THE CONSUMMATION OF THE REDEEMERS RETURN
OR
THE MILLENNIAL REIGN
CHAPTER TEN
It should now be evident to every unprejudiced
reader that there are two distinct stages in the Second Coming of Christ: - His
coming to the air, and His coming to the earth; His coming for the
saints, and His coming with the saints. The first great purpose before
Him in connection with His return is to receive His people unto Himself. Just
as of old God translated Enoch to Heaven before He sent the Deluge upon
the ungodly, so will the Church be removed from this earth before the vials of
His wrath are poured out upon it. The second great purpose before the Lord
Jesus will be to return to the earth itself, there to set up His Kingdom and
reign in righteousness, and it is the nature, the scope, the blessedness, and
the duration of this Kingdom-reign which is now to engage our attention.
In popular parlance the era of the Messiah's
reign is referred to as the "Millennium" which is a compound word signifying a
thousand years. From the remotest antiquity men have longed for and talked of
a Golden Age, of an age in which righteousness and peace should prevail, and
oppression and war should cease. Poets have sung of it, politicians have
dreamed about it, and inspired prophets have described it. This era of
blessedness is variously denominated in the Scriptures. It is termed "the
Regeneration" (Matt. 19:28); the "Last Day" (John 6:40); the "Times of
Refreshing" (Acts 3:19); the "Times of Restitution" (Acts 3:21); the "Kingdom"
(1 Cor. 15:24); the "day of Christ" (Phil. 1:6); the "Dispensation of the
Fullness of Times" (Eph. 1:10).
There are more Scriptures which treat of the
Millennium or Kingdom-age than perhaps any other one subject in the Bible. The
difficulty is to classify them all. For purpose of simplification we shall now
consider the Millennium under seven heads, namely, the Millennium in relation
to Satan, to Christ, to the Church, to Israel, to the World, to Creation, and
to Sin.