a one-cent stamp here, hand the magazine to a postman, and it will be sent to tha American soldiers. No address.
VOL. VIII
DECEMBER, 1917
No. 12
O N E D O L L A R A Y E A R
Mu King s lustoas MOTTO : **I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment lest any hurt it, 1 w ill keep it night and day.**—Isa, 27:3. R. A. TORREY, D. D., Editor T. C. HORTON» J. H. HUNTER; WILLIAM EVANS, D. D„ Associate Editors A. M. ROW, Managing Editor Published by the BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES, Inc. Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Entered as Second-Class Matter N ot cmber 17, 1910, at the postoffice at Los Angeles, Cal., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Copyright by R. A. Torrey. D. D., and Bible Institute of Los Angeles, for the year 1917
DIRECTORS
R. A . T orrey, vice-president Leon V . Shaw, treasu rer. William Evans.
Lyman Stew art, president. J. M. Irvine, secretary. T . C. H orton, superintendent. H . A . Getz.
N athan Newby
J. O. Smith
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT W e hold to th e H istoric Faith of th e C hurch as expressed in th e Common C reed of Evangelical Christendom and including: T he -Trinity of th e Godhead. T he Deity of th e Christ.
T he Maintenance of Good W orks. T he Second Com ing of C hrist. T he Immortality of th e Spirit. T he R esurrection of the Body. T h e Life Everlasting of Believers. The Endless Punishm ent of th e Im-t penitent. T he Reality a n d Personality of Satan. (7 ) Bible W omen. House-to-house visitation and neighborhood classes. (8 ) Oil Fields. A mission to men on the oil fields. (9 ) Books and T racts. Sale and dis tribution of selected books and tracts. (1 0 ) H arbo r W ork. F o r seam en a t Los A ngeles harbor. (1 1 ) T he Biola Club. Daily noon meetings for men in the down-town district, w ith free reading-room privi leges. (1 2 ) P rin t Shop. F o r printing T esta ments, books, tracts, etc. A complete establishment, profits going to free dis tribution of religious literature.
T he Personality of the Holy Ghost. T he Supernatural and P lenary a u thority of the Holy Scriptures. T he Unity in D iversity of the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ. T he Substitutionary A tonem ent. T he Necessity of the New Birth. • T he Institute trains, free purpose. of co#t a c c rc a ite<1 m #n and women, in th e know ledge and use of the Bible. n V . ( I ) T h e Inetitutj Departments : classes held daily except on Saturdays and Sundays. (2 ) Extension work. Classes and conferences held in neighboring cities and towns. (3 ) Evangelistic. Meetings conducted by o u r evangelists. (4 ) Spanish Mission. Meetings every night. (5 ) Shop W ork. R egular services in shops and factories. (6 ) Jewish Evangelism. Personal work am ong the Hebrews.
SCOPE OF THE WORK
THE KING’S BUSINESS S3 VOL. VIII. DECEMBER, 1917 No. 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: Sunday School Department—Daily Devotional Readings—Are Men Saved by Laying Down Their Lives for Their Country?—Original Goodness—Our Most Dangerous Enemy—Has the War Helped Chris tianity in England?—General Pershing’s Message to the Soldiers—Cremation—Back of the People is the Pulpit— “The Survival of the- Fittest” The Manger Child. (Poem )....................................................... 1066 What Christ Teaches Concerning Future Retribution. By Rev. Wm. C. Procter, F. Ph.............................................. 1067 Music in the Sunday School. By John Bissell Trowbridge__1073 The Program of a Progressive Life. By Rev. Herbert Booth Smith .....................................................................................1075 A Call for Volunteers......................................... ' ..................... 1080 An Appreciation of Your Calling. By William Evans, Ph. D:, D. D.......................................................... 1081 Opening of Fall Term.................................................. ...... ........1086 Homiletical Helps. By William Evans......................................108 7 Salvation Talks. By Keith L. Brooks...................................... 1090 Week of Prayer...:................... 1091 Puzzling Passages and Problems........................................... 1092 Evangelistic Department. By Bible Institute Workers.......... 1094 Through the Bible with Dr. Evans.....~ ....................................1100 Analysis of Pope Benedict’s Peace Note................................. 1106 Across the Continent. By W. H. Pike......................................1109 International Sunday School Lessons. By R. A. Torrey......1112 Daily Devotional Studies in the Old and New Testament for Individual Meditation and Family Worship. By R. A. Torrey ................................................................................. 1126
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE In the United States and its Possessions and Mexico, and points in the C entral Am erican Postal Union, $1 p er year* In all other foreign countries, $1.24 (5s. 2 d .). Single copies, 10 cents.
Receipts sent on request. See date on address tag. “Sept. 17” means Expires Sept. 1917, etc. PUBLISHED BY THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 536-558 SOUTH HOPE STREET LOS ANGELES, CAL
æ
1058
THE KING’S BUSINESS Christmas B ook s for Christians T h e F ir st S o p r a n o By Mary Hitchcock Grace in Galatians |^5^r^GEORGE^BlSHOP “Anyone who may desire to understand more fully the purpose of the Apostle in writing to the Galatians and to obtain a more perfect comprehension of the Doctrine of Sal vation by Grace Through Faith will do well to read this running comment on every paragraph and sentence in it.” ■—Record of Christian Work. Cloth. Net 60 cents True Evangelism I ByLEWlS^PERRY^CHAFER
of the South Af rica General M is sion. An appeal for re ality. The book deals with church life and . reveals some of the un realities th at en ter into it. The heroine, a church singer, becomes true worship per and is bless ed to the con version of mem bers of her fam ily. The stQry abounds in deep pathos, j though it contains much of humor and satire. The story closes with a m issionary cli max. An intense ly interesting story. Cloth. Net 60 cts. G o -to -B ed S to r ie s By Lettice Bell Dr. Campbell Morgan says of Go-to-Bed Stor ies. “The title of th is [ book is delusion and snare. Having completed a hea vy day’s work, I took it up, and it said, *Go-to-Bed Stories.*. I com menced to look at it, with the result that I did not go to bed un til I had read the whole of it ! God has given the au thoress a most remarkable apti tude for teaching children. This, I think, is proved by the fascina tion anything she w rites has for those who have put away childish things, but who in the measure in which they fulfill the larger life are stilly of the child spirit.” 170 pages, 7 illus trations i Price, $1.25 net
A very thoughtful enquiry into what are the true and false forces in Evangelism. Every Evangelist, Pastor and Christian Worker should read it. Cloth. Net 60 cents TheJ 2 £onders_of_Prophecy JjiyJOHNURQUART The wonderful testimony of fulfilled Scripture to the accuracy of Bible predic tions. “More interesting than any novel.” Cloth. Net 60 cents Knowing the Scriptures |jjyj>rjLTjpiERsoN “F ifty Rules and Methods for Bible Study” Dr. Pierson is always good but here he is at his best. He has condensed the results of many years of careful, devout and searching study in the Word of God in these pages. 400 pages. Cloth. Net $1.50 Satan_and_jhe_Satanic_System
The New Biblical Guide By Prof. John Umnhart This monumental work ' contains #the most complete scien tific confirmation of the early Books of the Bible th at has yet appeared in the English language. It is commended by leading Bible teach ers the world over for its scientific ac curacy and for the interesting way in which its facts are presented. S vols. 2300 pages. Cloth. $7.50 the set Send for full partic ulars
I By lewis sperry chafer A Full Sized Biblical Portrait of the Arch-enemy of God and Man . “To many readers it will be a surprise and a revelation to find how much is to be learned through the inspired Word of the character, career and consummate strategy of this general-in-chief of the army of evil.”—Missionary Review of the World. Cloth. ..Net 60 cents I ByJOHNHENRYJOWETT Dr. Jowett points every word of these brief expositions so that it tells, while the lessons he seeks to convey are so propounded as to enter the understanding of his readers along a pathway of light. | Net $1-35 The Lord’s Return I By JESSE FOREST SILVER Seen in History and in Scripture as Pre-Millennial and Imminent. , _ In his Introductory Preface, Bishop Hogue of the Free Methodist Church, says: “An encyclopedia of valuable information condensed into a convenient hand-book for ready reference.” Net $1.15 Order from BIOLA BOOK ROOM Bible Institute of Los Angeles 536-558 South Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif. My Daily Meditation
THE KING’S BUSINESS =0 Vol. 8 DECEMBER, 1917 No. 12
E D I T O R I A L ,There will be a change in and enlargement of the Sunday School Department of T h e K in g ' s B u s in e s s in 1918. Dr. Torrey’s Exposition and Practical Appli cation will no longer appear. Any one who wishes to
Sunday School Department.
get the substance of Dr. Torrey’s comments in abbreviated form can find them in “The Gist of the Lessons,” which can be obtained at the Biola Book Room at 25 cents for the year. Rev. T. C. Horton will give “The ,Heart of the Lesson;” Notes on the Lesson will be supplied by Rev. John H. Hunter; Com ments, by Rev. Keith L. Brooks; Illustrations, by Rev. W. H. Pike; Girls’ Class, by Mrs. H. J. Baldwin, who formerly furnished a weekly lesson on the Girls’ Class for the Sunday School Times; Beginners’ and Primary, by Mrs. A. L. Dennis.
We wish to call the attention of our readers in an especial way to the Daily Devotional Studies for this month. They cover 1 Corinthians 12:12-15:38., They are of unusual interest, as they cover some of the most
Daily Devotional
Readings.
vital questions that are coming up in church life today. For example' the ques tion of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the question of speaking with tongues, woman’s ministry, the Resurrection of Christ. ' The very difficult question of baptism for the dead is also discussed and the wonderful 13th chapter of 1 1 Corinthians is expounded at length.
Ever since the early days of the war in England, faith- less ministers of the Gospel have been seeking to curry
Are Men Saved by Laying Down Their
favor with the soldiers -and their friends by preaching Lives for Their Countryinsistently that the soldiers who go to the front and die ( . for their country will be saved by their own sacrifice and will not need to have faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For tunately, the soldiers themselves know better. Already some of our preachers in this country have begun preaching this same false and soul-destroying Gos pel. Those who do it are certainly doing the devil’s work. It is to be hoped that the soldiers in this country will not be deceived by this false and ridiculous doctrine anymore than they have been in England. But it is to be feared that
1060 THE KING’S BUSINESS some will be deceived, and that many who might have repented of their sins and accepted Christ as their Saviour, will be led to entertain a false hope and thus go down to eternal darkness through the faithlessness of these ministers who are wearing the livery of God to serve the devil in. If there ever was a time in which ministers should, be faithful and not hesitate to declare the whole counsel of God, it is in the day in which we are now living,, when-so many of our young men are facing sudden death. In all probability hundreds and thou sands of our young men who are now well and strong will lie in their graves twelve months from now. How faithful every minister ought to be in doing everything in his power to lead all the young men he can to accept the Lord Jesus Christ and thus be prepared for life' or death. These are awful times, but they are times of great opportunity and great responsibility. and not evil, is the ‘original’ thing in human nature.” Yes, this would indeed be a great discovery if it were true, but alas the war has not revealed anything of the kind. The war has revealed how brutal and demoniacal man is, even man intellectually at his best; man after he has enjoyed many years of education in philosophy and science in their highest development. When one sees the vilest and crudest atrocities of the present war defended and co-operated in by men high in army and in Government, and even by university professors, yes, even by ministers of Christ, he discovers that the darkest things that John Calvin wrote about man’s moral condition outside of the Gospel are warranted by the facts in the case. Capt. F. J. Moore then goes on to prove his position by citing the fact that, “No matter how they drink or how they swear, or whatever they do, there is a nobler self beneath it all that is capable of the sacrifice of the Cross.” He must be a superficial thinker who does not see that any sacrifice which a soldier who drinks and swears and commits the basest sins of inpurity makes does not lie beneath their swearing and drinking and committing these disgusting sins. Furthermore anyone who compares the sacrifice that soldiers make to the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made is either an ignoramus or a blasphemer. It is not love for sinners or enemies against themselves that leads soldiers to make the sacrifices or display the heroism that they do. In manv-cases they make the sacrifice because they have to. They are drafted into the army and have to do what the commanders compel them to do; and even where the soldiers are volunteers, their motive for volunteering and for making the sacrifices involved in their volunteering when subjected to careful analysis is not found in very many instances to be of a very lofty character. Not infre quently if is love of adventure, exactly the same motive that leads a man to risk his life in adventures of a far baser character; Oftentimes the motive is love of promotion or a desire for military advancement. Oftentimes the motive is of a different character, but far from that which led the Son of God, .when Hg was “in the form of God,” the center of heaven’s worship, to think it a thing not to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but to empty Himself and take upon Himself the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, became obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross. An article in the London Nation, by Capt. F. J. Moore, says: “The war has revealed to the world at large, and not' least to the men themselves, that goodness, Original Goodness.
THE KING’S BUSINESS 1061 The greatest danger that confronts our young men who are going .to the training camps and especially those who are going across the water to the battle front, is not from German bullets or bombs or gases
Our Most
Dangerous Enemy.
or liquid fire, but from sin in its grossest form. In the Spanish-American war many young men who had previously led pure lives were corrupted. Dr. M. J. Exner of the Y. M. C. A. in a carefully written article on the matter in the New York Evening Post says, “The ravages of prostitution in our army during the Spanish-American war present the blackest page of its history. The fact that in the Philippines the venereal rate rose to more than 301 per thousand, several times greater than that of any other disease, tells a depressing story of military waste and of debauched manhood and degraded womanhood.” From this we see that almost one in every three of our young men who went to the Philippines were corrupted. Things have been even worse in the English army in France. It is said that during! the first year of the war that one of the powers at war had more men who were incapacitated for service by venereal disease than in fighting at the front. The chief of one medical staff informed Dr. Exner that in the country to which'he belonged there were 17,000 cases of disease concentrated in a single hospital camp. The officer of one of the armies, who represented his country at absolutely every battle front, gave me the infor mation that more than one-third of the soldiers were incapacitated for service by diseases resulting from impurity. Last year when our soldiers were on the Mexican border it is said that “vice in its most flagrant forms flpurished exten sively in the environment of the military camps, The vice-districts became virtually the play-ground of the army. . . . Disease in many units devel oped to a serious degree. Thousands of fine fellows who came to the border clean in their lives, and with fair promises to keep their manhood untainted, fell victims to the allurements of commercialized vice and returned home, if not injured in health, certainly demoralized in the finest qualities of their man hood.^ >There are those who hold that these conditions are absolutely neces sary. That the soldiers Would be dissatisfied and will not fight as they ought unless they are allowed liberties in the matter of social vice. Experience teaches that this is not true, the experience, for example, .of the Japanese in their war with Russia, where-they had war for eighteen months and the men were kept absolutely away from contact with women. This was not done because the Japanese are a people of superior morality. The Japanese under ordinary con ditions are not superior but are inferior morally along these lines, as any per son who has visited Japan knows, and Japan, under ordinary circumstances, has a high rate of venereal disease. This was done simply as a military meas ure and the Japanese, in spite of their inferior morality, have shown how easily possible it is. Furthermore we have had a demonstration of the same thing among our own soldiers. While moral conditions with some of our troops on the Mexican border were appalling, “A commander of one camp of 19,000 troops completely suppressed prostitution and the sale of intoxicants. This firm attitude was never relaxed during the entire stay of the troops on the border. Prostitution and drink were made practically inaccessible to this body of troops with the exception of the few who occasionally got leave of absence to go to distant cities.” If one commander could do this, every commander can do it also. But when our troops get to France there will be peculiar conditions arising from the relation of our soldiers to those of other armies, and the rela-
1062
THE KING’S BUSINESS tion of the commanders of the English and French to our troops. One Canadian commander who attempted to clean up his camp found himself balked by an English officer with a superior command to himself. Our Government should see to if, and most likely will see to it, that a similar outrage is not perpetrated with our troops.' The Christian people should follow our soldiers with special prayer regarding this matter and shpuld especially pray for the ministers and evangelists and other Christian workers who are going out under the Y. M. C. A. and other auspices, to help win the soldiers to Christ and to that purity of life which is the outcome of an intelligent faith in Christ. The Red Cross movement that seeks to look after the physical welfare of the men who go to the front is an important movement, but its importance is very small indeed in comparison with that of the Y. M. C. A- and other movements that seek to look out for the moral and religious welfare of our young men who go to the front. In fact this movement if properly prosecuted will accomplish more for the physical welfare of the men than the Red Cross wilL In the early days of the war there seemed-to be a great Has^ the War Helped deepening of interest not only in England but in Christianity in France in eternal things. Many who had been careless England? or utterly irreligious before that seemed to take a new * interest in the things of God. It was hoped that the war might lead to an evangelistic awakenings But as the war has gone on, while there doubtless have been a great many conversions among the soldiers at the front, the general effect of the war does not seem to have been helpful to Christianity or morals. A recent writer. Rev. Elmer T. Clark, who seems to have made a somewhat careful study of the matter, says in his report in the New York Tribune: “In the first few months of the war all signs pointed to' the fact that the Church’s expectation was to be abundantly fulfilled. The people flocked, to the churches, resorted to prayer, and gave all evidences of a quickening'religious life; in these months it appeared certain that a great revival was imminent. But this early religious awakening was-founded on fear, . . . . And so it happened in Europe that when the first dread and fear produced by the war had passed the superficial religious fervor passed also, thus disappointing those who were desiring a renaissance of evangelism. Today the average person traveling through Europe would certainly see no signs of a renewed interest in things religious, and even the specialist who investigates intensely and studies all known signs and evidences will discover but few. In London and Paris as well as all other towns and cities I have visited, vice is as rampant as ever, the general population is as little concerted with eternal matters, and the Church faces the same problems of sin and indifference. In France there are encourag ing signs, but in England there are none. These signs in France appear here and there in the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is adopting a more mod ern attitude and presenting a more vital and evangelistic message. But in Eng land, so far at least as the Church is .concerned,, even these signs are absent.” Of course this is simply one man’s view, but he seems to be a well-qualified observer. There doubtless are two tendencies, and one is that the strain of war has led to an appalling deterioration in morals on the part of many both at £ \ :
THE KING'S BUSINESS 1063 the front and at home. The other is that many have been rendered serious who had been thoughtless. They have been led to see the vanity of worldly things and have been led to a new interest in things eternal; therefore, oppor tunities have been offered of presenting the Gospel that have been" improved by many. But there seems to be little room for question, that morals as a whole have thus far sunken lower than ever before as a direct or indirect con sequence of the war. •
The chief commanding officer of the American forces in France, Major General Pershing, sent the following address through the New York Bible Society,- to the American soldiers: “Aroused against a nation raging war in violation of all Christian principles, our people
General Pershing’s Message to the
Soldiers.
are fighting in the cause of liberty. Hardships will be your lot, but trust in God will give you comfort; temptation will befall you, but the teaching of our Saviour will give you strength. Let your valor as a soldier and your conduct as a man be an inspiration to your comrades and an honor to your country. Pershing, commanding.”
Many Christian people have been doing a good deal of thinking on the question of cremating their loved ones who have passed away. We copy from the American
Cremation.
Lutheran Survey of September 12th, an article by Rev. B. E. Bergesen of Seattle, Washington, originally published in the Lutheran Church Herald. It states the case as well as anything w i have seen: Cremation has not met with the approval of the American people at large. In the cultural centers of the Eastern States it is--very little practiced. But as the custom ha_s grown in some quarters, especially on the Pacific Coast, it merits a moment’s thought. The Catholic Church refuses entirely to officiate at cremations. The Lutheran clergy as a rule refuse. Episcopal pastors often take a stand against it. It is largely the laxer churches like Baptists, Metho dists and others that are also lax in other matters—such as remarrying the divorced, etc.—which also are lax in this respect. It is true, that there is no direct command in the Bible as to the disposal of the dead; but the fact re mains, that the only time on record, where God directly did the disposing He used burial, not cremation (Deut. 34:5.}. It is also true that when God’s only begotten Son died, His disciples buried Him but did not cremate (John 19:42). These would seem to be sufficient reasons for God’s children to oppose crema tion. If children love their Father and have faith in His superior judgment they follow His example. If they don’t, they have lost faith in Him. But as there are other argumenté for the ancient Christian burial and against the ancient Heathen custom of cremation, let us consider them. (1) Sentiment. The very idea of burning the bodies of our dear ones like so much fuel is abhorrent to our finer feelings. It is true, that decay in the grave is also an uncomfortable thought in itself. But remember, that it is by God’s own laws
1064 THE KING’S BUSINESS throughout nature that bodies decompose in the grave, while it is an invention of man to cremate. Cremation works quicker, say some of its defenders. But, what is your hurry? Practically-all God’s methods are slow. We .can’t help that the body decays of itself. But we, do not need to go ahead and cold bloodedly burn our dead ones. Small wonder that John Stover Cobb in “Quar ter Century Cremation” admits, that '“Nowadays cremation is largely employed as a means of disposing of the dead whose memory no one cares to keep sac red.” Encyclopaedia Britannica says: “Cremation in the United States is followed principally in cases where the person cremated has been guilty of some brutal crime or of some act in the way of suicide, making it desirable that the memory of his existence is forgotten.” Let anyone put their beloved in that class, if they please. (2) Sanitation. One of the strong arguments for cremation is, that cemeteries are unhealthy. In olden days with open wells near cemeteries, there might be something in it. But in the cities with modern plumbing and sanitation in general, there is nothing in that fear. In the coun try, cemeteries are usually far from private wells. (3) Cremation, burning of the. bodies of the dead, is in the Bible spoken of as something awful (Gen. 38:24; Deut. 12:13; Amos 2:1). (4) Hostile Act. Cremation is spoken of as the action of enemies in Jer. 25:33 and Rev. 11:9. (5) Heathenism. Cremation is of heathen origin. Not Christian. It was used by those who thereby would taunt the Christians for their hope in resurrection (Eph. 4:17). “Cremation is a deviation from the ordained and sacred custom of burial, a custom that has received the uninterrupted sanction of the Christian Church for almost 2000 years. It is essentially pagan in its origin and was abolished by the early Christians.”.—-International Encyclopaedia. (6 ). Old Testament. Believers practiced burial in graves and caves. Not cremation (1 Kings 13 :30; John 19:40). (7) New Testament. That the early Christians practiced burial is shown by their symbolism (Acts 8:2; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12). (8) Resurrec tion. From John 5 :28 we learn two things: First, that all shall arise however they have died or been disposed of—drowned, eaten or burned. If this was not the case, the first Christians, who were burned at the stake could not arise. Secondly? it shows—as all other passages—that the promises of resurrection are spoken over the grave not over the urn. (9) Christ Jesus was buried (John 19:43). The Christian wants to follow Christ as closely as he can—-in life, in death, in burial. Furthermore—Christ has by being laid in the grave hal lowed the grave for us and our dear ones. If it was good enough for Christ, why should I—His creature—desire something different from my creator? (10) Hymnology. The Christian hymns, of burial and j-esurrection—old and new—are written over the grave not over the fire. Prudentius wrote in the beginning'of the fifth century, the beautiful hymn: “A gift to the Church yard we tender,'
As dust to the dust we surrender, Returning the clay to its maker, We lay it to rest in God’s acre.”
In closing let me quote—as to the cremation act itself—a man, who has taken hold of the anti-cremation agitation on the Pacific Coast—-Rev. F. A. Heath: “Cremation not only has a Pagan origin and this opprobrious signifi cance, but it is also a heartless method of disposing of the dead, a method that
THE KING’S BUSINESS 1065 antagonizes all the tender sentiment we feel toward the body of one dear to us. No one can witness the details of a cremation without shuddering with horror. We hesitate even to mention these details—the writhing of the body as the flames transform it into smoke and ashes that together roar up a furnace flue, then drop everywhere to be trodden under foot. After nothing remains but charred bones, they are broken up and ground to .powder. These details of cremation are so shocking that no owner or employee of a crematory in Seattle has ever cremated his own dead. We can well believe this Statement. Yet it is through the efforts of these crematory owners that the practice of cremation has become so extensive here in Seattle. As a commercial matter and from mercernary motives this propaganda has been boosted in season and out of season.”
Back of the pulpit lies the preacher. _Back of the preacher there is God. The greater the reliance of the
Back of the People Is the Pulpit.
preacher on God, the more productive will the study be, and the more effective the message from the pulpit. It is not, finally, possible that God can mean more to the people than He is to and in the preacher.
This slogan of Darwin’s doctrine of evolution, cham- pioned by Germany and taught by her professors for years past, as worthy of a national conception, and basis for its own actions and a governing principle of
“The Survival of the Fittest.”
her dealings with other peoples, reveals to us the mind of the German. To her “might is right”—the strongest man the superman. All international law must stand aside in view of this German will to power. This is not evolution; it is “devilution.” It is a doctrine from the abyss. The Nazarene never taught such a brutal doctrine as this. Germany should surrender the caption—“A Chris tian Nation.” If she ever was that, she has ceased to be it now. The pity is that England and America ever sent her youth to Germany to imbibe such doc trines. She will never do so again.
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THE K INp’S BUSINESS
T h e MamgeT C h ild
$ lm $ m STRANGER—yet the Heir;' Unnoticed—yet the King; | The lowly, peaceful manger His, | The wise their homage bring. Earth raised no .shout of joy; yiL His own no welcome gave; sg9 The world could only these bestow— A manger/then a grave. ’Twas “grace and truth” He brought, No meretricious glare— A glory veiled, a patient love, To suffer and to bear.
The heart of God to show ' A grace before unknown; To raisa the beggar from the dust And seat him on His throne. Incarnate Love revealed, Earth’s fulness to restore; Thee, Wondrous Babe of Bethlehem, We worship and adore. — A lb ert M id l a n e .
W h a t C h r is t T e a e h e s C on ce rn ing F u tu r e R e t r ib u t io n
B y Rev. Wm. C. Procter, F. Fit. Csoydl©», E n g la n d
S ty HERE are four reasons for g confining our consideration 5 of the subject of Future Ret rib u tio n to the teaching of Hour Lord Jesus Christ: (1) It limits .the range of our inquiry to what is possible in a brief essay. There will be no occasion to examine the fifty-six passages in the authorized version of our Bible which contain the word “Hell,” (most of which are the translations of the Hebrew “Sheol” and the Greek “Hades,” meaning “the grave” and “the unseen state,”) and we can concentrate out atten tion on the ten passages in which our Lord uses the word “Gehenna” (which was the usual appellation in His day for the abode of the lost) together with those other verses which evidently refer to the future state of the wicked. (2) It affords a sufficient answer to the speculation of those who don’t know, to refer to the revelation of the One who does know. Many other passages might be
quoted from the New Testament, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who was promised by our Lord to His disciples to “guide them into all truth,” and “show them things to come” (John 16:12, 13); but, in taking the words of Christ Himself, we shall find the greatest ground of common agreement in these days of loose views of inspiration. Surely, He who is “The Truth” would never mis represent or exaggerate it on a matter of such vital importance, and would neither encourage popular errors nor excite need less fears. (3) It also affords a sufficient answer to those who represent the doctrine as unrea sonable and dishonoring to God, and who regard those who hold it as narrow minded and hard hearted, to remind them that all the very expressions which are most fiercely denounced in the present day fell from the lips of the Saviour who died for us, and came from the heart of the “Lover of souls.” Surely we have no right to seek
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to be broader minded than He was, or to nurture false hopes which have no solid foundation in His teaching; while t® assume a greater zeal for God’s honor, and a deeper compassion for the souls of men, is little short of blasphemy. The current objections to the orthodox doctrine of hell are made by those who allow their hearts to run away with their heads, and are founded more on sickly sentimentality than on sound scholarship. (4) In considering the subject as pro fessing Christians, the words of the Master Himself ought surely to put an end to all controversy; and these are clear and unmis takable when taken in their plain and obvi ous meaning, without subjecting them to any forced interpretation. It is greatly to be regretted that they are not more fre quently dealt with in the modern pulpit; but ministers are only human, and there is a strong temptation to preach what is pal atable,. rather than what is profitable. In this case, surely, history repeats itself; for we read in Isa. 30:10 of those who said to the prophets of old: “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” ; and a cowardly yielding to this demand has produced an emasculated Gospel and an enfeebled min istry in the present day. Coming now to consider briefly Christs teaching on the subject, let us ask, first of all: 1. W hat did o u r Lord teach as to the certainty of fu tu re retribu tion ? The word “retribution” is to be preferred to “punishment” because the Bible teaches us that the fate of the wicked as not an arbitrary (much less a vindictive) inflic tion, but the necessary consequence of their own sins. Taking the passages in their order, in Matt. S:22; Christ speaks of causeless anger against, and contemptuous condemnation of, others as placing us “in danger of the hell of fire,” while in verses 29 and 30 He utters a similar warning con cerning the sin of lust; and these are in the Sermon on the Mount, which is the-
most generally accepted part of His teach ing! In chapter 8:12 He speaks of unbe lieving “children of the Kingdom” being “cast forth into the outer darkness,” and adds, “There shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth”—expressions which are repeated in chapters 22:13 and 25:30. In chapter 10:28" Jesus said: “Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”—a wholesome fear which is, decid edly lacking in the present day, and which many people regard as a remnant of super stition quite unsuited to this enlightened age! In our Lord’s own explanation of the parable of the tares and wheat, He declared: “The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out "of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth. The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the right eous, and shall cast them .into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth” (chapter 13:41, 42, 49, 50). In chapter 23:15 He speaks, of the hypocritical Pharisees as “children of hell,” ' showing that their conduct had fitted them for it, and that they would “go to their own place,” like Judas (whom He describes as “the son of perdition” in John 17:12), while in verse 33 He asks: “How shall ye escape the judgment of hell?” The law of retribution can no more be repealed than that of gravitation; it is fixed and unalterable. That hell has not been pre pared for human beings, but that they pre pare themselves for it, is clear from the sentence which our Lord says that He will pronounce upon those on His left hand in the last great day: “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is pre pared for the devil and his angels” (chap. 25:41). Turning to the Gospel according to Mark, we find our Lord saying, in chapter 3:29: “Whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Whatever view
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cast into the lake of fire. This is the sec ond death, even the lake of fire.” 2. W hat did C hrist teach as to th e ch ar a c te r of fu tu re retribu tion ? We have already seen that -He spoke of it as full of sorrow and misery in His seven-fold repetition of the striking expression: “There shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28). In Mark 9:43-48, our Lord twice speaks of “the fire that never shall be quenched,” and thrice adds, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Of course He was using the common Jewish metaphors for Gehenna, taken from the perpetual fires that burned in the valley of Hinnom to destroy the refuse, and the worms that fed upon the unburied corpses that were cast there;, but, as we have already seen, He would never have encour aged a popular delusion. Our Lord twice spoke of fruitless professors being “cast into the fire” (Matt. 7:19; John 15:6); twice of “the furnacie of fire” (Matt. 13:42, 50); twice of the “hell of fire” (Matt. 5:22; 18:9); and twice of “eternal fire” (Matt. 18:8; 25:41). Granted that “the undying worm and unquenchable fire” are metaphorical, yet these striking figures of speech must stand for startling facts, they must be symbolical of a terrible reality. We need no more regard them materially than we do the golden streets aijd pearly gates of heaven; but, if the latter are emblematic of the indescribable splendors of heaven, the former must be symbolical of the unutter able sufferings of hell. One can no more presume to dogmatize on the one than the other, but it requires no vivid stretch of the imagination to conceive an accusing conscience acting like the undying worm, and insatiable desires like the unquench able fire. In our Lord’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the former is rep resented as being “in torments” and “in anguish” even in “Hades,” and, that mem ory survives the present life and accom-
may be taken of the character of blas phemy against the Holy Ghost, the cause and consequence are here closely linked together, eternal sin bringing eternal retri bution. The words in the original undoubt edly indicate an inveterate habit rather s than an isolated act, and would probably be better translated, “is held under the power of an eternal sin.” This in itself precludes the possibility of forgiveness, because it assumes the impossibility of repentance; besides, each repetition involv ing a fresh penalty, the punishment is nat urally unending. Similarly, in John 8:21, 24, our Lord’s twice repeated declaration to those Jews which believed not on Him, “Ye shall die in your sins,” indicates that unforgiven sin must rest upon the soul in condemnation and pollution; for death, so far from changing men’s characters, only fixes them; and hence Christ speaks in chapter 5 :29 of “the resurrection of dam nation.” Once more, the words of the Ascended and Glorified Saviour recorded in Rev. 21:8 may be quoted: “The fear ful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the sec ond death.” A careful study of the Scriptural uses of the words “life” and “death” will clearly show that the root ideas are respectively “union” and “separation”. Physical life is union of the spirit with the body, spiritual life is the union of the spirit with God, and everlasting life is this union perfected and consummated to all eternity. Similarly, physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body, spiritual death is the sep aration of the spirit from. God, and eter nal death is the perpetuation of this sep aration. Hence, for all who have not experienced a second birth, “the second death” becomes inevitable; for he who is only born once dies twice, while he y^ho is “born again’ dies only once. As against the doctrine of annihilation, Rev. 20:14 may be quoted: “Death and Hades were
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patties us beyond the grave, is clear from Abraham’s words to him: “Son, remem ber” (Luke 16:23-25). Could any material torments be worse than the moral torture of an acutely sharpened conscience, in which memory becomes remorse as it dwells upon misspent time and misused talents, upon omitted duties and committed sins, upon opportunities lost both of doing and of getting good, upon privileges neg lected and warning rejected? It is bad enough here, where memory is so defective, and conscience may be so easily drugged; but what must it be hereafter, when no expedients will avail to banish recollec tion and drown remorse? The poet Star- key stimulates our imagination . in the awful lings: “All that hath been that ought not to have been, That might have been so different; that ,now Cannot but be irrevocably past. Thy gan grened heart, Stripped of its self-worn mask, and spread at last Bare, in its horrible anatomy, Before thine own excruciated gaze;” while Cecil puts the matter in a nutshell when he writes: “Hell is the truth seen too late.” Again, what material pain could equal the moral torment of intensified lusts and passions finding no means of gratification, insatiable desires that can have no provi sion for their indulgence,.or if indulged, all the pleasure gone while the power remains? Surely, such expressions as the undying worm and the unquenchable fire represent, not pious fictions, but plain facts; and we may be sure that the reality will exceed, not fall short of, the figures employed, as in the case of the blessedness of the redeemed. The woes thus pro nounced are more terrible than the thun ders of Sinai, and the doom denounced more awful than that of Sodom; but we should never forget that these terrible expressions fell from the lips of Eternal Love, and came from a heart overflowing
with tender compassion for the souls of men. 3. W hat did Christ teach as to th e conti nuity of future retribu tion ? Is there any solid basis in His recorded words for the doctrine of eternal hope, or the shadow of a foundation for the idea that all men will eventually be saved? Much has been made of the fact that the Greek word “aionios” (used by our Lord in Matt. 18:8 and 25:41, 46, and translated “everlasting” in the Authorized, and “eter nal” in the Revised, Version) literally means “age-lottg” ; but an examination of the 25 places in which it is used in the New Testament reveals the fact that it is twice used of the Gospel, once of the Gospel covenant, once of the consolation brought to us by the Gospel, twice of God’s own Being, four times of the future of the wicked, and fifteen times of the present and future life of the believer. No one thinks of limiting its duration in the first four cases and in the last, why then do so in the other one? The dilemma becomes acute in considering the words of our Lord recorded in Matt. 35:46, where pre cisely the same word is used concerning the duration of the reward of the righteous and the retribution of the wicked, for only by violent perversion and distortion can the same word in the same sentence pos sess a different signification. Again, it is sometimes urged that, as salt has a puri fying power, the words, “everyone shall be salted with fire,” in Mark 9:49, have this significance in the case of future punish ment; but the context clearly shows that its preserving power is alluded to, for the passage speaks of the undying worm and the unquenchable fire. Besides, if the Divine chastisements are ineffectual here in the case of any individual, when there is so much to restrain men and women from wrong-doing, how can they be expected to prove effectual in the next world, with all these restraints removed, and only the society of devils? It is cer tainly somewhat illogical for those who
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the same is surely true of many human beings. Not only is there no vestige of founda tion in our Lord’s words for the doctrine of universalism, there is also no shadow of a suggestion of any restoration of the wicked hereafter. So far from this being the case, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus rings the death knell of any such hope. Abraham is there represented as saying to Dives: “Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they which would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us” (Luke 16:26). That “fixed gulf” is surely a yawning chasm too deep to be filled up, and too wide to be bridged over; and the awful description of hell by the poet Milton, in “Paradise Lost,” remains sadly true: “Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace And rest can never dwell; hope never comes That comes to all, but torture without end.” 4. W hat did C hrist teach as to th e causes of fu tu re retribu tion ? A careful study of our Lord’s words shows that there are two primary causes, namely, deliberate unbelief and wilful rejection of Him; and surely these are but different aspects of the same sin. In Matt. 8:12, it was the-contrast between the faith of the Gentile centurion and the unbelief of the Jewish nation which drew from His lips the solemn words: “The children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness;” while, in chapter 23 the awful denunciation in verse 33 is followed by the sad lamentation: “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not” (v. 37). Sim ilarly, in Mark 3 :29, R. V., the “eternal sin” spoken of can only be that of con tinued rejection of the offers of mercy; and in John 8:24, our Lord plaiply declares: “If ye believe not th a t'I am He,
make so much of the love of God to argue that, punishment will prove remedial here after in the case of those whom Divine^ Love has failed to influence here. Not only is there not the slightest hint in the teaching of our Lord that future punish ment will prove remedial or corrective, but His words concerning Judas in Matt. 26:24 are inexplicable on that supposition. Surely His existence would still have been a blessing if his punishment was to be followed by ultimate restoration, and Christ would therefore never have uttered the sadly solemn words: “It had been good for that man if he had not been bom.” Similarly there is a striking and signifi cant contrast between our Lord’s words to the unbelieving Jews recorded in John 8 :21: “Whither I go ye cannot come,” and those to Peter in chapter 13:36: “Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me after wards.” As character tends to permanence, heaven is a place of perfect holiness and hell must be of the opposite; and this throws light upon the words o f Rev. 22:11, which were apparently uttered by . our ascended, glorified, and returning Lord: “He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still; and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still; and he thát is righteous, let him do righteousness still; and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.” The doctrine of universal restora tion springs from a natural desire to wish the history of mankind to have a happy ending, as in most story books; but it ignores the fact that, by granting man free will, God has (as it were) set a boundary to His own omnipotence, for it is a moral impossibility to save a man against his will. Surely eternal sin can only be followed by eternal retribution; for, if a man deliberately chooses to be ruled by sin, he must inevitably be ruined by it. One never hears of the doctrine of final restora tion being applied to the devil and his angels, but why not? If the answer is, “Because they cannot and will not repeht,”
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ye shall die in your sins.” Finally, in Mark 16:16, we find the' words: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbeliveth shall be con demned.” A careful consideration of these passages, and especially of the last, will help to remove one great difficulty with regard to the whole subject, namely, the future state of those who have never had the Gospel so plainly presented to them as to enable them to deliberately accept or reject Christ, to willingly believe the good news or wilfully disbelieve it. Another difficulty is removed when we realize that our Lord taught that there would be different degrees in hell as in heaven. Thus, in Matt. 11:20-24 He taught that it would be “more tolerable in the day of judgment” for Tyre and Sidon than for Chorazin and Bethsaida, and for Sodom than for Capernaum; and in Mark 12:40 He speaks of “greater damnation.” It is clear that future retribution will be pro portioned to the amount of guilt com mitted and of grace rejected. (See also Luke 12:47, 48; John 19:11). We have so far examined, as thoroughly as possible within this limited space, all the recorded words of our Lord which bear on this important subject. It only remains, in conclusion, very briefly to point out that the whole drift of Christs teach ing confirms what we learn from these iso lated passages, and that future retribution is not merely an incidental but a funda
mental part of the Gospel message. It is the dark background on which its loving invitations and tender expostulations are presented, and the Gospel message loses much of its force when the doctrine is left out. But, worst of all, the earnest exhor tations to immediate repentance and faith lose their urgency if the ultimate result will be the same if those duties are post poned beyond the present life. , Is it seri ously contended that Judas will eventually be as John, Nero as Paul, Ananias and Sapphira as Priscilla and Aquila? Finally, the doctrines of heaven and hell seem to stand or fall together, for both rest upon the same Divine revelation, both are described metaphorically, and both have the same word “everlasting” applied to their duration. If the threatenings of God’s Word are unreliable, so may the promises be; if the denunciations have no real meaning, what becomes of the invi tations? Ruskin well terms the denial of hell “the most dangerous, because the most attractive, form of modern infidelity.” But is it so modern? Is it not an echo of the devil’s insinuating doubt: “Yea, hath God said” ? followed by his insistent denial, “Ye shall not surely die,” which led to the fall of man? Let us, therefore, believe God’s truth, rather than the devil’s lie; let us accept Divine revelation, rather than human speculation; and let us heed what Christ so plainly taught, without mitigat ing, modifying, or minimizing His solemn warnings.
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