Treatise on Atonement Section 10

After Jesus had finished this tremendous address which he delivered to the Jews, in the temple, the last time he spoke there, we are informed, Matthew 24:1 and 6, that "Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him, for to show him the building of the temple, and Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things, verily, I say unto you there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." This assurance which Jesus gave to his disciple, that of that beautiful temple, that not one stone should be left upon another that should not be thrown down, was in reference to what they had just heard him state in the temple, concerning its des- olation, "and as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, tell us, when shall all these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Here be careful to observe that the things of which the disciples spoke when they ask, "when shall these things be," were those things of which Jesus had just spoken in the temple. In his reply to the question which his disciples ask him, Jesus is careful to give clear and definite answers. He first warned them against being deceived by the many who would come in his name and deceive many. Chapter 24:6 "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." It seems proper, in this place, to ask what Jesus meant by the end, which he said, "Is not yet.". Surely the true answer to this question is found in the question which his disciples ask him, to which he was then answering. The questions which they ask him were the following: When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming? and of the end of the world?" It was the end of the world which Jesus said in verse 6 "is not yet" Jesus goes on to give forth further particulars concerning events which would come to pass before the end of the world; and spoke of the rising of nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom and earthquakes in divers places, also the persecution that the disciples should suffer; but tells them "He that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved; and then adds "and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come." That is the end of the world of which the disciples asked their master. We have often heard preachers attempt to describe the end of the world and its attendant circumstances, with zeal and vehemency, in which they would speak of the dissoluting of the earth, the dissoluting of the sun, of the moon and the stars; of the resurrection of all the dead and of their coming to judgment; of the august appearance of Jesus surrounded with a multitude of the heavenly host, who are to wait on him while he sits in judgment to decide the destinies of the whole human family forever and ever. This scene they lay altogether in what they call eternity. Such being the views entertained by the objector. He feels confident that the coming of Christ, at the end of the world, could not have taken place in that generation, but we would respectfully invite him to attend to certain circumstance which would attend it. He goes on thus; "when ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him understand) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains, let him which be on the house top not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return to take anything out of his house, and woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days; but pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day! for there shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Concerning this description let us carefully notice several particulars: First, Jesus gives his disciples to understand that at this end of the world they would see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place. If we turn to Daniel we may be satisfied whether the prophet spoke of what would take place in this state of this man's existence or in what is commonly called eternity, Dan. 9:26, "And after three scores and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolation are determined," and chapter 12:11. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate, set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred, and ninety days.' Such description may well apply to the calamitous wars which wasted the Jews, overthrew their city, and planted the Roman standard in the temple of God, even in the holy place. But we hardly think our objector will be disposed to apply such representation to events which are to take place in the future state. Secondly: at the end of the world of which Jesus spoke to his disciples, and when they should see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, stand in the holy place, he told them who were in Judea to flee into the mountains. This advice was undoubtedly very judicious if the occasion of their flight was the dire calamity of war; but if the occasion were the annihilation of the material universe, the resurrection of all the dead, and the assembling of the whole human race to the solemnities of what is called the eternal judgment, it is difficult to understand how security could be obtained by fleeing into the mountains. Thirdly: Jesus signified to his disciples that the end of the world would be a season of difficulty which would be augmented if it should happen in the winter, or on the Sabbath day, these suggestions were very correct if they referred to temporal inconveniences; but it would be difficult to understand how to apply them to scenes in the invisible world. Fourthly, Jesus gave his disciples to understand that the trouble which would come on the people at the end of the world, would fall with peculiar inconveniences on such as should at that time be with child, or should give suck to their infants. We have little doubt that our objector will see that these circumstances may apply much better to temporal inconveniences endured by females during the terrible storm of war and the conquest of their city, than to any event in eternity of which we read in the scripture. That all these events, including the end of the world, the coming of the son of man with his angels, etc. took place in the generation in which the Saviour lived on earth, we are fully certified by his own words, which follows, verse 30, "And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven: and then shall 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 and from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branches are yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door. Verily I say unto you this generation shall not pass away tell all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away."

It seems worthy of special notice that in every instance, in which Jesus spoke of his coming to judge men and to reward them according to their works he expresses himself with special emphasis in limiting the time to that generation in which he lived. Matthew 16:28, "verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste death, till they see the son of man coming in

his kingdom." Mark 9:1, "And he said unto them, verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." Luke 9:27, "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till thy see the kingdom of God." Matthew 10:23, "For verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the son of man be come." Luke 21:32, "Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled." Matthew 23:36, Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Matthew 24:34, "Verily I say unto you this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." We think we are safe in saying, that on no other one subject did Jesus express himself with more cautious emphasis. Have we not then great reason to marvel that so many of those who are professed disciples of Christ, and who misconstrued his testimony as to represent his coming with his angels to reward men to take place some time which is now future, and in another state of man's existence?

After Jesus had certified his disciples that all these events which he spoke of would take place in their generation, he proceeded to say to them, "But of that day and that hour, knoweth no man, no not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only." In this circumstance he implored to show the necessity of constant watchfulness in his disciples, that they might avail themselves of the benefit of his instructions, and make their escape from those calamities which were fast approaching. In the latter part of this chapter he strictly warned them to be on their guard and carefully informed them of the danger which awaited them should they relax their guard and through contentiousness, drunkenness, and reveling be persuaded that the master delayed his coming, assuring them that should any of be in a day when he looked not for him an in an hour that he would not be aware of and would cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites' where there should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. As Jesus had in hearing of his disciples, just delivered his last address to the scribes and the Pharisees, in the temple, and as he had denounced on them the most tremendous judgments, calling them hypocrites, which epithet he often repeated in that discourse, he now informs his disciples, being alone with them, that if any of them should so far apostatize as to conform their lives to that wicked perverse generation, they would of course fall into the condemnation which he had just on those whom he called hypocrites and would be subject to the same awful calamities. This Jesus represented by the two following parables: that of the ten virgins and that of the talents. Let it be duely observed that the parables recorded in Matthew 25 were all designed to represent the things which are stated in chapter 24.

The division of chapters very frequently disjoins a well connected discourse in such an abrupt manner as to entirely obscure the sense; unless the reader is careful, by disregarding this arbitrary division to preserve the connection by reading directly on. When Jesus had stated to his disciples the danger they would expose themselves to, by getting off their guard, as has been noticed, he added, "Then shall the kingdom of God be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom." In order to preserve the connection in this reading, we ask the question, when did Jesus mean that the kingdom of heaven should be likened unto ten virgins? He says, "then" and this word, "then" begins the chapter. Suppose a person sits down to read a chapter in the New Testament; and without paying any attention to anything that is said in Matthew 24 begins the 25 chapter and reads it through. How could he understand what the three parables which occupy the whole twenty- fifth chapter were designed to represent? He would know nothing about the subjects or the illustrations of which the parables were spoken. He would have no idea concerning the time to which the first word in the chapter referred. But by looking back to the previous chapter he could find the word "then" was referring to the time just mentioned, this "The Lord of that servant shall come in that day when he looketh not for him," and etc. But here we are not told when that day would be. We must then look back still farther (v.44), "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour ye think not, the son of man cometh." This does not fix the time. The fact is, that neither that day nor that hour are designated in the whole discourse (v.36), "But of that day and that hour," What day and what hour?" That day must refer to some time of which notice had been taken before. Look back then to the two proceeding verses; " Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." By this method we arrive at the fact that Jesus spoke of no time, of no day nor hour in all that follows these last words quoted, that was not limited to that generation.

By being this cautious we find our subject all laid open as clearly as the sun shines. The parable of the ten virgins, and also that of the talents were designed to set forth what the Divine Teacher had just stated respecting how it would fare with those who were his professed disciples, at the time when Jerusalem should be destroyed by the Romans. With this fact in the mind read the last paragraph of the 24th chapter and the two first verses of the 25th in connexion. "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish."

The nuptial ceremonies among the Jews were familiar to the disciples of Jesus; as was the custom of lending money at interest. These two customs he used to impress on their minds the necessity of being on their guard that they might be prepared for the occasion of the Lord's coming, and also duly to improve the gifts which he had bestowed on them, that at his coming they might be able to present him with suitable improvements.

If we duly consider what we have here collected from the directions which Jesus gave to his disciples, and remember that he told them, as has been noticed, Matthew 10:23. "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another; for verily I say unto you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come." We must not only feel a full conviction that the common use which has been made of these parables of virgins and the talents is altogether foreign from the Saviors meaning, but we must also feel no small surprise at such an egregious error.

We come now to notice the parable of the sheep and goats. Immediately following the conclusion of the parable of the talents, Jesus says; "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, etc. This follows an account of the judgment. Here let it be observed, that the Saviour, having instructed his disciples what he should require of them, and how they would be rewarded for their faithfulness, or punished for their delinquency, proceeds to represent the great distinction, which would, at the same time, be made between these who should treat them kindly and those who should neglect to do so.

Let us be duly cautious concerning the time of the coming of the Son of Man in his glory and with his angels . In his parables he gives no intimation when this coming would take place, or when it ought to be expected. The reasons why he did not mention the time is the same for which he did not point out the day nor the hour of his coming in the preceding context. The reason in all these cases why he did not mention the particular time, was because he had explicitly stated that his coming with his angels would certainly be in that generation; but of that day and the hour none but his Father in heaven knew. The reader is here requested to keep in mind all these passages which have been quoted, which speaks of the coming of Jesus with his angels etc. and to remember that they all expressly state that his coming would be during that generation.

It is contended by some that if the former parables in this 25th chapter of Matthew refers to the time of that generation, this of the sheep and goat refers to a general judgment in the future state, after the material universe is dissolved, and all mankind are raised into an immortal state. But surely there is not the least authority for this conclusion. There is nothing hinted respecting the dissolution of the material universe; not a word said about the resurrection of the dead.

In the parable of the sheep and goats we have the following particulars represented. 1st, The King who sits as judge. 2nd, Two classes, one on the right hand of the King, the other on the left. These two classes are separated one from the other, and they are differently treated on account of the difference there was in their conduct to another, or to a third class. This third class were the disciples of Jesus, to whom he spoke the parable; and whom he calls his brethren. By this parable Jesus seems to say to his disciples: "Brethren, as you travel from city to city to publish the Gospel of my kingdom in my name, I shall regard every act of kindness and hospitality done to you, by people where you labor, as done to myself; and also all the cold hearted neglect which shall mark the conduct of people toward you, I shall consider as done unto me." "And when you come into a house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; and if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoso-

ever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet." Matthew 10:12-15, also see 40-42.

After having satisfied our minds respecting the time of the coming of the Son of Man to judge and reward men according to their works, and being assured that event took place when Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Jews dispersed; it remains an easy task to settle the question respecting the meaning and fulfillment of all the passages in the New Testament which speaks of that judgment and the awful calamities which fell on Israel. But we must always keep in mind the fact that all those scriptures were fulfilled in that generation in which Jesus and his disciples lived.

Let us notice the following passages in connexion, as they evidently belong to the same subject. "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," Matthew 3:10-12. "But if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell (Greek, Gehenna, or Valley of Hinnom in the Hebrew, a valley near Jerusalem where the carcasses of dead animals were burned) and if your right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of thy members should perish, and not your whole body be cast into Gehenna," Matthew 5: 29,30. "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into the barn," Matthew 13:30. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not 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 glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony

among you was believed) in that day." 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. That these and some other passages all refer to the same time and events as are pointed out in Matthew 24: and 25: which we have noticed there will be no doubts with any. Those who are opposed to our views apply them to a future state of punishment. It is therefore unnecessary to explain them separately. It is evident that the burning of the chaff as expressed in Matthew 3;12 and the being cast into Gehenna, expressed in Matthew 5:30, and the being punished with everlasting destruction 2 Thess. 1:10, all mean the same thing. It is also evident that the end of the world, of which we read in Matthew 20: and 24: which Jesus emphatically confined to that generation in which he lived, as we have fully seen, and the end of the world of which he spoke in his exposition of the parable of the tares are also pointing to the same event.

The reader may be at a loss to know why Jesus should call the time of his coming to destroy Jerusalem the end of the world, we say then it is because it was the end of the Jewish state of polity; and it was the commencement of a new era, and a new order of things. The word rendered `world' should have been rendered `age.' "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the `World' hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26. Also "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come," 1 Corinthians 10:11. Such an `end' of the world our preachers are talking of, and to which they use to scare people, is now here spoken of in the scriptures.

That it was natural for Jesus to represent the sore afflictions, which he saw coming upon the house of Israel, by age- lasting fire, by unquenchable fire, and by the fires of Gehenna we learn by referring to the language used to represent the things in the Old Testament. "Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted

in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you," Ezekiel 22:18-22. "Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou was created, in the land of thy nativity. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skillful to destroy. Thou shalt be fuel to the fire; thy blood shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it," Ezekiel 21:30-32. "Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother," Isa. 9:19. In bringing the subject of those scriptures, which speak of consuming the wicked by fire to a close, we judge it proper to notice that not only are those awful judgments, which we have noticed, represented by fire; but they are also used to represent the purifying power of divine truth. And it is evident that both these uses of fire are embraced in those scriptures which we have passed in review. The following passages seem to represent both those ideas: "Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness," Mal. 3:1, 3. The same things appear in the third chapter of Matthew verses 10-12, "And now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Also in Isaiah 4:4, "When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning." The design and end of the divine judgment is clearly expressed by the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 27:9, "By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up."

Section 11