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Issued monthly by "The Bible Standard Publication
EDITED
Geo. A. BROWN, Pastor of Mint Lane Baptist Church, Lincoln.
THE BIBLE STANDARD
is devoted to the exposition of Biblical Truth, especially the doctrine of Conditional
the Dead, the Final Destruction of the Wicked, the Signs of the Times, the Seconcl Coming of Christ, and His Personal
" The Wages of Sin is Death; but the gift of God is Eternal
No. 6. MARCH, 1878.
GOD'S PENALTY FOR SIN.
(continued. )
IN our last article we proved conclusively, as we think, that
the language "Man shall surely die," expressing, as it does,
the penalty of transgression, cannot, without violating the
laws of language, be understood as meaning anything but
the literal· death of the whole man. The language used in
pronouncing sentence upon Adam, after the fall, not only
abundantly evidences this, it renders any position based on
a different interpretation of the words, wholly untenable.
As therefore the penalty of the law, "the wages of sin" is
literal death, death of all that goes to make up the responsible
being, it follows inevitably that natural immortality cannot
be true, and also that all conscious life for ever ceases at
death, unless there is a resurrection from the dead, which we
believe the Bible fully vindicates and predicts.
Before we proceed to the question, let us see how strangely
our so-called orthodox Divines have interpreted God's penalty
for sin. Mr. Benson, an able writer of the Methodist school,
taking for granted, of course, that all men, irrespective of
character, are immortal, pictures the state of the wicked
undergoing their penalty for sin, who are said by the Lord of
life and glory to "perish," but by Mr. Benson's description
we should think that he never anticipated such an event
taking place. He says :-
" God is present in hell in His infinite justice and almighty
wrath, as an unfathomable sea of liquid fire, where the
wicked must drink in eVe!'Zasting torture. The presence of God
in His vengeance, scatters darkness and woe through the
dreary regions of mise~'Y' A~ heaven would be no heaven if
God did not there manifest His love, so hell would be no hell
if God did not there display His wrath; it is the presence of
God which gives everything virtue and efficacy, without
which ~here can be no life, no sensibility, no power; God is
therefcse Himself pre~ent in hell to see ~he punishment of
those rebels agamst HIS government, that It may be adequate
to the infinitude of their guilt. His fiery indignation kindles,
and His incensed fury feeds the flames of their torments,
while His powerful presence and operation maintains their
I· .
Society," 24, Mint Lane, Lincoln.
•
BY
Immortality, the literal Resurrection of
Reign on earth.
Life throuqh. Jesus Christ our Lord."
Price Id.
powers most acutely sensible, thus setting the keenest edge
upon their pain, and making it cut most intolerably deep; He
will exert all His divine attributes to make them as wretched
I as the capacity of their being will admit."
Such is the conception of God's penalty for sin, entertained
by men who would make us believe they are preaching and
teaching God's revealed will in the subject. We call it awful
blasphemy! and it is eminently calculated to make men
abhor the very name of God and religion. The doctrine of
inherent immortality is responsible for this blasphemy.
And this is that which many love so well, as to declare that
if it were not true, they "wolucl cease to love God," they
would serve self and enjoy the pleasures of sin !! If in their
questionable service they are impelled by. such motives, then
they are just simply serving self, and nothing more. They
do what they do for the purpose, and onl!J for the pmpose of
keeping out of the fire; such might as well throw off the
mask, and serve self openly, for God will not accept their
hollow offerings.
"Give Me thine heart, thine affections," is the requisition.
It will avail nothing in attempting to seek relief from the
awful responsibility of teaching such it doctrine to say "I do
not believe in the doctrine of torture, but of unhappiness."
Eternal unhappiness is eternal torture, and the theory in any
form, represents God as cruel and vindictive.
It may be stated by some that we never hear itpreached
from our pulpits now. Brethren in the ministry, who hold
to the torment theory, if you believe the doctrine, you ought
to preach. it, if you do not believe it, you ought to renounce
it; you cannot refuse to do either without incurring c1ivine
displeasure; as brethren we exhort you to faithfulness in this
matter; what sort of watchmen are you on the walls of Zion ?
How can you stand before your people, and, believing them
exposed to such a future, fail to urge it upon their considera-
tion more earnestly and persistently than all things else
combined? If, on the other hanc1, you do not believe it, you
surely must regard it a gross misrepresentation of the
42 THE BIBLE
character of God, in which case how can you, in the name of
Him, who in bouncUess love was given, invoke Divine favour,
while, before the world, you countenance and support the
libel? In either case your error is not simple error, it is a
deep, dark sin. Therefore look well to your duty in this ..
The fact is, as a restrainer from evil, the doctrine is an
ignominious failure, and though it has for centuries been
preached in various forms and degrees, much of the time in its
most horrible form, the world is to-day worse than ever. Being
so terrible, the torment theory has over-reached its mark;
Prof. Hudson has well said; "That which is too fearful is
unfeared.' ,
Bishop Newton remarks ;-Nothing can be more contrary
to the divine nature and attributes, than for a God, all-wise,
all-powerful, all-good, all-perfect, to bestow existence on any
beings whose destiny he foresees and foreknows must termin-
ate in wretchedness and misery, without recovery 01' remedy,
without respite 01' end. God is love! and he would rather
have not given life, than render that life a torment and a
curse to all eternity ; imagine creatures delivered over to the
torments of endless ages without the least hope or possibility
of redemption; imagine it you may, but you can never
seriously believe it, nor reconcile it with God, and goodness,
and justice."
Dr. Edward Beecher has trul~ said of the orthodox theory
of punishment ;-
"It involves God, His whole, administration, and His
eternal kingdom, in the deepest dishonour that the mind of
man 01' angel can conceive; the human mind cannot be held
back from. abhorring such a theory, except by the most
unnatural violence to its divinely inspired convictions of
right and honour."
And where is to be found relief from this gloomy theory?
'IN e shall clearly show that revelation affords it. " The soul
that 'sinneth, it shall die." "All the wicked will God
"destroy." A writer has aptly said; "The destruction of
the wicked is not an impossible process, or offensive to our
ideas of equity. Is it not infinitely preferable, if we decide
by 0UI' moral instincts, that the wicked should expire all their
miserable breath into the night, when the sunset of hope
arrives, than that they should be kept in bitter and ever-
lasting woe and sin? "
That the final and total extinction of the wicked after the
coming of Christ, is the unanimous voice of Scripture, we
will now proceed to show.
To the question, then, concerning the final condition of
the wicked.
"THEY PERISH"
. The term "perish" means-to be destroyed; to go to
destruction; to come to nothing; to be blotted from exist-
ence; to lose life; to decay; it therefore means the opposite
of presexvation, whether applied to animate 01' inanimate
.objecta. e will give a few quotations under this head ;-
Job xx. 4 7." Knowest thou not this of old, since man was
placed upon the earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is
short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
STANDARD.
Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his heac1
reach unto the clouds; yet he shall perish. forever, like his
own dung."
We cannot but feel that no person, unless he be thoroughly
fortified with prejudice, can read this passage, and not be
impressed with the fact that perish is here employed to express
the idea of absolute, literal destruction.
Psalm xxxvii. 20. "But the wicked shall perish, and the
enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall
consume; into smoke shall they consume away."
Psalm xlix. 12. "Nevertheless, man being in honour
abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish."
Prov, xix. 9. "A false witness shall not be unpunished,
and he that speaketh lies shall perish."
There can be no mistake in this language. God could not
use any stronger words to teach the doctrine we are now
advocating. We will now call your attention to a passage,
which goes to show what Christ came into the world to
save us from ;-
John iii. 14-16. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ;
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have etemallife."
Can language be plainer? can truth be made simpler!
When we take the words perish and everlasting life in their
plain, literal, obvious sense, we at once arrive at the
conclusion that God intends to bestow upon the righteous the
boon of everlasting life, but the wicked he will consign back
to the dust, and they will be "as though they never had been."
The wicked will be PUNISHED, as Paul says, with "ever-
lasting destruction," not preserved, and this destruction will
be brought about by the fires of the last judgment, for it is
written ;-
Mal. iv. 1. "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall bum
as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up,
saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neitlier root
nor branch."
Dr. Adam Clarke admits that the expression shall leace them
neither root nor branch, was a "proverbial" one "for total
destruction.' ,
Again, John says of Christ, "Whose fan is in His hand,
and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat
into His gamer; but He will bum up the chaff with
unquenchable fire."
Chaff here represents the wicked; it is said they will be
separated from the wheat, (the righteous,) and be burned up
with unquenchable fire. Is their anything about the
expression "unquenchable fire" which indicates that the fire
is never to go out? Certainly not. It is unquenchable
because it cannot be quenched, but continues to burn until
it consumes that which it burns. A house takes fire, and,
despite all efforts to save it, is consumed; they who did all in
 THE BIBLE
their power to save the property are asked if they could not
have subdued the flames, their reply is, "No, the fire was
un quenchable. " This was true: the fire was un quenchable,
yet it went out of itself when it had consumed the house.
And you must bear in mind, deal' reader, that the fire is to
"consume," "destroy," "burn up the wicked," for God is
purposing to have a cleansed universe, freed from sin, and
like the farmer who goes to work, gathering up all the chaff
and stubble, to which he puts the fire, in order to burn and
destroy it. So God will send His angels to bind the wicked
as chaff into bundles to be burned, destroyed, &c. Will you,
deal' reader, be gathered in the bundle of the wicked?
May God, in His mercy, change your heart, and fit you for
that day, when the righteous will be gathered as wheat into
the garner of the Lord, to be preserved unto eternal life for
His own use and glory.
The Rev. Samuel Minton, M.A., formerly of Worcester
Oollege, 'Oxford, says, " Every expression that human
language can supply, and every metaphor that the material
world can yield, to impress upon ns that the wicked will
wholly cease to exist, (after the judgrnent.) are piled one upon
another, almost continuously, from Genesis to Revelation.
They are said to perish-to pass away-to fade-to wither-
to be destroyec1-consumed-drowned-burnt up-ground to
powder-cut down -plucked up by the roots-broken to
shivers-put away like dross-besides other similar expres-
sions. What dependence can be placed upon the teachings of
Scripture, if all this means that they will live for ever, with
all their powers and faculties of body' and mind in full
exercise, though at enmity with God, and consequently in a
state of unmitigated suffering? "
In our next issue we intend to give an exposition of the
passage so often quoted, namely "These shall go away into
everlasting punishment." 'Ve shall also, in due time, bring
before our readers the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus,
also the figurative language in Revelation, "the smoke of
their ~ment." , -
'Vj a~'e fully. persuaded that the passages which our
op~onents depend upon, to sustain their views of eternal
to(-,ment, cannot be legitimately used for any such purpose.
¥ay the writer and reader seek a closer intimacy with Him
Who alone can guide us into all truth. Amen.
SHEOL AND HADES.
IT seems universally admitted that the Hebrew word Sheol,
and the Greek word Hades, which we translate Hell, by no
means infer a place of torment, but merely a covered, 01'
enclosed, 01' secret place. H. B. in "Morning Watch," Mr.
Bullinger, in his "Greek and English Concordance and
Lexicon," translates Hades into the word qracedom, The
popular idea of Hades is, that it is a vast receptacle for
disembodied spirits, but the Bible is not authority for any
such imagination.
STANDARD. 43
A TERRIBLE SURPRISE.
WE have a profound conviction that the world is hastening
to the great crisis which is to close for ever the present
dispensation, and witness the beginning of the new age. Its
speed is wonderfully accelerated. There is a race, a rush of
ruled and rulers, peoples, presidents, and princes, towards
some unknown goal which, whatever may be its precise
nature, is instinctively felt to be entirely new in the history
of humanity, Emperors, kings, statesmen, revolutionists,
anarchists, all see it as an inevitable somethinq which,
whether feared or welcomed, must be met some day not far
distant. What it will do or undo, how it will affect
dynasties, kingdoms, republics, and the innumerable in-
stitutions of the world,-ecclesiastical, political, military,
social, and scientific,-neither princes nor people know;
but all agree in thinking that, without leave asked, it will
deal with the nations, whether for weal or woe, in a mood
which brooks no opposition and admits no delay. In this
they are right, "because a short reckoning will the Lord
make upon the earth." Hom, ix. 28. "And the loftiness
of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men
shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in
that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they
shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the'
earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty,
when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth." Isaiah. ii. 17, 19.
Meantime, a desperate struggle for pre-eminence has
begun, as if each party was determined to seize and hold
the rights of the coming Lord. The prophecy of the second
Psalm. is fulfilling before our eyes. The nations rage, and
the people imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord, and, against His Anointed. A longer
lease of power is demanded by the world's potentates.
They will not get it ! Abused stewardship must be closed
with disgrace. Supremacy is sought by the revolutionists.
They will not get it! Men who refuse to serve are utterly
unfit to command. Authority is claimed by the atheistical
anarchists. They will not get it! God is not about to
hand over the chief world of His dominions to men who
deny His existence. And Science, cultured, learned, polite,
asks the management of the' earth on the ground of her
superior wisdom. She will not get it! To deify law, and
ignore the divine Law-giver, is proof positive of incapacity
to rule.
Yet, notwithstanding the pre-determined fact that none
of the world-factions shall reach the coveted supremacy over
all the rest, the struggle will intensify until, under its white
heat, the harvest and the vine of the earth shall ripen for
the sharp sickle. "And I looked, and behold a white
cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of Man,
having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a
 44 THE BIBLE
•
sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple'
crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud,
Thrust in Thy sickle and reap, for the harvest of the earth
is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle
on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another
angel came out of the temple which was in heaven, he also
having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from
the altar, he that had power over the fire, 'and cried with a
loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, thrust in thy
sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the
earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in
his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth,
and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God.
And the wine-press was trodden outside the city, and blood
came out of the winepress, even unto the bits of the horses;
to the distance of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."
This is what is coming! A ,lake of blood so deep as to
reach the bridles of the horses, and so great as to cover a
space of twenty- five square miles! What a terrible surprise
it will be to Antichrist and the enormous armies that will
serve him in Christ-defying blasphemy when the Son of
Man is revealed from heaven in flaming fire to ~{e
vengeance on His enemies! As a "snare" shall it come
upon them all, and" they shall not escape." In the dire
consternation, and horror, and panic that will seize them,
they will say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His
wrath 'is come, and who is able to stand?" His regal
claims scorned, His coming laughed at as the dream of
persons beneath contempt, the enemies of the Lord will find
in that day of indescribable terror that they made an awful
mistake in supposing that the government of the world W[LS
to be left for ever in such feeble and blundering hands as
theirs. One can easily understand how distasteful many
pass ges of Scripture are to rulers, and would-be rulers,
o seem to think that God had no higher end in view in
the creation of this fair world than to make it a prize for
ambition, a place simply for the acquisition of wealth and
power, and a theatre for the exhibition of a splendour and
glory which all spiritual-minded men know to be hollow
imposture. We shall quote only three of these distasteful
passages ~ ., The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen
/t to nought; He maketh the devices of the people of none
effect." Psalm xxxii. 10. "He bringeth the princes to
nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
11 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown;
yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth; and he
shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the
whirlwind shall take them away as stubble." Isaiah xl.
23, 24. "The rulers of this world are coming to nought.
1 Cor. ii. 6.
STANDARD .
But, it may be asked, why does not the Christian
ministry, paid for the purpose, deal faithfully with the
truths of Revelation, and tell the great men of the earth,-
its governments, rulers, and potentates,-that it is the
Divine purpose to set them all aside, and to place the
supreme sceptre in Hands that will wield it so as to bring
peace on earth, goodwill to men, and glory to God in the
highest? The answer is not far to seek. A ministry that
eats at Csesar's table, and clothes itself in scarlet and fine
linen at Csesar's cost, is not likely to risk Csesar's displeasure
by telling him that his days are numbered, that he has been
weighed in the balances and found wanting, and that he
must resign his throne to One infinitely better than he.
This uncourteous language would grate upon royal ears, and
disturb the harmony between Csesar and his priests.-
Besides, theology is accommodating and could easily adapt
itself to the altered state of things consequent upon imperial
favour. When the Church was lifted out of persecution and
poverty, and placed among princes, it was discovered that
the true interpretation of all those Scriptures that seem to
speak of the Son of Man as returning from heaven to rule
all nations must be reached by a spiritualising process.
This met the case admirably. Christ is a King beyond
doubt. The fact cannot be denied, and far be it from any
theologian to dispute a truth so blessed; but then He reigns
in heaven, and in the hearts of men on earth; and when
His coming is spoken of, the meaning is that He comes for
the souls of believers at death, to take them to immediate
glory. The world-powers were more than satisfied with this
explanation, and the theologians were held in esteem.
Jesus was quite welcome to reign in heaven for ever, and
Osesar, thoroughly approving the arrangement, evinced his
gratitude by showering favours on the Church. There is a
history which tells us that certain occupiers of a vineyard
killed the heir, and seized on his inheritance. The
occupiers TWW rejoice that He is alive again, but most
sincerely hope that He· will remain where He is, and not
.!lome back to take possession of His property. What is the
difference between the two sets of husbandmen ?
We shall be reminded, however, that there are large
portions of the Church now that do not eat bread at Cessar's
table, and are, therefore, under no temptation to put a gloss .
on any part of Revelation. True; and we are not likely to
forget a fact which brings with it the painful reflection that,
if unfaithfulness is found, in the absence of temptation the
sin is proportionately greater. The theology of Ceesar's
bishops superseded the doctrine of Apostles; but, alas!
those portions of the Church that have seen it right to
refuse the patronage of the purple, have also seen it right
to /'retain and perpetuate the mischievous theology. Al-
though it is at the expense of truth, to the injury of men,
and unworthy of those who bear the precious name of
 THE BIBLE
Christ. No! It is vain to plead the comparative merit of
one form of ecclesiasticism over another, if God's declared
purpose concerning the kingdom of His Son be altogether
kept out of sight, or presented in such distorted form as to
reveal nothing but the ignorance of the speaker. It is,
moreover, a remarkable fact that, at the present day, you
will find a great,er number of ministers of the Established
Church loyal to the doctrine of the Second Advent than in
all the other large eccle~iast~l b.odies t~ken together; ~nd
if you want to hear foQli3lf and bitter things uttered against
that doctrine, some avowed enemy of the Establishment will
gratify you! These undeniable facts, however, do not
require the alteration of a word in what we have said before.
If, then, the maniIestation of the Divine King in lightning
glory will be a terrible surprise to the powers and princes,
the mighty men and chief captains, what will it be to
ministers of the Gospel who shall pave disqualified them-
selves and their hearers from being taken up to the presence
oUhe Lord by false teaching respecting His coming?
inconceivable terror, shame, consternation, disgrace! applied to the destiny of the righteous. Our business is with
Christian ministers, not honoured with the glorious rapture,
not taken away before the storm, not kept out of the fiery \ assumed and taken for granted in the volume of Revelation.
tribulation ! The subject is too painful for prolonged
thought.-Di·. Leask, " Rainbow."
• granted in the Bible, and with which the doctrine in question
DEPARTURE OF: THE SOUL.
To prove the disembodied state of men after death, or the
existence of spirit-men independent of the body, we are often
referred to the following statements: "As her soul was in
departing" (Gen. xxxv. 18), and" Let this child's soul come
into him again" (1 Kings xvii. 21)_ We fully believe that
the life, sometimes called soul, leaves man at death, but that
is not a personality. The original term nephesh, rendered
soul in these texts, is also translated' life and lives by the same
translators no less than one hundred and twenty times in the
Old Testament scriptures; and the same term is as really
applied to beasts as to men, as in the following texts: "In
whose hand is)he soul [nephesh-life] of every living thing,"
-Job xii. 10. " A righteous man regardeth the life [l,ephesh
-soul] of his beast."-Prov. xii. 10.
If nephesh does not signify a personality within when
applied to beasts, why claim that it does when applied to
man? We deny that the term ever signifies a personality
within man or beast. " As her life was in departing"; "Let
this child's lffe come into him again," is the obvious import
of these texts, though the present translation is not objec-
tionable when we remember that life is one of the meanings
of the term soul.
STANDARD. 45
IS THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL ASSUMED
IN THE BIBLE?
WHATis the" everlasting life" revealed to mankind in the
Gospel? Ancl what is the" death" from which that life is
an eternal salvation? Here, at the threshold of this dis-
cussion, we are told that the soul's immortality is assumed
in the Bible, and that all the language of Scripture must be
understood accordingly. The" immortality Of the soul,"
'says Archbishop Tillotson, "is rather supposed or taken for
granted, than expressly revealed in the Bible."
The silence of the Scriptures respecting man's natural
immortality is commonly admitted. It is an acknowledged
fact that such immortality is nowhere in the Bible stated,
.mentioned, spoken of, or alluded to, in proper terms. It
never appears as a plastic element, in the language of the
~riptures. Neither such expressions as " to live for ever,"
" to exist for ever," "ne\-.?r to die," "to be immortal," nor
any equivalent expressions, are ever applied. to the nature of
Oh! the soul, or to the destiny of the lost. They are only
the common view, that the immortality in question is silently
For argument's sake we will admit this; and we will
compare the Scriptural treatment of this supposed imrlicit
doctrine, with the Scriptural treatment of another doctrine-
that of the divine existence-which is undoubtedly taken for
is often as-sociated as one of the main pillars of religious
truth.
If, now, these two are the cardinal truths of religion, we
should expect them to receive similar treatment, in the
revelation o{ divine character and of human destiny. If one
of these doctrines is stated explicitly and categorically, we
should expect the same of the other. If one is assumed
implicitly and silently,-taken for granted as a doctrine
clear past all doubt and all need of mention, we should
expect the same of the other.
What are the facts? The divine existence is named and
alluc1eclto, and involved in various forms of speech, con-
tinually. It stands out in bold relief on almost every page
of the Bible. It meets the reader at every turn. The
doctrine of God's existence is the apple of gold in the picture
of silver. It is the Mountain of Light that illumines the
volume. It is the central truth, that makes the Bible a
Discourse of God-the Word of God. It is the Shekinah
that imparts sacredness to the Book, so that even sceptics
have approached it with awe, as standing on holy ground.
And lest this one great truth should weary the devout reader
with monotony, it appears in endlessly-varying forms, in
manifold names of the Divine Being and of His glorious
attributes. And to arrest the attention and invite the study
of reluctant men, the Bible yielcls a thousand expressions of
 46 THE BIBLE
the power, wisdom, and goodness of God. If we strike out.
from the record all those passages which tell of His being
and His works, we reduce the dimensions of the volume
almost by half, we make it a book without sense or meaning,
we exchange its radiant light for midnight darkness.
But if we expunge from the same book all those passages
in which the immortality of the soul is mentioned or ex-
pressly assumed, we leave the volume unchanged; it remains
as it was. It might have been written just as we have it,
and the Revelation would have been just as complete as it is,
if the sacred writers had conspired, with uniform consent, to
avoid all reference or allusion to that form of doctrine which
is sometimes calle~l one of the two cardinal truths of all
religion.
Whence this contrast in the Scriptural treatment of these
ideas? Will it be said that the ifumortality of the soul is
sufficiently clear to man's unaided reason?, But that im-
portamt truth: ought to be sU17Jassingly clear to human reason,
uldclc need not be named in a Revelation. And if we suppose
the more obvious truth to be named less frequently because
more obvious, then the soul's immortality should be a
thousandfold clearer than the existence of Q-od, nay, clearer
beyond all comparison, as any large number is incomparably
greater than zero.
That the soul's immortality is so clear past all shadow
or dream of doubt, will hardly be claimed. But granting, for
argument's sake, that it is too clear to need explicit mention
in the Bible, we only encounter a new difficulty. The
Revelation which Goel should make to man is of necessity
given in man's language,-not only in the single words of
human language, but also in the current phrases and forms
of human speech, so far as these are not false, or such as
should be corrected or modified by the Revelation. But if
the soul's immortality were so marvellously clear a postulate
of human reason, it must be a most cherished sentiment,
and must give rise to many common expressions-household
words of natural theology. In fact, whenever and wherever
this doctrine has obtained, it has created various modes of
expression that reveal the sentiment. Why, then, are these ex-
pressions altogether avoided or ignored in the Bible? Why
should the Holy Spirit-so ready to catch the language of the
mortals who were to be taught the wfl:y of life-have failed to
conform to their style of thought in this most important
item of their own immortal nature? Why, if God has told
men that they must enjoy or suffer for ever, has He never
urged His invitation or His warning in the name of the
immortality He has given them? Such a gift, surely, would
be pre-eminently worthy of mention, to those who think and
say so much of their supposed possession of the boon. Did
He not desire them to be grateful for that which would so
liken them to Himself?
Such are our difficulties, on the supposition that the soul's
I'
STANDARD.
immortality is too clear to need mention in a Revelation.
We meet only a new difficulty when we turn to facts, and
consider the anxious doubts of men for thousands of years
on this very subject. Because man was made for immor-
tality, we find in the ruins of his fallen nature, through all
history, some sentiment of the birthright he had lost. He
finds himself subject to death; but he also finds, or thinks
he finds, some remnant withi.n him of that which is too good
to die. Hence that Question of Ages, "If a man die, shall
he live again?" But when this question came to be
answered, and life and immortality were brought to light by
One Who did gain a signal victory over death, there was not
a word uttered of that immortal nature respecting which
there had been so much talk. He Who had the" words of
eternal Iife " never said that all ~en were to live, or to exist,
for ever. He never spoke of the life which He came to give,
as an attribute or quality of some other essential life which
I
they already possessed.
It becomes, then, at least a fair question, whether the
"taking for granted" of man's immortality is not extra-
Scriptural,-an assumption out of the Bible, and foreign to
jt.-C. F. Hudson, " Doctrine of a Future Life."
•
THE FEARFUL OUTLOOK.
WHAT means this uncertainty, anxiety, perplexity, fearful-
ness, among the reading, thinking, observing ones of the
nation, as they see strange events, and hear the cry all
abroad, "Pr'epare war, wake up the mighty men?"
Whl],t means this staggering under the startling oc·
currences of these days; this "confusion of tongues,"
" dimness of vision," and muffled voices; this unrest and
uncertainty among many in the Christian Church at this
time? Do the "golden pictures" of fancy, the delusive
charms of philosophers and philanthropiats, the dreams of
scientists and socialists, begin to fade and disappear as the
closing days of probation, of mercy and long-suffering,
develop the events long since foretold by the holy prophets;
and the dark clouds of the rising tempest, charged with the
terrible judgments of an in sulted, rej ected, hated, long-
forbearing Sovereign and Saviour, begin to obscure the
false illuminations? Do they begin to hear the muttering
thunders of that dreadful storm of wrath which shall bring
"swift destruction" to the nations for their rejection of
Christ, their pride, haughtiness, and sinfulness? Do the
rejectors of Christ begin to experience calamities and alarm
instead of "peace and safety?" Do they begin to fear
that the events of these times may betoken the approach of
" the day of wrath?" Do they experience that" certain
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
 THE BIBLE
shall devour the adversaries?" If so, there is yet a way of
escape, by turning to Christ, acknowledging Him their Lord,
and accepting His terms of pardon and salvation. He yet
offers to save sinners. Do those believers in Christ who
have, in part, misunderstood the object of His mission and
the closing events of the gospel dispensation, and, by mis-
applications of Scripture,' expected the conversion of the
nations to Christ, the doing away of wars' to give place to
universal peace and brotherhood, begin to see that it was
" a vain vision," an illusion, that led them to hope for what
the Lord had not promised in this dispensation? Their
amazement and unrest indicates disappointment and mis-
apprehension.
The" confusion of tongues" which is heard from certain
religious teachers seems to indicate that they had mistaken
•
the gospel work, and "the old paths," and been engaged
in constructing a new way to rid the world of sin and the
curse with which to supersede the necessity of Christ's
personal return and presence, to execute judgment, dispense
rewards to the race, and inaugurate his reign of righteous-
ness, with all His saints, on the renewed and glorified earth.
Long have we heard the cry, "peace, peace," when God
hath not spoken peace. Long have the" itching ears" of
the vain and disobedient been gratified, in their pride, pomp'
and worldliness, with the teachings that assured them that
all was going well in the general progress of religion,
science, and education, and that all nations would soon
become Christians, and learn war no more, while a universal
brotherhood would establish and constitute the millennium.
All this, and much more of the same, has been dealt out to
the" household of faith," and to the masses, until many
have been put to .sleep by these lullaby songs and" vain
visions."
But the Lord has not suffered these delusive hopes to
corrupt and destroy the faith of the gospel, nor to nullify or
silence His messages of the soon- coming judgment. Many
of the faithful watchmen have followed "the old paths,"
and kept in view the object and end of the gospel dispensa-
tion; they have" watched the way," studied the prophetic
word, marked the progress of the events announced, and
"given the trumpet a certain sound" (as they saw the
harvest of the earth ripening), notifying the Church that her
long-absent Lord was about to return, that the prophetic
times of Daniel and John, limiting the "rule of the
Gentiles," were about closing, that the signs in heaven,
earth, and sea, physical, political, moral, and religious,
portend the closing up xof probationary time. 'l'hey have
faithfully warned the masses by setting before them in
sermons, books, papers, and tracts, by the million, the
graphic announcements of the prophets, Christ and His
apostles, concerning the calamities, desolating wars, distress
and perplexities, frauds and distrust, perils, apostacy, and
STANDARD. 47
abounding of iniquity, which the Scriptures declare would
soon overspread and ruin the nations, corrupt and under-
mine the best institutions of society, poisoning and sub-
verting social relations. Please read the ir books.
But their faithfulness in proclaiming the plain word of the
Lord has greatly annoyed and disturbed those at ease in
Zion, and troubled those who were puffed up with pride,
worldly ambition, and bigotry, whose hearts were not
steadfast with God. This has brought upon them re-
proaches, contumely, ridicule, detraction, and all manner of
abuse, by the world-loving, pleasure-taking, horror-seeking,
unbelieving, self-exalted, unsanctified teachers, and others
with whom they have struck hands, in and out of the
Church. During all this war against the prophecies of the
Bible, the Lord has been vindicating the declarations of His
word as declared by His faithful prophets and ministers.
Jeremiah had declared" Goers controversy with the nations"
that" evil should go forth from nation to nation." J oel
had said, "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles, prepare
war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw
near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into
swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak
say, I am strong." Joel iii. 9, 12.
Daniel had shown the decay and wasting of the Papal and
Mahommedan powers by extensive and terrible wars, and
their final destruction, with all other kingdoms, at Christ's
return. Christ had predicted that Jerusalem should be
occupied by the heathen until His return, and added, con-
cerning the closing scenes of this dispensation: "There
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars
(which have been fulfilled), and upon the earth distress of
nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers
of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the
Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and. great glory."
Luke xxi, 25, 27.
The events of the last thirty years have fully demonstrated
that the above predictions were true, and that the extensive
proclamations of the immediate coming of Christ is also
true. The spirit of war~ the misrule, insubordination,
revolutions, and demoralization among all nations, clearly
indicate the preparation for" the battle of the great day of
God Almighty." Rev. xvi. 14. The teachers who yet re-
main ignorant of the nature of these prophecies, and of their
relation to the events of these times, are so, it appears to us,
simply because they choose to be ignorant, or are blinded by
sinful unbelief; and now instead of realizing "peace and
safety" which they predicted would come (1 Tlies, 1, 2),
wars, and other severe calamities are rapidly increasing, to
their dismay and astonishment, and are to multiply until
our Lord returns.i-=D. T. TaylDl'.
 48 THE· BIBLE STANDARD.

THE FIRST AND SECOND ADAM.

IN the first we have death, in the second we have life.
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