The Glory of God in the Earth

THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE EARTH

Numbers 14:21.-“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” GGE 3.1

This oath of God must be fulfilled; for “not one good thing of all that the Lord hath spoken” can fail. Thanks to the name of the Lord, the full accomplishment of every letter of this oath is, like the eternal existence of Him who uttered it, an absolute, unfailing certainty; and in the certainty that all this must be brought to pass, there is enough to wake earth and heaven to song. All this Isaiah beheld in vision, when he “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts-The whole earth is full of his glory.” GGE 3.2

That day must be seen. That it never has been seen, all will admit. The glory of the Lord, which is thus to fill the earth, unquestionably includes his perfect holiness. This is the glory which the seraphim are represented as beholding and praising. Zechariah foretells the same time, when “holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the horses, and when every pot in Judah and in Jerusalem shall be holiness to the Lord.” Now if all the earth is to be full of the glory of the Lord, then the hearts of all men must be filled with holiness; so that, as under the influence of Satan, “every imagination of the thoughts of men’s hearts has been only evil and that continually,” the time will come, when every imagination of the thoughts of men’s hearts, shall be holiness to the Lord, and that continually. Now this, all this, must be true of every individual on the face of the earth; for his will is to be done in earth as it is in heaven, and all shall know him, “from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them;” so that “none shall say to neighbor or brother, know thou the Lord.” Until holiness shall thus become complete and universal, it cannot be said that God’s will is done in earth as in heaven, or that there is no occasion to say, “Know thou the Lord.” Just so far as sin remains, the earth is filled with the glory of Satan, for he it is, who reigns in the children of disobedience. GGE 3.3

With regard to the manner in which these glorious predictions are to be fulfilled, there are two views entertained by different classes of the Lord’s professed people. GGE 4.1

Some are expecting that the gospel will prevail in the earth, previous to Christ’s coming, until all shall know the Lord, from the least of them, even to the greatest of them-i. e. all mankind shall be so converted and sanctified to God, that his will shall be done in the earth, in the heart and life of every individual, as it is done in heaven. All this must be accomplished, since God has covenanted to “sprinkle clean water upon them, and to cleanse them from all their filthiness and from all their idols.” Now when this is done in all the earth, then, and not till then, will God’s oath be fulfilled, and all the earth be filled with his glory. Those who expect that all this will be accomplished by the gospel previous to Christ’s coming, expect that after the gospel has thus prevailed, there will be an apostacy, of such long continuance, and of such general prevalence, that when he shall appear, he will find the world as it was before the flood, and as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah; and that these wicked ones will then be cut off from the earth, and the earth itself be destroyed, and be no more. GGE 5.1

Now that there can be no such universal prevalence of the gospel in this world previous to Christ’s coming, when all shall know the Lord, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, and God shall sprinkle clean water upon them, and cleanse them from all their filthiness and from all their idols, and thus fill all the earth with his glory; is absolutely certain, from what Christ has taught us in the parable of the tares of the field. We there learn that the children of the kingdom, and the children of the wicked one, are to grow together, until the end of this world, like wheat and tares until the harvest. And since the earth cannot be filled with the glory of the Lord while the children of the wicked one are in it, and they are to remain in it, until the end of this world, when the Son of man, at his coming, shall send his angels and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire; it is plainly a matter of absolute certainty, that the gospel never will prevail, before the end of this world, so as to fill all the earth with the glory of the Lord. GGE 5.2

Again: Christ said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” This ought to satisfy any reasonable mind, who looks at it, that his kingdom is not to come in this world, so that the will of God shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. GGE 6.1

Again: We are told in the 7th chapter of Daniel, of a wicked power, that shall make war with the saints, and prevail against them until the Ancient of Days shall come, i. e. Christ. Here, therefore, it is also rendered absolutely certain, that all the world is not to be converted before Christ’s coming. GGE 6.2

Again: Paul taught the Thessalonians, that the man of sin, (i. e. the Papacy,) shall be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s coming; and of course he will not have been converted before Christ’s coming, and the earth therefore cannot be filled with the glory of the Lord, by the universal prevalence of the gospel, before Christ appears. GGE 7.1

Again: Those that expect that the kingdoms of this world are to be given to the saints, by the universal prevalence of the gospel before Christ’s coming, expect that, after a period, the saints will be compelled to yield it again to the prevalence of wickedness; so that it shall become again as before the flood, and as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; when Christ will appear and destroy it. But God has foretold, by Daniel, that “the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and shall possess the kingdom, forever, even forever and ever.” In the thirty-seventh Psalm we are also told, that “the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” In the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah we are told, “Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” GGE 7.2

Then it is certain that the saints will never lose possession of the earth, when once they shall receive it. It becomes, therefore, a matter of absolute certainty that there can be no temporal millennium, after which the wicked shall again possess the earth, after the righteous have had it as their inheritance. They are to “dwell therein forever.” They are to “possess it forever, even forever and ever. To make these passages consistent with the doctrine of a temporal millennium, a beloved brother, who has recently written on this subject, has concluded that this millennium, must last more than a thousand years, and probably may continue 360,000 years. But nearly 360,000 years is not “forever, even forever and ever.” But we are told by the dear brethren who advocate a temporal millennium, that these terms do not express or imply endless duration. But if “forever, even forever and ever” does not express or imply endless duration, I would ask what terms can express it? GGE 7.3

It is truly painful to see our dear brethren, who are unwilling to admit that the coming of our blessed Lord and Master is at the door, resorting to the same mode of reasoning to get rid of this blessed and glorious truth, that Universalists do to escape the doctrine of endless punishment. And it would seem, moreover, that these brethren do not allow as much meaning to these terms, as even Universalists themselves. If I rightly apprehend the reasoning of Universalists, they would admit that “forever, even forever and ever,” when applied to this world, must mean to the end of this world. But these brethren have not even a Universalist forever and ever in their mode of reasoning: because, according to their theory, after the saints, the righteous, have inherited the land, and dwelt therein forever, and have possessed it forever, even forever and ever, the wicked are again to possess it: and after all this, when mankind have apostatized, and become as before the flood, and as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, Christ is to come, and the world is to be destroyed. I should as soon think of persuading myself to believe that an unclouded sun at noon-day did not give light, as that the fact, that when the saints possess the earth, they are to possess it forever, even forever and ever, did not prove that there can never be such a thing as a temporal millennium. If it is in the power of language to express endless duration, such terms must express it. It does not help the matter to say it expresses a very long period. If there is any end to this duration, it is not “forever, even forever and ever.” The last lingering expectation of a temporal millennium is by such language entirely exploded from my own mind. GGE 8.1

Again: When the “kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ,” he is to “reign forever and ever.” Now the Universalist explanation of this term would make it mean, as long as the world stands. But those who believe in a temporal millennium, must admit that when Christ has reigned over this world forever and ever, it is yet to be given again to the wicked, so that at Christ’s coming it shall be as before the flood, and as in the days of Sodom; and then it is to be destroyed. These brethren, therefore, are compelled to go even farther than Universalists in accommodating the language of the Bible to their theory of a temporal millennium. Daniel saw one “in the night visions, like unto the Son of man, come with the clouds of heaven; and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” And yet, according to the theory of a temporal millennium, it must pass away and be destroyed; for the wicked shall again possess the earth as before the flood, and as in the days of Sodom, and after this it must be destroyed at the coming of Christ. The angel who foretold the birth of Christ, said, “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Now he who believes in a temporal millennium, is obliged to admit that Christ’s kingdom on earth must have an end; for the wicked are again to possess it, according to this theory; and after this it is to be destroyed at Christ’s coming. GGE 9.1

It is utterly vain to think of evading this reasoning by saying that the eternal reign of Christ and his saints will be somewhere besides in this world. Christ has said, “to him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne.” John heard this song: “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.” GGE 11.1

It is therefore certain that Christ’s kingdom with his saints on the earth is to be a kingdom of which there shall be no end; and it is, consequently, wholly impossible that this kingdom should be found in a temporal millennium. Besides, “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, are to live and reign with Christ a thousand years; and this is the first resurrection. I know, we are told that this does not mean those souls that were beheaded, but another generation like them. They cannot, however, be like them, unless they shall live under the same circumstances, and be beheaded as they were. It is impossible to have another race of martyrs in a thousand years of universal peace. It is the veriest nonsense to talk of this. Those that were beheaded for Christ’s sake, are to live and reign with him on the earth. The thousand years spoken of, does not mark the period during which they shall reign; because they are to possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever; but they mark the period from the first resurrection to the second; when the rest of the dead, who live not again until the thousand years are finished, are to be raised;-and it is a fearful consideration, that all who are raised in the second resurrection, are raised to the second death. The wicked are now brought forth to the second death; while those who have reigned with Christ from the first resurrection, reign still, and forever, because on such the second death hath no power. GGE 11.2

The theory of a temporal millennium, therefore, before Christ’s coming, is to me a groundless fable. I have no more expectation that it will ever come, than that the walls of Jericho will be built up, the present year, around the city of New York, with the selfsame stones which fell down at the blast of the rams’ horns. The children of the wicked one are to remain with the children of the kingdom until the end of this world, when Christ will come with his mighty angels in flaming fire and destroy them. Until that coming, the man of sin is to make war with the saints and prevail against them. At that coming he will be destroyed. GGE 12.1

How then is the earth to be filled with the glory of the Lord? GGE 12.2

This inquiry I will now answer, from the word of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “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 from the dead, even so [that is, in like manner] 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, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Here we are taught that all the dead in Christ shall, at his coming, be raised from the dead, “even so,” that is, in like manner as he was. It does not say all the dead, but the dead in Christ; because, as we are taught in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, all who are Christ’s, shall come forth in the first resurrection, while “the rest of the dead live not again till the thousand years are finished.” GGE 13.1

Christ having raised the righteous dead at his appearing, “then we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, 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.” 1 Corinthians 15:52: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Not all the living will thus be changed, for Christ has told us, in the seventeenth chapter of Luke, that in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed, “one shall be taken and another left.” GGE 13.2

Christ, therefore, at his coming, will take up the righteous dead and the righteous living to be with him, and all the wicked will be left. The wicked dead will be left under the power of death, for a thousand years, plainly and positively taught in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, and the living wicked will be gathered as tares and burned. GGE 14.1

At the same time will take place that destruction of the world by fire, to which Peter tells us it is reserved against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men; and after this, we are promised new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Peter third chapter; Isaiah 65:17; also 66:22 John says, (Revelation 21.,) “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, God himself shall dwell with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away.” Here, then, we are taught that the tabernacle of God is to be with men in the new earth. GGE 14.2

Then it is the new earth that shall be filled with the glory of the Lord; while the children of the wicked one are to remain with the children of the kingdom till “the end of this world,” and then “the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors rooted out of it, and the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.” Proverbs 2:21, 22. In the new earth the perfect will remain forever; for “there shall be no more death.” There they shall “inherit the land, and dwell therein forever,” “and God shall dwell with them.” There “the saints of the Most High will take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever;” which they cannot do in the “earth which now is, because it is reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Therefore, because this world cannot remain, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, according to the promise of God. There “the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” There “Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; they shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end.” There, also, the Son of man, the God spoken of in the twenty-first of Revelation, will have his tabernacle with men; and there will be “given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; and his dominion will be an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” There “He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” These things never can be in the earth that now is, because it is reserved unto destruction by fire, as we are told by Peter, by the same word of God which destroyed the old world by a flood. GGE 15.1

According to the theory of a temporal millennium, therefore, the Bible cannot be fulfilled, and the dear brethren who attempt to uphold that theory, are compelled to resort to the hackneyed quibbles of Universalists, respecting those Bible terms which express endless duration as fully as language can express it, in order to help them out with their views, and get rid of the conviction that the coming of the Savior is at hand. For as surely as the children of the wicked one are to remain with the children of the kingdom until the harvest, which is at the end of this world, which Christ has fully taught, and as surely as Christ is to have a kingdom without end, which the saints are to possess “forever, even forever and ever,” so certain it is, that the theory of a temporal millennium must be a fable, as unreal as the novelist’s vainest tale. GGE 16.1

We are told in the hundred and second Psalm, that “when the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” This is the time when the Son of man shall appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and shall send his angels to gather his elect. Then “the evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be; but the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” “The seed of the wicked shall be cut off; the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” Then will God’s oath to Moses be fully accomplished, “and as truly as God lives, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Then will the earth be filled not only with the glory of God’s holiness, but Christ in his glorious body will reign, and the bodies of all saints will be “fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body,” and earth itself will receive the fulfilment of the promise, “there shall be no more curse,” and shall put on the glory of the New Jerusalem, and shall be lighted up with the glory of God and the Lamb. Thanks be to the name of the Lord, this is not a glory that shall fade away, after a period of a thousand, or even 360,000 years; but it shall remain “an everlasting light, a sun that shall no more go down.” Everlasting praise to God, for such a glorious fulfilment of his oath! GGE 17.1

But, say some of our beloved brethren, there must yet be a great multitude saved. The gospel must yet prevail a great while, so that at last the number of the lost shall be trifling in comparison with the multitude saved; and they think it must be so because of God’s unspeakable benevolence. And so the Universalist, upon ground equally as good, takes God’s benevolence as security that all will be saved. But one “thus saith the Lord” is worth volumes of such reasoning. Said our blessed Savior, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Thus we have the declaration of Him who cannot lie, that many go to destruction, and few find life. Where now is the necessity of putting forth our hands to stay up the ark of God’s benevolence, by saying that few must be lost, and many saved, in order that God may fully vindicate himself? It is the self-same notion, to all intents and purposes, on which men attempt to build the doctrine of Universalism. But everything of this sort must be swept away, and “like the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a wreck behind;” while the words of Christ will remain an eternal truth, “many go to destruction, few find life.” Nor will he lack ways or means to vindicate his own benevolence, when his own words on this subject are found to be strictly true. GGE 18.1

But, say many, the Jews are yet to return. The Jews did return from the Babylonish captivity, and not a word has the Bible uttered of another return. The New Testament gives not a hint of any such thing. All Israel shall be saved. Such as are in their graves will Christ bring with him, and such as are alive will he change to immortality and take them up to be with him, and all the wicked will be left. The thirty-seventh of Ezekiel shows unequivocally that Israel is to be called up from their graves and brought into their own land. It must be the new earth, therefore, after the first resurrection. GGE 19.1

I will now bring forward evidence that the time when God’s oath shall be fulfilled, and all the earth filled with his glory, is near, even at the doors. GGE 19.2

I find evidence of this in the words of Christ in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. GGE 19.3