Midnight Cry - Volume 02, Number 02

              NEW- YORK, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1842. NUMBER 2.
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that be may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie ;
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
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AN EXAMINATION OF
PRESIDENT MAHAN'S SERMON ON THE MILLENNIUM.
BY L. E>. FLEMING.
The subject of the Second Coming of our blessed
Saviour, is one of vita! anc 1 inexpressible interest.
No subject, perhaps, has stronger claims upon our
attention, or is more deserving of deliberate and
prayerful investigation than thi-. Such bi- iug the
case, it alwavs gives me pleasure to hear the sjub-ject
carefully investigated, having as the paramount
object in view, the nuked truth; fur t.* u; h sutlers
nothing from investigation.
If the views which many of the Zion of God, now
confidently entertain on the Second Advent be cor
rect, the administration of opiates, as offered from
the pulpit and press by iis opponent?, will be alien-ded
m\ h fearful consequences. I Tali were familiar
with the subject, or with the testimony Of Scripture
on the subject, there would be no need of aiiiaidd-verting
upon the remarks of any of its opponents.-
But there is a great proneness in the human mind
to believe what we are anxious to have true, on
very feeble testimony ; and to men generally, " he
that is fast in his own cause, setmeih j ist; but his
neighbor cometh and searcheth him."-- Prpv. xviii.
17, We are poorly prepared to judge of the mer
its of a subject, by hearing it opposed. Yet thou
sands judge of the merits of a subject upon no other
evidence.
But without further preliminaries, I will hasten
to the object of this Essay. The reasons I oii'- r
for taking notice of Professor Muhua's discourse
on the Millennium, are 1st. The unu; ujra;- » le im-portance
of the subject. 2d. Oar views in some
respects were misrepresented. 3d. His views
are believed to be unscriptural in some respects,
and perfectly vulnerable. 4th, And not the
least inducement for me to examine his sermon, is
the fact that he is a man of acknowledged ability,
especially as a theological student. If such a man
cannot sustain a peculiar theory, it is a strong evi
dence of its fallacy.
Although I have in my possession full notes ta
ken down as the sermon was delivered, my present
object will only be to take notice of those paints
that have a peculiar bearing upon ihe subject at
issue.
The Professor's first proposition was, to show
what he understood the millennium to bs% viz. " the
triumph ofthe Church for one thousa ad years when
the Cnurch will be in an entire stats of $ aivctific;\-
tion; which state will be what is calioM the First
Resurrection, when all shall know the Lord from
the least to the greatest, and none shall have occa
sion to say to his neighbor, or to his brother, know
ye the Lord ? when the sins of Israel shall be sought
for and shall not be found when every thing shall
be sanctified to the Lord, not only all people, out
*; ven the pots in Israel, and ihe bells upon the hor- j ered out of the millennial subjects. Jer. 1. 20.
ses when the Sun & lmll no more be needed to j " In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
give light by day, or the Moon by night, but the | shall be sought for, and there shall be none," The
Lord shall be to them an everlasting light when j Prophet here must allude to a time subsequent to
the pe » pki shall all be righteous, and inherit the j the end ofthe world in its present organization, for
the " tares and the wheat are to grow together to
the end of the world." But wickedness is not to
land forever."
The following passages were quoted as teaching
ihe above, doctrine : Jer. xxx . 31. and 1. 20 ; Zee. j be found in the time which the Prophet has in view,
xiv- 20, 21 ; Isniah ix. 19, 20, ai. d Rev. xx. 4, 5, j Isa. ix, 19- 21. Here the Prophet speaks of a
state where ( he inhabitants will not need Now,. if I have properly apprehended the Profes
sor, the doctnno he labored to teach is, that the whole
world will be converted so perfectly, that there will
be no need for any say to others, *' know ye the
Lord, for a'l shall know him," and be subject to the
Gospt;! of the grace- of God. Th. it so perfect will
be the slate of '< he world, that wickedness . shall not
be found. And such a siate of things is to contin
ue for at least one thousand years before the end of
ti. e world or tiie Second Coming of Christ.
The query now arises, are we authorized, from
thf Living Oracles ihe, Word- of God, to expect
such an ev<: nt previous to " the glorious appearing
ofthe Great God, and our Suvioar Jesus Christ,"
who will " be revealed from heaven in flaming'fire."
To settle thi-. i question, I bhall now call the attention
the reader to the declarations of Christ himself.
It is rather strange that neither Christ nor his
Apostles made any allusion to the c- octrine of a
millennium to precede his Second Coming, if such
an event is to tak^ place. But so far from intinrm-
>? wg any such thing, as that righteousness should
' fill the whole earth before the Second Advent, the
contrary is constantly preset) tad.
Christ - savti, .'' lading to his Second Coming
" As. it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at
the Coming of- the Son of M* n." Now, was it a
day of millennial peace and glory when the flood
came and swept ail from the luce of the earth but
eijunt souls ? Our Saviour says, Matt. 13ih chap.
" THE harvest is the end of the, world" " Let the
TAKES and the WHEAT grow togcth- r until the har
vest.' 9 " Ths tares arc trie children ofthe wicked-one,
and the wheat, the children of the kingdom."
Here, so far from all being righteous for a thousand
years before the corning of Christ, the Saviour hi. rn-rtell
declares that the righteous and ihe wicked are
to grow together, or dwell on the e; trth together, un
til the end of the world. " But," it may be inquir
ed^ " do not the passages referred to above, as quot
ed by President Mahan, refer to a Millennium,
ar; d prove his views oi' the subject correct V Ifso,
there is evidently vin incongruity between Christ and
the Prophets. But iiiO. se passages evidently refer
to the millennial glory of the resurrection state.
Sue Jer. xxxi. 24 > % t And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his broth
er., saying, Know the Lord : for t. hey shall all know
JY » » , & i*, and I will remember their sins no more."
Now, in tt. j state alluded to by the Prophet, all
are to know the Lord, from the least to the great
est. Not only so, but their sins and iniquities are
10 bs rememboved no more. Christ says the wick
ed are to dwell with the righteous till the end ofthe
world, but the time to which the Prophet refcrs n. is
when all ALI/ shall know the Lord, and when
there shall bo no \ vlck 3d. And God says, of them, he
will ,10 rnvf* remombiir their sins. Then I conclude
the light
of the Sun of Moon, and where the people also shall
ILL be righteous, and shall inherit the land FOREVER.
To what can this refer but to the resurrection state
the personal reign of Christ? This, no doubt,
was what the Prophet had in view. This is evident
by comparing the above quotation with Rev. xxi.
23 27. The Prophet and the Revelator use al
most the samo language, and undoubtedly refer to
the same event. Mr. M. admitted that the Reve-
Jator referred to the resurrection state, or heaven;
hut he said Isaiah alluded to the Millennium before
the resurrection. By what authority he made this
distinction, he did not tell us; we have only his word
for it.
I shall now proceed to notice those points in
which Mr. M. admitted that those whose views he
was opposing, were correct, and with which he agreed.
He says: '' The calculations of those brethren are
correct. I admit that the 2,300 days and 1,335
days terminate in A. D. 1843." Again, he says:
" Now the calculations of our beloved brother Fitch
are correct- but his inferences are wrong/' In ad
mitting the correctness of our calculations on the
prophetic days of Daniel and John, Mr. M. has
yielded to us nearly the whole ground. This point
established, we consider our premises invulnerable,
for at the end of the days Daniel is to stand in his
lot, i. e. be raised. See Daniel xii. 12, 13. But
now for the evidence presented by him to show that
the '' inferences are wrong." He says : " Their
theory is, that the resurrection of the righteous is
to take place at the commencement of the Millen
nium, which they call the first resurrection." This
statement of our views is correct. But the first
resurrection, as viewed by Professor M. is simply
a sanctified state of the church in its present tern,
purul, moral state. The Millennium and the first
resurrection are with him one and the same thing.
We will now appeal to the Sure Word. Rev, xx.
4 Q < And 1 saw the souls of them that were
beheaded, for the witness of Jesus, and for the
Word of God, & c. & c., and they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years; but the rest ofthe dead
lived not again till the thousand yeara were finished.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such the
second death hath no power." Now, says Mr. M.
' The beheaded, & c. here spoken of, living and
reigning with Christ a thousand years, means no
thing about the resurrection of the body, but the
first resurrection is simply their living and reigning
with Christ." Here I confess I am at a loss to un
derstand the Profeisor. If he refers to the souls
of them that were beheaded, then his remarks
mply that those SOULS were DEAD ; and the Millen
nium is a resurrection of dead souls, and not bodies.
DOGS he believe that the soul dies? This certainly
thai the Ar my of ^ og .-; ad Magog will not be gath- ; looks hard that way. Or, perhaps he means, as