I N Great Britain, the manuscripts of radio sermons must be sub mitted to the Director of Reli gious Broadcasting before they may be broadcast to the people. The late Director, Dr. Welch, at a conference on evangelism made the statement that out of six thousand manuscripts he had read only one which dealt with the hope of immortality. It ap pears that we are becoming so im mersed in this world, so occupied with social activities, that we are neglecting to give time and thought to the life beyond. To do so is foolish and fatal. It was the hope of immortality which gave the early Christians faith, courage, confidence and joy amid the trials and temptations of this present life, and which made the Christian faith unique among the world’s religions. (TFwas the an nouncement that life both here and hereafter is one and continuous, with death but a gateway to the next stage, that has given Christian ity such a powerful appeal among those living in heathen darkness. The Gospel of Christ, with its as sured hope of immortality, is the only Gospel which gives deliverance from fear, and lights up the dark valley of the shadow of death. In terror, a dying African asked Dr. Laws of Livingstonia, “White man, where am I going?” Tenderly taking his trembling hand, the mis sionary breathed into his ear the glorious message of the Gospel. Trusting the word of Christ, the dying man found peace and rest. ■ How necessary it is at Eastertide, as at all times, to emphasize the hope of immortality, which is the central message of the New Testa ment. If Christ was not raised from the dead, there is no forgiveness; He died in vain and we are yet in our sins (1 Cor. 15:17). By His glorious resurrection from the dead, we are assured of the efficacy of His aton ing sacrifice to Justify us in God’s sight. He “was delivered for our of fences, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). His resur- rection is the guarantee of our own. “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). Death met its master in Christ; He triumphed over death and overcame him who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14). Seeing Christ after His resurrec tion, the apostles saw death in a new. light; they too would conquer it and ascend to be with Christ. They had no thought of a long interval in the grave before going into the presence Of Christ. There was nothing in the dissolution of the body that could touch the living spirit, nothing that could separate them from Christ. “Absent from the body . . . present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8). To them P«g* Twclv*
day extinguish him. / "The life of man," states Bertram RusseU, “is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain. One by bne our comrades vanish from exit sight. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipo tent matter rolls on its relentless way,” From such a dark and hopeless creed, we turn to Him who has abol ished death; who teaches not extinc tion, but a richer, fuller life—an eternal life. “For though our outward man is wasting away, our inward man is being renewed day by day. For this our light and transitory bur den of suffering is achieving for us, a preponderating, yes a vastly pre ponderating, and eternal weight of glory; while we look not .at things seen, but things unseen; for things seen are temporary, but things un seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18, Weymouth). For Paul death meant not annihilation, but immortality; not the end of all things, but the beginning of eternal fellowship with Christ in a world in which he would enjoy perfect life and liberty. In contrast with the pessimistic outlook of those who reject the revelation of God in Christ Jesus, we think of the cheery words of that great poet of the Christian hope, Robert Browning, 'whose faith enabled him to sing: “Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be.” This sad, despairing world needs the hope of the Gospel if it is to rise out of its misery. The loss of that hope means the loss of all that makes life worth while. This is the hour tor Christians to be bold and to tell forth with confidence and Joy the Gospel of God's forgiveness in Christ, and of the gift of life eternal. We alone have the message which can bring light and life and healing to this dark, sin-stricken world. When Jacob Boehme, the great mys tic, lay dying, his ears seemed to be attuned to the harmonies of Heaven. He appeared to be listening to a rap turous strain which filled his soul. "Open the window,” he cried with his lsst breath, "and let in more of that music!” It was the melody of the Easter hope. T H I K I N O ’S » U S I N E S I
Christ had vanquished death so that it was no longer of any account. Christ “hath abolished death,” said Paul, “and hath brought life and im mortality to light through the gos pel” (2 Tim. 1:10). The face of death lost all its terrors for those who had seen the power and glory of God, in the face of the risen Christ. Referring to death, the late Dr. F. B. Meyer said, "Let us learn what death is. It is simply a translation ...n o t a condition, but a passage. We pass through a doorway; we cross a bridge of smiles; we flash from the dark into the light. There is no interval of unconsciousness, no parenthesis of suspended anima tion.” To those in whose hearts is implanted the hope of the Gospel, death is no longer regarded as a grim enemy waiting to pounce upon them, to rob them of life and joy, but as one who opens the portal into the light of the Saviour’s presence forevermore. I believe it was with a shout of defiance that Paul said those words: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy vic tory? . .. thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:55-57). The Christian Church alone has the message of immortality, and never was there a time of greater need for its proclamation. The social gospel is of no use to a world that is full of uncertainty and despair; it is like offering a stone to a starv ing man. The writings of the human ists, who believe that this is the only world, reveal their own conscious ness that they have very little to offer man in the place of the Chris tian faith and hope. For instance, Mr. John Strachey dreams of a day, many centuries hence, when science will double the span of man’s exist ence, and the growth of social con sciousness will take away the sting of death. What hope is there in this theory for all of the millions sor rowing, suffering and dying, in the present world? H. G. Wells in his latter days saw nothing but extinc tion for humanity. To the materialist, there is no God, no Heaven, no eter nal life; death is the end of all things. Man is under the pressure of cruel material forces which will one
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