Thy God Reigneth
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 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”. Dan 7:13, 14
“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people”. Psa. 50:3, 4
“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 to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this”. Isa. 9:6, 7
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Any who have not carefully examined this subject, with concordance and Bible in hand, will be surprised, on doing so, to find its prominence in the Scriptures. The Old Testament abounds with promises and prophecies in which the Kingdom of God and its King, Messiah, figure as the very center. It was the hope of every Israelite (Luke 3:15) that as a people God would exalt their nation under Messiah; and when the Lord came to them, it was as their King, to establish the long promised Kingdom of God upon the earth.
TWO PHASES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
While it is true, as stated by our Lord, that the Kingdom of God cometh not–does not make its first appearance–with outward show, in due time it is to be made manifest to all by outward, visible and unmistakable signs. When fully set up, the Kingdom of God will be of two parts, a spiritual or heavenly phase and an earthly or human phase. The spiritual will always be invisible to men, as those composing it will be of the divine, spiritual nature, which no man hath seen nor can see (1 Tim. 6:16; John 1:18); yet its presence and power will be mightily manifested, chiefly through its human representatives, who will constitute the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God.
Those who will constitute the spiritual phase of the kingdom are the overcoming saints of the Gospel age–the Christ, head and body–glorified. Their resurrection and exaltation to power precedes that of all others, because through this class all others are to be blessed. (Heb. 11:39, 40)
In their last conversation with the Lord before his ascension, his disciples inquired about the Kingdom, saying “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 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. Acts 1:6-11
HAS THE LORD COME AGAIN?
IT is not surprising that those who have not investigated the matter of our Lord’s return, from the viewpoint of The Divine Plan of the Ages, should not be able to see that the Lord has come to reign as the great King of kings, and that he has begun his reign, while the world is so full of trouble; but it is surprising that so many of those who once professed to believe that the Lord has come, should now be found among the “scoffers” who, the Apostle Peter says would come in the last days saying, “Where is the promise of his coming (parousia – presence)?”
What have those who have investigated the matter of our Lord’s return, from the viewpoint of The Divine Plan of the Ages, found from the testimony of God’s Word that would warrant them in believing that the Lord is here and his reign begun? They have found that our Lord Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, the firstborn of every creature, him who was before all things, and by whom all things consist, left the glory which he had with the Father before the world was and became a man, was made flesh, for the purpose of redeeming the world by giving his perfect life as a ransom-price, a corresponding price, for the forfeited life of Adam and his race. (1 John 4:9; Col. 1:15-17; John 17:5; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 2:14; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6)
They have found that having given his life as the redemption price for Adam and his race, he was raised from the dead a glorious spirit being, the express image of the Father’s person, of whom it is testified that he dwells in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see. When Moses asked to see God’s face, he was told, “Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live.” Jesus said, “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: and because I live, ye shall live also.” How have the Lord’s followers seen him since his ascension? Only with their mental or spiritual vision. They can not see him as he is until they are born of the spirit and shall be like him, spirit beings. Those who have rightly divided the Word of Truth have found the Scriptures to be harmonious, and understand that when the revelator says, “Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him,” that it is with their mental vision that they behold him and not with their physical eyes. (Heb. 1:1-3; 1 Tim. 6:14-16; Ex. 33:18-20; John 14:19; Rev. 1:7)
Those who have been taught of God through his Word, are not expecting the Lord to come in a body of flesh at his Second Advent, such as he had during the time of his First Advent. That body of flesh was given for the life of the world, as Jesus states in John 6:51, and the price was not taken back; he was raised from the dead to life on the highest spirit plane, far above angels.
He was made flesh for the purpose of redeeming mankind, but he comes at his Second Advent to reign as the great spiritual King of glory. The Lord will be just as invisible to human sight as is Satan, the god of this world, who is a spirit being also. We do not see Satan, but we see the evidences of his reign on every hand in the downward course of the world through those under his control his human agents. The Apostle Paul says, “In time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Our glorious King of kings will be just as invisible as Satan is. He comes to receive his faithful followers to himself, to over throw Satan’s rule and empire, to liberate sin’s captives, and to lead as many of Adam’s race as desire deliverance from Satan’s bondage up to Edenic perfection and eternal life.
Under his reign he shall cause the knowledge of the Lord to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea; and it will not be necessary for one to say to his brother; Know the Lord: for they shall all know him, from the least unto the greatest. Our King will have human agents who are filled with his spirit who will instruct the world in righteousness and lead mankind up the highway of holiness. Chief of these will be the Ancient Worthies mentioned in Hebrews 11, whose love of righteousness was manifested in the ages past. Our King must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2: Isa. 43:6, 7; John 14:1-3; Isa. 11:9; Jer. 31:31-24; 1 Cor. 15:25)
“All the rays of prophecy converge upon this “Time of the End,” the focal point of which is the “Harvest”–the time of our Lord’s presence and the establishment of his long promised Kingdom. And when we consider the great importance of these events, the stupendous dispensational changes which they introduce, and the amount and character of the prophetic testimony which marks them; and when we see how carefully we have been instructed as to the manner of his manifestation, so that no stumbling block to our faith should stand in the way of our recognition of his presence, our hearts rejoice with joy unspeakable. Fully tenfold greater testimony is now given to the fact of his second presence than was granted to the early disciples at the first advent, though that was quite sufficient then for the “Israelite indeed,” who waited for the consolation of Israel.
“For nearly two thousand years, the suffering, persecuted, self-sacrificing, consecrated ones have anxiously waited for the Master’s coming. Faithful Pauls, ardent Peters, loving Johns, devoted Stephens, gentle Marys and tender and generous Marthas, a long line of brave confessors of the truth at the risk of torture and death, and suffering martyrs, and some of the faithful fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters in Israel who humbly walked with God in less stormy times, neither ashamed nor afraid to confess Christ and to bear his reproach, nor to be the companions of those who were reproached for his truth’s sake (Heb. 10:33)–these, after fighting the good fight of faith, laid down their armor to await their promised reward at the Master’s appearing. 2 Tim. 4:8
“And now he has come! The Lord is indeed present! And the time is at hand for the setting up of his Kingdom, and the exaltation and glorification of his faithful bride. The days of waiting for his presence are now in the past, and the blessedness of the waiting ones, long foretold, is ours. To the eye of faith he is now revealed by the prophetic lamp.
THE TIME OF OUR LORD’S ARRIVAL
“Those who have searched the Scriptures in regard to the time of our Lord’s return, from the viewpoint of The Divine Plan of the Ages have found that the Bible Chronology points us to 1874 as the date of that great event. The angels said to the disciples at the time of our Lord’s ascension, “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.” Who saw him ascend? Not the world, but his faithful disciples only. Who have seen him “come again.”? Only his faithful followers and they have seen him only with the eye of faith, through the Divine Word.
“Surely all who will consider the matter carefully must acknowledge that the evidence that our Lord is now present (a spirit being, and hence invisible) is greater and clearer than the evidence which the Jew had of his presence in the flesh at the first advent. And not only are the prophetic evidences of the Lord’s presence now more full, complete and numerous, but the signs of the times everywhere about us, showing the harvest work in progress, are much more apparent and convincing, to those whose eyes are anointed (Rev. 3:18), than were the circumstances of the first advent, when our Lord Jesus, with a handful of followers, through much opposition and under many unfavorable conditions, announced, “The time is FULFILLED; repent and believe the good tidings”–Messiah has come, the Messenger of the great Jehovah, to fulfill to you all the promises made to the fathers. What wonder that only the humble minded ones could accept of the humble Nazarene as the great Deliverer, or of the humble, untitled men with him as part of his chosen cabinet–as those who were to be princes under him. Only the few could see in the one who rode on the ass and wept over Jerusalem the great King of whom Zechariah had prophesied that Zion would receive him as King with shouts of joy.
“At his first advent he humbled himself, taking the form and nature of man (Heb. 2:9,14), thereby to accomplish our redemption by giving himself as our ransom price. He is now highly exalted, and dieth no more; and at his second advent, clothed with all power (Phil. 2:9), he will exalt his “body,” and then bestow upon the world the blessing of restitution which he purchased for them at his first advent with his own precious blood. Remember, he is no longer flesh, but a spirit being, and will shortly change, and glorify as his members and joint-heirs, all his faithful followers.
“To the Jewish house Jesus presented himself in three characters–as Bridegroom (John 3:29), Reaper (John 4:35,38) and King (Matt. 21:5,9,4). To the Christian house he presents himself in the same three characters. (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 14:14,15; 17:14) To the Jewish house he came as Bridegroom and Reaper in the beginning of their harvest (the beginning of his ministry); and just before his crucifixion he presented himself as their King, exercising kingly authority in pronouncing judgment against them, in leaving their house desolate, and in the typical act of cleansing their temple. (Luke 19:41-46; Mark 11:15-17) Just so it has been in this harvest: Our Lord’s presence as Bridegroom and Reaper was recognized during the first three and a half years, from A.D. 1874 to A.D. 1878. Since that time it has been emphatically manifest that the time had come in A.D. 1878 when kingly judgment should begin at the house of God. It is here that Rev. 14:14-20 applies, and our Lord is brought to view as the Reaper crowned. The year A.D. 1878, being the parallel of his assuming power and authority in the type, clearly marks the time for the actual assuming of power as King of kings, by our present, spiritual, invisible Lord–the time of his taking to himself his great power to reign, which in the prophecy is closely associated with the resurrection of his faithful, and the beginning of the trouble and wrath upon the nations. (Rev. 11:17,18) Here, as in the type, judgment begins with the nominal church, in condemning to destruction the nominal systems (not the people), outwardly representing the true Church–”the body.” Here also is the cleansing of the true temple, the true Church, the body of Christ–the consecrated class. (1 Cor. 3:16; Rev. 3:12) This consecrated or temple class in the nominal church stands related to the nominal church, as a whole, as the literal temple stood related to the holy city Jerusalem, as a whole. After the city was given up the temple was cleansed: so now the temple class must be cleansed: every selfish, carnal thought and all worldliness must be cast out, that the temple may be clean, the dwelling place of God’s holy Spirit–the temple of the living God.” [B237-239]
EVIDENCES OF CHRIST’S REIGN BEGUN
“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 our Lord adds, “No, nor ever shall be.” Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21
Many think that conditions in the world today indicate that the Lord is coming soon. However, these signs are rather a proof that he has come, that the Lord is here and has taken unto himself his great power as King of kings, to reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. It was when Michael “stood up,” assumed control, that the time of trouble was to begin.
”The seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever….And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged,” etc. The same events are referred to in Daniel’s prophecy: “And at that time shall Michael [Christ] stand up [assume control], the great Prince,…and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation,…and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” And Paul adds to his mention of the voices and the trumpet the statement, “And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” In 2 Tim. 4:1 he further states that Christ shall judge the quick (the living) and the dead, at this time of his appearing and kingdom; and the beginning of this judgment of the living nations is everywhere described as the greatest time of trouble the world has ever known. Dan. 12:1
Thus Paul, John and Daniel evidently refer to the same time, the time of our Lord’s appearing, and the establishment of his kingdom in the midst of a great time of trouble, and to the events preceding and introducing it. The same result is shown by each writer to follow the standing up of Michael, the voices and the trumpet: namely, trouble and wrath upon the nations and the resurrection of the dead. [B145-146]
