Matt. v. 18. "For, verily, I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Jesus, therefore, is to be believed; and we must credit what he says about the time of his coming, as well as about the fact of his coming. Now, I appeal to every person present to say, whether it is not as clear, that Christ was to come to redeem his followers and punish his enemies at the destruction of Jerusalem, as that he was to come?

But the Lectures before us say, that his coming to judgment was in the last times and last days of the world; but that, if he came eighteen hundred years ago, it was not in the last times and last days. Therefore, says the objector, you must be wrong. Wrong! how wrong? What does the text say; "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Am I wrong, then ?

Let us see what the apostles thought about the last days. The prophet Joel says: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days, will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Joel ii. 28–32.

Now, St. Peter applies this to his own times, to the last days of the Jewish dispensation. Hear him; "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words; for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days (saith God), I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on my servants, and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned

into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts ii. 14-21. Thus does he teach, that Joel prophesied of the times in which Peter then lived, and of events that were to transpire at the approaching coming of Christ. Observe how this agrees with what we have quoted. He speaks of wonders in heaven, and signs on earth, blood, fire, vapor, and smoke; of the sun turning to darkness,

and the moon to blood. Why, this is stronger language than any we have found. Well, Peter says, that Joel referred to his times, which he calls the last days; so that Peter considered, that he lived in the last days.

Suppose this language applies to the present time, and that we are living in the last days. Why do we see nothing of the spirit of prophecy? who among us has power to foretell what is future? The author of the Lectures has been styled, The Prophet; but I am not aware, that he claims to be any thing more than an expounder of prophecy. If he was a prophet, I should suppose he could have expounded more accurately than he has. His Lectures were published in 1838. 1839, the Turkish government, he said, was to be overthrown. But was it done? Far from this; the Turkish government still stands firm and secure; so that here our expounder or prophet is mistaken. Nothing strange has occurred to the Turkish government during the year past.

In

In the first epistle of Peter, we read; "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." 1 Peter i. 20. These last times. Remember this expression. St. John says; "Little children, it is the last time; and, as ye have heard, that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know, that it is the last time." 1 John ii. 18. In the Lectures we are considering, we are told, that now antichrist reigns; and, therefore, now is the last time; but St. John said, eighteen hundred years ago, it is the last time, not, the last time shall come in eighteen hundred years, but it is the last

52

MILLER'S THEORY

time; he also says, "We know that it is the last

time."

Jude says, "But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before, of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." Then he adds, "These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit"; by which we learn the mockers had come, and the last time had come.

Jude shows, in this connexion, that this was the time for Christ's coming to execute judgment.

Thus the last times and days were when Peter and John and Jude lived; then the scoffers and mockers fought against the truth; then antichrists reigned; and then Jesus came to judgment.

There is but one question to be settled here, and that is, Were the apostles mistaken in saying, they lived in the last times? Now we must either say they were mistaken, egregiously mistaken, or else admit that Christ has come, and that he came as they said he would. Dr. Codman, in his sermon delivered before the Legislature of this State, at the commencement of its present session, says, the apostles were mistaken; that they really thought the day of judgment and destruction of the universe were at hand, when they were not. I confess, that this statement is so remarkable, and is so directly calculated to awaken distrust with regard to all the apostles have said, that I would not have repeated it, if I had not heard it from his own lips; nay, I would not have done it, if I had not seen it in print from his own pen.

Thus are we obliged to say, the apostles did

Devision of time

not know the truth of what they spake; that they were mistaken; that they supposed themselves living on the very eve of time, when, according to the theory we are examining, they were more than 1800 years from that time. If people wish to destroy all faith in the Bible, let them accuse the apostles of mistakes, of ignorance about what they spake! I, however, can have no fellowship with such a cause; and, I am happy to add, Universalists will give it no countenance.

But how, says the hearer, will you remove the difficulty? I reply, I have no difficulty to remove. Christ said he should come at the end of the Jewish age, or world; come to save from oppression his followers, set up his kingdorn, and overthrow his enemies. He did come, - the judgment took place, and his kingdom was established.

It may be well to remark, "that the Jews were accustomed to divide the entire duration of time into two great ages; viz. the age before the beginning of the Messiah's reign, and the age after; this age, and the age to come; the present age, and the future." Accordingly, it was understood that the age then present, was to end when the Messiah should overthrow his enemies, and establish his kingdom. Paul says, "Now once in the end of the world [age] hath he appeared to put away sin," &c. Again, "These things happened for ensamples, on whom the ends of the world [age] have come." It is on this principle, that the phrases last days, last times, were applied to the end of the Jewish dispensation.

Thus, we have no difficulty in the case. That lies wholly with those who say, the apostles were mistaken, and that Christ did not come.