
and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even
until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according
to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be
lled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men
which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did
in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now
these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice, surely
they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,
neither shall any of them that provoked me see it.” at, of
course, is judgment; and the lling of the earth with God’s
glory here has nothing to do with the gospel. e Lord will
have the whole earth full of His glory, but He does not use
the gospel for that purpose. He does send the gospel, and
urges it upon men with innite patience and goodness; but
they reject it; and then comes judgment.
In one other passage the expression occurs. You will
nd it in Isa. 11: “ But with righteousness shall he judge
the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and
faithfulness the girdle of his reins. e wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb … ey shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea “-that is, when
God smites the earth, and slays the wicked. “ And,” the
prophecy goes on, “ in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the
Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall
come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of his people,
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
381
which shall be left, from Assyria and from Egypt,” etc. at
is, the Lord gathers the Jews, and slays the wicked; and it
is then the earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah. “ And
the adversaries of Judah shall be cut o. Ephraim shall not
envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they
shall y upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the
west; they shall spoil them of the east together,” and so
on-showing that there is to be an execution of judgment
in the earth.
Turn now to Isa. 66, where the glory of the Lord is also
spoken of. And, in referring to these passages which are so
constantly quoted, it is always an excellent plan to read the
context. In this passage the glory of the Lord is brought in
by re and by sword. Verse 15: “ For, behold, the Lord will
come with re, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to
render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with ames of
re. For by re and by his sword will the Lord plead with
all esh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many … For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that
I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come
and see my glory.” e glory of the Lord here comes with
the execution of judgment; there is nothing of the gospel
at all.
You see, then, these three points. First, you have
the statement that, after God had sown the good seed,
the enemy came and sowed the evil. en you have the
conditional declaration, that the professing church, if it
did not continue in God’s goodness, would, as an outward
thing, be cut o. en, further, you have the declaration
that that evil which had begun in the time of the apostles
would go on to the end, the Lord only restraining the public
manifestation of it until the time of judgment approached
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
382
at Christ’s coming, the fullness of the Gentiles being come
in, and then that wicked would be cut o; also that in the
last days perilous times would come, and Antichrist would
come. We have seen also that the passages referring to the
earth being lled with the knowledge of the glory of the
Lord, and the like, arc all connected with judgment; and
that when favor is showed to the wicked, as in the gospel,
he will not learn righteousness.
If you turn to the Revelation, you will get a little
more of detail about the falling away, and about what the
character of that evil is which is at work. But before we
quote from the Revelation, let me remark that the two
great characters of evil from the beginning have been
corruption and violence. Before the deluge, the earth was
corrupt before God and lled with violence. And in the
Revelation, “ Babylon “ is the expression of corruption,
while the “ beast “ is the expression of violence. I cannot,
this evening, enter into details as to this part of the subject,
but I wish to show you how the one runs into the other.
In chapter 17 the expression “ the great whore “ indicates
the power of corruption. At verse 15 it is said, “ e waters
which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples,
and multitudes, and nations, and tongues “-the reference
here is to the inuence over the nations which a corrupt
Christianity has exercised. “ And the ten horns which thou
sawest, and [not on] the beast, these shall hate the whore,
and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her
esh, and burn her with re.” Of course, that is not the
gospel; it is violence putting an end to corruption. “ For
God hath put in their hearts to fulll his will, and to agree,
and give their kingdom unto the beast.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
383
It is not when Babylon is destroyed that the kingdom
is given to the Son of man. It is given then to the beast.
e eect of the destruction of all this corrupt inuence
of outward nominal Christianity, of the awful corruption
of the Papal system, which was the center of it all, that
“ mother of abominations of the earth “-the eect of the
destruction of that, through the hatred and disgust of those
connected with it, and disgusted and wearied with it, will
be to put the power of the world into the hands of the
beast. ere is nothing at all here about the gospel. It is
the violence of man refusing longer to submit to priestly
power. When one reads Scripture, simply desiring to learn
what it teaches, he cannot but he surprised how people
form from it the systems they do. ey take hold of some
abstract principle, and following it out succeed in nding
it in Scripture according to their expectations. In studying
the Scriptures, they settle rst what the Scriptures should
teach, instead of being content to take simply what they do
actually state.
Turn now to chapter 16, and you will nd more about
the time when judgment shall be executed upon Babylon,
although we cannot now enter into the various details of it.
“ And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the
mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,
and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” ese are the
powers of evil. “ For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and
of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that
great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief.” It is
the devil who gathers the whole world to that great battle.
People may discuss what is meant by the dragon, and the
beast, and the false prophet. I have very little doubt on that
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
384
point; and I may just say, without entering into the details,
that the dragon is the power of Satan, that the beast is
the Roman Empire, and that the false prophet is the false
Messiah at the time of the end.
I do not dwell upon this; but at all events it is perfectly
clear that the three unclean spirits, which gather the
nations to the battle of the great day of God Almighty,
are not the gospel. It is the battle which in Isaiah is said to
be with burning and fuel of re. e nations are gathered
to Armageddon, and then comes the judgment. e beast
and its horns destroy Babylon, that great corrupt system,
and then the beast and the kings of the earth are gathered
by evil spirits against the power of Christ, Satan being cast
down from heaven.
In Rev. 19, we read that there comes forth on the white
horse He who has on His vesture and on His thigh a name
written, King of kings and Lord of lords; that the beast
and the kings of the earth and their armies are gathered
together to make war against Him that sat on the horse,
and against His army: “ and the beast was taken, and with
him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him,
with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image: these both
were cast alive into a lake of re burning with brimstone;
and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that
sat upon the horse.” us we get here very distinctly that
there is an execution of judgment. And after that-after the
execution of judgment -Satan is bound.
en we have a passage, which is the only ground we
have for saying that there is to be a millennium-a thousand
years of blessedness. We have seen the general statements
that the world will be full of the knowledge of the glory
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
385
of the Lord, and that this is to be by judgment. But the
only proof we have that the period of blessedness is to
last a thousand years-the only evidence for this particular
character of the glory which is coming-is found in Rev. 20
We have plenty of testimony that there will be a time of
blessedness, but this specic character of it is only found
here, and that is after the Lord has come as King of kings,
and Lord of lords, and executed judgment, and Satan is
bound. Satan has been corrupting everything; but, when
he is bound, he can no longer do so; and then come the
thousand years, and thrones and judgment are given to us.
e saints shall judge the world, for so God has revealed
in His word.
Are there not many professing Christians who, if you
were to say to them, “ Do you know you are to judge
angels? “ would think you were mad? And yet it was to
the Corinthians (who were very far from being the most
perfect of Christians, for they were, indeed, going on very
badly) that this was said. e full import of the connection
of the church with Christ has been almost wholly forgotten.
People talk of their hopes of being saved, and of living
godly; but the connection of the church with the Second
Adam is practically forgotten. e power of redemption,
and the high privileges connected with it, are overlooked.
Let us revert for a moment to Rev. 17 to see how
intimately the saints are associated with Christ in that day.
We read that the beast and the kings of the earth shall
make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome
them; for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; “ and
they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
at description does not apply to angels. No doubt He
will come with the holy angels; but the expression-” called,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
386
and chosen, and faithful “-applies to the saints, who come
“ arrayed in ne linen, clean and white,” which “ is the
righteousness of saints.” So arrayed, they come with the
Lord. We shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air;
and when He appears, we shall also appear with Him in
glory.
ere is another point I wish to show you, although
I cannot go into details. I can only touch upon the great
principles bearing on the subject we are considering, and
pass over them very rapidly. You will remember a passage of
sacred history in the time of Elijah, recorded in the Kings.
God had seen that there were seven thousand in Israel
who had not bowed the knee to Baal, although Elijah had
fancied that he only was left, and they sought his life tb
take it away. Acting under God’s authority, Elijah raised
the question whether Baal was God, or Jehovah was God,
and proceeded to test it by a public demonstration in the
face of all the people. And he proposed to test it in this way,
that he who answered by re should be acknowledged as
God. Sacrices accordingly were prepared, and the priests
of Baal cried aloud from morning until noon, “ 0 Baal, hear
us! “ And Elijah mocked them, and said, “ Cry aloud, for he
is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a
journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.”
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves with knives, until
evening; but there was no answer. And then Elijah built an
altar, and laid on it the sacrice, and lled the trench about
it with water, and called upon the Lord; and the re of the
Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrice and the wood,
and licked up the water that was in the trench; and when
all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “ e
Lord [Jehovah] he is the God; the Lord he is the God.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
387
Now we nd in the Revelation, that the false prophet
brings down re from heaven in the sight of men. It is all
lies, of course; but he does it in such a way as to deceive
men. e very thing which Elijah did to prove that Jehovah
was the true God, the false prophet, or false Messiah, also
appears to do- bringing down in the sight of men the
very thing which proved Jehovah to be God; and that he
succeeds by it in deceiving men, shows that they are given
up to strong delusion to believe a lie. is refers to the
government of the world, so far as the Jews are concerned.
If you turn to 2 essalonians, you will see the same,
where Christianity is concerned, in connection with the
apostasy: “ en shall that Wicked be revealed … even
him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all
power and signs, and lying wonders.” Of course they are all
“ lying,” but still they are “ powers, and signs, and wonders
“-words verbally identical in the original with those used
by Peter when he preached of “ Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders
and signs.” at is, Antichrist does the same things-lying,
of course, but the same as regards men’s apprehension of
them-which proved Jesus to be the Christ, and the same
things that proved Jehovah to be the true God. By these
means he blinds and deceives the people, and leads them
away to worship the dragon and the beast. He does this
by bringing down re from heaven and leads them to
recognize the false Christ as the true one, by doing the
same things-falsely, of course-as Christ had done. You
cannot conceive a more awful and solemn thing, than that
men should thus be given up to strong delusion, to believe
a lie, and to be subject to the power of him, whose coming
is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
388
lying wonders; and it is not surprising that the apostle
should be so impressive in his warning, when he says, “
is know, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”
Now, beloved friends, the more you search the Scriptures,
the more you will nd these great leading principles clearly
brought out. But the professing church refuses to see
them; and this is connected with what I pointed out at
the outset, that everything which in God’s great scheme
is trusted to man is a failure. It was while men slept, that
the enemy came and sowed the tares, and then we have
the positive revelation that the church, not continuing in
God’s goodness, will be cut o. erefore the notion that
the outward church of God, after having become corrupt,
will again be set right, is an entire delusion-I say outward
church of God; for, as regards individuals, what is revealed
on this point is only a reason for greater faithfulness on
their part. at is another question altogether.
As regards the duty of individuals, Scripture gives
plenty of directions about that, even when speaking of the
last days, when there shall be a form of godliness and a
denial of the power thereof. From such, says the Spirit, turn
away. It will be with the saints as with Elijah-there never
will be a time when individually they will have a greater
consciousness of the power of Christ, than in the time of
general declension.
at, however, is not the point; the question is as to
the outward manifestation and outward eect in the world.
Men have comforted themselves with the thought of an
invisible church, forgetting that it is said, “ Ye are the light
of the world.” Of what value is an invisible light? It is
said, “ let your light so shine before men “; that is, let your
profession of Christianity be so distinct “ that they may
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
389
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.”
And now, beloved friends, take this lesson with you,
that, during this time of God’s forbearance, until He
comes forth to execute judgment, a deep responsibility is
laid upon each of us. Let each man take heed how and
what he believes. Keep in mind that it is by false doctrines
that Satan has corrupted the church-by Judaism, by the
worship of saints, and by all sorts of errors. We have not
time to enumerate them all; but it is by the introduction of
these false and heretical doctrines that Satan has succeeded
in corrupting Christianity: so much so, that, if you wished
to look for really the darkest characters of evil, you would
have to go among Christians to nd it-of course Christians
merely in name I mean, but yet those who boast that theirs
is the only true Christianity in the world.
I only add now this thought-how important it is, if we
are approaching these scenes of judgment, that we should
understand correctly what is the destiny of the church,
instead of imagining that all is to go on rightly until the
whole world is lled with blessedness! How important it
is that we should understand that this mystery of iniquity,
already at work in the apostle’s days, is to go on until God
leaves the bridle loose, as it were, for the whole power
of evil to do its worst; that the evil is working until the
saints are taken up to meet the Lord in the air, and then
the power of Satan will begin to work! is surely is a
solemn thought for me, if I care for the church, how I have
discharged my own responsibility, when the question is
put, as in Jeremiah, “ Where is the ock that was given
thee, thy beautiful ock? what wilt thou say when he shall
punish thee? “ Read the Acts, and see what Christendom
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
390
is now, and say what likeness there is. Ask not only, Is there
the doctrine? but Where is the practice now? Yet the Lord
is faithful. And, when judgment comes, the Lord, having
bought the eld, has got the treasure safe, and He has kept
it safe all the while.
We shall afterward take up that part of our subject which
connects God’s dealings with the world, more particularly
with the Jews. But, meanwhile, the Lord give us to lay this
to heart-the dierence between what is called the church,
the outward thing, and what the church really ought to
be. And let us see what our own characters are, if there
is anything in us which is an adequate fruit of the travail
of the Son of God, and of the coming down of the Holy
Ghost as the Comforter and Sanctier. It is best always, in
making application of these truths, to begin with ourselves.
Let us see, then, whether in our hearts we love and care
for Christ, and about the condition in which the church of
God is, or whether we are deceiving ourselves by imagining
that it is in a proper condition to set the world right. I do
not doubt that the Holy Ghost is remarkably working now.
From the rst time these things broke in upon my mind I
have always expected that the Spirit of God would work;
and I bless God that He is doing so much at this time. Yet
I feel assured, from what I nd in the Scriptures, that it is
by judgment that this working is to be followed.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
391
62493
Lectures on the Second
Coming of Christ
Lecture 6
ON Daniel 2:19-49; Daniel 7
I have to read this chapter, dear friends, because it gives
an outline of a part of prophecy of which other parts of
Scripture are the detail. We began with the church’s having
a sure and certain hope, through the never changing
promise of God, of being caught up to be forever with
Christ before He comes to judge the world; and we saw
that the looking and longing (where the heart is truly for
Christ) for His coming again is the bright and cheering
inuence of the Christian’s path. Last evening we saw the
professing church looked at as in the world (that which
is called the church) to be at last utterly rejected of God,
fearfully judged for its corruption, or spued out of Christ’s
mouth as nauseous.
When we turn to the ways of God on the earth, we have
seen that His direct government had always been exercised
with the Jews as a center. Providential government He
always exercises. He makes all things work together for
good to those that love Him. Not a sparrow falls to the
ground without Him who is our Father. But when we come
to direct government, the immediate dealings with men on
the earth according to their conduct, and the direct public
interference of God to show His ways on earth, then the
Jews come on the scene and are the pivot round which
those ways turn. But they, when fully displayed, extend
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
392
necessarily to the Gentiles, who surround them and ll the
earth, the great body of whom have now long oppressed
them. Hence, the same passages which refer to the Jews
refer to the Gentiles also, as those who come up before
God when He begins that government in which the Jews
have the rst and principal place on earth. ese passages.
I will now refer to, some of which, by reason of what I have
just noticed, have already been quoted in reference to the
Jews.
But, before doing so, I must point out two classes of
Gentiles to which they refer, in respect of whom there are
two very distinct classes of prophecy in Scripture: that
which refers to those who were enemies of the Jews when
God was there with them on the earth-when He owned
them, or will hereafter again own them as His people; and
that which refers to those who oppress them when they are
not-when God has written on them Lo-ammi, “ not my
people,” and the times of the Gentiles have begun. ese
are entirely distinct. We get certain powers dealt with
which are outside Israel, and are their enemies when the
presence of God and His throne are still in the midst of
that people, and the representatives of whom will be found
in the latter days, when God has taken Israel up again. But
after the Jews turned to idolatry, and, whatever had been
God’s patience, rising up early and sending His prophets
till there was no remedy, He was obliged to give them up
to judgment; He then set up Nebuchadnezzar, and the
times of the Gentiles began; and they are still running
on. e empire passed from Babylon to Persia, and Persia
to Greece; and the Jews were slaves to the Romans when
Christ came-slaves to the Gentiles. eir ecclesiastical
polity was allowed to exist, but the civil power was in the
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
393
hands of their oppressors. ese times of the Gentiles run
on, until Christ executes judgment, until those who were
the oppressors of God’s people when He does not own
them shall be destroyed, and those who are their enemies
outside these oppressors shall be brought to naught at a
time when they think they have got it all their own way;
and then the Jew is set free.
In a word, Scripture shows us that the Jews are the
center of God’s earthly dealings; and that as regards the
Gentiles there are two classes of prophecy, one referring to
the enemies of God’s people when He owns them, and the
other to their oppressors when they are turned o and He
does not own them. Deut. 32 lays the prophetic ground, at
the very origin of their whole history, of all that is to come
to pass. In verse 8, as we have seen when speaking of the
Jews, they arc shown to be the center of His ways. “ When
the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds
of the people [peoples] according to the number of the
children of Israel.” Just connect it now with the general
judgment of the Gentiles. e prophet rst states that after
his decease Israel would corrupt themselves; then he goes
on in verse 21 to the wickedness, the fruit of which is going
on now. In verse 27 He rises above the wickedness so as not
to destroy them, to show that He is God. en he goes on
to the time of His rising up to judgment, leading us to that
of which we are speaking. When Israel is brought utterly
low, He will indeed judge His people, but He will also
repent Himself concerning His servants. His hand, as it is
expressed, takes hold on judgment, rendering vengeance to
His enemies; for such the Gentile powers are found to be,
and apostate Jews too. He makes His arrows drunk with
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
394
blood, and His sword devours esh. Yet this it is brings in
the millennial blessings, when the nations will rejoice with
His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants (a
thing we have not yet accomplished)-will render vengeance
to His adversaries, and, mark the expression, be merciful
to His land and to His people. us we have His people
judged, His servants avenged, His adversaries brought
under vengeance, yet His land and people Israel coming
into mercy, and the Gentiles rejoicing with them-in a
word, judgment, the Lord’s adversaries destroyed, Gentiles
and apostate Jews, His servants avenged, Israel restored,
and the nations blessed with them, but Israel His people.
I will now turn, before distinguishing the enemies of
Israel owned of God, and their oppressors when given up,
to the general testimony of the judgment of the nations,
and then show you the two distinct. Turn to Isa. 66:15,
“ For, behold, the Lord will come with re, and with his
chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with ames of re; for by re and by his
sword will the Lord plead with all esh.” We have the
great general fact of the judgment of the nations; and, if
you turn to verses 6-14, you will see the Jews set up again.
“ For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to
her [Jerusalem] like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles
like a owing stream “ (v. 12). en you get the ungodly
Jews in verse 17, and thence to verse 24 the manifestation
of Jehovah’s glory, those that escape the judgment that
accompanies it going o to the nations and announcing
the appearing of that glory, and bringing back the scattered
Jews to Jerusalem. I get, then, thus the great fact that the
Lord comes to judge all esh; and those He nds interfering
with Israel He cuts o.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
395
Now turn to Psa. 9 and 10. ey celebrate the judgment
and destruction of the enemies of Israel in the land. e
Psalmist introduces the whole subject in verses 4 and 5,
“ For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou
satest in the throne judging right. ou hast rebuked
the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast
put out their name forever and ever … that I may show
forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion:
I will rejoice in thy salvation. e heathen are sunk down
in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is
their own foot taken. e Lord is known by the judgment
which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of
his own hands. e wicked shall be turned into hell and
all the nations that forget God “ (v. 14-17). “ e Lord is
king forever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his
land,” Psalm io: 16. ese are the two psalms which, after
speaking of the rejection of Christ as King in Zion, and His
taking the character of universal headship as Son of man
in Psa. 8, bring in the whole testimony of the Psalms, the
state and feelings of the remnant of Israel in the last days,
and the judgment which God executes upon the Gentiles.
Hence, remark, it is that we nd in the Psalms these
appeals to judgment, and demands for it, which have
often stumbled Christians, when urged by the enemies
of Christianity. ey are not the expression of Christian
feelings. We leave the world and go to heaven. In no sense
have we to demand the destruction of our enemies in order
to pass into glory. But Israel cannot have their rest on
earth until the wicked are destroyed; and therefore they do
demand this righteous judgment, and this is the way they
will be delivered.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
396
To pursue our subject: turn to Jer. 25 is is a remarkable
chapter; but rst I will give you a few verses from the end
of Isa. 24:16: to show the connection with Israel I will read
from verse 13: “ When thus it shall be in the midst of the
land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of
an olive tree: and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage
is done: they shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for
the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the res, even the name
of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the
uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory
to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe
unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, 0 inhabitant
of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who eeth
from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he
that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken
in the snare: for the windows from on high are open and
the foundations of the earth do shake. e earth is utterly
broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is
moved exceedingly.” ere you get the world reeling like a
drunkard under the terrible judgment of God, and (v. 21,
22) we see the judgment of the powers of evil on high, the
prince of the power of the air and his angels, and of the
kings of the earth on the earth; and then the Lord reigning
in Zion and before His ancients gloriously.
Now turn to Jer. 25:15, “ For thus saith the Lord God
of Israel unto me: Take the wine cup of this fury at my
hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to
drink it.” He speaks of the various nations in that way, and
then goes on from verse 29 to 33 to declare the universal
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
397
judgment of the heathen, describing the terrible coming
down of Jehovah in judgment upon them.
Turn now to Mic. 5:15. “ And I will execute vengeance
in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not
heard.” But then, too, Israel is blessed and re-established in
power in verses 7, 8, and that through Christ, great to the
ends of the earth (v. 4, 5). “ And he shall stand and feed
in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of
the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he
be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall
be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land:
and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise
against him seven shepherds and eight principal men.”
Turn to Joel 3:9-17. “ Proclaim ye this among the
Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men; let all
the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your
plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into
spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves,
and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together
round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down,
0 Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the
valley of Jehoshaphat [Jehoshaphat means judgment of
Jehovah]: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round
about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get
you down; for the press is full, the fats overow; for their
wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley
of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley
of decision. e sun and the moon shall be darkened, and
the stars shall withdraw their shining. e Lord also shall
roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and
the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will
be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
398
of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem
be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any
more.”
What makes this passage additionally important is,
that Jerusalem is brought back to blessing and never to be
trodden down again, no strangers shall pass through her
any more, but the Gentiles who helped on her aiction are
destroyed forever. In the time of Nebuchadnezzar, when
Jerusalem was in trouble, and again when Titus besieged
and took it, the Gentiles were not destroyed at all. When
Cyrus sent back a remnant to Jerusalem, they remained
captive, and strangers are yet in Jerusalem. Again we
nd here all the nations gathered together, the Gentiles
destroyed, and the Jews set up.
Zeph. 3:3 to end: Jehovah’s determination is to gather
all the nations. ey are to be devoured by the re of His
jealousy. Here again, too, we nd that Israel will never be
cast out again. He will bring back their captivity and make
them the praise among all the people. He will cast out their
enemy. ey will not see evil any more. Jehovah is in the
midst of Jerusalem, God will rest in His love. I will turn to
one more passage before I show the dierence between the
two classes of enemies to Israel.
Hag. 2:5-9: “ According to the word that I covenanted
with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth
among you: fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens,
and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will
shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come:
and I will ll this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
e silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
399
hosts. e glory of this latter house [properly, the latter
glory of this house] shall be greater than of the former,
saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace,
saith the Lord of hosts.” e apostle quotes this passage
in the epistle to the Hebrews, showing that it has not yet
come. “ See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if
they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth,
much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him
that speaketh from heaven.” He is urging them not to rest
on earthly and created things, showing that that time of
universal shaking of the rst and changeable creation was
yet to come, declaring that all would be shaken and pass
away.
Let us now take a review of scripture as to the two
classes of Israel’s enemies of which I have spoken. e
chief enemy of Israel, while Israel was still owned of
God before the captivity of Babylon, was the Assyrian.
ere had been others, as Syria, but Syria succumbed to
the Assyrian. Egypt then sought to ll the scene of the
world, and came up, conquered Judea, and met the power
of Babylon at Carchemish; but its power was broken, and
Nebuchadnezzar became the head of gold over the whole
earth, and the times of the Gentiles began, which are still
running on, and will till the Lord takes His great power and
reigns. No doubt the Jews came back, or a small remnant of
them, from Babylon, to present Messiah to them. But they
were so wicked and perversely idolatrous that God had
given them up to captivity, and, even when in their land on
their return, they were subject to the Gentiles. God’s glory
and His throne were no longer amongst them. When they
came back, they never got the Shekinah (the Shekinah
was the cloud that manifested the presence of God). ey
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
400
had no longer the ark, or the Urim and ummim. What
constituted the witness of God’s presence was gone, and
these things were never restored. ere are the times of the
Gentiles still; the four beasts constituted the times of the
Gentiles. And this, as to the earth, was of the last possible
importance. e throne of God ceased to be on the earth.
Prophecy, indeed, remained till the outward order was
restored; but it is remarkable that the post-captivity prophets
never set aside the judgment pronounced in Hosea-” Ye are
not my people.” ey never call the Jews God’s people in
their then standing, doing so only when they prophesy of
that future day when they will be restored to the divine
favor, which is yet to come. Finally, when Christ came, He
was rejected, and sat down on His Father’s throne, and the
divine power and glory is wholly above, the object of faith
to the believing soul. e people whom God had called,
and who had God’s throne among them, were wholly cut
o, though preserved.
Well, the throne of God had ceased on the earth at the
beginning of these times of the Gentiles; and therefore,
in Daniel you never get the God of the earth, but the
God of heaven, because He was not there with them. e
departure of God from the direct government of the earth
with Israel for the center, His throne being in their midst,
sitting between the cherubim, as it is said, and His return to
the government of the earth, are of immense importance.
In Ezekiel we see His judgment on Jerusalem. God
comes (Nebuchadnezzar being the instrument), God
comes on the cherubim in the way of providence (those
wheels which were so high-they were dreadful), spares
His own whom He has marked and gives up the rest to
destruction. He executes judgment, leaves them, and goes
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
401
into heaven. e Gentiles are left to rule, subject to God’s
providence and nal judgment; Israel, with God’s throne
in their midst, is set aside.
Four great empires arise successively-Babylon, Persia,
Greece, and Rome. e Roman Empire, while devastating
everywhere, does not succeed in getting all nations under
its power, but continues the great power of the world till
the judgment, though in a special form.
en the Assyrian comes on the scene again at the close;
that is, geographically what is now Turkey in Asia and part
of Persia, but in the last days Assyria will appear on the
scene in the Russian power, according to the testimony
of Ezek. 38 and 39 (a passage applied to this power one
hundred and fty years ago by the elder Lowth, before the
present question arose). And the world, as connected with
Israel and God’s ultimate purposes on the earth, is divided
into Western Europe and the basin of the Mediterranean,
the Roman Empire, and Eastern Europe or the Russian.
ese two are never confounded in Scripture. e Assyrian
was the power that warred against Israel when God owned
them, and the other the power that oppressed and held
them captive when they were not owned.
Now in Isaiah and the pre-captivity prophets you
get the Assyrian all through, the beast being scarcely
mentioned (once “ the king,” so as to complete the scene;
and even that, I apprehend, as a subordinate ally of the
beast). Whereas in Daniel you do not get the Assyrian,
unless, possibly, obscurely in one chapter, and then not as
such, the same thing being true of Zechariah, save that all
nations are mentioned in both in a general way, brought as
sheaves to the oor when rising up against Jerusalem. us
far I have been speaking of the general judgment. Now,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
402
having distinguished between the beasts and the Assyrian
power of the latter day, we have to cite those which apply
to them distinctively.
Turning to Daniel, you get fully the beasts, but not the
Assyrian. Let us examine rst the chapter I read. Here
we have Nebuchadnezzar the head of gold, the Persian
Empire denoted by silver, the Grecian by brass, the Roman
by iron (while the iron and clay represent the present state
of things). en after these last were formed, a stone is
cut out without hands (God’s sovereign work), smites
the image, when all becomes as the cha of the summer
threshing oor, and no place is found for them; and then
the stone that smote the image became a great mountain
which lled the whole earth.
ere is not here, remark, a trace of inuence exercised
over the previous component parts of the image so as
to produce a change of character. e notion is that
Christianity will spread and pervade these countries.
Now the stone does not grow at all till they are entirely
destroyed. ere is no inuence exercised, no modication
takes place, no change at all is spoken of here. e little
stone destroys all before it increases. It is the stone which
has smitten the image, which grows.
What we have got here is the coming of Christ’s
kingdom in judgment, and a total destruction of the
empires which preceded its action. at action was on
the last, and more particularly on the toes of iron and
clay-the last form which this image took, looked at in its
geographical distribution on earth, and in the condition
of its parts, partly strong, partly broken. What gives its
specic character to the gure is, that the stone does not
grow at all until it has done all these things, and after it has
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
403
nished its work of judgment and destruction, it grows to
be a great mountain.
What is going on now is not this. Christ has ascended
up on high and He waits, in the spirit of grace, sitting on
the right hand of His Father’s throne, while the saints, His
co-heirs, the church, is gathering out of the world; until,
at the moment known to God alone, He rises up from the
Father’s throne, then to take to Him His great power and
reign, His enemies being now put under His feet.
Turn now to the interpretation itself, which is perfectly
clear on this point. Power in the world is entrusted to man
in the person of Nebuchadnezzar; three empires succeed
his, and at the end, though there be a strength in the last
which breaks in pieces and subdues all around it, yet a
conict of principles characterizes its latter form (I have
little doubt the Teutonic and Latin elements); and it is
partly strong and partly broken. But then the close comes,
verse 44: “ And in the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:
and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and
it shall stand forever.”
You will remember, beloved friends, that on the last
evening we saw the general outline of God’s dealings
with the Gentiles, in connection with His chosen earthly
people, the Jews (they being the center of all God’s earthly
dealings). First, that at the restoration of the Jews there
would be the judgment of the Gentiles, the nations being
divided into two classes, those that were enemies to God’s
people when God owned them and had His throne in their
midst, and those who led them captive and oppressed them
when God did not own them. Both will be cast out from
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
404
the seat of power. It is evident that, as regards the world,
it is an all-important fact, God’s taking His throne from
it. When that took place, He was no longer the God of
the earth, though He over-rules all things providentially,
but does not exercise direct government as in Israel when
His throne was there. Hence Daniel calls Him the God
of heaven, and it is not until He comes to judge the world
that He takes His name of God of the earth, Lord of the
whole earth. (See Zech. 14.) e time during which God
gives up His throne on the earth is called “ the times of the
Gentiles.” During these times the Jews, who were taken
captive and made slaves to Nebuchadnezzar, have ceased
to be God’s people as a present position, and are always
subject to the Gentiles, and the times of the Gentiles
run on till He comes to take vengeance. en He takes
them up again, casting out (as we saw before) those who
oppressed them when they were not owned, and those who
were enemies when they were owned and His throne was
in their midst.
e distinction of these two classes is important to
us because we are in the times of the Gentiles. In the
prophecies there is never the slightest confusion between
the two. e Assyrian, and nally Gog, is the great enemy of
Israel when the people is owned, the four beasts or Gentile
empires their oppressors when they are not. e prophets
up to the captivity and Ezekiel speak of the former, Daniel
and Zechariah of the latter, to which (when we come to the
New Testament) we must add Revelation. e whole New
Testament history is under the last beast.
e rst, fullest, and most general account of these is
in chapter 7 of Daniel, which we have read. If we turn to
it now for a moment, we shall see that it is divided into
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
405
portions by the terms “ I saw in the night visions.” First,
we have, verses 1-6, the fact of the four great empires and
a brief account of three; the next division, beginning with
verses 7-12, a particular description of the fourth beast,
and then a throne set up and judgment. Verse 13 begins
another division, in which the kingdom is given to the Son
of man. After this we have the explanation given to Daniel
by the angel, in which the condition of the saints under the
beasts and particularly the last beast, and, nally under the
Son of man, is given. ey are beasts as having lost their
intelligence towards God, not owning Him, and doing
their own will in ravening power as far as they can. Of this
the madness of Nebuchadnezzar was a gure.
e rst three great empires are, Babylon (the head of
gold); the bear, Persia (silver); the leopard, Grecian (brass).
On these I do not dwell: they are past. e fourth beast,
described as we have seen apart more particularly, is the
Roman; you nd him represented as erce and powerful,
tearing and devouring-not simple conquest, but putting all
down under it, treading down what it did not devour; and
where has not Western Europe sought to place its power?
But, which is far more important still, we nd direct
antagonism to God.
Verses 7, 8: “ After this I saw in the night visions, and
behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong
exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and
brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of
it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it;
and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold,
there came up among them another little horn, before
whom there were three of the rst horns plucked up by the
roots, and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
406
man, and a mouth speaking great things.” You will remark
that there is a special power here (a horn, the symbol of
power or a kingdom); before it three of the kingdoms fall.
Its general character is given here. We shall see the details
farther on. It has eyes of man: eyes here mean intelligence,
insight into things. His mouth speaks great things, saying,
Who is Lord over us? Nor is this all-that his lips are his
own, as the psalm speaks; but he will not allow of God.
“ I beheld till the thrones were cast down [here with
the LXX and best judges we must read “ set,” which falls
in with the sense indeed of the whole passage], and the
Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was
like the ery ame, and his wheels as burning re. A ery
stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand
thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times
ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and
the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice
of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even
till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given
to the burning ame.” e rst three powers, you may
remark, had their dominion taken away (their power was
destroyed), but subsisted afterward as subject kingdoms;
whereas, when the Roman Empire is put an end to, it is
destroyed utterly.
To this we must now turn. It has an importance which
none of the others have, though Babylon has a special
character. It was the Roman Empire that was in power
when Christ was born and took part in His rejection
through Pilate, and hereafter they will join Antichrist
when he comes. e prophet regards till the thrones are set
and the Ancient of days sits. e Roman Empire will then
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
407
subsist, and, whatever its form or its apparent subversion,
is not supplanted by any other beast till the judgment
comes. e prophet beholds till the thrones are set and the
Ancient of days sits. is is an important element in the
fourth beast’s history; the consequence is, that it is utterly
destroyed when it ceases to be an empire.
Remark, too, the clear proof we have of what I drew
your attention to as so important in speaking of chapter
2, namely, that the kingdom is not assumed by the Son
of man till the judgment is executed. He may and will
destroy the beast by His power; but it is only when it is
destroyed that His own kingdom is established. It cannot
be along with evil. is is the question of the expectant
and suering Jew in Psa. 94:20. It is not now, but after the
judgment, that the growth of Christ’s kingdom takes place.
He is sitting at the right hand of God, but comes thence to
take the kingdom with glory and power; He is gathering
in now the joint-heirs.
Next, we nd here that what is brought out as the cause
of this judgment is the great words of blasphemy of the
little horn. ere cannot be a more denite statement
that the glory and kingdom of Christ is consequent on
the judgment. I insist upon this, because it bears upon
everything we are treating of, and determines our whole
view of the nature of Christ’s kingdom. ere is no change
in the principle of sin, in the rst Adam, but it goes on to
the end. It was lawless at the beginning, breaking law when
law was given, rose up against the Lord in hatred to God
when He was made esh and dwelt among us; and, Satan
having throughout corrupted the church as we have seen,
his power is allowed to unfold itself in the beasts, and in
the last beast ripens to a head, and leads the kings of this
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
408
earth to make war with the Lamb (the lawless one, the
man of sin, being then openly revealed). Our portion, as we
have seen, is in the Lord, nor will the fruitful power of His
grace towards us cease till we shall be like Himself.
But though the kings of the earth stand up together,
and the rulers take counsel together, yet God will set His
King upon His holy hill of Zion. Here, however, the aspect
of His power is somewhat dierent, He is seen as Son
of man, a term of wider dominion than Son of David, in
which Psa. 2 views Him; but even there the heathen are
given to Him for an inheritance, and He breaks them in
pieces like a potter’s vessel.
e dierence is this, that here the kingdom is given
and possessed as a dominion, in Psa. 2 it is established by
judicial power.
We now come to the interpretation in which this very
judgment is spoken of, some immensely important truths
besides being brought out. In the prophecy nothing had
been said of the saints, heavenly or earthly: here we shall
nd both- I do not say the church, but still heavenly saints.
Indeed, when God’s mind is thus given, and not merely
the outward facts, the connection of these events with the
saints is the principal point. Verse 17, “ ese great beasts,
which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of
the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the
kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever
and ever.” e saints will do it, not the Son of man only.
Verse 21, “ I beheld, and the same horn made war with
the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient
of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the
Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed
the kingdom.”
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
409
Here you will rst remark the extremely important
point that the Ancient of days Himself comes. For though
Christ, as man, is gone to receive a kingdom and to return;
yet the Son of man is the Ancient of days. So it is said
in Timothy that the King of kings and the Lord of lords
would show Christ in glory. But in the Revelation Christ
comes as King of kings and Lord of lords; and I may add,
in another relationship, the traits of the Ancient of days in
Daniel are found in the Son of man who walks in the midst
of the golden candlesticks. He is there distinctly both-Son
over His own house who built all things.
Another term calls for remark here-the saints of the
Most High; or, as in the margin, heavenly places, which
we nd again in Ephesians as the place of the saints; yet
it is immediately connected with the name God takes as
possessor of heaven and earth. It is not here the church, but
all the saints who have their dwelling in heavenly places in
connection with the kingdom, yet in a state of eternal glory.
God took the name of God Almighty in relationship with
Abraham, of Jehovah with Israel, of Father, in grace, with
us. us Abraham was to be perfect, walking before God
Almighty: Israel was to be perfect with Jehovah their God.
We are called to be perfect as our Father which is in heaven
is perfect. We are before God as Christ; but as He is in us,
we are called to display the divine nature, to be imitators
of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ loved
us. But the name of Most High is the expression of God’s
sovereign dominion, above all that is called God, the
Supreme. So, when Abraham returned from the slaughter
of the kings (gure of Israel’s deliverance and nal victory
in the latter day), Melchizedek (the gure of Christ as
King and Priest, Priest upon His throne in the world to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
410
come, King of righteousness, King of peace) comes forward
and blesses Abraham on the part of the Most High God
possessor of heaven and earth, and blesses the Most High
in Abraham’s name. In our chapter the saints have their
name in connection with this; and indeed it is applied to
God (with the dierence then of being singular, instead of
plural).
Meanwhile tribulation and trial is the portion of
those on earth. e little blasphemous horn who speaks
such great things makes war with the saints. is is the
general character. Of course they must be down here.
ose on high he can only blaspheme. I do not believe
this little horn to be Antichrist; the source of persecution
is ever the traditional religious power. Antichrist will be
in direct association with him and urges him to it: of this
hereafter. But this is the last active power of evil in the
Roman Empire or beast whose names of blasphemy are on
it: of this also farther on. is persecution will continue till
God’s power interferes. is is stated in a very important
verse: he prevails till the Ancient of days came (here we see
that the Son of man is the Ancient of days, for we know
that the Son of man comes); and thus a total change takes
place, judgment is given to the saints of the high places,
and the time is come that the saints possess the kingdom.
He does not say saints of the Most High here, for on earth
and in blessing the earthly saints will possess the kingdom,
as in Matt. 25; but judgment is given only to the saints of
the Most High. e Ancient of days then comes, judgment
is given to the heavenly saints (compare Rev. 20:4, where
we read that judgment was given unto them, and they live
and reign with Christ a thousand years), and the saints
possess the kingdom.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
411
When will Christians learn their place? He is never
called our King, but He is the King of the nations, of the
world. We reign with Him. Nothing is so hard as to get the
saints to accept the place they have in Christ-to know that
in Him, through the price of His own most precious blood,
they are one with Him in God’s sight and purpose now,
and (after having been caught up to Him in the clouds, as
we have already seen in a previous lecture) will come with
Him when He comes to judge the nations.
But I pursue the explanation. Verse 24, “ And the ten
horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise,
and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse
from the rst, and he shall subdue three kings. 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.” Most High, the
rst time it is mentioned here, is God Himself. “ Times
and laws “ refer to Jews entirely; the words are terms which
refer to their statutes and ordinances. ese (not the saints)
are given into his hands. God never gives His saints into
their enemies’ hands, though He may use these as a rod.
When that time comes, the beast at rst makes his
covenant with Israel, according to Dan. 9:27-rst joins
with them, then breaks with them, and makes the sacrice
and oblation to cease. All the Jewish order which had been
set up in pride will be completely upset, as in Isa. 18 “ ey
shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and
to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon
them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon
them.” ey are brought into such trouble as never was
since there was a nation, no, nor ever will be. It is the time,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
412
times, and half a time-the great tribulation. e verse gives
in few words, but precisely, the state of things when the
little horn is wearing out the saints of God.
41
Satan will be
cast out of heaven and have come down, as we have seen,
in great rage, having but a short time. Before that period
everything is given into the power of the beast. en the
Lord, the Ancient of days, who is come, takes all into His
hands. “A short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”
For the judgment shall sit; the kingdom shall be given to
the people of the saints of the Most High-that is, to the
Jewish people, now brought into connection with the rule
of heaven, and secured by it.
In order to get that clear a little, we turn to the Revelation,
for there we nd the history of this beast unfolded in
chapter 13. I shall refer to it fully farther on; here, only to
notice its character and what it is. It is the Roman beast,
with seven heads and ten horns. It receives its power from
the dragon, blasphemes God and those in heaven, and
makes war with the saints. It is ministered to spiritually by
the deceitful power of Satan. It is the instrument of Satan’s
power in the earth when he is cast out of heaven. Already,
as the dragon, the Romans had joined in rejecting Christ.
e Roman beast is the only one which has done it in the
person of Pilate. But then Christ owned the power as of
God, as it was. He said “ ou couldest have no power at
all against me except it were given thee from above “ (John
19:1), though Satan’s inuence, as prince of this world,
was guiding the use of that power. en judgment was on
one side, perfect righteousness on the other. When Christ
41 “ e saints of the Most High “ here, I do not doubt, are
specially those spoken of in the last part of Rev. 20:4, who,
refusing to worship the beast, will, being killed, have their place
on high.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
413
comes again, judgment will return to righteousness. ey
will be reconciled in one, as it is in Psa. 94 “ e Lord will not
cast o his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
But judgment shall return unto righteousness, and all the
upright in heart shall follow it.” Till then the saints must
not expect it. God may hold the reins and control to His
own purposes the powers that be whom He has ordained-
may give thus all quietness, as we surely experience it and
have to thank Him for; but we must not expect the motives
of government to be righteousness as God sees it. It is the
time to do well, suer for it, and take it patiently, as Jesus
did; and when God looses the reins to evil, when Satan is
come to the earth, then the full true character of evil power
from Satan will be manifested. “ e dragon gave him his
power, and his seat and great authority,” Rev. 13:2. Such is
the Roman beast in its nal state during the time, times,
and half a time.
e distinct and denite place and character of this
period become as plain as possible if we consult the end of
Dan. 9 e prophet receives from the heavenly messenger
the assurance that the Jews will be restored. “ Know,
therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the
Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore
and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times: and after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut o and shall have nothing,” as
in margin; “ not ‘ for himself’ “ is not the sense. “ And he
shall conrm covenant with the many for one week, and in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrice and the
oblation to cease.” First, seven weeks, during which time
Jerusalem is rebuilt, then sixty-two weeks-making sixty-
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
414
nine weeks-Messiah was cut o; but there was a week or
part of one left. After the close of the sixty-ninth week
Messiah was cut o, and He took nothing. ereupon the
Jewish nation, instead of being restored, was completely
subverted. So we nd in Luke, “ 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 fullled.”
e last week thus remains. In the rst half indeed
Messiah was there, but rejected by the nation and owned
only by the remnant. At the end Antichrist is owned by the
nation, rejected by the remnant. e beast makes a covenant
with the Jews for that week, but breaks it in the midst of
the week, the half-week remains unaccomplished. You get
then three and a half years that remain to be accomplished,
when abominations (i.e., idolatry) will overspread the
Jewish people, the times and laws will be changed. At that
very time Satan is come down (in chapter 12 of Revelation),
and the woman, the true remnant in Jerusalem, ees into
the wilderness for a time, times, and half a time. is is
Daniel’s half-week. You get it thus perfectly clear. e
remnant owned Christ, but the Jews did not. You get the
sixty-nine weeks, and then a long parenthesis in which
Christ is set aside and the Jews on the earth, “ desolations
being determined,” which goes on until the time of the
Gentiles is fullled. During this period the church, the
heavenly thing, is called.
us the time we are in is not reckoned at all. So the
prophets (who do not speak of the times of the Gentiles as
Daniel does) pass it over altogether and connect Christ’s
second coming to earth with His rst. We have a very
remarkable proof of this from the Lord Himself, when
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
415
quoting from Isaiah 6i: “ e Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up
the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” e prophet
adds, “ and the day of vengeance of our God.” is Christ
does not read, though in the same sentence, but stops short
in the midst of a sentence, when He had read as far as “ to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” and then ceased. “
He closed the book, and sat down,” because the remaining
part of the prophecy extended beyond the period in which
they then were, and in which we still are, to a time which is
yet to come-the time of vengeance of the Lord.
All this time the interval in the midst of Daniel’s week
runs on without being counted. We do not count by time
in heaven, and this is the time of the heavenly calling. is
is evident from the passage in Daniel o, for the weeks go on
to sixty-nine; then all is vague to the one week at the end;
but as soon as ever God takes the Jews up again, Daniel’s
week begins again. If you apply therefore the time, times,
and half a time, or the forty-two months, or the twelve
hundred and sixty days (which are precisely the same time,
three hundred and sixty days being counted to a year, and
the ve intercalary days or next days being left out), to the
intervening epoch, you are necessarily on false ground. I
believe there is an analogy, as there are many Antichrists
though they are not the Antichrist, proving in a moral
sense we have been in the last days since the apostle’s time.
But the moment you come to be precise, it all falls to the
ground, although there is an analogy. e counting of time
belongs entirely to the Jews, and the three years and a half
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
416
begin to run when they are again on the scene, when Satan
has been cast down, and the beast has assumed a diabolical
character-is come up out of the abyss.
If you take Rev. 13 you get the details of this beast. “
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his
feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth
of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat,
and great authority “ (v. 2). ere I get the direct authority
of Satan. e saints of the Most High did not take the
kingdom then: we shall be caught up and be entirely out
of the way of that power of evil. “ And I saw one of his
heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound
was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast “
(v. 3). I do not doubt that we get here the imperial head
once destroyed but now revived. “ And they worshipped
the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they
worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast?
who is able to make war with him? “ (v. 4). at is, the
direct power of Satan, as dominant, is publicly owned,
and the Roman Imperial beast thus restored carries all
the world enthusiastically after it. “ And there was given
unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies;
and power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against
God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them
that dwell in heaven “ (v. 5, 6). Mark here, he cannot touch
them in heaven, but he blasphemes them. Satan had been
cast out, he was no longer an accuser, and those above he
can only blaspheme. ere will be some who will have a
place in heaven, and whose hearts are weaned from earth,
whom he will injure. ose whom he can hurt and kill will
be taken up, or they would have lost earthly blessings by
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
417
their faithfulness, and not get heavenly ones. Such there
will be, who refuse to worship him. But this is a detail into
which I do not enter here, as our subject is the Gentile
powers and their judgment. But “ all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose names are not written from
the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb
that was slain “ (verse 8-for such I have no doubt is the true
force of the passage). Complete power (only God preserves
a remnant) is in the hands of Satan and his instruments.
But, connected with this, we have now another power
coming out of the earth. “ And I beheld another beast
coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a
lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” In this, I have no doubt, we
have the Antichrist, or false Messiah, the direct exercise of
Satan’s falsehood on earth; he is not a priest, or anti-priest,
here; that he exercised in heaven. He is a false prophet
(compare chap. 19: 2o), and he has two horns like a lamb.
Horns are the power of a kingdom; and he sets up to have
that like the Lamb. He pretends to the power of Messiah’s
kingdom and to be the hoped for king; but when his voice
was heard, it was evidently Satan’s. Antichrist denies the
Father and the Son (i.e., Christianity); he openly denies its
truths, and he openly denies that Jesus is the Christ; the
rst, so to speak, the Jewish form of Christianity, though
ever, of course true, but what a Jew was and will be called on
to own. “ And he exerciseth all the power of the rst beast
before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell
therein to worship the rst beast, whose deadly wound was
healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh re
come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men
“ (v. 12, 13).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
418
How solemn this, as the power of delusion, remark. It
was the proof Elijah gave that Jehovah was the true God,
not Baal. Here this active power of Satan is showing by
the same sign that his witness is to be received, and that
they are to own the beast and worship him, and they are
so given up that they do believe the lie. We have seen
elsewhere that he did falsely what Christ did to prove
His mission. He leads them thus further to open denial of
Christ, denies Christianity altogether, and says he is Christ
himself; but, at the same time, leads them by these means
into idolatry, and to make an image to the restored beast, “
and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means
of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of
the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they
should make an image to the beast, which had the wound
by a sword, and did live: and he had power to give [not life,
none can do that but God, but] breath unto the image of
the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak
and cause that as many as would not worship the image of
the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark
in their right hand or in their foreheads “ (v. 14-16): that is,
he forces them to be his avowed slaves, and make an open
profession of his service.
In sum, we have a second beast, using diabolical spiritual
energy, and playing into the hands of the beast who held
his throne from Satan. You get a kind of trinity of evil and
resurrection. e dragon gives the throne to the beast, as
the Father to Christ; and the second beast exercises in
spiritual energy the power of the rst beast in his presence,
as the Holy Ghost with Christ. is is the fruit of the
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
419
falling away-the apostasy of Christianity. So the rst beast
was slain and his deadly wound is healed.
In chapter 17 we have other aspects of the beast, or
Gentile power. e empire is given, but it will ascend out
of the bottomless pit, become denitely diabolical, and go
into perdition. “ And here is the mind which hath wisdom.
e seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman
sitteth. And there are seven kings [forms of power], ve
are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, and
when he cometh he must continue a short space. And the
beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of
the seven, and goeth into perdition “ (v. 9-1 t). at is, ve
forms of government were fallen in the apostle’s time; and
one was the imperial; a sixth was to come and abide a short
time; and the last, who is of the seven, as a form I suppose
imperial, but is an eighth. In this last form he comes out
of the bottomless pit-as a diabolical character. It will be a
Roman emperor; he is the eighth head, and is the beast
(that is, concentrates all the power in his own person).
After him the world, save only the elect, will go, seeing
the long-lost form of power revived in his eighth head.
It is Rome; for the seven heads are seven mountains, on
which the woman sits: of her anon. But another important
element is added, “ And the ten horns which thou sawest
are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast “ (v. 12).
“ One hour with the beast “-mark this, because it is
the denite evidence that it had not been going on since
the fall of the Roman Empire through the inroad of the
northern nations. ose nations broke up, and, for the time,
destroyed the beast -gave it its deadly wound. ese receive
power one hour with the beast: therefore the beast must
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
420
come up again. It existed at the rst without these kings.
en these kings existed without it, and you have the ten
kings without the beast. At the end you get the ten kings
with the beast. Men form schemes; but the moment I get
scripture, I can surely say we have not the beast in this form
yet. What is presented here is subsisting kingdoms, but
kingdoms which have given their power, without ceasing
to be kingdoms, to one head, who leads all as a whole. “
ese shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings:
and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and
faithful.” is beast, with his subordinate kingdoms, rises
up in open hostility against the authority of Christ; while
Christ comes with His armies to judge and destroy them
all. God’s mighty ones come down, the saints come with
Christ. “ And he saith unto me, e waters which thou
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou
sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall
make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her esh, and
burn her with re “ (v. 15, 16).
is introduces us to the judgment of Babylon, of Rome,
of the great whore, the mother of harlots and abominations.
We see, not a spiritual change, but her utter destruction by
the beast and the ten kings-the ruin of priest-craft. ey
pull it all to pieces and devour its wealth and destroy it
utterly, wearied with its dominion and falseness. It had
deserved it. But it is not the power of good. “ For God hath
put in their hearts to fulll his will, and to agree, and give
their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall
be fullled.” It is a perfect riddle how people who profess
to receive the Scripture have invented all sorts of notions
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
421
as to the course of events connected with Christianity in
this world. e moment I come to Scripture, they are all
gone. Men may talk as they like about the steady growth of
religion in the world, and the way in which God’s word will
remove the power of evil from it. It is directly stated, that
when the beast and the horns destroy the corrupt power
which had long ruled them and made the nations drunk
with her fornications, they give their kingdom to the beast.
You will nd at the end of chapter 19 God’s dealings
with the beast (v. 14-20), “ And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in ne
linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp
sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress
of the erceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath
on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of
kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in
the sun: and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the
fowls that y in the midst of heaven, Come and gather
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that
ye may eat the esh of kings, and the esh of captains, and
the esh of mighty men, and the esh of horses, and of
them that sit on them, and the esh of all men, both free
and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and
the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together
to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against
his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and
them that worshipped his image. ese both were cast alive
into a lake of re burning with brimstone.” And the false
prophet, which is the second beast. Verse 21, “ And the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
422
remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon
the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and
all the fowls were lled with their esh “-a strong gure,
drawn from Ezekiel, of judgment and destruction. ere
we see that power has come, not the inuence of the word,
whether law or gospel; but power has come in which puts
down evil power.
In chapter 20 we have a full development of what we
read in Dan. 7 We get in the Revelation the history of
the last beast more fully developed (that is, of the Roman
Empire, which had already rejected Christ when on
earth in conjunction with the Jews). Consequent on the
exaltation of Christ to the right hand of God, the Jews
being set aside as a nation, the church was formed. She
does not belong to the world, but is the bride of Christ in
heavenly places. en when the church is caught up, the
beast which seemed to have been destroyed is found in
a new form-still as such-its deadly wound being healed;
and as he had joined in rejecting Christ, he is now in the
closest connection with Antichrist. At the rst he deals
with the Jews, makes a covenant with them, but in the last
half week of Daniel turns against them, persecutes them,
changes times and laws, makes the sacrice and oblation
to cease. e king, the Antichrist, establishes idolatry, and
divides their land. You read his character in this point of
view in Dan. 11:36: “ And the king shall do according to
his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself
above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against
the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be
accomplished; for that that is determined shall be done.”
In a word, in Daniel, as in the part of Rev. 1 have referred
to, is the testimony of the beast, the last form of the power
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
423
which oppresses Israel when they are captive, and does so
until the Lord comes and delivers, though He judges them.
Now another power, the Assyrian, comes before us,
Israel’s great enemy when God owns them, and who will
also appear on the scene in his last form in the last days,
thinking, when the beast is destroyed, to possess all, but
he comes to his end. In Isaiah to: 5 we read, “ 0 Assyrian,
the rod of mine anger, and the sta in their hand is mine
indignation.” After giving the various instruments which
God has used to chasten Israel, he comes to the last and
terrible invader. at was God’s indignation against the
rebellious people (the indignation describing the last
terrible visitation of God). Compare Isa. 26:20, 21 with
Dan. 11:36, the last words of which are also a technical
expression for the short work which God will, at the end,
make on the earth, as in Dan. 9:27, and this chapter-Isa.
10:23. (Compare Isa. 28:22.) If you look now at verse 25,
you will see what will make the force of it quite clear, “
For yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease,
and mine anger in their destruction.” at is, the whole
judgment of God on Israel-His indignation-is closed in
the destruction of the Assyrian.
Now, beloved friends, we will turn to Isa. 30; but before
we do so, let us, just in passing, look at the passage I have
referred to in chapter 28: 14-16, “ Wherefore hear the
word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people
which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made
a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement,
when the overowing scourge shall pass through, it shall
not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and
under falsehood have we hid ourselves: therefore thus saith
the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
424
a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” at
is, they made, as we have seen, a covenant with the power
of evil, but to no purpose. But the remnant who trusted
the Lord and counted on His promise, though not yet
delivered or knowing redemption as we do, yet looking,
through the testimony then given, to the Son of man, the
Branch whom Jehovah had made so strong for Himself (at
any rate the wise ones of Daniel and all true-hearted ones
resting on such testimonies as this and Isa. 8) did not make
haste or join the Antichrist, while as to the mass, the hopes
they had put in him and the beast are confounded, and
the scourge of this invader ows through. Afterward at the
end, as we see in the following chapter (29), it is exactly the
opposite (v. 4-7); the enemies who were ready to devour are
destroyed.
Now look at the end of chapter 30, and you will nd
this enemy and his end: “ For through the voice of the
Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with
a rod. And in every place where the grounded sta shall
pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with
tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he ght
with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king [or,
as I believe, “ also for the king “1 it is prepared; he hath
made it deep and large; the pile thereof is re and much
wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
doth kindle it.” e grounded sta is God’s decreed rod.
When this is laid on the Assyrian, it is the source of joy and
triumph because of deliverance-the end of the indignation.
Turn now to Mic. 5, where we shall see the connection
of Christ with the judgment of the Assyrian and the
subsequent blessing of Israel. Nothing so laid hold of a
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
425
Rabbi I was conversing with as this passage. Verses 1-9:
“ Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he
hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of
Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting. erefore will he give them up, until
the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth; then
the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children
of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of
the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God;
and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the
ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, when
the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall
tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven
shepherds, and eight principal men. And they shall waste
the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod
in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the
Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he
treadeth within our borders. And the remnant of Jacob
shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the
Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for
man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of
Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many
people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young
lion among the ocks of sheep; who, if he go through, both
treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
ine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and
all thine enemies shall be cut o.”
e rejected Christ is now to be great to the ends of the
earth. He is the peace, secures the peace of Israel, when the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
426
Assyrian (their last rod whose destruction puts an end to the
indignation) is in the land. He will at rst tread in Israel’s
palaces; but at the end Messiah’s power destroys him; and
Israel will be as a lion among the Gentiles, though as the
dew of divine blessing also. e enemies of the Lord will
be cut o. He will judge fully rebellious Israel, indeed, but
execute vengeance and fury upon the heathen such as they
have not heard. At this time, remark, the Jews are owned,
seen in their land, and judged as the people of God there.
Daniel, we have seen, is occupied with the Gentiles
when Israel is in captivity, and Jerusalem and the land
desolate. He brings all these powers to an end, but never
takes up the consequent blessing. His subject is the times
of the Gentiles.
Ezekiel does exactly the contrary. He goes, himself a
captive, up to the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,
and goes then right over to the end, when Israel would be
restored and the enemies go up against them in their land.
We shall turn now to his prophecy, where you will nd
largely developed this other great power. Chapter 38: 1,
2, “ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son
of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against
him.” e chief prince of Meshech is properly interpreted
prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal;
42
and then follow the
names of countries which agree with the names of those
of the present day under the inuence of Rosh (Russia).
You will remark that, in the two preceding chapters, 36
and 37, you have the restoration of the people and divine
42 is translation, of the correctness of which I have no doubt,
is that of the elder Lowth, some hundred and fty years ago,
before these prophetic views were mooted.
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
427
revival of Israel. Now, when restored and quiet in the land,
Gog comes up against them (chap. 38: 8) to plunder and
possess the land; but it is that the heathen may know
Jehovah when He is sanctied in Gog before their eyes
(v. 16). ey will then know by His judgments that He
is Jehovah (v. 23). In chapter 39 God leaves a sixth part
of them, and when judgment is thus executed, God’s holy
name is known in the midst of His people Israel. He will
not let them pollute His holy name any more, “ And the
heathen shall know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One in
Israel.” He then calls on all the fowls of the air to come and
feast on the slaughtered victims whom He has slain for a
sacrice; so many are they that it is seven months before the
land is clean. is also is the one of whom He has spoken
in old times by His servants the prophets, the Assyrian of
the last days, in whom, as these passages plainly show, the
indignation ceases.
Chapter 38: 14-20: “ erefore, son of man prophesy
and say unto Gog, us saith the Lord God, In that day
when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not
know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the
north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them
riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army.
And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a
cloud to cover the land. It shall be in the latter days, and
I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may
know me, when I shall be sanctied in thee, O Gog, before
their eyes. us saith the Lord God, Art thou he of whom
I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of
Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I
would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass
at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
428
Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in
my face. For in my jealousy and in the re of my wrath have
I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in
the land of Israel; so that the shes of the sea, and the fowls
of the heaven, and the beasts of the eld, and all creeping
things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are
upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence; and
the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places
shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.”
Chapter 39: 1-8: “ erefore, thou son of man, prophesy
against Gog, and say, us saith the Lord God; Behold, I
am against thee, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and
Tubal, and I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth
part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north
parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.
And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will
cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. ou shalt
fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,
and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the eld to
be devoured. ou shalt fall upon the open eld: for I have
spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send a re on
Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles:
and they shall know that I am the Lord. So will I make my
holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I
will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the
heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in
Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord
God: this is the day whereof I have spoken.” “ And I will
set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall
see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that
I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
429
that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward “
(v. 21, 22). “ en shall they know that I am the Lord their
God, which caused them to be led into captivity among
the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land,
and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I
hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out
my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God “
(v. 28, 29).
I get here this other fundamental principle: When
Israel is restored, then the heathen themselves-judged
that it may be so-understand that Jehovah, the God of
Israel, is the Most High over all the earth, and submit to
Him. You will see how Psa. 8 expresses this: “ O Jehovah
our Lord,” says Israel, when Christ is set up, not simply
as Son of David, according to Psa. 2, which will indeed
now be accomplished, but as Son of man, “ how excellent
is thy name in all the earth! “ is is the prayer of Psa.
67 I should multiply quotations too much were I to quote
all the Psalms which speak of this. I will allude to a
remarkable series-Psa. 94-100 Psa. 94 calls for judgment;
Psa. 95 summons Israel to repentance; Psa. 96 the heathen
are called to own Jehovah, for He is coming to judge the
world in righteousness; in Psa. 97 He is actually coming in
clouds; in Psa. 98 the Lord is come and has made known
His salvation; in Psa. 99 He is known upon the earth again,
and is sitting between the cherubim; and Psalm too calls
on all nations to come and worship Him now that His
throne is set up on earth for blessing. e cry for vengeance
and deliverance is the cry of the remnant, from the time
of God’s bringing back the people till His sitting on the
throne of judgment. He will send deliverance by power.
e throne of iniquity will not share the power with Him.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
430
Now, grace calls souls from the evil, to come to God and go
to heaven, and grace characterizes the Christian, though
he knows vengeance will come.
I have now gone through the passages which give us the
history of the beast, and a sucient number of those which
speak of the Assyrian, to have a distinct idea of these two
powers, now concentrated in Western and Eastern Europe.
Zechariah never speaks of the Assyrian. He belonged to
the captivity of Israel, though the Jews were restored that
Messiah might be presented to them. But the post-captivity
prophets do not call the Jews God’s people, unless speaking
of their future; and the other prophets, those before the
captivity, never speak of the beast as such, because Israel
was owned, God’s throne still there. Ezekiel, we have seen,
goes over from Babylon to Israel again in the land. We
have more directly to say to the beast because the time is
going on in which they rule: only that in result it becomes
open rebellion. ere is a raising up of the beast from a
seemingly fatal wound in an utterly diabolical character.
God has put into the hearts of a little remnant of the Jews
then to look to Him. But the nation blossoms and buds,
and seems as if it were beginning a time of full prosperity
in its own land. But then it is browsed and eaten down,
the resort of beasts and birds of prey. ese are judged and
Israel is received and blessed. And if, says the apostle, the
falling away of them be the riches of the Gentiles, what
shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead to the
world?
All this calls our hearts, beloved, to a far more divine
apprehension that our portion is in heaven while Christ is
rejected; and that, Christ having been rejected, Christians
are; and that, Christ being in heaven, their conversation or
Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ
431
citizenship is there also. No living here any more, though
we pass through it as pilgrims and strangers. What I have
to do is to convince the world that there is a power which
delivers from it, to manifest Christ and Christ’s motives in
it. “ If ye do well and suer for it, and take it patiently, this
is acceptable with God.” e danger for the saints now is
that, instead of seeing evil going on and rising up to a head
against the Lord, man is thinking of improving the world
and bringing in good. What is before us is, that in the last
days perilous times shall come. But men are wise in their
own conceits, and fancy they will do better than Christ and
the apostles-not make Christians for God, but improve the
earth. e testimony of God is, that the professing church
and the world are both ripening up to evil, and that the
Lord is coming, to receive us to Himself, and to judge the
habitable earth in righteousness, and reign for its blessing,
and primarily over the restored Jewish people.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
432
62497
Short but Serious
Examination of Principles
in “Daniel the Prophet”
43
THE form of this pamphlet suciently indicates that
I have no intention of replying in a detailed manner to
Mr. Gaussen’s book, nor of discussing the points on which
there are dierences with him. I do intend to show that
the bases of his system have no solidity, no foundation
whatever. I believe there has been up to a certain point
an accomplishment of the prophecies in question in the
ages which have just expired. Circumstances morally
analogous may be found in them, or at least systems and an
activity animated by the principle which will have its entire
development only in the last days. e word authorizes me
to judge thus when it says that there were already many
Antichrist in the time of John.
I believe also that the irruption of the barbarians
furnished the elements of that which by and by is to be
the accomplishment of certain prophecies as to the Roman
Empire; so that I have no desire to combat ideas a long
time since spread abroad, and now reproduced, discussed,
and embellished by Mr. Gaussen. But since the system of
[Bp.] Newton and his successors, there have been dierent
views published on several important points. If these views
are not false, the reproduction by Mr. Gaussen of the old
doctrine of Newton and others is but a step backward, a
43 Paris, Geneva, and Montpellier, 1850
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
433
retrograde course calculated to turn aside souls from light
that God has given.
However, though I do not accept the old system, I
should not have been drawn in to contest its solidity by
the mere fact that people have sought to support it with
new arguments; I should have preferred to unfold the
truth directly. Here are the passages which induced me to
show in few words the nullity of the reasonings which Mr.
Gaussen has laid down as the foundation of the capital
points of his system.
“ Now it was very natural, as you will understand, dear
children, that at the reading of such a lecture, the Christians
of essalonica should imagine that the return of Jesus in
the clouds was very near, that our gathering together unto
Him (as St. Paul expresses it) might happen during their
life.”
With respect to this expression the most complete
confusion is found in the ideas of Mr. Gaussen between
the presenting of the Son of man to the Ancient of days,
and the coming of Jesus from heaven to earth. e passage
of Dan. 7 is applied by Mr. Gaussen, sometimes to the
one, sometimes to the other, of these two things. (See vol.
3, pages 24, 26, 29-31, 157, 162, 165.) e confusion of
the coming of Jesus in the clouds with the rapture of the
church is also found in the book; so that these three things,
the presenting of the Son of man to the Ancient of days,
the rapture of the church to meet Jesus in the air, and the
appearing of Jesus with all the saints to judge the world, are
confounded together by Mr. Gaussen. e practical eect
of the confusion of these last two events is shown in page
86, and also in 172 and 173. Here is a part of this last
passage. “ Yes, if the coming of Jesus lled with so much
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
434
emotion a soul so pure, a man of so many prayers, a prophet
so holy, to whom the angel said, ‘O Daniel, a man greatly
beloved ‘-if the great Daniel saw this day with so much
concern, twenty centuries before the event, what must it be
for those who shall be there personally, who shall hear the
trumpet, and see its brightness? “
Is this the Christian’s hope? Nothing more opposite. I
pray the reader to pay heed: it is of all importance for the
system we are examining. What a dierence between this
language and that of the Savior: “ I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be
also.” We shall “ go to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord.” “ Unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
“ When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then also shall
ye appear with him in glory.” “ We know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” “
e Spirit and the bride say, Come.” “ Even so, come, Lord
Jesus.” “ Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also
we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body.” “ When he shall come to be gloried in his
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe … in that
day.” But, however sad the pages of Mr. Gaussen may be,
I bless God that they lay bare for him who loves the Lord
the system he is supporting.
‘ Hence it is that the apostle, learning that in fact such
was their mistake, hastens to write a second epistle to
them, in which he tells us the rst words this dear child
has just read to us’: “ Now we beseech you, brethren, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind,
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
435
or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter
as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” ‘ Here
again, dear children, a word of explanation. e day of
Christ is always very near for each believer, since we are
all at once transported thither at the hour of our death,
time thenceforth being nothing for us, and a thousand
years less than a day. But for the church it is not so. For
the church this day of Christ is at a distance; and even in
this sense the day was certainly many ages o from Paul
and his contemporaries. You will understand then that this
false notion of the essalonian Christians (who believed
the church to be only a few days from the return of their
Master) could easily, as St. Paul told them, shake their
minds and sadly trouble their faith.’
Pay attention to this expression [“ transported thither
at the hour of death “], which neutralizes wholly the force
of the phrase, “ e day of Christ.” It is also found again in
page 173. Assuredly, at the hour of death, the soul is not
transported to the judgment of the habitable world, which
is the scriptural sense of the words “ day of Christ “ (or “
of the Lord “). I know not whether this goes along with
the sad opinion of some Christians that the soul sleeps at
death. Because it is said in speaking of the death of a man
living in this world that he fell asleep, they have concluded
that the soul sleeps in the other world. But these two
things have no connection whatever. e language of the
Lord as to Lazarus, “ Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,” proves
that it is only a question of his bodily death-an expression
of which He made use to explain it to His disciples. Were
this idea true, the Christian would not be transported to
the day of Christ. You have only to take a concordance and
search the phrase, “ day of the Lord,” and you will soon
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
436
see that it is God’s judgment on the inhabitants of the
earth, whether partial or nal. Now for the execution of
this judgment Christ must appear. But, when He “ shall
appear, we also shall appear with him in glory.” “ ose who
are with him are called, chosen, and faithful.” “ e armies
which were in heaven followed him.” us, we shall be in
the full enjoyment of glory before the day of Christ. All is
confusion in the teaching of this book on this point.
Besides, Mr. Gaussen tells us that the reading of the
rst inspired letter of the apostle made the essalonians
fall into an error. I will not characterize this reasoning: but
there is no room at all for such a supposition. e apostle
attributes this error (which besides was quite another
thing from what Mr. Gaussen says) to deceivers and to
a pretended letter. Mr. Gaussen has here abandoned the
version of Lausanne, which renders the sense correctly (“
the day of Christ was there “), xo adopt the word “ at hand.”
Now the Greek word (enestecke) is always, without exception,
employed in the New Testament for a thing present, and
even in contrast with things to come. e translation which
says “ is there “ (present) is good; that which says “ is at
hand “ is false.
e deceivers troubled the essalonians by arming
that the day of the Lord was come-probably (see 2 ess.
1) taking advantage of the violent persecutions which
had fallen on the church in essalonica, and certainly
pretending that they had inspiration, the word, and even
a letter of the apostle’s, to conrm what they alleged. e
apostle gives two reasons wherefore that terrible day could
not be there. e rst is our gathering together to Christ.
e rapture of the church had not yet taken place. We
shall be in heaven before that day arrives-a truth taught
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
437
in the clearest way in the word, to which we shall recur.
e second is, that the object of the judgment was not yet
there, and consequently the judgment could not possibly
take place.
Here are proofs in support of what I have said. First,
it is certain that the sense is not that the day is at hand,
but that it is arrived. Here are all the passages of the New
Testament where the word in question is employed: Rom.
8:39, where it is translated “ things present”; I Corinthians 3:
22, “ things present “; I Corinthians 7: 26, “ present necessity
“; Gal. 1:4, “ this present evil age “; Hebrews
9: 9, “ time then present”; and 2 Tim. 3:1, “ shall come”
(i.e., shall be present or there). ese passages prove, so as
to leave no doubt whatever, that the sense of the word is
“ present “ in contrast with “ things to come.” Besides, the
Greek for “ at hand “ is another word. Mr. Gaussen in other
places approves of the version of Lausanne: why has he
abandoned it here?
Moreover, in 2 ess. 2:1 the true force of the word is
certainly “ we beseech you by “ and not “ as concerning.”
e English version, that of Luther, that of Geneva in
1605, Desmaret’s Bible, and the Vulgate, have rendered
it thus. It is true that huper in certain cases signies “ as
concerning “; that is, it has almost the sense of peri. But it
is unquestionable that, when it is employed with words of
prayer and request, its regular meaning in Greek is “ by,” “
for the sake of.” No person who is at all familiar with the
Greek tongue, or who is willing to take the trouble of using
a good dictionary, would deny it. Here then is the passage
in its true force: “ Now we beg you, brethren, by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to
him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
438
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as [if it were] by
us, as that the day of the Lord is present. Let not any one
deceive you in any manner, because [it will not be] unless
the apostasy have rst come and the man of sin have been
revealed,” etc. at is, the apostle gives two reasons why
they should not believe that the day of the Lord was come:
rst, the rapture of the saints is not yet; and secondly, the
object of the judgment is not revealed. It is this passage
which, twenty years ago, made me understand the rapture
of the saints before- perhaps a considerable time before-
the day of the Lord (that is, before the judgment of the
living.)
I add what is found at bottom of the last column of
the Pentables. “ After Babylon has been burnt by the ten
kings, and the ten kings themselves, the beast and the false
prophet have been judged in their turn, then comes the rst
resurrection; the saints reign with Christ a thousand years.”
en again the third column, under the title of “ Eternal
Monarchy,” says: “ e stone, after smiting the image,
becomes a great mountain, and lls the whole earth “; and
on the mountain, in the engraving which accompanies this
passage, we nd inscribed-” the church.”
Such are the passages which, with many other similar
ones, have induced me to bring out the utter want of
foundation which distinguishes Mr. Gaussen’s book. I do
not reason upon the passages themselves. It is evident that
the object of the rst is to hinder souls from waiting for the
Lord, to destroy the waiting for Him, as a practical truth.
e present and practical waiting for the Lord, according
to Mr. Gaussen, was nothing but a false notion of the
essalonians: “ For the church, this day of Christ is at a
distance.” Paul had said, “ We, the living.” And it was quite
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
439
natural they should be led into error by the inspired epistle
which he had written to them.
It is true that those words “ we, the living,” had naturally
this eect, to lead them to await the Savior continually.
at this was an evil is the very thing I question, for they
had “ turned to God “ “ to wait for his Son from heaven.”
But my only answer to such reasoning is this: It is certain
that it is not to this that the apostle attributes their
error; neither was it this error which he feared for them.
Whatever might be their error, the apostle attributes it to
a source totally distinct from his own epistle, namely, to
the seduction of other persons, who alleged inspiration,
and pretended to have the apostle’s authority in a letter, he
says, “ as [if it were] by us “; so that the real source of the
error was not the true epistle of the apostle, nor his words,
but those of some seducer and a pretended epistle. Mr.
Gaussen attributes their error to the rst epistle, which,
he says, would naturally enough produce it. e apostle
attributes it to a false epistle.
Mr. Gaussen mistakes again when he says that time is
no longer an object with those who are asleep in Jesus. e
souls under the altar say, “ How long, 0 Lord, dost thou not
avenge … ? “ “ And it was said unto them that they should
rest yet for a little season.”
But I will not notice all that is to be found in this passage:
it contains nearly as many ungrounded assertions as it does
phrases. My object in quoting it is to show why I make
these remarks. It is this: one main design of Mr. Gaussen’s
book is to make people believe that the day of the Lord is
at a distance for the church, by varnishing over a very old
system, and carefully confounding the hope of the church
with the day of Christ. I confess I do not understand the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
440
dierence between this and “ My lord delayeth his coming.”
If there be. any, I should be very happy to learn. Let us
come to the proofs which the author gives of his system.
With the design I have pointed out, Mr. Gaussen
seeks to show that it is a question of papal succession in
the little horn of Dan. 7 and in other passages. We shall
examine in a few words the grounds he lays down for the
support of his proposition. First of all, he will have it that
it is a theologian king. It is on this he greatly insists, and,
in eect, it is the main point of his system. Where is the
proof of it? He thinks “ to change times and laws.” But why
should the one who changes the times and the laws, be a
theologian, or even an ecclesiastic? Jeroboam did change
the times and the law; he was not a theologian. e French
Revolution abolished Christianity and established decades
in the place of weeks. Was that theology? is proof, which
is the basis of his whole system, is no proof at all; it is
absolutely worthless.
Moreover, to demonstrate that the little horn is papacy,
he insists on this, that it continues to remain little as regards
territory, whereas the ten others are great. It is the political
side of the character of popery which he makes to be one
of his proofs. Now, according to Mr. Gaussen, that little
horn destroys or brings down three others, that is, three of
the great ones, and appropriates to himself their territory
(2, pages 26, 27); how then does it remain little? e proof
that the passage applies to the civil character of the pope is
null and void; it destroys itself.
Another main point for Mr. Gaussen is, that the twelve
hundred and sixty days indicate a period horribly long,
necessarily twelve hundred and sixty years. It is evident
that his whole system is at stake. He repeats, even to satiety,
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
441
that the time is horribly long. Now I open my Bible, and I
nd that, speaking of the twelve hundred and sixty days, it
says, Satan, being cast out of heaven, comes down, “ having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time “; that is, the Spirit of God tells me the very contrary
of that which forms the basis of Mr. Gaussen’s system. In
another passage it is said that “ except those days should
be shortened, there should no esh be saved; this is said
of that which, on our Savior’s own authority, refers to the
twelve hundred and sixty days which follow the setting up
of the abomination of desolation.
e reader will observe that I only touch upon the main
points of the author’s system. e moral or civil character,
and the duration of the horn, are the points on which his
whole system hangs. However, I have scarcely found in
the book any assertion which has more foundation than
those I have just pointed out. He says that the fathers agree
with him. In what? Mr. Gaussen believes that the horn is a
succession of persons. is point is necessary to his system.
e fathers believed that it meant an individual; and
this utterly destroys his system. e fathers believed that
the days must be days; Mr. Gaussen believes them to be
years.
44
ey believed that the end was near; Mr. Gaussen
believes the contrary. ey believed that the man of sin
would give himself out to be the Christ, not his vicar; two
things which are incompatible, whatever Mr. Gaussen may
say. ey believed that he would sit in the temple of God,
which he would raise up again in Jerusalem; Mr. Gaussen
believes quite the contrary.
44 Mr. Gaussen admits that this point divides commentators
irresistibly into two great schools, radically opposed to each
other, never to be reconciled, and diering from each other on
every point. (Preface to Vol. 2, pp. 15, 16.)
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
442
In a word, the principles of the fathers utterly subvert Mr.
Gaussen’s whole system in the points on which he insists,
and on which he diers from the system he opposes. ey
only agree with him on the points which his adversaries
admit as he does. All believe that the fourth beast is the
Roman empire. All believe that the ten toes of the feet
are ten kingdoms. All believe that the Antichrist will
continue till the coming of Christ. e questions between
Mr. Gaussen and the opposite system are these: Is the
Antichrist an individual who will have dominion literally
twelve hundred and sixty days at the end of times? or is it
a succession of individuals, which will last twelve hundred
and sixty years? Now it is this last proposition which is
absolutely necessary to the Gaussen system (or, rather, that
is his system). e fathers maintain the other, that is, the
opposite of his. eir system and that of Mr. Gaussen are
incompatible; they are antagonistical on his own avowal.
Besides, the word says that ten kingdoms are to arise
out of that empire. But Mr. Gaussen tells us of enemies
who attack the empire and take possession of it. ey do
not in any way arise out of the Roman empire. If one would
consider them at a later period, when they have become
kingdoms, his system of dates is subverted. I would here
add that his reasoning on the date of the appearing of the
little horn is also without any force. He says (vol. 3: 15) that
it cannot have appeared later than the year 711, later than
the time when the last three of these ten kingdoms were
plucked up by the roots. But this proves nothing, because,
according to his system, the horns which were plucked up
by the roots have always been succeeded by others, so that
there might always be ten (vol. 2, page 19o), and thus, at
any moment, it might have plucked up by the roots three
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
443
of them, without its being among the ten rst kings who
divided the empire. And so true is this, that the horns which
Mr. Gaussen believes to have been plucked up by the little
horn were all the successors of others which had already
been plucked up. (See vol. 2, page 189.) is reasoning,
then, has no force whatever; for if the little horn could
subdue three of them, when two were already succeeded
by others, it could do it when this had even happened ten
times. e date then is worthless.
Moreover, enemies who divide the empire are not
kingdoms which arise out of the empire.
Mr. Gaussen insists on this, that a horn is always a
succession of kings; but it is no such thing. A horn is a
power; sometimes, it is true, a succession of kings who have
a moral unity. But this expression is applied to Christ. He is
called a horn elsewhere.
45
He has seven horns on his head,
the perfection of power; assuredly there is no question
of a succession in this case. It seems to me clear enough
that, when it is said that the great horn is the rst king
(Dan. 8:21), the application to Alexander personally is the
thought of the Spirit. In 2 ess. 2:9 the words “ whose
coming,” an expression by which the lawless one is put in
personal contrast with the Lord, show clearly enough that
the object in question is an individual. However that may
be, the assertion that a horn is always a succession of kings
is without foundation.
Mr. Gaussen is anxious to show that the true church
is an invisible church. Such is, according to him, the true
45 Mr. Gaussen quotes (Vol. 1:133) 1 Sam. 2:10; Psalm 18:2;
Luke 1:69, all which passages prove that “ horn “ simply means
power. In any one of these cases can there be succession?
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
444
character and nature of the church of God, of the body of
Christ.
46
What is the proof of this? Here it is-” It worships (vol.
3, page 257), as we have seen, in the inner temple “: that
is, that the state of believers, six hundred years after Jesus
Christ (when, according to Mr. Gaussen, the falling away
was already come, “ the great apostasy, the all but universal
apostasy of the Roman world,” the place in question in the
passage; when the little horn had established its power;
46 Here Mr. Gaussen places the words “ the church of the elect
“ between inverted commas, as if they were a quotation from
the word. I do not remember that there is such an expression
in the word. Sometimes people add the word “ church “ to that
of “ elect.” We nd an instance in I Peter 5: 13: “ e church
that is at Babylon, elected together with you.” But the word “
church “ does not exist in the original; and if that word were
found there, it would hardly suit Mr. Gaussen, because it would
then be a particular assembly which was elect. I must warn the
reader to be carefully on his guard with respect to apparent
quotations from the word, which are to be found in this book.
Not that I have the least idea that there is any dishonesty on Mr.
Gaussen’s part; but having attributed his opinions to the word,
he uses phrases, in the form of quotations, which do not exist
in the word, as if the word said what he thinks. For instance,
page 255 we read: “ e mother of the one hundred and forty-
four thousand, who keep the commandments of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and have made their robes white in
the blood of the Lamb.” ere is no such passage to be found
in Scripture. ere are several passages tacked together (the
words, “ the mother,” being added), which have no connection
with each other, except in Mr. Gaussen’s system. In the same
page we nd: “ e apostle takes great care to tell us that the
church has there a place prepared of God; that at a later time
they should feed her there twelve hundred and sixty days.” But
the apostle did not say it was the church, neither did he say “
at a later time “two things without which the passage is of no
value as a proof of the point for which Mr. Gaussen quotes it.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
445
when God had given up the holy city to be trodden
under foot by the profane)- that that state, I repeat, is the
expression and the proof of the true character of the normal
state of the church of God. How truly sad is all this!
Moreover, the question is, for Mr. Gaussen’s system,
to apply Rev. 12 to the history of Christendom, and
particularly to the time of Constantine. How does he
make use of that passage? “ At the time of the great red
dragon, it (the church of the one hundred and forty-four
thousand) was to bring forth a man-child, that is to say,
a people politically and corporately united as a nation,
and victorious over their adversaries … when two out
of the three emperors who divided the empire between
themselves, Licinius and Constantine, published at Milan
their edict of toleration, then, at last, did the woman bring
forth that man-child, which was soon to rule heathenism
with a rod of iron, and who is one day to govern all peoples.
Nevertheless,” etc. What can be said of a system which is
obliged to rest upon such a use of the word, or rather, which
is obliged to alter it in such a manner? e reader must
remember that the passage of Psa. 2, which is here alluded
to, is one of the most striking prophecies of the glory of
Christ, when He shall rule all nations in glory, which the
church is to share with Him (Rev. 2:26, 27) in the age to
come. And they turn this into an edict of toleration, “ a
people politically united “!
e reader must also remember that, according to
the word, the “ child was caught up unto God and to his
throne.” But even with that alteration the passage cannot
yet have such an application; it must be changed. e
passage says, “ who was to rule all nations with a rod of
iron “-one sole idea, for which Mr. Gaussen substitutes, “
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
446
who is soon to rule heathenism with a rod of iron,” and “
who is one day to govern all peoples “ -two distinct acts.
is distinction, which separates the government of all
peoples from the rod of iron, deprives that government of
the character which the word has given to it; and, besides,
introduces two objects of the prophecy where there is only
one, and two dates where there is only one. To authorize
this last change Mr. Gaussen adds, “ one day,” giving
these words as a quotation. And, mark it well, all this was
absolutely necessary to the author’s system; because “ to
govern all peoples “ cannot in any way be applicable to the
period to which he applies the rod of iron, according to the
explanation he gives of it.
Constantine accomplished the judgment, of which Mr.
Gaussen speaks, in the same year that the edict of toleration
was published; whereas the people, politically united, has
never to this day governed all peoples. Quite the contrary.
e twelve hundred and sixty years of apostasy awaited it.
According to Mr. Gaussen “ the triumph was only for a
time.” Can one listen for a moment to such a system and
to such reasoning? And, I repeat, all this cleaves to the root
of the system. ese are not accessories which one may
lay aside, while preserving the system in the main. It is
the system itself which is in question, and the system is
found to be incompatible with the word: it mutilates and
changes scripture. If one wishes to have an instance of the
reasoning, one has only to read pages 257 and 258, where
the author presents the Roman empire as sending forth
the barbarians against the true church; but this again was
necessary to his system of interpretation.
With respect to the computation of times, we see
(pages 68 to 76 of vol. 3) an examination of Dan. 7:12. In
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
447
page 72 Mr. Gaussen says, “ You will presently see that we
can also, as to the little horn, draw a conclusion which will
give us the tenth feature of its description. And here is that
conclusion: it is, that its duration will be very long, horribly
long.” us (page 73) we see that the tenth feature is the
duration of its life.
Now what is the proof of this capital point? It is that
“ a time and a time “ form seven hundred and twenty
years, that is, that the interval from the foundation of the
Babylonian empire to that of the Roman empire; or, more
exactly, a time is a season (that is to say, ve hundred and
forty years, taking a zeman for the half of a hiddan). But if
it be more exact
47
to say a season, and to take this word as
the half of a year, it is clear that the other sense is not exact.
But why do I use so many words? Mr. Gaussen makes use
of the same phrase to mean seven hundred and twenty,
and ve hundred and forty years; one of these gures
giving, according to him, the duration of the three empires,
reckoning from the foundation of the rst; the other, that
same duration, taking as a date the seige of Jerusalem. is
has the appearance of conrming one of these applications
of the passage by the other; but in reality they contradict
one another. If one be true, the other is false; for if the
phrase means seven hundred and twenty, it cannot mean
ve hundred and forty. For the rest, it is certain that the
word is not that which is elsewhere translated by “ a time,”
and consequently that the computation is entirely false
according to the author’s system. He acknowledges that
the duration of the three empires has been seven hundred
and twenty years. But according to that interpretation of
47 Nevertheless, at the end of the volume, he allows the children
to speak of it, as if there were two times in the passage (p. 334).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
448
the word which is the most exact according to him, one
hundred and eighty years are wanting in the passage which
he applies to that duration; that is to say, that the passage
is not applicable to it at all. ere is nothing here but a
false translation to support the author’s conclusion as to
the duration of the little horn; and what is the proof that
zeman means the half of a time? ere is none. Zeman
signies a xed appointed time. Ostervald translates the
two words together by “ for a certain time.” I have no doubt
this is the true sense, and for my part I am fully assured
that it is no question of the duration of the empires, but of
their existence after the cessation of their imperial power.
is is the sense-very evident and simple- according to the
translation Mr. Gaussen approves, and which I believe to
be true. Dominion is taken away from the other beasts, but
a prolongation of life was granted to them; whereas the life
of the fourth beast was taken away at the same time as its
dominion. e beast itself was destroyed. is was not the
case with the others: they still subsisted, but not as empires.
But this I say by the way.
I leave what I have said to the judgment of the reader
who is taught of God. What I have to do with is the
reasoning of Mr. Gaussen, who nds in the same words
the gures seven hundred and twenty, and ve hundred
and forty-a reasoning which destroys itself, and which
acknowledges that the rst gure is merely the result of
a false translation. And this avowal overthrows the use he
makes of the passage he is treating of, since, historically,
one hundred and eighty years are wanting, so as to ll up
the interval, the era of Nabonassar and Augustus. us
every basis fails as to the duration of the horn.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
449
Moreover, what Mr. Gaussen tells us appears to me to rest
merely on a false idea he has formed of the use of the word
“ season “ in English. It is used, indeed, in that language,
as in French, for winter, summer, etc.; but in English it
has another sense, which is much more vague. It is used to
designate any period; when taken alone, it is rather used
for a short period. With an adjective it receives the sense
of the adjective. e English translation used it in this
passage so as to leave the thing undetermined, as Ostervald
(French) did. I do not, however, think that Mr. Gaussen
would maintain that zeman signies a season of the year:
otherwise, his whole reasoning is without force. But what
can one think of a system founded on a computation (the
basis of all, mark it well; for these twelve hundred and sixty
years are essential to his system) in which the same word
is taken in two senses which destroy one another, and one
of which Mr. Gaussen acknowledges to be false, whereas
the one which he considers to be true makes an error of
one hundred and eighty years, out of seven hundred and
twenty, in the period on which he founds himself, as being,
according to him, historically xed?
e fact is that, in Hebrew, the word has not the sense
of any period whatever.
48
e distinction made, page 62, between “ the duration
of the persecution,” and “ the end of the power of the beast,”
is worthless, since it is said (v. 21, 22) that the horn is to
make war with the saints and prevail against them, until the
Ancient of days come and judgment be given to the saints
of the Most High. Now I do not think that Mr. Gaussen
48 In saying this, I rely on the best dictionaries, without
pretending to be a Hebrew scholar myself. It comes from
zaman, which signies to be “ appointed,” “ xed.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
450
will pretend that the empire subsists after the coming of
the Ancient of days, and after judgment is given to the
saints of the Most High. us, a simple comparison with
this passage is enough to destroy another important part
of this system. e persecutions terminate by the coming
of the Ancient of days and judgment given to the saints.
Besides, Mr. Gaussen formally contradicts himself on this
point. In pages 181, 182, he applies the verses we have just
quoted in the same sense which our reasoning attributes
to them; he makes out “ that the church is oppressed, until
at last the time arrives when the monarchy of Jesus Christ
and His saints commences on earth.” In pages 181, 182, he
says as much of the little horn, “ that ungodly power which
is to prevail against the church until the end of times.”
See also vol. 2: 4, the same thing. In vol. 3, page 234, Mr.
Gaussen tells us, “ It now then remains for us to see it
again in chapter 13, under the decem-regal form, and in
chapter 17, under the democratic form. It will be the time
of the little horn.” Now in chapter 13 the duration of the
decem-regal beast is “ to continue forty and two months.”
e little horn makes war with the saints until the Ancient
of days come and (Dan. 7:25, if the words are applied to
the saints) they are given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of times. Mr. Gaussen tries to make
a distinction between “ made war with the saints, and
prevailed against them,” and “ shall be given into his hand
“-an unwarrantable distinction, as we shall see, but which,
at all events, does not remove the contradiction which I
point out here. One has only to compare pages 62, 181, and
182. e distinction was necessary for his democratic beast,
but it is evident that the little horn and the ten-horned
beast go together and perish together.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
451
It is well to pay attention to another thing; it is this, that
the most important possible point is treated in the author’s
system as an admitted truth, as an uncontested principle,
namely, that it is the church which is in question in these
prophecies. Now many persons believe that it is a question
of a Jewish remnant, and they quote the word to prove it.
is is a main point. Mr. Gaussen does not take the trouble
to discuss it. He keeps on this point an absolute silence. It
is necessary to his system that it be the church; he cannot
prove it, and he asserts it without any proof. On this subject
Mr. Gaussen lays down a principle that is entirely false,
namely, that God is leading the world with a view to the
church. It is Christ and His glory which are the object of
the counsels of God. e church will share that glory, and
thus it is also included in the counsels of God.
But the dierence is complete; because, if Christ be the
object, the Jews, whose head and sovereign He will be, are
the object of the government of God with respect to the
world, and even of the arrangement of nations. “ When
the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds
of the people according to the number of the children of
Israel. For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the
lot of his inheritance,” Deut. 32:8, 9. Now, this revealed
object of God’s arrangements on earth is left aside, and the
church, a heavenly people, is put in the place of Israel by
Mr. Gaussen.
It will be understood that this changes everything in
prophecy. For instance, the greater part of the prophecies
apply to a time when Israel is more or less owned in
their land. All this is left aside, and nds no place in Mr.
Gaussen’s system. Now, when Israel is owned, and when
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
452
it is a question of that people, the church, where there is
neither Jew nor Gentile, is necessarily out of the scene. It
is no longer a question of length of years, but of “ a short
work “ of God upon the earth, in days, of which it is said,
“ Except those days should be shortened, there should no
esh be saved “-a passage where the Savior Himself directs
our attention to Daniel and to passages where it is a question of
the twelve hundred and sixty days.
is therefore goes to the root of the question on the
point which is disputed between the two great schools. Mr.
Gaussen entirely avoids it; even in his preface he already
speaks of the coming suerings of the church as of an
admitted truth.
e idea he has formed to himself of the church,
becomes therefore a very important point to examine. Now,
having left aside the Jews as objects of God’s counsels,
there remains in his ideas on the church a confusion one
can hardly understand.
us volume 2, page 2: “ e rst siege of Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar is the beginning of the captivity of the
church under the rst monarchy.” Here the rebellious and
perverse Jews under the judgment of God form the church.
Page 4, he supposes that in Daniel it is a question of the
destinies of the church. No proof is given. Page 12, “ God
was pleased to reveal to Daniel the history of the church.”
Here again no proof. In page 13, he makes of this a point
which must always be borne in mind. Page 23, “ When in
succession He caused the kingdoms of Moab, of Ammon,
of Idumea, of Damascus, of Assyria, to prosper and to fall,
it was for His church.” If I open my Bible, I nd it is for the
Jews and for His own glory. Here it is said, “ the church,”
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
453
without proof and without taking into account that which
is in the word.
“ When He exalted Egypt to the highest degree of
splendor in the days of Joseph, and afterward brought
it into the Red Sea in the days of Moses, it was for His
church.” Here also, we well know, it was for Israel.
Now, this confounding of the church with Israel, while
deeply hurtful in spiritual things, becomes capital in
prophecy; and all the questions which Mr. Gaussen treats
of are connected with the solution of that one; because,
if Israel means Israel, then the prophecies of Ezekiel and
Daniel which he quotes have an application which he
does not admit, and his system of interpretation, save a
few analogies, is false from beginning to end. However
precious the type which is found there as to redemption,
does anyone believe that Israel was the church at the
Red Sea? or that the fall of Moab or Ammon was for the
church? Is it not evident that Mr. Gaussen ought to have
proved that passages which speak positively of Israel, in
the clearest and most simply historical terms, refer to the
church and not to Israel, and the more so because a whole
system of interpretation hangs on that question? All this
Mr. Gaussen considers as admitted, whereas it is just that
which is questioned.
Volume 2, page 5o. e mountain, out of which the
stone is cut without hands, is there “ to gure the church
of God, which will end by lling the whole earth.” Here,
rst of all, the mountain out of which the stone is taken is
confounded with the one which lls the earth, and both
are called the church, not only without proof, but in spite
of the passage itself, which says that “ in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” Now it is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
454
certain that in no sense whatever was the church set up, nor
began to increase, “ in the days of these kings.”
I pass on to volume 3.
49
Page 3, “ e little horn,” he says,
“ is fatal to the church.” No proof that it is so to the church.
e importance of this application of divers passages to
the church will be understood, when I show how often, in
a part of the third volume, that application nds a place
in the explanation, which, in eect, depends on the fact of
knowing whether it is a question of the church-the point
which is supposed from the beginning.
e reader will nd this application of prophecy to the
church in pages 16, 23, 28, and 29. In page 42 we nd again
applied to the church Psa. 74, which evidently speaks of
the Jews, of the taking of Jerusalem, and of the havoc made
in the temple on that occasion. See again pages 58, 59, 171,
181, 189, 191, 201, and 207. I do not go farther, because
after that page Mr. Gaussen enters upon the explanation
of the Apocalypse, and if I occupied myself with that, I
should have to enter upon the ground of discussion, instead
of showing how the principal parts are supposed without
any proof in support of them.
Now to omit the Jews, and apply all to the church,
is to introduce complete confusion in prophecy. To do
so, without discussing that point, is to build up a system
without any real foundation. We shall see by some other
instances, how few there are that are solid, among the
things which Mr. Gaussen lays down as bases.
Already, in page 2, Mr. Gaussen supposes, without
proof, that which is in question: “ An ungodly personage,
whose reign, of itself, will last longer than that of the three
49 ere are many other passages, however, in volume 2 where
the word “ church “ is used in the same way.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
455
rst monarchies put together.” Page 4, when he says, “ our
days,” he again supposes that the little horn forms a part of
the history of the past. is is the thing in question.
We have already called attention to the assertion that
“ the horn “ is a kind of theologian, since it pretends to “
change times and laws “-the basis of all, which he always
supposes to be proved after this passage; whereas the proof
he gives of it is absolutely nothing.
Pages 6 and 7. at the prophecy may apply to the papal
system, the writer makes a supposition as to the extent of
the evil, without a word being said by Daniel as to that
extent. Page 7. e horn is called a spiritual power, which
is the point in question, and that without proof.. We have
already spoken of the dimensions of that horn; we have
only this to notice as to the chronology, that is, that to
present, in order to x a date, the ravages which overturned
the empire, as being kingdoms which rise up out of that
empire, is anything but satisfactory; and this is the more
evident because, in the Apocalypse, the ten horns receive
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
456
authority one hour (that is during the same period)
50
with
the beast.
Page 10. Mr. Gaussen says: “ e ten rst horns presented
themselves to Daniel all at the same time, already great, and
threatening, all in the midst of the foaming sea, in contrast
with the little horn which came up afterward.” How can
that be, if, as he says, it is a question of the invasions which
begin in A.D. 412 and end in 526? How comes it that
the little horn comes up in silence and under the most
innocent, the most “ modest,” appearances, etc., if (page
22) it is to ll with noise thirteen centuries (that is during
the whole course of its existence)-if (page 27) it is always
distinguished from all the other kings by its speaking great
things?
What proof (page 11) that it takes its place “ under the
safeguard of the imperial power? “ is is true of the pope;
but what does Daniel say about it? We have already spoken
of its increase-another main point, and of the proof of its
date (pages 13-15).
50 Mr. Gaussen seeks, it is true, to distinguish these two things,
and to explain the passage by saying that the ten uncrowned
kings take that character of power, at the same time as the
democracy. But one cannot understand how ten horns,which
have existed twelve hundred and sixty years, take their power
through losing their crowns by a revolution; and since that
takes place in each kingdom, at a dierent epoch, it cannot be
at the same time with the beast which is the unity of the Latin
empire. Besides, mian horan (Rev. 17:12), being accusative
case denotes time during which; whereas he de hemera (Luke
17:29) (“ on which day “ or “ on the day that “) and Rev. 18:17
(“ in one hour “), have the dative case denoting time at which;
whilst Rev. 8: 1; 11: 2, 3; 17: to, have examples of time during
which (accusative) “ about half an hour “-” forty-two months
“-” 1260 days “- “ a little while.” (See the Greek text.)
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
457
Page 21. What proof that the horn receives its rst
power from the authority of the Roman emperors? If it is
because it was on the head of the beast, that always remains
true: it will not be only its rst power. What Mr. Gaussen
says is true of the pope; Daniel says nothing about it. Page
24. “ Putting thus its own traditions.” is suits the pope;
nothing that relates to it is to be found in Daniel. “ He
will excite all the other kings of the Roman earth against
the people of God.” What proof? “ It must be so “-no
proof even that the horns do it. It suits the pope; that is
all. Page 35. Observe that Mr. Gaussen places the angels
on the thrones, a thing unknown to the Bible, because if
the church was seated there (a thing that is certain through
the Bible), all his system would fall to the ground, since,
according to him, the judgment is executed before the
resurrection of the church. Now this last doctrine is totally
inadmissible according to the word, as we shall show; but if
it were true, as Mr. Gaussen pretends, the church, in eect,
could not yet be on the thrones. at is why he puts the
angels there.
Pages 58-6o. All that is contained in these pages is
nothing but suppositions as to what the horn may be with
the view of applying it to the pope, without there being
found a single word which refers to it. e prophet’s
explanation tells us that the horn “ shall speak great words
against the Most High,” and, as it appears, it is the horn
51
51 Mr. Gaussen supposes, with the other commentators, that it
is the saints who are given into the hands of the little horn. I
do not believe this, but the times and laws. I do not believe that
God gives His saints into the hands of the enemy. It is certain
that it is the words “ times and laws “ which immediately
precede that phrase. Times and laws are the ordinances or
regular feasts of the Jews, and their laws.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
458
that has dominion at the end. All that Mr. Gaussen says
on this point, “ We must suppose,” applies no doubt to the
pope, but it is quite dierent from what is found in Daniel.
In page 101 observe the conclusion drawn. “ Before
the man of sin was manifested, and, consequently, before
the essalonians could see Jesus Christ coming on the
clouds.” Now it is certain through the word, that the
essalonians, when Jesus shall appear, will appear with
Him, will come with Him, because they that are with Him
are called, and chosen, and faithful. ere is at the same
time the confounding of the mystery of iniquity and the
man of sin.
Page 93. What is the proof that the man of sin is the
little horn? It is included in these words: “ at is to say,”
which are very convenient for the discussion of a main
point. And then the children “ will have well understood
that as to the man of sin, it is a succession of men of sin
“-the least probable thing possible, since his coming is
spoken of, as well as the coming of Christ. And where is
the proof? Alas! one must be content with this: “ Nothing
is similar.” Now of this I very much stand in doubt, and this
is the reason why: I nd a false prophet who bears a much
greater resemblance to this man of sin; and then there is
also the beast that has dominion, and in Daniel it is the
dominion of the little horn that is taken away at the end.
But I do not discuss here; I am showing that the main
points are nothing but suppositions without proof. I have
spoken of the fathers, and shown that on the very point
which, by the avowal of Mr. Gaussen himself, is the main
point, they are all entirely against him. I add here (see page
125) that a person cannot be vicar and rival at the same
time. e fathers say that the Antichrist would hardly show
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
459
himself as being the Christ. For my part, I have hardly a
doubt about it; but, at all events, they do not say what Mr.
Gaussen makes them say (page 125), “ the pretended vicar.”
ey had about it quite a dierent idea, as may be seen
by the quotations given by Mr. Gaussen himself. But the
expression suited the pope.
Page 187. Mr. Gaussen calls Dan. 2 the prophetical
map of the world, and tells us that the horn cannot merely
have a very short duration at the end of times, because
that idea stands in contradiction to the map of the world.
e revelation made to Nebuchadnezzar says nothing
about the little horn, and therefore discussions as to its
date cannot aect the map of the world. at it may have
come up soon after the ten, as Mr. Gaussen arms, is a
possible thing, but Daniel says nothing about it. We have
already examined what is advanced to show the accuracy
of the dates adopted by Mr. Gaussen; we found it to be
without foundation, and we saw that the ten horns, in the
Apocalypse, receive authority at the same time as the beast,
instead of overthrowing the latter. If the predictions of
Daniel refer to the time when the Jews are on the scene,
all Mr. Gaussen’s system is thoroughly overthrown. Now
the Spirit says so several times in the latter chapters of that
prophet (see Dan. 10:14; chap. 11: 14, 30, 31; chap. 12: 1,
7, 11), where it is a question of those numbers; and the
Lord, in speaking of Jerusalem, refers us to the prophecies
of Daniel, where those numbers are given us. I do not dwell
at greater length on this; but one may see the extreme
carelessness with which Mr. Gaussen quotes the word
(page 205). It is a thing truly inconceivable.
Page 209. e rule as to the number seven, namely,
that “ it always exhausts the history of future times,” is not
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
460
exact. e seven vials, for instance, exhaust the wrath of
God; but the judgment of the beast comes afterward; for
the marriage is after the destruction of Babylon, and the
destruction of the beast after the marriage; and nothing
shows that the seven churches go on until the millennium.
e Apocalypse declares that all the prophetical parts are
“ after these.”
Page 211. I nd very sad what is said of Sardis. After
Rome (yatira), Mr. Gaussen tells us, Sardis is the church
which is reserved from the midst of the darkness of the
fourteenth and fteenth centuries; that is, it is the same
period as yatira, where were some of those, whose last
works were better than the rst.
52
is remnant, reserved,
according to the election of grace, is, according to Mr.
Gaussen, the church which has a name that it lives, but is
dead, and this at the same time as yatira. Meanwhile, in
this remnant according to the election of grace, there are
only a small number who shall walk with Christ in white,
as being worthy of it. Hence, if it did not repent, the Lord
was to come upon this church as a thief.
But it would have been too painful for Mr. Gaussen to
admit that the state of death of protestantism is represented
by Sardis, according to the system which Mr. Gaussen
adopts, and which I believe to be true as regards the seven
churches. Nothing more solemn than the manner in which
Sardis is put on the same footing as the world. (Compare 1
ess. 5.) I beg of the reader to pay attention to this; the
contrast with Philadelphia renders the thing more striking.
e energy which produced the blessed Reformation was a
52 is interpretation demands that two very dierent states
should have been presented by the Holy Ghost as characterizing
the same period-a thing hardly possible.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
461
precious gift of God. But the seven churches depict to us,
not energies which produce certain results, but the various
states which followed the eect of those energies; for it
is a question of the judgment of the Son of man. Now
the power of the Spirit of God is not the object of the
judgment of Christ; that which is its object is the state of
man when he enjoyed that power.
It is never a question, in these churches, of grace
communicated. ere are threats and rewards-in a word,
motives and responsibility. However, let us do justice to
Mr. Gaussen, as regards Sardis and Philadelphia; he found,
if I mistake not, this part of his system in Vitringa.)
And wherefore all these inconsistencies? To make of
Philadelphia the blessed Reformation. Unhappily (pages
230, 231), during this period the outward churches, ocial
and visible, will be given up unto the enemies of God. Page
218, Mr. Gaussen tells us that the horse “ is the historical
sign of Rome.” It is certain, according to Zechariah, that
the horses are not simply the Roman empire.
Page 220. “ us the Roman world henceforth will
hold on the earth the place of the twelve tribes of the
ancient people. e oracles of the New Testament will be
committed to it.” Add to this (page 221) that soon it would
be the great apostasy, “ which was to bring upon the Roman
world all the chastenings revealed by St. John under the
seventh and last seal … What will God do with His dear
church, during this long revolt and these tribulations? We
will answer: He will bring it out of them pure; He will keep
it according to His election of grace. But, in order that this
may be, what will He do? Listen, for this is what is told us
in that admirable chapter 7, ‘ He will go and take His elect
from generation to generation, in the twelve tribes of this
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
462
prophetical earth, which henceforth ll the place of the
ancient people Israel, for these twelve tribes here named
are no longer Jews; they are, says St. John, men out of every
nation, of every tribe, of every people, and of every tongue.’
“
I say nothing of the idea that the oracles of God were
committed to “ the Roman world “-Christianized. I say
nothing of this, that the real twelve tribes were an elect
people, and redeemed on the part of Him whose gifts and
calling are not subject to repentance. I merely point out
here the way the word is treated to be accommodated to
a preconceived system. “ He will go and take His elect
from generation to generation.” Where is this said in that
admirable chapter 7? Nowhere. Quite the contrary; it is a
very special period, where God holds fast the winds that
may hurt until these one hundred and forty-four thousand
have been sealed. Now, in order to adapt this also to his
system, Mr. Gaussen arms to us that John says they are
people of every nation, etc. But John does not say a word
about it. Having spoken of the one hundred and forty-four
thousand of the twelve tribes of Israel, he says, “ After this
I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations,” etc. at is, we have a multitude,
which no man could number, of Gentiles, in contrast with
an exact numbering of the elect of Israel. ere is not a
word of what Mr. Gaussen says, but the contrary on every
point.
And do you know, reader, why these elect are presented
here rather than elsewhere? It is “ for a most simple and
most beautiful reason: it is at this period of history that
God raised up the admirable Augustine.” All this, it is true,
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
463
is borrowed from Mr. Elliott, but this ought to have given
Mr. Gaussen time for weighing such assertions.
Page 223. e one hundred and forty-four thousand
“ reappear from generation to generation in all the great
scenes of the Apocalypse.” Where? ere is a mention of
one hundred and forty-four thousand in chapter 14; but it
is not said they were the same.
e reader will do well to notice the crowd of things
which are supposed in these pages of Mr. Gaussen, of
which we have just been giving extracts-serious and
important things, advanced without proof. e twelve
tribes are the Roman empire; the one hundred and forty-
four thousand are the church; and from generation to
generation the church will pass through tribulations. I nd,
on the contrary, that there is a promise to the faithful of
Philadelphia that they will be kept out of the hour of trial.
But I do not discuss these points. I call the attention of the
reader to these assertions, because, if they are not pointed
out, they would leave an impression on the mind as if they
were true.
Page 229. I leave the trumpet called Russian, since
Mr. Gaussen does not explain it: only I would call on the
reader to observe that these chapters of Ezekiel which,
as commentators have remarked, speak of the Russians
by their very name,
53
apply to Israel and to the land of
Canaan, and to them alone.
But, with regard to what is said in page 232, I have an
observation to make. Mr. Gaussen brings in the killing of
the witnesses at the end of the testimony of the twelve
53 e word in the Hebrew, translated “ chief,” is “ Rosh.” Its
position, it seems to me, renders necessary that it should be
used as being the complement of “ prince “-” Prince of Rosh.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
464
hundred and sixty days. It is well for the reader to pay
attention here to the dates. It is not, however, of this that I
would speak. is it is to which I would call attention: that,
during the twelve hundred and sixty days of their testimony,
no one could touch the witnesses: “ if any man will hurt
them, re proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth
their enemies.” ey it is who smite the earth with all kinds
of plagues. ey are clothed in sackcloth; but they are like
Moses and Elias. How could they be delivered up into the
hands of the beast and the little horn during that period,
and be overcome by the beast? What is here said of the
witnesses overturns the whole system. Mr. Gaussen avoids
one of the diculties felt by the other commentators, in
distinguishing between the beasts. But he is in the same
perplexity after all; because the horn is to have power over
the witnesses, and the beast will overcome them, contrary
to what is said here. I must add that I have no diculty on
this subject; for my part, I see two distinct halves of the last
week of the seventy weeks of Daniel; and I think that it is
in the last half week that this peculiar testimony is given.
54
But I do not discuss here.
We have spoken enough of the reasoning of the writer
on the invisibility of the church. I add, however, that it
is rather singular that the writer should scatter in the
outward court (page 240) and in the holy city those who
worship in the inward sanctuary. I do not return again to
the monstrous things which are said on Rev. 12
Page 246. We have another proof of the fallacy of the
system. e dragon is the pagan beast, according to Mr.
54 e phrase here is altered, as the writer then followed the
division into two half weeks in chapter 11; now he sees ground
for seeing here only the last, as in Matt. 24
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
465
Gaussen, but “ one recognizes it to be the same beast,” he
says, “ by the duration of its war against the saints.” e
war of the dragon! Is it the pagan empire that persecuted
during the twelve hundred and sixty years? is also, which
we indeed nd in that chapter (for the woman ies into
the wilderness from the face of the dragon, there to be fed
twelve hundred and sixty days), overturns all Mr. Gaussen’s
system, which brings in that period after the complete
change of the dragon through Christianity;
55
and not only
that, but he makes his period of twelve hundred and sixty
days to begin under the second form of the beast. e dragon
has nothing to do with the twelve hundred and sixty days
in Mr. Gaussen’s system, but it is what he has in Rev. 12
at is, the system is untenable. It is in vain to say that it is
the same beast. Observe by the way the uncertainty which
reigns here. Mr. Gaussen says (page 248), “ It [the empire
has] nevertheless had emperors at the same time as kings,
until the days of Buonaparte.” In page 25o, “ e ten kings
have hardly ever ceased to own a holy Roman empire.” “
One might almost say it has lasted till our day.” He had
positively armed it two pages before. But, elsewhere, he
confesses there had been an interval of sixty years (vol. 2,
page 255); and more positively (vol. 3, page 274), where it
is said that it must perhaps be prolonged even two hundred
and sixty-three years more.
But the conclusion on the subject of the beasts deserves a
few words more. According to the word, the child is caught
up unto God and to His throne; He is to rule all nations
with a rod of iron. But (page 256) He rules paganism (that
is, according to Mr. Gaussen, the dragon) with a rod of
55 e woman should have clothed the dragon with a sheep-
skin, or a lamb-skin.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
466
iron, already under Constantine. e triumph, however, is
not long. e dragon all of a sudden becomes (page 257)
the furious power of the Arians! en Augustine prepares
wings for the woman, that she may be in a state to y
into the wilderness. Finally, the dragon (pages 252, 253),
that is, “ in religion, a pagan and persecuting power,” and
with respect to the political side, the absolute power of
the pagan emperors (say the imperial head from the third
to the fourth century) becomes, after the second Arian
attack, “ the enemy of souls, making use of the Roman
empire “-Christianized-” to cast forth after the woman the
impetuous ood of barbarians.” But the Latin empire (that
is, the dragon, at the beginning of the phrase) swallows
them up; they are absorbed into the empire, and are
incorporated with it.
Page 270. Another passage is given as a quotation, with
the expression “ the church “ added to the text of scripture.
Page 277. Mr. Gaussen makes of the destruction of the
saints the source of the universal authority of the beast,
adding, “ as St. John says here, verse 8.” ere is not an idea
about this in John.
Mr. Gaussen adds “ semi-religious,” in speaking of
the character of the beast that is worshipped, whereas it
is the second beast that is the religious party. He would
only (page 214) speak of the empire, in contrast with
religion, where it was a question of explaining the verse
which speaks of worshipping the beast. And there, mark it
well, the beast was the Roman empire under Justinian or
under Charlemagne, who could hardly be said to have been
objects of worship.
ey have taken it to be certain that the twelve hundred
and sixty days, and three times and a half, are necessarily
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
467
the same period; but that period is the half of a week; and
the question whether the two halves are not referred to,
nor the possibility of reconciling the state of the witnesses
in chapter 12 with the state of the saints in chapter 13.
However that may be, Mr. Gaussen supposes the thing, and
proves nothing. As to the empire, every one acknowledges
it is the same.
Page 280. “ An empire within the empire in the same
countries.” Why in the same countries? No proof. e
Lamb was Christ. Why is not this beast a false Christ?
When Mr. Gaussen attributes miracles to the horn, the
word does not support him. ere are only words against
the Most High and persecution of the saints.
Page 282. ere is something more serious which, when
compared with other passages of the writer, demolishes the
whole system of Mr. Gaussen. “ e second “ period of the
empire of the Latins “ continues to the French Revolution
in 1789.” “ Yes, it is the time of the twelve hundred and
sixty days, or of the war of the little horn against the church
of God.”
is is absolutely necessary to his system, because his
beast-decem-regal-makes war during forty-two months,
and the little horn during the three years and a half, that
is, during the same period. Now the little horn makes war
with the saints, “ until the Ancient of days came,” and,
according to Mr. Gaussen (page 182), “ this prophecy is
there to tell us how will arise in the Roman empire that
impious power which is to torment the church to the end
of times.” Now mark well that the persecution is attributed
to the horn, and not to the beast, in Dan. 7 But this one
remark destroys all the system of Mr. Gaussen, because
if that horn, which lasts twelve hundred and sixty days,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
468
or three times and a half (the same period as the beast of
chapter 13 of the Apocalypse), torments the church to the
end of times, the theory of a third period of the beast under
another form is imaginary. It was to take place after the
end of times-after the coming of the Ancient of days. Here
then, in a word, the third goes on till the coming of Jesus
Christ. In Daniel, and according to Mr. Gaussen elsewhere,
it is the second. is is a main point, because it is a question
of the identity of the period of twelve hundred and sixty
days and of the three times and a half.
Page 284. ere is again something very serious. e
question is about the beast in its last form, and of its
destruction. “ e beast is slain, and his body destroyed; it
is given to the re to be burned. en, immediately after, the
Son of man comes on the clouds of heaven.” Very well, we
see now why it was necessary to confound the presenting
of the Son of man to the Ancient of days with His coming
on earth, in using the passage of Daniel, as we have already
noticed, sometimes for the one, sometimes for the other.
e doctrine here announced excludes the Son of man
from taking any part in the judgment of the beast. He does
not come upon the clouds till after that judgment. Daniel
presents unto us the Son of man brought near before the
Ancient of days to receive the kingdom. Mr. Gaussen alters
this in order to make it to be the coming of Christ, and he
quotes Rev. 19 in conrmation.
Now it is certain, according to Rev. 19, that it is by the
coming of Jesus that the beast is destroyed. at He who
is seated upon the horse is the Lamb is what is told us
(chap. 17: 14); that those that are with Him are the saints
is what is certain from that same verse. e marriage of
the Lamb also has taken place before that judgment (chap.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
469
19). In spite of all this, Mr. Gaussen puts the coming of
the Lord, who is the One that judges the beast, in chapter
19, after the judgment of the latter. Chapter 20: 4 is a new
vision, which introduces a new order of things; namely, the
session on thrones, and not the coming in glory. Dan. 7 is
also divided into visions, which begin at verses I, 7, 13; and
then comes the explanation: that is, verses 13, 14, contain
a distinct vision.
What Mr. Gaussen calls anarchy (page 285), mark it
well, is the eect of the judgment and of the setting up of a
kingdom on God’s part; it is the explanation that the Spirit
of God Himself gives of what He says of the little stone;
Dan. 11:44, etc. at kingdom, which God sets up, breaks
in pieces these human kingdoms; the ruin is not prepared
by anarchy; the feet are smitten by the little stone, and all
is broken to pieces by the power of the kingdom that is
set up, and no place was any more found for that which
existed before. What can one think of an interpretation
which applies this to a democratic anarchy?
Here also in the Apocalypse, there is no question of
anarchy. e beast is taken and cast alive into the lake of
re which burns with brimstone. Is this anarchy? Now that
beast is, according to Mr. Gaussen, democracy, and it had
not been judged before by another judgment; those who
compose his army are slain; and mark well that it is the
blow of judgment, given by the kingdom that God sets up,
which is here in question, and which produces what Mr.
Gaussen so unadvisedly calls anarchy. It is not a state of
things brought on by political revolutionary movements,
which prepares the ruin (see page 255); it is the ruin itself
through the judgment of God. Is the little stone cut out
without hands, which becomes a great mountain and lls
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
470
the whole earth, a democratic and revolutionary spirit?
And yet it is this which will grind the statue to powder.
All the system is untenable. As to the rising up and
movement of democracy, it is a certain thing; it has been
known well enough for many years. But the system which
Mr. Gaussen founds on this is entirely opposed to the
word. at is not all yet. e beast is the Latin empire in
its unity. is is what he lays down as a landmark; but here
he abandons that idea to bring his democracy into action.
e beast becomes the people. But it is the people under
citizen kings in all the ten states of the Latin empire (page
289). e unity is lost. It is the multitude of the people
become sovereigns, in every one of those kingdoms. is
circumstance renders impossible the application of the
passage to their receiving authority at the same time as
the beast, as Mr. Gaussen conceives ‘ • for that reception
of power is at about ten dierent epochs. Moreover, the
Greek for “ one hour “ in Rev. 17:12, does not mean at
the same epoch, but during the same period. See, above,
the note at page 121. But nally, what is the grand proof
that this beast is the democracy? It is this, that the woman,
sitting on the beast, sits also upon the waters. e beast
is the people, “ peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues.” (See pages 286, 295.)
ese expressions are very far from giving the idea of
unity. e expression “ nations “ and “ tongues,” does not
show the beast in a democratic unity or any other unity.
But this is not all: we see in the last page quoted, that Mr.
Gaussen grounds himself on the idea that the woman sits
at the same time upon the beast and upon the waters.
Here are his words: “ It is the people sovereign, under
kings delegate, who are deprived of the diadem.”
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
471
Who told you so?
“ e angel who speaks to St. John.”
And in what way?
“ Rome sits on the beast; it is also said to be seated at
the same time upon many waters; therefore the beast is the
many waters.”
Now Mr. Gaussen did not pay attention to the original
text. By consulting it, he would have seen he was building
in the air. e woman sits, “sits upon a beast” (Rev. 17:3) (the
Greek is in the accusative), and “upon many waters” (in the
genitive). If I say that Antwerp is situated on the Scheldt,
it does not mean that the city is built on the water, but on
the side of the river. I suppose that Mr. Gaussen, when he
has reected, will not question that this is the sense of the
passage. e woman, seated upon the beast and exercising
dominion over the beast, was placed on the side of the
waters, and spread her inuence over peoples and nations,
and this beyond the beast properly speaking.
at the evil of the last days is great is a thing I do not
doubt. at the saints are in the tribulation I do not believe.
ose who kept the word of Christ’s patience will be kept
out of the hour of trial which is about to come upon the
whole habitable world, “ to try them that dwell upon the
earth.” at those, whose portion is more or less earthly,
should dread what is about to come, I understand; he who
has his citizenship in heaven will not nd it aected. Dread
as to the future is not faith.
Page 304. In the text of the work we nd, in a clear way,
the contradiction which we have pointed out, and which
aects the basis of the whole system. e writer speaks
of the destinies of that little horn which was to torment
the earth during the last two periods we have just been
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
472
speaking of. But the rst of the two, which lasts twelve
hundred and sixty days, as well as the little horn, was to go
on to the end, so that the contradiction is evident.
Page 307. We nd here the practical eect of all this
false system, that is, that we must wait for the Antichrist
in order to wait for Christ, a principle which destroys
on this subject all the moral teaching of the Lord, who
always insisted on the constant waiting for His return-a
principle which confounds the judgment of the world
with the blessings of the church- which results in this,
that the church, attached to the world, settles down here
in heart, until the Lord comes, instead of understanding
and believing, according to the positive declarations of His
word, that, when He comes thus, it will come with Him,
the marriage of the Lamb above having already taken place.
Page 308 presents to us an instance of a curious feature
of this book. Speaking of the Antichrist it is said, “ During
which of those three
56
forms have we also ascertained he
was to live? During the two last … yes; that is, unto the
end of times?
What simplicity in the expression, “ ascertained “! Is any
proof given? Not in the least. To touch upon that question,
when dealing with the third form, would have been fatal
to the whole system. e thing is stated without going any
farther. It cannot be denied that the horn continues to the
end; but, in that case, the whole system is false, since the
duration of the second form of the beast is identical with
56 It is well to remind the reader that Mr. Gaussen teaches that
there are three forms of the Roman empire; the imperial period,
which lasted up to the establishment of the ten kings, the
period of the ten kings or decem-regal, say that of the twelve
hundred and sixty days, and the period of the democratic
form-the last two being depicted in Rev. 13 and 17.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
473
that of the horn. is duration is for twelve hundred and
sixty days. And having glided over all that, now the thing is
“ ascertained.” Compare pages 182 and 278, where we have
“ mathematical evidence “ of that which overturns all that
is said on the third state of the beast.
“ How long was that war of the decem-regal beast
against the saints to last according to St. John?
“ Forty and two months.
“ And how long according to Daniel?
“ Daniel says in his verse 25 that the saints should be
given into the hands of the beast and the little horn, until
a time and times and the dividing of time.”
Yes, and after other proofs taken from Rev. 11 and 12
the writer concludes that nothing is better established than
the identity of these two prophecies. Now, as we have said
on page 182, the ungodly power of the little horn of Dan.
7 is to torment the church up to the end of times;
57
so
57 It is well to bear in mind that the duration of the life of the
little horn and that of the war against the saints are the same,
and end at the same epoch. It makes war until the Ancient of
days comes, and then it is destroyed, since the war of the horn
lasts during the same period as the existence of the second
beast. Mr. Gaussen seeks, farther on, to avoid the contradiction
between these truths and his idea of a third beast, by
distinguishing between “ made war with the saints,” and “ given
into his hand.” e little horn may make war with the saints
and overcome them when they are not given into his hand,
according to Mr. Gaussen. We shall deal with that distinction
farther on; if the little horn and even the persecutions last
after the twelve hundred and sixty days, the identity of the
period with the authority of the beast has very little meaning.
Moreover Mr. Gaussen deals with his own distinction in pages
72 and 73: “ e war of the little horn with the saints makes
in the style of prophecy a times, times, and half a time,” that is,
only lasts during the decem-regal period.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
474
that the twelve hundred and sixty days go on to the end
of times.
Now (page 308), it is the two last: the decem-regal form
and the democratic form; “ that is to say, thus unto the end
of times.”
We need only remember this to be brought to
understand that what is said in page 318 has no foundation.
For the rest, during the twelve hundred and sixty days that
the witnesses give their testimony, it is not a question of
overcoming them. ey kill those who would torment
them. ese persecutions unto the end of times degenerate
(page 319) into a “ perhaps.”
Pages 321, 322. Observe the pains that are taken to
confound the saints of the Old and New Testament, and
the way in which the portion of the church, which is to go
and meet the Lord, is carefully set aside. Page 324, Here
again the fallacy of the system betrays itself.
In the fth place, it is “ until the beast and its Antichrist
are broken to pieces, and that the dominion and greatness
of the kingdoms which are under heaven are given unto
the saints of the Most High.”
In the sixth place it is “ this ecclesiastical power which,
during the decem-regal period.” One will recollect that Mr.
Gaussen’s democratic beast comes after the decem-regal
beast.
Which of the two things is true? In both he speaks of
the same thing, that is, of the little horn, as we see in the
note added to the fth remark and in the text of the sixth.
is complete and total contradiction, fatal to the
whole system, breaks out again (page 325) in a way which
only allows a feeling of astonishment that the writer could
publish it. He speaks of Dan. 7:22. “ It clearly declares that
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
475
the life of the beast, that of the Antichrist, and the war
with the saints, continue till the coming of Jesus Christ,
and till the reign of the saints. We must therefore conclude
from this that this personage still exists in our day, and
that the term of the war with the saints is not yet come.”
Now we read (page 282), “ e second (decem-regal beast)
continues from this to the French Revolution in A.D. 1789.
Yes, it is the time of the twelve hundred and sixty days, or
of the war of the little horn with the church of God “-a war
pointed out in Dan. 7:22.
“ And the third?
“ e third goes on from this unto the second coming
of Jesus Christ.
“ Very well.”
Which of the two, page 325 or page 282, contains the
truth on the point?
Page 327. “ In what precedes we were told of its great
words; but here it is blasphemy, it is against the most
holy Trinity.” Where is that distinction found? Simply in
the fact that Mr. Gaussen had himself given a very long
explanation, of which there is not a word in Daniel, in
order to apply it to the Pope, and “ here “ Daniel, or rather
the Spirit of God, gives quite another one, which hardly
leaves room for that of Mr. Gaussen. “ We were told “ is
candid enough.
Page 335. Mr. Gaussen has omitted what alters all the
value of the passage to attain the object in view of which he
quoted it. e word says, “ ey … of the kindreds shall see
their dead bodies three days and a half,” etc. ey were not
therefore at so great a distance. ey of the kindreds-it is
the class; that is, they of that category of persons who were
there. When it is a question of sending gifts, nothing is
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
476
said of the time spent for that. However, I think it is simply
characteristic. For the rest, there would be no diculty.
ey will rejoice at it, when they receive the tidings, were
it even at the ends of the earth. At all events, the passage is
not what Mr. Gaussen says, and cannot be accommodated
to it.
Here also Mr. Gaussen gives as being the word of God
that which is not found there, namely, “ Seal the vision,
Daniel, for it shall be for many days, and goes on unto two
thousand and three hundred days.” Now there is nothing
of the sort in Daniel. e words, “ it shall be for many
days,” are not thus connected with the two thousand three
hundred days.
Page 335. “ It shall be for many days.” is does not
speak of the duration of what is to happen, but of the
interval unto the eect of the vision, as in chapter 12: 9:
“ Go thy way, Daniel; for these words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end [until the time determined],”
or, according to the French translation of the passage of
Dan. 8 which we are examining, “ for it shall not be for
a long time.” ere is no passage like what Mr. Gaussen
puts between inverted commas. It is too serious a thing to
say “ An angel says to him,” when the angel said nothing
of the kind. What the angel did say to him is, “ Behold, I
will make thee know what shall be at the last end of the
indignation.”
Pages 335, 336. Observe, as regards Dan. 12, which
is referred to here, that the Lord, speaking of the times
that are in question, speaks of Jerusalem, of eeing into
the mountains, of the sabbath-day, of shortening the days
(but for which “ there should no esh be saved “); that is,
what He says makes it perfectly clear that it is a question
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
477
of days and not of years. If I am told, But it is a question
there of the taking of Jerusalem, I answer in that case, It is
a question of the same thing in Daniel; for the Lord says, “
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet … whoso readeth, let him
understand.” at passage, where it is a question of the
abomination of desolation, is the passage where the three
times and a half, the forty and ve days, and the thirty days,
of which Mr. Gaussen speaks, are mentioned.
In contradiction to what Mr. Gaussen here insinuates,
it is certain that, as to the twelve hundred and sixty days,
the oldest readers of Daniel whose writings we possess
take them as days. Mr. Gaussen has already admitted this,
founding himself on the good sense of the Jew Trypho
against their opinion.
Mr. Gaussen tries to remove these contradictions about
the duration of the persecutions of the little horn-a duration
which he declares to be of twelve hundred and sixty years
(page 72); then (page 182) unto the end of times; page
282, until the French Revolution in A.D. 1789; page 311,
making it the general duration of its life; page 324, a war
carried on until the reign of the saints; in the same page,
during the whole decem-regal period; page 325, the life of
the beast, that of the Antichrist, and its war with the saints
until the coming of Jesus Christ and until the reign of the
saints. He seeks, I say, to reconcile these contradictions by
saying, “ It is true that they [the saints] are to be, in a certain
way, given into his hands, but only until a time and times
and the dividing of time; but the war and hatred will last
until the second coming.” But, further on, we equally nd
that, though the action of the little horn, as a wild beast,
is transformed into that of the woman-or court of Rome-
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
478
leading the democracy, the horn does not cease to act thus,
just as the woman had acted before the democracy (pages
347, 348). Mr. Gaussen could not avoid thus modifying
what he had said, because it is clear that the second beast,
which he identies with the little horn, perishes as false
prophet after the destruction of Babylon.
But let us come to the root of the distinction. I have
already called attention to this, that the application made
to the saints of the words “ given into his hand,” is, I doubt
not, both arbitrary and false, of which, however, others
besides Mr. Gaussen are guilty. It is the times and laws
that are given into the hand of the horn. He will think to
change all that and will change it. But if we take the little
horn according to Mr. Gaussen’s system, the distinction he
has made is a most unhappy one, because the witnesses, as
we have already seen, are in no wise given into the hand of
their enemies during the twelve hundred and sixty days,
that is, during Mr. Gaussen’s second period-say that of the
crowned kings; but, quite the contrary, those who would
hurt them are killed. It is after having continued their
testimony during that period without being hurt, that they
are given into the hand of the beast of Mr. Gaussen’s third
period-” the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit.” It is that beast which, making war against them, will
overthrow them and kill them. ey are given into the hand
of the beast of the third period of Mr. Gaussen’s system,
and not of the beast of the second.
e description of the acts of the woman (page 346)
is not in the least according to the word, either for the
decem-regal period, or for the time that comes after. e
horn and the woman are confounded without saying why.
Yet the things are given between inverted commas as
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
479
quotations. e papal system answers to what Mr. Gaussen
says: but what he says does not at all answer to the word.
It is the history of the whole book. e little horn, says
Mr. Gaussen, has “ two periods which St. John has clearly
dened to us, the one in his chapter 13, the other in his
chapter I7.” “ e little horn will always be on the side of the
strongest.” “ During the polycratic period, it will, as much
as it can, associate its power with that of the ten absolute
kings “; it will exercise, we are told, all their power before
them; Rev. 13. But during the democratic period, “ it will
make drunk with its heady wine the ten citizen kings, and
will contrive to ride on their revolutionary peoples.” at
such, up to a certain point may be, the probable history of
papacy, according to the Abbe de Lammenais, is possible;
but-to say nothing of the arrogance which we were told of
elsewhere, which associates itself with nothing, but exalts
itself above everything; not to repeat, what I have already
called attention to, that it is not a question of their authority,
of their presence, but of exercising the authority of the beast
in his presence, which is quite a dierent thing, and that it
is not said that it would make the kings drunk and would
ride on their peoples, but that the nations would be made
drunk, and that the kings of the earth would commit
fornication with it; which changes everything (a grievous
thing when the word of God is in question),-I ask, Who
will do all that? e little horn, says Mr. Gaussen. But it is
a question of the woman in those passages, and the little
horn is not the woman. at horn subsists, according to
Mr. Gaussen himself, when the woman is destroyed.
Besides, John does not speak of the little horn, whether
in chapter 13, or in chapter 17. He speaks of a second beast
and of Babylon; that is, the writer supposes (contradicting
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
480
himself as to Babylon) the very thing he would have to
prove, namely, that these two things are the horn, and
he does so without any proof whatever. en he says, “
is double period of the little horn is therefore clearly
established “ (page 347). If Mr. Gaussen tells me, “ But
I have proved it by its duration of twelve hundred and
sixty days, which are found both in Daniel and in John,” I
answer, at duration, if it proves anything, shows that it
is impossible to apply to a double period of the little horn,
for it ends with the decemregal period. Moreover, nothing
at all is said of the duration of the second beast.
58
e only
proof given is, that the fact of there being a woman, who
is not the little horn, shows that the little horn will subsist
during that second period, as that woman. And how are
these things connected? Mr. Gaussen’s ideas on the papacy
alone form the connection.
For the rest, to apply Babylon to that democratic
period, as characterizing it, is an idea both unfounded
and false. at the kings of the earth will begin to commit
fornication with her, in order to restrain the democracy,
may very well be. But in Babylon is found all the blood shed
upon the earth. We have also in Rev. 17 the description of
the beast from the commencement of its existence; and it
is with the beast in its unity when it ascends out of the
58 I have no doubt that the little horn exists at the same time
as the beast of chapter 13; but I absolutely deny that the beast
of chapter 17 is a form which takes place during a subsequent
period. I do not admit that the woman takes the place of the
horn. She is quite another thing. I do not admit that the little
horn is necessarily the second beast. ese are things which
it is essential to prove in order to support Mr. Gaussen’s
explanation. He does not take the trouble of touching upon
them. e duration of the horn, its dominion, its blasphemies,
rather resemble the rst beast.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
481
bottomless pit, after it had ceased to exist, that the kings
receive their authority. It is not a question of an opinion, as
Mr. Gaussen represents it, but of the empire, and whatever
may be the political opinion and the woes which ow from
the passions of men (the sober-minded Christian will
acknowledge it), to have ascended out of the bottomless
pit goes much farther than the revolutions caused by the
passions of men. I believe that all these things tend to bring
about the result; but the beast is always the empire, and not
a political principle. “ Was, and is not, and shall ascend out
of the bottomless pit “ can be said of the empire, but not
of a principle which is of the bottomless pit, nor of the
peoples of dierent kingdoms under an inuence. Babylon
is the city of abominations, that is, quite simply, of idols;
but it is not only during the third period supposed by Mr.
Gaussen. e description is moral and general, without
date. I do not believe that any allusion is made in it to
democracy, when it is said, “ Seven heads and ten horns,”
although we know very well that historically the strength
of democracy has greatly increased.
And see how easily the writer’s imagination carries
him away. He says that those who, as I believe, form in the
present day the great majority of the Christians who have
carefully studied the word, have a veil upon their heart
when they read both the Old and the New Testaments,
like unbelieving Jews. Now, this judgment rests on a
confusion which ows from his pre-occupations. After a
long dissertation on the merchandise of Rome, which I
leave to the judgment of each, Mr. Gaussen asks, “ If the
unbelief of the Jews is inexcusable as regards the Christ,
will one not be able to say as much on the Antichrist? “ It
is somewhat rash to place the testimony rendered by the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
482
life and death of Christ on the same footing as his own
reasonings on Daniel and on the Apocalypse. We forgive
him also the charge of blindness, which one would have
with diculty forgiven in others. But I will make this
sole remark, that Babylon (and the question here is about
Babylon) is not the Antichrist. If even it were granted to
Mr. Gaussen that the bodies are relics, and that one must
be blinded by God like an unbelieving Jew not to believe
it, it is none the less true that the Babylon which is referred
to is certainly not the Antichrist. I could even question the
solidity of a reasoning which would accuse the pope of a
crime horrible above anything else, because he thought to
change the Scriptures, while “ holding nevertheless those
holy scriptures to be the Scriptures of his God “ (page 323),
and which would prove at the same time that the pope
is the Antichrist, because he regards no God. But there
would be no end to it.
Page 361. I make an important remark here on a point
which has given a false turn to all Mr. Gaussen’s thoughts.
“ is image,” he says, “ is the key to the prophecies; it
is the abridgment of the great plan of God’s providence
for the government of the nations.” Now I arm that
whatever be the importance of the image (and it is very
great), it is the very contrary of what Mr. Gaussen says,
that is true. e government (properly so called) of nations
on God’s part ceases during the continuation of this image,
although providence always acts. e image represents the
empires which have subsisted during the period called the
times of the Gentiles. God governed the nations before
the image, having Israel as the center and pivot of that
government. He will inherit the nations and govern them
after the destruction of the image. e duration of the
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
483
image is the period during which Israel is put aside, and
which is introduced by these words, “ ou, 0 king, art a
king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a
kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever
the children of men dwell, the beasts of the eld, and the
fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and
hath made thee ruler over them all.” Before that, there were
dierent nations, the existence of which was recognized,
which were the fruit of the judgment of Babel; Israel had
been placed at the center of the bounds of all nations-
bounds which were set according to the number of the
children of Israel; and God, having set up His throne at
Jerusalem, and built His sanctuary as a building set up on
high, from that center governed all nations in relation to
His people. Now, nally He visited them in judgment, as
He had done to Shiloh (Jer. 7); and when Jerusalem was
taken by Nebuchadnezzar, His glory visited the city, shows
the prophet the iniquity of the inhabitants, and then leaves
it; Ezek. 11. Instead of dierent nations, and a people-a
special nation owned of God-where God reigned, He
sets up an imperial unity in the hand of a human head, by
committing unto him all that was recognized of the world,
and by placing His people in captivity. Finally, He gives up
Jerusalem to be “ trodden down of the Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles be fullled.” en He will again take up
the government, in judging that imperial power which will
be in rebellion against Him. But is the government of God
on earth limited to the time during which He has given
up His people (which He yet always owns) into the hand
of His enemies, when His people are groaning in captivity,
and when His holy city is in the hand of the Gentiles? Is
the whole of prophecy included in a book written by a son
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
484
of the kings set up by God, “ on the throne of the Lord,”
captive in Babylon, fasting and presenting his supplications
unto God, and praying that such a state of things might
come to an end? Clearly not. e time during which God’s
people are in captivity is not properly the time of God’s
government; and a system which considers it as such, and
which takes no account either of that people or of the mass
of prophecies which apply to them, necessarily falls into
that which is false. Daniel naturally speaks only of these
times of the Gentiles. He belonged to that captivity, and
God gave His precious servant the divine light which gave
him to understand that God had not forgotten His people.
But the most detailed prophecies of Daniel are given after
the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, a circumstance which
makes one feel that the true captivity, the times of the
Gentiles, still existed-a truth to which the chief priests
put their seal, by crying, “ We have no king but Caesar.”
Daniel connes himself to that period. He goes on till
the judgment, by God, and His taking possession of the
government; and there he always stops.
He never describes that government nor its eects;
he remains the prophet of the captivity. Nothing more
important in its place; but, I repeat, to neglect all that is
said elsewhere, and to present, as the government of God,
the period during which God has committed it to the
Gentiles, until He takes it up again in judgment, on account
of their unfaithfulness, is to pervert all the truth and all the
force of the word on those subjects. In Psa. 82, we have an
appeal made to God, that He may interpose by taking the
judgment into His hand. I repeat then, all Mr. Gaussen’s
system is wrong in its rst idea, in its starting-point. It is
false, completely false. And the fallacy of his starting-point
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
485
which leaves aside the Jews and the government of God
exercised in relation to that people (a government left in
the hands of the Gentiles in Nebuchadnezzar, and taken
up again at the time of the judgment of the beast), gives a
false turn to everything he has built up thereon. e times
of the Gentiles-times during which His people is rejected-
are not properly the time of the government of God,
although in one sense He always governs. Certainly it is
not such exclusively. e system of the nations, and Israel
chosen from among them, existed until Nebuchadnezzar.
It will be recommenced in a far more excellent way, when
the beast shall have been destroyed. e interval is the
time of the beast in contrast with the government of God.
erefore do we nd the church, which is in heaven, placed
by Mr. Gaussen, as the great mountain on the earth, in the
Pentaples, column 3.
I have only two things more to call attention to, what
Mr. Gaussen calls the rule of the two ends, and the end of
the last column of the Pentaples. e rst, the rule of the
two ends, is this: e man of sin (that is, the little horn,
which he has nowhere shown to be the little horn) reaches
from the time of the invasion of the barbarians, at one
end, to the reign of Jesus Christ, at the other end. As to
the last end, I have nothing to oppose; the little horn will
be destroyed by the coming of the Lord. It is the other
end that is in question. Listen to Mr. Gaussen “ e little
horn was growing slowly, and with unperceived progress.
e ten rst horns had presented themselves to Daniel,
all at the same time, all already great and threatening, all
in the midst of the foaming sea “ (page to). How in the
midst of the foaming sea? Historically, as to the dates, they
were not on the beast when it came up from the sea. We
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
486
must add, according to Daniel, that “ four great beasts
came up from the sea “ (chap. 7: 3), and the fourth “ had
ten horns.” Now, if the ten horns were in the midst of the
foaming sea, they were on the beast who was coming up
from it, already all there, and all great. Now, it is quite
evident that the Roman beast did not come up from the
sea at the time of the invasion of the barbarians. And yet
the ten horns were all there at the same time, great and
threatening. Besides, there was nearly a century and a half
between the rst invasion of the barbarians and the last.
Nevertheless Daniel sees them all great at the same time.
What consequence do I draw from this? at the ten horns
are a description, without there being any date supplied by
the symbol seen by Daniel. ere are there, possibly, when
the little horn comes up; but as to the moment when the
latter shows itself, there is absolute silence on Daniel’s part.
e existence of the horns is not given there as a date.
59
ey are there on the beast; nothing is said of their beginning,
nor that it is a question of their whole duration since they
began, nor that the little horn began immediately after.
ere is not a single trace of what Mr. Gaussen advances.
e chapter does not lend itself to dates, for the beast has
ten horns when it comes up; they exist when Daniel sees it.
He saw it come up out of the sea.
60
59 In the Apocalypse there is an element which overturns Mr.
Gaussen’s system, namely, that the horns and the beast subsist
during the same period. But I conne myself here to the
examination of Daniel.
60 Mr. Gaussen makes this sea to be the Mediterranean,
and sitting on the Mediterranean is, according to him, that
which the beasts characterize. Coming up from the sea has
no reference whatever to that, the sea being the multitude of
nations. Now that is the only connection of the beast with the
sea. To sit is not to come up.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
487
If I examine the Apocalypse (chap. i3), the beast with
ten horns acts during twelve hundred and sixty days; but as
to the invasion of the barbarians which lasted such a length
of years, there is no question of it. As to the second beast,
which Mr. Gaussen, without proving it, pretends to be the
little horn, there is no question of a date. So that there is
absolutely nothing to show that that beast-and, in general,
that the man of sin-reaches up, by the only end which is
referred to, to the time of the invasion of the barbarians.
Perhaps I am as blind as a Jew, but I do not even see in it
the Pentaples to which Mr. Gaussen refers me (page 382).
I see a frightful head, which comes out of the sea, with
ten horns and an eleventh horn which is smaller than the
others. But how does this plainly show that the existence
of this little horn begins at the time of the invasion of the
barbarians?
In a word, the teaching of the prophecy does not bear
upon any beginning whatever of the ten horns, nor upon
a beginning of the little horn, at any moment whatever
of the existence of the ten. ere is a complete absence
of proof. e little horn will continue till the coming of
Jesus, twelve hundred and sixty days, and the beast with ten
horns during twelve hundred and sixty days; but this only
overturns the writer’s system, because he would leave time
enough for his democratic beast afterward.
Finally (and this is the last point), the writer places the
resurrection after the judgment of the beast and the false
prophet. Here are the passages which show this cannot be.
1 ess. 4 teaches us that we shall be caught up to meet the
Lord in the air before He is on earth to execute judgment.
erefore it is not possible that the resurrection should be
after that judgment. Col. 3 “ When Christ, who is our life
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
488
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory “:
so that we shall have been raised before He appears. Jude
says, “ Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his
saints.”
e appearing of Jesus is with all His saints, and, in
Rev. 17, those who are with Jesus are “ called, and chosen,
and faithful.” e marriage of the Lamb takes place before
He comes on the white horse, and the armies which are in
heaven follow Him, for the destruction of the beast. Mark
well that the angels, although chosen and faithful, are not
called ones. e connection which Mr. Gaussen seeks
to establish between the church and these prophecies, is
entirely contradicted by the word. Pay attention to this,
reader, for it is most important.
You are misled by the book as to your faith: in it, the
church is put out of its place. Its true position is denied.
Had it not been for this, I would never have made a
remark on Mr. Gaussen’s system-a system where an ardent
imagination has united to the beauties of an attractive style
serious errors, and thoughts which nearly all deviate from
the word. I own that I nd something very serious in the
way of quoting the word, that is, in advancing things which
are not there, with a “ St. John says so,” or “ It is written,”
etc. In the beginning, I had no other idea but to point out
the four or ve main points which I have shown to be
destitute of all proof; but the importance of the questions,
and the gravity of the errors, induced me to touch briey
upon nearly all the foundations which the writer has laid
down. I have avoided all discussion of doubtful points. I
have conned myself to showing that the system has no
foundation whatever in the word.
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
489
It is a mixture of a few elements of truth, already
explained two centuries ago, with the most grievous errors,
recently introduced in order to oppose the light God has
vouchsafed to His church in these latter times-errors to
which Mr. Gaussen adds a few new and false elements,
taken from the events of the day, clothing the whole with
an attractive style, used to turn away the church from
waiting for the Lord, and to confound the judgment of the
world with our gathering together to Jesus.
e publication of the second edition of the rst
volume of “ Daniel the Prophet “ gives me an opportunity
for adding a few words to what I have just been saying
on the second and third volumes. Mr. Gaussen’s remarks
on chapter I I make us understand more exactly what his
views are on the ways of God at the end of time. I am only
occupied with his views on prophecy. I respect the piety
one meets with in this rst volume, although it is wrapped
up in such a mass of history and imagery, which no doubt
have attraction for most readers, but which, at times, may
tire those who look for biblical explanation. I leave to every
one his judgment in this respect, and I only take up the
interpretation of chapter 2.
e little stone, according to Mr. Gaussen, is “ some
feeble portion of the church of God, which will become
the occasion of the ruin of the colossus, and of the coming
of the reign of Jesus Christ.” e mountain itself out of
which it is cut “ is the church of God, which has subsisted
in all ages by the side of the image and before the image,
but which is only then to obtain dominion among men.”
e rst thing here that xes attention is, that the stone,
this “ feeble portion of the church,” is to be separated
from the mountain by “ the providence of God and by the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
490
power alone of His divine Spirit.” is is singular, if the
mountain is the true church which has subsisted by the
side of the image in all ages. Why should this little portion
be separated from the true church? But I ‘let that pass.
According to Mr. Gaussen it is the little stone which itself,
at a later time, becomes the mountain which lls the whole
earth. And as to the other mountain, what becomes of it?
Do the separatists absorb the aggregate of the church? and
do they, by themselves, execute the judgment?
But I leave all this. I only remind the reader of the
remark already made, that, according to the word, the
kingdom is set up in the days of the ten kings, and that
assuredly the church was not set up in the days of the ten
kings. And, pay attention to this, that it is the kingdom
that God has established in those days which breaks in pieces
and consumes all the kingdoms of the image. “ But,” says
Mr. Gaussen, speaking of the little stone (without saying
clearly whether he speaks of its existence, or of its work of
destruction), “ it will begin in the toes of the image.” How
will it begin? e stone was cut, without hands, out of the
mountain which was by the side of the image. e stone
was not in the image; it did not come out of it, and formed
no part of it. It smote the image and broke it to pieces.
What was it then that began?
But see in what way Mr. Gaussen has changed according
to his fancy that which the word says. “ It will begin in
this way; true Christians will never rise up against the
powers that be. But if any one of the children of men is
unfortunate enough to rise up against the church of Jesus
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
491
Christ, sooner or later he will there destroy himself;
61
if he
will seek to break it to pieces, certainly he will there break
himself to pieces … It is thus, dear children, that in the
last days the church will break to pieces its adversaries; it
will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, as it is written; it
will overcome through the patience and through the faith
of the saints.’ “ So that this terrible blow of the little stone,
which grinds to powder the image and utterly destroys it,
is an attack of one part of the image against the church,
which will overcome through patience. Is this a serious
interpretation of the word of God?
“ Finally,” says Mr. Gaussen, “ the following are the
immense results of this awful collision. One of the kings or
several of the kings that belong to the Latin Church, angry
with a certain portion of the people of God, will seek to
crush it; but they will be broken to pieces like the cha,”
etc. “ ere will remain nothing but their dust, nothing but
a frightful anarchy; the complete and universal breaking up
of all the governments and powers that are will begin in the
toes of the image “ “ In the midst of that frightful trouble
one will see this little stone growing, growing, growing, by
the power of God. Some time later it will have become a
great mountain; and still later it will nally ll the whole
earth.” After these ideas of Mr. Gaussen, I take the liberty
of presenting the word of God:
61 It is also remarkable enough that the Lord Himself speaks of
the two things, that is, the result of falling on the stone, and
the falling of the stone on any one, placing them in contrast.
He says, “ Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken;
but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
So that the teaching of the Lord places what is in question
in the passage of Daniel, in contrast with the application Mr.
Gasusen gives of it.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
492
“ ou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands,
which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and
clay, and brake them to pieces. en was the iron, the clay,
the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,
and became like the cha of the summer threshing-oors;
and the wind carried them away, that no place was found
for them: and the stone that smote the image became a
great mountain, and lled the whole earth.”
“ And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand forever.”
Do we nd there one single idea which resembles those
of Mr. Gaussen? Do the toes attack the stone? Does the
stone manifest the Christian mildness and patience which
bears with the evil? Is it not quite evident that the word
of God speaks the very contrary of what Mr. Gaussen
says? Is it not evident that the time of patience is ended,
when the stone acts and when the time of the judgment is
come? Is it not clear that the blow from the stone is, above
all, a judgment. which utterly destroys every trace of the
kingdoms of the image? Is it not evident that it is the only
thing which the little stone does, and that it is after this has
been done that it lls the whole earth? Is it in the midst
of anarchy that it grows? All Mr. Gaussen’s system is only
an endeavor which tends to substitute its own ideas in the
place of the testimony of the word.
Reect well upon it, reader; I say it seriously. at
explanation presents to us, perhaps, the expectation of Mr.
Gaussen in the year 1837; but not one single thought of
the passage in Daniel. And remark how carefully Christ
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
493
is excluded from this judgment. “ ou wilt ll the earth,
0 church of my Savior. is work of the little stone will
become the occasion of the coming of the reign of Jesus
Christ.” Will He not then come Himself to execute the
judgment? Let us examine what is said by other passages of
the word. Will there be “ an anarchy, a complete breaking
up of all governments,” before His arrival? By no means.
“ And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings,
which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power
as kings one hour [during the same period] with the beast.
ese have one mind, and shall give their power and
strength unto the beast. ese shall make war with the
Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord
of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him are
called, and chosen, and faithful.” ere will be no anarchy
there, no breaking up of governments, before the Lamb
comes. And how then are they broken to pieces? e word
relates to us the accomplishment of the judgment, of that
victory of which the passage just quoted has spoken to us.
“ And 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 and make war. His eyes were
as a ame of re, and on his head were many crowns; and
he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his
name is called, e Word of God. And the armies which
were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in
ne linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the
winepress of the erceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
Is that a feeble portion of the church, which overcomes
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
494
through patience? And yet there cannot be two judgments
of the same kind, for the blow from the little stone consumes
the kingdoms, so that no place is found for them.
Finally, here is the judgment itself:
“ And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and
their armies, gathered together to make war against him
that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast
was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought
miracles before
him, with which he deceived them that had received the
mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
ese both were cast alive into a lake of re burning with
brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of
him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of
his mouth; and all the fowls were lled with their esh.”
Who is it that executes the judgment? e kings,
smitten by the stone, are found here. eir power is not yet
carried away like the cha of the summer threshing-oors.
Is it against the church on earth that they are making war?
Read also the end of chapter 14. Who is it that treads
the winepress of the wrath of God, so that His vesture is
dipped in blood? Read also Isa. 63, and you will see who it
is that is come from Edom, with garments dyed with red,
after having been alone, as to the peoples of the world, to
tread the winepress.
I have already called attention to the manner in which
Mr. Gaussen excludes Christ from the judgment of
the beast, so that I do not return to it. ere have been
judgments executed on the beast, vials poured out, and that
even upon its seat or throne; but here it is a question of a
nal judgment with respect to the image, with respect to the
ten kingdoms-a judgment which causes them to disappear
Shor t but S erious Examination of Principles in “ Daniel the Prophet”
495
from the face of the earth. To exclude Jesus from it, so as
to make it a consequence of the persecution of some little
portion of the church, is enough to show that the whole
system which hangs upon it is nothing but the sport of
the imagination of man. I respect, I repeat, the piety of the
writer; I honor him, as sincere; as a man, I respect him. But
I frankly own that I feel no respect for such a use-for such
a perversion-of the word. I make allowance for an ardent
imagination; I acknowledge how easy it may be for one
to make a mistake on such subjects, if one goes beyond
the plain teaching we may have received from God, and
of which every one who has studied prophecy with piety
will bring his share, whatever be his system. But as to Mr.
Gaussen’s book, it is not only that it contains an erroneous
system. e writer avows that it is good to consider the
coming of the Savior as being at a distance for the church.
He destroys the great foundations of the word, not on
prophecy, but with regard to the judgment executed by
Jesus; and he gives as quotations that which is not found
in the word, in a way that deserves the strongest reproof of
every faithful soul.
e more Mr. Gaussen is surrounded with esteem (and
I do not doubt that he deserves it, humanly speaking), the
more important it is to denounce the evil. e piety and
apostolic authority of Peter only served to carry away all
the converted Jews and Barnabas by dissimulation, when
he fell into it. e failures of a godly man are the most
dangerous of all failures.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
496
62480
Signs of the Coming of the
Lord: for Whom Are ey
Given?
I should not, I confess, have felt it needful, nor, under
the circumstances of their publication, desirable, to answer
the three tracts of which the statements are here called
in question, had they appeared supported only by their
intrinsic merit. I understand the eect in an upright mind
of an appeal to a righteous jealousy against error, especially
error which is stated to shake the foundation of Christian
faith. Still the confusion and futility of the statements, I
should have hoped, would have suced for their refutation
in the mind of the reader; but they are in fact the expression
of the sentiments and the sanctioned publication of those
whose opinions are looked up to by many, and come with
their authority. It is this induces me, though reluctantly, to
publish these remarks upon them. It is a most wearying
thing-controversy. And I have had the MS by me weeks
before I could make up my mind to publish it. I do so as
owing it to those whose minds are inuenced by the tracts,
and who have asked for an answer. ey were mentioned
indeed to me originally by a brother to comment on, which
led to the form of the answer-a form in general I dislike.
Here it was the simple truth of the case; though, when
written, I publish instead of sending it in manuscript.
My dear brother,,
I have read the tract you mentioned to me. I shall not
express to you the eect it produced on my mind, as I
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
497
should fear to be ungracious or untrue if I attempted it.
I should not judge it demanded a comment, were it not
the expression of a system adopted by many, and that this
tract helps to prove on what very slender grounds. I am yet
unconvinced by the reasonings I have heard and read on
Matt. 24; and, while I recognize, as I have ever done, in this
chapter and elsewhere, that the church may use a great part
of it for itself, as general principles, that it would have availed
preciously to the disciples in the siege of Jerusalem, though
Luke much more, and that all of it belongs (as everything
does) to the church in general for her instruction, yet I
still believe that it is not occupied with her as such. Nay,
with I trust very moderate views, and open to receive every
instruction from any brother on the subject, I confess that
the more I read the Scriptures, and the more I read the
writings of those who so stoutly denounce views which,
it seems to me, they do not understand at all, the more I
am convinced of certain distinctions they seem to me to
be unable to appreciate, though they loudly condemn; and
the more also I see such inattention to Scripture facts, and
contradiction in their own statements as quite destroys all
possibility of what they state having much weight with any
one who examines calmly anything before he receives it.
Other opportunities will occur of examining the subject
more at large. Meanwhile, I shall take up this tract on the “
Signs of the Coming of the Lord,” that we may see, in some
very brief remarks, how far the writer is justied, by the
solidity of his reasonings, or the proofs he aords of their
importance, in charging (as others also have done) brethren
(some of whom have suered for Christ, and preached the
truth for years before he knew Christ or the truth either)
with “ subverting the rst elements of Christianity.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
498
First, in attacking the expression of Jews as Jews, he
is, it seems to me, saying a great deal about nothing. All
his rst letter, which treats of this, is a mere harmless
thunderbolt. It would have been as much to the purpose,
when Paul says, I write to you Gentiles inasmuch as I am
the apostle of the Gentiles, to have shown the dreadfulness
of addressing heathens in such a way, seeing heathens were
idolaters, and judgment come upon the world and the like,
all which would be entirely beside the mark, and prove only
that those who made the remark did not understand the
generic or abstract use of the word Gentile, as the writer of
the tract does not that of Jew. A Jew who believed in Jesus
might be addressed in his character of Jew, as a Gentile in
that of a Gentile. It is possible that some of our brethren
have not been as guarded or as perfect in their expressions
as the blessed Spirit made Paul; but it does not follow that
those who attack them are wiser or more correct than those
who would have objected to analogous expressions of the
Spirit of God Himself.
I still believe that Matt. 24, at least to verse 31, is
addressed to the disciples as Jews, as believing Jews no
doubt, but as Jews; and the more I examine it the more I
think so; and I do not think it addressed to the church as
the church. Nothing indeed was addressed to the church
by the Lord in Person, because the church did not yet exist
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
499
to be addressed; though all was left for the church to use by
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.
62
e writer insists much upon the expression-” this
generation,” “ no sign shall be given to this generation
but the sign of Jonas the prophet,” connected with the
statement “ this generation shall not pass away,” etc., and
that consequently signs were not to be given to the Jews as
such. is seems to catch him much. To me it has no weight
at all. I admit the moral unity of “ this generation “ in Matt.
24 It is an interpretation long accepted and taught by those
who are blamed in this tract. Still his reasoning is wrong
and contradicts itself. It is clear rst, as to the passage,
chapter 12: 38-45, that the Lord was speaking of signs as
proofs of His mission, and not of coming judgment. In
chapter 16:1-4 they are accused of not discerning the signs
of the times that were then before them. But no sign could
be given them from the Lord but the sign of the prophet
62 It must be remembered that all the gospels were given by
subsequent revelation to the church of God: but it is for the
church of God to discern by the teaching of the Holy Ghost
what was forever and essentially available for itself, what was
for the disciples in the state in which they then were, and
what was prophetic of some future state of things. is is not
to take anything from the church. It is not, and cannot be,
denied that there are passages which apply to the disciples in
their then state, and not to the present state of the church. So
that the principle of some passages not applying is admitted;
and therefore to say that the supposition that in certain other
passages the Lord speaks prophetically of certain events beyond
the church’s history, is taking the gospels from the church, is
quite an unreasonable accusation. It is merely denying spiritual
discernment to the church of God-to say that it cannot judge
of what was for the disciples then, what is for itself now, and
what may be prophetic of some future state of things.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
500
Jonas for the ground of their faith. But these signs spoken
of were still signs as grounds of faith.
Next, the greater part of the signs spoken of in Matt. 24
are not given to the disciples, the only one that is so given
being absolutely inapplicable in any case to the church
in general, or to any but a very small portion indeed, at
a particular moment of time, namely the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and its neighborhood at the moment of
Antichrist’s open rebellion. e body of the church must
have expected Christ without this, or not expected Him at
all. But believers in Christ, he says, “ have a series of signs
given to them, commencing with the one sign refused
by the nation, and closed by a host of unprecedented
distinctness, immediately preceding, and introducing, the
great sign itself, the sign of the Son of man in the clouds of
heaven.” Now, omitting Jonas and the resurrection, which
is not mentioned here, and is entirely another kind of sign,
and on another principle, and the unnamed series which is
only a ourish, the signs of “ unprecedented distinctness
“ are not given to the disciples as such. Indeed they are
already, according to his own system, ed. And I suppose
that he does not deny that these terric signs are seen by,
and a sign to, the nation. At any rate the great sign itself is
clearly given as such: “ en shall appear, etc., and they shall
see.” So that it ends in the appearing of Christ making the
tribes of the earth mourn, Christianity being gone far away
three years and a half before,
63
and the harvest even over,
having taken place elsewhere; so that, on his own showing,
in all this he is certainly wrong. at this is a provision
for all whom it may concern, who believe and receive the
63 See “ oughts on the Apocalypse,” B.W.N., page 135, as to
the harvest being ended, page 207 of the same work.
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
501
testimony, I do not deny. But when he says that they, the
Jews, are blinded, he seems to forget that it is only “ in
part.”
And here it is that the system breaks down altogether,
as I shall show more clearly hereafter; for after all that is
said about blinded Jews, and about the church only having
the signs, if I am to receive the teaching of those most
taught in the system, Christianity (the church) will have
left Jerusalem, and indeed the whole Roman Empire,
before the terric signs appear; and there will be Jews in
Jerusalem who will have received the testimony that Jesus
was the Son of God, the promise of protection through
the tribulation, of acceptance in Jesus after He shall have
appeared, but who are not Christians at all.
64
But further, as to the signs, it is quite clear that the
writer has not at all considered the actual state of the
disciples whom Jesus addressed. “ Any,” he says, “ among
that nation who received that one sign, and so came into
the church, would indeed be thus introduced where these
many signs were taught. But as Jews they rejected,” etc.
Now the disciples, when Jesus addressed them, had not
received that one sign. ey did not believe yet in the
resurrection, but when stated to them, and that after Jesus
had said “ I will build my church “ (and in the same chapter
on purpose to make the contrast clear), the one most
specially taught said, when this sign was proposed, “ that
be far from thee, Lord.” And afterward it is said, “ they saw
and believed, for as yet they knew not the Scriptures, that
Christ must rise from the dead.” Others said, “ we thought
that it was he that should have delivered Israel “; “ and
64 See “ oughts on the Apocalypse,” B.W.N., pages 125 and
133.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
502
certain women also of our company made us astonished,
saying, that they had seen a vision of angels which said
that he was alive.” e disciples therefore were not yet of
the “ any among that nation who received that one sign,”
and consequently were not so come into the church. ey
reasoned among themselves sometimes, wondering what
the rising from among the dead should mean; but, as far as
they expressed any thought, they “ rejected “ it as involving
His death- whether as Jews I leave you to determine. e
eect then of the writer’s reasoning upon my mind is to
show me that (theorizing upon our faith who are in the
church of God and God’s judgment on the blinded nation)
he has entirely left out what the scripture actually states of
the condition of the disciples; and that he has never taken
into consideration, nor seen perhaps, the transitional state
in which they were-believing in Christ, and not believing
in His resurrection at all. ey were in this state when
they were addressed, and therefore according to his own
statements were not “ come into the church.” Nothing of
all this (that is, of the actual state of things spoken of in
Scripture) comes into his calculation at all.
All his reasoning on Psa. 74 is nothing to the purpose,
as there is no question in Matt. 24 of “ our signs.” As in the
mouth of a Jew, the words have evidently a totally dierent
sense. e truth is, he has not understood the question. It
is not whether the blinded generation sees the signs or has
them- though they will have all of them, but not receive
the instruction of the Lord about them (as they had the
sign of Jonas just as much as the disciples; and as they will
have all that God is pleased to mention here-I do not say
the unnamed series of which the writer is pleased to speak).
e question is, Are there not persons-not in the full
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
503
privileges of the church- who may receive and understand
these signs? Are there not persons in the condition of, or
even more advanced than, the disciples, but who are not,
when they receive the instruction, actually in a church
standing? In a word, are there not those who will be what,
he must confess, the disciples then were to whom these
instructions were given? for they had not received the one
sign, and consequently were not come into the church!
65
As to the second letter, and expecting the return of
Christ, it seems to me that the coming of Christ, also,
is spoken of to the disciples in a way which he has not
considered. It is written, “ Ye shall not have gone over the
cities of Israel till the Son of man be come.” He was there
for the secret faith of His disciples; but He does not treat
that as the coming of the Son of man; and He speaks to
them as exclusively occupied with the cities of Israel, which
they could not have time to go over before the Son of man
should be come.
66
And now I beg attention to the chapter
in which the passage I have alluded to above is found, as it
contains one of those statements of which the use in Mark
13 and Luke 21 is particularly referred to in the tract to
prove that the apostles must always be, and actually were,
addressed as the church, or representing the church. e
idea that they could be addressed in a peculiar character as
connected with Israel (while many general principles are
admitted to be applicable to the church, at least to those
laboring in the work of the ministry during the time of the
church, as well as any other)-such an idea, I say, is treated as
65 Indeed up to this, as far as they had heard of it, they had
refused it, and Were denounced as Satan, and savoring the
things that be of men.
66 In Matt. 24 and 25 also He does not speak of His return till
He speaks of the talents.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
504
subversive of the rst elements of Christianity. e passage
quoted (page 7) from Mark 13 and Luke 21 to prove that
Matt. 24 is absolutely addressed to the church as such is, “it
is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost.” In page 4 will be
found a summary of Matthew, with the particularities of
this chapter 10 among others, produced (page 6), as clear
and conclusive evidence of the gospel by Matthew to the
character the twelve sustain therein; that is, that the Lord
addresses them as the church.
Now this is the commission in chapter 10: “ Go not into
the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not, but go ye to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel,” etc. ey were to provide nothing for their journey;
and to shake o the dust of their feet against the city that
did not receive them; inquiring who was worthy where
they went. ey are then cautioned to beware of men: that
they should be brought before governors and kings for His
sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles: but,
when delivered up, the Spirit of their Father would speak
in them. e members of the same family would betray one
another. ey should be hated of all men for His name’s
sake; but he that endured to the end the same should be
saved. When persecuted in one city, they were to ee to
another, for they would not have gone over the cities of
Israel till the Son of man were come. Now, will any one
say that this was addressed to the church, as the church?
or to the apostles as representatives of it; when they are
forbidden to go into the way of the Gentiles, but to go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? And while
undergoing persecutions, such as did eventually happen to
them in the land of Israel when the church was formed,
they are told, when persecuted in one city, to go to another,
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
505
for that they would not have got over the cities of Israel
till the Son of man should be come. Has this to do with
Jews as Jews? Yet they suer for His name’s sake. Nor can
it be doubted, on the other hand, that their bringing before
kings and rulers was accomplished after Christ’s ascension.
Yet it is certain they are not here addressed as the church.
Again, we are told, in a note, that, in a New Testament
sense, only true believers are Jews. is is certainly new. e
discussion, be it remembered, turns on the application of
passages in Matthew. Does the writer adopt the idea that
Matthew is Old Testament scripture? or is he in the system
he states to be subversive of Christianity, that in Matthew
the addresses are not to the church in the New Testament
sense of things? For I suppose Jews are sometimes
mentioned in this gospel, and in the three others, and even
in the Acts. Yet I do not remember where this word is used
in the sense of true believers. So that clearly, according
to his statement, in these books the word has not a New
Testament sense. But we have here a palpable proof of the
absurdity of the system which assumes that everything that
is said in the New Testament must have reference to the
church viewed in its proper and highest privileges.
I understand what the writer means-that, viewed in
the light of New Testament privileges, carnal Jews are not
recognized as the people of God. And who questions this?
But to say that in a New Testament sense only true believers
are Jews, is merely to say that we have closed our eyes to its
use in a great part of the New Testament, because occupied
with a theory of our own minds.
Nor can the writer escape by saying he means new
covenant, because the use of the word in the gospels
remains there as a fact, so that it would be merely asserting
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
506
that Matthew does not write in a new covenant sense. And,
further, new covenant thus becomes worse than ambiguous:
for, in Jeremiah, Israel and Judah are spoken of in their usual
sense in connection with the new covenant. And, further,
it is a confusion between the church’s blessings and Israel’s
under the new covenant under the millennium: for all Israel
will be saved, and saved as Israel, under the new covenant.
Moreover, as to the Jews being cast o, page 12, Tract 3,
the apostle uses the salvation of the believing remnant as
a proof that this people, gainsaying and rebellious as they
were, were not “ cast o “-concluding, that blindness in
part was happened to them, but, that in result all Israel
should be saved. And moreover, those of whom the writer
thus speaks as cast o are not mixed up with the evil and
adulterous generation, as Dan. 1:1, 12 and Isa. 66 plainly
prove.
e writer states they will have “ refused all other
testimony till the glory bursts on them like the glory on
Saul. Most will perish, though a remnant shall be spared;
but those who have believed in Jesus crucied and risen,
and who have waited and watched for His appearing, etc.,
will nd the consummation of their redemption.”
Yet I nd in “ oughts on the Apocalypse,” page 125,
that, after Christianity is withdrawn from Jerusalem, God
raises up a new testimony-a testimony of judgment, and
not of salvation, but which will be received by a spared
remnant, so that it is clear that there are those who will
not have refused all testimony, and yet at a time that
Christianity is withdrawn.
Nor can this be contested. For the Lord Himself says,
speaking to the nation as such, whose house was left
desolate, “ Ye shall not see me henceforth till ye say Blessed
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
507
be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” So that they
certainly will have received some testimony before He
comes. I confess it seems to me very clear indeed, that if
the writer says that the coming of the Son of man will burst
on that rebellious generation which has refused all other
testimony, when the Lord says that they will not see Him
till they have received other testimony, “ this is to derange
and confuse all the order and truth of God concerning
these things.” I prefer believing in Scripture, that they will
not see Christ till they say “ Blessed be he that cometh.”
e writer of the tract has clearly lost sight of a body of
people, a remnant of whom the Scriptures distinctly speak,
and whom God owns-certain wise ones who do understand.
He says, I am simply speaking of the body of Christian
people, as the only body amidst which this idea, or hope, of
the second advent of Christ could exist, and to which alone
therefore, etc., “ not entering into this distinction between
the professing church and the true church.”
But, here again, the system, built up on one side to
condemn all others, is knocked down on the other; because,
after the withdrawal of Christianity from Jerusalem, there
is a new testimony raised up, whose grand object will be
the coming of Christ. We have therefore instructions
67
addressed to some one else than the church about
Christ’s return. But Christ does not, in the passage we are
considering, speak of His coming as His return, no more
than in chapter to. On the contrary, it is spoken of there,
and here, as if it were His only coming, though we know
He has come. Nor is there a word about His resurrection
or departure.
67 See Tract 3, page 2.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
508
Again, it is stated that, of the threefold division of Jews,
Gentiles, and church of God, the disciples were the church.
But there was no such division made at that time. Nor
could there be, because Christ was not crucied, nor the
church established. Such classes did not exist, nor could
they be addressed therefore as such. ey were apostles,
when ordained to be with Jesus and to go only to Jews, as
truly, though in another order, as when set to commence
the church.
It is denied that they represented one set of people in
Matthew and another in John. But John himself makes
the same distinction as to the dierence of the presence
of the Comforter; nor does mere denial, nor believing to
be very fanciful, prove much. I should think that a person
who could not distinguish between the tone of spiritual
teaching in the last chapters of John and Matt. 24 must
be very incapable of explaining either. It seems to me that
the dierence between “ In that day ye shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you “: and, “
but when ye see the abomination of desolation standing
in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea ee to
the mountains,” is very great indeed; and that it is neither
fanciful nor injurious to perceive that one relates to union
with Christ in heaven, and the other to the circumstances
of Jerusalem on earth, prophesied of by Daniel the prophet
as that in which a Jewish remnant were interested as such.
We may nd the same dierence in Matthew and John
in the testimony of John the Baptist, in Matt. 3:12, John
1:29-34. Further, they were not addressed as the church
in John, though many things might regard the church. So,
in Matt. 23 they are told to be subject to the scribes and
Pharisees as sitting in Moses’ seat. ere, clearly, they are
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
509
not addressed as the church. I admit there is a dierence
between this and Matt. 24 But this just proves that the
same persons may be addressed almost exactly at the same
time (the circumstances were much more dierent in John,
for there it was after the Supper), and yet addressed in a
dierent character.
is is the writer’s own theory as to Matt. 23 and 24; but
it is fanciful and injurious when applied to John, where the
whole tenor of the gospel is dierent, and the circumstances
much more contrasted. For in one case we have disciples in
the temple before it was pronounced desolate, and out of
the temple asking about it, and looking at it, and inquiring
of its desolation. is is said to be dierent, and what is
Jewish and of the church contrasted. Whereas in the other
case John speaks of heaven, and union with Christ there;
and yet this must be identical with Matt. 24 Again, it
is said, in explaining Matthew, “ the rock on which the
church is built.” But the Lord says, “ I will build “-clearly
showing He did not address them as if the church existed
then. In chapter 23 we are told He directly addresses them
“ as the heavenly family “-as ourselves, for that is the point;
for the grand evil alleged is depriving the church of certain
scriptures. Consequently, the heavenly family and ourselves
ought to obey the scribes and Pharisees of the evil and
adulterous generation, as sitting in Moses’ seat (i.e., the
church ought).
e rest of page 5 is really too bad. e Lord tells us
that they would all be oended because of Him that night,
and leave Him alone; and this is slurred over by saying,
ey linger near the cross. is is really shameful. Apostles,
to be sure, they were. So they were when forbidden to go to
the Gentiles, as well as when sent to evangelize the nations.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
510
But was it the same thing? or are they instructed on the
same ground?
Again, when it is said (page 6), “ His heavenly ock,”
heavenly or not, the subject that occupied them, and to
which Jesus replies, was Jerusalem, Judea, and the temple.
But we are told that “ hated for my name’s sake “ proves
that it is the church after His ascension. So they do then in
chapter to; but there, it is confessed, they do not represent
the church. So that it proves nothing here either. e same
remark applies to the expression of, “ It is not ye that speak,
but the Holy Spirit “; and what has been said of the two
witnesses also.
And so as to “ thirdly “ (page 7), we are told in the
biggest letters that “ behold, I have told you before “ is the
proof that He made known to them in condence every
device of the enemy, that they and their brethren might
walk safely and condently though surrounded by snares
and terrors innumerable. But alas! they, the church, are not
to be there. In the elaborate exposition of this view in the
“ oughts on the Apocalypse “ we are told, at this period,
according to the directions of this chapter, Christianity will
be withdrawn from Jerusalem and Judea, and even from
the Roman Empire; and it is clear from the chapter that
those who obeyed the directions here given would not be
in the way of the trials of the last three years and a half.
As regards the history of the Acts 1 agree that some of
these things had a fulllment in the, Acts. But it is quite
clear, that some of the more important and solemn parts
are not touched upon at all in the Acts. Neither the subjects
which gave rise to the conversation, nor the time it alluded
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
511
to, “ the end of the age,
68
“ in the remarkable circumstances
by which it was to close: so that, though there was a partial
fulllment in the Acts, yet with the proper subject of the
chapter the Acts have nothing to do.
Universal consent, which is appealed to by the writer of
the tract, cannot have much weight here; for by “ universal
consent “ the chapter has been applied to the destruction
of Jerusalem by Titus, and the end of the world-to which
universal consent the writer is entirely opposed. He does
not believe a word of what it teaches, and I know not on
what principle he quotes it here.
69
at all Christians are taught to watch is clear. But I
have no recollection of the moral or verbal identity of this
instruction with the teaching of the churches in the epistles,
especially the epistles of Paul. is latter is added because it
has been armed that Paul teaches the unity of the church,
out of all reach of the question of Judaism. I put it to the
conscience of the reader, whether he remembers the verbal
identity of this instruction to “ watch “ with the teaching
of the epistles of Paul. For my own part, I have not trusted
my memory, but have searched; and the only passage I nd
where watching is connected with the subject is 1 ess. 5
“ Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need
that I write unto you; for ye yourselves know certainly that
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. But
ye are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as
a thief. Ye are all children of light and children of day; we
are not of the night nor of darkness. Let us not therefore
68 e statement of page 6 (tract 3), that the Lord is speaking of
the end of the age, from Matt. 24:15 to the end of chapter 25,
is quite an inaccurate statement. But it is impossible to notice
everything.
69 See Postscript at the end of this paper.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
512
sleep as the rest, but let us watch and be sober.” e more
this passage, and what follows, is examined, the more it will
be found in contrast with “ this instruction.” ere, Christ “
would trace out every device and web of the enemy, even in
the day of his fearful power,” and gives dates, and seasons,
and times to ee. But the apostle had no need to write to
them of this. ey were of the day, and, whether they waked
or slept they would live together with the Lord. In Peter,
who addresses the circumcision only, we may possibly nd
something at least more analogous.
And now, after all this representing of the church, it
appears that it has no application to the immense body of
the church at all, but, for the most part, only to those located
in Judea, etc. But do we therefore pronounce these Jewish
scriptures? No, to be sure we do not. But we may consider
them as not relating to the church at large, though given
to it, as all the Scriptures are. at it was not addressed to
the church is clear, for the church was not yet founded on
earth. at it was given to the church is blessedly clear, for
through grace we have it. at is not the question yet. e
question is, what it is about-to whom it applies. Well, and
what is the writer’s own answer? To those located in Judea.
Is the church, in its church standing, located in Judea? Are
not all the subjects Jewish, as well as the facts, save the one
of the gospel of the kingdom going to all nations, and that
before the end?
It is stated, that “ the peculiar features of such parts of
scripture may have received undue attention.” is certainly
is a curious charge. I suppose the Holy Ghost put them
there to be attended to, and that there cannot be undue
attention to any part of scripture. If it is meant to say too
exclusive, I can only say that I apprehend those who have
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
513
attended to these peculiar features have attended to and
understand the peculiar privileges of the church quite as
much as those who complain of undue attention to the
peculiar features which the Holy Ghost has stamped on
this chapter.
e statement, that in John 14-16 these same features
are found can prove nothing but the determination not to
see, or the spiritual incapacity to distinguish, of him who
makes it. ey were not standing here around Jesus as
His heavenly ock; and they were not as yet placed in the
position of sons. ey were not spoken to as the church.
For the church did not yet exist in a standing in which
it could be addressed as such. He speaks to disciples, not
only about what would occur in Jerusalem, but about what
regarded it as such, as foretold by the prophets, though
additional light is thrown upon it, and the fact revealed
that the gospel of the kingdom would rst be preached to
the nations before Jerusalem would be nally judged. But it
is all the light of Christ’s prophetic knowledge, thrown on
subjects already in part treated of by the prophets, and not
regarding the church as such.
Saying that the church of God is scattered over the
world, and that this provides for its sojourn and service on
earth, and therefore the Lord speaks to it of things earthly,
human, local, is not a true representation of the matter.
e Lord does not give, in general, local instructions for
the church. is passage cannot be alleged; for it is the
thing in question. e passage treats of local dangers, and
local circumstances, and local snares, and of none others,
and of which the most important, it is allowed, do not
apply to Christians; but none of which, it is clear, apply
to the church at large, and only to persons in Jewish
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
514
circumstances to whom false Christs might be a snare as
coming on earth (how should that be a snare to those who
are to be caught up to meet Him in the air?), to those who
would be embarrassed if they had to ee on a sabbath; and
the days are shortened for the elect’s sake, which elect are
not the church-they are gathered from the four winds after
Christ’s appearing.
To say that in Matt. 24 only two facts are mentioned as
to Jerusalem, does not deserve really an answer. Is not the
whole scene from verse 15 at Jerusalem, or in Judea? and,
before that, connected with the destruction of the temple?
Moreover, “ the end of the age “ is the period referred to-
not of Christianity, but of the age in which the disciples
lived, and which the Jews expected to end by the coming
of Messiah.
e reasoning of page 6 (tract 3) is again contradicted
by the “ oughts on the Apocalypse.” “ His beloved church
“ will not be there at all; and yet, remark here the “ ye “ and
the “ you “ are continued just the same. So that either no
inference can be drawn from the continuous expression “
ye “ and “ you,” or it is certain that it is not as the church
they are addressed. Because it is admitted that at verse 23
it does not apply to Christians, for it applies to the hope
of relief from the tribulation from which Christianity is
withdrawn.
I do not agree in any particular application of Isa. 59
70
to
the remnant. And, if there be a remnant who abide faithful
to God, and to the hope of a Messiah, it is one which is not
ignorant of who that Messiah really is. For, on their system,
the two witnesses have declared who it is. If therefore their
testimony be received, they are not unbelieving as regards
70 See page 7 (tract 3)
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
515
Christ,
71
though they may not enjoy present salvation. So
that after all, according to their own statements, we have a
remnant, not Christian, and yet represented by the word “
you “ in this passage of Matt. 24
And now what shall we say to such a passage as this? “
ose only who, besides knowing Jesus to be the Christ, nd
present forgiveness and hope of glory through His blood,
and who hold fast His faith and testimony-such only are
owned by God in the New Testament.” Now-not to speak
of the two witnesses to whom we have so often referred-
what shall we say of the gospels? “ Present forgiveness and
hope of glory through His blood “ the disciples clearly did
not nd during the period embraced in the four gospels,
and consequently were not owned by God. And this
monstrous statement is the more remarkable, because the
point mainly insisted upon to prove that they represented
the church is, that they were owned by God as safe under
the name of Christ: which, according to this statement, it
is quite clear they were not. But the truth is, it is a mass of
confusion.
Again, we read in page 9 (tract 3), of the election
according to grace of this present time. But it was not in
Matt. 24 this present time; nor were they brought out from
their nation by faith in the crucied and risen Son of God.
When is it said (page 10), the standing and character
of believing Jews in the New Testament is a matter vital to
ourselves, for we are grafted in with them-we are fellow-
citizens with the saints, the answer is simple: the Lord
had not in Matt. 24 yet broken down the middle wall of
partition, nor reconciled both in one body by the cross.
So that to talk of the character of believing Jews in the
71 See “ oughts on the Apocalypse,” E.W.N., pages 124, 133.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
516
New Testament is merely misleading by equivocal words.
For the New Testament speaks of believing Jews before,
and believing Jews after, the middle wall of partition was
broken down.
e standing, therefore, of Peter and his companions
on the mount of Olives was clearly not our standing at
all. If any were, it was that of Moses and Elias on another
mount. When the writer has heard say the Jewish nation,
or Jewish remnant, it must be remembered that he has
given his account of this remnant, which I believe to be
entirely a false one; for I nd that those persons who walk
in darkness and see no light are called upon to listen to the
voice of God’s servant. I suppose no one will doubt who
this is (Isa. 51). ey are owned of God in Isa. 66 ey
are prepared to say “ blessed be he that cometh “ (Matt.
23). ey love the name of the Lord, and take hold of
His covenant (Isa. 56). ey understand (Dan. 12
72
); and
further, in the New Testament (Rev. 11), they are found
(or, at any rate, a remnant is found), after “ Christianity is
withdrawn,” giving a clear distinct testimony, which upsets
all that is said about this Jewish remnant here.
Again, “ e New Testament ground is new ground:
none enter thereon save through faith in Jesus as the
Savior, the present Savior of sinners.” is clearly was not
the faith of the disciples. “ e cross of Jesus is the line of
demarcation between the old things and the new.” “ A Jew
who fears God, but who trusts not in the blood of Jesus,
is still on the old ground. Such may be preserved by God’s
power from apostasy, but they have no communion with
the things into which faith in Jesus now introduces.”
72 See also Psa. 80
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
517
“ In the New Testament they are known as amongst
those who are ‘cast o,’ those lying under wrath ‘until the
end,’ as identied with Jerusalem which now is, and is in
bondage with her children; though if I step without the
circle of New Testament ministry, I do nd,” etc.
After referring to two elections, one suering from men
for confessing Jesus, the other from God for rejecting Him,
we are told that if we do not clearly distinguish these two,
then we should apply much of the New Testament to “ a
body, which, perhaps we should, if called on, feel it dicult to
dene, but which we should call Jews as distinguished from
the church.” “ But in Matt. 24 I see the Lord leading forth
a remnant; then-a converted, believing, saved remnant.” It
is to these He speaks on the Mount of Olives. ey are
a present, a manifested, election-they stand in grace-they
had the depths of Jesus’ love and the Father’s opened up
to them-they were constantly and only addressed as the
church- they actually preached Christ crucied, and so “
to confound these with any yet un-manifested remnant
of righteous Jews … is to apply a principle to the New
Testament which, it may be easily shown, would subvert
the very rst elements of Christianity.”
I shall not make any comment on the charge here made
against brethren walking for years before the writer was
converted, as they still are, in godliness and truth; because
it seems to me that such a charge as “ subverting the rst
elements of Christianity,” made without any proof at all but
“ it may be easily shown,” is an immoral thing: it does not
demand an answer, but, as a personal wrong, forgiveness.
ose who would believe it on such a charge, have only to
be prayed for as under the evident inuence of party spirit.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
518
But let us consider the matter of these statements, and
not the charge. And here I know not whether to take some
of the statements of the writer as proof of the views he
opposes; or others in proof of the gross misstatements
that are oered as truth; or both together to show the
contradictions into which he falls; or many, or all of them,
to show that he has overlooked all the real facts of the
case in order to follow out his own ideas. Such a mass of
confusion and contradiction I never met with.
“ All such are still on the dark side of the pillar of
testimony-whatever their condition. e cross of Jesus is
the line of demarcation between the old things and the
new.” On which side of this line of demarcation were the
disciples whom Jesus addressed? But it will be said, Oh!
but being with Jesus they were the other side of the cross
really, though not in knowledge or faith. is itself, as to
the dealings of God, is dangerous ground, because it sets
aside the dierence of the work being accomplished, and
the value of faith in it. For, let us remark, that the question
is not here, were they saved? but on what ground the Savior
made certain communications to them.
But the writer does not leave himself even this plea.
He says, “ a Jew who fears God, but who trusts not in the
blood of Jesus, is still on the old ground “ … “ they have no
communion with the things into which faith in Jesus now
introduces.” Certainly one would suppose that the writer
was writing expressly for the views he opposes.
On which side of the cross were the disciples? Did they
trust in the blood of Jesus? Why, they earnestly hoped
he would not die; and had no idea whatever of trusting
in the blood of Jesus. It had not been presented to them
by the Lord as the object of their faith, and could not be,
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
519
because He had been presenting Himself to the Jews as
the Messiah. Obscure intimations, or express statements,
of His rejection had been made to them, but nothing about
the value of His blood; and even these statements they had
repudiated. e last supper itself had not yet intimated it to
them, incapable to understand it as they were. One thing is
clear-they did not trust in the blood of Jesus, and they had
therefore no communion with the things into which faith
in Jesus now introduces.
And thus they were clearly to be dealt with not upon
the ground of the church, nor, as having anything to say
to that “ into which faith in Jesus now introduces.” ey
were on the dark side of the pillar of testimony, so that they
ought to have been addressed, if at all, as a Jewish remnant.
Yet they were then-the italics all through these citations
are the writer’s, not mine-they were “ then-a converted,
believing, saved remnant.” ey are a present, a manifested,
election-they stand in grace-they had the depths of
Jesus’ love and the Father’s opened up to them-they were
constantly and only addressed as the church-they actually
preached Christ crucied and so gathered the church. Can
there be a more complete contradiction than that between
the principles of demarcation stated and the statements of
the writer as to the condition of the disciples?
Can anything be a greater perversion-at any rate what
is never important, a more light neglect-of the most
important scriptural truths, than to say the disciples were
then, etc., in italics, and to go on and say, “ they actually
preached Christ crucied “; without noticing the descent
of the Holy Ghost, which changed their whole condition,
without which Christ could not tell them many things “ into
which faith in Jesus now introduces,” and without which
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
520
they were forbidden to preach the gospel, being desired to
stay at Jerusalem and wait for it-not to mention that the
resurrection of the Lord intervened, which changed their
whole position; nay, which was the “ line of demarcation
between old things and new.” What does the writer mean
by saying they were “ then a converted, believing, saved
remnant,” “ they actually preached Christ crucied? “ Is
it true that they actually did so? To say too they were only
addressed as the church is, as already stated, untrue. ey
were desired to obey the scribes and Pharisees, and sent
out with an order not to go near a Gentile, or a Samaritan;
so that they were not always addressed as the church-I
might add, they never were. For the church, of which they
afterward formed the basis, was not formed. And John’s
gospel (the teaching of which is taken very erroneously,
I think, to explain their position in this) distinguishes
very clearly between their then state and their state after
receiving the Comforter.
Further, the New Testament, instead of treating the
Jews as cast o, positively asserts (in the chapter that treats
of the rejection of the branches) that, as a nation, they are
not “ cast o,” but beloved; and therefore, certainly, the
remnant who fear God are not.
Again, they did testify concerning Him, and did hold
fast His faith, and are supposed by the Lord not to be
received, and so far to suer for His name’s sake, when
sent out in His life-time, and when they were forbidden
to go to any but Jews. Consequently the supposition is not
strange, nor an error, that such could be without being the
church. For they were not the church, nor allowed to act
on the principle of the church, nor to preach Christ’s blood
as the hope, nor His resurrection, when all these things
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
521
which are supposed impossible took place. e truth is,
the writer has not attended to the facts of Scripture. He
has chosen to have two remnants- one, the church, and
only the church-the other, Jewish, lying under wrath, and
known as amongst those who are cast o.
Now the scripture speaks quite otherwise, and presents
other facts which the writer does not think proper to
consider. First, he forgets entirely one thing, very important
to remember; and hence a fundamental fallacy runs through
all his statements. Christ died for that nation, as well as
for the church, and that, because they were beloved of
God according to His counsels of peace, notwithstanding
their disobedience; and therefore Christ, and the Holy
Ghost too, could and did deal with the nation as such, as
well as with the church as such. And, therefore, the Holy
Ghost would not consider them as cast o, even where the
branches were broken o.
Neglect of this makes all the writer’s statements on the
subject false, and the language generally used on this subject
by those of his school most unscriptural, and painful to a
spiritual mind. Next, he has neglected the facts connected
with this subject.
“ A Jew who fears God but who trusts not in the blood
of Jesus is still on the old ground,” may be preserved, but
is amongst those who are cast o. Now, if we take this
division, we have seen to which class the disciples must
belong-not to that, clearly, in which the writer places them;
and we have seen the contradiction of this with his account
of their condition, and the falseness of that account itself.
But the fact is his division is wrong too; for I say so for
this simple reason, that the disciples, the very persons in
question now, and whom the Lord addressed, were in
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
522
neither of the cases thus abstractedly stated in order to
judge their condition: a judgment, therefore, completely
false, as is proved by the facts themselves. e disciples did
more than fear God, they believed in Jesus as Messiah-
nay, in Peter’s case, as Son of God, with whatever clearness
of light-I think we might say all did. ey are not known
in the New Testament as amongst those who are cast o.
ey were not to fear: it was their Father’s good pleasure
to give them the kingdom. ey were a remnant separated
from the nation by faith in the Messiah, and yet they did
not trust in the blood of Jesus. ey were on the hither or
dark side of the line of demarcation, the cross of Jesus. So
that they were in neither one nor the other of the states
supposed, but in another entirely left out of consideration
by the writer, and on which the whole question depends:
while all the writer’s reasonings run on the supposition of
two cases, neither of which states the facts which actually
existed. And yet, unless a person can embrace this mass of
contradiction and carelessness and substitution of personal
views for the patient following of the word of God, he is to
be treated as holding opinions which subvert Christianity!
Next, we are told that the word “ ye shall not see me till ye
say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,”
points prophetically to that day when the Lord will spare
unto Jerusalem a “ very small remnant “ who shall see Jesus
in His glory and be converted unto Him.
Now, if neglect of scripture be indulged in, and an “
undue attention to the peculiarities of a passage “ is to be
avoided, at least Scripture ought not to be changed to make
out a system.
It is stated here that they shall see Jesus in glory and be
converted, as it was stated before, that that glory should
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
523
burst upon those who had refused all previous testimony.
Now the passage does not say they shall see Jesus and be
converted; but that they shall not see Him till their hearts
are changed, so as to say Blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord.
So that the scripture states the contrary of what is
asserted to be its declarations in order to make out a system.
Even Psa. 72 is entirely misquoted and the misquotations
given as authority.
I know not that I need add any more. My object is not
in this short paper to treat the subject fully, but to explain
to you why the statements of these three letters have the
contrary eect on my mind to what the writer intended:
because the statements he has made seem to me entirely
unscripturalsome of them, if taken as truth, to prove, in
their application to the disciples, the very contrary of
that for which they are alleged; and, nally, that he really
has entirely overlooked what is the material point on the
subject, so that his remarks are of no value at all, except
to prove on what sort of grounds a system of so much
pretension is built.
Aectionately yours,
POSTSCRIPT
I am unwilling to pass over a collateral point, conrmed,
as it has been, by many like statements which I have heard
and connected with other points of a similar tendency.
It is in page 3 of tract 2. “ Lastly, please consider the fact
that from the day these chapters were rst spoken, there
never has been the slightest question raised of their true
and exclusive address to the church, until the last very few
years.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
524
You know I am no traditionist; but here at least is “
universal consent “ on one point.
is statement is not true in the use to which the writer
applies it; because “ universal consent “ took the passage
away from all present and future application to the church,
and considered it as accomplished at the siege of Jerusalem,
the coming, in any further sense, relating to the end of all
things.
But it is not in view of this that I quote it now. It is with
reference to the principle, the popish principle, of universal
consent. Universal consent has nothing to do with tradition,
nor tradition with universal consent. But universal consent
is another form of the substitution of man’s authority for
the word of God and the teaching of the Spirit of God in
and by the word, and the responsibility of each saint to
receive that word by such teaching; which alone constitutes
faith. Universal consent is a rule of other men for binding
to an opinion without scripture, or in the interpretation of
Scripture. In either case it is the judgment of men, be they
ever so many, and not the direct responsibility of the soul
to God in receiving the word; nor the direct operation of
the Spirit of God on the soul in respect of the word, which
alone produces divine faith. It is faith in men. No matter
if it is all the saints “ from the day these chapters were
spoken.” For the mass of saints it must result in faith in the
statements of the teacher, which is not faith in God at all.
It will always be connected with canons of interpretation
made by men (or rather it is the thing itself), with receiving
from teachers what they teach because God has raised them
up, and with ecclesiastical authority, the process of which is
connection of teaching with oce-the result, oce giving
authority to all teaching. Now this is Popery, whose force
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
525
lies in the practical denial of that to which the apostle
appeals in the saints. “ Ye need not that any one should
teach you.” “ Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and
ye know all things.” He did teach them; but he owned the
Holy Ghost in them. e spirit of Popery is the spirit of
the age as to religion. Self will soon in divine things work
itself out to nothing, because it cannot hold men together
in the things of God; but Popery can in form. Now the rst
grand principle which introduced Popery, and on which
Protestants inclined to it always rest, is that announced
here. It was rst stated by a “ father,” Vincentius Lirinensis,
in these terms in Latin, “Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab
omnibus” (what [has been believed] always, everywhere and
by all); and became very famous in the church.
Let the saints be on their guard. Self-will is always evil.
Aectionate condence in those who labor in the Lord is
always happy. But “ universal consent,” and the authority of
teachers, are the instruments of the enemy for the church’s
departure from God. In the perilous times of the last days
the known security of the saints is the doctrine of the
apostles themselves, and the written word of God (2 Tim.
3)-both now concluded in this last-the sole and sucient
resource available through the teaching of the Spirit to the
saints of God. Teachers may aid them in it, but can never
take away each man’s own direct responsibility as to what
he receives. But when “ universal consent “ is thus publicly
appealed to, it is high time to see where we are going.
Let no one suppose I allude here to individuals. On the
contrary, I am very anxious to draw attention to a system-a
system which has been the bane of the church for thirteen
centuries. e demon of Popery is the active demon of the
day. Its leading introductory principle is advanced in the
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
526
passage on which I comment. I have noticed some of its
other elements, because the introduction of this general
one shows that the door has not been kept closed against
it. Hence the saints will do well to be on their guard, lest
they be mixed up with it before they are aware. I would
urge them, if need be, to get their minds o individuals,
and to watch against the principles everywhere.
May beloved brethren remember that the written word
of God, and the grace and teaching of the Spirit of God, are
the only security against error, and the devices of Satan-that
ascribing authority to teachers, to “ universal consent,” or
anything else but to the written word of God, is departing
from the only security of the saints in these dark and evil
days; and yet, if dark and evil, blessed in the resources of
grace to him that has faith. If the Spirit of God be looked
at as residing in the teachers and not in the whole body, it
is the full-blown principle of Romish clericalism. If saints
do not prove for themselves all they hear, they cannot have
faith now; but they cannot help being made answerable
for it hereafter, because God has commanded them to do
it, and given His Spirit to the whole body, and to each
individually, to enable them to do it, and they will be held
responsible for this whether they will or no.
I fully recognize the blessing of having those who can
help us in learning the truth, or apply it in exhortation to
the soul. But this does not alter the truth of what I have
said. I do not in the least accuse individuals of being popish.
But I say that the principle here printed and published, and
which I have heard elsewhere appealed to, is an important
popish principle, well known as such, one especially made
use of where there is a tendency among Protestants to it-
always connected historically with the authority of ocial
Signs of the Coming of the Lord: for Whom Are ey Given?
527
teachers, and derogatory to the sole authority of the word
of God, and the individual responsibility of the saints, and
thus a departure from the ground of the faith of God’s
elect-a very little beginning perhaps, but a beginning of a
very great evil.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
528
62481
What Saints Will Be in the
Tribulation?
e question, “Will the saints be in the tribulation?”
suggests itself to every one who is occupied with the hopes
of the church of God and the prophetic declarations of
Scripture as to the close of this earth’s painful and laborious
history. Personal anxiety suggests it on one hand, and on the
other it connects intimately with the gravest and most vital
points of prophetic inquiry; or rather of the true character
of the church of God and its condition at the close.
I cannot, in the space allowed me here, enter at large
into the declarations of the Old Testament as to a remnant,
nor of the New as to the church. But a short answer to
the question itself will help to throw light on the points I
allude to and on the rapture of the saints. I purpose adding
a development of the true force of 2 ess. 1; 2, so often
introduced in the discussions which have arisen on these
subjects.
And rst, as to our being in the tribulation: How do I
know there will be a tribulation? I must get some revelation
of it. He who would place the church in it will answer me,
I am sure, that the Scriptures are clear on the point. ere
will be at the close a tribulation, a time such as there has
never been, till the Lord’s coming brings deliverance. What,
then, are the Scriptures which tell us that there will be such
tribulation? I am not aware of any other direct ones than
these: Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21; Mark 13:19 (Luke
does not speak of it nor of the abomination of desolation);
What Saints Will Be in the Tribulation?
529
to which we may add the more general passages of Rev. 3
to; chap. 7: 14. e rst four passages do eectively prove
that there will be a time of tribulation such as never was
since there was a nation, or, as it is expressed in Mark, “ such
as was not from the beginning of the creation which God
created, neither shall be.” e passages from Revelation
apply, we shall see, to a wider sphere than the preceding
ones; but as they speak of a great tribulation, I have, of
course, quoted them. ere will be then a tribulation. e
other part of the question still remains: Shall we, who
compose the church, be in this tribulation?
e answer to this question must be sought in the
passages which speak of the tribulation itself. e rst of
them, Jeremiah 30: 7, is as clear as possible in announcing
those to whom it applies: “ It is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
but he shall be delivered out of it.” is time, then, of
trouble, such as never was nor will be (so that there cannot
be two), is the time of Jacob’s trouble. Nothing can be
clearer or more distinct. e whole chapter may be read,
which sets it in the clearest light. It is not merely that Jacob
may be found there, but when it is said, “ Alas! for that
day is great, there is none like it,” the trouble spoken of is
Jacob’s trouble.
e next is Dan. 12 1. is is also positively declared to
be of Daniel’s people. e whole prophecy is the description
of what is to happen to Daniel’s people in the last days.
Dan. 10: 14. Michael, also (compare chap. 10: 21), will then
stand up for that people, and, as Jeremiah had said, they
will be delivered (that is, the elect remnant-those written
in the book). Daniel’s testimony then is also quite clear.
e tribulation is the tribulation of Daniel’s people. But
this is the rather important because it carries us at once to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
530
Matthew, the Lord Himself declaring that He speaks of
this same time and same event, using the terms of Daniel,
and referring to him by name as well as to the statements
of the passage. Compare Matt. 24:15; Dan. 12:11.
But all the language of the passage in Matthew conrms
this. ose who are in Judea are to ee to the mountains.
ose who are on the housetop are not to come down to
seek anything. e abomination which causes desolation
stands in the holy place. ey are to pray that their ight
may not be on the sabbath. False Christs and false prophets
are to seduce with the hopes cherished by the Jewish people.
All is local and Jewish-has no application to hopes which
rest on going to meet Christ in the air. What is in question
is “ esh “ being “ saved “ (i.e., life spared on earth). Mark
relates evidently to the same event and almost exactly in
the same terms. us these four passages, which speak
of the unequaled tribulation, apply it distinctly to Jacob,
Jerusalem, and Judea, and the Jews, not to the church. It
is entirely another order and sphere of things from the
church, and professedly so.
ere are two passages which, as I have said, are more
general: Rev. 3:10 and 7: 14. Do these, then, apply to the
church? e language of Rev. 3:10 is this, “ Because thou
hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee
from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world to try them which dwell on the earth.” at is, when
the church is addressed, it is with a declaration that she will
be kept from that hour which shall come to try others. So
that thus far the testimonies of Scripture declare that the
unequaled tribulation is for Jacob, and that, when the time
of temptation is spoken of in addressing the church, it is to
declare that the faithful shall be kept out of it.
What Saints Will Be in the Tribulation?
531
Rev. 7:14 may seem more dicult; still it bears witness to
the same truth. For the heavenly kings and priests (that is,
the elders who have represented them from the beginning
of the second or strictly prophetic part of the book) are
professedly another class of persons, who have not come
out of the great tribulation. One of these elders explains to
John who those who have come out of the great tribulation
are, another class of persons from themselves. One of them
asks John, Who are these who are arrayed in white robes?
etc. John refers to him, and then he explains. at is, the
crowned elders are quite a dierent class from them; so
that, while admitting the passage to be obscure in certain
points, it is clear in this-in giving us the elders and those
who came out of the tribulation as two distinct classes. e
crowned elders are not at all represented as having been in
it, but as pointing out others as those that come out of it.
Every element of the description of these persons conrms
this distinction.
Another passage-Rev. 12-while not using the term
tribulation, yet speaking of the epoch at which it is to
happen, strongly conrms this same truth. When Satan
and his angels are defeated by Michael, he is cast out and
come down to the earth, having great wrath, knowing he
has but a short time, and persecutes the woman. Now what
is the eect of this most important event on those who
can celebrate its bearing? at the trial of the heavenly
saints is ended, and that of the inhabiters of the earth and
the sea just about to begin in its most formidable shape,
because Satan is cast down there. e language is this: “
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
532
God day and night: and they overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they
loved not their lives unto the death. erefore rejoice, ye
heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters
of the earth and of the sea,” etc. Now I do not say that
this is the moment of the rapture, for I think it is included
in the man-child’s being caught up. But I say this that, at
the moment of the commencement of the great rage of
Satan for the three times and a half, the entire deliverance
of the heavenly saints from his power, and their denite
triumph is celebrated; that is, they are not exposed to that
last time of Satan’s rage. is chapter, then, conrms, in
the fullest way, the exemption of the church from the last
and dreadful time of trial. I am satised that the whole
teaching and structure of the Revelation conrms the same
truth; but this would evidently lead me into too large a
sphere of inquiry.
We have found that the passages which speak of the
tribulation rst apply it directly to the Jews on one side,
and then exclude the church from it on the other. I do
not see how such a point as this could be made clearer by
scripture.
I now turn to the interpretation of 2 ess. 1; 2 ere is
in the latter chapter and (I think I may say) acknowledged
mistranslation, of which the true and undoubted sense
gives the key to the whole passage. I refer to verse 2, “ as
that the day of Christ is at hand “: it should be “ is present.”
e word is used for, and translated in two dierent places,
“ present,” in contrast with things to come-” things present
and things to come.” is is always its sense in Scripture.
What the essalonians were troubled and upset in their
minds by, then, was that they had been led by false teachers
What Saints Will Be in the Tribulation?
533
(pretending to the Spirit, and even alleging a letter of Paul
to this eect) to suppose that the day of Christ was actually
come. e violence of persecution was very great; and as
the day of the Lord is in eect spoken of as a day of terror
and trial in the Old Testament, these false teachers had
proted by this to persuade them it was there.
e apostle with divine wisdom sets them morally right
in chapter 1, as to their feelings and sentiments as to this,
before entering in the second into positive instruction as
to the fact of the Lord’s coming. He shows them the folly
(since Christ was to appear for that day, He Himself being
present in it) of supposing that it was His own people
and faithful ones He was going to make suer and cast
into distress and tribulation. No; it was His enemies and
theirs who would be in aiction in that day, and they
themselves in rest and peace. e very righteousness of
God would assure this. It was a righteous thing with God
to recompense tribulation to them that trouble them, and
to His troubled ones rest, when Christ shall be revealed,
for this was what brought in the day. It was only shown
by their tribulations that He counted them worthy of His
kingdom that was then to come.
In a word, as the day was Christ’s and brought in by
His personal presence, when it was there they would have
rest and their persecutors trouble. It is the contrast of state
when the day is there, not the epoch of its commencement,
which is spoken of. Indeed, had it been so, it would have
been a poor and uninspired comfort, for they would not
have rest yet. On the other hand, the adversaries of the
constant expectation of Christ would gain nothing; for the
apostle’s words so interpreted would have led the saints at
essalonica to a constant expectation of His appearing,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
534
instead of their rapture, as the moment of getting rest.
But the truth is, the using the Greek word anesis (rest) as
signicative of the moment of attaining the rest is a mistake.
e word, though used for the time of obtaining relaxation,
is equally used for a state of ease, or even pleasure. It is never
used in Scripture for the moment of obtaining relaxation
from trial, but always in the general sense of a state of ease,
one contrasted with theipsis (distress). e whole and sole
force of the apostle’s reasoning is this, that as the Lord
Himself was to bring in the day, it could not, when there,
be a day of distress for His people, but evidently for His
enemies and their persecutors. In chapter 2 he proceeds to
unfold to them the real order of the events, and especially
in connection with the place they had in them.
Here, again, we meet a question of criticism, but it
aects very little the reasoning of the apostle. Some would
change here the authorized English version, and read, “
But we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming,”
etc., instead of “ by the coming.” e preposition itself is
used in both ways; but its constant force with words of
beseeching is by’ (sometimes ‘ for,’ which has no place
here). e force of the apostle’s reasoning is this, that as
they were to be gathered together to Christ, they could not
be in the day which was to come by His appearing; they
were to go to meet Him in the air, and hence could not be
in the judgments of that day, it trials or its terrors.
e apostle had taught them in his rst epistle that
they were to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Hence he could refer to it as a known truth. e saints
were not to await the coming of the day of the Lord on
the earth, but to go up to meet Him in the air, and be
forever with Him. Did He appear, they, we know, would
What Saints Will Be in the Tribulation?
535
appear with Him. But here he speaks of what they ought
to have remembered, that they would go up before the day,
and hence they could not possibly be there in their actual
state on earth, if the day was. e church’s connection’ with
the return of the Lord was, to go up to meet Him in the
air, to be gathered unto Him. e day was entirely another
thing; it was vengeance from His presence. Neither could
the day therefore come before the objects of vengeance
were there. An apostasy would come, and the man of sin
would be revealed, whom the Lord would consume with
the breath of His mouth, and destroy by the appearing of
His presence.
at is, we have two things (which from other scriptures
also we know to be distinct, exactly in this way, Christ’s
coming, and the manifestation of it; for when He appears,
we shall appear with Him-hence we must be with Him
before even He appears at all, yet at His coming), the
coming of Christ and the public epiphany of His presence,
with one of which the saints are directly connected, by
being gathered together to Him • with the other, the
day, because at His appearing He will execute judgment
against the ungodly. ey will be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of His power. But He will come to be gloried in
His saints, and admired in all them that believe; that is,
they will be in the display of this glory in that day. ey
will appear with Him in glory-be like Him. Now it is
quite certain they will not appear with Him when they are
caught up to meet Him in the air. us it is not merely
particular expressions, though these are clear and forcible,
but the bearing, and object, and course of reasoning of the
whole chapter, which shows the distinction of the rapture
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
536
of the saints before Christ appears, and the coming of the
day when He is admired in them.
What is important to remark is, the entire dierence
of relationship in which the saints are put with Christ: we
belong to Him, go to meet Him, appear with Him, are
gloried together. e practical result is, not merely to clear
up a question of dates and of time, but to change the whole
spirit and character of our waiting and Christ’s coming.
We wait for Him to come and take us to Himself, the full
realization of our heavenly calling. ere are no events
connected with our relationship with Christ. We have no
need of judgment to participate in blessing under Him; we
go out of the midst of all events to meet Him above. e
Jews and the world are delivered by judgments. Hence they
must await the course of events and the full ripening of
earthly evil for judgment; for the day will not come before.
Hence, we nd in the Psalms the appeal for judgment
and the times of it, the declaration of the overwhelming
character of evil, and the cry to God to show Himself and
render a reward to the proud. e church on earth has no
need to seek this; she belongs to Christ, and will be caught
up to heaven out of the evil.
I add a few words on another passage suggested to me
as one by which diculties have been created in some
minds, really desirous of the truth. I mean the connection
of chapters 4 and 5 of rst essalonians. I confess it does
not aect my own in any way; but as it does the minds of
others, it is well to notice it. e diculty, if there be any,
arises from a serious confusion in the minds of those who
make it-the very confusion into which the essalonians
were led, namely, taking tribulation for the day of Christ.
What Saints Will Be in the Tribulation?
537
For the day of Christ, Christ must appear. Let us only keep
this clear in our minds, and all these diculties vanish.
e essalonians looked so earnestly for Christ’s
coming, with no further knowledge of the manner or order
of it, that they thought believers who had died, and perhaps
died even for Christ, would not be there to meet Him. is
mistake the apostle corrects. He tells them that they must
not grieve as those without hope; that they would not be
left out of the cortege of glory; that Christ would bring
them with Him. He then explains to them the manner,
and shows that it is by their resurrection, which would take
place before even the then living ones are changed; and
when this is also wrought by divine power, all would go
up to meet Him in the air, and so they would be forever
with the Lord. is parenthetically explains the manner
by express revelation. ey will go up to meet Him-
subsequently, as we have seen from Colossians, appear with
Him when He appears. e parenthetical part merely gives
the association of the saints with Christ Himself, which is
our proper portion.
But he had said, as a general truth, in answer to their
fears, that God would bring them with Christ. is leads
him naturally to the general subject. He had no need
to speak of times and seasons. e essalonians knew
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night, and when they (the world) say Peace and safety,
sudden destruction would come upon them, as travail upon
a woman with child; he adds, “ But ye, brethren, are not
in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief:
ye are all children of the day.” It is alleged that the apostle
could not have said that the day would not overtake them
as a thief, if they were not to feel liable to be in some sort
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
538
overtaken by it. Now, if the teaching of the apostle be
examined, even in the place, there is no possible ground for
this: for the day of the Lord Christ must appear. But he had
just taught them that they were to be caught up to meet
Him in the air and be brought with Him. at is, he had
taught them what made it impossible to suggest that the
day could overtake them in any way or manner whatever.
ey were of the day, so to speak, as he indeed says, “ ye are
children of the day,” “ let us who are of the day.”
is passage says nothing of not being in the tribulation-
we have treated that point already; but the objection
confounds the tribulation and the day which really closes
it. e tribulation is Satan’s power (though God’s judgment
in woe); the day is Christ’s, who makes it and binds him.
But the passage speaks not at all of the tribulation, though
it supposes nothing of the kind; but it does speak of the
day of the Lord, and with instruction as to the portion of
the saints, which shows that it can have in no way whatever
to do with them. ey are of it and to come in its power.
All it says is-e day will overtake them as a thief: but it
will not overtake you, for ye are of the day. It says nothing
of times and seasons, but negatives the application of the
well-known truth to them.
Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text
has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation
corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to: BTPmail@
bibletruthpublishers.com.
