Bible Standard June 1878

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ihle cJ tandard .Issued monthly by "The Bible Standard Publication Society," Lincoln.

EDITED BY

Geo. A. BROWN, Pastor of Mint Lane Baptist Church, Lincoln.

HE BIBLE STANDARDs devoted to the exposition of Biblical Truth, especially the doctrine of Conditional Immortality, the literal Resurrection of

the Dead, the Final Destruction of the Wicked, the Signs of the Times, the Second Coming of Christ, and His Personal Reign on earth.

" The Wages of Sin is Death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

No. 9. JUNE, 1878.

WHAT IS MAN?

ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.

PROPOSITIONIX.

THE LIFE GIVEN TO THE BODYBELONGSTO IT.

Gen. xxxiv. 8. "And Hamor communed with them,

aying, the soul of my son Shechem longeth for your

1 Sam, xxiv. 11.

Psalm lxxxvi. 13.

"Thou huntest my soul to take it."

"Thou hast delivered my soul from'

. "

"The Lord redeemeth the soul ofsalm xxxiv. 22.

s servants."

Isaiah liii. 10-12.

ffering for sin .

to death."

Matt, xxvi. 38.

to death."

"When thou shalt make His soul an

. because he hath poured out His soul

"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even

X.

KNOWLEDGEOFOURPERSONALITYS so CLOSELYCONNECTED

WITH THE UNIONOF LIFE WITH THE BODY, THAT THE TERM

LIFE OR SOUL IS USED TO EXPRESS THE CREATURE OR THE

PERSON.

Gen. xiv. 21. "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram,

ive me the persons, (marg'in-souls,) ann take the goods

thyself."

Lev. v. 2, "Or, if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether

t be a carcase of an unclean beast, . . . . he also shall be

nclean, and guilty."

Lev. vii. 18. "It shall be an abomination, and the soul

eateth of it shall bear his iniquity."

Lev. vii. 20. " The soul that eateth of the flesh,

ven that soul shall be cut off from his people."

Joshua x. 30. "And he smote it with the edge of the

word, and all the souls that were therein; he let none

emain in it." See also i::l2and 39 1J.

Joshua xxiii. 11. "Take good heed therefore unto your-

selves, (margin-your souls.] that ye love the Lord your God."

See also Joshua xi. 11.

1 Chron, v..21. " And they took away their cattle; ....

and of men (margin-souls of men) an hundred thousand."

Job xxxvi. 14. "They die (margin-their soul dieth) in

youth."

Jer, xxxvii. 9. "Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your-

sel ves (margin-souls)."XI.

THE UNIONOF BODYWITHLIFE IS so CLOSE,THATEFFECTSARE

SAID TOBE PRODUCEDUPONTHE LIFE THATARE SUPPOSEDTO

BE ONLYCAPABLEOF BEINGPRODUCEDUPONTHE BODY.

Joshua xi. 11.

therein."

Psalm xvi. 10. "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell."

Compare Acts ii. 27 and 31.

Psalm xxx. 3 .. "0 Lord, Thou hast brought, up my soul

from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not

go down to the pit."

. Psalm xlix. 15. "But God will redeem my soul from the

power of the grave: for He shall receive me."

Jer, ii. 34. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the

souls of the poor innocents."

Isaiah xxxviii. 17. "Thou hast in love to my soul deliv-

ered it from the pit of corruption."

Ezekiel xiii. 18. "Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and

will ye save the souls alive of them that come unto you? "

Ezekiel xxii. 25. "They have devoured souls," and 27 v.

"to destroy. souls."

See also Jonah ii. 6-7.\

"And they smote all the souls that were

XII.

How THIS UIHONIS EFFECTED WE KNOWNOT.

Eccles. xi. 5. "As thou lmowest not what is the way of

the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her

that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of

God who maketh all."



( ) 6 .THE BIBLE STANDARD.

John iii. 8. Jesus said, "the wind bloweth where it

listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not

tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone

that is born of the spirit."

XIII.

THE LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD, AND SAID TO BE THE BLOOD.

Gen. ix. 4. " But flesh with the life thereof, .. the blood

thereof, shall ye hot eat."Lev. xvii. 10-11. "Fodhe life ofthe flesh is in the blood.',

Lev. xvii. 13-14. "He shall even pour out the blood

thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh,

the blood of it is for the life thereof."

Deut. xii. 23. " Only be sure that thou eat not the blood:

for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life

with the flesh."

XIV.

THE TAKING AWAY OF THE BREATH OF LIFE CAUSES MAN TO

BECOME A DEAD SOUL OR CREATURE.

Gen. vii. 21-22. "And all flesh died, .... and every

man: all in whose no-strils was the breath of life, (margin-

the breath of the spirit of life,) of all that was in the dry

land, died."

Job xxxiv. 14-15. " If He set His heart upon man, if He

gather unto Himself His spirit and His breath; all flesh

shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust."

Psalm civ. 29-30. "Thou hidest Thy face, they are

troubled: Thou takest away their breath. they die and

return to their dust. Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they

are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."

Psalm cxlvi. 3-4. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in

the son of ,man, in whom there is no help, (margin-salvation.)

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; . in that

very day his thoughts perish."

Eccles. iii. ~9-21. "For that which befalleth the sons of

men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the

one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath

(Hebrew-mach); so that a man hath no preeminence above

a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; . all are of

the. dust, and all turn to dust again. Who lmoweth the

spirit (Hebrew -Tuach) of man that goeth upward, and the

spirit (Hebrew-ruach) of the beast that goeth downward to

the earth?"

Eccles. xii. 5-7. "Because man goeth to his long home,. . . . then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and

the spirit unto God who gave it."

Isaiah ii, 22. " Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his

nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? "

XV.

MAN IN THIS STATE IS SAID TO BE DEAD OR ASLEEP.

Job. vii. 21. "For now shall Isleep in the dust."

Psalm xc. 5. "Thou carriest them away as with a flood;

they are as a sleep."

Psalm, xiii. 3. "Lighten mine eyes, lest Isleep the sleep

of death."

Daniel xii. 2. " And many of them that sleep in the dust

of the earth shall awake."

Matt. ix. 24. "[Jesus said] Give place: for the maid is not

dead, but sleepeth."

John xi. 11-14. "[Jesus said.] Our friend Lazarus sleep-

eth." (14.)" Lazarus is dead."Acts vii. 60. [Of Stephen,] "And when he had said this,

he fell asleep."

1 The se . iv. 16-17. (13.) "Concerning them which are

asleep." (14.)" Which sleep in Jesus." (16.)" The dead

in Christ."

2 Peter iii. 4. ;' For since the fathers fell asleep."

XVI.

DEATH A RLEEP IN THE GRAVE OR HELL, (Greek-HADES, OR

THE UNSEEN.)

Gen. xxxvii. 35. "[J acob said] For Iwill go down into the

grave unto my son mourning."

Gen.!. 5. "[Joseph said,] My father made me swear,

saying, La, Idie: in my grave which Ihave digged for me

in the land of Canaan,there shalt thou bury me."

2 Killgs xxii. 20. "[To J osiah,] Thou shalt be gathered

into thy grave in peace."

Psalm xxx. 3. "0 Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul

from the grave."

Hosea xiii. 14. " Iwill ransom them from the power o

the grave; Iwill redeem them from death."

John v. 28-29. " [Jesus said] The hour is coming, in the

which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and

shall come forth."John xi. 43. "[Jesns said.] Lazarus come forth."

Acts ii. 27. "[Of Christ.] Because Thou wilt not leave

my soul in hell." And 31.

XVII.

THE TERM DEATH IS APPLIED TO THE PERSON, OR THE SOUL

OR THE BODY.

Num. vi. 6. "He shall come at ho dead body (Hebrew-

nephesh)."

Num, ix. 6. " Who were defiled by the dead body (Hebrew

-nephesh) of a man."

Compare Lev. xxiv. 17 "He that killeth any man(margin-smiteth the life [n ephesh] of a man)."

.losliua xi. 11. x.30-32-39. [Joshua] "smote all the

souls."

Judges xvi. 30. Sampson said, "Let me (mm'gin-my

soul, [Hebrew-n"ephesh) die with the Philistines."

Job xxxvi. 14. " They die (margin-their souls dieth) II

youth."

Psalm xxii. 29.

Haggai ii. 13.

" None can keep alive his own soul."

"Unclean by a dead body (nephesh)."



THE BIBLE STANDARD. 67

XVIII.

THE AWAKINGROMTHE SLEEPOF DEATHIS RESURRECTION.

Job xiv. 12. "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the

heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out

of their sleep."

Psalm xvii. 15.thy likeness."

Isaiah xxvi. 19. "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust."

Dan, xii. 2. " Them that sleep in the dust of the earth

shall awake."

Mal'le v. 39-41. "The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth,

. . . . Damsel, I say unto thee, arise."

Mark xii. 26. "And as touching the dead, that they rise."

John v. 21. "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and

quickeneth them."

John xi. 11. [Of Lazarus,] "I go, that I may awake him

out of sleep."

Rom. iv. 17.

dead."

2 Cor. i. 9.

Eph. v. 14.

the dead."

"I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with

"God, who quickeneth (maketh alive) the

"In God which raiseth the dead."

" Awake, thou that sleep est, and arise from

XIX.

SOMEMENWILLNEVERBEWAKEDFROMTHISSLEEPOFDEATH.

Isaiah xxvi. 14. "Dead, they shall not live; deceased,

they shall not rise."

Jer, li. 57. " They shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not

wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts."

XX.

THE RESURRECTEDNESWILLBE OF TWOCLASSES.

Luke xiv. 14. "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrec-

tion of the just."

John v. 28-29. "All that are in the graves shall hear

his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,

unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,

unto the resurrection of damnation."

ADDENDA.

XXI.

THI'; WORDRENDEREDSOULIX THE COlVHlONERSIONS ALSO

RENDEREDN VARIOUSWAYS,AS FOLLOWS:1. Life. Gen. i. 20. "The moving creature that hath

life (margin-soul)." Gen. ix. 4., &c., &c.

2. Creature. (Gen. i. 21. "Every living creature

(Hebrew-soul)." (24.)" Let the earth bring forth the living

creature (He!lT!3w~soul)." (ii. 19.) "Whatsoever Adam

called every living creature (HebTew-soul)," See also Gen.

ix. 10. and Leo, xi. 4G .

3. The entire person. E», i. 5. "And all the souls that

came out of the loins of Jacob." Gen. xiv. 21. "Give me

the persons (margin-souls)." Gen. xxxvi. 6. "All the

persons (mal'gin-souls) of his house."

4. Man. Ex. xii. 19. "Even that soul shall be cut off."

Psalm cv. 18. "He was laid in iron (margin-his soul came

into iron)." 1saiah xlvi, 2. "Themselves (maTgin-theu'

souls) are gone into captivity."

5. To various conditions attached to man. Gen. xxiii. 8.

"If it be your mind (soul)." See also Deut, xxviii. 65.

Ex. xv. 9. "My lust (soul) shall be satisfied upqn them."Deut, xxiii. 24. "Thou mayest eat grapes at thine own

pleasure (soul)." 1 Sam, xxii. 2. "Everyone that was

discontented (margin-bitter of soul)." Pro». xxiii. 2. "If

thou be a man given to appetite (soul)."-

H. Briuaiu, Birminqham;

THE EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT.

"These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous

into life eternal."-lVIatt. xxv. 46.

THIS passage is often read as if it said-" These shall goaway into everlasting miserq or torment; and one clergyman

at least has affirmed that the word rendered punishment

here, should be translated torment, The only reason he

assigns is, that "The identical word is, in 1 John iv. 18,

rendered torment," Now, any weight such a reason can have

would turn the scale equally well in the other direction; for

it might, on the same grounds, be argued, that the term

rendered" torment" in 1 John iv, 18, should be translated

"punishment," seeing it is so rendered in Matt. xxv. 46.

The question as to which of the translations of the word is

the correct one, must be decided by other means.

Our translators have rendered the term "punishment" in

Matt. xxv. 46. Were they justified in rendering it "torment"

in 1 John iv. 18? I respectfully submit they were not. The

Greek term in question (kotasin] occurs only twice in the

New Testament (Matt. xxv. 46, and 1 John iv. 18); in the

one case it ts rendered "punishment," in the other

"torment." The verb [Icolazii] from which the noun

(Icclasin ] comos, occurs also twice, Acts iv. 21-" So when

they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding

nothing how they might punish ( kolaeoturi] them;" 2 Pet.

ii. 9-" The Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust unto

the day cif judgment to be punished {kolaeiimenous ], Now,there is no reason why kolasui should be rendered differently

in 1 John iv. 18. Fear does not always produce torment,

Sometimes, indeed, it does; but it also produces various

degrees of emotion, from simple uneasiness to such a degree

of mental suffering as to produce DEATH..Dur translators

would therefore have acted far more correctly, both in a

philological and philosophical point of view, had they

rendered {lcolcsin ) punishment here also. Accordingly Mr.

R. Young, in his translation, translates the passage "fear

hath punishment:" For these reasons, then, we hold by the

language of Mou: xxv, 46,-" These shall go away into (or

unto) everlasting punishment."



68 THE BIBLE STANDARD.

Yet many hold" everlasting punishment" to be equivalent

to "everlasting torment." On this point Mr. Dobney, in his

work on "Future Punishment," has the following sensible

remarks :-

"People are not content with the phrase 'everlasting

punishment;' they must substitute another word forpunishment. And what shall it be? Misery, or torment,no matter which. And so our Lord is represented as saying,'These shall go away into everlasting misery (or torment).'Whereas He says nothing of the kind. Let us reverentlyadhere to His own expression; He says, 'everlasting punish-

ment,' and not 'everlasting torment.' And the two thingsare utterly distinct. I affirm as strongly as any man thatthe wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment; butthen I deem it my duty to say, as our Lord said, 'punish-ment.' I have not the presumption to correct His phraseology,in order to harmonize it with my notions. But orthodoxydoes this. And it is only by substituting 'misery,' or'torment,' for punishment, that this text can be made tosupport the popular doctrine. But let. us not add to Hiswords, lest He reprove us.

" It is an indisputable fact, and terrible enough withoutexaggeration, that the wicked shall go away into everlastingpunishment. But what is punishment? Is misery, ortorment, a fair and proper synonym? It will not beasserted. Johnson defines punishment 'any inflictionimposed in vengeance of a crime.' Whatever a judge justlyawards to an offender for his crime is punishment. Stripes,fines, deprivation, imprisonment, degradation, death, may bethe 'punishment' awarded in an earthly court. Andwhether it be a night's confinement in a cell, awarded to achild, or a flogging awarded to a young thief, or transporta-tion to the felon, or death to the murderer, it is with equalpropriety called punishment in each case. And the substitu-tion of the word 'misery,' or 'torment,' would be utterlyinadmissible. Yet the present text will not answer the

purpose of my opponents unless they make such substitution,which in pulpit harangues I have perceived to be generallydone. . . . . The question is narrowed to this, What is thepunishment which is ,to be everlasting? ... I of courseadmit that the infliction of everlasting torment would beeverlasting punishment. On the other side, it must also beallowed, that, in case God should really destroy the incorrig-ible, literally destroy them, so that they for ever cease to be,this infliction of death would be punishment. And then,surely, a complete and final and irretrievable destruction-adestruction which is for ever, is to all intents an everlastingdestruction. And so everlasting destruction would beeverlasting punishment. And for the phrase everlastingdestruction we have the very highest authority, in 2 Thess, i. 7,-' The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with His

mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on themthat know not God, and obey not the gospel of our LordJesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlastingdestruction from the presence of the Lord, and from theglory of His power.' "-pp. 206-207.

These observations serve to show that the word punishment

cannot of itself express what is the nature of the penal

enactment to be endured; and that the adjective " everlasting"

indicates the duration, not the kind of punishment threatened;

and that" everlasting destruction" is as really an everlasting

punishment as eternal torment would be.

When we refer to those scriptures where the nature of the

punishment to be inflicted on the finalJy impenitent is men-

tioned, we find it to be "death," "perishing," "burnt

like chaff in unquenchable fire," "passing into smoke l

the fat of lambs," "everlasting destruction," &c.

But while the term "punishment," in Matt. xxv.

cannot of itself express the kind. of punishment to be endur

by those of whom it is predicted, yet the context, even apfrom those explicit statements just eited, goes far to sh

that this "everlasting punishment" is death. For be

observed, this "everlasting punishment" is the antithes

to "everlasting life."

" These shall go away into everlasting punishment,

the righteous into everlasting life." " LIFE" is not

opposite of '<punishment;" unless that punishment be dea

For it is as correct to speak of a miserable life as of a hap

one, If" the everlasting punishment, here threatened, w

everlasting misery, the parties condemned would as really

away into everlasting life as would the parties approv

Had the declaration been,-" These shall go away into ev

lasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasti

happiness," then, in the absence of contrary testimony,

would have been fair to infer that "everlasting miser

was the punishment threatened, because m.isery would h

been the antithesis to happiness. But seeing that LIFE is

reward promised to the one party-DEATH must be

punishment threatened to the other-else both parties wo

have everlasting life.

Here it is necessary to notice that the term translat

punishment [kolaein) primarily means a cutting off. T

verb (kolazo) primarily signifying to cut off, to prune,thus, when applied to persons, would signify a cutting of

life, i.e. a putting to death. Yet, while this is the prima

import of the term, the usage of it, as mentioned at

outset, shows that, conventionally, it is equivalent to

word "punishment."

Many are so thoughtless as to affirm that death is

punishment at all, and yet it is uniformly styled Cap

punishment, However it may be viewed by us, the Gr

Lawgiver regards it as" the highest punishment; the pe

enactments contained in the statue book He gave to Isr

bear striking testimony to this; as well as does the prim

doom of man's transgression.

The greatest boon of Heaven to our sinful race is a

represented in the Scriptures, to be life eternal. In this w

manifested the love of God towards us, because, that G

sent His only begotten ~011 into the world, that we mi

live through Him, "The wages of sin is death, but

gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lor

-Wo Laing.

DAVIDONTHE DESTINYOF THEWICKED.-He says, " M

that is in honor and understandeth not, is like the bea

that perish."-- Psalm xlix. 20.




THE PULPIT.

ONEof the most humbling facts of the day, if our readers

would think of it, is the criticism of the pulpit by the secular

press. Not that we object to that criticism, severely cutting

as it sometimes is, but to the lamentable truth that the

pulpit so richly deserves it. It lays itself open to attack; it

invites censure; it seems to study the art of stupidity; its

threadbare platitudes are not fit for intelligent children, far

less grown men. In every other profession men try to rise

to the level of the work before them, but the pulpit, with

some splendid exceptions that reveal the surrounding desert,

drawls and nods over its slovenly compositions as if its work

required neither heart nor head, neither brain nor energy;

it goes its drowsy round as if there were some charm in its

wooden box to 3;rouse the co:nscience, to enlighten the mind,

to pierce the heart, and to attract the steps to the paths of

immortality. Its rebukes are faint, its warnings timid, its

invitations lack earnestness, and its exhibitions of the

Gospel are woefully defective.

Are the charges well founded? The reader may assure

himself that it is with deep sorrow they are made. We feel

more keenly than words can express the momentous

importance of this matter. The Gospel of the grace of God

is a thing of peerless beauty, a divine splendour, an unmixed

glory; to deal with it as a commonplace is insufferable; to

prose and drone and dream over it as a stale story, whose

power to thrill the soul has been lost by the progress of

time, is an affliction to the enlightened Christian hearer

which he cannot bear without mental anguish.For what is this Gospel, the presentation of which is so

mournfully defective in our day,-a day of dead form, and

senseless ceremony, and miserable retrogression? What is

this divine message to mankind, which officialism has

overlaid with tradition, and misrepresentation, and scholastic

glosses? "Doing duty" in the pulpit, and sitting out the

the somnific infliction in the pew, with the air of martyrs,

are surely miserable illustrations of the good news that

secured the mental homage of such an intellectual giant as

Paul, and the boundless affection ~f such a heavenly lover as

John. Away with this groaning and droning in connection

with the finest, and purest, and grandest story that ever

found its way to the e;yes and ears of men, and glorified

human language by condescending to be clothed therein!

If the story were doubtful in origin, or questionable in

ethics, or powerless in result, then let the worthy men whose

profession it is talk about it, be honest, and give up talking

about it. There are millions of acres of virgin soil in the

splendid colonies of our empire, waiting to reward the

labourer with a profit of a hundredfold. Let the gentlemen

who talk of eternal truth as if it were a threadbare matter of

which they were half ashamed, strip themselves of gown and

cassock, and preach with spade and plough to the fertile

valleys of our American and Australian possesajons. If

their hands are too soft for such work, that is no reason why

heads too soft for vigorous thoughts and manly speech

should cheat the British people out of the glorious Gospel

feast that ought to be waiting for them on the first day-of

every week; if, like the rogue in the parable, they cannot

dig, that is no reason why they should continue in a steward-

ship for which they are so notoriously incompetent.

The divine message to mankind, which is so deplorably

adulterated and spoiled, is, in its essence, nothing short of

the eternal harmony of light and love. It is God's music

sung over the refractory child to win him back to the peace

and happiness of home. -It is the solution of a dark mystery

by a revelation of surpassing brightness, whose light glorifies

every attribute of God. It is the voice of gentlest mercy,

propounding its own most gracious terms, with a view to the

moral restoration, purity, peace, and immortality of aU"who'

will listen to it. It is God speaking through Jesus Christ,

the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Lord of all, and asking men

to be reconciled and saved, without money or price, virtue

or merit, th!1t they become what He would have them,-sons

of God, and fellow heirs with Christ of an imperishable

inheritance.

And it is on this theme, so profound, so far-reaching, so

glorious, so attractive, and so full of life, and joy, and hope,

tha~ many of its professing advocates speak in a manner

that no advocate at the bar would imitate, however worth-

less his client, if he had any wish for either employment or

reputation. "The pulpit is losing its hold upon the people."True enough. No doubt of it. But why? Has the good

news, the glorious gospel, changed? Has our need of its

inestimable blessings diminished? Or has our boasted

science discovered a better way of healing the broken-

hearted than that which the Saviour reveals? No, no!

Let the pulpit be true to its heavenly message,-eal'l1est,

evangelical, faithful ;-let it preach Christ in the preciousness

of His character, the completeness of His work, and the

boundless love of His heart; let it denounce lifeless forms

and pagan ceremonies; let it proclaim Christ only as the

Way, the Truth, and the Life; and it will regain its hold

upon the people, and secure the gratitude of multitudes who

now regard it with very little favour.

Give the people food, and they will flock to your churches

and chapels; set before them the bread of Heaven, and the

clear waters of salvation that flow from the throne of God

and the Lamb, and they will eat and drink, and bless the

hand that feeds them. But if you mock the hungry with a

stone, and ask the naked to weal' a garment of righteousness

for themselves, and then complain of their indifference, and

perverseness, and depravity, you only add injury to mockery,

and embitter their souls against the divine remedy for their

necessities, which you have so shamefully misrepresented.



70 THE BIBLE STANDARD .

The indifference complained of is deepened in too many

cases by those who fail to take the Scriptural way of

removing it. "Another Gospel," whether it be that of

Rationalism or that of Romanism, will neither alleviate the

pangs of a guilty conscience, nor satisfy the yearnings of a

hungry heart. Men need Christ's full ancl free salvation,

and if those who are avowedly set for the defence of the

Gospel, fail to present that to them, then the glory is

departed, and Ichabod may be written upon the temples of

Old England.-Dr. Leark.

CHRIST REJECTED.

" There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for sinc.e t~le fathers

fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the

creation."-2 Peter iii. 3-4.

• I learn from these words that, in the times to which the

apostle alludes, the subject of Christ's coming and its accom-

paniments is to be agitated and discussed; that there will

be many who will be very unfavourably affected toward it,

some of whom will deny it altogether, some revile it as a

foolish dream, some agree that it is taught in the Scripture

but to be understood after a manner very different from what

the literal terms import; and that there will be a great lack

in the minds of people generally, of susceptibility to be

seriously moved by this subject, except to revile it and turn

it into ridicule. A scoffer is, properly, an insolent ridiculer,

a scoruer, a contumelious reproacher; hence Henry (in Ioc.}

pescribes these persons who "laugh at the very mention of

Christ's second coming, and do what in them lies to put all

out of countenance who seriously believe and wait for it :-

who can not deny that there is a promise, yet laugh at it."

Isaiah v. 19, Jer. xvii. 15, and Ezek. xii. 22. had before

prophecied of similar manifestations with reference to the

same subject and the same times.

Christ also says, of some of His own professed servants,

that, as the time draws near, they will put aside the subject,

and say, "My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to

smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the

drunken."-lIiatt. xxiv. 48·-5l.

Startling also is it, in this connection, to think how

imperative and null this powerful doctrine of Christ's speedy

return has become in the religion of modern times.

It is remarked by a distinguished German theologian

(Dr. Carl August Auberlen , Professor in Brazil), that" the

second coming of Christ, viewed in connection with the

kingdom established by it upon earth, occupies a much more

prominent position in the view of the sacred Scriptures than

in that of the modern Church." The remark is unquestion-

ably true. It may safely be said that there is not another

doctrine in the whole Christian Creed, of equal prominence

and importance, which is so coldly and indefinitely appre-

hended by the great mass even of those "who profess and

call themselves Christians." People donot exactly deny that

there is a promise that Christ will come again, but it is

accepted only with so many allowances, that it can hardly be

said to be received at all as an efficacious truth.

Ministers and expositors have become so accustomed to

gloss, spiritualize, and accommodate to other things, the

passages which speak of it, and so preoccupy their rr inds

with figurative, providential, and imaginary comings of the

Saviour by means of His doctrines, gospel, and spirit, that

His real coming,-which is the only one the Bible speaks of,--

and which was never meant to pass out of the view of the

Church as near at hand, has well nigh lost its weight and

place. It has become to many a mere fable. What earnest

Christian does not see and lament the wide-spread influences

of rationalism and rationalistic philosophy, explaining away

the gospel revelations, and even the most elementary view of

inspiration, of God, and of morality and right? But there

are no portions of the Scripture which rationalism so much

neglects; despises, or degrades, as the prophetic portions,

and no class of men whom it reviles with less mercy than

those who are so simple as to accept the prophecies in

anything like their literal terms.

Even the late venerable Professor Stuart, in his review of

Driffield on "The Second Coming of Christ," jests and jeers

over the whole subject, and laughs at those who take it up,

as believers in "putrid fables."

When Christianity was in its virgin purity, this was

among the most vivifying articles of the Creed,-the incentiveto repentance, the motive to faith, the encouragement to

fidelity, the inspiration of hope, and the spring of constancy

and zeal, which divested even-martyrdom of terrors; but in

these last days it has become so powerless in the consciences

and hearts of men, that a.ny serious and practical concern

about it is hooted at as unscholarly weakness, and the

attempt to set it forth according to the words of the Holy

Spirit, is ridiculed in high ecclesiastical positions as identical

with the advocacy of "patistric legends" that would "dis-

honour the brain of even the Rabbis" in their wildest

dreams.

Let a man, constrained by his solemn convictions and

accountabilities, lift up his voice to reassert it in its true

Scriptural vigour, and to bid his fellows be ready for its

speedy realization, and pulpits and presses point at him as

more than a little crazed, and laughingly put him down on

their ready Iist of lunatic saints, whose like utterances they

say time proved to be but dreams.

We look on, and wonder that some of the best and most

learned men that have lived should be so flippantly des-

patched, and that such momentous subjects should be so

jeeringly set aside. And yet we ought not to wonder. The

Scriptures long ago said it would be so; and Peter, in




stirring us up to remembrance, would have us assured first

of all, that such things the last days would bring forth. God

has not indeed left himself without witnesses; there are

those to whom the doctrine of the "coming and kingdom"

of the Lord Jesus is a living power: whose hearts are

kindled with the blessed" promise of his coming" who, with

eloquent tongues and ready pens, are valiantly contending

for this portion of the faith once delivered to the saints;and who, though laughed at and reviled by men, are yet

honoured and prospered by God. Nor are their words

without effect in many meek and pious hearts, who with

them wait and hope for the coming of the Lord.

But the great mass of Christendom has no sympathy with

them, and takes pleasure in twitting them for their credulity

and want of better learning. And what is all this but

Peter's prophecy fulfilling-the very Church joining in the

ribald cry, "Where is the promise of his chming?"-

J. A. Seiss, D.D.

ARE WE READY?

WE may conclude with certainty that when the day of

trouble is about to dawn upon the world, everyone among

God's waiting people-every sincere believer in the Lord

Jesus, be he living on the earth or buried in the grave,

shall rise to meet that Great Redeemer in .the air, and shall

be safe with Him above, until the time arrive when He,

with all His saints, shall come to execute His fearful

judgments on the earth's inhabitants.

But let us pause a moment to reflect about ourselves.

If the trumpet of the Lord should sound this day for the de-

parture of the saints tf Christ, should we be ready? It is

written, "In that day, even in that night, two men shall be

in the one bed; one shall be taken and the other left. Two

women shall be grinding together; one shall be taken and

the other left." Which then would it be in our case, Taken

or Lift? Oh, if we are putting off the things .of our

eternity to a future day, we should-be Left ! If we have not

gone as helpless sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ, that we

might obtain pardon through His blood, we should be Left.

But if we have, through grace, with all our hearts sought

the Redeemer, laid our sins on Him by faith, received Him

as our Lord and Saciour in .sincerity and truth, then we

should be Taken-taken up to meet our King, and be with

Him for ever. Oh, surely this is not a time for lukewarm-

ness for deferring things of everlasting moment to a future

day, but for the most earnest circumspection, watchfulness,

prayer, and zeal! Oh, let us see, each one for himself, that

we are not found wanting in the sight of the Great Judge

of all !-GregoI'Y.

THE PRAOTICAL EFFECT OF BELIEF IN

ETERNAL TORMENT.

AT a Meeting held sotne time since in Sion College, an

interesting paper was read by Lord Lyttleton, which.subse-

quently appeared in the Contemporary Review. The drift

of his lordship'S views was decidedly against the traditional

view of future punishment.

In the course of the debate which followed, a remarkable

statement was made by the Rev. Rudolph Saffield, formerly

a Roman Catholic priest. He observed that no one knew so

well as a priest what was passing in other men's minds on

religious subjects; and that his own opportunities of ascer-

taining the effect of the popular doctrine upon the minds of

those who really believed it had, been very considerable. At

the request of one who was present, he afterwards wrote aut

the following abstract of the testimony which he then gave

from his own experience :-

"I am bound by honour now to observe faithfully the regu-

lations to which I was pledged when a Roman Catholic priest.I am permitted by these, to be guided by the knowledge of

character and results obtained from the confessional, but so

as never to point things to individuals. My extensive experi-

ence for twenty years as confessor to thousands, whilst

Apostolic Missionary in most of the large towns of England,

in many portions of Ireland, in part of Scotland, and also in

France, is that, excepting instances I could count on my

fingers, the dogma of hell, though firmly believed in by

English and Irish Roman Catholics, did no moral or spirit-

ual good, but rather the reverse. It never affected the right

persons: it frightened, nay tortured, innocent young women,

and virtuous boys; it drove men and women into supersti-

tious practices which all here would lament. It appealed

to the lowest motives and the lowest characters} not

however to deter from vice, but to make them the willing

subjects of 'sad and often puerile superstitions. It never

(excepting in the rarest cases,) deterred from the commision

of sin. It caused increasing m sntal and moral difficulties,

lowered the idea of God, and drove devout persons from, the

God of hell to the Virgin Mary. When a Roman Catholic, Ion different occasions conferred on the subject with thought-

ful friends among the clergy; who agreed with me in noticing

and deploring the same sad results. From the fear of,hell we never expected virtue, or high motives,or a noble

life; but we practically found it useless as a deterrent. It

always influenced the wrong people, and in a wrong way.

"It caused' infidelity' to some, 'temptation' to others, and

misery without virtue to most. The Roman Catholics are

very sincere and' real'; and we found it difficult to avoid

violating the conscience, when we told them to love and

revere a God compromised to the creation of a hell of eternal

wretchedness for His own children, a God perpetrating what



THE BIBLE STANDARD.

ould be scorned as horrible by the most cruel, revengeful,

just tyrant on earth. And yet we can only think of God

ter the similitude of'the most perfect man."

'I'he Rev. T. Minton expressed his sense of the great value

ttaching to this testimony, in which Lord Lyttleton also

oncurred. Mr. Minton said that he had long been

onvinced of what must be the moral effect of such a doctrine;

nd was confirmed in his opinion by learning, on unimpeach-ble evidence, that it does actually produce the results which

ight have been anticipated.-Rainbow.

•

RESURRECTION.

IT matters little where this weary frame

Rests on its final pillow. Whether laid,

With many tears, by gentle hands, beneath

The yerdant turf o'erblcomed by fragrant flowers,

Or cast to wither on the desert sands;

Or prisoned 'neath the ponderous marble's dome,In vaults of gloomy silence with the worm;

Or in cremation's ashes urned and niched;

Or in old ocean's cham'bers vast and dark,

Amid its caves and corals weltering,

While ages write their records. All that once

Was human still abideth, and awaits

A final waking; Since this mortal must

A glorious immortality put on.

Ask not proud science how this thing can be;

She answers not save only to affirm

The elements are indestructible.

In this path reason falters and is blind;

Faith, leaning on the Word, alone can solve

The mystery and ohallenge-c-': it shall be."

There is a voice the very dust can wake,

And thedeath-mold of ages vocalize;

Find ears to hear in earth's sepulchral caves

Deepest ana darkest, and re-animate

The ashes of the melancholy urn.

Vainly the monumental marble weighs

Above the silent sleeper; vainly, too,

The magnitude o( waters presses down

In its far depths of sunless quietudeThe drowned and long forgotten; they shall part

The yeasty billows back to life again.

Atoms unseen, that people all the air,

Shall run obedient, hasting to re-form

The pristine mass of human organisms,

The same, yet not identical.

So shall the glorious consummation come;

O'er the Destroyer so shall triumph Life,

And death be swallowed up in victory.

E. W. B. Canning.

PUBLIOATIONSBy H. CONSTABLE, M.A.,

(Late Prebendary of Cork, Ireland).

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the Punishment of the Unsaved. It is particularly fine in its

philological chapters respecting the meaning of the Greek words

used by the inspired writers to indicate the doom of the lost.

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HADES: or, The Intermediate State of Man. Crowu8vo. Price 3s. 6d. This work presentit the Bible doctrine of ~the

state of.man between death and the resurrection.

RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS-The all things spokenof by the mouths of the Holy Prophets who have been since the

world began. Price Sd.

By J. H. WHITMORE.THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY-Jewish and

Early Christian Beliefs; Arguments from Reason and Scripture;

Adamic Penalty; Traduction v, Creationism; Life and Death;

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By GEORGE A. BROWN.FORGOTTEN THEMES: or, Facts for Faith. A general

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others pertaining. Price Is.

By MILES GRANT.WHAT IS MAN? and the Meaning of Soul, Spirit,Death, and Hell. Price 3d.

SPIRIT IN MAN: What is it? Price 4d.

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GREEK AND ENGLISH LEXICON AND CONCORD-A CE TO THE NEW TESTAMENT, by E. W. BULLINGER,M.A.,

consisting of over a thousand royal 8vo. pages. In this work, the'

Bible student will have in his hund the learning of the Greek

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words and passages elucidated.-Price £1 5s., cloth.

THE EASTERN QUESTION: In the Light of Scripture.Being a short examination of the Prophecies concerning the time of

the end; with a Word of Warning to the Church and the Worlc1;to which is also appended, a copy of the Will of Peter the Great.

Price Sixpence.

GLASGOW:of the Author, Mr. DICKSON,46, Jamaica Street.

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Subscriptions for the "Bible Standard," with all communi-cations relating to the Paper, to be addressed to the Editor,No. 2, South Park Villas, Lincoln, Subscriptions for singleCopy,1/-per annum, or 1/6 post-paid; three Copiespost-freefor 3/- Special arrangements made for quantities for freecirculation. '

:Mint Lane Chapel, Lincoln.

Services and Meetings during the Month as follows:

Sunday: Morning at 10-30, Evening at 6.

Monday: Prayer Meeting at 7.

Wednesday: Preaching at 7.

Sunday School-Morning 9 a.m., Afternoon 2 p.m.

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Sunday Evening Subjects for the month of June:

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Bible Standard June 1878

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Transcript of Bible Standard June 1878