Reincarnation continued 98% of them were false, there was a great deal of reality about the remaining 2%. Sir Oliver Lodge said he had applied all the scien tific formula and procedures he knew and that it was done in a scientific atmosphere. It’s when spiritualism wants to come back into vogue fashionably, that it uses this way-—through the intelligent sia by a scientific method. And to supplement this new ar gument which Bridey Murphy has offered, reincamationists blandly quote Scripture to give more body to their phantom theory. In the third chapter of John, Christ’s words, “ Ye must be born again,” are interpreted to mean that people are bom into other states. But in this section, Christ was neither talking about a future existence nor a former existence. He was saying to Nicodemus that you must be born again, right here and now; you must not wait for another state. And He made it very clear that the birth He was talking about was a spiritual birth. “ . . . Except a man be bom of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is bom of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be bom again [from above]” (w . 5-7). Another of their claims is that John was Elijah reincarnated. And for their authority, both Jesus and John are quoted. The passage in John 1:19-23 they say indicates that John didn’t really know who he was. The priest and Levites asked him, “ . . . Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an an swer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord . . . .” And by this state ment John only meant he was ful filling the prophecy concerning the forerunner that was to come (Mai. 3:1). It’s evident from a reading of this passage that John knew who
he was and his mission’s purpose. But reincamationists reinforce this argument of John’s apparent lack of self-identification, wi th Christ’s statements in Mark and Matthew in which they say that Christ claimed that John was really Elijah reincarnated. “ . . . Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And he [Je sus] answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things . . .” (Mark 9:11,12). And Matthew 11:12-14, “ And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the proph ets and the law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” In this part i cular portion of Scripture, Christ is offering Him self to Israel as their King. The of fer has a condition attached to it. He is saying, If you will through repentance and faith receive the kingdom, then in the person of John the Baptist is Elijah come un to you. If you will at this time ac cept me as your King, then John will fulfill that which is predicted of the forerunner (Mai. 4:5, 6). Christ never said that John the Baptist was the same person as Eli jah. The thought is simply that the forerunner of the King will come in the spirit and with like signs which characterized Elijah of old. The ministry of John, the spirit in which he preached and the signs which accompanied his message all are similar to those of Elijah. But there is no further identifica tion between these men. There is a sense therefore in which Elijah has already come (Matt. 17:12,13). But since Christ was rejected as King, in another sense Elijah is yet to come (Rev. 11:3-6). Such passages describe the forerunner of the Messianic King, but contain ab solutely nothing to bolster the re incarnation theory. I was once speaking to a man who believed in reincarnation who used this same argument. So I asked him, “Would you define what
you mean by re i ncarnat i on? ” “W e ll/’ he said, “ it’s to live in one state and then after you’re dead to come back in another state.” “ But you’ve forgotten one thing,” I said. “ If Elijah does come back, he can’t come back reincar nated because Elijah never died.” Although they would like to use Scripture to make their theory val id, there is no suggestion in God’s Word that reincarnation is true. In fact, in the story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) Christ made it very clear that there are only two places where men go when they die and there is no re turn from either. After the two men died, the rich man went to a place of conscious torment while Lazarus was carried into Abraham’s bosom. The man in torment asked that Lazarus be allowed to cross over to touch his tongue with wa ter. But Abraham said this was impossible—there was a great gulf fixed. But the rich man persisted and said, “ I’ve got some brothers. If you could just let Lazarus go back and testify to them.” But Ab raham said, “ If they hear not Moses and the prophets [that is, if they won’t believe the Word of God], neither will they be persuad ed, though one rose from the dead.” When we too leave this life, there will be no coming back in any other form. The great gulf is fixed. The decisions that are made now are made for time and eter nity. And all the deeds that we do or leave undone will eventually be judged. And that’s one of the things men want to get away from -—this thought of judgment and puni shment. As Henry Ward Beecher once said: The thought of future punish ment for the wicked which the Bible reveals is enough to make an earthquake of terror in every man’s soul. I do not accept the doctrine of eternal punishment because I delight in it. I would cast any doubts if I could till I filled hell up to the brim; I would destroy all faith in it; but that would do me no good; I could destroy the thing; nor does
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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