The Second Coming of Christ
THE END
VERSE 13. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” The word end, wherever used in this chapter, refers to the end of the age, and to nothing else. It is the end associated in the New Testament with the second appearing of Jesus Christ. The disciples did not ask their Lord (see verse 3) when they should die; but “what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Neither does the Lord speak of death, when he says (see verse 6), “But the end is not yet.” And it would be strange indeed to suppose that the word end, in verse 14, meant death. If any think such a position admissible, let them read it into the text, as follows: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall death come. Absurdity! SCOC 19.2
Verse 14. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” This is the first sign of the end given by our Lord in answer to the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” But this verse, by many, is supposed to prove that all men will be converted, and that then there will be one thousand years in which all will know the Lord, from the least to the greatest.” Some hold that the one thousand years of Revelation 20, are prophetic, each day in the year representing a year, making three hundred and sixty-five thousand years. And many of these, very men teach that nothing can be known of the period of the second advent. But would they not know when their supposed millennium, whether it be literal time, or prophetic, had commenced? Certainly they would. Then they would know when it would terminate, and bring the coming of the Son of Man, and the Judgment. If those enjoying the millennium could not tell when it commenced, then it would hardly be worth having. If they could tell when it commenced, most certainly they could tell when it would close. These men should be the very last to oppose the view that the prophetic word points to the very generation that shall witness the second advent. SCOC 20.1
But the text does not say that every individual will even hear this gospel of the kingdom. It does not state that any one will be converted and made holy by it. And we find it far from intimating that a world would be converted, and remain so one thousand years, and that those who should enjoy that happy period would know nothing of when it would terminate by the coming of the Son of Man, and the unveiled glories of Jehovah, Jesus, and the mighty angels. The text simply states: First. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world. Second. “For a witness unto all nations. Third. “And then [not one thousand years later, nor three hundred and sixty-five thousand; but THEN] shall the end come.” If we understand the phrase, “this gospel of the kingdom,” to be the gospel in the common acceptation of the word, is not the work very nearly accomplished? SCOC 21.1
J. Litch, in his “Prophetic Expositions,” p. 147, under the heading, “Signs of the Times,” says: “Rev. J. O. Choules, author of a voluminous work, a History of Missions, from the apostolic age down to the present day, being asked, last May (1842), if he knew of any nation which never had received the gospel, replied that he did not; but he thought the promise implied something more than its being barely preached in each nation. The same question was proposed to Rev. Mr. James, general financial agent of the American Bible Society, and nearly the same answer was elicited. Dr. Nathan Bangs, for many years at the head of the Methodist missionary operations, was asked the question last July, and after reflecting some time, replied that he believed there was a tribe, somewhere upon the north-west coast of North America, to whom it had never been preached.” SCOC 21.2
Wm. Miller, in his “Lectures,” p. 288, says: “Is not this sign already accomplished? Bible translated into more than two hundred different languages; missionaries sent among all nations known to us on the globe. The gospel has now spread over the four quarters of the globe. It began in Asia. In the apostles’ days, that quarter was full of light. From thence it went into Africa; and, for a number of centuries, Africa stretched out her hands unto God. Europe, too, has had a long visitation of gospel blessings; and now America, the last quarter of the globe, is reaping a harvest of souls for the last day. The gospel, like the sun, arose in the east, and will set in the west.” SCOC 22.1
But if the term, “this gospel of the kingdom,” be understood as applying to the proclamation of, or to that portion of the gospel which relates to, the coming and kingdom of Christ, the fulfillment is equally evident. And it seems necessary to so understand the passage, as it was given in answer to the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” SCOC 22.2
Campbell’s translation of this verse decidedly favors this view of the subject: “And this good tidings of the reign shall be published through all the world, for the information of all nations, and then shall come the end.” Whiting’s version also gives the same idea: “And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the world, for a testimony to all nations, and then will the end come.” SCOC 22.3
J. Litch, in his lecture on Matthew 24, Advent Herald, Nov. 23, 1850, says: “Many supposed the wars of Napoleon were the wars of the last days, to precede the millennium; and that the battle of Waterloo was the battle of Armageddon, as it is called. But the discussion of the subject of prophecy drew forth inquiry, and a few discovered the true light, the doctrine of Christ’s personal reign on earth, and began to teach it. Among these was a Spanish Roman Catholic, who wrote an able and voluminous work under the anonymous signature of Ben Ezra. His work fell into the hands of Edward Irving, the celebrated and eloquent advocate of the doctrine of the pre-millennial advent of Christ. It opened his eyes to the glorious truth, and led him to devote himself most zealously to its advocacy. He first translated Ben Ezra, and subsequently wrote and published several valuable works on the subject. For a time, the excitement on the subject in England, under his labors, was as intense as it subsequently was in this country, under the labors of Mr. Miller. Thousands flocked to hear him wherever he went, and listened with wonder at the strange and glorious truths he brought forth from the word of God. The cause received an impulse under his efforts which it will never lose till time shall end. Many of the clergy of the Established Church, as well as dissenting ministers of all denominations, caught the theme, and joined to spread it abroad.” SCOC 23.1
“Nor has the influence of Rev. Joseph Wolfe been unfelt. He has visited and proclaimed ‘the gospel of the kingdom,’ in the four quarters of the globe, to Protestants, Catholics, Mohammedans, Jews, and pagans. The seed thus sown will not be lost. A work similar to that of Ben Ezra, in Spain, appeared in Germany, the productions of Bengel. This, by the evangelical portion of the German people, is esteemed as a standard work on prophecy. It has been widely circulated and read as far as the German language extends throughout continental Europe. It was from this source the Russian Milkeaters, of whom an account was given in the Advent Herald a few years since, obtained their information on the speedy second advent of Christ. SCOC 23.2
“The great American movement on this subject, and the diffusion of information with regard to it, within the last ten years, is too well known to need extended remarks in this place. Neither labor nor sacrifice was regarded in the wide and rapid extension of the good news of the kingdom, as far as the English language could make it known. It was sent to the four quarters of the globe, and to the islands of the sea, upon the wings of all the winds.” SCOC 24.1
E. R. Pinney, in his exposition of Matthew 24, says: “As early as 1842, second-advent publications had been sent to every missionary station in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, both sides of the Rocky Mountains. We find this doctrine in Tartary, about twenty-five years ago, and the time for the coming of Christ to be in 1844. This fact is obtained from an Irish missionary in Tartary, to whom the question was put by a Tartar priest, when Christ would come the second time. And he made answer that he knew nothing at all about it. The Tartar priest expressed great surprise at such an answer from a missionary who had had come to teach them the doctrines of the Bible, and remarked ‘that he thought everybody might know that, who had a Bible.’ The Tartar priest then gave his views, stating that Christ, he thought, would come about A.D. 1844. The missionary wrote home a statement of the facts, which were published in the Irish Magazine, in 1821. The commanders of our vessels, and the sailors, tell us they touch at no point where they find this proclamation has not preceded them, and frequent inquiries respecting it are made of them.” SCOC 24.2
“I noticed, in a late number of the Voice of Truth, that a brother traveling on the lakes, met with a Russian gentleman, direct from his country, who informed him that the doctrine of ‘Christ’s coming, and the end of the world,’ had been preached there, but was received only by the lower classes. Rev. Mr. Mansfield had an interview with a Moravian missionary, stationed in Antigua, who said that several years since, the doctrine of the immediate coming was extensively preached in Germany, and that the whole of the south of Germany was aroused upon the subject. SCOC 25.1
The Advent Shield, Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 86, 87, says: “We look upon the proclamation which has been made, as being the cry of the angel who proclaimed, ‘The hour of his judgment is come.’ Revelation 14:6, 7. It is a sound which is to reach all nations; it is the proclamation of ‘the everlasting gospel,’ or ‘this gospel of the kingdom.’ In one shape or other, this cry has gone abroad through the earth wherever human beings are found, and we have had opportunity to hear of the fact. Within the last six years, publications treating on the subject have been sent to nearly every English and American missionary station on the globe; to all, at least, to which we have had access.” SCOC 25.2
An English writer, Mourant Brock, thus remarks: “It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent of Europe. I was lately told by one of our German missionaries, that in Wirtemburg there is a Christian colony of several hundreds, one of the chief features of which is, the looking for the second advent. And a Christian minister from near the shores of the Caspian Sea, has told me that there is the same daily expectation among his nation. They constantly speak of it as ‘the day of consolation.’ In a little publication, entitled, ‘Millennium,’ the writer says that he understands that in America about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching ‘the gospel of the kingdom;’ whilst in this country, he adds, about seven hundred of the Church of England are raising the same cry.” — Advent Tracts, Vol. II, p. 135. SCOC 26.1
The Signs of the Times, February 14, 1844, says: “A brother, the captain of a vessel now in England, writes his friends that his vessel lay at Newport, in Wales, forty days, on account of storms, during which time a continued concourse of individuals thronged him to inquire about the coming of the Lord, having heard that he was an Adventist. Among these were ministers and laymen that received the truth gladly, and embraced it with all their hearts.” SCOC 26.2
Eld. R. Hutchinson, Midnight Cry, Oct.5, 1843, says: “I send about 1,500 copies of the Voice of Elijah [an Advent paper], to Europe every fortnight, besides what I scatter over the Provinces. This I have done regularly for the last four or five months. The result, eternity will unfold.” SCOC 26.3
Speaking of Eld. Hutchinson, and of his Voice of Elijah, F. G. Brown says: “He has forwarded them to the Canadas, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Constantinople, Rome, etc., etc.” SCOC 27.1
“But it will be asked, Is the news that such a truth is preached a sufficient proclamation to fulfill the prophecy? Revelation 14:6, 7; Matthew 24:14. The answer is, If it was sufficient in the days of the apostles, it is now. That it was then, is clear from Acts 19:8-10, where Paul preached or taught in Ephesus two years, so that all they in Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord Jesus. They could not all have heard a sermon, but they heard the sound of the gospel. In this sense, I have no doubt but the gospel of the kingdom is preached in all the world.” SCOC 27.2
We still wait for the approaching end. But when the purpose of God in the proclamation of the coming reign of Christ shall be fully accomplished, then will the end come. SCOC 27.3