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With the
earliest history of man, Satan began his efforts to deceive our
race. He who had incited rebellion in heaven desired to bring the
inhabitants of the earth to unite with him in his warfare against
the government of God. Adam and Eve had been perfectly happy in
obedience to the law of God, and this fact was a constant testimony
against the claim which Satan had urged in heaven, that God's law
was oppressive and opposed to the good of His creatures. And
furthermore, Satan's envy was excited as he looked upon the
beautiful home prepared for the sinless pair. He determined to cause
their fall, that, having separated them from God and brought them
under his own power, he might gain possession of the earth and here
establish his kingdom in opposition to the Most High.
Had Satan revealed himself in his real
character, he would have been repulsed at once, for Adam and Eve had
been warned against this dangerous foe; but he worked in the dark,
concealing his purpose, that he might more effectually accomplish his
object. Employing as his medium the serpent, then a creature of
fascinating appearance, he addressed himself to Eve: "Hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1. Had Eve
refrained from entering into argument with the tempter, she would have
been safe; but she ventured to parley with him and fell a victim to his
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wiles. It is thus that many are still
overcome. They doubt and argue concerning the requirements of God; and
instead of obeying the divine commands, they accept human theories,
which but disguise the devices of Satan.
"The woman said unto the serpent, We
may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said
unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil." Verses 2-5. He declared that they would
become like God, possessing greater wisdom than before and being capable
of a higher state of existence. Eve yielded to temptation; and through
her influence, Adam was led into sin. They accepted the words of the
serpent, that God did not mean what He said; they distrusted their
Creator and imagined that He was restricting their liberty and that they
might obtain great wisdom and exaltation by transgressing His law.
But what did Adam, after his sin, find
to be the meaning of the words, "In the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die"? Did he find them to mean, as Satan had led him
to believe, that he was to be ushered into a more exalted state of
existence? Then indeed there was great good to be gained by
transgression, and Satan was proved to be a benefactor of the race. But
Adam did not find this to be the meaning of the divine sentence. God
declared that as a penalty for his sin, man should return to the ground
whence he was taken: "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Verse 19. The words of Satan, "Your eyes shall be opened," proved to be
true in this sense only: After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, their
eyes were opened to discern their folly; they did know evil, and they
tasted the bitter fruit of transgression.
In the midst of Eden grew the tree of
life, whose fruit had the power of perpetuating life. Had Adam remained
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obedient to God, he would have continued
to enjoy free access to this tree and would have lived forever. But when
he sinned he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, and he
became subject to death. The divine sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return," points to the utter extinction of life.
Immortality, promised to man on
condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. Adam could
not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; and there
could have been no hope for the fallen race had not God, by the
sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their reach. While
"death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Christ "hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Romans 5:12;
2 Timothy 1:10. And only through Christ can immortality be obtained.
Said Jesus: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life." John 3:36. Every man may
come into possession of this priceless blessing if he will comply with
the conditions. All "who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for
glory and honor and immortality," will receive "eternal life." Romans
2:7.
The only one who promised Adam life in
disobedience was the great deceiver. And the declaration of the serpent
to Eve in Eden--"Ye shall not surely die"--was the first sermon ever
preached upon the immortality of the soul. Yet this declaration, resting
solely upon the authority of Satan, is echoed from the pulpits of
Christendom and is received by the majority of mankind as readily as it
was received by our first parents. The divine sentence, "The soul that
sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20), is made to mean: The soul that
sinneth, it shall not die, but live eternally. We cannot but wonder at
the strange infatuation which renders men so credulous concerning the
words of Satan and so unbelieving in regard to the words of God.
Had man after his fall been allowed
free access to the tree
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of life, he would have lived forever, and
thus sin would have been immortalized. But cherubim and a flaming sword
kept "the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24), and not one of the
family of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and partake of
the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an immortal sinner.
But after the Fall, Satan bade his
angels make a special effort to inculcate the belief in man's natural
immortality; and having induced the people to receive this error, they
were to lead them on to conclude that the sinner would live in eternal
misery. Now the prince of darkness, working through his agents,
represents God as a revengeful tyrant, declaring that He plunges into
hell all those who do not please Him, and causes them ever to feel His
wrath; and that while they suffer unutterable anguish and writhe in the
eternal flames, their Creator looks down upon them with satisfaction.
Thus the archfiend clothes with his
own attributes the Creator and Benefactor of mankind. Cruelty is
satanic. God is love; and all that He created was pure, holy, and
lovely, until sin was brought in by the first great rebel. Satan himself
is the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then destroys him if he can; and
when he has made sure of his victim, then he exults in the ruin he has
wrought. If permitted, he would sweep the entire race into his net. Were
it not for the interposition of divine power, not one son or daughter of
Adam would escape.
Satan is seeking to overcome men
today, as he overcame our first parents, by shaking their confidence in
their Creator and leading them to doubt the wisdom of His government and
the justice of His laws. Satan and his emissaries represent God as even
worse than themselves, in order to justify their own malignity and
rebellion. The great deceiver endeavors to shift his own horrible
cruelty of character upon our heavenly Father, that he may cause himself
to appear as one greatly wronged by his expulsion from heaven because he
would not submit to so unjust a governor. He presents before
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the world the liberty which they may
enjoy under his mild sway, in contrast with the bondage imposed by the
stern decrees of Jehovah. Thus he succeeds in luring souls away from
their allegiance to God.
How repugnant to every emotion of love
and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the
wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally
burning hell; that for the sins of a brief earthly life they are to
suffer torture as long as God shall live. Yet this doctrine has been
widely taught and is still embodied in many of the creeds of
Christendom. Said a learned doctor of divinity: "The sight of hell
torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. When they see
others who are of the same nature and born under the same circumstances,
plunged in such misery, and they so distinguished, it will make them
sensible of how happy they are." Another used these words: "While the
decree of reprobation is eternally executing on the vessels of wrath,
the smoke of their torment will be eternally ascending in view of the
vessels of mercy, who, instead of taking the part of these miserable
objects, will say, Amen, Alleluia! praise ye the Lord!"
Where, in the pages of God's word, is
such teaching to be found? Will the redeemed in heaven be lost to all
emotions of pity and compassion, and even to feelings of common
humanity? Are these to be exchanged for the indifference of the stoic or
the cruelty of the savage? No, no; such is not the teaching of the Book
of God. Those who present the views expressed in the quotations given
above may be learned and even honest men, but they are deluded by the
sophistry of Satan. He leads them to misconstrue strong expressions of
Scripture, giving to the language the coloring of bitterness and
malignity which pertains to himself, but not to our Creator. "As I live,
saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but
that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your
evil ways; for why will ye die?" Ezekiel 33:11.
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What would be gained to God should we
admit that He delights in witnessing unceasing tortures; that He is
regaled with the groans and shrieks and imprecations of the suffering
creatures whom He holds in the flames of hell? Can these horrid sounds
be music in the ear of Infinite Love? It is urged that the infliction of
endless misery upon the wicked would show God's hatred of sin as an evil
which is ruinous to the peace and order of the universe. Oh, dreadful
blasphemy! As if God's hatred of sin is the reason why it is
perpetuated. For, according to the teachings of these theologians,
continued torture without hope of mercy maddens its wretched victims,
and as they pour out their rage in curses and blasphemy, they are
forever augmenting their load of guilt. God's glory is not enhanced by
thus perpetuating continually increasing sin through ceaseless ages.
It is beyond the power of the human
mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of
eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness,
and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed
with terror. When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the
character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared,
dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread
over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands,
yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.
The theory of eternal torment is one
of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of
Babylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation 14:8; 17:2.
That ministers of Christ should have accepted this heresy and proclaimed
it from the sacred desk is indeed a mystery. They received it from Rome,
as they received the false sabbath. True, it has been taught by great
and good men; but the light on this subject had not come to them as it
has come to us. They were responsible only for the light which shone in
their time; we are accountable for that which shines in our day. If we
turn from the testimony of God's word, and accept
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false doctrines because our fathers
taught them, we fall under the condemnation pronounced upon Babylon; we
are drinking of the wine of her abomination.
A large class to whom the doctrine of
eternal torment is revolting are driven to the opposite error. They see
that the Scriptures represent God as a being of love and compassion, and
they cannot believe that He will consign His creatures to the fires of
an eternally burning hell. But holding that the soul is naturally
immortal, they see no alternative but to conclude that all mankind will
finally be saved. Many regard the threatenings of the Bible as designed
merely to frighten men into obedience, and not to be literally
fulfilled. Thus the sinner can live in selfish pleasure, disregarding
the requirements of God, and yet expect to be finally received into His
favor. Such a doctrine, presuming upon God's mercy, but ignoring His
justice, pleases the carnal heart and emboldens the wicked in their
iniquity.
To show how believers in universal
salvation wrest the Scriptures to sustain their soul-destroying dogmas,
it is needful only to cite their own utterances. At the funeral of an
irreligious young man, who had been killed instantly by an accident, a
Universalist minister selected as his text the Scripture statement
concerning David: "He was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was
dead." 2 Samuel 13:39.
"I am frequently asked," said the
speaker, "what will be the fate of those who leave the world in sin,
die, perhaps, in a state of inebriation, die with the scarlet stains of
crime unwashed from their robes, or die as this young man died, having
never made a profession or enjoyed an experience of religion. We are
content with the Scriptures; their answer shall solve the awful problem.
Amnon was exceedingly sinful; he was unrepentant, he was made drunk, and
while drunk was killed. David was a prophet of God; he must have known
whether it would be ill or well for Amnon in the world to come. What
were the expressions of his heart?
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`The soul of King David longed to go
forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was
dead.' Verse 39.
"And what is the inference to be
deduced from this language? Is it not that endless suffering formed no
part of his religious belief? So we conceive; and here we discover a
triumphant argument in support of the more pleasing, more enlightened,
more benevolent hypothesis of ultimate universal purity and peace. He
was comforted, seeing his son was dead. And why so? Because by the eye
of prophecy he could look forward into the glorious future and see that
son far removed from all temptations, released from the bondage and
purified from the corruptions of sin, and after being made sufficiently
holy and enlightened, admitted to the assembly of ascended and rejoicing
spirits. His only comfort was that, in being removed from the present
state of sin and suffering, his beloved son had gone where the loftiest
breathings of the Holy Spirit would be shed upon his darkened soul,
where his mind would be unfolded to the wisdom of heaven and the sweet
raptures of immortal love, and thus prepared with a sanctified nature to
enjoy the rest and society of the heavenly inheritance.
"In these thoughts we would be
understood to believe that the salvation of heaven depends upon nothing
which we can do in this life; neither upon a present change of heart,
nor upon present belief, or a present profession of religion."
Thus does the professed minister of
Christ reiterate the falsehood uttered by the serpent in Eden: "Ye shall
not surely die." "In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods." He declares that the vilest of
sinners--the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer--will after death be
prepared to enter into immortal bliss.
And from what does this perverter of
the Scriptures draw his conclusions? From a single sentence expressing
David's submission to the dispensation of Providence. His
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soul "longed to go forth unto Absalom;
for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead." The
poignancy of his grief having been softened by time, his thoughts turned
from the dead to the living son, self-banished through fear of the just
punishment of his crime. And this is the evidence that the incestuous,
drunken Amnon was at death immediately transported to the abodes of
bliss, there to be purified and prepared for the companionship of
sinless angels! A pleasing fable indeed, well suited to gratify the
carnal heart! This is Satan's own doctrine, and it does his work
effectually. Should we be surprised that, with such instruction,
wickedness abounds?
The course pursued by this one false
teacher illustrates that of many others. A few words of Scripture are
separated from the context, which would in many cases show their meaning
to be exactly opposite to the interpretation put upon them; and such
disjointed passages are perverted and used in proof of doctrines that
have no foundation in the word of God. The testimony cited as evidence
that the drunken Amnon is in heaven is a mere inference directly
contradicted by the plain and positive statement of the Scriptures that
no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:10. It is
thus that doubters, unbelievers, and skeptics turn the truth into a lie.
And multitudes have been deceived by their sophistry and rocked to sleep
in the cradle of carnal security.
If it were true that the souls of all
men passed directly to heaven at the hour of dissolution, then we might
well covet death rather than life. Many have been led by this belief to
put an end to their existence. When overwhelmed with trouble,
perplexity, and disappointment, it seems an easy thing to break the
brittle thread of life and soar away into the bliss of the eternal
world.
God has given in His word decisive
evidence that He will punish the transgressors of His law. Those who
flatter
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themselves that He is too merciful to
execute justice upon the sinner, have only to look to the cross of
Calvary. The death of the spotless Son of God testifies that "the wages
of sin is death," that every violation of God's law must receive its
just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. He bore the
guilt of transgression, and the hiding of His Father's face, until His
heart was broken and His life crushed out. All this sacrifice was made
that sinners might be redeemed. In no other way could man be freed from
the penalty of sin. And every soul that refuses to become a partaker of
the atonement provided at such a cost must bear in his own person the
guilt and punishment of transgression.
Let us consider what the Bible teaches
further concerning the ungodly and unrepentant, whom the Universalist
places in heaven as holy, happy angels.
"I will give unto him that is athirst
of the fountain of the water of life freely." Revelation 21:6. This
promise is only to those that thirst. None but those who feel their need
of the water of life, and seek it at the loss of all things else, will
be supplied. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be
his God, and he shall be My son." Verse 7. Here, also, conditions are
specified. In order to inherit all things, we must resist and overcome
sin.
The Lord declares by the prophet
Isaiah: "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him." "Woe
unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands
shall be given him." Isaiah 3:10, 11. "Though a sinner do evil an
hundred times," says the wise man, "and his days be prolonged, yet
surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear
before Him: but it shall not be well with the wicked." Ecclesiastes
8:12, 13. And Paul testifies that the sinner is treasuring up unto
himself "wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds;"
"tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil." Romans
2:5, 6,9.
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"No fornicator, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and God." Ephesians 5:5, A.R.V. "Follow peace with all
men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Hebrews
12:14. "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the
city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."
Revelation 22:14, 15.
God has given to men a declaration of
His character and of His method of dealing with sin. "The Lord God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." Exodus 34:6, 7.
"All the wicked will He destroy." "The transgressors shall be destroyed
together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off." Psalms 145:20; 37:38.
The power and authority of the divine government will be employed to put
down rebellion; yet all the manifestations of retributive justice will
be perfectly consistent with the character of God as a merciful,
long-suffering, benevolent being.
God does not force the will or
judgment of any. He takes no pleasure in a slavish obedience. He desires
that the creatures of His hands shall love Him because He is worthy of
love. He would have them obey Him because they have an intelligent
appreciation of His wisdom, justice, and benevolence. And all who have a
just conception of these qualities will love Him because they are drawn
toward Him in admiration of His attributes.
The principles of kindness, mercy, and
love, taught and exemplified by our Saviour, are a transcript of the
will and character of God. Christ declared that He taught nothing except
that which He had received from His Father. The principles of the divine
government are in perfect harmony with the Saviour's precept, "Love your
enemies." God
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executes justice upon the wicked, for the
good of the universe, and even for the good of those upon whom His
judgments are visited. He would make them happy if He could do so in
accordance with the laws of His government and the justice of His
character. He surrounds them with the tokens of His love, He grants them
a knowledge of His law, and follows them with the offers of His mercy;
but they despise His love, make void His law, and reject His mercy.
While constantly receiving His gifts, they dishonor the Giver; they hate
God because they know that He abhors their sins. The Lord bears long
with their perversity; but the decisive hour will come at last, when
their destiny is to be decided. Will He then chain these rebels to His
side? Will He force them to do His will?
Those who have chosen Satan as their
leader and have been controlled by his power are not prepared to enter
the presence of God. Pride, deception, licentiousness, cruelty, have
become fixed in their characters. Can they enter heaven to dwell forever
with those whom they despised and hated on earth? Truth will never be
agreeable to a liar; meekness will not satisfy self-esteem and pride;
purity is not acceptable to the corrupt; disinterested love does not
appear attractive to the selfish. What source of enjoyment could heaven
offer to those who are wholly absorbed in earthly and selfish interests?
Could those whose lives have been
spent in rebellion against God be suddenly transported to heaven and
witness the high, the holy state of perfection that ever exists there,--
every soul filled with love, every countenance beaming with joy,
enrapturing music in melodious strains rising in honor of God and the
Lamb, and ceaseless streams of light flowing upon the redeemed from the
face of Him who sitteth upon the throne,--could those whose hearts are
filled with hatred of God, of truth and holiness, mingle with the
heavenly throng and join their songs of praise? Could they endure the
glory of God and the Lamb? No, no; years of probation
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were granted them, that they might form
characters for heaven; but they have never trained the mind to love
purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is
too late. A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven.
Its purity, holiness, and peace would be torture to them; the glory of
God would be a consuming fire. They would long to flee from that holy
place. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from
the face of Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the wicked is
fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from heaven is voluntary with
themselves, and just and merciful on the part of God.
Like the waters of the Flood the fires
of the great day declare God's verdict that the wicked are incurable.
They have no disposition to submit to divine authority. Their will has
been exercised in revolt; and when life is ended, it is too late to turn
the current of their thoughts in the opposite direction, too late to
turn from transgression to obedience, from hatred to love.
In sparing the life of Cain the
murderer, God gave the world an example of what would be the result of
permitting the sinner to live to continue a course of unbridled
iniquity. Through the influence of Cain's teaching and example,
multitudes of his descendants were led into sin, until "the wickedness
of man was great in the earth" and "every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually." "The earth also was corrupt before
God, and the earth was filled with violence." Genesis 6:5, 11.
In mercy to the world, God blotted out
its wicked inhabitants in Noah's time. In mercy He destroyed the corrupt
dwellers in Sodom. Through the deceptive power of Satan the workers of
iniquity obtain sympathy and admiration, and are thus constantly leading
others to rebellion. It was so in Cain's and in Noah's day, and in the
time of Abraham and Lot; it is so in our time. It is in mercy to the
universe that God will finally destroy the rejecters of His grace.
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"The wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.
While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of
the wicked. Moses declared to Israel: "I have set before thee this day
life and good, and death and evil." Deuteronomy 30:15. The death
referred to in these scriptures is not that pronounced upon Adam, for
all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression. It is "the second
death" that is placed in contrast with everlasting life.
In consequence of Adam's sin, death
passed upon the whole human race. All alike go down into the grave. And
through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought
forth from their graves. "There shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and unjust;" "for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive." Acts 24:15; I Corinthians 15:22. But a
distinction is made between the two classes that are brought forth. "All
that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29. They who
have been "accounted worthy" of the resurrection of life are "blessed
and holy." "On such the second death hath no power." Revelation 20:6.
But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured pardon,
must receive the penalty of transgression--"the wages of sin." They
suffer punishment varying in duration and intensity, "according to their
works," but finally ending in the second death. Since it is impossible
for God, consistently with His justice and mercy, to save the sinner in
his sins, He deprives him of the existence which his transgressions have
forfeited and of which he has proved himself unworthy. Says an inspired
writer: "Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou
shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." And another
declares: "They shall be as though
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they had not been." Psalm 37:10; Obadiah
16. Covered with infamy, they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion.
Thus will be made an end of sin, with
all the woe and ruin which have resulted from it. Says the psalmist:
"Thou hast destroyed the wicked, Thou hast put out their name forever
and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end." Psalm
9:5, 6. John, in the Revelation, looking forward to the eternal state,
hears a universal anthem of praise undisturbed by one note of discord.
Every creature in heaven and earth was heard ascribing glory to God.
Revelation 5:13. There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God as
they writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will
mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved.
Upon the fundamental error of natural
immortality rests the doctrine of consciousness in death--a doctrine,
like eternal torment, opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures,to the
dictates of reason, and to our feelings of humanity. According to the
popular belief, the redeemed in heaven are acquainted with all that
takes place on the earth and especially with the lives of the friends
whom they have left behind. But how could it be a source of happiness to
the dead to know the troubles of the living, to witness the sins
committed by their own loved ones, and to see them enduring all the
sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life? How much of heaven's
bliss would be enjoyed by those who were hovering over their friends on
earth? And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the
breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is consigned to the
flames of hell! To what depths of anguish must those be plunged who see
their friends passing to the grave unprepared, to enter upon an eternity
of woe and sin! Many have been driven to insanity by this harrowing
thought.
What say the Scriptures concerning
these things? David declares that man is not conscious in death. "His
breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his
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thoughts perish." Psalm 146:4. Solomon
bears the same testimony: "The living know that they shall die: but the
dead know not anything." "Their love, and their hatred, and their envy,
is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in
anything that is done under the sun." "There is no work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Ecclesiastes
9:5, 6, 10.
When, in answer to his prayer,
Hezekiah's life was prolonged fifteen years, the grateful king rendered
to God a tribute of praise for His great mercy. In this song he tells
the reason why he thus rejoices: "The grave cannot praise Thee, death
cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for
Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this
day." Isaiah 38:18, 19. Popular theology represents the righteous dead
as in heaven, entered into bliss and praising God with an immortal
tongue; but Hezekiah could see no such glorious prospect in death. With
his words agrees the testimony of the psalmist: "In death there is no
remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?" "The dead
praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Psalms 6:5;
115:17.
Peter on the Day of Pentecost declared
that the patriarch David "is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is
with us unto this day." "For David is not ascended into the heavens."
Acts 2:29, 34. The fact that David remains in the grave until the
resurrection proves that the righteous do not go to heaven at death. It
is only through the resurrection, and by virtue of the fact that Christ
has risen, that David can at last sit at the right hand of God.
And said Paul: "If the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished." I Corinthians 15:16-18. If for four thousand years
the righteous had gone directly to heaven at death, how could Paul have
said that if there is no resurrection,
Page 547
"they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished"? No resurrection would be necessary.
The martyr Tyndale, referring to the
state of the dead, declared: "I confess openly, that I am not persuaded
that they be already in the full glory that Christ is in, or the elect
angels of God are in. Neither is it any article of my faith; for if it
were so, I see not but then the preaching of the resurrection of the
flesh were a thing in vain."--William Tyndale, Preface to New Testament
(ed. 1534). Reprinted in
British Reformers--Tindal, Frith, Barnes,
page 349.
It is an undeniable fact that the hope
of immortal blessedness at death has led to a widespread neglect of the
Bible doctrine of the resurrection. This tendency was remarked by Dr.
Adam Clarke, who said: "The doctrine of the resurrection appears to have
been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians
than it is now!
How is this? The apostles were
continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to
diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors
in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so
primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe.
There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and
there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is
treated with more neglect!"--
Commentary, remarks on I
Corinthians 15, paragraph 3.
This has continued until the glorious
truth of the resurrection has been almost wholly obscured and lost sight
of by the Christian world. Thus a leading religious writer, commenting
on the words of Paul in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, says: "For all
practical purposes of comfort the doctrine of the blessed immortality of
the righteous takes the place for us of any doubtful doctrine of the
Lord's second coming. At our death the Lord comes for us. That is what
we are to wait and watch for. The dead are already passed into glory.
They do not wait for the trump for their judgment and blessedness."
Page 548
But when about to leave His disciples,
Jesus did not tell them that they would soon come to Him. "I go to
prepare a place for you," He said. "And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." John 14:2, 3. And
Paul tells us, further, that "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And he
adds: "Comfort one another with these words." I Thessalonians 4:16-18.
How wide the contrast between these words of comfort and those of the
Universalist minister previously quoted! The latter consoled the
bereaved friends with the assurance that, however sinful the dead might
have been, when he breathed out his life here he was to be received
among the angels. Paul points his brethren to the future coming of the
Lord, when the fetters of the tomb shall be broken, and the "dead in
Christ" shall be raised to eternal life.
Before any can enter the mansions of
the blessed, their cases must be investigated, and their characters and
their deeds must pass in review before God. All are to be judged
according to the things written in the books and to be rewarded as their
works have been. This judgment does not take place at death. Mark the
words of Paul: "He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the
world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He
hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the
dead." Acts 17:31. Here the apostle plainly stated that a specified
time, then future, had been fixed upon for the judgment of the world.
Jude refers to the same period: "The
angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment
of the great day." And, again, he quotes the words of Enoch: "Behold,
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His
Page 549
saints, to execute judgment upon all."
Jude 6, 14, 15. John declares that he "saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: . . . and the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books." Revelation
20:12.
But if the dead are already enjoying
the bliss of heaven or writhing in the flames of hell, what need of a
future judgment? The teachings of God's word on these important points
are neither obscure nor contradictory; they may be understood by common
minds. But what candid mind can see either wisdom or justice in the
current theory? Will the righteous, after the investigation of their
cases at the judgment, receive the commendation, "Well done, thou good
and faithful servant: . . .
enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord," when they have been dwelling in His presence, perhaps for long
ages? Are the wicked summoned from the place of torment to receive
sentence from the Judge of all the earth: "Depart from Me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire"? Matthew 25:21, 41. Oh, solemn mockery! shameful
impeachment of the wisdom and justice of God!
The theory of the immortality of the
soul was one of those false doctrines that Rome, borrowing from
paganism, incorporated into the religion of Christendom. Martin Luther
classed it with the "monstrous fables that form part of the Roman
dunghill of decretals."--E. Petavel,
The Problem of Immortality,
page 255. Commenting on the words of
Solomon in Ecclesiastes, that the dead know not anything, the Reformer
says: "Another place proving that the dead have no . . . feeling. There
is, saith he, no duty, no science, no knowledge, no wisdom there.
Solomon judgeth that the dead are asleep, and feel nothing at all. For
the dead lie there, accounting neither days nor years, but when they are
awaked, they shall seem to have slept scarce one minute."-- Martin
Luther, Exposition of Solomon's
Booke Called Ecclesiastes,
page 152.
Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures is
found the statement
Page 550
that the righteous go to their reward or
the wicked to their punishment at death. The patriarchs and prophets
have left no such assurance. Christ and His apostles have given no hint
of it. The Bible clearly teaches that the dead do not go immediately to
heaven. They are represented as sleeping until the resurrection. I
Thessalonians 4:14; Job 14:10-12. In the very day when the silver cord
is loosed and the golden bowl broken (Ecclesiastes 12:6), man's thoughts
perish. They that go down to the grave are in silence. They know no more
of anything that is done under the sun. Job 14:21. Blessed rest for the
weary righteous! Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them.
They sleep; they are awakened by the trump of God to a glorious
immortality. "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible. . . . So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory." I Corinthians 15:52-54. As they are called forth from their
deep slumber they begin to think just where they ceased. The last
sensation was the pang of death; the last thought, that they were
falling beneath the power of the grave. When they arise from the tomb,
their first glad thought will be echoed in the triumphal shout: "O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Verse 55.
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