St. Luke, xxi. 25, &c. mentioning the fulfilling of times of the the Gentiles, he continues, "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming upon the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." This, therefore, fixes our expectation respecting the taking up of the saints early in these last troubles. They come, some of them at least, from the midst of a people as much at ease as Sodom, when Lot was conducted out of the midst of it; or the world that perished in the flood, when Noah entered into the ark. One might, from probable conjecture, fix the period of this wonderful deliverance, under the seventh vial. That vial is poured on the air; in the air Satan's kingdom is situate. There, "Jehovah judgeth the host of the high ones, on high," or "in the height," as well as "the kings of the earth, upon the earth." * In the air his redeemed go to meet their victorious Lord. They "judge angels." "Satan" is "trodden under their feet." In their glorified and spiritualized bodies they receive "a kingdom," which "flesh and blood could not inherit:" though flesh and blood might have inherited an earthly kingdom, had that been all, whether in Adam's paradise restored, or in Jerusalem, rebuilt on the renewed earth. But these are blessed "in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." It will, however, be known, and felt, and seen, on earth, that "the heavens do reign," and that "the dominion under the whole heavens is given to the saints of the Most High," or "the saints of the high places." The present "prince of the power of the air" is superseded, "powers and principalities are spoiled," and "he puts not into subjection to angels," not even to elect angels "the world to come;" but to "man of whom he hath been mindful, and the son of man whom he hath visited," and of all this we have a pledge and earnest in the humiliation and exaltation of "the man Christ Jesus." By those "better sacrifices" which he hath offered, "the heavenlies have been purified.""A tabernacle which is not of this building" is there erected; and these are the generations that shall dwell and abide there, when "the gates lift up their heads, and the everlasting doors are opened, that the King of glory may come in." * Isaiah xxiv. 21. These mansions in the sky, as we shall see hereafter, are brought indeed in very near contact or intimate intercourse with "the redeemed nations" upon earth. They "walk in the light of the New Jerusalem," and know it to be the depositary of all real power and lordship which is exercised over the earth. But still it is, strictly speaking, an aërial city :-unless we presume to say "the literal construction cannot stand-above the highest mountains that are climed: so that when the mountain of the Lord's house which is at Jerusalem shall be exalted above the hills, it is but "the place of the soles of his feet," though "Jerusalem be the city of the great King." The cherubim of glory that form as it were the throne of his Majesty, and who "have authority over the tree of life," are never brought, as their models were, into "a temple built with hands," where earthly priests officiate. These priests on earth, in restored Jerusalem, we shall find wait but without ;-" the holy of holies" is now in the invisible world, though from thence, as is symbolized, the glory shines to fill the house; and it is the knowledge of this glory, that "shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea;" and unto this manifestation of Divine glory at Jerusalem, we know "all flesh will flow." This glorifying of the saints, as we have been taught, takes place both with respect to those that sleep in Jesus, and with respect to those who endure unto the end. "The dead" first "hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear live." They stand again upon the surface of the earth; whether seen of mortal eyes we know not; my impression, however, from reading the scriptures, whether correct or not, I cannot tell, is, that a saint risen in a spiritual body, is endowed with the capacity either of appearing to men in the flesh, or of vanishing out of their sight, of passing unseen through the thronging multitude, or of coming in visible splendor as the messenger of the King of glory. That extraordinary and insulated passage, Matthew xxvii. 51, &c. I cannot help contemplating as a fore-showing, what will take place on a larger scale and in more glorious circumstances hereafter. That was "a wonder among the dead" which, it may be, had no permanent effects; but this " shall swallow up death in victory," and ransom for ever, the dead bodies of the saints, which "dwell in the dust" of the earth. "And the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints, which slept, arose and came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." At the time of the end, something not dissimilar to this may possibly take place, if there should be any considerable interval between the rising of them that sleep and the gathering of the living saints, to be caught up with them for both ascend together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The interest of such gracious manifestations, will be inconceivable!-communications from the unseen world! by such messengers!! perhaps brought, at a time of deepest distress, and of impending ruin, when, to the fond expectations of his waiting people, the bridegroom has seemed to tarry, then, by the appearance of a departed brother or sister, who had been a fellow-servant, and companion in tribulation, to hear that deliverance is nigh at hand; that all things are ready; that "though the enemy presses on so fast," the mountains are already covered with chariots and horsemen of fire! interest of such communications exceeds all imagination!! The But however, it may please God that this shall be, it should seem, when the dead in Christ are first risen, it will not be long before the Son of Man that cometh in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, "shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." * The circumstances in which this assumption of the living saints should take place, and the visible effect produced in the world of living men, are wonderfully recorded by St. Luke. xvii. 26. "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day he that is upon the house top, and his stuff in the house, let him not go down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife: Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other left; two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? and he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." In this passage, as in others, the taking up of the elect, is very intimately connected with the final * Matthew xxiv. 30, &c. |