B ECAUSE man is a sinner, and his will is opposed to the will of God, he is ever acting against his best inter ests, and those of the world. Try as he will, he is doomed to failure all the while God is not in his thoughts. Because “ it is not in man . . . to direct his steps” aright (Jer. 10:23) his future must in evitably be dark, dismal, 'hopeless, if he persistently rejects Christ, the light of the worjd (John 8:12). Refusing to fol low Him, he will stumble and plunge deeper and deeper into the dark abyss (John 12:36). Man has no future if he has no place for God or for the gospel of Christ. He who lives only for the present has nothing to hope for in the future, and thus he tries to lose himself in this and that, because he dare not think too much about his future, even on earth. W HEN we turn to the New Testa ment, how different is the outlook! Here we are in the presence of men and women whose circumstances are such that they have every reason to be de pressed. Some are imprisoned, scourged, threatened with death; others are robbed, homeless, forsaken by their own, but there is no pessimism among them. Peter condemned to death sleeps soundly and peacefully on the eve of his execu tion (Acts 12:7). Paul and Silas with their backs lacerated, and their feet in the stocks, “ sang praises unto God” in the midnight hour, to the amazement of their fellow prisoners (Acts 16:25). Those robbed of their possessions sub mitted to their trial “ joyfully” (Heb. 10:34). In a time of fiery trial, saints rejoiced with “ joy unspeakable” (1 Pet. 1:8). From a material point of view, their future was as dark as it could be, and yet they were full of joy and thanks giving, a wonder to those unbelievers about them. W HAT was the secret of their hap piness? It was because Christ, by His atoning death on Calvary, had par doned their sins, and had given unto them eternal life. By His resurrection from the dead, there had been born in their hearts an ever-living hope of “ an inheritance imperishable, undefiled and unfading” (1 Pet. 1:3, 4 Weymouth). The Lord Jesus by His death, resurrec tion and ascension had led them into another world, with His Father. Though still in this world, they were not of it (John 17:16). They were citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20 R.V.), marching with their faces set towards the New Jerusa lem. The future for them was bright with glorious hope for they knew that, soon or late, they would enter into their inheritance and be with Christ for ever more. This prospect enabled them to see the present season of trial in its true perspective. It.banished fear and trans formed their outlook; it gave them some thing to live for, and enabled them to rise triumphant over adverse circum stances. Because Paul knew death would
t m ure
jß ife W i th . À 3 v
by Rev. Arthur Hedley of London, England
M AN has ever held the belief of a future beyond this present life. In every nation and tribe there exists a universal belief in immortality. Lord Tennyson expressed this faith in his immortal poem, In Memoriam: Thou wilt not leave us in the dust; Thou madest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not made to die; And Thou has made him: Thou art just. B UT we cannot close our eyes to the fact that today in so-called Christian countries many are dismissing all thought of a life beyond the grave. With the increasing spread of Communism, man is losing his belief in God, in im mortality, in heaven and hell, and acts in the belief that death is the end of all things. Hence, man is devoting all his energies to making a paradise of this present world. A well-known Commu nist declares that since science -promises such good things for man, the day will come when he will double his allotted three-score years and ten, and will enjoy such a happy span of existence that he will no longer desire another life. Then the hope of immortality, which has per sisted for many millenniums, will die a natural death.
W HAT a hopeless outlook for the present generation! They are to endure all the sorrows and sufferings of the present, in order that some genera tion in the far distant future may have a good time on earth! It is not surpris ing that H. G. Wells, who had so much to say about this Utopia, which man, not God, would bring in, was disillusioned and pessimistic in his old age. This cos mic philosopher concluded that life held no future for the human race. He be lieved it to be doomed and its doom has tened by its follies. When a friend pro tested that his fatalism was not very en couraging to those who wanted to do something to salvage the human race, Mr. Wells replied: “ It is quite consistent with my philosophy. The stoic accepts the inevitability of the end but makes the best of the interim.” The fact is, that when man rejects the Christian faith and hope, he makes a terrible mess of this present world. Being without God, he has not a spark of hope for his own future or for the world. But with Robert Browning, the believer declares: Truly there needs another life to come! I f this he all — And other life await us not—for one I say ’tis a poor cheat, a stupid bungle, A wretched failure. I, for one, protest Against it—and I hurl it back with scorn!
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