John 3:16: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
The word immortality means "never-dying existence." It therefore, of course, implies the idea of eternal or age upon age lasting life, Correct views on this question are very necessary to a clear understanding and full appreciation of the gospel of the kingdom.
It is thought by some that every person is already in possession of immortality. But according to Cruden's Concordance the word immortality occurs but five times in the Bible (Apocrypha always excepted), and is never applied to sinners.
Once we are told that the Messiah has brought it to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10.
Once that God only has it. [Timothy 6:17[ Once that we must "seek for" it. (Do you seek for what you already have?) [Romans 2:7]
Twice that the righteous will put it on at the resurrection. [1 Corinthians 15:53, 54]
Thus the immortality which the gospel offers to men is an endless life manifested through an immotal body at the resurrection. This immortality was exemplified or brought to light by the literal and bodily resurrection of the Messiah from the dead, to die no more: which resurrection is a precedent of ours: "The Messiah the firstfruits; afterward they that are the Messiah's at his coming." [1 Corinthians 15:23]
The word "soul - being" is found several hundred times in the Bible, but the phrase "immortal soul - being" is never once used in the scriptures. According to Cruden's Concordance, the word "immortal" occurs but once in the Bible, and is then applied not to the human soul but to God: "the King eternal, immortal, invisible." [1 Timothy 1:17]
Having now shown that the phrases "immortal soul - being" and "immortality of the soul - being " (the pet phrases of some writers and speakers) are never found in the scriptures, it follows that if mankind would observe the same silence as the scriptures do concerning them we would never hear them used in human language. And surely "the law of Yehovah is perfect, converting the soul," [Psalm 19:7], and hence the whole gospel and the whole plan of redemption can be fully and effectually advocated without those phrases.
The Bible contains enough words to express its own doctrines, and we should esteem it a virtue to expurgate from our faith such phrases as are neither found in nor justified by the scriptures. How then were these phrases brought into use? Chambers' Encyclopedia says, "The Egyptian nation appears to have been the first to declare that the soul was immortal." - Edition of 1876. But if it had been a revelation of God, and of such importance as some think, we should suppose that Israel would have been the first to declare it, and not the Egyptians; for "the secret of Yehovah is with them that fear - revere Him," and "the meek will He guide in judgment." [Psalm 25:9, 14. The Commentary of Jamieson, Faussett and Brown, highly extolled by preachers and college professors of various denominations, says, "No where is the immortality of the soul, distinct from the body taught: a notion which many erroneously have derived from heathen philosophers. Scripture does not contemplate the anomalous state brought about by death as the consummation to be earnestly looked for [2 Corinthians 5:4], but the resurrection." on 1 Corinthians 15:53.
Some of the heathen philosophized not only on the conscious existence of the soul after leaving the body, but also before coming into it. Perhaps they thought the soul could get along as well without the body before inhabiting it as afterwards. But facts proved that men had no recollection of having lived in a previous life, and this objection threatened to explode the theory: with fertile invention however they affirmed that their souls, before coming into their present bodies, had to drink a cup of forgetfulness. An early Christian writer answered, "How then did they remember that cup?" And thus the tangled web of heathen philosophy on that point was proved to be 62 "foolishness."
A reliable Greek and Hebrew scholar will testify that the words translated "soul" (nephesh in Hebrew and psuche in Greek) are in Genesis four times applied to fishes, fowls, and creeping things of the earth before they are applied to man. The English reader may see two of these instances by the marginal reading of Genesis 1:20, 30. And when applied to man in Genesis 2:7, it is not even then said that he became an immortal or ever-living soul, or that he had such a soul put into him; but simply, "man became a living soul - being." On this passage the American Bible Union says, "The Hebrew word (nephesh) here rendered soul, includes all beings that have animal life; and hence it is applied to animals of the sea and land in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30. The English word soul (like the German seele) originally had this extent of meaning, as in verses 20, 30, in the margin of the common English version." - Genesis with Notes, 1873. These are stubborn and valuable facts which the sincere enquirer after truth will not dare to ignore.
Do you not see then what a monstrous thing it would be to say that a soul is an immortal something which can live and act with an individuality of its own while the body is mouldering in the dust? Can any one suppose that every fish, fowl, has an immortal part of that kind when he reads, "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life (margin soul - being)?” [Genesis 1:20] Would it not be profane to take a title which, occurring but once in Scripture, that is applied to God, and apply that title to every fish, fowl, and sinful mankind? When the Bible declares that "God only has immortality - age upon age lasting life," would it not be a positive falsehood to say that every fish, fowl, and every man, has it also? Could we persistently affirm such a falsehood and hope to escape the lake of fire? [Revelation 21:8]
The "Speaker's Commentary," by "Bishops and other clergy of the Church of England," says on Genesis 2:7, "All animals have the body, all are a living soul - beings, but the breath of life breathed into a man's nostrils by God is said of man alone." The phrase "breath of life" soes not prove a present immortality in man for the lower animals also have the breath of life; "there went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life." [Genesis 7:15, 22] "They have all one breath." [Ecclesiastes 3:19]
What then is the true condition of the dead between death and the resurrection? Let the Bible answer. "The dead know not anything. . . There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave (hades) whither thou goest." This proves them unconscious and inactive; and hence without either pleasure or pain. It is the night "when no man can work." [John 9:4; Ecclesiastes 9:5] "In that very day his thoughts perish." [Psalm 146:4; "His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them." [Job 14:21]. "You are our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us." [Isaiah 63:16] They "dwell in dust." [Isaiah 24:19] They "sleep in the dust of the earth."[Daniel 12:2] They "sleep in Jesus." [John 11:11, 14; 1 Thessalonians 4:14] They have "not ascended into the heavens." [Acts 2:34]. "I shall go to him" [2 Samuel 12:23], means "I will go down into the grave unto my son." [Genesis 37:35]
It is plain from these testimonies that the future reward of the righteous depends on the resurrection; they are to be recompensed “at the resurrection of the just," [Luke 14:14] Paul, after naming some of his sufferings, makes all his hopes of compensation depend on the resurrection, saying, "What advantageth it me the dead rise not?' [1 Corinthians 15:32] He did not preach Jesus and the immortal soul, as many now try to do, but "Jesus and the resurrection." [Acts 17:18]
With much force Adam Clarke says concerning the resurrection, "There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect." It is the theory of going to glory at death which causes the doctrine of the resurrection to be treated with so much neglect. The personal coming of the Messiah, on which the resurrection depends, is also neglected from the same cause. In perfect and beautiful harmony with its teaching that the resurrection is the time of reward, the Bible also teaches that the second coming of the Messiah is the time of reward; so the two classes of testimony ought to be viewed together, one serving to strengthen and confirm the other. We can have no resurrection before the Messiah comes, for "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven . . . and the dead in the Messiah shall rise." [1 Thessalonians 4:16] 64 And "then shall he reward every man according to his work." [Matthew 16:27] "When the chief Shepherd shall appear you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." [1 Peter 5:4] "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to those who afflict you, and to you who are afflicted rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.” A. B. Unions's translation of [2 Thessalonians 1:6, 7]
Here we perceive that neither the "affliction" (thlipsis) pertaining to the wicked, nor the "rest" (anesis) pertaining to the righteous will be received before the Messiah comes. It is a mistake to suppose, as some have done, that the word "rest" in the last quotation is a verb) for it is as much a noun as the word "tribulation" or "affliction" in the same quotation. Paul is here teaching that the Messiah, at his coming, will recompense two things; to the one party "affliction;" to the other "rest." And "let us labor therefore to enter into that rest." [Hebrews 4:11] From Paul we learn that the advent and resurrection will occur at "the last trumpet," and from John that the seventh is the last (for he makes no mention of an eighth), also that under it the kingdom of God will be established on earth, and the "reward given to small and great." [1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52; with Revelation 11:15-18] Till He come, therefore, the righteous dead must calmly sleep in the the revolving earth - the grave, as if rocked in some great cradle. Have you not seen a loving mother go to her child and, thinking it had slept long enough, gently place her hand upon its brow and wake it up? Well, "precious in the eyes of the Lord Jesus is the death of his saints." He marks the moments of their slumbers, and will awaken them with the sound of the 7th Trumpet.
Having now proved that man in the present state does not possess immortality, soes not have an immortal soul, and having traced out his whereabouts from the morning of creation to the morning of the resurrection, let us next enquire what will become of him at the resurrection?
If righteous he will enter upon the enjoyment of the promised inheritance and of all the shining rewards of a blissful eternity. He will be qualified for those eternal joys by the gift of that immortality - eternal life which is obtained not by nature, but through the Messiah alone; for a the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus the Messiah." [Romans 6:23] But when the wicked stand before him who "was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead," they will be sentenced to "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." [Acts 10:42; 2 Thessalonians 1:9] There is a great abundance of testimony to prove the grand truth that, after being condemned at the judgment, the wicked shall be blotted out of existence; but surely the following selections ought to be enough to convince all who are not blinded by sheer prejudice: "The day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the pround, yea and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, says Yehovah of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch ,,,And you shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ASHES under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says Yehovah of Hosts." [Malachi 4:1, 3] "The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away . . Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be." [Psalm 37:10, 20] "The wicked shall be silent in darkness." [1 Samuel 2:9] They shall be "as nothing." [Isaiah 41:12: Jeremiah 10:24] They shall pass away and perish "as a snail which melteth," and "as wax melteth before the fire." [Psalm 58:8; 68:2] "They shall be utterly burned with fire." [2 Samuel 28:6, 7] They shall be burned up as chaff or tares of the field. [Matthew 3:12; 13:30, 40. To express their doom in a sentence, "They shall be as though they had not been." [Obadiah 16]
Could any human ingenuity frame words into sentences that would more clearly and completely express the utter and final extinction of the wicked? After sinning, Adam was driven out of Eden lest he should eat of the tree of life and live forever. An immortal sinner would be a calamity in the universe. Death is the severest penalty known to human law. It is called "capital punishment" and if never relieved or broken up by a resurrection, would it not be an everlasting punishment? Now the Bible does not say "the wages of sin is torture" but "the wages of sin is death." [Romans 6:23] And that will be the "everlasting punishment" threatened against the wicked, "the second death," a death from which there will be no awakening. Scripture clearly explains what is meant by "the fire that shall not be quenched"; for in Jeremiah 17:27, we read: "I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." The fulfillment of this prediction is recorded in Jeremiah 52:13: Lamentations 4:11]. Of course that fire is not burning now. When we say that a fire in a burning house could not be quenched, we mean simply that it consumed the house, don't we? Eusebius, a learned Greek ecclesiastical historian, relates that "Epimachus and Alexander, who had continued for a long time in prison, enduring innumerable sufferings from scourges and scrapers, were also destroyed in 'puri asbesto', the very same words which in Matthew 3:12, and Luke 3:17, are translated "unquenchable fire." Must we suppose the fire which consumed those two martyrs to be burning yet, simply because it is called unquenchable? Notice that the fire shall burn “the carcasses” of the wicked, and that a carcass is neither a disembodied soul nor a living body; but, according to Webster, "a dead body of an animal, decaying remains of an animal." It is therefore the body which will be cast into that fire. [Isaiah 66:24: Matthew 5:29, 30] When the carcasses of various animals were burned as the offal of ancient cities, the worms would consume what the fire did not. Neither the worms nor fire preserved those carcasses. We read of "everlasting fire," which is the same, "eternal fire," called so because its effects or results will be eternal, just as the "eternal redemption" and "eternal judgment" will be eternal in their effects or results, not that the acts of redeeming and judging will be always going on. [Hebrews 6: 2, and 9:12] The effect of the everlasting or eternal fire will be to reduce the wicked to ashes, for that was its effect in former times, "turning, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes." Compare Jude 7 with 2 Peter 2:26.
If allowed to theorize, I would say that perhaps it will be an electric fire, like ten thousand thunderbolts focalized, for the occasion, into a very "lake of fire." And who can say that electricity, even in its invisible or diffused state, is not an "eternal" element of the material universe? Many who advocate endless torture tell us that the fire will not be literal; pangs of conscience being the real torment. I think this notion started about A.D. 200, with Origen, of whom Adam Clarke says that he was "capable of believing and teaching the most absurd notions for grave truths." Would not this be almost neutralizing future punishment, especially in the case of those who deserve it most, namely, those who have become so steeped in sin as to be already "past feeling," "having their conscience seared as with a hot iron." [1 Timothy 4:2; Ephesians 4:19] Surely the advocates of that theory would not dare to allegorize the history of Sodom and Gomorrha as they do the prophecy of the future fire! The literal burning of the wicked in those two cities has been "set forth for an example" of the future punishment, [Jude 7; Luke 1:7, 26, 29] It was a literal fire which consumed the sacrifice and the armed men. [1 Kings 18, 38; 2 Kings 1:10-14] Surely then "Upon the wicked He shall reign snares," (margin, "Or, quick burning coals") fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest (margin, “Or, a burning tempest"): this shall be the portion of their cup. [Psalm 11:6]
The vague notion just referred to concerning the nature of future punishment reminds me of an equally vague and mystifying notion concerning the place of it. A prominent preacher of the Methodist denomination said (according to a newspaper report of his discourse) that he did not know whether hell is "above or below." I would like to ask him if he ever heard of such a thing as going up to hell? When we read concerning a certain class of sinners that "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever," we must remember that even in the legal precision of the law of Moses "forever" has a limited meaning; "he shall serve him forever," that is, until the death of the servant or master, for in death the servant is free from his master. [Job 3:19; Exodus 21:6] The "forever" in Jonah 2:6, lasted only three days and nights. But I am not saying that "forever" has everywhere a limited meaning, for it is a sound rule concerning the Greek aion, translated "forever," that, as the Enc. Rel. Knowledge says, "It must always be taken in the sense of unlimited duration, unless something appears in the subject or connection in which it occurs to limit its signification." Now, when applied to the conscious torment which the wicked will endure before expiring, something does appear in such a [p135] subject or connection, to limit its signification, for I have heaped up testimony which 67 abundantly proves the wicked to be of a perishable and mortal nature. It is a fact of deep significance that they are not compared to anything fire-proof or indestructible, but only to the most evanescent and cumbustible materials, as CHAFF, STUBBLE, TARES, FAT OF LAMBS &c Throughout the Bible we are taught "the wages of sin is DEATH" [Romans 6:23]; but it was the Serpent, the father of lies, who first denied this great truth, and, with as much bombast and solemnity as if he had been delivering a modern oration against it, said, "You shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." [John 8:44; Genesis 3:4, 5]
This bears a startling resemblence to the assertion of many who are still affirming sinners to be immortal and capable of existing and sinning as long as God and the angels live; in endless duration. But it is a libel on our poor mortal race to say we are capable of perpetrating an eternity of crime. With all our faults we are not so bad as that, for if, in the day of Yehovah, we shall not be found worthy of endless life in holiness and happiness we shall not obtain endless life of any kind, but will only obtain "the wages of sin." The following passages explain one another: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit (pneuma) shall return to God who gave it." [Ecclesiastes 12:7] "The body without the spirit (pneuma; margin, breath) is dead." [James 2:26] In the Greek it is the same word, pneuma, here translated "breath" and "spirit," The first passage affirms that God gave the spirit or breath which returns, for it is He that "giveth to all living creatures life and breath;" it was He that breathed into man the breath of life. [Acts 17:26; Genesis 2:7] The second passage, being added to the first, affirms that although the spirit or breath returneth to God yet THE MAN HIMSELF, as indicated by the masculine personal pronoun "he, returned to his earth," and so they separate. Why should you be surprised that the man proper, the real person, the man himself, goes to dust? has not the divine sentence postively required this? "Unto dust shalt you return." [Genesis 3:19] Would the return of the mere body to the" dust, while the personal "he" or "you” escapes to immediate glory be a fulfillment of this law? If you believe Solomon when he says the spirit shall return to God" you are equally bound to believe him when he says, "the dead know not anything” and that, as to the item of death, both man and beast "go unto one place." [Ecclesiastes 3:20; 9:5] But this is no denial of future rewards and punishments, for he also affirms that “God shall bring every work into judgment," which implies man's resurrection, [Ecclesiastes 12:14]
In the promise to the thief Griesbach notices a Greek reading which has no comma between "you" and "to-day." Placing the comma after "to-day," I would understand the promise to mean, I say unto you to-day, that is, I promptly give you a present assurance as a comfort in a dying hour, that you shalt be with me in the paradise at my coming. The word "to-day" might also be a precious reminder to the supplicant that in his particular case the prayer was not too late, but came "while it is called to-day." [Hebrews 3:13]. It is not only our right but our duty to alter the punctuation when the sense requires it, for the punctuation of the Bible, either in Greek or English, was not placed there by the inspired writers, but is a human invention.
I may remark that "you shall be," in the Saviour's answer, was not intended by the old English translation as a question, any more than "unto dust shalt you return” in Genesis 3:19. The A. B. U. translation reads "you shall be” which agrees better with the usage of modern English. Notice the inconsistency of those who tell you that the pronoun "you" in the promise to the thief means his immortal soul, but that the same "you" in the sentence "unto dust shall you return" means only the mortal body. Sēmeron ("to-day") is an adverb occurring in the New Testament thirty-nine times, and is rendered "to-day" eighteen times, and "this day" twenty-one times. In the single book of Deuteronomy, I find seven occurrences of sēmeron having the comma after it, both in the Greek and English version. [Deuteronomy 4:40; 11:8, 13, 28; 13:18; 19:9; 38:;1; also Acts 26:29] For another instance of declaring to-day, something to be done at a future time, see [Zechariah 9:12, 13] Three days afterwards the blessed Saviour said that he had "not yet ascended" to his Father; how then can you suppose that the penitent thief went there with him on the very day of the crucifixion? It sounds inconsistent when we hear people say that the holy apostles were required to wait until a place should be "prepared" and the Saviour "come again" to them, but that the penitent thief did not have to wait at all but went there immediately at his death. To understand the answer of the Lord, you must understand the prayer of the thief ; he did not say, "Lord remember me when you go" but "when you comest in your kingdom," referring to the second coming when the kingdom will be established on earth. As Archbishop Whately has said, "Into your kingdom is a mistranslation; it should be 'in your kingdom' The meaning is 'at your second coming ' in triumphant glory.", future state. It is the same kind of expression as “when the Son of man cometh in his glory." [Matthew 25:31]. In both places the Greek is not eis (into), but en (in). The American Bible Union has therefore given the correct translation, "Lord remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." The answer agrees with this, "You shall be with me in the paradise (tō paradeiso) "; for the kingdom will be a blissful restored paradise on earth. Liddell and Scott define pradeisos (i.e. paradise), to be "a park, or pleasuregrounds; [p 140] an oriental word used by the LXX for the garden of Eden." The Greek version of Genesis 2:8, 9, 10, 16, and 3:3, 23, has paradeisos where the English has "garden" And that paradise which once existed on earth will be permanently restored to the redeemed in a larger and infinitely better form when the now groaning and inanimate creation shall participate with them in "the glorious liberty of the children of God." [Romans 8: 21; Isaiah 51:3, 3, and 11:9; Numbers 14:21; Revelation 2:7, and 21:5]. But Paul seems to speak of paradise and a third heaven as the same, why then does he say "caught up into paradise," if it is to be on earth? It may be spoken of as "up" because though on earth it will be a higher or more exalted state of existence than the persecuted and suffering life he was then leading. But this phrase c ntains no "up" in the Greek. Campbell's version (1832) renders it, "snatched away into paradise," and "snatched away to the third heaven." In both places it is arpazo that is rendered "snatched away"; and in three Lexicons I do not find to "catch up" among its meanings. In Acts 8:39, it is properly rendered "caught away ," and in John 6:1, 5, "take by force." Paul's words accurately translated would be "snatched away to a third heaven," "snatched away into the paradise." Peter speaks of three heavens as consecutively pertaining to earth, (1) those which "were of old;" (2) those "which are now;" and (3) the future or "new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." [2 Peter 3:5, 7, 13] And that future heaven, when fully revealed, especially in the endless bliss beyond the Millennium, will be "a third heaven" or "the paradise" restored and far eclipsing the lost paradise.
I suppose Paul meant that he had been favored prophetically with transporting and rapturous "visions and revelations" (ver. 1) of that future paradise, which it was not yet allowable to utter; somewhat as John was told to "seal up" what the seven thunders uttered. [Revelation 10:4] And that as to the manner of receiving them, he did not know whether those visions were communicated to him corporeally, or, as John says, "in the spirit." Revelation 21:10. When he says, "Whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord," he does not mean that if in the resurrection body he would be absent from the Lord, for he declares that to be the very time when we shall be "ever with the Lord." [1 Thessalonians 4:16] He was willing to be "absent from the body," but not by being "unclothed" (for he, and Hezekiah before him, had already objected to that), but rather by being "clothed upon" by that eternal house, the resur rection body, and in that way be absent from "this body." This is not the disembodied absence of which Plato and Socrates philosophized, and of which a certain class of moderns profess to be so desirous. [2 Corinthians 5:4, 8: Isaiah 38:11, 14] Paul clearly indicated that he did not desire to be unclothed, and we should not so misconstrue his "desire to depart and be with the Messiah " as to make him contradict himself. This verb "to depart" is analuo (whence came the English "analyze"), and in Luke 12:36, is translated "return." But in Phillipians 1:23, it is the infinitive with the article, and the celebrated Greek grammar of Kuhner says, "The infinitive with the article is treated in all respects like a substantive."
Why then might we not understand Paul as here expressing his desire for the return of the Messiah? But the words are plain enough as they stand, when we remember that the dead are asleep and they "know not anything"; hence, as they cannot count the flight of years, the moment of death seems to them to be the moment of being with the Messiah, in the resurrection morning; as though on a bed of pain, with weeping friends arouud them, they had closed their eyes for an imperceptible moment, and suddenly, with a start and a thrill awoke to the glories of the resurrection morning to find the great Redeemer here, and bright angels crowding into the room. There is no mystery about the souls under the altar [Revelation 6:9] when you remember that the death of a martyr was compared to offering a sacrifice on an altar. Thus Paul says, "Even if I am poured out on the sacrifice and ministration of your faith, I rejoice." A. B. U. version of Philippians 2:17. And when about to be put to death by Xero, he said, "I am now ready to be offered." [2 Timothy 4:6] Concerning the aged Polycarp who suffered martyrdom about A.D. 160, his biographer says, that "Placing his hands behind him, and being bound like a distinguished ram out of a great flock for sacrifice, and prepared to be an acceptable burnt offering unto God," he gave thanks and prayed that he might be an "acceptable sacrifice.'' The ancient literal altar of burnt offering was made "hollow with boards," overlaid with brass, hence called the brazen altar. When the flesh of the sacrifice was offered on this altar the blood was poured out "at the bottom" of it. [Exodus 27:8; Leviticus 4:30] Hence, the blood when thus poured out and saturating the earth, would be "under the altar." And notice particularly that the Greek version of Leviticus 17:14, says, "The life (Greek psuche, soul) of all flesh is the blood thereof, m psuche pases sarkos haima autou esti. We may therefore, by metonomy, speak of the blood of the martyr under the altar, as the soul of the martyr crying "How long?" Thus Abel's blood cried from the ground unto God, and if that cry had been hieroglyphically represented, as under the fifth seal, it might have been described as the voice of the blood of Abel crying out and saying, "How long, O Lord, do you not avenge my blood upon Cain? " The "white robes" were appointed to them by divine decree, just as in the present tense it is said, "All things are yours." [1 Corinthians 3:22] Whether the discourse concerning the rich man and Lazarus [Luke 16] be a parable, or whether it be a prophecy containing some parabolic expressions, it would be contrary to common sense and the sound rules of interpretation to make it conflict with the undoubtedly plain and literal testimonies of Scripture. It is well agreed that we must always interpret the figurative by the literal and so as to harmonize with the literal. It would never do to reverse this rule. Hence after reading so many literal testimonies that the dead are uncouscious till the resurrection, we may not expect the rich man and Lazarus to teach anything to the contrary. To turn every word of this discourse into a literal history of a disembodied state would require the literal Moses and the literal prophets, all in a disembodied state; and the "five brethren," though still in the body, would have to hear those instructors personally, instead of hearing their writings. And, as some one has said, what a vast "bosom " too Abraham would have, to literally hold all the righteous who have died since his time! The discourse therefore contains figures of speech, as all must admit. It does not once mention "soul" or ''spirit," but points to bodily existence, as the eyes, finger, water, tongue, and flame indicate.viii The reason given why there could be no passing between the two places indicates the same "between us and you there is a great gulf (Greek chasma) fixed." Would a gulf or chasm be any obstacle to an immaterial and disembodied soul? And is it to be supposed that such souls in heaven and hell do literally see and converse with one another, the one class begging for mercy, and the other refusing it? for "you" (humōn) is as truly plural here as "us," which indicates that the rich man was but one of a class or company spoken to. It might be thought a parable, in which, to show the importance of hearing Moses and the prophets, lifeless persons or things are personified after the example of the trees going forth to anoint a king (Judges 9:8); or Abel's blood crying from the ground (Genesis iv, 10); or the stone crying out of the wall, and the beam of the timber answering it (Habakuk ii, 11); or Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted. [Matthew 11:18] I call the latter an instance of personification because if Rachel was unconscious in death she knew nothing of the masacre, but if alive in heaven she was beyond weeping and sorrow. In at least two of these personifications "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.'" [2 Peter 1:21] And the Father himself personifies the blood of Abel. Why then might not the Son use the same figure of speech with regard to the rich man and Lazarus? But I am inclined to view it as a prophecy, calling "those things which be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17), and pointing to Jewish affairs at the second advent of the Messiah. And of course those who first heard it did not know how near that advent might be, nor but what it might occur in their own life time. Nor do those Jews now living know but what it may occur in their lifetime. Ever since it was first spoken therefore it has been a warning to that people (whether they will heed it or not) on the importance of hearing Moses and the prophets. Three things cause me to think it relates to "Israel after the flesh: 1st, The rich man though in torment calls Abraham father, and Abraham calls him son; which seems to intimate only the natural relationship, for what other could be appropriate? I do not see why these terms of relationship should be used concerning an unconverted or apostate Gentile; 2nd, There are five brethren, the Rich man making six, exactly the number of Abraham's sons by Keturah, all "born after the flesh” [Genesis 25:1, 2 3]
No Scriptures are mentioned but "Moses and the prophets," the natural Israel refusing to hear the New Testament writers, even to this day. About the time of the second advent there will be a considerable number of Jews in Palestine having "silver and gold, cattle and goods." [Ezekiel 38:8-13] These, I suppose, like the wealthy and covetous Pharisees of old, will claim the right to "sit in Moses' seat" (Matthew. 23:2) and to domineer politically and ecclesiastically over "the poor of the flock," then present among them; for "the poor ye have always with you." [Zechariah 11:11; Deuteronomy 15:11; Matthew 26:11] Now if the latter class be "Lazarus," the former would be "the rich man," one being put for a multitude; just as we now say "the rich man" or "the poor man," meanning two classes of men. Now remember that not all the Jews living at the time of Messiah's coming will be converted and saved, for there will be a rebellious class which the Lord will "purge out from among them." [Ezekiel 20:38; Zechariah 13:8] And of what class will the remnant be composed? I think we have the answer here, "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord." [Zephaniah 3:12] And this, it seems to me, identifies that spared remnant with the Lazarus of Luke xvi. But why then is Lazarus said to die? My answer is that the verb "died" (apothnēsko), which is applied to him and the rich man, does not always imply a literal death; for, according to Greenfield, one if its meanings is, "to die to anything i.e. renounce, refuse submission to." The very same word is used by Paul to express his conversion "For I through law died to law, that I might live to God." [Galatians 2:19] American Bible Union's version. Why then might not the same word apply to the conversion of Paul's modern brethren (of which his own conversion seems to have been "a pattern"; 1 Timothy 1:16,) when, beholding him "whom they have pierced," they shall welcome him with shouts of "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Yehovah - the Lord?" [Matthew 23:39] And being converted to the Messiah at his coming, and having thus "died" to the Mosaic law they will in this way be carried into terms of friendship with, or, as it were into "the bosom of Abraham," who, in a resurrected and immortal state, will then be dwelling on the land long ago covenanted to him. But "the rich man," what will become of his class? If this class be the rebellious portion of that nation, or "the fat and the strong," the Lord says, "I will destroy the fat and the strong, I will feed them with judgment." [Ezekiel 24:16] They will, in the first place, experience a political and ecclesiastical death in being deprived of place and power debarred from Messianic blessings, and driven to the place of their final destruction. Now if the prodigal son in the strange land was "dead" (Luke 15:24) why might not these excommunicated and death-sentenced exiles be spoken of as both dead and buried? Then if while "tormented" in "the fiery indignation" that will soon reduce them to ashes, they lift up their eyes and ''see Abraham in the kingdom of God" (Luke 13:28), he will send no relief because there will be some impassable chasm between them and the Lazarns class; for the latter, though converted, will still be in the mortal body. But at this crisis I suppose the ten tribes will be still in their dispersion, for "the tents of Judah" are to be saved first. [Zechariah 12:7] If then the tormented class desire the Lazarus class to be sent off on a mission to those tribes — the balance of their "father's house" — the answer might be, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." The sin of the Jews was and is the not believing Moses and the prophets. The Saviour said, "Had you believed Moses you would have believed me, for he wrote of me." [John 5:46.
A vail of blindness is upon their heart in reading Moses, but a time shall come when "the vail shall be taken away." [2 Corinthians 3:15,16; Romans 11:7, 25] But why would the sending of the Lazarus class be as the sending of one "from the dead?" Because the conversion or "receiving of them had been as "life from the dead." [Romans 6:15. And thus I have briefly sketched what seems to me a very probable interpretation of the rich man and Lazarus. The mistaken idea that every man has innate and unconditional immortality is a foundation on which are built the following errors:
1, Metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls into the bodies of beasts, birds or fishes. Edwards' Encyclopedia says this doctrine "prevails at the present day almost universally among the heathen nations of the East;"
2, Praying to the dead;
3, Purgatory;
4, Swedenborgianism;
5, The so-called "Spiritualism";
6, Denial of the literal and bodily resurrection, affirming that the body is only a prison and that the soul can get along well enough without it;
7, Depreciating the importance of the second advent and the resurrection, and affirming that we are rewarded at death, in a disembodied state;
8, Depreciating the importance of the promised inheritance which the righteous will obtain in the kingdom that God will establish on earth; and affirming that as soon as they die they go to an inheritance beyond the skies;
9, Depreciating the merits of the Messiah through whom alone and by whose death we can obtain everlasting life, and affirming that we obtained it through Adam and by our natural birth;
10, Denial of a literal fire as the instrument of future punishment. [I suppose this is done because they cannot see how a material fire could hurt an "immaterial soul"];
11, Endless existence in a state of torture and blasphemy. This however has been found so thought-withering that some have endeavored to soften it by advocating, 1
12, The salvation of unconverted heathen idolaters;
13, The salvation of every sincere errorist;
14, Universal salvation.
Briefly stated, the following is the Scriptural doctrine concerning immortality, and it is a misunderstanding of some texts which causes them to be brought forward as if they conflicted with those here quoted.
1. "Immortality (i.e. eternal life) is not inherited by nature, and at birth, but is to be obtained only through the Messiah, and by none but the righteous. Proof: "The gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus the Messiah" Romans 6:23] "In this was manifested the love of God toward ns, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." [1 John 4:9] "This life is in His Son." Denying this would be denying "the record that God gave of His Son." [1 John 5:10] 11. Hence He is called "our life" and "the way, the truth, and the life." [Colossians 3:4; John 14:6] And that gift of eternal life is for none but a certain and specified class: "YOU have given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as MANY AS YOU HAST GIVEN HIM." John 17:2] Hence He does not say that Adam transmitted to them eternal life, but "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish” [John 10:28] "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever belie vet h in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." [John 3:16.
The belief of this great truth enables us to properly and highly appreciate the great atonement and the precious blood poured out on the cross for us. It extols the sufferings and the divine love of our Saviour; and helps us to "give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name," as our Life-giver. [Psalm 106:8] But it humbles the carnal pride of man by showing him that "we all do fade as a leaf" and that none of us are by nature immortal. We have not yet obtained immortality, but it is a matter of promise, hope, and reward; and will be given to none but those who properly "seek for" it. Proof: "This is the promise that He has promised us even eternal life." [1 John 2:25]. "In hope of eternal life . . . That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life." [Titus 1:2; 3:7] "If you will enter into life keep the commandments.” [Matthew 19:17] "They that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life." [John 5:29] "To them who by patient continuance in well doing SEEK FOR glory, honor and immortality” He will render eternal life. Romans 2:7] "As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death." [Proverbs 1:19; 8: 35, 36]
It is to be obtained in the resurrection, at the personal coming of Christ. Proof: "They that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life." [John 5:29] “Many that shall sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to everlasting life. [Daniel 12:2] When "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven" and the dead in the Messiah shall rise, "this mortal shall put on immortality." [1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:42, 54]
Remember the terms on which that everlasting life is to be obtained. You must believe in the Son of God and obey his words - commands. This means, as proved in the second discourse, a belief of the message, testimony or doctrine which He preached. It is a mistake to suppose that you truly believe in Him so long as you refuse to believe and obey hiss word, teachings. The vague notion that believing in the Son is something less than believing the Son, is a dangerous and delusive piece of sophistry. If any such quibble be raised about believing in the Son (ver. 16), John settles it in ver, 33 by showing the essentiality of believing the Son's testimony; and in ver. 36 by saying, "He that believeth not the Son (no 'in' here) shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." [John 3:33, 36] And so Paul, in a sublime sentence of three words, says, "I believe God," i.e. he believed what God had said. [Acts 27: 25] Thus, too, "Abraham believed God," i.e. believed the promises which God had made to him. [Galatians 3:6; Romans 4:21]. And so in order to obtain eternal life you must be able to say, "I believe Jesus," i.e. believe the words that THE PREACHED THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM. And will you not commence now to seek for that immortality which the Redeemer died to purchase for you? If you had the wealth of Rockefeller, the power of the Czar of Russia, the strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, and the long life of Methusaleh, but should come short of eternal life at last, your life would be a miserable failure, and you had better never have been born. But however humble your lot may now be, if you succeed in obtaining eternal life at the resurrection you will be unspeakably blest. You may regret having begun too late to seek for it, but surely you will never regret having begun too soon. Did you ever hear one on a deathbed regret having led a long and holy Christian life? O you, 1 beseech you, do not any longer "neglect so great salvation.” Look at three scenes in the sinner's career.
1, See him attentively and respectfully listening to the gospel of the kingdom, as its exceeding great and precious promises are explained concerning the coming of the Messiah, the establishing of that kingdom on earth, and the everlasting joys which the redeemed will then obtain therein. He listens to the invitations exhorting him to believe, be baptized, and lead a holy life, that he may be saved when that kingdom comes. Perhaps tears gather in his eyes as he listens, and he is almost persuaded to be a Christian; but, reaalizing it will be a great struggle, he hardens his heart, resists the good influence, and, when the assembly is dissolved, he goes away sorrowful, because the love of sin has a deadly hold upon him.
2. Some time has passed; the scene is changed. Behold him prostrate on a bed of pain, groaning in the agonies of death ; and oh ! sad thought ! he is dying in his sins. A young man, himself a sinner, having waited at the bedside of such a person, whose agony was too horrible to witness, declared to me at the breakfast table next morning, "I never want to see another sinner die." Yes, behold the sinner dying with no comfort in his last hour, but only "a fearful looking for of the fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary."
3. See him in the resurrection, summoned from the grave and hurried before the great white throne of judgment. Pale and trembling, he stands to hear the awful sentence, and all in a moment his features appear to be pinched and shrunken, and I seem to hear some, standing by, say, "How soon is the fruitless tree withered away!" Then hear that haunting scream — his last, long, unearthly shriek of woe as he is cast headlong into the consuming billows of the "lake of fire."
But look at three scenes in the Christian's career.
1. Having confessed his belief of "the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ" (which tilings compose the gospel of the kingdom [Acts 8:12], and having been baptized for the remission of sins, he comes up out of the water enabled henceforth to rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
2. And when he comes to die, see the weeping friends around his bed; but on his own countenance is the mark of inward peace, for he knows that underneath are the everlasting arms, and he can say, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." [Psalm 23:] And so he passes quietly away like the summer wave upon the shore.
3. At last behold him in the resurrection morn; he stands among the shining ranks and sings the glad redemption song. He and all that host in bright array have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And so "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." [Revelation 7:14-17]
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