Christ Triumphant and CHRISTIAN IDEAL P. a SCHILLING, D.D. M— awwBi >,y FEB 20 1918 A. BR 121 .S35 > 1917 Schilling, Perry Calhoun, 1870- Christ triumphant and Christian ideal CHRIST TRIUMPHANT and CHRISTIAN IDEAL p. C. SCHILLING 1FEB?,3 li CHRIST TRIUMPHANT and CHRISTIAN IDEAL by P. C. SCHILLING, D.D. 1917 The Stratford Co., Publishers Boston, Mass. Copyright, 1917 The STRATFORD CO., Publishers Boston, Mass. The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. Bebtcatton TO MY WIFE, DELLA BRUNA SCHILLING, WHO HAS EVER BEEN TO ME AN ENCOURAGEMENT, INSPIRATION AND AN INCARNATE CONSCIENCE, THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. Introduction Since the beginning of the art of writing man's path has been strewn with many books of a religious nature. They have been uplifting and inspiring and have helped to steer thousands of groping, fainting hearts to a higher life. But there are many moment- ous questions of theology that have been challenging and staggering the minds of greatest theologians and perplexing the hearts of the whole christian world. The author of this book has found the solution to many of these vital problems, through his knowledge of holy writ; and to those who are fortunate enough to read these pages, the mists of doubt and uncertainty will disappear, like the fog before the mid-day sun. These chapters began as sermons and lectures delivered by Dr. Schilling during his pastorates in Texas and Okla- homa. The first chapter was the subject of a sermon preached in the pulpit of the First Baptist Church, of Humble, Texas. It was an extemporaneous produc- tion of a sick and deeply distressed preacher and was attended with blessed and glorious results. The ser- mon attracted wide attention and appeared in several secular newspapers shortly after it was delivered, and later during the near years, it appeared in a number of religious journals, the last one to run the sermon before it was incorporated in this work, being the "Western Recorder," of Louisville, Ky. The sermon vii INTRODUCTION is a theological classic — a literary gem. It is the most satisfactory explanation of the wonderful doc- trine of Incarnation that the writer has ever read in sermon form. And it was written after it was preached by the author. He is a peculiar preacher. He cannot write a sermon in advance of its delivery. Immediately after preaching a sermon he can write it verbatim and incorporate all of the leading features of phraseology and exegesis that characterized it, but every attempt to write a sermon before its delivery, has resulted in a literary production that is devoid of that unctious power, brilliant thought and thrilling genius that characterize the preached sermon. Hence the author's writings, sermons and lectures, have characteristic ear marks that make them in method, structure and thought, entirely distinct and different. The author is intensely orthodox and accepts the Bible as the Word of God from the First of Genesis to the last of Revelation; however, his position on several questions of theology and eschatology, discussed in these pages, is not in harmony with the popular opin- ion of the general public, touching those points. The author believes in a separate state of the dead between death and the resurrection, accepting Hades as the abode for disembodied souls, the saved and the doomed alike ipntering that placte immediately at death, the saved however being separated from the un- saved — the imprisoned in Tartarus, the former en- joying the visible presence of angels and a closer re- lationship with Jesus in Paradise. All of these com- viii INTRODUCTION plicated matters are boldly and plainly discussed in the chapter on "Heaven.'* But it will be impossible for me to say everything that s^iould be said about the merits of this work in an introductory article; there- fore the limitations of space admonish me to bring this article to a close, and I can do nothing more than to mention one or two additional chapters, giving them a passing notice and encouraging the public to give this book a careful reading and thoughtful consideration, which it so richly deserves. The chapters on "The Second Coming," "The Millenium," "God's Greatest Creative Act : A Man, " " The Resurrection, ' ' will be read and re-read by an appreciative public, and the good these sermons will do, in my honest opinion, is destined to attain immortality and live forever in the hearts and memories of men. But the chapter on the subject of a finished redemption, entitled ' ' The Chris- tian Ideal as Expressed in a Finished Redemption ' ' is one of the most astonishing, searching, able and com- forting articles in the book. In fact, there is not a dull page in the book and like the heart of the author, it is sparkling with that divine intelligence, human sym- pathy and optimism that holds us in its grip until we have read every word of it. I bespeak for the book a wide reading and a phenomenal circulation attained by few books in the last twenty-five years. And I freely predict that it will live and flourish as a green bay tree, to bless and help, inspire and encourage, gen- erations yet unborn, and long after the author has gone the "way of the earth and been added to the ix INTRODUCTION fathers/' he will speak messages of hope, through its gleaming pages, to the nations of the world. This book will never die and to the struggling, studious, consecrated preacher, who wrote it, and The Stratford Company, who have made its circulation possible, a waiting world and a bewildered people, should give their most liberal patronage and extend a hearty, sin- cere vote of thanks. This book, that, like many others that purport to discuss similar themes, is not dry or prolix in any sense of the word. It expresses the truest and highest form of divine romance, stirs the imagination, enkindles hope and challenges the soul to rise up in the majesty of its divine right, to receive the robe of righteousness and be crowned with the. hope of immortality. It is not a heartless literary product, neither is it a brainless theological treatise. It has heart and brain and soul. Read it and "pass it on.'' T. J. WEATHERALL, A.B. Supt. City Schools Hartshorne, Okla. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introc uction vii I. Christ Triumphant 1 II. The Great Commission . 15 III. God^s Greatest Creative Act: A Man 32 IV. Faith In Christ .... 59 V. Our Home 79 VI. Pre-Eminence of Christ . 94 VII. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ 111 VTIT. Resurrection of the Dead 156 IX. The Millenium .... 174 X. Christian Ideal as Expressed in a Finished Redemption 208 XI. Heaven 232 CHAPTER I Christ Triumphant ' ' Fear not ; I am the first and last and the Living One; and I was dead and behold I am alive forever- more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." Rev. 1, 17, 18. I would to God that we could meditate upon the beauty and effulgent glory of our Christ until our souls were transformed in the light of His presence, being renewed in the power of His personal holiness, translated into His image and so endowed with the gift of acceptable worship, that we might rapturously join the glad acclaim of Dante : **0 eternal beam! (Whose height what reach of mortal thought can soar?) Yield me again some httle particle Of what thou appeardest; give my tongue Power, to leave one sparkle of thy glory, Unto the race to come, that shall not miss Thy triumph wholly, if thou waken aught Of memory in me, and endure to hear The record sound in this unequal strain.'^ There is no speech nor language, sufficient to express the admiration of the innumerable hosts of the ''blood-washed followers of the Lamb" for Him, nor to accurately describe His glorious person. Adjec- tives fail, poetic symbols prove inadequate, the almost [1] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT infinite thought of the philosopher, the omnipotent rhetoric of the brilliant orator, with the luminous pen of inspiration in the hand of a divine seer, fail to ac- complish more than to sparkle forth in fitful flashes, the brightness of ' ' His express image ' ' upon the dark horizon of wliirling thought. What a picture is drawn by the entranced Apostle as he tremblingly attempts to portray the glory of the enthroned Christ ! Given a brush made of the sensitive jonquils, a paint made of irisated glory of the universe, and the star- spangled dome of heaven for a canvas, and the most talented Archangel that waits before His throne, would give up the task in despair. '*The glory! The glory! around Him are poured Mighty hosts of the angels that wait on the Lord; And the glorified saints and the martyrs are there, And all who the palm-wreaths of victory shall wear." The Death of Jesus ' ' I was dead and behold, I am alive for evermore ! Calvary is the most interesting spot on earth. Its dark tragedy holds a magic charm for all men." The nature of Christ's existence is mysterious, I admit; but this mystery meets the wants of man. Reject it, and the world is an inexplicable riddle; believe it, and the history of our race is satisfactorily explained. Thus the great Napoleon adds his unselfish testimony to the mysterious influence of Jesus, that He exerts in every age and upon all nations and races of men. [2] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Tho it is true that He is unrecognized, in a personal sense, by multitudes, it is also true that He exercises a dynamic power that is felt in all departments of human life, generally speaking, and that compels un- counted millions of people to obey and adore Him. The Christ question will not down • — He is inescap- able. Richter says : " He is the holiest among the mighty, and the mightiest among the holy, has lifted with His pierced hands empires off their hinges, has turned the stream of centuries out of its channel, and still governs the ages ! ' ' Hence it is true, that, tho we dis- believe Him — ignore the covenants of mercy — dis- regard His invitations to accept Him and be saved, re- ject His council against ourselves, despise Him and harden our hearts against Him, still from the Cross of Calvary He compels all men everywhere, to consider His person and His claims, whether they believe or blaspheme. Thru His lifting up, all men are made to feel the magnetic force of His divine personality. No man can listen to the story of His death without being drawn to Him. It not infrequently occurs, that per- sons who feel no interest in the salvation of their souls are suddenly moved to deep penitence, and are brought into reverent contrition before Him. And others who listen to the same sermon are made to blas- pheme and revile the Cross, with its doctrine of blood ; nevertheless, it is true that Christ has exercised a compelling power on both classes. The one is laved, and the other leavened, by the blood. Happy are they, [3] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT who are cleansed from all their defilements, in the royal bath of heaven's crimson fountain. ^^ There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Inunanuel's veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.'' The Sinner's Ransom He died the just for the unjust! The law was perfect and in order to meet and satisfy its inexorable demands, it was necessary to have a spotless and in- corruptible sacrifice. If Jesus had inherently or by practice, or had retained in His humanity, the least taint of original sin. He could not have fulfilled div- ine requirement, as expressed thru the law as our holy, all-sufficient substitute. But he is inherently holy and spotlessly pure in nature, word and deed. For thirty-odd years He staggered along His weary way of suffering, mistreatment and neglect, under the heart-crushing burden of the accumulated sins of ages, then, finally bowing His benign head to receive a crown of thorns, as the token of the world's apprec- iation, and arrayed in a mock robe. He was led like a common criminal to the place of torture, and hellish execution. See the glorious Monarch of heaven die. On either side, two thieves pay the penalty for their crimes. How wickedness is exalted and righteousness debased! Roman centurion, Greek philosopher, Jew- ish rabbi and the vilest of earth's depraved children, extend the hand of fellowship and uniting in an effort [4] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT to rid the world of the best MAN that ever lived in it, they rejoice to see Him die. As the innocent blood of the harmless Christ flowing from cruel wounds, stains the cross and incarnadines the earth, insatiate fiends propose a cup of victory, to ''The Prince of Dark- ness;" and offering an oblation to death, they make league with hell, and when the dying Jesus bows His noble head upon His spotless bosom, and gives up the ghost in obedience to the Will of His Father, their shout of momentary triumph rends the vaulted heavens, and resounds to the lowest depths of a rayless hell, where fallen angels creep like hated vipers, loath- ing themselves, and despising the leprous garments, that remind them continually of a lost heaven, and inglorious defeat at the hands of the guardian angels, set for the defense and honor and dignity of Jehovah 's vast domain. How pandemonium exults as the "Law- ful Captive," delivered for the sins of men is led, bound like Samson at Gaza, into the presence of His enemies! The haughty Prince of Hades takes his throne. Wliat a roar of malicious, vindictive triumph rings from the hoarse-throated demons of the abyss, when Jesus stoops to taste the cup of eternal torment ! This is the supreme test upon which hangs the destiny of all created things or beings. He must taste death in the sense of comprehending the real, actual mean- ing of eternal torment. This I believe Jesus did. He became our vicarious Mediator thru death. By no other means would it have been possible for Him to meet all legal obligations, as our Substitute. The law [5] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT demands eternal punishment for sin, hence Jesus sat- isfied in His sufferings the very last demand of it " for us." He became sin for us. He became responsible for our sins to His father under law ; therefore, right- eousness is imputed to us thru faith. His death makes atonement accessible to us, and makes possible a per- sonal faith that over-leaps the ages, bringing us into fellowship with God; it turns upon the penitent soul the light of immortal hope and the dream of eternal life is realized thru the merits of the Christ of the Bible. He must therefore die, suffer; in fact, take the full penalty of our judgment, that we, upon the merits of His atoning blood, might obtain remission and be saved thru His life. "Were He still the victim of hell's diabolical plot to destroy Him, there would not be the least hope of pardon for men. Yea, heaven would have long since become pandemonium and hell's black borders would have been enlarged to make room for the teeming millions of slaughtered souls, that would have poured into it like a flood of putrid waters. Thank God, such a catastrophe shall never occur. Ah, what new commotion is this that stirs the pit ? Where is the Prince? Where are his terrible cohorts? The "Lawful Captive" has broken his bones. See! He overturns the throne and binding Satan, He relieves him of his keys and hurls him back in defeat upon the sulphurous streets of the black city of perdition. He holds dominion over the damned! He wreaks dire vengeance upon devils. He is Lord of heaven and earth and the invincible conqueror of death and [6] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Hades. He waves the keys in the faces of frightened demons, and coming forth shuts the gates upon them forever. Fear not ; I am the first and the last and the Living One and behold, I am alive for evermore, and 1 have the keys of death and of Hades. The Incarnate Son This is the mystery of mysteries. In the creation man was made in God's image ; in the incarnation God was made in man's image. The relation is beyond human ken. It was a custom of old for the shepherds to clothe themselves with sheep skins to be more pleas- ing to the sheep, so God clothed Himself in human flesh, incorporating every element of human nature, excepting sin, that the divine nature might be more pleasing to us. Some one has said: "thru the lantern of Christ's humanity, we may behold the light of Deity shining ! Incarnation is the sackcloth of Deity, but Jesus did not disdain to wear the badge of mourn- ing nor was He ashamed to take the body of flesh — token of humiliation — for our sakes and the glory of His father. I look upon it as being the most compas- sionate provision of the Holy Trinity for the salvation of our fallen and ruined race. The scriptural state- ment, tho brief, is sufficiently plain to justify our be- lief of the doctrine. Among the great array of divine passages unfolding the glorius teaching, the one from Paul is enough for our present purpose, viz ; " God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." I [7] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT understand the Apostle to mean that the three persons composing the God-head, were harmoniously cooperat- ing thru Christ, being united in a form of flesh — a human body representative of a race of sinless men, that will inherit an incorruptible, perfect, deathless immortality in future ages. In Adam, our federal head, divine ideals are manifest, even in our fallen state we see the eternal purpose of our creator to prod- uce a race subject to natural environments, yet im- mortal — changeable, yet having the promise of changelessness — with whom sin is temporarily ident- ified, but the last trace of it is to be removed from the universe and its every stain cleansed, leaving us as pure, perfect and spotless thru a second Adam, who became our personal substitute, viz; the incarnate Christ. Thus the purpose of God in the creation of men is fully restored and the divine ideal brought to pass in the re-adjustment of the disorganized elements of the human economy, and the harmonious blending of soul and body in a glorified form. Incarnation, therefore, serves a divine purpose that could not have been accomplished thru any other means, instrument- ality or agency, except thru the Son God — and let it here be specially emphasized — Jesus was the ONXiY Son that God had. Adam disobeyed Him and became an out-cast and his progeny passed under sin; hence so far as the human race and all created beings were concerned, God was childless and the human race were orphans. The entrance of sin polluted human nature and divorced the world from God. It was in darkness [8] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ■ — lost — and there was no acceptable representative of the race to be found, who could mediatorily restore man to the favor of God, because all had "passed under sin ' ' and the moral law — the law of Moses — the eternal law of the ages, the only, greatest most bene- ficent rule for the government of men and angels, that God ever gave, had been flagrantly violated ; therefore, God in righteous anger, flashed the judgment of wrath in the face of a ruined world and forbade its return to Him. Strange as it may at first appear to be, it is an indisputable fact, that the universal ruin and sinful- ness of humanity provides for the necessity of the In- carnation of Jesus, ethically speaking. The purpose of the creation included the purpose of incarnation. Incarnation manifests an eternal counsel of God, ir- resDCctive of the contingency of sin and the purpose of redemption. There was no metaphysical necessity, but a purely ethical necessity, for the incarnation of the perfect God. This view does militate against the idea of ''free grace," because redemption thru the ''Son of God" is not an after-thought or expedient of grace, but to be provided for, and made possible in the eternal purpose of creation. Not only in the divine idea of creation was sin rendered possible, but also redemption thru Him, who is the completion and goal of creation. Then is it not true that the world was made capable of redemption in the same thought and purpose that it was made capable of sinning ? The incarnation then, becomes a central and essential fact in our theodicy. All of God's ways from the begin- [9] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ning lead up to Christ. Recent theology lays more stress upon the cosmical relations of incarnation. The old truth of the natural headship has a large place and a new significance in view of modern theories of the origin and unity of creation. The whole universe was created for Christ, thru whom all things shall at last be made subject to the Father, that God may be all in all. The incarnation then, is the process of union of two natures — a divine and a human nature. ''The Word was made flesh," says the scriptures and this becoming flesh, was real at the nativity. The birth of Jesus was the moment of the first actual, real, incarnation. It was begun in a manger, but completed on a throne. Jesus was made perfect thru suffering, because His life was necessary to the per- fection of His person, as Redeemer. Jesus Christ did assume the true and perfect nature of man, in a per- sonal union with His divine nature, and still remains true God and real man, in one person for ever. Hence the leading facts in the incarnation of Christ are the following, viz; (1) It was not a change in the nature of the Trinity nor of the relation of One to the other Tivo Persons composing it. (2) The hirth of Christ making incarnation possible, was not the beginning of anything, except the manifestation of God-head in a new relation to mankind; hence it was only necessary to the accomplishment of an external purpose to re- store man to the favor of God thru personal, eternal and inseparable contact and union ivith Him. But the pre-existence of Christ was absolutely necessary [10] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT — so much so, that His incarnation was wholly con- tingent upon His eternal relation to the Trinity as being the ''Son of God." The sonship of Jesus is co-extensive with the God- head. In the ninth chapter of Isa., the relation be- tween the sonship on the divine side and sonship on the human side is clearly defined, and it is said, "as a Son he was given, as a child He was born. ' ' The idea that divine sonship could be produced through an act of creation or of ordinary generation is monstrously absurd. The divine sonship of Jesus is eternal and it could not be created any more than the self-existent Creator could produce himself, therefore Jesus must necessarily have possessed an uncreated and self -exist- ent relationship, as a divine Son of God ; otherwise, it would have been impossible for Him to have entererl into the humble relation as the "Son of man" becom- ing the actual and personal human representative of man as "a child born." Christ is the marvel of mar- vels. C. H. Spurgeon says: "Consider His eternal existence, begotten of his Father from before all worlds, being of the same substance with His Fath- er: begotten, not made, co-equal, co-eternal, in every attribute very God of very God. Remember that He who became an infant of a span long, was no less than the King of ages, the everlasting Father, who was from eternity and is to be to all eternity. The divine nature of Christ is indeed wonderful. Just think for a moment, how much interest clusters around the life of an old man. Those of us who are but children in [11] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT years, look up to Him with wonder and astonishment, as He tells us the varied stories of the experience thru which he has passed. How brief it appears when compared with the life of the tree that sheltered Him. It existed long before that old man's father crept, a helpless infant into the world. But what is the his- tory of the human race, compared with the creation? and what is the history of the creation compared to the age of the angel?" They could tell you of the day when they saw this world wrapped in swaddling bands of mist — when, like a new-born infant, the last of God 's offspring, it came forth from him and the morning stars sang together and the Sons of God shouted for joy. But what is the history of the angel that excelleth in strength, compared with the history of the Lord Jesus Christ ? The Angel is but of yester- day, and knoweth nothing; Christ the Eternal One, charges even his angels with folly, and looks upon them as ministering spirits, that come and go at His good pleasure. ' ' By Him all things were made ; and without Him was not anything made that was made. ' ' Incarnation represents the lowest stage of life to which divinity may be extended in association with humanity. But I do not believe in a humanized God, neither do I believe in a deified human. Jesus, in His divine nature has continually existed. He humb- ly died in His perfect humanity, for imperfect human beings. Divinity suffered for man, but did not die for him. Christ lived in a separate state during the inter- [12] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT val between his death and resurrection. "I am He that liveth and was dead." The Exalted Christ Jesus is enthroned above all the powers of earth and hell. He holds the reins of authority and power in His hands. He has the disposal of all judgments, and may, without contravening His authority, pass arbitrary condemnation upon fallen angels and rebel- lious men. He holds the destiny of every creature for weal or woe, as a vested and non-transferable right. Whatsoever the Son doeth in heaven or hell or among the nations of the earth, has the guaranteed sanction of the "Father of lights." He that consecrated him- self as the Lamb of Calvary, is exalted to the high throne of heaven and will appear at the judgment as the "Lion of the tribe of Judah — a Lamb of wrath," to take vengeance on them that know not God. Let me present to your imagination this picture. Behold the transcendant glory ! The majesty of Kings is swallowed up ! The pomp of empires dis- solves like the white mist before the morning sun ; the brightness of assembled armies is eclipsed. He in Him- self is brighter than the sun, and more terrible than an army with banners. Before Him, all the mighty princes, the glorious kingdoms, whose power is felt and feared thru the whole earth, shall bow in His presence and "confess that he is the Christ to the glory of God the Father ! " At that period of woeful [13] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT catastrophe for the Gentile world powers, our glori- fied humanity shall receive an abiding impress of the seal of heaven, bedecked with every beauty, and every splendor, befitting the heir of an immortal crown, — the tenant of eternal mansions and celestial scenery, everywhere revealing to the eye, in living myrioramic pictures, the combined magnificence of all the worlds of God. Mortality will be made immortal and swal- lowed up of life and the heirs of redemption will be transferred from the terrestial and finite, to the cel- estial and infinite sphere of immortality and glorifica- tion. The august vision makes us tremble as we gaze, and the sublimest reach of human thought, can only point — and but feebly too — to its deep foundations and God-built stories — its rainbow coverings and sunlike splendors — walled with adamant and paved with sapphire, crowned with the redeemer, and God in the midst. The high circuit of eternity, the scene of improvement, and boundless roll of ages — the only key to the evolution of un-ending wonders. •'There is no death; the stars go down To rise upon some far shore, And bright in heaven's jeweled crown To shine for evermore.'' [14] CHAPTER II The Great Commission Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Math. 28: 19, 20. The world is made up of harmonious antagon- isms. Natural life unfolds itself in form and matter, in root and top, in soul and body ; hence there appear to be many contradictions, but when we separate the apparent incongruous elements and subject them to a critical analysis, we are agreeably surprised to find that the symmetry and harmonious arrangement of the universe, in this blending of incompatible ele- ments, must be secured. Variety prevents monotony and promotes aestheticism. It takes the scientific knowledge of the chemist to extract the medicinal qualities of nature's plants, and the superior wisdom of the botanist to trace the germinal roots of each, but God has so constructed His world as to hold both the learned and unlearned, entranced by its grandeur and beauty. Thus the rich history of human life has a bounti- ful fullness of antagonisms. Mortal, yet immortal; [15] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT weak, tho possessing almost infinite strength; dying but living forever, we are made to tremble before the august presence of Jehovah, who girdeth us with His power and doeth whatsoever He willeth to do among the armies of the nations. I am sure that you have been forcibly impressed with the distinctness and importance of the four an- tagonistic principles in primitive history that pre- cedes Christianity, viz : the individual, the psychologi- cal, the ethnological and the economic. With Chris- tianity itself, there appear four new antagonisms, which indeed previously existed, tho not in the en- larged sense in which they at present occur, — hence the individual is absorbed by the organic, the ethno- logical, by the social, the psychological, by the allegori- cal and the economic by the cosmical. Hence the finished revelation of God, as it is presented within the pages of this precious Book, in- dicates a divine unity in design. Every incident of inspired and profane history very forcibly manifests the one stupendous and eternal fact of creation, re- demption, reason and revelation, viz : that God, as the moral governor of the universe, in His over-ruling providence, so directs, guides and manipulates the affairs of men and nations, as to accomplish His ex- pressed purpose to re-adjust society, eliminate sin from the human economy by redeeming the individual thru the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus. Thus every occurrence, no matter how apparently insignificant — even the sparrow that flutters there among the daisies [16] THE GREAT COMMISSION in the throes of death — the crawling worm, or insect that was destroyed by your careless tread as you go to a place of business or worship — the opening of Jew- ish sanctuaries, whose altars run red with the blood of slaughtered animals — the elevation of struggling empires and debasement of magnificent monarchies — the appalling tragedy of calvary — the establishment of the church and the shedding of martyr blood — in fact, no incident that comes within the range of our world's history nor the vast immeasurable eternity that rolls before the throne of God, with the consum- mation of redemption and the coming of Christ to judgment, contributes to the same grand, all-absorbing and incomprehensible end. According to Isaiah the scriptures present God (1) as the God of history; (2) as the God of mystery. Universality of the Gospel ''Go ye into all the world." The gospel is specially adapted to supply the spiritual demands of all the tribes and races of men under heaven. Every condition of human life, from the worst to the most favorable; from the lowest to the highest, is fully met and abundantly provided for in the Gospel of Peace. And furthermore, it is the palladium of civilization. I firmly believe that the greatness of our glorious Republic is due largely to the love and veneration of our people for the Word of God, and its moral influence upon the public con- science. [17] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT The foundations of this mighty nation were dedi- cated in a spirit of divine reverence and adoration for the Bible, and the sacrificing devotion of the Pilgrim Fathers shapes religious sentiment, and their exam- ples of heroic consecration and unswerving fidelity to the truth, presides like a guardian angel over the des- tiny of our civil and religious institutions. Starting at Jerusalem (to the Jew first) in the determination of the Master, it was destined to flow like a river of life, bringing spiritual sustenance and redeeming virtue to those who ''sit in darkness and the shadow of death." The gospel is intensely personal. It deals with the individual upon the basis of his own responsibility, holding him to account for his own sins, not another 's, presenting Jesus as his only mediator thru whom he may come to God and find pardoning favor. Thus the gospel singles us out from the rest of mankind and deals with us, just as if we were the only creatures of the kind in existence. Accordingly it raises a man above the conception of a representative of His genius, the endless difference of individualities being sustain- ed (not obliterated) in the great antagonism of crea- tive spirits and receptive communities. The gospel therefore, is world-wide and absolutely necessary to the elevation, classification and establishment of the individual in his proper sphere. Some would-be religion founder may object to my position, but suffice it to say in passing, that there is as much difference between man and man, as there is [18] THE GREAT COMMISSION between the mighty cedar and the dwarf-fir of the heath; between the heaven-reaching palm and the little holly in the forest. Law and the Gospel Upon this head a few words of comparison will suffice. The law is just, holy, good. It is the synopsis of the entire system of divine jurisprudence. It binds all creatures from the highest to the lowest-man and Arch-Angel to the solemn obligation to serve God and live righteously. Unlike the gospel, it deals strictly with transgression, acts of sin. It continually em- phasises those deeds of violence, that come from a wicked heart, but suggests no remedy whereby we may be rid of our depraved nature. Magnifying jus- tice, it threatens us with the thunderbolt of wrath. Faith is not comprehended in its sphere of influence. It bears no relationship to mercy. Therefore by the "deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified." But the gospel honors the demands of the law and meets them fully and completely in Christ Jesus who, accept- ing voluntarily the judgment of law and dying as man 's substitute, becomes the end of it for ' ' righteous- ness to every one that believed." The gospel there- fore condemns sin and lays it under a severer judg- ment than does the law, but it also offers us a sure way of escape from present and past sin. And though the law cannot by its own force condemn men, neither can it deliver them from sin. When the sinner turns [19] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT to it for succor, it warns him away saying: ''Thou hast sinned ! " " Thou shalt surely die ! " Its author- ity is confined chiefly to the domain of external ritual- ism. The gospel does all this and much more, in that it changes the nature and bringing us into mysterious union with Christ, sheds abroad in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of godliness, enabling us to bear the peacable fruit of righteousness to the glory of His grace. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The law is the power of God unto judgment. The law is weak through fallen human nature, its ethical de- mands making our sins more destructive, and our damnation more sure. The gospel is strong through Jesus the sinless God-man, in breaking down the strongholds of sin and saving the helpless penitent from the snare of Satan. The gospel is the culminating result of divine methods, extending through past ages for the salvation of men, and is the last and only provision of mercy that shall ever be offered to our degenerate race. The Divine Instruments of Evangelism Jesus lays the commission upon the church and says: "Take it to every creature under the whole heaven. Ignore all social and political boundaries. Walk up and down thru the world, caring for the helpless and unfortunate, providing means for the en- lightenment of the ignorant, comfort for the broken [20] THE GREAT COMI^nSSION hearted, healing for the sick and the maimed, and sal- vation for all. ' ' The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. There are many missionary means and methods, but none of them can fill the sphere occupied by the church in her relation to world-wide evangel- ization as the chief executive, in the kingdom of Christ. "We should love and honor the blessed church of Christ with undying devotion. With us she pos- sesses supreme authority and non-transferable sover- eignty, and we wait humbly at her shrine, bathing our souls in the light of her oracles, covenanting to keep the faith for which she stands ; — we unreservedly accept her decree and cheerfully bind ourselves to carry out all her policies to the best of our ability. The church is the most important and useful institu- tion in the world. The church — the body of Christ ^ is incomparably glorious in her spiritual equipment and her foundations are laid in the depths of eternity and it shall never fall, or fail in the accomplishment of its divine mission in the world. It is the light of the world and without it men must grope in darkness and perish without the knowledge of Jesus, because it is through the church that Jesus proposes to give the gospel of hope and mercy to all the world. The law was supported and maintained by institutions adapted to its nature and ethical demands, viz : The temple and its institutional service and every item of Jewish ceremonial worship was divinely instituted, and pre- served by Jehovah until the time had arrived for the manifestation of Jesus as the Savior of men. And it [21] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT was not removed until its mission had been accomp- lished. And God who established it, fulfilled the high- est demand of its ritual, and furnished the answer to its symbolism through the death of his own son. God gave it, and He removed it, to make way for the world-wide extension of the gospel of peace, that had been promised to Abraham in the covenant of univer- sal righteousness and mercy that remains yet to be fulfilled. The law had its organizations in the temple and sanctuary of Israel, so the gospel of Christ has for its principle organ of propagation and distribu- tion, the church of Jesus. From the human stand- point the church is indestructible. If it is ever re- moved or destroyed, the God who constituted it, and gave His Son to be its royal head, must do it himself. It is the crowning glory of all nations. Civiliza- tion is an abiding compliment to its divine genius. It has come down to us from a remote period of time hoary with antiquity. It has withstood the revolu- tions of time, and the mutations of fortune — the des- olating tread of ages and the downfall of wicked dyn- asties — the ravages of famine and the wasting scourge of pestilence. It has outlived the astrological lore of the Chaldeans, the mythology of Greece and the Paganism of Ancient Rome. It has outlived the ecclesiastical and political convulsions of the dark ages. Its weapons of warfare are not carnal nor sen- sual nor worldly, but spiritual, and whenever it has been unjustly smitten, with bleeding hands and for- giving heart it has offered the ''bread of life" to its [22] THE GREAT COMMISSION persecuter. The church is the only institution that has ever existed in the world that death has failed to conquer. From Abel down to the present time, death has held high carnival in our world. He has hollowed out the globe and filled it with the generations ot past ages. Where are the Antediluvians? Where are the Patriarchs ? Where are the builders of Babel 's tower? Where are Rome's Caesars and her mighty legions? Egypt's thousands and Babylon's millions j They have crumbled into dust, but the church moves forward in triumph, marching grandly on to victor- ious conquest. And every whither the mind of man is turned, for contemplation or faith-inspiration, there are visible multitudinous evidences of her miraculous achievements in the spiritual and intellectual realms. She is the nursing mother of the poor, the widow, the orphan, the unfortunate ; the leader of the great and the teacher of all the world. Institutions of learning, from the lowest to the highest, fraternal orders organ- ized for the extension of reciprocal fellowship, among special partisans, benevolent institutions fostering the Christian spirit of the ^'good Samaritan" and upon whose merciful ministration is imposed the precious burdens, that come from broken homes or dissolved family ties, the unity and preservation of the home, civic reforms, the passage of just, equitable and bene- volent laws in the municipality, state or nation, the maintenance of human freedom and the ultimate pre- servation of democratic ideals, — all these depend largely upon the patronage of the Church. [23] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT The Two Calls of the Gospel *'0 how unlike the complex works of man, Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan! No meretricious graces to beguile. No clustering ornaments to clog the pile; From ostentation as from weakness free, It stands like the cerulean, arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity. Inscrib'd above the portal, from afar Conspicuous, as the brightness of a star; Legible only by the light they give. Stand the soul-quickening words — "Believe and Live!" God made man in His image. He endowed him with the noblest attributes of soul and body and mind, creating in him divinest hopes, placing him amidst environments whose physical charms lured Angels from heavenly mansions — Eden that sacred spot, where first rang out in gentle sj^mphonies of life, benedictions of mercy and sternest rebukes of wounded love, — the voice of the eternal Gold. I like to think of human nature as one vast temple, glorious in her ruins. Let us draw the curtain for a moment upon the drama of life, in its present at- titude of heartrending tragedies, soul crushing catas- trophies, and in imagination seek the silent shades of a lost paradise. Here the scene changes. No pen can describe this picture. No eloquent orator can do it justice. Time 's early morn envelopes us in swaddling bands of mist crimsoned with the light of dawn, as it steals from beyond the eastern hills in glory. Tree- top warblers make the welkin ring with the melody of their innocent lay. The soul is transfixed with [24] THE GREAT COMMISSION rapture. The heart is filled with joy as we view with entranced vision the beatific prospect, the tri- une God sheds the halo of His presence upon us; the star-decked gates of the infant creation swing wide to make way for the coming of angelic companions, and billows of adoring love sweep o'er us. We close our eyes in perfect peace and fall asleep on the bosom of the infinite. Human nature, the culminating work, the supreme product of divine creative genius, stands forth in lofty grandeur sparkling with myriad lights enkindled upon its sinless altars by its Maker and Builder, eclipses the glory of the garden with its re- splendent beauty. But we are not permitted to slumber long in blissful repose upon the bosom of paternal Diety. A sudden convulsion of nature, and we are awake in terror to a realization of the awful holocaust that wrenches us from the grasp of Him, whose presence is our life and joy. The secret of this awful ruin is not far to see. Man sinned. God was willfully insulted. He withdrew and gave the tempest of sin, that rose from hell, the right-of-way, and human nature fell before its destructive blasts. The source of human nature was corrupted. And in the breaking up of the divine order, its spring was transferred from the glory-capped hills of Zion to the valley of Hinnom where sin's slain carcases rot in eternal misery. Man died then and is still dead under law. But God remembered us in great mercy, and in order to relieve us from the results of sin, and cancel our voluntary transgressions. He devised the most [25] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT compassionate and merciful method for our redemp- tion that his loving, broken heart could originate. He gave us His son as a peace-offering ; His only son as a sacrifice for sin, providing a means for the com- munication of the story of His death for all people, in every age, until He should come again. The gos- pel, — ^the divine promise of mercy, like a star flung from heaven into the bosom of the enveloping gloom, hangs solitary and bright upon the horizon of our darkened world. Its five points luminous with hope for lost men, cast its encrimsoned rays athwart the benighted pathway of men today, viz; ''The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." As the ages passed, star after star of prophecy was born and types and emblems of promise glittered in the ebon vault of a ruined world, until for very multitude the laughing lightnings, catching the voice of calvary and the light of hope from Joseph's new tomb, has thundered the seven-hued rainbow of mercy, through the accumulated darkness of ages, causing abundant showers of sparkling rays of grace to fall upon the abodes of disobedient men. From the beginning of time to the present moment, with its stupendous obligations, it has strewn the sparkling symbols of love upon the stream of time and planted Forget-Me- Not's of love upon both of its shadow-haunted shores. ^^The gospel's glorious hope: Its rule of purity, its eye of prayer, Its feet of firmness, on temptation's steep Its bark fails not, mid the storms of death. ' ' [26] THE GREAT COMMISSION Do you ask, what is the gospel ? It is divine life from God. It is a Christian as well as a divine life ; a life that comes from Christ as our Redeemer, as God-man and Mediator. It is a pure and holy life. It is an active, laborious, and fruitful life. It is a generous life that disdains littleness in human character and mean things in human conduct, it cannot feed upon earth and ashes. It is a devoted life, sacred to God in Christ Jesus. In a word, it is an immortal, eternal life. Hence, it is passing strange that men can listen to the mere recital of the tragic death of Jesus, with- out being melted to penitential tears. But such is the case. Men visit the place of worship every Sab- bath and hear very patiently the word preached by some earnest babbler ; but they do not believe. Why ? Because the gospel is powerless to save thru the preacher. He extends an invitation to you, to accept Christ. You appreciate it but do not heed it. You cannot. This result is characteristic of the general call of the gospel which is to the whole world. But again He preaches the same old truth, that Jesus saves. You have heard it oft-times before. You are strongly affected. Your soul is pierced with many sorrows. Your grief is unstayed. Your sins roll with crushing force upon you. You are comfortless, for- lorn, miserable, forsaken! Ah! This is the special, effectual call of the gospel. Resist it if you may and as you will, but you will be brought to terms of peace, and you will sue for mercy saying, like the Publican of old: *'God be merciful to me a sinner." When [27] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT God thus comes to the rescue of his word, the hard- ened sinner is convicted, the penitent saved and the prodigal reclaimed. It is the power of God unto sal- vation. This is that glorious gospel that saves, re- claims, sanctifies and preserves men in the way of righteousness, that leads to glory and to God. Hence it gives us great joy to acknowledge that we believe it, admire and love its teachings, more than the gold of Ophir or the glittering treasures of the Indies. Universal Peace Christianity is a social religion. The church is the only distinct fraternity in the world. Regenera- tion is the only and true source of brotherhood. The Holy Spirit, through the truth, seeks to unite the broken fragments of society in an indestructible cove- nant of unselfish interest and love. He directs us when we allow Him to do so, in a course of pure dis- interested service, of loving sacrifice and self-denial. The teaching authority of the church is strictly super- vised by Him. He is the minister of the sanctuary, offering the sprinkling of Christ's blood for the heal- ing of the nations. He is the penitents' effectual ac- cess to Jesus. He is the Christian's unerring Para- clete. Applying the preached words to the souls of men He speaks to us of Jesus, peace, universal brotherhood, and the Sabbath of eternal rest, — of that day of glory and emancipation for the earth-cloyed hosts of redemption, when wars will cease, — all strife [28] THE GREAT COMMISSION will end and the reunited members of our race, re- stored to the divine favor of our heavenly father, thru the second Adam, shall walk in the integrity of our spirit-filled hearts and dwell in peace and security forever. Soul transporting prospect! You say I dream. Is it an utopian vision ? Nay, brother! The most exaggerated description of the latter day glory, is abundantly sustained by the word of God. The impending storm of judgment gathers like a pall of doom on the brow of time's last day. The world is hushed and silent, being terror-stricken. Men 's hearts fail for fear, — looking for the desolating holocaust that is coming upon them. The storm of wrath breaks in fury o'er the world. Anti-Christ and his wicked hosts lift their hands in horror and beg the rocks and hills to fall on them, that they may be concealed from the ''face of him that sits on the throne." The lightnings of vengeance cleave the moral darkness of the world with forked flame. Now the dark cloud rolls muttering towards Jerusalem and casts a shadow of mourning and lamentation upon the souls of Anti-Christian hosts, gathered in the valley of Megiddo. Avenging angels descend upon the hills of Judea, once again in the special honor of Jesus, and with drawn swords and upon the authority of Jehovah to wreak eternal vengeance upon the op- ponents of the cross, eliminate sin and drive Satan from the world. And now the judgment of nations is ended and the shadows of accumulated ages of sin- ful dominion pass away, and the ''Son of righteous- [29] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ness rises upon the scenes of desolation and ruin with healing in his beams. The glorified forms of countless millions, who were redeemed by His grace and who now abide in His presence, shine resplendent with a lustrous beauty that eclipses the sun, and drives every shadow from the face of the world. In that day re- deemed souls will shine brighter than the stars and every floweret and shrub, leaf of tree, blade of grass hung with a reflected light of the glorified saint, will shine brighter than the cluster of jewels in Gol- conda's crown. The music of a lost Paradise will be restored to nature, and the birds of the earth will re- new their melodies and the beasts of the fields, enchant- ed by the magnetic influence of the ''Sons of God,'' will enter the carnival of joy and peacefully abide in the presence of the triumphant Jesus. The flowers of the meadow will become intoxicated with their own fragrance. I look forward to that time with joy and on the wings of imagination I am transported to the far-future scene, and behold as through the glass of special inspiration, the irrisate glory that belts the world; and my heart beats high with hope that in the coming years every shadow that falls athwart the souls of men, and every storm that hangs upon the horizon of nations, shall flee away and the cataclysms of war, disruptions of nations, and confusion of heart and the distrust of our kind will flee away — that the time shall come when the human race shall be one universal brotherhood and the gospel of Jesus shall have its triumph in the salvation of countless millions [30] THE GREAT COMMISSION — when there shall be neither a millionaire nor a mendicant, neither a master nor a servant — but all shall be equal, blest, god-like and rich in the glorious immortality vouchsafed us in the gospel. ^'Oh! let me glow beneath those sacred beams, After Tho^^ bathe me in those silver streams; To Thee alone my sorrows shall appeal; Hath earth a wound too hard for heaven to heair' 31] CHAPTER III God's Greatest Creative Act: A Man *'How poor, how rich, how object, how august, How complicate, how wonderful is man! How passing wonder He, who made him such! Who centered in our make such strange extremes ! From different natures marvelously mixM, Connection exquisite of distant worlds! Distinguished link in being's endless chain! Midway from nothing to the Deity! A beam ethereal, sullied and absorpt! Tho sullied and dishonored, still divine! Dim miniature of greatness absolute! An heir of glory! A frail child of dust! Helpless immortal! Insect infinite! A worm! A God!" It requires the work of a Being as great as the Bible represents our Creator to be, to make man, and no being less than God could have produced him. I cannot accept the Lyellian theory of the creation of the world nor the Darwinian theory of the evolution of man. I accept, without qualification, the monothe- ism of both Testaments. God's all-powerful Word, His oft-repeated fiat: "Let there be," is represented as having called all individual creations into being. The enlightened philosophy of the present day recognizes [32] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN as a fact, on the authority of revelation, that the hu- man species came upon this planet solely in virtue of a direct act of creation by the Almighty. ''God created man in His own image — in the image oi God created He him. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." He did not merely possess it, he became it. It was his proper being ; his truest self ; the man, in the man. All organized beings have life in common, each after its kind. All animals in common with man possess life, and man is an animal — the highest and noblest of all animal beings — but he is more than an animal, because God transferred into man a higher gift, and imbreathed even a living — that is, self-sub- sisting — soul ; a soul having its life in itself. ' ' Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor." Ps. 8:5. Let this fact be borne in mind continually, — that God is the author of all things, (''for of Him and thru Him and to Him are all things : to Him be glory for- ever. Amen." Ro. II: 36), but that He created the world out of nothing and existence out of non-exist- ence (Heb. 11:3, Comp. Ro. 4:17), and that as the sole intermediate agency in the work of creation, He does not name any mere order of creature, neither a material energy, nor supernatural potency, but ex- clusively the eternal "Son of God," the personal Word, of one substance with the Father, and so really, in a personal concrete form the creative "Let there [33] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT be" of the first of Genesis. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life ; and life was the light of man. ' ' Jno. 1:1-4. There is a difference in the display of divine goodness in the production of the world and the mak- ing of man, in that, when God made the world He used His power, but when He made man He used Himself — His life — His breath. The Bible therefore says that, ''man is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man." Shakespeare seems to catch a vision of the divine purpose in the creation of man, and rapturously exclaims: ''What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in qualities! In form and moving how ex- press and admirable ! In action how like an angel 1 in apprehension how like a God ! ' ' Let us consider briefly, The Formation of the Human Body, in an earnest endeavor to answer the question: "What is man?" Man is a complex being in his unity. In personality he is one ; in substance he is two ; in nature he is three. He is in no sense an epitome of nature but rather the reverse, exhibiting in himself the high- est divine ideal that it was possible to be expressed thru nature. He was the climax of creative genius. In his person he is one, but in the unity of his per- sonality he is twofold in substance, both material and [34] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN immaterial and threefold in nature, having a body, soul and spirit. The body is the lowest part of man's nature being compounded of material elements, the base of which is dust. It is composed of passive and thoughtless organs, arranged for the use of a power or powers which it did not originate. Yet it is an essential part of man's nature as man, and without it he is an incomplete personality, being merely a dis- embodied soul. The body is the most exquisitely con- structed thing in the material world — the most won- derful of all chemical compounds. It is the master- piece of God's terraqueous workmanship. All chemi- cal elements of nature exist in some form, in the physical structure of man. He is "of the earth earthy." He is an abridged universe. Man there- fore, unlike all other- created beings, is midway be- tween two worlds and in his tripartite nature, is re- lated to both — in his soul nature, to the invisible and the eternal, and in his physical nature, to the earth. Tho he is finite and subject to change, the power of the infinite is strong upon him and endless eternity is held in his small nature. Man has eternal capaci- ties. He is the miracle of mortality. Gladstone says : "Man is the crowning wonder of creation; the study of his nature is the noblest study the world affords." The inspired Psalmist acknowledged that the omni- present Creator provides specially for the best interest of the race, that we cannot escape His presence nor avoid His power revealed in arbitrary or final judg- ment; and he then states the reason why God is so [35] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT deeply interested in us : "I am fearfully and wonder- fully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them." Ps. 139:14-16. The human body is one of the profoundest mysteries in the universe. Philosophically speaking, it is a world in miniature. Emerson says: "Man is a piece of the universe made alive," and Aristotle struck the key-note of being when he said: "Man is the metre of all things; the hand is the instrument and the mind is the form of forms." In this connection it will be pertinent to the question under consideration, to specifically notice the fact that, as A Physical Organism man is different from all other creatures. "All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes and another of birds." I Cor. 15:39. Human flesh is different in form, function and nature from all other kinds of flesh. There is only one respect in which it can be identified with flesh of the lower animals, viz; being finite and mortal it is subject to death and tho it can subsist without the nourishment of animal flesh, it is so constructed by the Creator as to receive [36] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN strength and development thru the use of it. It is specially prepared for the habitation of soul and spirit. Human blood — ''the life of the body" — is unlike the blood of animals. The body, tho composed of dust, is a much more excellent fabric than earth or dust. Take a piece of earth or a handful of dust and compare them to the flesh of man; that flesh is indeed earth, but, is it not far better than mere earth? And is it not different from all other kinds of flesh ? Paul was a great word builder. He took three or four words and constructed about them one of the most wonderful books of the Bible or the ages, viz ; the book of Romans. In the seventh chap- ter of this book, he used a word that sheds a flood of light on the mysterious formation of human flesh. The word is sarkinos and means flesh or fat. The lexicographers use the word in contra-distinction to sarkikos, which has a pyschological meaning, and in- corporates a metaphysical element in its sphere. Sar- kinos is purely physical, referring exclusively to the structure of the flesh, while sarkikos is the spirit that inhabits the flesh, and that rules it thru its pos- session of the psychological and metaphysical realms of human nature. The Apostle therefore proves con- clusively, that it is temporarily identified with the redeemed or regenerated people and will be com- pletely eliminated from the human body, when the saved are immortalized or ''glorified with Jesus" at His coming, either thru resurrection or translation. [37] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT He says: "As we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Cor. 15:49. There are two leading statements contained in the text that are perfectly clear to any person of ordinary intelligence. Paul uses a form of analogy here, that would have been inaccessible to an unin- spired writer. The Holy Spirit certainly revealed it to him. (a) The uniformity of design is preserved and the physical identity of all human species thru the "image of the earthy;" and tho no two persons are exactly alike, nevertheless the most extreme dis- similarity in personal physique does not mar nor eclipse the "earthy image." It belongs to all indiv- iduals of all races. We bear it — not made in it. God made one man, the First Adam, ' ' in His image. ' ' Now the question naturally forces itself on us, in this connection : Did the Creator give Adam a flesh soul, when He made him ? Or did He give him a pneumat- ikos or Christ-Mind ? God made Adam with a tripar- tite nature. He was given a body, soul and spirit. No other creature like Adam had ever come from the hand of God. God divinely invested him with the highest type of race ideals that it could have been possible for him or any of his descendants to attain. Before the Fall he was, organically speaking, the epitome of all individual human beings and if he had perfectly obeyed the Creator and preserved the race in security, he never could have been superseded by any other member of the human race. He was the [38] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN divine race-model. He was endowed with supreme qualities of nature that could have been imitated, but never surpassed, by any of his descendants. None could have been better, wiser nor higher, than he. The human species would have been propagated thru the maintenance, in all generations, of the human ideal with which Adam was endowed. Edenic inno- cence would have been the crowning glory of human- ity thru all ages. Death in any form would be un- known if Adam had not sinned. The sin of the First Man is exhibited in the decay of nature. Since he was the mighty Monarch of the world, the effect of his disobedience extended to all forms of life, vege- table and animal, and thru all realms and spheres of nature, to the utmost limits of his vast dominions. The race was on trial in Adam, and if he had not fail- ed, the genealogy of the race would have been pre- served incorruptible, because no other member of the human family could have violated the Will of God as he did, for the reason that the test of life and death tuould not have extended any further than Adam. It was limited to him. If he had met it successfully, death and sin would have never entered into the ex- perience of men. The mortal would have become im- mortal, and the finite (in the sense of endurance) infi- nite, and sin would have never been in reach of men, and life in the physical form would have been eternal — ''the flesh and blood" inheriting the Kingdom of [39] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT God; but Adam sinned away eternal bliss and happi- ness for his progeny in a moment, therefore Paul says: "Now this I say brethren, flesh and blood doth not inherit the Kingdom of heaven ; neither doth cor- ruption inherit incorruption." I Cor. 15:50. The foregone consideration is to my mind conclusive proof of the fact that God did not include the carnal mind, nor any other element of sin or of human de- pravity as it exists today in the experience of all human beings, when He made Adam. God made him as perfect as it was possible for a being, subject to a legal test, to be made. He made him subject to law and so adjusted the attributes and principles of his nature, in harmonious relation with each other, viz ; spirit, soul and body, that each one being distinct from the other two, was inter-dependent, yet corre- lated in harmony and union of being, thus producing an ''earthly" personal trinity, in unity. But sin entered the heart of Adam and despoiled the divine harmony of human life — being — and threw the visi- ble universe into discord. Sin is the dissonance of the ages; the quarrel of eternity. The First Man, tho sinless, was a prospective transgressor. He pos- sessed a degree of personal sovereignty that enabled him to voluntarily, and willfully sin, for his self-grati- fication. "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." I Tim. 2 :4. Satan could not deceive Adam. No creat- ure no matter how attractive, great or powerful could [40] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN have made Adam sin. "For Adam was first formed, then Eve," which evidently means, that Adam was hedged about with divine protection and regal light, so as to make him unapproachable by any being in the form of a perversive and persuasive tempter, and he was compelled to sin against light and thru his own free-will and sovereign choice, and he did it. Tho the ''carnal mind which is enmity against God" was im- mediately incorporated with the central power of nature, the soul, and as a consequence it has passed thru the race — father to son — from individual to in- dividual, as electricity, touching one link in a chain magnetizes the whole, and thus has become the uni- versal experience of humanity. The ''carnal mind" is the fruit of self-love. The first sin was committed in heaven, and took the form of pride : ' ' not a novice, lest being lifted up in pride he fall into the condemna- tion of the Devil." Tim. 3 :6. Pride in the heart of the Archangel was the product of the same spiritual quality that forms the basis of disbelief in the hearts of men. Viz; self-love — selfishness. Angels being pure spirits, not having soul or bodies, cannot dis- believe and there is therefore no way to redeem the transgression of angels. Their sins are outside the realm of atonement locally, or prospectively. Hence they believe in God, but cannot hope for mercy oi clemency, thru the substitutional work of Jesus "who was made flesh" like the First Adam, but unlike him, because the Second Adam having a flesh body, [41] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT performed the "Will of God, perfectly ''without the shadow of turning" and rescued the divine human ideal, that was forfeited in the tragedy of Eden, and became the Federal Head of a redeemed race, all members of which were lost in the First Adam and many of whom have already been saved, and many more are to be gathered into His Kingdom in future ages and "saved by His blood." But angels are not included as subjects of grace thru the blood of Jesus because they do not possess soul natures. ''Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the Devils also believe and tremble." Jas. 2 :19. Referring to a previous question, we find that the human or race ideal, ethnologically, as well as the divine image, was centered in Adam as the exclus- ive pleni potentiary of heaven. This brings us to the consideration of, Man's Importance as a Being The First Man was a prototype of the Second Man — "the Son of God" — Son of man — Jesus the Christ. Adam was therefore formed in the image and super- scription of Jesus because He was the image and manifestation of the Father. ' ' God was in Christ re- conciling the world unto Himself. ' ' The statement is retrospective, and shows in the dim figures of past events, the glory that would have covered Adam as a garment, and also his place as the central figure of creation, if he had obeyed his Creator and kept his [42] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN estate in Eden. If Adam had not sinned, which act severed the nexus between him and Jehovah, would he not have held the place as Mediator before God, for the Race ? If Adam had not sinned and forfeited God's presence, would it have ever been possible for any one of his descendants (or many as to that mat- ter) to commit such flagrant acts of disobedience that would have involved any other members, or branches of the human family in partial or universal corrup- tion? I answer in the negative. It seems to me if Adam had not voluntarily involved himself in sin with Eve, God would have found some way, consist- ent with His Will, and in harmony with His holiness and unimpeachable justice, to have restored Eve in spotless purity, to the loving embrace of her husband. God could have done this without impeaching His unbending justice, or tarnishing His dignity and personal honor, because Eve was taken from Adam. In the immutable order of creation, the man was first formed, then the woman. Paul explains this cir- cumstance very clearly and assures us that the ar- rangement established by the Creator in the begin- ning is the irrevocable rule for the adjustment of human relations in the social, domestic and religious spheres. ''But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." I Cor. 11:3. The place or sphere of the woman in the order [43] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT of creation is therefore, subordinate, dependent, in- cidental and she would have never been made if man had not first been formed. Woman is the interroga- tion point of the universe; the riddle of creation. The ruin of the race was not in her power. Her authority was secondary, and she was superseded and overshadowed by Adam. He was vested with the power of life and death. He could have been the ambassador of God to men — of the Holy Trinity in the earth forever, if he had chosen life and kept himself from presumptuous sin. The world was made for him. Let it be remembered that the Pre-Adam- ite earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the fact of the deep. Chaos ruled the world. If man could have lived during that period, when destructive forces ruled the earth-domain, his mind would have been chaotic and God would have made the mistake of producing a creature with a disordered brain — an insane being, the ivorh of Super-Intelligence ! But order is God 's First Law and He called it out of chaos, forming the world for the habitation of man. Mr. A. R. "Wallace, the emin- ent scientist, deals with the point before us. He af- firms that the later astronomical discoveries ''tend to show that our position in the material universe is special and probably unique ; * * * and that the sup- reme end and purpose of this vast universe was the production and development of the living soul in the perishable body of man. ' ' Speaking of the sun as the [44] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN central orb of the stellar system, lie says, ' ' our sun is one of the central orbs of a globular star-cluster, and the center occupies a position very near to, if no;. actually in, the center of the whole universe." He therefore concludes, ' ' of our position in the solar sys- tem as regards adaptability for organic life, to be in all probability, as central and unique as is that of our sun in the stellar universe." A writer in the Edin- burgh Review (July 1904) says: ''Unquestionably the trend of modern research, is to encourage the opinion that the solar system is set apart among the stars, and the earth among the planets, as if for the express purpose of harbouring in safety the frail craft bearing the burden of human life." The fact that Adam was created from the dust of mother earth, the human race descending from him, and that Christ, the Second Adam, was born, lived, suffered, died and was buried in our world, rising from the dead, ascending to the Father and received His enth- ronement in the heavens, from our world, is sufficient proof of the foregone conclusions, that the world is the central orb of organic life and that it was formed specially for the habitation of man. He is the geometric center of the universe, and his influence girdles the globe, the baneful effects of his disobe- dience being extended to the furthest limits of the visible world. God made him a moral agent, endowed him with the power of a freewill, and made him sover- eign in the earth sphere. The world and its crea- [45] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT tures were subject to his authority and control. ' ' And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Gen. 1:26. God be- stowed upon Adam a distinct honor and one that has never, before nor since his day, been conferred upon any other creature, in that He committed the naming of all creatures in the lower of life, vegetable and animal, to him. "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air ; and brought them unto Adam to see w^hat he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name there- of." Gen. 2:19. Therefore the effect of his sin was extended to all creatures and every part of the material realm over which he held dominion, and God emphasized his importance by bringing His curse as a part of the penalty imposed upon Adam's original sin. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." Gen 3 :17, 18. "For the creation was subjective to vanity not of its own will, but by reason of Him who sub jected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." Ro. [46] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN 8 :20, 21. (R. V.) Milton beautifully portrays, in sub- lime verse, the truths expressed in the scripture pas- sages above, and says : '*'0f man's first disobedience and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the world and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, heavenly muse, that on the secret Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed In the beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of chaos." Oh sin, what havoc thou has wrought in our fair world! Thou didst obtrude thine unwelcome pres- ence in the sacred precincts of Eden, seduce the fair- est woman that God ever made, and thru her be- witching charms, thou didst succeed in entering the heart of Adam, our Federal Head, and polluting the fountain source of life, thou hast sent the bitter stream of death thru every human heart and nation, tribe and race of men under the sun. Thou art the viceroy of Satan and the fawning ambassador of death, who has hollowed out the globe, and thou hast filled it with thy victims of past generations. Thou art the friend of Satan, death and hell ; the enemy of man, God and heaven. Thou dost turn the joy of revelers into the anguish of remorse. Thou art the sting of death that fills the impenitent with horror in the dying hour; the black bond of iniquity, that [47] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT has left its malevolent impress upon all past centu- ries. Thou hast sown the earth down with dragons' teeth, and turned the world into an aceldama of blood and carnage. Thou hast incited Kings and Rulers to unholy acts of ambition, and hate, and thus produced the cataclysm of war. Thy upas shadow falls athwart the cradles of the world, and helpless innocents become the victims of a galling bond- age, of an evil heredity, from which they cannot es- cape, wars, tumults, riots, calamities, pestilence, fa- mines, lost character, ruined lives, withered hopes, wrecked homes, broken hearts and death! Death! Death! are some of the results of thy fell work of vindictive hate, and fiendish treachery, practiced up- on the inhabitants of the earth. But the day of victory for righteousness, and the complete eman- cipation of the world from thy presence and power, draws nigh and Jesses ivill destroy thee root ana branch! "Ye visions of bright heavenly birth, Ye glories of the latter day, Descend upon the fallen earth. And chase the shades of night away. Bid streams of love and mercy flow Thru every vale of human woe, TiU sin, and care, and sorrow cease. And all the world is hushed in peace." The entrance of sin in Eden made the tragedy of Calvary necessary and the fact that Jesus, the [48] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN "Son of God" died for man exclusively, shows the vast, immeasurable importance of man. God made the whole creation subject to his will and power, and gave him dominion over the works of His hands. "Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands ; Thou hast put all things under his feet; All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field ; The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth thru the paths of the sea." Ps. 8 :6-8. God crowned him with glory and honor and placed under him the nearest and farthest — the tamest and wildest — the highest and lowest — all parts of animated nature on earth, and even in sea and sky. But when man rebelled against his Maker and fell under judgment, the creature below him and subject to his authority, rebelled against him. The whole creation was brought under the curse of sin, and man the glory-crowned King of the world, lost his throne and became the servant and vassal of both nature and sin. Thus man lost his sovereignty and became the abject and dishonored servant of servants, and if his Maker had not given him a Saviour, who could restore the pledge of unfailing obedience, and become man's substitute under law, being "made sin for us," he would have been hissed from the presence of his Creator, without the opportunity of repentance or the cleans- ing mercies of David. But Jesus took the place as man's substitute [49] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Personal Representative in heaven and on earth. He was the great Antitype of the First man and as such offered Himself, a med- iatorial ransom for many ''dying the just for the un- just that He might bring us to God." "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. ' ' I Tim. 2 :5. God promised our First Parents in the garden of Eden, that, a "seed of the woman," (one having the form, functions and nature of ordinary human beings) should come into the world as the antagonist of Satan (serpent), and that He would triumph over him, and destroy his kingdom in the world. The passage reads thus: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed ; he shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3 :15. The above statement contains the first promise of a Redeemer for mankind, and it also opens the "high- way of the seed, Abel, Seth, Noah (Gen. 6:8, 10), Shem (Gen. 9:26, 27), Abraham (Gen. 12: 1-4), Isaac (Gen. 17: 19-21), Jacob (Gen. 8:10-14), Judah (Gen. 49:10), David (2 Sam. 5:5-17), Emanuel-Christ (Isa. 7 :9-14) , (Math. 1 :20-23) . Hence it is clear that Jesus came into the world for the purpose of redeem- ing men thru the payment of a price, for the original sin of Adam, that all nature might be ultimately de- livered from the curse, under which it passed, when Adam rebelled against God. "And unto Adam He said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of [50] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I com- manded thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it ; cursed is the ground for thy sake, ' ' etc. There is an extra- ordinary passage in Romans, that explains this and similar statements that have been previously cited, and which reads as follows: "For we know that the creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." The facts regarding power, greatness, immortality and importance of man as disclosed in the scriptures, prove conclusively to any fair mind- ed person that Adam was the central figure of creation, and was so intimately identified with the visible, material universe that all life, organic and inorganic, was directly involved in his transgression and upon the principle of philosophic reciprocity, passed under the curse that his conduct justly mer- ited. The perfection, glory and life of nature exist- ed, representatively, in him. He was Monarch of the world, and when he fell from his high throne in Para- dise, the shock w^as felt thru out "the metes and bounds" of his kingdom realm, and all nature col- lapsed, and writhing in pain, rebelled against the injustice of her human Lord, and striking back in injured agony, defied his power and challenged his right to govern and control any orders in the natural realm. Every storm that sweeps over the fair face of the world, leaving death and desolation in its wake; every seismic shock that makes the pillars of nature tremble, overthrowing cities and villages, [51] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT destroying peace and filling the hearts of men with terror; every eclipse that casts its shadow over the face of sun or moon or star, is nature 's cry of distress to God, asking for relief from the curse of man's sin and praying for complete restoration to its pristine glory and peace. And God has provided His Son, who is capable of establishing righteousness as the universal rule of action for all creatures, and He will eliminate sin from the experience of men, banish Satan from the earth and restore all things to right relations with God thru the overthrow of all world kingdoms, and the establishment of the Kingdom of the heavens, in glorious triumph on the earth. ''And He shall send Jesus which was before preached unto you: Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets, since the w^orld began." Acts 3:20, Jesus, the ''Son of God" — "Son of Man," has taken the place as Mediator between God and man. He is God's Ambassador to men and man's ad- vocate before God. In order to save men from sin and preserve the integrity of the law, to pardon tht sinner, without contravening the honor and dignity of His Father, it was necessary for Him to be related by nature, to both God and man, and to be identified with both, on the basis of the highest ethicalism that His Father could devise, and that it would be pos- sible for any human being thru Him to attain. Jesus, [52] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN therefore possessed, as the personal representative of the human race, a pure human spirit, an incorrup- tible human soul, and a perfect, sinless, human body. He obtained His human elements and functions, thru the ordinary methods of a natural birth, tho it was super-naturally produced under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He became the ''Seed of the woman" by birthright and entered into affiliation with man- kind as the ''Son of man" — "Second Adam," but as a "Son of God," He could not be born or produced by any act of omnipotent power, but must be "given" as the divine representative of God to men. Isaiah mentions this fact : ' ' For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given : and the government shall be upon His shoulder : and His name shall be called Wonder- ful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince." Isa. 9 :6. Jesus was eternally the "Son of God" and as such, was "given" by the Father to be the Saviour of men, and to redeem all nature from the original curse that was inflicted upon Adam. He was "God of very God" and the most perfect, model human being that has ever come into our world. "Jesus whose blood so freely streamed To satisfy the law's demand; By Thee from guilt and wrath relieved Before the Father's face I stand. To reconcile offending man, Make justice drop her angry rod; What creature could have formed the plan, Or who fulfill it but a GodV [53] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT The Two Adams Compared ' ' In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," — were faithful words of warning, and had they been observed how different would world af- fairs be today! No age would have witnessed the ravages of war, betrayal of friendships, nor the des- truction of domestic felicity by a human vampire, who is so depraved in heart, and morally perverted in character, as to consider virtue a shame, and vice the crowning glory of womanhood. Sin would have never cast its blighting shadow athwart the horizon of the world, and disease and death would be unknown. Peace, prosperity and happiness would reign supreme. But alas ! — ^'What scenes of horror and of dread Await the sinner's dying bed! Death's terrors all appear in sight, Presages of eternal night." Jesus is the hope of the world and if men desire peace of conscience, tranquility of mind, spiritual prosperity and eternal life hereafter, they must peni- tently obey Him. God has committed the jurisdic- tion of the world — all things visible and invisible to Jesus. He has displaced Adam in the order of the universe and "the Way, the Truth, the Life," to all who believe. All judgment has been committed to Him. He is "King of kings and Lord of lords." It is interesting to compare the two Adams. The first [54] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN Adam brought sin into the world and condemnation upon the entire race. Death followed as the result of sin. Adam was made holy and placed in a pure en- vironment and was given regal authority as the ruler of the world. How glorious — god-like — must have been unfallen human nature ! No wonder angels shouted for joy, and the sons of God clapped their hands in the ecstacy of amazement, when they beheld for the first time, the wonderful creature man in the garden, before his glory was sullied by the commis- sion of sin! And it is entrancingly majestic in its ruins. In its natural state, it is an untilled garden of God — a withered oasis in the desert of destiny, whose burning sands show here and there, the foot- prints, of a long-since departed Deity — a decaying temple, whose darkened halls and mouldering sanc- tuary retains no evidence of the purpled ease, from luxurious wealth, nor one lost note of melody, from the lyre of life, reminding us of the majestic power, and regal happiness of its occupants in the long ago. The evening star peeps thru the crevice in the wall, and drapes abandoned altars of sacrifice with a sheen of gossamer silver, chasing away the sullen shadows, and lingering lovingly upon the faded petals of virtue's crimson rose, and while we continue to dream, passing further under the power of fancy's seven-hued arch, our enchantment deepens, the shad- ows fade, and we behold the voiceless organ of being, enshrouded in the gray light of a dying day — silent, [55] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT dust-covered and deserted. It is no longer instinct with harmony and responds no more, in a deep diap- ason of angelic melody, or a thrilling crescendo of divine unity, keeping harmony with the ''music of the spheres." I turn from this forbidding prospect, to observe that human nature reflects the image of God in its ruins. Emerson says: "every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool. It seems as if heaven had sent its insane angels into our world as to an asylum. And here they will break out into their native music, and utter at intervals the words they have heard in heaven ; then the mad fit returns, and they mope and wallow like dogs." But man disobeyed Jehovah and severed all connection with heaven, lost control of his great dominions, the com- panionship of angels and involved the world in uni- versal ruin. Jesus, in order to become our Saviour, gave up His dominions, the companionship of angels, and also, ''the glory that He had with the Father, before all worlds" and entered our world that was reeking with corruption ; and taking a human body — obtained from a woman — the "Seed of the woman" He began to lead the race in victorious righteous- ness, back to God, and He will ultimately triumph over every foe, visible and invisible, and bring in the universal Kingdom of God, and restore the lost Eden to the bosom of the world. Death came by man. The grave opened to receive the victims of sin. And if Jesus had refused to become the world's Redeemer on [56] GOD'S GREATEST CREATIVE ACT: A MAN that most fateful day in Eden, when Adam sinned, the grave would have become the end of us all, and nature would have been blotted out of existence. The soul would have perished in the dust of its crumbling temple, and the spirit would have been ex- tinguished in the darkness of annihilation. But Jes- us became man's surety and promised His father to appear in court in future ages as his advocate. Thus soul and spirit were permitted to exist in a disem- bodied form, when separated from the body in death. The First Man surrendered his life, and had no pow- er to take it again. He died seeking his own selfish aggrandizement. His was the insane act of a suicide, but it had a still worse feature, being parricidal in effect, and the blow that severed his own head, cut the jugular vein of his ancestry. But Jesus in hum- ble resignation to the Will of His Father, gave up His life for the dead. He had power to take it again, and when He arose from ''Joseph's new tomb," He vanquished death and became the ''resurrection and the life." Thus "by man came death" but by man also, came "the resurrection of the dead." Adam vio- lated law and brought us under judgment : Jesus kept inviolable every tenet of law for us, and "brought life and immortality to light thru the gospel." Adam was the end of life, and the beginning of death ; Jesus was the end of death, and the beginning of "life from the dead." The spiritual life that the believer [57] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT possesses, is a pledge from God that he shall have his body, changed and made immortal. ^'Oh death, where is thy sting ? Oh grave, where is thy victory ? ' ' '' Beyond these chilly winds and gloomy skies, Beyond death's cloudy portal. There is a land where beauty never dies And love becomes immortal/^ [58] CHAPTER IV Faith in Christ And without faith it is impossible to be well- pleasing unto Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him. Heb. 11 :6. Pleasing God is of supreme importance. It should be the sole object of all our christian labor. I read this question in an old book: ''What is the chief end of man? the answer as given is, "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The answer is eminently correct, but it could have been answered more briefly and just as correctly and with fewer words, viz ; To please God. To please God has a twofold meaning; experimentally, a man can- not be satisfied or pleased with himself, until he shall have succeeded in meeting divine requirements, ful- filling the law of obedience according to the will of God, and conforming himself in a surrendered will and a believing heart, to Jesus for faithful service to the close of life's fitful day. Paul says : ''faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Thus faith is the revelation of a spiritual life wrought by the regenerated power of the Holy Spirit, that was previously performed in bringing us into relationship with God as "heirs of God and [59] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT joint heirs with Christ," enabling us to please God through the exercise of a living faith. The import- ance of faith then as an evidence of spiritual life in the soul is very clear, in that it is essential to the presentation of the saved state to the mind, and spir- itual consciousness of a Christian. Therefore faith is not only essential as a fundamental of salvation, but it is also a spiritual grace thru which we please God, and enter into the full enjoyment of our saved state. It is the source of assurance, and the mainspring of soul peace, and without it, it is impossible for any one to enjoy and be satisfied with the life we live in this world. Jesus gave special emphasis to the last fact, when He said: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me and I will give you rest." If we succeed in pleasing our Maker we will add eternal laurels to our crown and cover ourselves with imperishable glory. Abel achieved an undying fame and an eternal heritage through faith, and by it, "he being dead, yet speaketh, God testifying to his gifts." We cannot have God for our witness, unless we accept His terms of salvation and become witnesses for Him through faith in Jesus. Man then, cannot please God without bringing himself great spiritual happiness, and an abundance of immortal rewards in the next world, and temporal prosperity in this. We should continually keep in mind the fact that God always accepts the person who pleases [60] • FAITH IN CHRIST Him and pours upon His children the bounties of grace, causing them to walk under the aegis of His protecting care, and benevolent guidance. Pleasing our heavenly Father should be the chief concern of all Christians and the question: "How can I please Him?" should have the first place in the considera- tion of all men. It brings the stupendous question of Christ and His atoning merits plainly to our view, whenever it is presented. There is something very serious and solemn in our text: "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Strive as we may, give our goods to feed the poor, and our bodies to be burned, and it profits us nothing without faith. Make what sacrifices you choose, be as eminent in things lovely, beautiful and of good report among men, yet none of these will be well pleasing to God unless they are mixed with faith. God said to the Jews: "With all your sacrifices you must offer salt." He means by this that we must produce good works through faith in Him, and because we love Him, otherwise our work will not be work, not being mixed with faith, and our faith will not be faith, not being mixed with work, because faith works by love and love is of God, and furthermore "God is love;" therefore, we cannot please God except thru the recognition of His divine nature in us, and faith is the only element of spiritual life through which we are enabled to understand the unfolding of His invisible presence in our hearts. Faith is a law of [61] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the spiritual realm and is as old as the first man. When Cain and Abel attained manhood, God gave a test that practically demonstrated this law, and showed very clearly that in that early age "with- out faith it was impossible to please Him." One bright day Cain and Abel erected two altars side by side. Cain brought the choicest fruits of the field and placed them upon his altar, and Abel brought the firstling of the flocks, and placed it upon his altar. The fire of God descended from heaven and con- sumed Abel's offerings, but Cain's was untouched. God did not consider the sacrifice of Cain, because it was not dedicated in faith. Abel's lamb reflected his faith in the substitutionary death of Christ — ■ God's lamb. The offering of Abel, therefore, was acceptable to God, it having been made in the belief of the atonement of Jesus, and as a type of His sacrificial death for men. Thru it He was justi- fied and His work preserved. Abel had faith in Jes- us, while Cain trusted in his offering — his good works, depending upon himself to "please God;" hence, when he was rejected, he became very angry, and slew his brother, showing that there was no faith with his works, and his heart was devoid of love for God. And we should not forget that the same spirit of self-exultation enters into the hearts of all those persons who are performing good works at the present time, in a vain effort to please God thereby, and save themselves from the condemnation [62] FAITH IN CHRIST of sin, and the general doom of the human race. The scriptures furnish abundant illustration of their folly in the doom of such characters as Cain and King Saul and Gehazi and Simonimagus, the last having so deeply imbibed a spirit of self-love, that in His moral delusions He audaciously offered a bribe to the Apostle Peter in exchange for the free and unctious and supernatural gift of the Holy spirit. Where there is no faith, the heart is perverted and darkened, and cannot entertain truth until it is touched by the fires of God's holy spirit, and the dross of carnality is consumed, and a new nature is generated thru the brooding presence of the Third Person in the Trinity. Faith cannot exist in an environment of spiritual death. There is but one death that faith honors and that is, the death of Christ thru which event it is perfected. If faith could exist in the un- regenerate soul, it would be compelled to witness to the tragedy of eternal death, and perform the sad office of funeral director and undertaker for the dead soul. But faith is a living principle, and must have an atmosphere and spiritual surrounding consonant with its nature, and in harmony with its testimony, or it must forever remain dumb, because when it speaks, it must witness thru Jesus, ''who was made alive from the dead." Jesus is the author and the finisher of faith. He originated it, by working spir- itual changes in the hearts of men, in every age from Abel to the time of his own personal manifestation I 03] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT to Israel, and implanting in their hearts a personal knowledge of Himself as the Savior of the world thru the shedding of blood. He finishes or completes the nature of faith, in making it harmonize and ex- plain His work in our hearts, and also in the sense of satisfaction that the soul experiences in accepting the atonement of Jesus. "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Faith loves the shed blood of Jesus — it is a product ■ — a ripe fruit, that springs up in the heart from the regenerated flowing of the blood, thru the souls of men for the cleansing of sin. Faith accepted as inevitable and unavoidable, the death of Jesus Christ, and wept in sorrow over the tomb of Joseph, keeping the light of immortal hope glimmering upon the horizon of a lost world, and when Jesus burst asunder the bands of death and arose from the dust of the tomb, faith gathered about it the waning energies of broken hearts, and filled the souls of men with a triumphant hope of a resurrected life, and put a new song in the heart of a struggling church and a new hymn of praise upon the lips of believers in every age, even thanks- givings to our God. "All things are possible to him that believeth. Unto you that believe He is pre- cious." Faith makes Jesus precious and real to the soul. Historically speaking, we believe concern- ing men of genius, the poets, the artists, the authors, the orators, who have greatly influenced their fel- low-men, that their gifts and mental talents, with all [64] FAITH IN CHRIST the circumstances that contributed to their personal developments, were so ordered and directed by the Lord Jesus as to qualify them for the part they were to play in the destiny of human affairs. But it is impossible for us to realize the presence, in our af- fairs in a personal way at least, of any one of the great characters who have played some part in the drama of life, but who have passed from this world's stage of action, tho we fully believe, and with all the earnestness and sincerity of our souls, that they were endowed with an immortal nature, and are living to- day somewhere in the unseen realms of eternity. And the only person who has ever lived in our world, en- dured its trials, suffered its unjust afflictions, loved it, was true to it, died for it, finding a resting place in its bosom, arose from its embrace of death and ascending to the other world, left behind him a spiritual gift and an ennobling trait of character, viz : Faith thru which it is possible for men to realize His presence consciously, at all times and under all the distressing circumstances, and in all the trying vicissitudes of life. Madame Swetchine says: "Faith, amid the disorders of a sinful life, is like the lamp burning in an ancient tomb." I heartily commend the elegant statement of faith from the pen of the brilliant Montford, viz : "The light of genius is some- times so resplendent, as to make man walk thru life, amid glory and acclimation ; but it burns very dimly and low, when carried into ' ' the valley of the shadow [65] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT of death." But faith is like the evening stars, shin- ing into our souls the more brightly, the deeper the night of death in which they sink. ' ' Faith Defined The great Napoleon expresses his ideas of the power of a living faith in the following words, viz: "all the scholastic scaffolding falls as a ruined edi- fice, before one single word, — faith ! ' ' The blind poet Milton in the following sublime phrases, testi- fies to the power of faith, as the truest and most abiding vision that the soul has of eternity and de- clares, ''0 welcome pure-eyed one, for this Faith, white-handed Hope, thou hovering angel, girt with golden wings!" Doctor Geo. A. Loften explains the matter of faith very clearly, in its relation to atone- ment, in the expression: "By His incarnation and atonement Christ went down into the depths of humanity and hell to save us; and we must really get into Christ and He into us, in order to reach His life, ratify His atonement and appropriate His right- eousness." Hence faith must be rationally the inex- orable law of our union with Christ, or of our salva- tion by grace. According to Paul's view of salvation it has three distinct phases, viz ; eschatotological, cos- mic, and dynamic. It is eschatotological because it means, fundamentally, God's deliverance of man from the impending wrath. His transforming of them [66] FAITH IN CHRIST into His own likeness and nature, and His sharing with them His functions as ruler and judge of the universe. All these experiences pertain to the future. It is cosmic and dynamic, because, in order for God to accomplish these results, it was necessary for Him thru the exercise of superhuman power, to rescue men from the evil powers of the cosmos. As long as men are under the domineering control of Gentile world-power, they are the victims of impending wrath, and subject to the judgments that will be directed against the cosmos or world-power, at the close of this age. Many superficial readers of the scriptures do not understand that all persons of every race and kin- dred and tongue, and all characters of evil doers, and disbelievers, without any exceptions, are identi- fied with the Gentile world-powers, and are subject to the avenging judgments that God has in reserva- tion for them ; and that on the other hand, all believ- ers are personally incorporated with all divine move- ments that God has embraced or inaugurated for the evangelization of the world, and the salvation of the elect, in the Gentile Dispensation. At the feast of the Passover, in answer to certain Greeks who sought an interview with Him, He said: ''The hour is come that the "Son of Man" should be glorified. Verily, Verily, I say unto you except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Jesus did not [67] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT receive these Gentiles, the Greeks, but His words quoted above had special reference to them at that time, and to all classes of people in succeeding ages, who were to be classed cosmically, as Gentiles. Christ in the flesh. King of the Jews, could not dur- ing His personal ministry be an object of faith to the Gentiles tho the Jews should have believed on Him, as Messiah and their King. For the Gentiles were as a corn of wheat that falls into the ground and dies ; so Christ must be lifted up on the cross and believed in, as a sacrifice for sin, as ' ' Seed of Abraham, ' ' and not David. Paul sheds a halo of light on the intri- cate point involved in the previous statement, and it is worthy of notice here : "And the scripture, fore- seeing that God was justifying the heathen thru faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations be blest. So then they which be of faith are blest with faithful Abra- ham." Dr. Vance's statement of faith is pertinent, viz: "A man's faith is the essential condition of all that God seeks to develop within and confer upon us. He wants us to have hope, but hope is impossible without faith. We are saved by hope but hope that is seen; that is, hope that lacks faith is not hope. Thus faith is back of everything that God seeks to develop in us, and to work out thru us as consecrated human instrumentalities. ^'Take Thou my hand; Take it! Thou knowest best [68] FAITH IN CHRIST How I should go, and all the rest ; I cannot, cannot see; Lead me, I hold my hands to Thee I own no will but Thine; Make Thy way mine." Faith gives God his opportunity with man, and gives man his acquisition of God. And faith in all of its varying degrees, from the lowest to its highest development, and from its weakest to its greatest strength, is a man's estimate of God. Then, what is faith? It is a simple word, any child can spell it, but it has a compound meaning that is very difficult and complicated, and almost incomprehensible. Many scholarly men possess faith, but cannot ex- plain it clearly. They believe, but cannot tell how they do it. Suppose a penitent sinner were to ask you how to believe and to tell him the real meaning of faith, what would your answer be? Oh, you say: "I had not given that matter any thought. I know that I believe in Jesus and that I have a glorious experience of divine grace. I am perfectly satisfied that He has saved me from my sins. Here I let questions about faith rest, and do not perplex my soul, in an effort to unravel them" — very good. But still it has a meaning, that is accessible to any ordinary Bible reader. Hodge, in his ^'Outlines," (and he follows the Church Fathers), in my opinion, gives the clearest and most succinct definition of faith, that I have ever read. Faith, as a religious belief, embraces the essential and fundamental teachings of [69] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT both Testaments. It is composed of three distinct spir- itual elements, viz; (a) knowledge; (b) assent, and (c) trust. God does not require faith of any one that has no ability or means of uderstanding. Infants and idiots are saved without faith, tho neither, the infant or idiot, could enter heaven in the natural state, hence they are changed or spiritually transformed at death. Regeneration is God's exclusive method of imparting divine life to a natural soul. So, irresponsible per- sons are saved by grace without faith, and responsi- ble ones are saved by grace thru faith. Christ says : "Ye must be born again." Regeneration evidently precedes faith, while repentance, in the order of salva- tion, comes before the new birth. Men capable of being instructed in the things concerning the king- dom, are commanded to repent. Repentance is God's only provision of mercy for a person condemned un- der law. It is the recognition of an awakened soul seeking to return to God, and at the same time ac- knowledging in his own heart the righteous verdict of the law, and his deserved banishment from the presence of God. Repentance is towards God — always having God under consideration as the Supreme Judge of the earth, and His terrible wrath continually in the purview of His eternal destiny. Repentance is therefore never towards Christ, be- cause He is our substitute and voluntarily meets our penalty, and dies for the absolution of our sins, under the law, hence Paul says, "repentance towards God [70] FAITH IN CHRIST and faith in Jesus Christ." Hence, one cannot be- lieve in Jesus until repentance has been exercised for transgressions of the law and in obedience to God, as Creator, and judge, and neither can one exer- cise repentance without a historical belief in a Su- preme Being. Therefore, the Bible contains no prom- ise of hope for an impenitent, rebellious, self-centered person, but on the contrary every page reflects the lurid lightnings of vengeance, heralding the coming storm of judgment, in terrible fury and unstayed destruction of disbelievers. Let us notice now the first element in faith. Knowledge of the truth in a limited sense at least, is necessary to faith. It is an indisputable fact, that every unsaved person, who has been permitted to enjoy the advantages of evan- gelical instructions, given from the pulpit, or who has personally studied the word of God, in a careless or indifferent way, as to that matter, has sufficient knowledge of Christian duty, and divine obligations to bring his soul under the awful guilt of sinning against light, but it is also true that all persons are intellectually qualified to believe. Reader, if you were summoned to appear in the presence of God this moment, could you sincerely and truthfully say that you had not been given the chance to be saved, or admitting that you had, but that you did not have the power to believe it? The second element in faith is inseparably joined to the first one, that we have just been discussing. It is [71] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT next to impossible for a person to be instructed in the affairs of God's kingdom and to possess a limited knowledge of Bible truth, without giving his assent to the veracity and credibility of the truths reported. But those two elements are metaphysical, incorporat- ing a measure of moral force and power, giving one a clear understanding of the weighty and responsible matter of moral judgment, that can only come thru the conviction of the law. Paul says, "by the law is the knowledge of sin." Again he says, that "the Gentiles were a law unto themselves," showing that the moral law, or Mosaic decalogue, was written on their consciences, a fact which is demonstrated in the experiences of all men of every race and tongue and in all the ages of the world, being revealed (1) in the uni- versal belief of all people or peoples in the Supreme Being and (2) in the power and mental ability of men, in every state of existence, civilized or heathen, to form a correct moral judgment touching matters relating to the rights of each other, and the natural yearning of their hearts, untutored tho they may be to understand and gain intelligent access to God, and acquire a per- sonal knowledge of Him, whom they in their ignorance and corrupt or benighted state, vainly worship. Spir- itual conviction of sin finds its basis in the above men- tioned conditions of human nature. Though fallen, man is a moral creature. And the first awakening that the soul receives, giving it the power of repent- ance, and the moral courage and spiritual strength [72] FAITH IN CHRIST to turn to God, comes thru the conviction of the holy spirit, superhumanly and dynamically per- formed. His conviction is absolutely effective in the above sense, of bringing about a moral reform in the penitent, and his complete spiritual transformation. And tho the holy spirit is not the sheriff of the law, and does not make any effort to arrest the sinner in his rebellious career, and reform him on the basis of legal enactments, that has already resulted in his certain condemnation and ultimate judgment, unless he is extricated from the toils of the law, neverthe- less the holy spirit takes the advantage of the pre- vious knowledge of the sinner of his condemned state, and uses it, incidentally, in making his own personal conviction, based upon the grace of God, that has its truest manifestation in the death of Jesus, which fact being the source of atonement, is reported in the gospel and brings all classes of sin- ners under the law, directly responsible for the trag- edy of Calvary, and convicts them for the heinous crime of deicide, in the absence of ''their repentance" toward God and faith in Jesus. Therefore the holy spirit, being the agent of salvation, convicts men, because they do not believe in Jesus. The basis then of His work of conviction is the grace of God that is revealed in the atonement of Christ, thru which it secures effectively the salvation of those who believe. Hence Paul thus testifies: ''I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power [73] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT of God unto salvation." The gospel then brings faith — the faith — once for all delivered entirely out of the realm of law unto which it was shut up in past ages, being kept for the manifestation of Jesus, and out of the sphere of the sj^mbolism of Judaism, into its own sphere, viz: The spiritual environment of gospel, and true Christian ideals established and preserved by the personal supervision of the holy spirit — the vicegerent of Jesus. Hence the third element of faith, trust or affiance, or recumbency, as the old writers called it, is essential to a finished and well rounded faith. The New Testament scrip- ture emphasizes the fact, that faith is a composite, trinitarian grace. It cannot therefore, be brought to its full fruitage, so long as the element of loving trust is absent. It is almost universally true that all classes of sinners, the thoughtlessly careless, willfully indifferent and even hopeless reprobates, possess the first two elements of taith, which is proven by the fact that they are conscious of guilt — accept the death of Christ for sinners as a historical fact — believing in a judgment to come, and furthermore, ac- knowledge that Jesus has power to save, and that He does save, and according to their opnion, He is the Savior of all men, ''specially of them that believe." But to them He is not their Savior, but simply some- body's Savior — or simply a Savior. To illustrate the point, and to make it clear, it should be remem- bered that it is not the gold in the mine, nor the bul- [74] FAITH IN CHRIST lion in the mint, that liquidates the indebtedness of the national government, but the minted coin of the realm, that is reserved in government depositories. And it is not the money of another man that pays our debts, but that which we have in our pockets or the bank. Jesus saves us in the same way, from the indebtedness to God, His Father under law, or in the possessive case, becoming our real personal Sav- ior, from sin and eternal misery in the world to come. We cannot be saved by proxy, nor upon the merits of our parents, nor our spiritual advisor's, nor our Christian friend's faith. Jesus is a jealous God, and must have the supreme love, and first place in our hearts, or He will not save us, and faith as a living personal trust is the only thing that we can do that will enable us to give it to Him. The Conquering Grace ''This is the victory that overcometh the world; even our faith." This is just as true of natural faith, as it is of spiritual, or saving faith. Natural faith is the basic principle of human association and society. The old adage, ''birds of a feather flock together" contains an ancient philosophy of human life, that has had its demonstration in every age, and in all the affairs of men, especially all those concerned in organized efforts for the accomplishment of part- icular aims. It will be a sad day in the history of [75] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the world, when men so far lose confidence in one another, as to withold responsible and valuable pledges of trust, and refuse to have intimate political, social, religious and commercial intercourse with each other. Natural faith has produced all the great combinations of wealth, corporations involving a multiplicity of commercial interests, and all combina- tions, representing the consolidation of the mutual affairs of all men composing the circumscribed group. It is the foundation of every great city, and town, and village, and nation, kingdom and empire, thruout the world. It is the genius of national peace, the spirit of progress that directs in the development of the arts and sciences, and that secures the prosperity and happiness of civilized men. And were it to be destroyed the world would be plunged into a state of social and political pandemonium; anarchy, the pol- itical madness of Utopian dreamers, would supplant organized governments and a reign of inhuman car- nage, social injustice, and atheistic ideals, would re- sult. Destroy natural faith, and you can bankrupt every business, every banking house, railroad corp- oration, and commercial trust, of every kind. It is the foundation of every great enterprise that exists today, and that's proving beneficial to all men. Eliminate it from the affairs of men, and you will illumine the torch of incendiarism, put a dagger, dripping with innocent blood, in the hand of a cow- ardly assassin, and put a bomb of picric acid under [76] FAITH IN CHRIST the foundation of all civic life, and a reign of terror, similar to that of the French Revolution would re- sult, and peace, integrity, virtue, honor and personal security, would perish, and a bedlam of iniquity would inaugurate hell on earth. And it is not strain- ing the truth, to assert that natural faith contributes a large share to the development of the church, whose chief security consists in the exercise of a finished faith that embraces the third principle, or that of loving trust. Faith as a spiritual virtue is almost omnipotent. It brings power and strength to the tempted soul, enabling us to prevail against the seductive influence and machinations of Satan. It is related of the Puritans, during the days of Crom- well, that they went forth to battle against the Royal- ists, believing that they were divinely directed by the Lord, and that they were fighting for His glory, and could not be defeated. It is remarkable that in the course of the civil war, men from the forges, the plow and the marts of trade, met trained Cavaliers on their own ground, and defeated them. The Roy- alists were mighty men of military valor, but they could not stand before the zealous assaults of the Puritan army, which was inspired by a religious faith. The motto of the two armies presents an inter- esting contrast; that of the Royalists were these words: "King and Queen Mary!" "Hey! for Caval- iers ! " and that of the Puritans : ' ' Truth and peace ! ' ' ' ' God is with us ! " They advanced to the conflict and [77] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT mingled with the roar of musketry and the clash of steel the sound of psalms and spiritual songs. Faith is the genius of Christianity — the source and imper- ishable foundation of civilization. It has enriched the history of humanity. Every great achievement and heroic example of piety, self-denial and martyr- dom, recorded in sacred writ, reflects its virtue and holy power. It inspires the hearts of men with courage in the face of danger. It is the secret of David's matchless deeds of bravery and patriotism. It crowned Gideon with success, and was the girding of power to Moses and Joshua and Sampson, who put to ''flight the armies of aliens." ''And what shall I more say?" Shall I further speak of that long list of godly worthies who wrought, thru the faith of Jesus, miraculous works, establishing Christian ideals, before whose triumphant march thrones were overturned, and wicked dynasties brought to desola- tion, building upon their ruins, enduring temples of righteousness ? ' ' Faith is a certain image of eternity. All things are present to it — things past, and things to come. *'But even if human eyes see not, No one is unobserved — There are censures deep and plaudits high As each may be deserved; We cannot live in a secret place; There are watchers always by, For heaven and earth are full of life, And God is ever nigh." [78] CHAPTER V Our Home ''Lamping thy tuneful soul to that large noon Where thou shalt choir with angels. Words of woe Are for the unfulfilled, not thee, whose moon Of genius sinks full-orbed, glorious aglow." ''No moaning of the bar; musical drifting Of time's waves, turning to the eternal sea, Deaths soft wind all thy gallant canvass lifting, And Christ thy pilot to the peace to be.'' "In my Father's house are many mansions." Jno. 14 :2. The scene is laid in a small home in Waco, Texas. An only daughter is lingering on the border of the great divide. She v^as rapidly approaching the coronation period of her short career. She went home the eighteenth day of April, 1913. This was the darkest day in the history of myself and of my lonely, heart-broken wife. But it has its bright side — as every cloud has its silver lining. The moments and minutes and hours that composed it are swal- lowed up in an endless eternity. The mistakes, lost opportunities, misfortunes and soul-harrowing cal- amities that transpired during its passage are mat- ters of record with the Judge of all the earth. Though clouds and shadows came vdth it, yet it was beautiful in the extreme in comparison with the days [79] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT of sorrow and misery that passed thru the exper- iences of those who are unacquainted with God, and whose loved ones are not prepared to go into His presence, but who, in spite of neglected opportuni- ties to repent and make their peace with God, in obedience to His word have had to go away unpre- pared. Dawning fair and bright, it rose upon our storm-tossed world, and like a heavenly messenger dispatched from the throne of God, opened wide the gates of life, pouring in upon our shadow-haunted earth billows of radiant light that, rolling over oceans and seas, snow-capped mountains, moss-cover- ed hills, and clover-laden valleys, kissing the frag- rant smiles back to the petals of the drooping rose, dissolving raindrops that lingered lovingly upon the cheek of the modest little pink, and bathing forest and glen, orchard and garden, in roseate crimson- tinted light, dispelling the clouds, chasing away the shadows, awakening all nature, and making the world glad with the music of multitudinous, feath- ered songsters. And in the time of our deepest sor- row, how forcibly were we reminded of the heavenly Canaan, whither our darling daughter had gone — where sunlight skies are ever cloudless, sin never comes, nor misery with its deplorable tale of woe, nor poverty with its haggard face and mendicant garb, ever enters. There, all are pure, all are hap- py, all are rich. As I looked into her pale, dead face, I was reminded of a dark, dismal night in the [80] OUR HOME past when her sick papa was entertained and cheer- ed, as she performed in her childish way upon the organ and sang: ' ' Jesus lover of my soul, Let me to thy boson fly; While the nearer water's roll, While the tempest still is high. ' ' Then I cannot help exclaiming, "Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe." Yea, time, talents, love, ser- vice, body, soul, eternal salvation, everlasting glory. He paid the ransom price for our souls, and gave us a glorious heritage on high, and He is, therefore, en- titled to our service here, and our personal presence over there. Here we have no permanent abiding place, but by His grace we have the promise of one "that hath foundations" "eternal in the heavens," ' ' whose building and maker is God. " " I go to prepare a place for you." Heaven is a prepared place. We may hold widely divergent views regarding the present abode of disembodied spirits, yet all must admit that heaven is a prepared place, or rather that in heaven, Christ has provided a place of abode, spe- cially for his people. "In my Father's house are many mansions." I understand the Savior to mean, by the phrase "many abodes," separate dwelling places for different orders of beings. Angels are evidently not all of the same order. Some have more glory, some more power than others. There are lower and higher orders among them, but all of them are highly hon- [81] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ored by being created servants of the blessed Trinity. Hence there are provided abodes in God's house (oikiai) befitting the character of service that thoy render and consonant to the honor that he conferred upon them, in their separate ranks. Hence, with this view of the subject, we are better prepared to understand the language, ''many abodes," and "I go to prepare a place for you." But some one may ask, "Was there not a place prepared for God's people prior to the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and whither they have been gathered since the world began?" Certainly! Enoch and Elijah, who were translated that they should not see death, and Moses, who I believe was raised from the dead, because the scriptures speak about war having oc- cured between the heavenly host, under the leader- ship of Michael, and the demons of the pit led by Satan, over his body, and all those who were raised when Jesus died and went into the city of Jerusal- em, have more liberty, perhaps, than either angels or disembodied spirits in Paradise, and are allowed to roam at will, thru the vast domain of the unseen realms above. "They are as the angels" and have been "accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead," but as to the place of their present abode, unless it is Paradise, the scriptures are silent on the subject; however, tho meager, scripture accounts of them are sufficiently explicit to warrant us in saying that their residence [82] OUR HOME is in the heaven above. Here I let the curtain fall. Moses and Elijah appeared in the mount of transfig- uration with Jesus ; since then, the Bible concerning them is a sealed book. Paradise is the intermediate state of the righteous dead, the place whither the "justified spirits of men made perfect" thru "blood of sprinkling," have come, from Abel down to the present. Christ, in company with the penitent thief, went there and remained during the interval between His death and resurrection. Lazarus and all the saved, who have put off "this mortal coil" are there patiently awaiting the return of our Lord to this earth, which event will witness the coming of those "justified spirits made perfect," with Jesus and the angels, to receive their bodies and to be glorified. Then we will enter those blest abodes, that Christ has prepared for his redeemed and resurrected people. "When I come again I will receive you un- to myself." Here I leave this part of the subject. Readers, study your Bible and draw your own conclusion. Heaven is. a place of light. Heaven as a state begins in the soul, and the very first experi- mental knowledge that we receive of heaven comes immediately after the forgiveness of our sins. How can a man be happy until God has pardoned his sins ! A soul in darkness, lost in sin, could not appreciate it, if it knew that a place was actually reserved in heaven for it. God operates first upon the heart, [83] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT changing our nature, spiritualizing the soul, so as to render it capable, in some small sense, to appreciate the inheritance of light and then He reserves the in- heritance for us. Heaven is day without night. The light that emanates from the ''Father of lights" and that guides our weary footsteps in the way of holi- ness, will grow brighter and brighter unto the com- ing of the perfect day. Heaven is a place of perfect rest. Not that idleness prevails ; on the contrary, we shall be more active than now. The citizens of that ''better country" ceaselessly serve God, but never tire, never grow weary, never exhaust their energies. Employment is essential to the soul's contentment. Moses is not "a wandering Jew," nor Joshua a re- tired hero, David a harpless Quaker, Isaiah an idle dreamer, nor Paul a visionless preacher. Neither is Peter a dreaming visionary, a spiritual prophet, nor John a sighing sentimentalist. Has Peter lost his intrepidity, Robert Hall his industry, Spurgeon, Tal- mage, Beecher, the knowledge and use of their inspir- ing and instructive eloquence? Nay, who can tell but that the capacity of all the saved to receive and communicate happiness, and also the opportunity to work out many of the problems of life, that were sealed mysteries to them here, and also to investigate many of the hidden truths of the scriptures that were beyond their reach in this life, is greatly in- creased and made more efficient in the great beyond. [84] OUR HOME ' ' holy dwelling place of God ! glorious city all divine! Thy streets, by feet of Seraphs trod, Shall one glad day be trod by mine, ' ' Then, when heaven's gate is entered, the shad- ows will all flee away. No night there. Security without temptation. Safety without danger. The gates that swing out to let Christ come to this sin- cursed earth will swing back to let us in, and they will never be shut. No need to close them. The host of darkness will have been vanquished, and driven down to the regions of eternal despair, where they will be shut in with their sins forever. There will be no strikes in heaven, because all will be Kings and Priests unto God, hence on an equality with each other. There will be no poverty there, for all will be rich. Nor will there be any servant girls, with fin- gers worked to the bone, in order to make a bare living, sewing garments for the rich, nor honest employees of any trade or profession, hounded down into beggary and want by some petty tyrant, the creature of an unjust commercial system, because all will be ''heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." Oh, earth, what awful ruin sin hath wrought among thine inhabitants ! Thy soil is drenched in the blood of honest hearts, crushed under the iron heel of ty- ranny, and inhuman oppression ! In this connection, how significant are the sad lines of Robert Bums: [85] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ''Many and sharp the numerous ills Inwoven with our frame, More pointed still we make ourselves Regret, remorse and shame! And man, whose heaven-erected face, The smiles of love adorn, Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless millions mourn.'' The above lines are so applicable to our time, that they appear almost to have been inspired. Wars, tumults, riots, calamities, pestilences, famines, lost character, ruined lives, withered hopes, wrecked homes, broken hearts, and death ! death ! death ! Thank God, none of this in heaven! No broken family ties there. No mother's tears shed for the wandering boy or girl, lured from the parental roof into sin's treacherous path, ne'ermore to return. Good-byes will never be said, benedictions pro- nounced, nor doxologies sung, as there will be no wanderings from heaven, and congregations will ne'er break up. Here in this vale of shadows we sing: ''Hark! from the tomb a doleful sound! Mine ears attend the cry; Yea living men, come view the ground Where you must shortly lie." But in view of His Second Coming, and our eter- nal emancipation from sin, and ultimate glorification in His kingdom, our hearts are filled with ''joy that is unspeakable," and we shout: [86] OUR HOME *' Bright glories rush upon my sight, And charm my wondering eyes — The regions of immortal life, The beauties of the skies. All hail, ye fair, celestial shores Ye lands of endless day; A right delight your prospect pours, And drives my griefs away." All the foregone considerations are delightful, and exceedingly refreshing to the weary spirit of all earth wanderers. Here, in this laJnd of shadows and disappointing enterprises and profitless pursuits, we grow weary and become restless, many times even wishing that we could reach the last milestone in the journey and from the crossroads of life wave a long adieu to our earth companions and then cross over the river of death, and ''rest under the shade of the trees." The heaven-kissed soul of Beecher expresses the upward longing of every Christain spirit, in the following beautiful words : * ' One should go to sleep at night as homesick passengers do. Saying, *' Perhaps in the morning we shall see the shore." I do not care for a carnal heaven of a Mahomet. Such an institution, visible or invisible, could not partake of the purity and spiritual genius of Chris- tianity, and could not therefore, be a place of delight and enjoyment to a Christian, because the entire environment would be out of harmony with our re- generated natures. All homes are builded upon a [87] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT principle of domestic purity, having the divine sanc- tion of Jehovah, hence the foundation of civic, social and religious life, as it involves the association of those of our kind, is similar in its basic structure. All homes are not composed of the same personali- ties, but have the same true foundation, therefore the home is a type of our heavenly home. God's child- ren here, are strangers and pilgrims in the earth. We are away from home, and it is but natural for the heart of the wandering son or daughter to meditate upon the beauty, the promised glory and joy of hea- ven. Heaven then is a place of unity, and its inhab- itants will be as one great family. There will be distinct and separate personalities in heaven, the identity of every person and angel will be preserved ; hence the much desired feature of individualism as it is sought in social and religious developments here, will be brought to its complete and finished develop- ment in heaven. One of the most beautiful phases of life in heaven will be the demonstration of finished character and perfect work. Swedenborg's dream of heaven was chimerical and unreal. It was a place of division — a place of degrees, or in other words it was a place composed of different sections, members of which could never reach sections above them, or enter into their associations and fellowship, because they were lower down in the glorious realms of eternity. It is true that heaven is not one broad table land. The spiritual oneness of the inhabitants of [88] OUR HOME heaven, will be individual rather than collective. There will be distinctions between persons there, just the same as there are here, but each one in heaven will have previously experienced the unification of the physical and spiritual natures that is to be brought about thru the immortalized human body in the pro- cess of instantaneous resurrection. There will be a difference in the rewards possessed by those who were faithful in the discharge of Christian duty in this life. And there will be some who will not have the reward that is bestowed upon those who are patiently and perseveringly engaged in good works, trying to do the Master's will daily, because the character of work that they perform was not according to His revealed word. Thus Paul says: ''But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble ; each man 's work shall be made manifest : for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and a fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as thru fire." I Cor. 3 : 12-15. Now the question arises in every thoughtful mind, did the Apostle mean to teach that there would be degrees in heaven? He did not; he taught the very reverse, for it is perfectly clear that he accepted the view, that all persons who enter heaven do st» thru the unmerited grace of God. Regeneration — or [89] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the spiritualizing of human nature, is all the prepara- tion that one needs to become an heir of God and reach heaven, because salvation is not achieved thru a performance of a system of good works. Jesus said that heaven was a receptacle for good works, and He called it the Christians' treasury, and encouraged his disciples to lay up treasures in it, rather than on the earth, where moths corrupted and thieves broke thru the barriers of protection, and stole our treasury. Therefore, a person who is making all manner of sacrifices and indulging all kinds of self denial, bur- dening himself with ritualistic service without ex- periencing the grace of God in personal salvation from sin, in order to win heaven, is laying up his treasures on earth, and not in heaven; hence the thief of eternity — Satan — who has stolen away the original perfection of the human race, will despoil us of our treasure here, unless the work that we are doing is identified with the nature of God, and par- takes of the spirituality of grace. Good works must have a spiritual nature, in that they are the legitimate fruitage of the grace of God, that is shed abroad by the Holy Ghost in our hearts. Every man 's work must necessarily partake of his nature, because the heart is the source or mainspring of life, and out of it are the issues of the present destiny, and also the invisible one in the great beyond. If the heart is pure, the deeds of the life will be pure and acceptable to God ; but if the heart is impure, the corroding moth of carnality [90] OUR HOME will leave the blight of sin and human depravity upon all of our works, even the best that we perform. God doesn't accept the worship nor the service of criminals, and so long as a man is related to God as his Creator, but living under the law of Moses, he cannot please God for the reason that the law is spiritual, but the natural creature is carnal, sold under sin. Then coming back to the Apostle's statement to the Corinthians, he evidently meant to teach that in heaven, tho there will be a difference in personal rewards for work done in this world, and also a dif- ference in the manifestation of glory, as it is expressed in the individual form, yet all would be happy, not in the same measure of rapture or joy, but according to the spiritual capacity of each person to enjoy a plethora of happiness and eternal glory. He further illustrates the point under consideration in his dis- cussion of the resurrection. He says there, that as one star ' ' differeth from another star, " so it would be true of those in the resurrection of their bodies. Some stars are brighter than other stars, but all of them have light, and tho all persons in the resurrection to the blessed immortality of the gospel will not have the same glorious form, yet all resurrected persons will have glory-fllled bodies. Consequently their physical natures will be blended with their soul-natures, and will be glorious, majestic and God-like. Evidently, some persons will have more glory and a larger capac- ity for the enjoyment of heaven than others, but those [91] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT possessing a more limited nature for the enjoyment of the glory and the fellowship and communion and love of such great characters as will occupy heaven as Abraham, Moses and the Prophets and Apostles and great preachers as Spurgeon, Talmadge, Luther, John Knox and the martyrs, who entered the gates of glory stained with their own blood, that was given as a faith- ful testimony to the power of Jesus to save and to furnish the church an imperishable seed that gathered strength and fertility for the production of a glorious harvest from the ash heaps of Zion, that was flung by the ruthless hand of persecution over the horizon of a world's civilization, — all those will not be con- scious of the fact that any other person is enjoying more of heaven than they, nor will they be able to see any difference in the lustrous beauty of their own forms and that of others. For all will be glorious, bright, having a star-like beauty fashioned after the glorified person of Jesus, and possessing immortality in the same unchangeable degree and quality of life that was secured thru His obedience to His Father, in the resurrection of His perfected physical nature from the grave. We will enter into the same fullness of life from the dead as He possesses it, because He is our leader and furnishes the complete pattern of all the redeemed. Our earthly home is the dearest spot on earth, the scene of our purest enjoyments and next in interest and sincere appreciation, and that which is always remembered with delight, is the land of our [92] OUR HOME nativity. And it is true, that the majority of men in this world are wanderers from their paternal home and the land of their birth. And it is natural for the heart of a sojourner in a strange country to feel a kindly interest in the old home, and to keep in mind the kin- dred and friends of other days. And it is true that our Father in heaven has placed in our hearts an imperish- able and innate desire that no earthly home can satisfy. The heart of God's child longs to be at home, and craves the satisfying delights of heaven. ' ' Home with God, with loved ones, among kindred spirits loving and beloved, and in the midst of all things lovely — what more could be desired ? ' ' ''0, land of love! 0, land of light divine! Father, All wise, Eternal! Guide me, guide these wandering feet of mine Into those gates Supernal!'' [93] CHAPTER VI Pre-Eminence of Christ "Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever; And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of thy king- dom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated ini- quity. Therefore, God, thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Heb. I: 8, 9. The Superior Nature of Christ can be proven from many scriptural facts, but to undertake to translate the meaning of divinity through the veil of His perfected humanity, would re- sult in disastrous defeat, strangling faith, blighting hope, and bringing a total eclipse of reason ; however, it is only through the harmoniously blended and eter- nally active, co-equal and co-extensive human and di- vine elements in the nature of Jesus, that we are per- mitted to retain His personal presence, experiment- ally, in our hearts. History corroborates the scrip- tures upon the fact that the divinity of Jesus is the substantial basis of Christianity, but a special revela- tion — such as only the scriptures furnish — was neces- sary in explaining and proving the connection be- tween His divine and human nature. Thus the two- fold nature of Jesus is expressed in the language of [94] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST John: ''And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." But the distinction that exists between the human and the divine nature of Jesus, is care- fully preserved in the Bible statement, the latter be- ing expressed in the phrase, ''Son of God," and the former as its correlative in that of "Son of man." Therefore Jesus is not a deified human nor a human- ized God. It was not enough for us to have an ex- ample, or a teacher or a sympathizing friend. We need forgiveness of sins, no matter how objectionable to us or repulsive to our self-esteem — we must be re- deemed — saved, personally, from the contamination of sin or we are lost forever. And the unequivocal testimony of God's word, from cover to cover, emphasizes the fact that our re- demption is in Christ. Paul in the first chapter of his letter to the Colossians most wonderfully expresses love and loyalty to Christ. And a more positive state- ment of his divineness could not be framed. He is presented as the only one, through whom we have redemption, and who has made atonement for our souls, thru the shedding of His blood. By His stripes we are healed. In order to be able to atone for us. He must be higher and more than man. If He were only a human being, His death would not avail for His own salva- tion, to say nothing of others. But He was and is very God of very God. And the Father so recognizes His divine sonship, His uneclipsed Godhead and the [95] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT eternal duration of His regal authority and dominions. ' ' Thy throne God is forever and ever. ' ' Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of glad- ness above thy fellows." ''In native worth and honor clad, With beauty, courage, strength adorned, Erect, with front serene, He stands a man, the Lord and King of nature all." Christ's human nature in which he suffered, bled and died was unfallen. There was not the slightest taint of imperfection or pollution in it ; hence, having given himself a perfect, spotless sacrifice for men, God has rewarded him for the service by promoting him to the highest place of enthronement in heaven, as the only Mediator between God and man, and having bestowed the anointing of glory and gladness upon him above all creatures in earth or heaven. Christ was the creator. He made all things that exist in heaven or on earth — visible and invisible, angels and men — all were created by Him, and for Him, and He is above and before them aU. This is not merely an exuberant or excited statement, mentioned only in one place. The same is said in the first chapter of John. Christ or the second Person in the Trinity, is the manifestation or revealer. He is the Word hy means of which expression is given to those things which could not have been expressed thru any other [96] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST method. He is the express image of God and in Him we see and know God. The Father spoke through Jesus, because He was the brightness of His glory — the Word of His power ; He transferred to Him the administration of provi- dence — giving him a "name that i^ above every name." And ''when He made purification of sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high ; hav- ing become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. ' ' The Superior Name of Jesus proves the superiority of His nature. He is above angels. It was said of Christ: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance. And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions." The above language evidently refers to the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the majesty on high, from whence he is now ruling among the nations of the earth, and receiving many tithes of blood-washed spirits from among the Heathen as his possession. He was never more imminently manifest in any age of the world, since His death on Calvary, than He is today. Is history barren of evidence of incarnation ? Has Christ failed to make Himself felt as a potent factor in shaping world affairs, and presiding over the destiny of struggling nations, and waning em- pires? Is not the name of Jesus the crowning glory [97] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT of civilization, and does it not shine with an ever- increasing luster athwart the darkened horizon of nations ? ' ' Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, God of Israel the Savior." God says concerning Christ, but never about the angels : " I will be to him a Father and He shall be to me a Son." He is not only the Son of God by nature, but also the super- natural operation of the Holy Spirit, who produced His human nature through wonderful conception. All intelligent creatures are required to worship him. The adoration of wise men and angels over his infant form in the lowly manger of Bethlehem is worthy of emulation by all mankind below, and angels above. God has crowned His Son with glory and honor and endoweth Him with supreme authority in heaven and on earth, hence He positively commands all of His angels to worship Him. Yes, the Father has enthroned Jesus above all dominion and power, and He shall reign until an utter end is made of anti-Christianism — the unseen force that has plunged the world into a bloody war. The Pan-Europeon War demonstrates the utter futility of national plans for the preservation of universal peace. The sentimentalist shouts; "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." But Jesus says: As it was in the day of Sodom and Gomorrah and before the flood, so will it be, when I return to receive my kingdom. There will also be wars and rumors of wars to the end of the Gentile Dispensation. And the only visible law, recognized by the European [98] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST nations that are engaged in conflict, is that of mili- tarism. But it is also true that the only power of righteousness existing among them at present, is wielded personally by Jesus, the God and maker of history who "hides himself." And although this war appears to be unreasonable and wholly unjustifiable — it is shockingly inhuman and its horrible destruction indescribable — nevertheless it seems to have been in- evitable, and could not be avoided. Anyway, history demonstrates that world-progress has never achieved permanency, that did not receive its initiative and potentiality by the clash of nations. Bible prophecy is being fulfilled and history is repeating itself. Out- worn philosophies and ecclesiastical vagaries are being discarded and thoughtful people are "inquiring after the old paths" and are earnestly breaking away the age-long encrustations of superstitious thought from the divine way-marks of truth. This war is Har-Mageddon ; at least, it has many indications that point to it, as the last great cataclysm of nations. At any rate, I cannot accept the present version of the modernist, viz. : that it is a " return to barbarism. ' ' The world is struggling in the throes of a new birth-travail and a higher, nobler, purer and more humanitarian civilization will be the legitimate issue. The future will witness the uprising of a noble spirit of superaltruism from the ruins of empires and the wreck of nations that will bring about the unity of world powers and inspire mankind with sentiments of [99] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT nobility, eliminating social retrogression, religious re- actionism and political animalism, the trinity of evils that has been the curse of civilization from its intro- duction to the present time. But thru all the carnage of war, the ingratitude and iniquity of nations, reeking social corruptions and inexcusable political defilements of the past, Jesus has maintained the integrity of His throne, and today His scepter of power is lifted upon the horizon of conflicting kingdoms, the blood of whose subjects make red the fair fields of Europe. "The scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom, ' ' Jesus — God of Host. In this connection we will discuss The Philosophic Aspects of the War Many writers are of the opinion that in the present war, civilization is undergoing a change and is about to collapse. But considered in the light of the social, intellectual, and religious development of the nations involved, such a calamity appears to be impossible. God still rules among the children of men, and in His mysterious way He is directing the affairs of the in- dividual, and is working out the accomplishment of His will for the establishment of a more glorious des- tiny for the warring nations and the entire world. I frankly admit that selfishness is a largely dominating element in the war, and it unquestionably contributed to the opening of hostilities, and is the ruling genius (?) of all those who are in control of the affairs of [100] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST the different nations. Human nature is super-abun- dantly in the ascendancy and it is a regretable fact that its worst side and its most corrupt and destruct- ible feature is in control, at the present time, in every avenue of life and in all departments of national life. Men are seeking the gratification of the lower passions and animalism is largely suppressing the noble prin- ciples of truth, culture, the arts, higher sciences and spiritual development. The carnal in man is exult- ingly mastering the European situation. But the aforegone conclusions do not prove that civilization is lost to the world, nor that God is not directing the affairs of those persons who are conducting the Great War. The searching trial of this present war, or of any of the wars of the past, came upon mankind not without the sovereign permission of God. War is the purgation of nations, and all of the wars of the past have been disciplinary and worked out lasting good to the world. And evidently the evil tendencies and results of this war will be over-ruled by the Lord Jesus for the good of the whole world This view of the subject is more reasonable and en- couraging to Christians and should be accepted by all classes of men. Suppose that it has arisen without God's permission, and that His influence is entirely eliminated, then would it not be true, that the beliger- ents would not be conscious of any divine restraints and God would be inaccessible to them ? That, within itself, would be the greatest calamity that could be- [101] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT fall the world. Then it would be true, that the wai was solely instigated by Satan, and that he was in control of the conflicting powers. And if that were true of Europe, why would it not be true of Asia and Africa and the Americas, the Islands of the Seas and all the world ? Satan would then have an access to the world, and a power of evil which, if true, would place the world under the chaotic government of two contending powers and would destroy the sovereign providence of the one Lord, and the first foundation of religious faith. But the living faith in the Christian heart denies the absurd theory of Satanic control. The idea is a monstrous perversion of reason, and is revolting to the enlightened Christian con- science. The scriptures teach that God has all power, in heaven and in earth. The sovereignty of the One and Only Supreme Being is a doctrine fundamental to the Bible, but is an accepted fact, historically, by all civilized nations, and in every age. It is the ac- credited belief of civilized men todaj^ And it is freely acknowledged that God had the power to prevent the war by the exercise even of his ordinary providential direction. In the human sense, when a ruler, or an individual, or a nation has the power to prevent a mis- fortune or calamity that would work evil to other persons or nations and fail to do so, he must share some responsibility for the occurrence. But God is not subject to human standards, ethically, and cannot be held responsible like human beings or angels, be- [102] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST cause He is the Maker of all worlds, and the benign Giver of all life. God cannot do wrong, nor be guilty of any act of moral culpability because He cannot lie, hence. He is not responsible for the war though He permitted it to happen, for the reason that He must use men-human instrumentality — for righting the wrongs, eliminating social antagonisms and enslav- ing legal enactments, that men had encouraged and supported for selfish purposes. In other words, tht nations at war voluntarily took the whiplash of war and God is permitting them to administer their own deserved castigation for the purpose of enabling them to re-adjust their relations in equity to each other, and bring about necessary internal reforms and a bet- ter understanding in international affairs. God is utilizing the belligerent nations and all individuals and incorporated interests, national and private, for the highest good of the race, and all the redeemed. Warlike nations have been used by the Lord for the great ends of His redemptive government. In the allied armies of Egypt and Assyria — the enemies ot Ahaz — Isaiah saw the razor hired of God to shave off the manly beard of the nation's dignity, and re- duce it to contempt and derision. Later He saw in King Sargon the rod of God's anger and a staff of His indignation. A century afterward Jeremiah called Nebuchadnezzar God 's battle-ax and weapon of war. In reply to Habakkuk's remonstrance God taught him the same truth; "I am raising up the [103] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation!" It is equally true that God raised up Cyrus the Mede, to overthrow Babylon, and to set Israel free, at the close of the seventy years captivity. In other ages, God permitted war for the punishment of sin, and the preservation of His people, and the advancement of His kingdom. When God had no further use for Chaldea, His battle-ax. He destroyed it, but the Jew remains until this day. May not this war be an arbit- rary judgment, sent by the Lord for the punishment of personal sins and national wrongs? If there is one truth which is written more plainly in the Bible, in history, and in the moral sense of the best men, it is that God's purpose on earth is to produce in men moral and religious character. Otherwise ''The pillar 'd firmament itself were rottenness, And earth's base built on stubble." God will stop the war when He has avenged His op- pressed people, and repaired the wrongs of the world. In a fallen world like this, God cannot create perfect moral characters in men by simply teaching them to do right, but by inspiring them to right the wrong. And when a nation waxes great and strong and wrong gets thoroly established and unjust measures with blighting, oppressive influence and evil are en- throned and patronized by the great; righteousness ignored, and God dishonored, then wrong is so deeply entrenched in civic affairs, as to become the rule, [104] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST rather than the exception, and correction of it and helpful reform cannot come except thru suffering. It is just as true of nations as it is individuals, that, "whatsoever they sow, they must reap !" If a nation "sows to the flesh, it shall of the flesh reap corrup- tion," and a corrupt life will naturally be forced to suffer for its evil deeds. History abounds with many striking illustrations of this solemn truth; for instance, call to mind the judgment of Ahab and the bestowment of God's right- eous wrath upon his household and Israel, over whom he reigned ; the visitation of King David's immortality and murderous intrigues upon his own head, in the form of an arbitrary penalty, enforced upon a much- loved child, that God took from its cradle and its un- faithful mother 's arms ; the violent death of the licent- ious and cruel Jezebel; the swift vengeance of God upon Core and Dathan ; the dark ending of Eli's life and the death of his corrupt sons; the overthrow of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah; the destruc- tion and complete ruin of Babylon, Nineveh, Jeru- salem and Egypt. But "what need I more say" touching this point? Who has not considered the doom of a brutal and inhuman Caligula — the death of a tyrannical Caesar, and the furious wrath of God as it was meted without measure or mercy, to an eloquent, tho bestial and incestuous Herod? Or who has not been over-awed by the stupendous and un- limited power and inescapable wrath of God, that was [105] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT so unmistakably demonstrated in the destruction of a world during the awful ruin of Noah's flood? But why discuss this point further when it is so clearly established by all history — religious and profane — that the history of our world — in every age and every great epochal period, resulting in internal changes or denationalization for the different nations and kingdoms of the past, exhibits many evidences of God's divine dealings with them because of their wickedness, that came in guise of merciful reproof and warning, providential antagonisms and corrective judgments. Ballon says, "the same Hand that sent the storm, holds the helm. ' ' ''God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold: We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart; Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. ' ' Providence is mysterious and its decrees inscrut- able, but divine interposition, tho always miraculous, is not to be uniformly identified as a distinct miracle, sovereignly and independently wrought by Jehovah. But in the minds of many people, providence is thought to be only and exclusively a supernatural work. And this mistaken idea of God 's over-sight and wise superintendence of the world, has caused multi- tudes of honest, tho misguided thinkers, to become sceptical and reject the providence of God, refusing to believe that He has any control of the world or the material universe, or that He takes any interest in the [106] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST affairs of men. The world to them is a machine — au automaton — that, like an intricate piece of machin- ery, is set in motion by the Maker and will continue to revolve in its appointed orbits; until, cankered with age and worn out with continuous revolution, it will suddenly collapse and pass out of space into oblivion. The idea is blasphemous. It has no support in reason or revelation. ''A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." God stands in a special relation to man, and the course of divine providence in the government of the world shows that His operation has a twofold aspect, which may be described as general and special inter- position. Not only is God represented as being the author of the universe and of those regular laws by which the periodical occurrence of its natural pheno- mena is determined ; but He is also exhibited as a dir- ect Cause of events, by which their temporal or spirit- ual welfare is produced. The notion that a miracle must be wrought every time there is an act of special care or love in behalf of an individual, or a commun- ity, or a nation, is erroneous and confusing. It is true that God has employed both methods of provi- dential care, the extraordinary miracle work and the ordinary and continuous loving care, and that He has produced a gradual unfolding of His purposes in the direction of individuals and nations in the past. And were it to be necessary, God can perform the miracles in a dynamic and supernatural way, to accomplish [107] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT His purpose in the control of the world. But the most frequent method of control is the ordinary and gradual process that is brought about thru His mys- terious influence, impressed upon the minds of men, and in the use that he makes of human instrumental- ity in co-operation with His people and mankind in general. In proof of the last point I refer to God's dealings with Joseph and Mordecai. The history of Joseph very clearly exemplifies the fact of the gradual process of divine guidance and God's dealings with him had a special bearing upon all the tribes of Israel. A careful study of Joseph 's life will convince any one, that if he had not lived and died, or if his life had been different, the destiny of Israel would have been different, and the fate of many principali- ties and kingdoms and great empires would have been different to an extent that we have no means of cal- culating. If ever a human life was under the special care of Jehovah, Joseph 's was ; and God used him not for His own sake, but as an instrument thru whom to reveal His method of dealing in the continuous and ordinary way, with all nations and future ages. Therefore I conclude that the miracle of providence shown in the life of Joseph and among other peoples during his times, did not supplant nor in any way supersede or turn aside the ordinary methods of providence. You notice that results were brought about by a combination of circumstances and in- fluences, in all of which there is an exercise of the hum- [108] PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST an will, and the over-ruling providence of God. The most remarkable changes were superinduced by dreams in which we have no reason to believe that there was an overstepping of natural law. God penetrates and pervades the universe with His nature and with His disposition. Paul says: ''that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, thai ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God 1 ' ' This is the true conception of God. And it finds illustration in the beautiful story of Esther. The book that bears hev name tells us how the Jewish race was preserved from destruction; how Haman was brought to jus- tice, and how the whole empire was made acquainted with the name of Jehovah ; and yet there was no mir- acle, tho there were many strange coincidences, won- derful influences and phenomenal spiritual impres- sions. But the main point on which the whole his- tory turns, is the King's sleeplessness, and an effort to soothe Him into slumber by reading the book of Chronicles of the kingdom, by which means Morde- cai 's forgotten services were brought to remembrance. This restlessness of the King was evidently provi- dential, but it could be brought about without a mir- acle. The subtle influences that operate normally on the human mind, are by no means clearly understood. [109] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT But physiological and psycological investigations have been carried far enough to prove that there are condi- tions under which mind may impress mind silently, yet powerfully, by other than the ordinary methods, yet doubtless thru the operation of laws that are uni- form in their working. Great results have been brought to pass through impressions, warnings, en- couragements, imparted in silence, by an invisible power we may never know, until the mists of un- certainty that veil the spirits of men are cleared away in the revelations of eternal judgment. There- fore I believe that this war is providential, and that God is over-ruling its evil tendencies for His own glory and the good of the entire world ; hence I do not sym- pathize with a pessimistic cry that is coming up, from so many quarters of the earth, viz; ''Christianity has failed and Satan and evil are dominating the world." Eighteousness and wrong are engaged in a death struggle, and the former is in the minority ; but thru the preservation of Jesus Christ it will ultimately prevail and become the rule of all the nations, and love dynamically established in human hearts will fur- nish the immutable motive of human conduct. '^ Behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow Keeping watch above His own. ' ' [110] CHAPTER VII The Second Coming of Jesus Christ ''The Lord shall come! the earth shall quake; The mountains to their centre shake; And, withering from the vault of night, The stars shall pale their feeble light." "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory : and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was anhungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger and ye took me in : naked and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison and ye came unto me." Math. 25 :31-36. The hope of the second coming of Jesus is the strongest, most important, and most largely effective in mould- ing, refining and developing a strong, unwavering Christian faith and shaping it into the proper scrip- tural group, than any other doctrine taught in the New Testament scriptures. It is the inspiration of a living, [111] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT heroic faith. It has been a comfort and solace to the old veteran of the Cross, an incentive to deeds of valor and the girding of strength to the oppressed and per- secuted saint, the crown of rejoicing to the devoted martyr and the hope of the Church in all the ages of the world's history. It is the supreme question of the present age and like Banquo's ghost, "it will not down." But world conditions are so cataclysmic, dangerous, unsatisfactory and restless, that men are forced, even against their mental decree or willing choice in the matter, to seriously consider it. Men of all professions, trades, stations in life and possessing intelligence in different degrees of development, and multitudes who never before the present time gave Jesus Christ any serious consideration, are being in- duced by the mysterious disturbances that obtain in different sections of our world, to think of Jesus and try to interpret His teachings about eschatological questions in the light of social, politcal and religious conditions of the present age. Gentile world-powers are ripe for the harvest of judgment. Protestantism is waning and rapidly approaching the termination of its usefulness and ritualism; the reviving spirit of phariseeism is waxing in prominence and popularity with the multitudes, who are eagerly seeking a worldly religious regime, in an effort to soothe their troubled consciences and avoid the necessity of giving up their idols of vanity, pride and foolish self-esteem. They are therefore turning from the pure word of God. [112] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST They are deceived in the belief that it is possible for men to have soul peace in times like the present with- out a personal, experimental knowledge of God. They are afflicted with "itching ears" and con- sequently cannot endure the soul-ful and soul-satisfy- ing doctrine. They want a mental narcotic to make them forget their responsibilities, and to enable them to spend their time in the profitless indulgence of day- dreams. The nations of the earth are like a troubled sea which cannot rest, and ''whose waters cast up mire and dirt." There is no peace to the wickedly self-seeking church members, and tho they are dis- tressed in heart, greatly confused in mind, they will not accept peace upon Jesus' terms and penitently surrender to Him. This is the Sardis period of Christianity, indicating the unfulfilled works of the protestant reformation in its closing hours. "And unto the angel of the Church in Sardis write ; These things sayeth He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars ; I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead." Rev. 3:1. Evidences of spiritual decline abound on every hand. Family altars are overgrown with the poisoned ivy oi careless neglect, and the children of Christian parents are being swept by the tides of spiritual disintegra- tion far out and away from moorings of safety, on the bosom of a storm-tossed ocean of wrath and eternal disaster. Genuine piety is almost a lost Christian art among many leading church officials, and even among [113] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT many ministers of the gospel. Many churches art little more than mere entertainment bureaus where the ''giddy and the gay" can supply their vain "love of pleasure" and feast for awhile on the chaff of a semi-religious, nauseating ecclesiastical show and have their idiotic ears tickled by some spineless preacher who is too cowardly to preach the truth that will save men and make them "new creatures in Christ Jesus, ' ' and who does not hesitate to substitutt the word of God with an elocutionary recital, or a pious vaudeville show in order as he thinks (I put special emphasis on the qualifying phrase) to be pop- ular with the "multitude whose feet are swift to do evil" and to draw his salary and be advertised for his "liberal views," "broadness," "genuine o|pti- mism" and congeniality and "easy, graceful fellow- ship with worldly things." Empty profession is largely supplanting confession in our religious life. Regeneration is giving away before the formal service of ritualism, that is fostered and promoted by worldly- minded churches. Jesus Christ is being driven into a corner by the sensualism of the day and the Holy spirit; grieved with the wickedness and flagrant im- morality of the world. He is withdrawing His influence from mankind in general, as He did in the days of Noah and Lot, and is limiting His blessing to the faithful ones here and there over the world ; and tho we can see the alarming trend of affairs, we are help- less to remedy the evil, but like Noah, warn the [114] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST people of the awful holocaust of vengeance that is coming upon us. True worship is being eliminated thru the intro- duction of phlegmatic and Athenian culture religion, and the world is becoming a moral catafalgue, on which is lying the dead body of protestantism. "How long, dear Saviour, oh, how long Shall that bright hour delay? Roll swiftly round, ye wheels of time, And bring the appointed day." ' ' When shall these things be ? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Math. 24 :3. Jesus answers the above three-fold ques- tion in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew and in connection with Luke 21 :20-24. This brings us to the consideration of the fact that the chapter in Matthew's gospel contains Two Sets of Prophecies :: — one set or group referring to the destruction of Jeru- salem and the other set to the Parousia or second coming of Jesus. The prophecies related by Jesus and recorded by Matthew are very difficult and hard to understand. The casual reader will not proceed far in the investigation of the divine forecasts, until the combined and inter-dependent statements will produce a bewildered state of mind that in all prob- ability will serve to discourage any further study of the questions and issues involved. But the statements [115] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT of Jesus were intended to be understood and reflect light upon the future destiny of the world and the city of Jerusalem. He did not reveal an intangible; mystery, or a concealed truth, that would forever re- main inaccessible to men and that would lure, but not satisfy, investigation, as a mirage, shimmering in the distance, attracts the wayfarer and leads him further on into an arid desert to perish of thirst. The order as set forth by Jesus reveals the first and most im- portant evidence of His return to the world at the close of the Gentile Dispensation, viz; the destruc- tion of the Temple and the overthrow of Jerusalem. The Apostles had shown the buildings of the great structure and He told them that there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. Then they asked the question above referred to, desiring to know when He would return to the world. 'T^he question in its construction shows, that the Apostles were under the supernatural inspira- tion of the Spirit, when the query was propounded to the Master, because it must be borne in mind that these same men, on another occasion, revealed the fact that they had unconsciously lapsed from the high ground of prophetic inspiration that they oc- cupied at the time they sat with Jesus on the Mount of Olives and exhibited so much insight into the sec- ret mysteries of the future, questioning Him so wise- ly about it, and then returning to the provincial theory of the Messianic reign, because they expected Jesus [116] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST to assume the throne of David and taking the leader- ship of the Jews, draw the sword in behalf of Israel's freedom and restoration. They were, therefore dis- appointed when He died on Calvary, and many of them gave up in hopeless despair and thought that all was lost. They evidently identified the throne of promised future dominion, with present affairs and ex- pected to see the accomplishment of that promise dur- ing the natural and that immediate age. But Jesus placed the messianic age far beyond the time of Jeru- salem's destruction, altho He did correlate that great event with it, in the sense that the overthrow of the city of David and the demolition of the Temple were premonitions of that glorious event. He makes this matter very clear in what He said to the Apostles and which is recorded by Luke in his twenty-first chapter, viz; ''And when ye shall see Jerusalem com- passed with armies, then know the desolation thereot is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out ; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. Ana they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations : and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of [117] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the Gentiles be fulfilled." The above prophecy was literally fulfilled when the Eoman army under Titus destroyed Jerusalem about the year of our Lord 70. However, this terrible occurence did not happen for nearly half-a-century after it was predicted, and every statement made by the Saviour can be verified by the records of profane history. And the ''Holy City" is under Gentile dominion today. The pale crescent of Mahomet waves in triumph over the sacred tombs of Judean kings. All the combined powers of earth and hell cannot wrest the city from the dominion of a Gentile power ''until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." I pity and love and honor the Jews, but I could not encourage any movement among them looking to their re-establishment in their beloved city. It is still under the arbitrary judgment of God and Israel must continue to be the scattered nation — a peculiar, persecuted, down-trodden, tho miraculously preserved — people, wanderers in every land, in every age to be hated and despised, yet leaving the impress of a most wonderful personality upon all those peoples among whom they chance to abide, until the moment for their emancipation, that is concealed in God's mind, and not known to the angels, and that Jesus as the "Son of man" refused to tell. Then and not before, will Israel be re-gathered from among the peoples where they have been driven by an angry God, and Jerusalem shall be "safely in- habited by them," during the age of peace and uni- [118] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST versal righteousness, that will be enjoyed by all per- sons who are so fortunate as to accept Christ as their personal Saviour in this age or during the Gentile dispensation — both Jew and Gentile. But after its close, no class of people will have access to Jesus or enjoy gospel privileges, except the Jewish remnant, Isaiah's 'Henth" or ''teil tree," who will return to Jerusalem in an unconverted state of soul, but who will, just prior to the destruction of Anti-Christ and the complete overthrow of all world power, experience the performance of the miracle of grace in the regen- eration of their souls, wrought by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit ; and they will gladly accept Jesus as their Saviour and Prince, and "crown Him Lord of all." The restoration of the Jews and the second advent of Jesus are to occur almost simultan- eously and at the close of the ''Gentile Dispensa- tion;" but He kindly, tho positively, refused to tell the time when that would happen. He said that it was a secret that no one knew and that no class of created beings would be permitted to know, until it actually occurred. As the divine ''Son of God," He possessed the knowledge of the end of all things and of the end of the world. But He came to do the Will of His Father and reveal Him to the world, and it was not consistent with the divine purpose of His Father to make any revelation regarding the day and hour when He would send Jesus to "judge the world in righteous- [ 119 ] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ness." Jesus being a personal divinity and equal to His Father, must preserve the honor, integrity and divine right of His Father in the revelation of truth, the same as in every other sphere of life involving the salvation of men, and the ultimate destiny of all things according to the Will of His Father. Hence, He could not make the secret known without doing violence to Deity, and if He had assumed any author- ity that was not vested in Him by Jehovah, He would have forfeited the substitutional and vicarious repres- entation of the Holy spirit, who was equal to the Father and the Son. In that event the Church would be without a Shekinah of power, and the world would not have His radiant light, dispelling its darkness, and leading many of its benighted subjects to the "Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." If Jesus would not tell His holy angels, and kept the secret from His beloved Apostles, do you think it is reasonable that He has revealed the secret to some modern apostle of a strange cult? Do you not think that it is unmitigated presumption, and blasphemous, for any person to undertake to tell the day or the month or year in which Jesus will return ? Jesus warned us against false teachers and said, ''take heed that no man deceive you." As there were treacherous, lying prophets in Israel — wolves in sheep 's clothing, — deceivers and deceived, heralds of self-made oracles, who preached smooth things to com- fort those who should have covered their souls with [120] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST sackcloth of mourning, and thus betrayed them into a deeper damnation ; men who for the sake of reward justified the ungodly, and thru cunning deception imposed godless teachings upon the unsuspecting and confiding heirs of righteousness, thereby leading them into the meshes of Satan's snare, forcing them to com- promise with evil and lose credit for righteousness and honorable standing with God, so Jesus lovingly and in generous mercy has shown us Yevy clearly, and far in advance of their coming, that the false teacher would prey upon the Church as false prophets did upon Israel. Hear Him : ' ' For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many. ' ' I believe that the Devil has more preachers in the pulpit today than Jesus, but is that sad misfortune a suffi- cient reason to justify us in the opinion that Christ has failed, or that He is destined ultimately to fail in the accomplishment of His mission in the world? The very first Church that was ever organized, came into being under the Master's supervision. He personally directing in its formation, constitution and establish- ment, and one of its charter members, Judas Iscariot, was a thief and a devil. In the proper time Judas was eliminated and the Church was purged from the taint of his contaminating presence, and he ''took his own place" and one that his conduct richly merited and from which miserable fate he cannot hope to be re- stored to the opportunities of gospel blessings — the very gospel that he preached, abused and distrusted [121] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT during the time of his association with the Saviour and the beginning of the New Testament Church. Jesus will bring this world to its knees, either in peni- tence, or eternal judgment, and every tongue shall swear before God, in acknowledgment of His divinity, spotless integrity, unimpeachable veracity, unerring prophetic truth and unswerving justice. Nor will the Church ultimately fail to accomplish the eternal pur- pose 'Svhereunto it was sent." Jesus said to Peter: ' ' Thou art clean but not all" — meaning Judas — and ' 'if I wash thee not thou hast no part with me, ' ' which conveys the idea that Jesus must wash and keep clean from pollution and moral defilements all Churches, in every age and to the close of the Gentile Dispensation. He is preserving His Body. He is watching over it with sleepless vigil. He died for it, and rose again that it might be saved for His own special use. It is a vessel fitted and prepared in all of its deportment and delineations for the Master's glory and honor. Were the Church to be destroj^ed or taken away from Him, heaven would be turned into pandemonium, discordant notes would again trill the strings of the harp of life in angel hands, the scepter of dominion and universal sway would fall from the hand of heaven's King, and eternity would witness a tragedy a thousand times worse than that of Eden, and one that would involve all created beings, in earth and heaven and hell, viz; the defeat of the Second Adam and the destruction of His eternal Kingdom. Nature could not survive [122] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST the shock and endure the awful calamity, but the universe of God would immediately collapse, and the chaos of pre-historic ages, with its scenes of melting planets, erratic wandering stars, flaming meteors, flashing against the lurid glare of unchained thunder bolts, roaring in terrible explosions above the bellow- ing of the storm of destruction that held the world in its grip, would claim the rights of dominion, reverse the order of nature, displace the law of gravity and bring the glorious creation under the judgment of eternal oblivion. But, such a calamity will never — cannot occur — in the history of our world. Jesus has triumphed over death and hell and the grave. He is the ''death of death and hell's destruction," and He holds dominion from the ends of the earth to the re- motest bounds of eternity. He is " God of very God ' ' and holds the scepter of power and reigns in righteous- ness and unsullied glory ' ' from everlasting to everlast- ing." The Church of Christ, therefore, is secure and is destined to accomplish her mission, in spite of the evil work of hypocrites, false teachers and faithless Church members. Do not be uneasy about the future prospect of the Church, rather burden your soul with serious thoughts of God and your duty to Him, that should be faithfully discharged in view of the final Judgment and in obedient Church life. The Church is founded on a rock, and tho the earth may shake and tremble, the Church will stand; the ancient glory of kingdoms departs, nations rise and fall with the var- [123] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT iant tides of political change as the ebb and flow of ocean currents, the world is growing old and the lights of heaven are fading and everything visible is sub- ject to change, but the Church of Jesus is marching grandly toward the goal of final glory and everlasting deliverance, from the finite and carnal world-life, to her enthronement in the presence of her great Head and Lord. Let modern Uzzas' keep their hands off the Church — the ark of God — and go forward with the marching hosts of Israel. "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" I Pet. 4:17. "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" I Cor. 6 :12. *'The Lord shall come, but not the same As once in lowliness He came, A humble man before His foes, A weary man and full of woes." The fact that Jerusalem was used as a beginning place for the introduction of the gospel enterprise, the establishment of the Church, the rejection of the Jews, the induction of the Holy Spirit as the substitute of Jesus in the Church, and the inauguration of the Gen- tile Dispensation, is clear to any ordinary reader of the scriptures. Then, is it not also true that Jerusalem is vitally included in the divine program of God, for the conclusion of a finished redemption, involving His [124] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST chosen people, the termination of the world-wide evan- gelistic enterprise, the glorification and incorporation of the Gentile Church, with the re-gathered Jews as the special subjects of the Davidic covenant, at the time of their restoration to the divine favor and their establishment in the land of Palestine ? It is then that they will accept Jesus as their Messiah and the time when the Kingdom shall be restored to Israel. Since their rejection the Kingdom has existed, only repres- entatively, the Church, — established under Gentile control, thru the personal leadership of the Holy Spir- it, — being its chief executive, has locally and sover- eignly speaking, filled the Kingdom sphere in the world. The Church has the administration of King- dom authority and power, being endowed unctiously, with its regal prerogative of righteousness, and will continue to hold it in virtue of divine right and invest- iture, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled ' ' and Jesus shall be established on David 's throne and reign over Israel as ''King in Zion." And so all Israel shall be saved : as it is written, ' ' There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob : For this is my covenant with them when I shall take away their sins. ' ' Ro. II : 26, 27. Zion, in old Testament prophecy and New Testament nomen- clature, means the Church — not the Kingdom. Jesus dwells in the Church, accepting it as His body. He will continue to abide with it thru the ages, and up to the closing hours of Gentile world dominion, then He [125] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT will come out of it — Zion — and visibly appear in the character of Israel 's ' ' Deliverer. ' ' The Kingdom will then absorb the Church and '' the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of God and His Christ." Jerusalem will be the seat of judgment. The glory throne will be established on "Zion's hill" within her sacred precincts. Jesus wove a skein of prophetic utterances around the ancient ''city of David," the Metropolis of the Jews, and made it the base of all divine movements and operations that have ever been launched by His Father in the world. Her material destiny involved the issues of life and of death, and from abandoned sanctuaries poured forth life-giving streams of heavenly benedictions, blessings of peace, and immortal hope for all the world, like- wise the spirit of judgment and divine maledictions upon sinners of every age. The fall of Jerusalem is, therefore, the most distinguishing and fundamental evidence of the second coming of Jesus. That terrible event was necessary to the extension of the gospel Kingdom to all peoples, thru Church autonomy. The nest had to be broken up before the eagles of heaven would fly into ''all the world" with the glad-tidings of salvation for all men. Jerusalem stood in the way, hindering divine movements, hence it was impossible for God to completely and properly introduce the Gentile Dispensation of grace, so long as it existed. He therefore put the sword of vengeance in the hand of Titus and moved him to destroy it, and the world [126] THE SECOND COMING- OF JESUS CHRIST knows the sequel. And furthermore, Jesus so inti- mately connected the fall of Jerusalem in the chain of prophetic evidences that heralded His second Advent as the resurrected and glorified Messiah of Israel, that He could not have returned in fulfillment of prophecy, if the city had remained intact; and according to His own word, His return to the world the second time was contigent upon that catastrophe and would have to be postponed until it took place. Its demolition and ruin thru the wrath of Jehovah may appear to sentimentalists to be cruel and tyrannical; neverthe- less it it is a mercy sent in disguise, in that it reveals the stately steppings of God coming to judgment. But, — "if I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. ' ' ' ' Ye visions of bright heavenly birth, Y© glories of the latter day. Descend upon the fallen earth. And chase the shades of night away. Bid streams of love and mercy flow Through every vale of human woe. Till sin, and care, and sorrow cease^ And all the world is hushed to peace." In harmony with the discussion of events occur- ring in the history of Jerusalem, let us briefly notice some evidences of the Second Coming, that is men- tioned by Mathew in his twenty-fourth chapter. There is a group of passages from verse 4-14 inclusive, that bearing upon the subject, have a two-fold mean- ing and a double interpretation, viz ; they set forth (1) [127] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT a description of the character of the age — wars, inter- national conflicts, famines, pestilences, persecutions and false Christs. A memorable passage from Dan- iel's prophecy is in point: "Ajid after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for him- self : and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end there- of shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." Dan. 9:26. The above passage contains three distinct prophetic events, all of which have long since happened and flnd record in the pages of profane history and of course, in the Bible. (a) It is asserted that ''Messiah would be cut off," which was literally fulfilled in the death of Jesus. (b) ''And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, ' ' which event transpired when the Roman army, under the leader- ship of Titus, destroyed Jerusalem, (c) The last statement has special application to the internal con- ditions of the Jews just prior to the fall of the city, but it also has an accommodated meaning and its lati- tude reaches to the end of the age, including all other items of prophecy mentioned by Jesus, and recorded in the twenty- fourth chapter of Mathew's gospel. Every age of the world has witnessed the repetition of nearly all (if not all completely), since they were re- vealed by the Master two thousand years ago, but no period of the world's history has possessed a more accurate and detailed repetition of each and every item [128] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST of prophecy that He said would take place before He came again, than the present age. His statement about "war and rumours of war" has a plethora of accom- plishment that no past time has ever known. The world is practically under arms and rumourh of prospective conflicts are too numerous to mention and it is not necessary to do so, because the public press of the day keeps the matter well advertised. The European war furnishes conditions that estab- lish every item of verse seven. Read and study it in the light of the European cataclysm, remember the impending judgment, and in reverent fear and wor- shipful faith, commit the ' ' keeping your soul to Him against that day : " " For nation shall rise against na tion, and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divert. places." What a spectacle for civilization! Europe ablaze with the dragon torch of war ! Millions dead on foreign fields, piled in trenches like disease-inf ecte i hogs — waiting for the trumpet of judgment to sum- mon them to appear before the "King of kings," to witness earth 's last battle, — ' ' Gog and Magog, ' ' and millions more crowded into prison camps, to suffer the discomforts of poor food, unsanitary quarters, the ravages of vermin and constant exposure to infectious diseases! Other millions maimed for life, facing the alternative of a helpless, dependent career, or the cow- ard 's rash madness, expressed in suicide. Thousands are going that way, choosing to die by their own hand, [129] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT rather than live as public charges upon the charity of others. The little mountain Kingdom of Albania, has been practically obliterated and swept from the map. Her people literally starved to death. Belgium and Poland and Serbia are begging for bread, and like Lazarus of old, they would be satisfied with the crumbs that fall from some rich nation's table. Earthquakes have shaken sections of Italy, Turkey and Serbia since the beginning of the war, and tremors have been felt in other countries. It is a time of great peril. It is not a time of peace. This is not the day for the "Prince of Peace." It is a day of trouble and wrath and calamity. It reminds one of the picture drawn in the scriptures of the Ante-Diluvian age. Jesus mentioned Noah > flood and showed the similarity of world conditions that would obtain in the closing period of the Gentile Dispensation and that age, saying, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the Ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away ; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Christ in the above statements makes compari- sons between the age of Noah and the closing period of the Gentile age that discourages the theory that is held by many true saints of God and scholarly preachers, viz; that the world will eventually be con- [130] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST verted and christianized, so universally influenced and dominated by gospel principles, that the Millenium will be established prior to His Second Coming. Evangelization is world-wide and the Church is re- creant to the task assigned to it by Jesus, if it with- holds the gospel from the Heathen in foreign fields or the lost in the homeland. But Jesus never gave any encouragement to the opinion that the world would ever be universally christianized, before He returned in person to take charge of the Kingdom, and ''rule the nations with a rod of iron." He did teach that Christianity would ultimately triumph, and sin would be eliminated from the world, but He identifies that happy period with the time of His visible manifesta- tion, which takes place immediately at the appointed time for the great Tribulation epoch to close and which event is still future. He says, "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory : And before Him shall be gathered all nations : and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats : And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." Two classes of persons appear before Jesus in this "judgment of the nations," Math. 25:31- 33. The christian (sheep) populace is divided from the unbelieving (goat) class, which proves conclu- sively that there will never be a period in the history of the world when Jesus will not have true believing, [131] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT consecrated people to serve Him and ''watch" for His return to the earth, but it is also just as true that there will never be a time during the Gentile age, when sin- ners (goat characters) will not be present in the earth and largely in control of world affairs. Now this brings us (2) to a consideration of the second group of scriptures that mentions those events that charac- terize the ' ' end of the age. ' ' Prior to the ' ' end of the age ' ' the gospel will have been preached among all na- tions for a witness, as it was heralded among the nations contiguous to Jerusalem, before it was des- troyed; then, says Jesus, ''the end will come." He does not say that the nations will be converted or thav a majority of those peoples among whom the gospel is preached will believe it and accept Him, but that it shall be preached for a witness in all the world and among all nations and following that achievement, the end will come. And He emphatically teaches, in the comparison that He draws between the times of Noah and the present Gentile age, that the world will grow worse, socially, politically and religiously, wax- ing in murderous licentiousness, vicious immorality, intemperate greed, domestic infidelity and blasphem- ous atheism. In the days of Noah, the earth genera- tions had become so besotted with sensuality and the love of carnal pleasures, that the knowledge of virtue and soul purity had perished from their hearts and memories. They were bestial, proud, implacable tyrannical, atheistic. They lost the knowledge of [132] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST God thru the indulgence of carnal desires and passions and the suppression of the better and more god-like attributes of their natures. The better self was cruci- fied, conscience crushed, the moral judgment de- throned, and the best elements of mind and the most ennobling traits of character were sacrificed on the altars of unrestrained sensual indulgences and godless, immoral practices. They departed from the faith of their fathers and scoffed mockingly at the threatened deluge. They sinned away their day of grace, and lost their birthright — selling it willingly — for the grati- fication of unholy and depraved desires. They did not possess the knowledge of God in any degree, so far as the record shows. And this condition did not result from the failure upon God's part, to provide them with a true oracle from heaven, that was administered under the unction of the Holy Spirit, and delivered by a divinely called preacher. Noah preached one hundred and twenty years and never secured a con- vert outside of his own family. A^id he preached un- der the direction of the Holy Spirit too. But Methuse- lah, a son of one of the most highly honored believers who ever lived on the earth, and who was translated and went to heaven without dying, evidently perished in the flood. He lived nine hundred and sixty nine years, then died and went to hell. The home is the foundation of the state and, incidentally, also of the Church, and it must be preserved in purity, peace and conjugal happiness, if we would preserve the govern- [ 133 ] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ment, foster a knowledge of God, advance religion and maintain high standards of true, benevolent ethicalism. I made the above remark in order to call attention to a statement that Jesus made about matri- monial affairs during the Ante-Diluvian age, and He used it to illustrate similar conditions that will be the practice of vast multitudes of people, when He comes the second time to the world: "For as in the dayb that were before the flood, they were eating and drink- ing, — being prosperous but ungrateful, happy tho extremely wicked, living in ease and luxury and dense ignorance, experimentally, of the impending day of wrath, and knew not until the flood came and too^ them all away, so it will be in the days of the Son of man," says Jesus. His coming will find the vast majority of mankind unprepared spiritually, and ig- norant and unalarmed about that great event, and it will come upon them unexpectedly, like a ''thief in the night." But the expression, "marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the Ark," is the one with which we are at this juncture specially concerned. He gives us plenty of latitude for the interpretation of the passage, and it is eas}^ for a thinking person to see a more than ordinary meaning underlying the phrase, "giving in marriage.*' Soul-affinity in sexual relations between the sexes, was commonly practiced in that far-distant day. They were very modern and up-to-date in social affairs, and if the affinity did not suit and the relations happened [134] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST not to be congenial, they seemed to have been at liberty to form other and more agreeable relations with the opposite sex. Do you ever hear of things like that happening today ? Is it not a fact that the divorce evil has become so common among us that we have come to look upon it not only with allowance, but with passive endorsement? However, we have not reached the Ante-Diluvian stage of moral depravity and marital infidelity, generally speaking, tho in many sections of our world we are well on the way and making great progress in the downward course of moral deprecia- tion. But bad as conditions were, marriage did not entirely pass away in Noah's time, tho in connection with the legal, divine relation, concubinage was un- blushingly practiced by all classes. The original word that Jesus used in the aramaic tongue, indicates the fact of ''giving in marriage" to be according to the definition mentioned above. And when we remember that Jesus mentioned the depravity of a past age to portray the evil condition of a future age of the world. His description of spiritual matters and im- moral tendencies that are before us and destined to grow worse, is certainly not re-assuring to a post- millennialist. However, the "Captain of our Salva- tion" has faithfully warned us in advance that we might be prepared to meet difficulties as they come, do our best and leave results with God. Let us therefore continually keep in mind the warning that He gave, viz; ''But as the days of Noah were, so shall the com- [135] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ing of the Son of man be." In concluding this divi- sion of the subject I offer what is to my mind one of the strongest and most convincing proofs that can be produced in favor of the pre-millenial theory of the Second Coming. Why did not Jesus mention Enoch or Elijah, in addition to Noah ? They were translated and went to the eternal world in their bodies. They never experienced death, and from the day of their birth and up to the present time, they have oc- cupied their physical structures, and while eternal ages roll, they will enjoy a glorified state, without having entered it thru death. Moses was evidently raised from the dead, and dwells in his original body, being a type of the resurrected Gentile Church, that was justified and redeemed by Jesus under the law. Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in the mount of transfiguration, and were given a revelation of the second coming of Jesus ; but Enoch, who has the dis- tinction of being the first person in the history of the world and the first one in the development of the plan of redemption to mention it, was not present. But Jesus did not say one word about either of them, when discussing the judgment of the nations, at His return to the world, and also the evidences of that stupendous event. However, Noah and the deluge are given an important place in His discussion, and it appears conclusive, therefore, to the writer, that He had a special truth to relate that vitally concerned the Church, rejected Israel and the world at large, warn- [136] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST ing and instructing in the mysteries of eschatological or last things, and encouraging the Gentile Church to persevere in godliness, courageous devotion to Him, as its great Head, spiritual worship, and to steer clear of Judaizing ritualistic religion. This also distributed the ' ' gospel of the kingdom ' ' in all the world, and in- spired the hearts of the scattered remnants of Jacob in the hope that they would be re-gathered and restored to their lost dominion ' ^ at the end of the age. ' ' Hence it is very plain that Noah was used as a type of elect Israel, who will be preserved during the period of tribulation, when the anti-Christ will reign as the su- preme ruler of the combined kingdoms and nations of the world, but which event cannot take place during the Church age and the residence of that institution — the body of Christ — being filled as it is and will con- tinue to he, during its existence in the world, by the Holy Spirit, the personal vice-gerent of Jesus, who, as His Viceroy in the earth, will prevent the rise and enthronement of Anti-Christ, during the interval be- tween the first Church Pentecost and the completion of its evangelistic mission, in the closing period of the world's history, '^the last days," or the end of the age of mercy or grace. All of which proves, conclusively, that Gentile world-powers will grow worse, increasing in more ungodliness, falling more completely under the control of Satan, who is preparing them for the reception of his personal, incarnated representative or viceroy, at the ''end of the age," tho evil will be [137] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT restrained and wickedness hindered, in all lines of its development, by the Holy Spirit in the Church, so long as the Church is in the world. Satan will never be the controlling genius of the age, the master of the world situation, during the tenure of the Church and the Spirit dispensation. But, if the fact that Noah preached for more than a century without getting a convert has any particular reference to this age (and who can disprove it?) we need not be surprised if the countless numbers of elect Gentiles are called in be- fore the coming of Messiah, and a period of fruitless evangelism, extending thru many years of missionary and arduous christian labors, follows as a result. The Church at the present time is losing its ''leavening power" and hardly an echo of its voice is heard, mingling with the confusion and multitudinous din of national and international affairs and conflicts. It is a time of political babel and the world is in an uproar of excitement, distressing apprehension and unrest. These conditions may be temporarily im- proved or even eliminated entirely for a time, but only to return with more force and effect in the future. The world will never enjoy a permanent, lasting peace until Jesus comes. Furthermore, we should not be surprised if the Church should enter a period of time that will be characterized by engrossing wicked- ness, persecution and active opposition to Jesus, and when the oracle of God will fail to convict the lost, and no salvations reward the preachers of the gospel. [138] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST Noali's fruitless preaching under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in his day, unerringly foreshad- owed a similar disheartening condition that will occur during the Church age. And it must still he future, because there has never teen an age since Noah's time that God did not have an elect people in the world and salvations could not he secured thru scriptural meth- ods of work, and it does not apply to the present time, because the gospel is acheiving many remarkahle vic- tories in different parts of the world and particularly among Heathen peoples; nor does it have any refer- ence to the tribulation period, because there will not be any evangelistic work or gospel preaching in that age, forasmuch as it will be under the control of Sat- an, the Church and Holy Spirit being withdrawn from the world and at the end of this time of horror and unspeakable trouble, the gospel will be preached by an angel, but it will not be attended by conversions. To anti-christian hosts, it will unfold the burden of judg- ment; but to Israel, that have been miraculously preserved thru the tribulation, it will be the gospel of the Kingdom, because they are the heirs of the Kingdom and Jesus promised to restore it to the Jews. Therefore, the conclusion forces itself on one's mind, that Noah 's time of salvationless preaching pointed to a spiritual decline that is beyond the present, and that falls in the order of affairs, this side the future time for the return of Jesus. Now let us come to the conclusion of the whole [139] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT matter. When will Jesus come the second time? What will be the form of his appearance and what events will characterize his return to the world? Briefly, and in the fear of an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God, the Judge of all peoples and kindreds and tongues, I will endeavor to answer the above grave and solemnly impressive questions. Jesus informs us that He will come at the close of the age, (Math. 24:14) meaning the gospel or Church age, and which incident is one of the hidden secrets of eternity, and as we have before seen, is not known to angels and was not revealed to His disciples; for he said, ''but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. ' ' And God, in His wisdom and goodness and in the merciful protection, preservation and the best interest of the human race has kept the secret of time and date for closing of the gospel age, shut up in His great, good, loving heart. God has not witheld any truth or fact or incident of the present life, or of the eternal one that is impending, that could be of help to us in solv- ing the vexing problems that are involved in the ad- justment of our lives to His Will, in christian rela- tions, or that would cast sufficient light upon the enig- matical future, to enable us to enjoy the elevating ex- perience of immortal hope, and walk in the lustrous guidance of His benign counsel all ''the days of our life." If some angel were dispatched to this world with authority to reveal that mysterious secret of [140] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST eternity, the disclosure of the ''day and the hour" would plunge the world into pandemonium. We could not endure the shock of its terrible recital, material progress would stop, the wheels of commerce refuse to roll, overwhelming floods of confusion cover the world, civilization collapse into irretrievable ruin and horrors infernal and indescribable, supplanting peace and banishing hope from our shores, would stalk abroad in the land. We do not need to know the secret. We can live better without it. Our special duty regarding His coming is to keep in readiness for it, love His appearing and watch for it continually. Be calm, studious, faithful and go forward with your work, proving your belief of the doctrine of His Sec- ond Advent by your holy, reverent and consecrated life. Pope 's words are relevant : ''Good sense, which only is the gift of Heaven And tho no science, is fairly worth the seven.'' It is enough for us to know that He will return to the world and having said that it would be at the ''end of the age." We should reverently avoid any fur- ther investigation of a matter that can never be known until it actually takes place. But when Jesus does return, what will be form or manner of His manifesta- tion? Will His appearance be visible to the whole world at that time? The first appearance will occur when Jesus leaves the mediatorial throne in heaven, where He has reigned as the representative of the [141] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT human race, and the advocate of His people, since the date of His ascension to "the right hand of tlib Father." He will come thru Paradise and bring the saved of all the ages, who have been gathered there from among all races, and out of every generation of men who have lived in this world, from and including the last believer, who may die before the close of this age. Paul throws a flood of light upon this subject: But ye are come unto the Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, written in hea- ven, and to God the judge of all and to the spirits cf just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel" Heb. 12 :22- 24. Mount Zion in the text is where the throne of David, upon which Christ will reign during the messianic age, will be erected and it was situated outside the gates of the city of David, who mentions it in his first Psalm : ' ' Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion," but the Mount Zion of the future age is represented in the separate place for the right- eous dead, — Paradise, because the ' ' spirits of just men made perfect " ''Whose names are written in heaven," — the heaven of heavens, mentioned by Solomon, the third heaven of Paul and John, and the ''heavenly Jerusalem" of the text, are subjects of the prospective reign of Messiah, the King over the [142] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST Davidic Kingdom, that will be established simultaa- eously with the gathering in of Jewish remnants, hence Paradise is related to heaven as Mount Zion of David's time was related to Jerasulam. The names of all persons recorded in the eleventh chapter oj. Hebrews, the twelve Apostles, who will reign jointly with Jesus in the Messianic age, and the righteous dead of all past ages and those who in future time will enter it thru death, are subjects of "mount Zion" and will one day be glorified and reign with Jesus on the earth. A disembodied soul cannot be glorified apart from the body that it once occupied, hence they are barred from the "heavenly Jerusalem" until after the resurrection and the consummation of the redemptive work of Jesus on the earth. ' ' Then cometh the end, — the end of the Davidic Kingdom on earth, — when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father : when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power." Then God, the Father, who has given Jesus supreme control of the universe, authority as Judge of all creatures in heaven and earth and hell, putting all under sub- jection to Jesus, the Father excepting himself, will ac- cept the glorified Kingdom, and we will be received into His presence and the "heavenly Jerusalem" will be our eternal home. It should be remembered that Jesus did not enter into His Father's presence in His disembodied form, but He did enter Paradise and told the penitent thief that He could go with [143] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Him to that place, and during that day. God the Father is not enthroned in Paradise; because, how would it have been possible for Jesus to have gone to Paradise and not to have seen or met His Father? And He refused to let Mary touch Him after His resurrection, assigning as the reason for it, — ''touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father;" hence, He did not go to heaven at death, but to Para- dise, the intermediate place of reception for the righteous dead ; and God's throne is in the latter place, heaven, for Jesus said it was, and enjoined the Apos- tles against the use of vain repetitions or profane covenant oaths in prayer, saying, — "But I say unto you. Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne." Then if Jesus was not permitted to ascend to His Father at death, that is, enter heaven, without His body, is it reasonable for ordinary be- lievers to expect to receive such an honor ? But Jesus did ascend to His Father after His resurrection and entered upon His mediatorial duties as the High Priest of souls and He continually makes "intercession for us according to the Will of God. ' ' When Jesus returns to the earth, He will come thru Paradise and bring its inhabitants with Him to His station in the mid-heaven. ' ' For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him." I Thes. 4:14. The language of Paul is self-explanatory and does not need comment or elaboration to bring out the fact, intro- [144] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST dueed by him, viz ; that the dead in Christ ascended to Paradise and lived there, until He took them oat of it and brought them into the mid-heaven. And when He enters that place on His return to this earth, the disembodied souls, — "spirits of just men made per- fect, ' ' — will never be separated from Him again and will not have long to wait for their bodies, for the resurrection of the bodies of believers will be near. Jesus will not descend to the earth immediately after He takes His station in the firmament, (Gen. 2:14 & 16) that is, when the ''sun became black as sack- cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." (Rev. 6:12); but the resurrected and the living believer will be ''caught up together with them (resurrected believers who will precede the living believers to the meeting with Jesus), in the clouds, so shall we ever be with the Lord." I Thes. 4:17. This reunion of soul and body will constitute the rapture of saints and bring to pass in our experiences the promised change from "mortality to immortality and from corruption to the incorruption, " and as to the time required to accomplish it, Paul tells us that it will done in the "twinkling of an eye." "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immort- [145] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ality." I Cor. 15:51-53. The descent of Jesus to the mid-heavens will be spectacular, displaying redeemed souls of all past ages in the glorious equipment of un- changing immortality, innumerable hosts of angels in its train and acclaimed by the voice of the Arch- angel and the sound of the trumpets of jubilee ; but I do not believe that it will be visible to the goat na- tions of earth. Evidently, the glory of His appearance in the star-spangled heavens will be concealed from evil doers w^ho are living on the earth at that time, ab the glory of His resurrected body was witheld from His disciples; and it will therefore not be visible to wicked men, tho it will be revealed in all its res- plendent beauty and indescribable glory to the Church and of course to believers of pre-christian times, for they will participate, personally, in the rapturous occasion. But the Church will slip away to Him who is concealed from earth-nations, in the clouds, — natural clouds, and also clouds of angels as well, — the heavenly bodies announcing the presence ot their Maker in their midst by a universal eclyps*:; of sun, moon and stars, which will be visible to all the world; but during the confusion occasioned thereby among the peoples of the earth, believers will ascena with the rapidity of the lightning flash and disappe ir from the sight of loved ones, left to their sins and the dominion of Satan on the earth. ' ' Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the [146] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST one shall be taken and the other left." Math. 24:40-41. Earth dwellers will hear the sound of angel trumpets and in the shadow of the awful eclypse of all nature, will think that it is unusually heavy thunder. The withdrawal of the Holy Spirit, with the Church, from the earth, will leave earth 's countless hosts of darkness under the personal and visible dominion of Satan and the knowledge of God will perish from the earth, and its multitudes will be incapable of entertaining divine impressions. Satan will be driven out of heaven into the earth. The first time that Satan was driven from the presence of God he was cast out of the mountain of God and took up his residence in the air, and became the ''Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," (Eph. 2 :2) — this occurrence being described by the prophet in the following language : " By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore will I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." Ezek. 28:16. The speaker who addressed Satan in the above language was Jesus, who meets him again in the heavens and casts him out of them into the earth. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them (glorified hosts of God). Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and the sea ! for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that [147] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT he hath but a short time." Rev. 12 :12. His dominion will be brief on the earth, but his coming into the earth will inaugurate the period of tribulation. ' ' For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time (when Satan is cast into the earth), no, nor ever shall be." Math. 24:21. This will be a time of unprecedented trouble on the earth, tho Satan, knowing that his reign here will be short, will seek to defeat Jesus, by imitating as nearly as it will be possible for him to do it, the time of universal peace and righteousness and security that Jesus will introduce, when He decends from the heavens to the earth at the close of the tribulation period. Hence Satan will raise up a prince from among the Romans, who was foreshadowed by Titus, the destroyer of Jerusalem the Anti-christ and who will himself be a Ceasar; and the Imperial empire of Rome will be restored and it will thru its ruler, the Anti-Christ, control all the nations and kingdoms of the earth for three and a half years, or the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness ; and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."' Dan. 9 :24. The first part of Anti-Christ reign will be characterized by peace and great prosperity. He will be an actual human being, incarnated by Satan. This [148] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST was what Satan meant when he told Jesus that if He would worship him (the Devil), he would give him all the kingdoms of the world which will be consolidated as the ''beast" under the rule of Anti-Christ. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads thb names of blasphemy." Rev. 13:1. The incarnated Christ is to be imitated by Satan, who will possess thy elements and attributes of the Roman Caesar so com- pletely, as to be incarnated in him. This last and final Caesar will rule over the nations by virtue of the auth- ority and power that Satan gives to him. In a time of trouble Anti-Christ will receive a mortal wound, but he is miraculously healed and the fact makes a sensational impression upon his subjects who advertise it from one end of the world to the other, ' ' and all the world won- dered after the beast." I wonder if that wound will not be self-inflicted by Satan 's direction ? After occu- pying the body of the last of the Caesars will Satan be deceived by his own wicked imagination into the opin- ion that he is then sufficiently human to die and will he, therefore, attempt suicide or will he bewitch some valiant soldier and induce him to strike the fatal blow against Anti-Christ, while he is under the enchantment of the spell? Death to Satan, in the physical sense, would mean annihilation and he surely knows it. I verily believe that the metempsychosis of Satan into soul and body of the ''beast" Caesar, and correspond- [149] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ing metastasis of the human elements of Caesar into Satanic genius, will fail to adhere in harmonious com- bination; hence Satan will find it difficult to act and reason and think as the supreme Devil, at all times, while he is dtvelling in the human heing and having a human form. There will be two natures and two 'beings, in one form, but the incarnation will he in- complete in the sense of perpetual union; therefore Satan will find himself thinking thru the human mind and then, when the mental maze is cleared he will think thru his own mind and indulge his own thoughts without being influenced hy the brain of the man that he will occupy and fill during the time of his infernal incarnation. But he must have forgotten that as a devil he could not die nor escape the ' ' judg- ment of the Lamb." Caesar will have physical im- mortality so long as the Devil dwells personally in him, because he will be a satanized human and a humanized Devil. Failing to take his own life or destroy the human form thru which he works, Satan will give great power and honor to the Anti-Christ and the nations of the earth will give him hero-wor- ship, unconsciously worshipping the Devil without knowing it. He will be a great orator, an eloquent blasphemer, whose sublime rhetoric and sparkling diction will thrill and captivate the souls of men, and his elegant periods ending in a threatening challenge, thrown into the face of God in heaven, will be en- cored thruout the world. He will be a military char- [150] I THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST acter and a mighty man with the sword. He will make war on the saints, remnants of Jacob, and he will overcome them and force them into a slavish captivity. And the spell of his enchantment will hold the nations in line with his program, and com- pel their faithful obedience to him as their worshipful master. ''And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindred and tongues and na- tions. And all that dwell upon the earth shall wor- ship him, whose names are not written in the book of life (but there will be as many as a hundred and forty-four thousand such people, elect Jews on the earth), of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:8. Anti-Christ will also blaspheme the tabernacle of God, which will be located in the heavens with "the Lamb." He causes an image to be made to the beast as men of old were required to do homage to the Roman Emperor. But "he (Anti-Christ) that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity. ' ' Jacob 's trouble will soon be ended and Israel restored to their beloved Jerusalem. A great spiritual change has taken place in the hearts of elect Jews. In the rapturous joy of salvation, they forget their miseries and ignore the galling chains of an unjust and inhuman slavery that Anti-Christ im- posed upon them ; and facing toward the eastern hills of David's kingdom-domain that are encrimso|ned with the dawn of eternal day, as it brightens in the [151] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT nearer approach of the ''sun of righteousness" com- ing to the "judgment of the nations," they suddenly lift up their voices in happy song, in "honor of Moseb and the Lamb." And as the worshipful libation of music pours forth in rhythmic cadence and melodious crescendo, echoing and re-echoing among Judean hills, they are startled into the ecstacy of the full realization of Messianic hope, and as the words of song die on their lips, a hundred and forty-four thousand tongues shout the triumphs of Jesus in anti-Christian airs and proclaim Jesus their King. The earth trembles and the little hills seem to move to and fro, the morning light paints forest and vale and glen with acres of diamonds and fields of gleaming pearl: now the morning light has given way before the shimmering billows of noonday 's effulgent presence, and Jesus has descended upon Zion's hill and the "kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of God and His Christ." Zechariah says: "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east, and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; ana half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. ' ' Zech. 14 :4. Isaiah mentions the same circumstance, but in a slightly dif- ferent form, viz ; " The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness (John the Baptist), prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert (Churchless [152] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST age of tribulation that has existed three and a half years), a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. ' ' Isa. 40 :3-5. This will be the moment when the appearance of Jesus will be universally visible to all the world and the eternities. The descent of Jesus to the mount of Olives will take place during the song of converted Israelites, the hundred and forty-four thousand sons of Jacob who have endured the terrible persecution of Anti-Christ and lived thru the tribulation period. Just before its close, the Holy Spirit, returned to the earth in His mysterious, dynamic power, and worked the spiritual change of regeneration in their hearts. '^And He shall sit (Meaning Jesus in the heavens, who is personally represented by the Holy Spirit, His Paraclete), as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purify them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offer- ing in righteousness." Mai. 3:3. While celebrating the carnival of spiritual joy with the melody of song, Jesus will descend to the earth and take His appointed place as King of Israel, on Zion 's hill. He will meet Satan face to face again and this time Jesus will authorize an angel to arrest him, binding him with chains, — and to then shut him [153] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT up in the bottomless pit. ''And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled : after that he must be loosed a little season." Eev. 20 :l-3. But the first thing that will take place upon the arrival of Jesus in the earth, will be the judgment of the nations and the converted Jews (sheep) will be separated from the anti-Christian hosts (Goat nations), then the angels will be permitted to wreak vengeance upon them, "and they will gather them in bundles," (slaying them in heaps), thus severing ''them from the just," (Jews — sheep nations)," And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Math. 13:49-50. Immediately following the cremation of the wicked dead, the world wiU be renovated by fire. "But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." II Pet. 3:7. The thirteenth verse makes the matter a little plainer, viz ; ' ' Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- eousness." "With the destruction of Anti-Christ and his hosts, and the binding of Satan, He will accom- [154] THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST plish the literal fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy about that specific work of Messiah, viz ; And ye shall tread doAvn the wicked ; for they shall be ashes under the souls of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Jesus is reigning King in Zion. The kingdom of hell has passed from the earth domain and the scepter of satanic power is broken forever. The world shines resplendent in the renewed glory of a once lost Eden, but now fully restored to the world. Its subjects are not burdened with carnal natures, but they occupy immortalized bodies, from which every element of sin has been removed and they are deathless, tireless, more glorious than angels, and each one of them resembles Jesus their King. [155] CHAPTER VIII Resurrection of the Dead The doctrine of resurrection is the very capstont. of gospel truth. It is the diamond that out-shines all other gems that adorn the Savior's crown. Nature furnishes abundant testimony to the uprising of all the dead, as can be seen through analogy. Martin Luther says, "Our Lord has written his promise not in books alone, but in every leaf of Spring-time.'' Day dies into night and is buried everywhere in dark- ness. The glory of the world is obscured in the shadow of death. Its entire substance is tarnished with black- ness. Things become sordid, silent, stupid. Business ceases and occupations rest. And so over the loss of night there is mourning. But the day-spring bursts its bands of mist, casts its roseate blush of dawn o'er the shadow-haunted earth, crimsoning forest and glen, making the dew drops pendant on leaf of tree, flower- ets and shrub, sparkle as myriads of diamonds in the morning light. Thus Phoebus, clad in his lustrous robe of day takes his throne. Shadows flee from his presence and the stars, abashed at their insigniflcance, hide their faces in the hem of his gorgeous garment. All is life. Everything is awake. The world is aglow with industry and business activity. Nature has lifted [156] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD the veil of mourning from her face and opening the sepulchre of her death steps forth refreshed, strength- ened and resplendent in her eJffulgent beauty. The great Spurgeon says, ''The seasons are four evange- lists having their testimony to utter to us. ' ' Summer preaches to us of God's goodness, of the richness of his bounty, of that lavish munificence with which Ht. is pleased to supply the earth, not simply with food for man, but with delights for both eye and ear in the beauteous landscape, the melodies of birds and the flowers of various hue. The still small voice of Au- tumn that bears the wheatsheaf whispers to us in the rustling sear leaf and the falling acorn. He bids us prepare to die. ''All of us," says he "are like flowers that fade or the grass that now is and tomorrow is cast into the oven." Winter, snow-crowned and clad in his brilliant mantle of frost, thunders a most solemn sermon on the terrors of God's vengeance. He tries to make us see how soon he can strip the earth of all its pleasantries and robe it in storm, when He shall come to judge it in righteousness. Then comes Spring, the beautiful maid of the seasons, tripping o'er the daisies, preaching to us in the opening bud and the fragrance of the full-blown flower, fields of growing grain, and verdant forest, a glorious sermon on the resurrection. She says : ' ' Man shall live again tho he die." As the seed when sown germinates and springs forth in the tender plant, so shall man come forth from the dust of the earth and enter upon an eternal heri- [157] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT tage and never-changing state of weal or woe. Death to the Christian is a blessing in disguise. It is a Jacob's ladder upon which we climb up to our Fath- er's throne; hence, amidst the dissolution of nature we can with rapture sing : ' ' Believing in the midst of our afflictions that death is a beginning, not an end, we cry to them, and send farewells, that better might be called predictions, being foreshadowings of the future thrown into the vast unknown. ' ' Now may the Holy Spirit lead us into a clear knowledge of the glorious tho solemn subject, that writer and reader may be profited together and strengthened in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. The Real Identity of the Body The real identity of the body. The Apostle uscb a figure of a seed, a tarnished grain of wheat being deposited in the ground it dies, all the farinaceous part of it decays and is reduced to a peculiar fine soil, into which the life-germ finds refuge and upon which it feeds. The grain itself dies with the exception of a particle too small to be visible to the natural eye. In a short time we see a delicate blade peeping through the clods. It grows until the full fruition appears. Here you have a stalk bearing many grains of wheat, A short time ago you held in your hand a rusty grain small and shriveled but which when planted produced this wonderful harvest. You did not sow that beauti- [158] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD fill waving grain that yields so gracefully to every gentle zepher that kisses her golden cheek. You sowed that which has borne it. ' ' Thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain : But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." Thus God in a mysterious way preserves the seed sown and causing it to germinate gives it a manifold reproduction, and at the same time securing its real identity. We have an illustration of God's method of raising the dead in this inspired harvest scene. The body is sown in corruption. What is more repugnant, lothsome and nauseating than a dead body? What sickening results follow in the wake of Death ! His cythe-stroke breeds infection, pollution and carnage. An Upas shadow gathers in dismal darkness about his bloodstained blade. Behold ! a picture of life and death as I shall endeavor to paint it on the ethereal canvas of your imagination. There she sits solitary in the lime-light of her own reflected beauty. She is beauty's noblest Queen. She is the ad- mired of men and the despair of angelic women. The fragrance of the violets is in her breath. Her eyes sparkle as tho Arcturus and his brilliant sons had fallen from their thrones and had lost their way in their liquid brown depths. The daintiest colorings ot the rose blushes crimson in her cheeks. Her teeth whiter than pearls glisten, as though they were pol- ished in pure extract of lilies. Nothing about her re- [159] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT minds one of death. In our admiration we think of imperishable angels or some wandering spirit that has never been cloyed by earth. But wait a moment. See that wriggling serpent cling to her cheek? There is another and another and another. How pale ! Oh she faints : Help ! Help ! AVhere are her attendants ? Send for Antony ! Too late ! The far-famed beauty Cleopatra is dead! The bejeweled hand is cold and stiff. An idiotic stare o'er-spreads her countenance. The lips part in stupid silence and the hands lie limp and mo- tionless, across her pulseless breast. Ah, her beauty is departed and her glory must be interred with her bones. This form once so lovely is now food for worms. She is sown in corruption. There she lies after the passage of twenty centuries. That grinning skele- ton is all that remains of the world's renowned beauty. What body will she have? who is able to answer? ' ' God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him. " "To every seed his own body." Here we let the curtain fall. Beyond this we have no desire to penetrate the veil. Hence brethren we are a handful of seed or a measure of corn or wheat. Our sowing in the ground is soon to come. What form will this seed have? None of you can tell. But your bodies evidently have each their own life germ. The flowers of the meadows have their own peculiar root and seed-germ. Thus we have preserved to us variety in the vegetable king- dom. So shall it be in the resurrection. Each physi- cal body will come forth from the death shades, bear- [160] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD ing fruit consonant to its seed nature. God will give us bodies as it shall please Him, "to every one of us his own body. " Not some other man's body. But the very one in which we live and move and have our resi- dence. The same body. Thank God! I believe that every atom of this body in which I live today, will be preserved in that body that God shall give me, when the trumpet sounds and Jesus shall come to be " glori- fied in his saints." Not in the same sense however that the identical particles spring up to make a blade and the full corn in the ear. Yet they shall be identical in the sense that they spring from this body, and shall be the true result and development of poor flesh and blood. I am aware that there are many ob- jections offered to this doctrine. But this is of small moment to me. So long as I can have a ''thus sayeth the Lord" for my faith and opinions I feel secure and am content to advocate them and leave results with God. The Doctrine of the Resurrection is Purely a Doctrine op Revelation Immortality is not distinctively a doctrine of revelation, I mean in the sense that the resurrection is, or of regeneration or redemption, or any other card- inal doctrine of revelation ; not that immortality is not a doctrine of Christianity and identified with super- natural revelation, but I mean that it is different from [161] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT resurrection in the method that is employed for its demonstration, in that, through all the ages, men in every condition of life, from the lowest state of barbar- ity to the highest plane of culture and civilization, have naturally entertained a belief in immortality. And it has been accomodated to the system of revela- tion having been incorporated with the doctrines of Christianity. It was therefore not necessary to make a special revelation regarding the doctrine of immort- ality, because it was almost universally accepted in all ages, and by all people, tho its relation to the revela- tion of Bible doctrine has brought it into clearer light and given it an explanation, confirming men in the be- lief of it, the writers of the scriptures using it by means of correlation in the system of Christian doc- trine, as an incidental base for the doctrine of the resurrection and the enlargement and elucidation of the Christian hope. Prior to the development of the divine revelation of God, contained in the holy scrip- tures, the hope of immortality was not thoroughly understood, being eclypsed by pagan superstitious ideals, and in the absence of direct revelation, setting forth the true ideal of hope for a future emancipation of the mind from the darkness of superstition and un- certainty regarding a future state of happiness that the idea of immortality always had in purview, the hope of immortality was therefore, often obscured, fal- ing into complete collapse, being substituted in the heart of an inquirer about future things by a spirit of [162] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD despair and hopeless anxiety. Thus we hear the Pat- riarch Job crying, " If a man die shall he live again ? ' ' Reasoning with his unbelief, or doubts. Job appeals to nature, and says to his disquieted heart : ' ' For there is hope of a tree if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground, yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth and wasteth away; yea man giveth up the ghost and where is he?" The same cry has been the burden of the human heart in all ages. It has been voiced to the heavens in whis- pered accents and in thunder tones. Man has looked up into the skies and thought to read his destiny in the stars. Shrouded in his own shadows, failing to understand his own personality, the unguided light of consciousness within him, flickering uncertainly and casting its fitful flashes across the horizon of his soul, served only to intensify the deepening shadows of his hopelessness; therefore he investigated nature to the fullest extent of his limited ability in an effort to build up the doctrine of immortality from analogy. He has observed the seasons and tried to gather hope on that field. And as a last resort he has turned his eye within, and out of the deep longings of the human soul, he has sought to construct an argument that would satisfy reason, and silence the instinctive fear of annihilation. But he got no further in a satisfac- [163] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT tory solution of the matter than did the Patriarch Job in the olden times. The most erudite and cul- tured, the most advanced thinkers and philosophers of antiquity, never attained to a true knowledge of immortality; nor devised a doctrine of the resurrec tion. They never so much as received a hint of it, to say nothing of teaching it in any of their philosophies. It remained for God to give a distinct revelation of the doctrine of resurrection, and thereby enlarge the nat- ural hope of immortality, and form a true basis for the "blessed immortality of the gospel" that fills the heart of all believers with the assurance of eternal life, bringing them into the experience of a resurrec- tion hope. It would be unjust to the memory of Job, and a blasphemous reflection upon the great Book that bears his name, the oldest volume of our scriptures, were I to leave this part of the subject without ex- plaining to my readers the fact that Job, after all of his afflictions, calamities and great misfortunes was given a special revelation of the redemptive work of Jesus, so that in the nineteenth chapter of his book, we hear him exclaiming: "For I know that my re- deemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter da> upon the earth : And tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; tho my reins be consumed within me." It is clear from the above words that Job accepted the doctrine of the resurrection as fundamental and neces- [164] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD sary to the development of a Christian hope, and es- sential to the existence of Christianity itself. Greek Philosophers in Athens hissed the doctrine when it was preached by Paul on Mars Hill. They called him a "babbler" or a vain person teaching an intellectual vagary that had no basis in natural religion. They unwittingly complimented the doctrine of resurrection and unconsciously accepted Paul's position and by rejecting it as a doctrine of nature, classed it abovt nature and a natural religion, acknowledging that it was a new doctrine and belonged distinctively to the Christian revelation. So essential to the integrity of the doctrine of Christianity is the doctrine of resur- rection, that Christianity must stand or fall with it. And it is a pivotal fact upon which depend all the other doctrines of redemption. But our Lord has not written the promise of re- surrection in books alone, but in every leaf and bud and flowering shrub of nature, but without a direct revelation man could not understand the benevolent instructions of nature. Hence nature itself must needs be explained, and it required a revelation from God, the Maker of nature, to make it known. God has filled all nature with continual emblems of this doctrine. He has given a great number of illustrations in the arrangements of nature and providence. What is night but the death of day ? What is morning but its resurrection from the shades of night? Winter is the death of the year. The seared brown leaf, the [ 165 ] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT bare forest and the faded grass of the field are em- blems of death. But spring with its unfolding bud, its fragrant flowering shrub and sunny skies, southern breezes and awakening nature, is a beautiful illustra- tion of the resurrection. Anticipate the hour, When, at the archangel 's voice, the slumbering dust Shall wake, nor earth, nor sea, withhold her dead; When starting at the crash of bursting bombs. Of mausoleums rent, and pyramids Heaved from their base, thy tyrant of the grave, Propp 'd on his broken sceptre, while the crown Falls from his head, beholds his prison-house Emptied of habitants; beholds Mortal, in immortality absorb 'd. Corruptible in incorruption lost. It is objected sometimes that men's bodies are scattered over the fields to fertilize the soil. Hence atoms that compose them are caught up in plant life and are transferred to the bodies of men and animals. If so, how can they be tracked? I will answer that question by asking one. Granting that God made nat- ure, is it not easier for him to preserve all the atoms of our physical bodies, than it was originally for him to make the first atom from nothing? So far as that is concerned it is not absolutely necessary for him to preserve every particle of the human structure, in order to accomplish the full purpose of a literal resur- rection, a sufficient number of atoms, particles and material elements to secure the identity of the sown body, being all that is demanded by the scriptures. [166] i RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD "Thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain it may chance of wheat or of some other grain. ' ' Nevertheless I believe that every part of the human structure will be raised from the dust. "Like as the flaming comet doubles wide Heaven's mighty cape; and then revisits earth, From the long travel of a thousand years; Thus at the destined period shall return He, once on earth, who bids the comet blaze; And with Him all our triumph o'er the tomb." Wycliffe's body was burned to ashes, and the ashes scattered upon the bosom of the river. It is difficult for an objector to understand how the atoms composing his body, after they had been carried by the river into the sea, and scattered, perhaps to every known shore, could be re-gathered and re-assembled into a glorious body such as the Bible describes. Did any of these changes haj)pen to the reformer's body irrespectively of those natural laws which God has ordained? It is a well known chemical law, that by the use of proper agencies bodies that have been dissolved can be re-assembled and restored to their pristine state. One illustration will suffice: A silver vase or any silver vessel can be dissolved in aqua- fortis and restored by an addition of water to the chemical. Then why cannot Jehovah without violating the law of nature or even trespassing the principle of chemical affinity, restore a dissolved human body to its original form. Granting that God made the human body from the dust of the earth, it appears to me to [167] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT be a less difficult task for God to preserve the atoms that compose the body, and re-assemble them mto a resurrected body. Peter Martyrs, a celebrated re- former, died a few years before Queen Mary's reign. His enemies being thwarted in an attempt to secure possession of his body, were angered so that they took the bones of his wife and buried them in a dunghill. During the reign of Elizabeth her friends fearing that her mortal remains would be exposed to new indignities took it from its contemptuous hiding place and burned it. It was then mixed with the ashes of a romish saint. They said, ''now these romanists will never defile her ashes because they will be afraid of desecrating the relics of their saint." Now how can the two be divided? Just as easily as wheat can be separated from barley. Each body possesses its own distinctive seed-germ. All flesh is not the same kind and no two human bodies precisely alike. The blessed in the new covenant Shall rise up quickened, each one from his grave. Wearing again the garments of flesh, Ministers and messengers of life eternal. A Glorious Transformation The body is mortal. Always subject to decay. We live in a poor uncomfortable tent. The canvas is continually being rent, the cords loosed and the stakes removed. We suffer in mind and body, burn- ing pains rack the nerves. We languish on beds [168] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD of affliction. Some are victims of lingering diseases. Some suddenly and without the least warning cease to breathe and we follow them mournfully to their last resting place in the solemn city of the dead, the certain destination of us all. God has so willed it that each must return to his or her native dust. But not so with the resurrection body. Spurgeon says, ' * there shall not be a bone nor a piece of a bone of any one of Christ's people left in the charnel house at the last. Death shall not have a solitary trophy to show : His prison-house shall be utterly rifled of all the spoil which he has gathered from our humanity. The resurrection body shall be deathless. No solemn hearse, with its nodding black plumes, in heaven. The New Jerusalem is one city in God's vast universe that has no graveyards. Death with his grinning skull and hideous crossbones will never be seen on her golden streets. Her inhabitants are raised in- corruptible. Age on age shall roll into immeasurable eternity, but no sign of decay will be permitted to mar the glory of our lustrous bodies. We shall have eternal youth. If DeLeon, the Spanish explorer, who came to America in search of the perpetual fountain of youth, reaches that fair clime he shall not be turned away a disappointed, broken-hearted man. His hopes shall dwell in unfading youth and vigor forever. ''That great mysterious Deity We soon with open face shall see; The beatific sight [ 169 ] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Shall fill the heavenly courts with praise, And wide diffuse the golden blaze Of everlasting light." Thank God! our hopes, thoughts and longing after immortality are not acids or elements of clay, to be dissolved in the moment of death and pass like the expiring taper, into the darkness of unconscious nonentity, but a great change wUl take place v^th respect to the nature and beauty of our bodies. Here are v^^e, like rusty iron or flowers that fade, or like the crawling worm. We are continually subject to change. I use the illustration employed by all preachers when discussing this subject. See there the wriggling caterpillar? There is nothing comely about him that ''we should desire him." But wait a few weeks. He is now entering the chrysalis state. He will soon burst the bonds of death and throwing aside his winding sheet, will come forth equipped with glittering wings. Having arrived at a full state of perfection he shines with rainbow splendor, reflecting the image of the creature in sunbeam. So shall we, after passing thro our wormwood state here, to our chrysalis state in the grave, burst our coffins and mount aloft more glorious than the angels. *^To will is ours, but not to execute. We map our future like some unknown coast, And say. Here is a harbor, there a rock. The one we wall attain, the other shun! And we do neither! Some chance gale springs up. And bears us far o'er some unfathomed sea. [170] RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD Our efforts all are vain; at length we yield To winds and waves that laugh at man's control. . . . Upon each beckoning scheme No sooner do we fix our hope, than still Time bears us on, leaving each still undone, Adjourned forever!" We shall be changed also in power. "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." We are puny things here. Our strength fails with the passing of a few hours. Our labors wear us out, and a few more days and all of us, like burned out candles, will be extinguished in the darkness of the tomb. But we shall be raised in power. Martin Luther thought that the resurrected saint, if he chose to do it, would be strong enough to shake the world. Some modern writers borrowing their ideas from Milton, when he speaks of the battles of the angels, where they plucked up mountains with their shaggy loads and hurled them at the fallen spirits, have taught that we shall be clothed with gigantic force. Whether we go the length of the poet or not, it is sufficient for us to know, that we will possess almost infinite strength, because we shall be like Him ''for we shall see Him as He is." ''To think, when heaven and earth are fled, And times and seasons o'er. When all that can be shall be dead, That I shall die no more; Oh! where will then my portion be, Where shall I spend eternity?" [171] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Distinct Personality If you sow barley you will reap barley. Neither death nor resurrection makes any change in the char- acters of men. The mortal lineaments will be engraven on the inner man, which every day of an unconverted life makes more indelible and deeper ; they will retain the very impress they have gotten — unaltered and un- effaced by the transition from our present to our future state of existence. There will be a dissolution, then a reconstruction of the body from the sepulchral dust, into which it had mouldered. But there will be neither a dissolution nor a renovation of the spirit which, indestructible both in character and essence, will retain its identity on the midway passage be- tween this world and the next ; so that at the time of quitting this earthly tenement, we may say that if unjust now, it will be unjust still ; if filthy now it will be filthy still ; if holy now, it will be holy still. We all return to our former state after going out of sight, the character remaining fixed and unchanged be- tween our dissolution and the day of our account, — that terrible day of horrors and terrors to many of Adam's unfortunate race — that day of universal triumph for the blood-washed hosts of redemption, that day that shall ring the death knell of time, and usher us, prepared or unprepared, into the bosom of eternity, — that day that God shall come forth from the pavilion of mercy and ascending the throne [172] i I RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD of justice take account of all His creatures, — that day of judgment, ''The judgment! the thrones are all set, Where the Lamb and the white-vested elders are met! All flesh is at once in the sight of the Lord And the doom of Eternity hangs on His word." [173] CHAPTER IX The Millenium ''I know that He whose years can ne'er decay Will from the grave redeem my sleeping clay, When the last rolling sun shall leave the skies. He will survive, and o'er the dust arise: Then shall this mangled skin new form assume, This flesh shall flourish in immortal bloom: My raptured eyes the judging God shall see. Estranged no more, but friendly then to me. How does the lofty hope my soul inspire! I burn, I faint with vehement desire." Thus, Thomas Scott beautifully paraphrases the language of Job, who mentions the Messianic Age in the book that bears his name. ''For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. ' ' And tho the hope of the "latter day," — the time of universal peace, when wars will cease, and swords be turned into plow shares, and spears into pruning hooks, is specially revealed in the scriptures and accorded the distinction of being devised and made known thru the superhuman in- spiration of the Holy Spirit, it is nevertheless the hope of nations today, and has been the desire of na- tions of past ages; and tho they have crumbled into dust, their records bear testimony to the fact that they too looked for an age when righteousness would rule supreme, death pass from the experiences of men and [174] THE MILLENNIUM universal peace and immortal life become the unchang- ing and fadeless destiny of all races and all peoples in the world. The heart of the world is more deeply perplexed, confused and terribly shaken by grief and despair, at the present time, than ever before in its history. Men are serious, their spirits perturbed, ap- prehensive and in feverish haste, they are endeavoring to prepare to meet those things that are coming upon them, but they do not understand the signs of the times. The world is in the grip of the most destruc- tive war of all the ages. Those nations that are not directly involved in the awful cataclysm, are feeling its horrible results and neutrals tremble with alarm and ever-increasing concern, as they see the strong nations, like a whirling maelstrom of blood and in- human carnage with irresistible influence and over- whelming power, drawing the weaker and more help- less countries into its general ruin. Men are thinking of the past, and are trying to find some connecting link between world conditions of the present and world affairs in the long ago, in the hope of getting light upon the troubled state of things today: and many are succeeding, but their investigations open new fields for thought and imaginative genius to ex- plore, and the further processes of mental search lead on to deeper and more unsatisfactory developments. The knowledge that we acquire thru special investiga- tion of world-wide conditions of society, religion and civilization, is confusing to the mind, and many turn [175] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT away from the seemingly hopeless task of finding a correct solution, and refuse to see anything beyond the bedlam of confusion and turmoil and the aceldama of blood and carnage that holds Europe in its savage grip, and banishes peace to the furthest limits of the world. But countless numbers are applying to the very fountain of all wisdom and knowledge, and from which in the past they had strayed, viz; the Bible; and they are eagerly devouring the truths contained in its sacred pages, and their search for light and soul- peace is being strangely rewarded. They find hope, peace and assurance of an age of peace, — a golden age, and they see beyond the smoke-begrimed horizon of European battlefields the glintings of the world's sabbath, as it descends upon a sin-cursed and horror- struck world from the eternal and glory crowned hills of Zion. The mysticism of the age is clearing away, and men are coming to their senses. They are taking correct bearings, and they realize that the national destiny of all nations is uncertain, and where and when and how it will all end is a problem that none can satisfactorily solve. A thinking person cannot find any comfort or gratification in a vision of the world, waxing as it is, more and more wickedly, unless such an one is willing to accept the explanation of all these antagonistic evils given in the word of God, and abide the decisions of the Almighty, and rest in hope of the future day of glory and emancipation for the world and the human race. It must be admitted that [176] THE MILLENNIUM the times are portentous, and strange side-lights of history, gleaming athwart the pathway of men as the flickering light of the glow worm crushed by the density of the drifting fog, are suddenly extinguished, serving to increase the darkness that envelops the world, and to obscure the waymarks of human pro- gress, leaving us to grope our way thru the murky gloom of the world's night, and to feel our way back thru a labyrinth of false and failing ideals, to the highway of truth and ''the landmarks of the fathers," from whence we have unconsciously strayed. This is the age's crisis. Sir Robert Peel spoke like a prophet of old, when, in 1855 he used the following language : ' ' Every aspect of the present time viewed in the light of the past, warrants the belief that we are on the eve of a universal change." Certainly this is an age of the world when nations are trembling and convulsed. A mighty influence, uncanny in its impressions upon the hearts of men, is abroad, surging and heaving the world as with an earthquake. But the opinion of Dr. Tyng in this connection is very encouraging, viz; "while all human appearances indicate the approach of changes more important than any man has ever seen before, God's Word lays before us just what that change is to be." ''The world appears To toll the death-bell of its own decease : And by the voice of its elements To preach the general doom." [177] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT The world prospect is discouraging to those per- sons who are imbued with the idea of universal peace which they have confidently expected to be realized thru the mutual interchange of international court- esies and the recognition of brotherhood for all men. But great thinkers have been rudely awakened, thru the clash of empires, to the fact that pacifism is an Utopian dream, the realization of which must be placed in the far-future, if it is ever accomplished thru the harmonious adjustment of great world pow- ers, in fraternal relations with each other. The world is in a state of pandemonium. It is rent and torn by strife. Peace movements in the past have aborted and brought forth discord and death. During the previous century the seeds of international treachery was sown by designing leaders of different nations, in diplomatic councils, which have germinated and pro- duced a harvest of national hate, international dis- trust, political malice, commercial greed, assassination, anarchism, war and carnage. The peace of Utrecht is a waning memory and that memorable treaty of 1713, giving one of the great World Powers naval and colonial supremacy, is regarded by warring nations as being merely, "a scrap of paper," which has proven to be the prolific source of the world's greatest war. Shall we ignore the words of Jesus in this connection, viz; ''I came not to send peace on ttie earth, but a sword ? " It is clearly demonstrated, that human nat- ure, in this enlightened twentieth century, is as cruel, remorseless, grasping, self-centered and carnal, as it [178] I THE MILLENNIUM has ever been in previous ages. It must therefore De changed — made anew, in a physical sense, before a period of universal and lasting peace can be estab- lished in the world. And the world also must be changed, because it was transformed, during the del- uge, to conform to the interests and conditions of human nature. It is consonant to all the demands of men, regardless of their different states of life and be- ing, here below. Universal peace is impossible under the present material conditions of the world. It is not a suitable place for the residence of perfect and glorified persons, hence Enoch and Elijah, — Moses, after his resurrection, and Jesus, with all those who were raised when He died on Calvary, left it. The poet, Tennyson, caught a vision of the future and ex- pressed his hope in the following lines : ''Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old. Ring in the thousand years of peace! Ring in the valiant man and free. The larger heart, the kindlier hand! Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be." Peter says: "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens bein^ on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." 2 Pet. 3:12. Thus the world will be changed and renewed and refined by fire, before the period of universal peace is inaugurated. The [179] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT matter is explained in the thirteenth verse, viz ; ' ' But according to His promise we look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ' ' It will be a physical and visible change, not an intangible and spiritual one. Old things will pass away and all things will become new and Paradise will be re-estab- lished in the earth. Milton says : **The world shall bum and from her ashes spring New heaven and earth wherein the just shall dwell; And after all their tribulations long See golden days.'' James Montgomery dreamed of the day of Mes- sianic triumph and wrote: *'If God hath made this world so fair, Where sin and death abound, How beautiful beyond compare Will Paradise be found." Traces of the Messianic hope and a belief in the future millennial glory of the world is found in the literature of all past nations, but the origin of the doc- trine seems to have been lost in the remote depths of antiquity. Bishop Russell, of Scotland, who was him- self an Anti-Millenarian, says: ''With respect to the Millennium it must be acknowledged that the doctrine concerning it stretches back into antiquity so remote and obscure, that it is impossible to fix its origin. The tradition that the earth, as well as the moral ana [180] I THE MILLENNIUM religious state of its inhabitants were to undergo a great change at the end of the six-thousand years, has been detected in the writings of Pagans, Jews and Christians. It is found in the most ancient of those commentaries of the Old Testament, which we owe to the learning of the Rabbinical school; and although the arguments by which it is recommended to oui belief will not make a deep impression upon any in- telligent reader, this will nevertheless, leave no room for doubt that the notion of the millennium preceded by several centuries, the introduction of the Christian faith. ''A learned Jewish Rabbi, Elias, who lived about two hundred years before Christ, taught that the world would be two-thousand years void of law, two-thousand years under law, and two-thousand years under Messiah. He limited the duration of the world to six-thousand years, and held that in the seventh millennary, 'Hhe earth would be renewed and the righteous dead raised ; that these should not again be turned to dust, and that the just then alive, should mount up with wings as eagles: so that, in that day, they would not fear tho the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea. ' ' Rabbi Elias evidently believed that the resurrection of the righteous dead preceded the Millennium. David Gregory, a learned mathema- tician of England, who died in 1710, when discussing the Millennium, said: "In the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, the Hebrew letter Aleph, which in the Jewish arithmetic stands for a thousand, is six times found. From hence the ancient Cabalists con- [181] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT eluded that the world would last six-thousand years. Because God also was six days about the creation, and a thousand years with Him are but as one day; therefore after six days, that is, six-thousand years' duration of the world, there shall be a seventh day, or millennary sabbath of rest." This early belief of the Jews was found in the Sibylline Oracles, rare and ancient writings, that have come down to us in the form of Greek verses, comprising fourteen books in all. They were written by various authors, embracing Heathen, Jewish and Christian, and were written in different ages; some being written before Christ and some after His death and ascension. It is also found in the writings of Hesiod, and also those of Darius Hystaspes, the old king of the Medes, who probably derived it from the Magi. We find traces of it in Hermes Trismegistus, among the Egyptians. It was adopted by the early Christian fathers, Clemens, Tim- otheus and Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch. Theopom- pus, who lived 340 years before Christ, relates that the Persian Magi taught that the present state of things would continue six-thousand years, after which Hades or death would be destroyed and men would live hap- py. The Chaldees, according to Plutarch, believed in a struggle between good and evil for six-thousand years, "then Hades is to cease, and men are to be happy, neither wanting food nor making shade." Zoroaster taught the same. Joseph Mede remarks: ''The divine institution of a sabbatical or seventh year's solemnity among the Jews has a plain tj^ical [ 182 ] THE MILLENNIUM reference to the seventh, chiliad, or millennary of the world, according to the well-known tradition among the Jewish Doctors, adopted by many in every age ot the Christian Church, that this world will attain to its limit at the end of six-thousand years." I quote the above statement from Mede simply to show that among the Jews the doctrine of the Millenium was commonly accepted by their scholars, and that many of the ceremonial services of the Jews indicated, typically, a sabbatical year for the world. But let it not be for- gotten, that the chronology of the world is inaccurate, because the Jewish calendar was changed by Caesar. Then the world has lost time since the creation, be- cause it was made to ''stand still," in order to enable Joshua to win the battle. The shadow was miraculously turned back fifteen degrees in the dial of Ahaz, to confirm Hezekiah in the promise that God made to restore him to health and add to his life fifteen years. Therefore it is clear to my mind, that the seventh year or millennial period, as indicated by the sabbath day and sabbatical year of Israel, is to be the last stage of existence for the mat- erial universe, — the last day, of all visible things, and when it has reached its limit, after its introduc- tion (and none but God can know when that will come), the world will pass away, and nature will cease to exist. Then we cannot know when the Millen- nium will come, because we cannot ascertain when Jesus will return to the world. Both events are sealed mysteries of God. And it is enough for us to know [183] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT that both are future, and that we should be true to Christ in all of our ways, and faithful in the dis- charge of all duties and obligations to our fellow mor- tals. Jesus is coming again to "rule the nations with a rod of iron, ' ' but to establish the Kingdom of God in triumph and joy and great glory in the world. The subjects of that Kingdom, during His personal reign in the world, will be glorified and immortalized men and women, who have been redeemed from among the peoples of every race under the sun. Blessed con- summation of this weary and sorrowful world ! Let us give it welcome, and hail its approach, and wait its coming, more than they that watch for the morning. We weep over the wrecks of the world and lament its heart-rending tragedies ; our hearts melt with fervent sympathy for broken hearted parents whose children are swept from their fellowship and the bosom of the domestic paradise by an holocaust of sin ; our tears of bitterness fall on the irresponsive faces of our beloved dead, over suffering infancy and the unconscious clay of sweet innocents, over the untimely births that have never seen the light, or have just looked upon it and shut their eyes for a season, waiting for the glorious light of the resurrection morning. Our souls desire to see the King in His beauty. The voice of the Church calls for Jesus to return and all creatures long to be renewed. *' These eyes shall see them fall, Mountains and stars and skies; These eyes shall see them all [184] THE MILLENNIUM Out of their ashes rise; These lips His praises shall rehearse Whose nod restores the universe." Thus we understand the scriptures to teach, and thus do we believe. And so taught the eminent Steph- en Charnock, and also the brilliant Thomas Chalmers, who wrote, "The object of the administration we are under is to extirpate sin, but it is not to sweep away materialism. There will be a firm earth as we have at present, and a heaven stretched out over it as we have at present. It is not by the absence of these, but by the absence of sin, that the abodes of immortality will be characterized. It will be a Paradise of sense, but not of sensuality. It is then that heaven will be estab- lished upon the earth, and the petition of our Lord's prayer be fulfilled, Thy Kingdom come." The idea of a millennial reign of Christ on the earth is not a theory, composed of cunningly devised fables. For sixteen hundred years of the world 's history it was the one luminous hope of the Church. For more than three centuries it was accepted by the best of Christians and the brightest scholars of the Church as a tradition apostolical, and as such it was delivered by many Fathers of the second and third centuries, who spoke of it as a tradition of our Lord and His apostles, and all of the ancients who lived before them. They fur- ther assure us that the question of the personal reign of Christ on the earth was the orthodox position of the Church, and they strengthen their opinions with abun- dant quotations from the scriptures. It was received [ 185 ] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT in the eastern parts of the Church by Papius, in Phry- gia by Justin, in Palestine by Irenaeus, in Gaul by Nepos, in Egypt by ApoUinarius and Methodius ; bui it was also accepted in the South and West, by Ter- tuUian, in Africa by Cyprian and Victorinus, in Ger- many by Lactantius and Severus, in Italy by the first Nicene Council. The great preachers and brilliant scholars mentioned above, taught the doctrine not as scholars only, but claimed to be personal witnesses to the fact, that they received it as a tradition from Christ and His apostles, and which was taught to them by the elders, the disciples of Christ. The doc- trine of a spiritual Millennium, consisting in a univer- sal triumph of the gospel, and the conversion of all nations for a thousand years before the coming of Christ, is a novel theory, and was unknown for sixteen hundred years in the Church. Dr. Daniel Whitby, who was born in Northamptonshire, England, in 1638, is the author of the doctrine. It is the accepted doctrine of the Koman Catholic Church and of a majority of Protestants. However, the tides are turning in favor of the pre-Millennial theory, and many able Protestant scholars and eminent laymen of all denominations are boldly returning to the scriptural position, and from pulpit and platform, in private and public, thru the press secular and religious, are advocating it earnestly with the most appreciable results. Men are being turned to the pathway of the Word, "and they are inquiring after the old paths, that they may walk therein." It is a remarkable fact that prior to the [186] THE MILLENNIUM commencement of the eighteenth century, the Post- Millennial theory did not have one able Avriter or eminent scholar to advocate its unreasonable and auda- cious claims. If antiquity is to be considered as hav- ing weight in the establishment of a question of reli- gion or theology, then the Pre-Millennial doctrine has all the argument in its favor, because it is supported by both antiquity and the plain unequivocal teachings of the scriptures. It is not to be denied, that the gospel of Christ has achieved innumerable victories in every age, and among all peoples, wherever and whenever it has been preached, and it will continue to be the strongest and most effective civilizing force, and the only means of salvation for lost men, until '*the sun grows cold, And the stars are old, And the leaves of the judgment book unfold." But Jesus never promised to Christianize the world or bring a period of universal peace and right- eousness thru the vanquishment of sin and the over- throw of Satan 's kingdom during the Gentile Dispen- sation, aiid He said that He would come at the close of the gospel age which is distinctively evangelistic. The world will be evangelized and all nations shall hear ot the Christ of God and all who repent and believe shall be saved ; but He taught the truth also in the twenty- fifth chapter of Mathew, that all would not be saved when He returned to the world. There is not the remotest hint in His description of the judgment of [187] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the nations that all races will be Christianized and spiritually prepared to receive Him at His coming. He teaches the reverse, and sets His seal of approval to the Pre-Millennial theory, in His deliverance of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, and going fur- ther, He elaborates His position with a description of the judgment of the nations. Was the ' ' evil servant ' ' who became a bestial, cruel and brutal over-lord, and who is mentioned by the Lord Jesus, in Mathew 24 :42- 51, a Christian? Do you think that "God is slack concerning His promise," and that Jesus will remain over the time appointed for His return, in order to betray men into the meshes of judgment ? But Jesus said this "evil servant" thought so, and said in his heart, ^ ' My Lord delayeth His coming. ' ' He certainly will not be prepared for the return of Jesus, because he does not entertain the proper conception of Christ's reliability. Then, there is the man without the wed- ding garment, mentioned in Mathew 22 :2-14, and the one talent man mentioned in the twenty-fifth chapter. The parables do not favor the view of a millennial conquest of the nations and the extension of universal peace to all world-races. But there is one point of agreement between the advocates of Pre-Millennialism and those persons who believe in a spiritual Millen- nium, viz; both accept the idea that there is to be a Millennium and that it will last a long period of time. The word Millennium is derived from the latin, mille, meaning a thousand. The Greek for a thousand is chilioi. The early Christians were called chiliasts. [188] THE MILLENNIUM Christians of all the world and of every name and order are looking for Jesus to return, and none are so reckless as to predict the time when He will return, except false prophets; neither is any so daring as to assert that He is not near at hand, even at the doors, of the world that He made, for His own glory, and honor and service. And all of us are praying for His coming and earnestly beseeching Him to keep us in readiness for that great event. The sentiments of Wesley appeal to our hearts with great force, viz ; '* Whatever ills the world befall, A pledge of endless good we call — A sign of Jesus near. ' ' The Millennial period will be preceded by the resurrection of the righteous dead: All persons who will be accorded the glorious distinction of reigning with Jesus during His personal rule and enthrone- ment in the world, will have their bodies, but they will be made like Jesus, and will be immortal, death- less, unchangeable. Hence the scriptures teach that there will be, A Priority of Resurrection the just being raised a thousand years in advance ot the unrighteous dead. I approach the discussion of this question with solemn reverence, feeling that I am about to invade the sacred precincts of the hon- ored dead, who are resting from their tiresome labors with which they were burdened here on the earth, and [189] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT rejoicing with renewed energy and enlargement of hope, in the Paradise of God. The doctrine of the ''First Resurrection" is, perhaps, the profoundesv mystery of the future coming or work of the Son of God. Orthodox Christians of all creeds and denomina- tions accept the doctrine of a literal resurrection of all the dead, but multitudes of God's holy saints reject the theory of a prior or first resurrection, and teach that all person's will be raised at the very same time, believer and disbeliever, atheist and martyred saint. The doctrine of the resurrection is the basic principle of Christianity, and it is so essential to the existence of the entire Christian system, as founded by Jesus Christ, that it cannot be rejected in whole or in part, without doing violence to the very genius of divine life and reflecting discreditably upon the veracity of the Son of God. We should entertain right views upon all scripture teachings. All believers should search the scriptures in an effort to ascertain what they teach upon all questions of Church doctrines, desiring to accept and practice whatever theory they find in them. But one can hold decidedly wrong opinions about Christian practice, or the subject of Baptism, or of faith, sanctification, repentance or other important Bible doctrines, and still have an experience of grace ; altho it is the duty of every person who has beeii redeemed thru the blood of Christ, to be scriptural in belief and practice, yet one cannot be saved or enjoy fellowship with God and disbelieve the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul says: ''But if there be no resur- [190] THE MILLENNIUM rection of the dead, then is not Christ risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain." I Cor. 15:13-14. Issues of life and death hang on the doctrine of the resurrec- tion: accept it and live, — reject it and die. The Heathen sorrowed over his dead without hope, and in despair turned away from the charnel house, never ex- pecting to see its occupants come forth, arrayed with the unsullied glory of eternal day. Death in his thought was a shattered pillar, — a broken harp with its music lost, — a flower-bud crushed with all its fragrance in it. But not so to the Christian. That which seems to be eternal destruction to the Heathen, is the gate-way of life to us. It is by dying that we are made to live, live forever. The life that is not reached by death, is but half secure. The life that lasts, the life that is truly immortal and eternal, is only obtained by dying. We believe in the resurrection of all the dead, and the change of all the living, at the coming of Jesus. "The time draws on When not a single spot of burial earth Whether on land, or in the spacious sea, But must give back its long committed dust Inviolate; and faithfully shall these Make up the full amount; not the least atom Embezzled or mislaid of the whole tale." We are so much concerned about the properties of a glorified body, but we are very desirous of a per- sonal uprising from the grave; however, we are fur- [191] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT nished some reflections of a glorified form, in the mir- aculous dealings of God with persons in different ages and under widely divergent circumstances. It is said the ' ' just shall shine like the sun ; " so shone the face of Moses. It is also stated ''that they shall fly upon the wings of the wind ; ' ' thus was Phillip carried from Gaza, in the desert, to Azobus. And "our corruption must put on incorruption ' ' as Paul miraculously shook off the serpent, and experienced no harm. The resur- rection hope is a star, whose unfailing splendor pene- trates the blackness of the stormiest night that evei passes over the pathway of men, and it lures us onward and upward, thru the gloom and in the flash and roar of the storm, toward the land of the "brighter and more perfect day." * ' There 's a beautiful region above the skies, And I long to reach its shore For I know I shall find my treasure there, The laughing eyes and the amber hair Of the loved one gone before." But the doctrine of a prior resurrection is not generally accepted by those persons who believe in the resurrection teaching as a fundamental theory of revelation; nevertheless, great scholars and pious, worthy Christians of all ages of Christianity have given it their most faithful support and advocacy. But, is it scriptural? Does the Word of God sustain the theory directly, or by remote and variable hint? To the Bible, then, let us go for light on this very [192] THE MILLENNIUM important and complicated subject. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the res<- of the dead lived not again until a thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Rev. 20 :4-6. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Rev. 20:12. The first two passages quoted above, contain six distinct propositions, viz; a first resurrection, a Millennial reign and a second death ; a tribulation period for the ungodly, the final judgment and the second death or eternal destruction in Gehenna, the ''lake that burns with fire and brimstone." Many able commentators advance the theory that the resurrection mentioned in the above texts is a spiritual resurrection of prin- ciples and not of persons. A resurrection or restora- tion of the wonderful patience, heroism, fearless cour- [193] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT age, Christian steadfastness, and constant devotion of the Martyrs. According to this theory, the above mentioned principles have been forgotten and buried in a time of careless indifference, and they will be resurrected during the spiritual and invisible reign of Christ, which is still future. But if scripture in part of its revelations of truth, has a literal meaning and should be so interpreted and understood, it is to be applied to the above scriptures. They are meaningless, if not literal. They are sealed mysteries, whose oracles have put the revelation of God beyond the comprehen- sion of the wisest and most devout scholar on the earth, if they are to be understood as referring to invisible and spiritual matters, that are yet lingering in the dim distances of some other time to be. Every person of ordinary intelligence will conclude, immediately upon reading the above passages, that a future and a literal uprising of the dead is clearly and emphatically stated by the inspired John. The advocates of the spiritual resurrection for the saved are inconsistent in their opinions about the resurrection mentioned in the text for the unsaved, and this text assures us that th« '^resurrection of damnation is to be a literal one!" The position is absurd. If one is spiritual, the other in the very nature of the case is bound to be like it, or similar at least to it in kind, because both operations involve physical personalities. If the first resurrection is one of principles and spiritual, the other one, or the resurrection of the unsaved, will likewise be it [194] THE MILLENNIUM resurrection of principles of some sort, and will also be spiritual. If not, why not? If the reign of Christ is to be spiritual and invisible, it does not take a long stretch of the imagination for me to believe that the second death or destruction of the finally impenitent in a Devil's hell, will be spiritual and in- visible too. The leading feature of the above theory to my mind, is its i7ivisihility. Mentally speaking, as a scriptural fact, it is nil. Logically, there cannot be a resurrection of principles, because they cannot be separated from the subject and preserved in a buried or abandoned form, to be raised at some future time. Principles can be rejected, and one may change the course of life and introduce new principles; never- theless the old principles w^ill live in some other per- sonality, and never be destroyed. Principle, no mat- ter what you call it, of whatever kind or quality, is indestructible; therefore punishment and happiness will become eternal in the experience of opposite characters. Many principles of human life are very objectionable to Jehovah, but He has never said that they will be destroyed or forcibly taken away from evil men. He teaches the reverse of that proposition, and passes judgment upon men and banishes them from His presence for entertaining wrong principles, tho He does not destroy their principles, nor deprive the condemned persons of the right to hold them in possession and experience forever. God puts the seal of His immortality upon wrong of every kind, when [195] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT He passes eternal condemnation upon men, and eon- signs them to an unending perdition. Principles can be restored, revived and re-established, but they can- not be resurrected, except in an oratorical or forensic sense. And no part of man is subject to resurrection, except the body. The soul is subject to a spiritual change and can be born again. The spirit of man can be brought under the brooding inflluence of the Holy Spirit and changed into the form and super- scription of the divine image. But the body is not a vessel, meet for a re-birth. It must die and return to dust. The re-born soul can never die, either in the sense of separation or of annihilation, because it has the seed of eternal holiness in it. Therefore it is written: '' Whosoever is born of God doth not com- mit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him ; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." But the body can- not be born of God. Paul says: ''Now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood doth not inherit the King- dom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incor- ruption. ' ' The physical structure of men must reach a state of perfection thru a change in the physical nature of the race and that is only provided thru the resurrection process. Translation of the living at the coming of Jesus is the very same work wrought on an occupied body as that which is performed on an unoccupied, dead and buried one. Therefore re- generation is a spiritual, or the spiritual change for the soul, and resurrection is the only change for the body. [196] THE MILLENNIUM Now, I will endeavor to prove by the scriptures that there is a period or interval of a thousand years be- tween the resurrection of the righteous and the un- righteous dead. However, it does not make any particular difference as to the length of time that expires between the two events because ''one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." The glorified saints of Jehovah will not be affected by physical laws or operations as they are now, neither will nature have its latitudes and eclipses and wandering stars, and flaming met- eors and gorgeous comets and storms, as at the present time ; for the world — nature — will be changed, so as to be consonant to the resurrected and immortalized natures of its magnificent inhab- itants. We will pass from the realm of the finite in the change from death to life, and nature itself will not decay nor bring forth a blasted harvest, nor fail to bear a perfect fruitage, during the first resurrec- tion period. Death and blight and moths and mil- dew will be unknown. But there will be an interval of time, and the scriptures say it will be a thousand years, between the two resurrections. Jesus empha- sized the distinction between the resurrection of the good and evil. "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves (both bad and good), shall hear His voice. And shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrec- tion of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the [197] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT resurrection of damnation." Jno. 5:28,29. Jesus draws a line of demarkation in the resurrection scene, and sharply divides the two classes mentioned in His statements. One class comes forth to a ^ ' resurrection of life/' and the other is different, being a ^^resurrection unto damnation.'- If both occur at the same moment of time, where is the betterness of the first resurrection, that was believed by Abra- ham, and shown to all generations of mankind, when he refused to disbelieve God, and keep Isaac? ''By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; and he that had received the promise offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called : Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Heb. 11:17-19. Abraham believed in a better resurrection and was therefore willing for God to have Isaac, the heir of promise; for he expected that God would raise him to life again and that his name and race would be perpetuated thereby. Thus we see that he believed in the priority of resurrection. In the same chapter it is stated that, ''women received their dead raised to life again : and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resur- rection." Verse 35. They certainly believed in a "better resurrection" and one that held some special honor and distinction for their dead, who were the subjects under consideration, according to the in- [198] THE MILLENNIUM spired apostle, and they preferred to let their loved ones remain in the dust of the earth, until that ''bet- ter resurrection," or "the resurrection of life" per- iod should arrive, that ''they might have a better resurrection." Then if both classes are raised at the same time and under the same conditions, wherein will the resurrection of righteous be more honorable, distinctively glorious, and better than that of the other class ? Luke mentions a special resurrection in his gospel. "But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in mar- riage; Neither can they die any more; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrec- tion." Lu. 20:35-36. He quotes the Saviour, and gives Him full credit for the statement. Jesus spec- ially stresses three points in the above texts, viz; (a) there is some ivorthiness possessed by those who will have part in it, that is not common to men; (b) per- sons raised at the time that He mentions will have the special distinction of being the "children of the resurrection," and (c) they will enter a deathless state, and will "never die any more." The unsaved will be raised unto eternal death, which involves pun- ishment for their sins, and hopeless separation from God. They enter into death at the resurrection, and begin to die eternally. They are also raised natural people, having their carnal appetites and propensi- ties to sin, tho there will not be left to them any [199] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT opportunity for the gratification of their sinful de- sires. That will be death in an aggravated form, not to say anything about the terrible tortures of hell, into which they will be thrust at the time of their resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous will result in the elimination of all carnality, depravity and human weakness. They will be deathless, incor- ruptible and glorious, ''as the angels." They go out of mortal death into an immortal state of happiness and life, while the unsaved pass thru a finite and temporal, into an infinite and eternal death, in the process of resurrection. Then is it possible to con- ceive that they will take place at the same time? Paul adds his testimony to the superior excellency of the knowledge of Jesus, and the power of His resur- rection. He says: ''Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is thru the faith of Christ, the right- eousness which is of God by faith : That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. 3:8-11. His language is peculiarly difficult of interpretation in harmony with the commonly accepted orthodox view [200] THE MILLENNIUM of a general resurrection, -anless it is admitted that he believed in a special resurrection for the saints. But those who are familiar with Paul's writings are aware of the fact that he believed in the uprising of all the dead. He had been falsely accused of preach- ing heresy, and turning the people against Moses and the law, and perverting the hope of Israel in the past ; and when making his defense, he used the fol- lowing words: ''Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee : of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am in question." Acts 23 :6. This is posi- tive proof that he believed in a resurrection of all the dead, a belief which was accepted by the Pharisees and rejected by the Sadducees. If that is true, then what does he mean, when he tells the Phillipians that he desires to know Christ, "and the power of His re- surrection?" Was Paul unsaved when he wrote those words? Was he not the very chief est apostle, and more abundant in good works than they all ? He knew that he would be raised from the dead, no matter how he lived in this world. He believed that all persons, good and bad, would be raised from the dead, and called into the presence of God for judg- ment, and he taught it plainly on all occasions. Hence, he must have referred to a special resurrec- tion for those who knew Christ "and the power of His resurrection," being made "conformable to His death." And he thus explains his language to the Phillipians, in his letter to the Thessalonians. "For [201] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : Then we which are alive shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord." I Thes. 4:16. Here it is positively asserted, that the "dead in Christ," not out of Christ, shall "rise first," coming out of their graves before the living are translated, or the unsaved dead are disturbed from their fateful slumbers of eternal doom. This is what he meant in his letter to the Phillipians. This is the "better re- surrection" of the ancient mothers in Israel and the one in which the "power of Christ's resurrection" will be demonstrated and that Paul so earnestly sought. Let us hear Jesus, in this connection, on the subject again. "But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind : And thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee : for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Lu. 14:13-14. If this passage stood alone, like a single star in a vacant heaven, I would not insist upon it to prove a special resurrection of the saints, coming before the resurrection of the lost dead ; but, surrounded as it is, in the horizon of revel- ation by a galaxy of luminous promises, I am forced to conclude that Jesus had a first resurrection in mind, when he assured the disciples that if they fol- lowed His instructions, they would be "recompensed [ 202 ] THE MILLENNIUM at the resurrection of the just," And there was no need for Jesus to say ''at the resurrection of the just," if both classes rise at the same time. He could have said, ''at the resurrection," or at the uprising of all the dead, which would have covered the ground. But He makes a discrimination in favor of a resurrection to special honor, and the rewards of service for the saved, that, like "Banquo's ghost will not down;" and the conclusion is irresistible that He had reference to an event that would take place prior to the resurrection of the impenitent dead and the final judgment of the world. The saints are to judge the world, and they must there- fore be installed in the place of assize and endowed with the prerogative of judgment, before the event takes place. In conclusion, let us briefly consider a passage, previously quoted from the twentieth chap- ter of Revelation. "Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." This is undoubtedly a resurrection of persons and not one of principles or spiritual privileges. It is pre- viously stated in the fifth verse, that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection." According to the plain statement of scripture, the visible reign of Jesus Christ and the introduction of the Messianic age of universal peace in the world will not occur [203] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT until after the first resurrection, nor will Satan be bound until after that mysterious and remarkable event. There can never be a reign of peace, univer- sal righteousness and undisturbed spiritual happi- ness and power in this world until Satan is chained and his unhallowed influence eliminated from the world. Tho countless millions have been redeemed thru the blood of Christ, and from among all races, and in every age, nevertheless it is true that Satan has effectively hindered the advancement of Chris- tianity and prevented the universal establishment of divine ideals in this world. The majority of the in- habitants of the earth, at the present time, are under the influence of his blighting and soul-withering pow- er, and there has never been an era of the world's history when that terrible fact was not true. Jesus said, ''Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to de- struction and many there be which go in thereat: Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Math. 7 :13-14. Thus spake the son of God, who has all wisdom, and understands the secrets of all human hearts, and knows and provides for the des- tiny and termination of all things, from and before the beginning. The following lines from Euripides are as true today and as applicable to present affairs as they were to the time in which they were uttered, viz; [204] THE MILLENNIUM ' ' Should bright 'ning hope, to cheer the troubled day, Pour thru the gloom a transient ray, Fate comes and o'er the darken 'd scene Spreads the deep horrors of its dreary reign. ' ' It is interesting to note that the number of earth's inhabitants is computed to be 1,450,000,000 of whom 800,000,000 live in Asia, 320,000,000 in Europe, 210,000,000 in Africa, 110,000,000 in America and 10,000,000 in the islands of the sea. With regard to religion they are classified as follows: 860,000,000 are Pagan, comprising 600,000,000 Brahmans and Buddhists ; 160,000,000 unclassified Pagans ; 100,000, 000 Parsees, Confucianists, Shintoists, Jains and other smaller Pagan sects. 410,000,000 are classed as distinctively Christians, of whom 225,000,000 are Roman Catholics, 75,000,000 of the Greek Church, and 110,000,000 Protestants. 172,000,000 Moham- medans and 8,000,000 Jews. Unless the figures lie, the overwhelming majority of mankind is under the dominion of Satan, and inasmuch as we have had practically two thousand years of gospel evangeliza- tion, and the world has not yet been conquered and evil suppressed, can we therefore reasonably enter- tain the idea that the gospel is about to be the given right-of-way to all the nations and undisputed sway and world-wide dominion, and that it is to rule in the hearts and affairs of all men? But the gospel is a glorious success. It is accomplishing the divine purpose to which it was sent, and without it there [205] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT would not be any restraining influence in this world to manacle the wrists of Satan's power. And it is marching grandly on to a culmination of Satan's rule and power in the earth, and in the not distant future the Lord Jesus will come for His jewels, and the Kingdom of God will be established with power and great glory, and endure thru a period of a thou- sand years of peace and revival and perfection of service, without any opposition from seen or unseen foes of the Cross. Then, when will evil cease and wars have an end? When will Jesus be our ruling, all-glorious King? When will the dissonance of the universe and the riotous discord of ages cease ? When will the nations live upon the basis of the "Golden Rule," and cease to learn the bloody arts of war? War, that claimed the immortality of death and sin? When will come the time that Satan and his cohorts will weep over the grave of their most effective confederate, WAR! Cruel, remorseless war, the scor- pion sting of nations, the scourge of the widow, and the plague of the orphan? WHEN SATAN IS CHAINED ! No peace of nations and individuals in a permanent way, while he is loose to work iniquity and deception in the world. But the words of Long- fellow are refreshing : ''Down the dark future, thru long generations The echoing sounds grow fainter, and then cease ; And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, I hear once more the voice of Christ say ''Peace" [206] THE MILLENNIUM Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies! But beautiful as the songs of the immortals, The holy melody of love arise. ' ' [207] CHAPTER X Christian Ideal as Expressed in a Finished Redemption ''If ail our hopes and all our fears Were prisoned in life's narrow bound; If travelers thru this vale of tears, We saw no better world bej^ond; Oh, what could check the rising sigh? What earthly thing could pleasure give? Oh, who could venture then to die? Oh, who could then endure to live?" Sinless perfection is undoubtedly the distinct Christian ideal. The scriptures teach it on every page of the inspired word ; but if the writers of the Bible intended to convey the idea that it was access- ible to men in this present life and experience, then it is true that Christianity has failed, and the hope that sustains us in all of our trials, temptations and soul-harrowing experiences, is delusive and mis-lead- ing. There is a sense in which the believer is sin- lessly perfect at the present time, viz ; being justified thru faith in Christ and having been ''made a new creature in Christ Jesus, ' ' we are therefore not under eternal judgment, because we are covered, so to speak, by Jesus, the prototype of the human race, and the Christian's personal substitute under law. God cannot see any sin in us, for the reason that He [208] CHRISTIAN IDEAL accepts us for His Son's sake, and invariably sees us thru Jesus, our perfect Mediator. But we sin never- theless. God sees the sin, but only in the present sense of having received eternal satisfaction for it, thru the atonement that was made by Jesus in His death and sufferings on Calvary. There is no past or future with the Tribune God — the Holy Three in One. The Three Persons of the Trinity live in the eternal NOW ! And tho sin enters into our lives and brings its terrible curse upon all our ways, it is also a fact that, in God's mind, it has been eternally can- celled, never to be revived in judgment against us. Our natures having previously been changed and the affections of the heart purified and centered upon Jesus, we personally pass sentence upon our sin as an unworthy act, hateful to God, and distressing to us, and we cry out against it in sincere contrition and beseech the help of our God, in an effort to get rid of its presence and memory. "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us (and it does when we sin), God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." Jno. 3:19-20. Sin being contrary to the re-born nature of the Christian, it no sooner enters the heart and begins to demand recognition, than it is rejected; and should it be given audience and appear in the life as an unholy act, it will be condemned with bitter peni- [209] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT tence. Then we will turn away from the vicious, un- worthy, detestable thing, and like David of old, who fell under the witchery of a beautiful woman and committed an act of lecherous immorality, we will lift our wounded hearts to God in fervent prayer, and exclaim: "Create in me a clean heart, God; and renew a right spirit within me." Ps. 51:10. And God will give us special grace and cleansing, restor- ing the ''joy of salvation," reviving the heart, and removing the agonizing memory of sin, because He hates sin for it killed His Son. A young man re- turned home from college in one of the southern states to spend the Christmas Holidays with his parent- He was an only son in the home, the loving pride of his mother and a crowning glory to his aged and highly honored father. He was a noble Christian and a devout believer in Jesus. Christmas morning he told his mother that he would go down back of the orchard in search of Quail. Shortly after he had gone, his mother heard the report of a gun, but thought nothing more about it, until the noon hour. She became uneasy and upon telling her fears to the old father, they began a search for the belated son, who was never to return to the old home again in life. They found his body, stark and cold in death, and from that time the mother could not endure the report of a gun, because it killed her son, — her only s(y)i. God, the Father, hates sin for the same reason, and He will destroy it, and remove every trace of it [210] CHRISTIAN IDEAL from the experiences of His children and from the domain of His glorious universe. ' ' For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies." Ro. 8 :22-23. But, until Satan is banished from this world and the curse is removed from the visible creation, the inhabitants of this low^er sphere of life will have to deal with sin as a continual menace and indestructible antagonism. We have no promise that sin will ever pass from the life of the w^orld, nor cease to affect the destiny of nations or individuals, until the earth is made new and the physical natures of men are brought thru resurrection into harmony with their regenerated natures and glorified. ^'Nor wilt thou, alas! be withheld from its snares By a mother's kind counsel, a mother's fond prayers; Yet fear not, the God whose direction we crave Is mighty to strengthen, to shield and to save: And His hand may yet lead thee, a glorified guest. To the home of thy mother, the land of the blest!" The Doctrine of Apokatastasis Restitution finds abundant verification in the scriptures. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of strength out of Zion : rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be [211] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike thru kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the Heathen, He shall fill the places with dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries." Ps. 110:1-6. "For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He sayeth all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him that God may be all in all." I Cor. 15 :27-28. Christ Jesus will reign, Mediatorily, at the "right hand" of the Father, until the close of the present age of world-wide gospel evangelization, which is being done thru the direction of the Holy Spirit, the substitute of Jesus in the Church. Then, in connection with the fulfillment of the Gentile Dis- pensation, the Mediatorial work of Christ as our great High Priest in heaven will be finished, and He will return to the central or starry heavens; and taking the Church (Zion) into His presence, He will later (as it has previously been shown), descend to the earth and "rule in the midst of his enemies," "strike thru kings in the days of his wrath," "judge among the Heathen," and fill the valley of Megiddo and all the earth with the "dead bodies" of the Anti- Christian hosts. Simultaneously with the accomplish- [212] . CHRISTIAN IDEAL ment of the Church 's mission in the world and ascen- sion to the descended Lord, the calling of Israel or rather conversion of Jews, who have been preserved thru the period of Tribulation, — and the destruction of Anti-Christ, will take place. ''For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your conceits ; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. ' ' Re. II :25. Thus out of the glorified Gentile Church and thru it, as His body and over it, as its Head and Lord, Jesus will, as the "Mighty God" of Isaiah's prophecy and the "Shiloh of Judah, ' ' descend to the earth and destroy the enem- ies of God, eliminate sin from the world, redeem the earth from the curse that was imposed upon it thru the disobedience of the First Adam, restore Paradise, in- augurate the triumphant Kingdom of God, re-establish the throne of David and reign over the Davidic cove- nant subjects, the Abrahamic heirs of promise and glorified members of the Gentile Church. When Christ comes the second time, the Church age will have ended, and the Kingdom age will be introduced. Then we shall witness the fulfillment of the ''desires of all nations," as indicated in the model prayer, viz ; ' ' Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." The Jews were given the oppor- tunity of taking full control of the Church, but they rejected Jesus, and lost it, and also the administra- tion of all kingdom life in the world, because the [213] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT executive authority of the kingdom was transferred to the Church; hence the "Gentiles have exercised authority over them," in the spiritual and gospel sphere of promise, until the present time. If the Jew had accepted Christ and received the gospel, Gentiles would be the principal culprits in the death of Christ. I understand that it was the purpose of God from the beginning of human history and countless eons before, to redeem men thru the death of His Son ; and the Jews being the chosen people of God, Jesus was sent first to them with the glad-tidings of salvation, and they were given the refusal of God's plan of redemption. If they had received Jesus as their King, the Roman authorities would have been forced upon their own initiative to have made away with Christ, as it would have appeared to them to be necessary in the protection of the Imperial empire of Caesar; and they today would have no Church, no promise, no hope and no salvation. But God, who appointed His Son to be the successor of David and to reign on his throne during the Messianic age, also raised up Jesus to be the light of the Gentiles. It cannot be denied that the Gentiles are deeply in- volved in the tragedy of Calvary. Herod had it in his power to have prevented it taking place at the time it did happen; but desiring to show a favor to the Jews, who were clamoring for His death, he per- mitted them to have their way and let Jesus die, like a malefactor in the company of thieves, while he fur- [214] CHRISTIAN IDEAL ther granted the Jews their unholy and impious wishes and allowed the murderer, Barabbas to live. Thus it is clear to any candid person, that Pilate, as the representative of Caesar, was really more deeply responsible for the death of Jesus than were the Jews, who persistently cried: "Let His blood be on us and our children," because they did not believe that Jesus was their Messiah, and their opposition to Him therefore, was largely due to their ignorance and wicked, superstitious stupidity. But evidently, Pilate was convinced that JiBsus was all that he claimed to be, — that He was innocent of their charges, and he acknowledged Him to be a good man and guiltless, assuring the Jews that he ''found no fault in Him;" hence, he sinned against the greater light in giving his consent to the Crucifixion of Jesus. Peter says : ''The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our Fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus ; whom ye delivered up and denied Him the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But ye denied the holy One and the Just, and de- sired a murderer to be granted unto you ; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead ; whereof we are witnesses.*** And now, brethren, I wot that thru ignorance ye did it, as did also rulers. But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath fulfilled. ' ' Acts 3 :13-18. The death of Christ was mutually conspired by all persons that were in [215] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT any way concerned in it, both Jews and Gentiles. The fact is plain to all Bible readers that God incor- porated the idea of universal restitution of nature, and all creatures that were included in the pre-deter- mined plan of redemption that was to be established and consummated thru Christ, in The Covenants of Promise Made to Abraham ''Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing : And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee : and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. '^ Gen. 12:1-3. The above promise awaits fulfillment. And there is no divine seer among us who is wise enough to predict the time in the future ages when it will be literally accomplished; for it remains a hidden mystery of eternity and this fact all humble, tho great and learned scholars reverently acknowledge. Pious and learned men in the scriptures freely admit that the gospel of the kingdom has not given the blessing of ''faithful Abraham" to all races of the earth yet, in the sense of exhausting the divine mean- ing of the promise, viz; "in Abraham shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The descendants of Abraham were distinctively the heirs of promise ; [216] I CHRISTIAN IDEAL but this promise was also extended to other races in its gracious provisions of salvation thru them. In Abraham all ' 'families of the earth" were to become 'Hhe children of Abraham," tho they were not *' Abraham's seed;" that is, Jews or Ishmaelites. The language of the covenant makes it wholly gra- cious, and absolutely unconditional. The Jews had but to abide in their own land, in order to obtain every blessing indicated indirectly, or that was plainly expressed in the covenant ; but in the light of changes that passed in Israel's history, it is very evident that God intended to give all peoples the advantage of its merciful provisions of redemption, and divine calling thru Jesus "the Seed of Abra- ham;" and who will deny that Jehovah had the gos- pel in mind, with its universal extension thru all ages and to all races of people the world over, when He made the covenant with Abraham. I cite the follow- ing fact in proof of the foregone statement, viz; in Egypt the Jews lost their blessings but not their covenant; however, the dispensation of promise, or grace, was sacrificed by them when they accepted the law at Sinai. ''And all the people answered to- gether, and said. All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. " Ex. 19 :8. Israel made the fatal mis- take of exchanging grace for law. But let it be kept in mind that up to this event the covenant was ex- clusively Israelitish ; and if God had not intended [217] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT that the seeming tragedy should occur in the destiny of Israel and in the interest of Gentile races, why did He not prevent it? The law did not abrogate or nullify the promise but was adopted as an inter- mediary disciplinary plan, "until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made." "Where- fore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come (Jesus), to whom the promise was made ; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator. Now a Mediator is not a Mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God ? God forbid : for if there had been a law given that could have given life, verily righteousness would have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Gal. 3 :19-22. Thus the promise included Israel, filling the interval of time between the revelation of the covenant and its terms mentioned in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, and tli© nineteenth chapter of Exodus, that declares the fact of Israel's acceptance of the law. But we must make the correct distinction between the dispensation and the covenant, the former being a method of testing, while the latter is unconditional and everlasting; hence, only the dispensation as a trial or testing of Israel ended upon the giving of the law, and not the covenant of salvation thru the grace of God, that was freely bestowed upon all penitent believers before, [218] I CHRISTIAN IDEAL and since the death of Jesus. The law, therefore, as a method of God's dealing with man, characterized the dispensation that extended from Sinai to Cal- vary, and which ended with the death of Jesus. Since that event, the promise has superseded the law, and salvation is freely offered to all men, upon the terms of unmerited grace made effective thru the atonement of the blood of Jesus. Therefore, the promise that was included in the original cove- nant of Abraham is universally extended thru the gospel to all the world, and different races of people are being given the same superior covenant relations with God, that the Jew enjoyed as an exclusive bless- ing, prior to his acceptance of law as a life-guiding principle at Sinai; and thru "repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, ' ' persons of every race and tribe and tongue and color are permitted to en- joy its present blessings and live in '4iope of the eternal glory of God" that is to be revealed in future ages. And they will be included as subjects of the triumphant Kingdom, during the personal and visi- ble reign of Jesus on the earth. The doctrine of Mil- lennium is set forth by the prophets as being the per iod of the world's history when all things will be restored to the undisputed authority and control of the Creator. Jacob spoke of Shiloh (Christ), and said: "Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be," and Moses in deuteronomy 32:21, declared: "I will provoke them to jealousy with those who are not [219] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT a people ; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. ' ' Truly this is fulfilled in the present age, in the fact that the gospel line has fallen at the feet of all nations, and its Tvords of hope and redeeming truth have gone to the end of the world. In a moment of rapture the inspired Psalmist cried, ^'AU the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the Kingdom is the Lord's : and He is the governor among the nations." And again the same writer asserts: "He shall dominion also from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the end of the earth." The above terms incorporate the most barbarous and uncivilized tribes of the earth, and they specially mention tribes whose boast it is that they were never conquered, as the untamed rovers of the wilderness, who mocked the power and military prowess of Imperial Rome, in past centuries. All nations bowed before the scepter of the conquer- ing "Mistress of the Seven Hills," but the triumph- ant legions of Rome failed to subdue Ishmael. But Jesus will have members of all the wild tribes and denizens of the forests, who will gladly accept Him as their King, and having been tamed, "clothed and in their right minds, ' ' will give Him effective service. But listen to Isaiah: "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountains of the Lord's house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall [220] CHRISTIAN IDEAL flow unto it." Ezekiel, looking tlirn the vista of intervening ages, saw the establishment of the King- dom of God, the re-gathering of the Jews in company with redeemed Gentiles, the consummation of the re- demptive work of Jesus, and the restoration of the world to its pristine glory, and he spoke of it as follows: "For thus saith the Lord God; Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Now let Jeremiah speak: "They shall call Jeru- salem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." The prophet believed in an age that was still future, when the inhabitants of the world would universally be pure in heart, perfect in conduct, living upon the principle expressed in the Golden Rule and having immortal- ized and glorified bodies. The people he saw in vis- ion of that far distant time, were human beings, dwelling in resurrected and changed bodies. They did not have flesh and blood as we have, tho they have had physical structures. They were the child- ren of God by the heavenly birth of their spiritual natures, and by the adoption of their physical nat- [221] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ures in covenant relations with Jesus in Kingdom life, and they were dwelling in bodies that had been redeemed from the dust of the earth ; hence they did not ''learn war any more," because they were harm- less, undefiled, holy and sinless. There was no evil of any sort in the world. The shadow of the curse had passed from the face of nature that shone re- splendent in the effulgent light and flashing splendor of redeemed hosts. Zephaniah also caught a glimpse of the coming Kingdom and warned the nations of its terrors and awful judgments: "The Lord will be terrible unto them : for He will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship Him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the Heathen." The Holy Spirit touched the mind of Zechariah with the wand of inspiration, and caused him to see spark- ling gleams of the encrimsoned glory of the rising Messianic age, and when he awoke from his en- chanted dreams about eternal things, he said: "He shall speak peace unto the Heathen, and His dom- inion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth." "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth : in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one." But I must forbear to quote from Daniel, Habakuk, Mal- achi and the rest of the prophets, since time would fail me in repeating their statements about this im- portant subject, for they all mentioned it. Peter, using for a pulpit the porch of the temple [ 222 ] CHRISTIAN IDEAL that was named in honor of Solomon, said to the wondering Jews: ''Repent ye therefore, and be con- verted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord ; And He shall send Jesus Christ, which be- fore was preached unto you : Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3:19-21. Do not confuse the biblical doctrine of restitution with the fanciful and freakish theory of Origen, who taught that evil of every kind would be removed from the world, and also from eternity and that, thru restoration of good in every sphere of life, evil would pass away. He therefore taught that unrepentant souls after death were punished (and that is true) ; but also, that they were instructed by spirits who are nearer to God than any person in this world, and that they would be led to accept Jesus, and be saved after death. Origen believed that the Devil and all of his evil demons would be finally restored in hum- ble obedience to the will of God, and that punish- ment and sin would cease to exist. Origen believed in universal salvation and complete restoration of everything that was contrary to the will of God, thru the death of Jesus. But Peter contradicts the posi- tion of Origen, and identifies the subjects of the restitution in the future age, as having been persons who repented and turned from sin in this present [223] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT world. Paul fully corroborates him and shows that repentance is connected with the future judgment of the world, and that it qualifies us to participate in that day of restitution. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because He has ap- pointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance to all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Acts 17 :30-31. Repentance must take place in the experiences of persons in this life, and they must be made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," or else they are subjects of judgment and will be eternally and hopelessly doomed, if they enter it in an impenitent state. The judgment of the final day will involve Satan and the demons, the impenitent dead who died without Christ and hope, and the unrepentant per- sons who will be living when it occurs. And it will not reverse anything that has previously taken place in the lives of those who will be subject to its terrible assize. It will confirm the wicked in eternal demerit. Their choice that was voluntarily made in this life will be condemned and punished, — not reversed. Let it further be borne in mind that if there was any scripture that, indirectly, taught the possibility of a benevolent change in the condition of the lost, dur- ing the trial of judgment, it would be too late for such persons or for reformed fallen angels to have [224] CHRISTIAN IDEAL any part in the restored universe, because it takes place at the close of the Messianic age, and just be- fore the destruction of the material world. But Jesus forever settles the question of the eternity of evil and the unending moral condemnation and the judgment of sinners and fallen angels. ''Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be for- given him in this world neither in the world to come." Math. 12:31-32. The Devil is the original sinner against the Holy Ghost, and the impious act was committed in heaven. He was then an Arch- angel and endowed with great authority and power, but having fallen in love with his beautiful form, he endeavored to imitate the Son of God, in whom was vested regal power and undelegated authority, as the divine Logus ; and failing in the accomplishment of his purpose, or desire to equal God, he was lifted up with pride, and was driven from the presence of his Creator, under the irrevocable judgment of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. He spoke against the Son of God in heaven and could not be forgiven. Hence blasphemy was the sin of The Devil, or Satan, and it is the unpardonable sin of demons at the present time. A word spoken against the son of man is pardonable, but [225] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT a slanderous or blasphemous charge against the Son of God is not forgivable. Jesus, as the Son of God, will finish the Mediatorial work of the Kingdom be- fore He takes the throne of judgment, mentioned in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. The unpardon- able sin according to His definition, is ascribing to Satan the works of the Spirit. The Devil does not have any authority to work miracles, altho he has presumed to exercise his fiendish power in that way, in the past, and will do so again in the future. Rev. 13:13-14, et al. God as God only has the right to work miracles, or those persons to whom He may give the power to perform the wonder work, but God invariably does all those things thru the Holy Spirit. Hence, when the Pharisees charged that Jesus cast out a demon thru ''Beelzebub the prince of the dev- ils," they became guilty of an irrevocable and unfor- givable tresspass; and to make the matter convinc- ingly plain to them Jesus addressed them in language with which they were familiar, and said," You can- not be forgiven in this world nor that which is to come." The Jews believed that when Messiah came, the world would be restored and all sin would be removed, and that members of their race who died without hope, would be restored to fellowship with God, in accordance, as they thought, with the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant. But Jesus blasted their hopes, and sent them cringing under the searching power of words of truth, away from His benign pres- [226] CHRISTIAN IDEAL ence and love, and to descend deeper into the gather- ing shadows of eternal judgment. Jesus says that they cannot ever be forgiven, neither the Devil who deceived them; therefore they certainly will not be restored, and the "restitution of all things" that will be made by Jesus, when He returns, will be wrought without them. They could not be forgiven here and He will ''come the second time without sin unto salvation, ' ' and will not forgive or save any one during the Millennium. All subjects of that reign must obtain peace and pardon during their life-time in this world, while they are in the flesh, or they can never be forgiven ; because, in death, the natural or unregenerated soul becomes eternally identified with the corrupt body from which it is separated and must be distinguished as a flesh or carnal being, that like the body that it occupied in this world "cannot inherit (be born into) the kingdom of God." Ge- henna, or the place of everlasting punishment, is under the damning and accursed power of blas- phemy, because it was "prepared for the Devil and his angels," and any member of the human race that enters it, can never be recovered from its ruin and misery. If the sin against the Holy Ghost was accessible to men at the present time, Satan would induce many to commit it, and pass under the wrath of God, and be forced to live out their days here, without the hope of salvation, or the least possibility of forgiveness. But the damning sin of the Gentile [227] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Dispensation is disbelief, the blasphemy or sin against the Holy Ghost not being accessible to dis- believers in this age, for the reason that it was com- mitted in connection with the performance of a mir- acle, and since the power to work miracles has lapsed in the Church, the unpardonable sin has been placed out of reach of modern sinners, and it is safe to assert therefore, that it has not been committed by any class of disbelievers since apostolic times. But they who die in disbelief pass under its judgment when they enter the abyss, or prison, where the ante-diluv- ians, fallen angels and the lost of all ages are await- ing the "judgment of the great day," which will take place at the close of the Messianic age. Re- demption, therefore, is personal and parallels salva- tion, and it is strikingly similar to it in nature and results. It is an all-inclusive word, descriptive of God's method of bringing the bodies of saved per- sons into unity and perfect harmony with their puri- fied soul natures. Redemption could not work a spiritual change in the natures of human beings, as is done in regeneration, tho none but prospectively redeemed persons can "be born from above," for the reason that it incorporates in its sphere of operation the adoption of the body which cannot be born of God. Salvation, then, precedes redemption in human experience, and we begin to enjoy everlasting life on occasions, being "filled with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory," precious foretastes of redemption [228] CHRISTIAN IDEAL rapture. The New testament records the fulfillment of Old Testament types, and prophecies of redemp- tion thru the sacrifice of Christ. Three words are used by inspired writers to set forth the meaning of redemption; however, the word primarily means "to deliver by paying a price." Agorazo, "to purchase in the market." The underlying thought is that of a slave-market, where human beings were bought and exchanged as chattel property. Exagerazo, "to buy out of the market." The redeemed are to be free forever and never re-sold into slavery. Lutroo, "to loose," "set free by paying a price." Redemption is by sacrifice, and by power ; Christ paid the price and the Holy Spirit, by His regenerating power, makes it real in our experience. And thru His re-vivifying and quickening power He will make the life and power of our resurrected bodies. "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwel- leth in you." Ro. 8 :11. Redemption would be incom- plete without adoption and salvation would be un- finished without redemption. Salvation is only ex- tended to the physical side of human nature, thru redemption and adoption. Salvation is achieved when one is regenerated, and it cannot be lost nor forfeited, because Jesus died to redeem the body from the dust of the earth, and to ratify His Father's elective agency, that was involved in the adoption of [229] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the body into the family of God. The body is an orphan, without father or mother. It descended from an original federal head, who lost his relation- ship with God, and his standing as an upright being before Him. Our bodies are received from him in an alienated and degenerate condition. God, therefore provided adoption for the body, before it is occupied by a regenerated or re-born soul. The orphan that is adopted into the family cannot be disinherited in any court of law, the child born in the home may be legally rejected as heir, and turned away with a mere pittance or in a penniless condition. God could disinherit the soul that is born of Him and have legal sanction for it, because He deals with it upon the exclusive basis of grace ; yet He is too good so to disinherit it. But He would have to contravene His own law in order to disinherit the body of adop- tion, for He accepted it as an orphan outcast, friend- less and victimized by a wicked and carnal soul that dwelt in it, and forced it to submit to its despotic control. The body will be made perfect thru the quickening power of the Holy Spirit, and all traces of sin and disease and death will be removed from it — the finite becoming infinite — the mortal, im- mortal ; and death shall be swallowed up in victory, and the whole creation of God will be brought under the blessing of bodily and physical perfection, being delivered from the curse of death and suffering that was imposed upon it as a consequence of Adam's sin. [230] CHRISTIAN IDEAL Paul says: "For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earn- est expectation of the creature waiteth for the mani- festation of the sons of God." Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Ro. 8:18-21. ''Look up, earth! no storm can last Beyond the Hmits God hath set, When its appointed work is past, In joy thou shalt thy grief forget. Where sorrow 's plowshare hath swept thru. Thy fairest flowers of life shall spring. For God shall grant thee life anew. And all thy wastes shall laugh and sing. Hope thou in Him; His plan for thee Shall end in triumph and release. Fear not, for thou shalt surely see His afterward of peace." 231 J CHAPTER XI Heaven Heaven represents the highest point attained by transfigured thought — the farthest reach of in- spired imagination. Finite man, unaided by the om- nipotent God, could have never devised a sj^stem of religion that embraced within its sublimest scope such a place of bliss and joy and glory as the scrip- tures declare heaven to be. It is unthinkably gorg- eous, grand and magnificent. Mortality is environed by darkness, cursed by sin, and dwells continually under judgments of misery and misfortune and woe. Happiness ebbs and flows, feelings vacillate. The festival of spiritual joy is often marred by sadness and draped in shadows of mourning. When life flows like a pure river of water, clear in the reflection of innocence, rippling in the laughter of jo}^, kissed by the golden dawn of eternal day, and thoughts of Jesus and heaven thrill the soul with unstayed de- light, and the mind is so possessed in the grip of His Spirit that we are exalted in His power and trans- figured in His presence — the tempter obtrudes his unwelcome presence, casting his upas shadow o'er the eden of hope, and hurling his poisoned dart of deception, strikes unerringly the joint of our har- ness, bringing a sudden termination to our carnival [232] HEAVEN of pleasure, so that with wounded hearts and bruised souls we turn in penitence, seeking wearily the fountain of cleansing opened on Calvary for lost souls, and lave our soiled spirits from every stain of guilt and sin. We have here no continuing state of guiltless love. Sin is a black spot in all our feasts of rejoicing, and it occurs oftentimes that the radiant light of hope that pours its effulgent luster upon our stony pathway, proves to be a wandering star of sentimentalism, to whom the mist of doubt and the darkness of despair are reserved forever. We come to our texts: ''In my Father's house are many man- sions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." "And if I go and pre- pare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also." Intermediate State of the Dead Heaven, as an experience, begins in this life. Kegeneration, spiritual transformation, is the proli- fic spring of Christian hope and life. God brings heaven to us in a personal experience of it, before He brings us to heaven. This is evidently what Jesus meant, when he spoke to Nicodemus about the new birth, telling him that he ' ' must be born again, ' ' and ''except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God." Unborn men have no innate power to receive the kingdom, nor to enter [233] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT into fellowship and communion with its holy nature and mysterious redeeming power. It is to the nat- ural man foolishness, an unsolved puzzle, and he can- not see it in the sense of comprehending its spiritual meaning in the higher life. Hence the only subjects recognized as being worthy to obtain membership in the Kingdom of Heaven, are ' 'twice born" men. Re- generation is the only divine method of salvation, and God communicates a knowledge of himself thru this process of spiritual change, transplanting the soul from a state of nature to one of grace and holi- ness. Hence this divine w^ork in the heart brings to us an immortal hope that penetrates the veil of mys- tery, that envelopes us, entering the shining gates of glor}^, being lost in billows of light and refulgent hope that, rising in floodtides at the throne of Jeho- vah, burst in resplendent spray over the vast realm of eternity. It is needless for me to say that it is invariably accompanied by an inexpressible joy. However, the rapture of it does not always en- dure, but the knowledge of it permanently abides. Salvation, therefore, is just as enduring as the soul itself. If the soul perished in death, being annihi- lated, salvation would cease to exist. Consequently, it could never be restored (Heb. 6:6), because it is secured in this life thru one sacrifice — one divine oblation; and should it fall here, we could have no hope of future deliverance from sin, nor of our glor- ious uprising from the dead hereafter. Salvation is [234] HEAVEN eternal life, possessing the present, and having prom- ise of that which is to come, reaching farther and farther into those misty regions, sweeping past eter- nal landmarks, until thought fails and the soul pants for weariness. Salvation parallels eternity ! Hence the soul enjoys, thru the favor of Christ, a present experience, peculiar to itself and separate from the lump of mortality that environs it. The body dies — dissolves — becoming unconscious, feelingless, but the soul never! There is but one death that it can die, and it must live to do that, viz : separation from God, who will bring upon us the interminable, indescrib- able vengeance of eternal fire. May God save you, friend, from that terrible death (Math. 25, 41, 46). Every careful Bible reader can very easily see the distinction that exists between flesh and spirit — soul and body. It is probable, however, that when the body is resurrected, many seeming contradictions between the soul nature and the flesh of physical nature, will be eliminated. Still, the resurrection will bring into strong contrast the finer elements of the blood-washed soul and the glorified body. How- ever, those vexatious antagonisms and inexplicable oppositions will be fully harmonized, and the whole being united in a perfected, inseparable and indivis- ible body, whose lustrous brightness will eclipse the sun, and rebuking the stars for their impertinent twinkling, will make them hide their faces in a veil of darkness. But the body in its present finite con- [235] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT dition is in every respect unfitted to dwell contin- uously, without change. It must die, returning to its native dust, while the soul, whose temple it is, inherits immortality, and enters upon an unchange- able state of grace and imperishable life, in contra- diction to its death. Thus we see, that the soul is destined to dwell in a separate state without the body, tho it is not glorified without it. Regenera- tion is for the soul, and resurrection for the body; hence the glorification of all the saved will be accom- plished at the second coming of Christ. "If I come again I will receive you unto myself." He does not promise to receive us in the disembodied form. He also told Nicodemus that ''no man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven." Then where are the saved? Where the lost? Do they abide in unconscious nonentity? What sayeth the gospel? ''Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions : If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." Thinking people are more concerned about an unknown future, and really take more interest in a mysterious eter- nity whither we are all tending, than in the visible things around them. Man is a spiritual being having a physical nature. Paul says, "that which is first, is natural (and in the order of inception and develop- ment) that which is spiritual." In other words the [236] HEAVEN immortal soul of man was inbreatlied — not made — into his physical structure, and the inbreathed soul is endowed with an eternal spirit thru which element of his nature the moral image of God is retained. Man, being a trinitarian in nature, naturally possesses div- ine inclination, and even in his fallen state entertains in his thought many emotions, impulses and aspira- tions that identify him with his Maker. All persons, then, are strangely moved upon by an invisible force that they do not understand, but that compels them to consider a prospective future immortality, wheth- er they believe in it as a fact or not. Many refuse to consider a future eternal state, because it is myster- ious, and is presented to their thought like the shadow of a distant cloud across the burning sands of the desert. But the normal man desires immortal- ity. I believe that the majority of lost men would prefer immortality with sufferings and agonies con- sequent upon infracted law, than to enter a state of nonentity, and to be eternally doomed to the dissolu- tion of dust, with the loss of all consciousness of God, and personal responsibility, and the memory of friends and loved ones, — in fact, the blotting out of all being as a personal entity. The doctrine of anni- hilation is contrary to the genius of human nature, and is an atheistic thrust at the truth that the word of God positively enjoins the hope of eternal life, and encourages all men as immortal beings to seek that blessed immortality that Jesus has revealed in the [237] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT gospel. Life here gravitates towards one of two cen- ters, neither of which is located in this visible sphere, but which are established as the two separate divi- sions of eternity. Both are places that will be occu- pied by human beings in a bodily form and will be entered after the resurrection of all the dead. Those places are known in the scriptures as heaven and hell. And for the comfort, encouragement and in- spiration of the believers in Christ, I will discuss briefly the subject that perhaps has more charm and alluring human and divine glory than any other sub- ject about which we know anything, viz : heaven. *' Think! when our one soul understands The great word that makes all things new; When earth breaks up and heaven expands How will the change strike me and you In the House not made with hands?" Questions like the following force themselves upon us. "Where are the dead?" "Have they en- tered upon their final estate of weal or woe?" "Do they enter heaven or hell (I mean by hell the place of eternal torment, called Gehenna) at death?" It is evident that the dead have entered into a fixed state of judgment, or justification, at death, and it is true that we enter into those conditions prior to the dissolution of earth ties. Jesus says: "He that be- lieveth not is condemned already." And speaking of the saved He said: "He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life." Hence death does not bring a [238] HEAVEN change in the nature of any person in relation to the obligations of law, which consist in the infliction of its penalties, or the elimination of those penalties through the atonement of Jesus. And death does not mean the cessation of being in this world or the next. Death temporarily ends physical life here, by dis- solving the human structure. It does nothing more, but as death finds us, so will we be when we appear in judgment. ''It is appointed unto man once to die but after this the judgment." ''As a tree falleth so shall it lie." But the scriptures plainly teach that disembodied souls do not enter into a permanent, final place of judgment in death. They enter those places "after death." Death is the gateway to the eternal world, that "Lies around us like a cloud — A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there to be." As there is a second and higher life for believers, there is also a second and deeper death for disbe- lievers. And as after that life there is no more death, so after that death there is no more life, ' ' The sinner's doom, the sinner's doom. How dark the agony That haunts transgressors to the tomb, Then press on to endlessness to come. Whose worm may never die. ' ' There are two separate places as temporary receptacles for the accommodation of unclothed [239] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT spirits. The scriptures very clearly emphasize the glorification of the resurrected saints. Spirits of just men are made perfect in the intermediate state but never glorified out of the body. Consequently, bodily souls are barred from heaven. "If I come again I will receive you unto myself." Jesus never said one word that can be made to teach the com- monly accepted theory of an immediate entrance at death, upon an eternal state. He founded a strong hope for future deliverance upon the fact of His Second Coming, the blessed event being the only, and last, but all-sufficient hope of the Church. Everything depends upon it. Souls will remain in the separate state, and the sacred dust of our loved ones in the power of the grave. Nations will rise and fall, wars curse the earth with their ravages of brutality and carnage. Men will sin and die; injustice will wax and righteousness wane, the heavens retaining the sealed treasures of our divine heritage, until the trumpet sounds and the stars are swept from their billowy thrones, to make way for the coming of Jesus and the holy angels. Then the gates of the grave will be torn from their hinges, and the lawful captives delivered from the power of death, never to die while Jesus reigns. Let us watch and pray for His speedy return. I will now state clearly my position, and seek to prove it beyond the possibility of doubt or gainsay- ing: (a) The saved enter into a temporary place of [240] HEAVEN rest called Paradise. This place is under the throne of heaven, and within the bounds of heaven's atmos- phere, but it is not eternal as a place, nor unchange- able as a state of grace, because its happy subjects are not fully emancipated, neither can they be said to have triumphed completely over death, because their soulless bodies are mouldering in the grave. None but the perfected, the glorified, the resurrected can enter the pearly Gate of the New Jerusalem. ''0 holy dwelling place of God! Oh, glorious city all divine! Thy streets, by feet of seraphs trod, Shall one glad day be trod by mine. ' ' Paradise is, according to the plain unequivocal statement of Christ, in Hades, that in nearly every instance is incorrectly translated by our English word Hell, and meaning eternal torment, in our Author- ized Version of the scriptures. Liddell and Scott de- fines it to mean ''death, the grave," or the "unseen world." It does not necessarily convey the idea of future punishment, tho having an indefinite meaning, and comprehending in its wide domain, the whole of the invisible universe. Of course, awful destruction and likewise eternal happiness are included in its etymology, but only in the sense of being future. Men are not suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, nor are they enjoying the full fruition of the Chris- tian hope at the present time. Jesus spoke of the Rich Man and Lazarus being in Hades, (Luke 16 :23) [241] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the latter suffering, being tormented, the former en- joying a larger portion of joy and life and prosperity than he had ever dreamed of in this world. But these two are widely separated by a ''gulf fixed" and impassable. Lazarus is in paradise, and the Rich Man in Tartarus, the two receptacles or divisions of Hades. The word Tartarus is used by Peter (2 Pet. 2:4), when he is speaking of the fall and ruin of rebellious angels. He calls it an "abyss or prison house," its miserable inhabitants being "reserved in chains of darkness awaiting the judgment of the great day." This, however, is only a temporary place, its subjects destined to perish eternally in "a devil's hell." Sodomites, lost Ante-diluvians and the Christless dead of all ages are there, awaiting the final decree of judgment, after which in their resur- rected bodies they will be "turned into hell with the nations that forget God." "We are therefore ex- horted by Christ to be faithful and fearless in his service : "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." Math. 10:28. Christ entered Paradise at death and remained there during the interval between His death and re- surrection. This is evident, judging from his lan- guage to Mary, who was in the act of touching him at the tomb. He said to her: "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my [242] HEAVEN brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God." Jno. 20:17. Thus, the following facts are self -manifest, viz: (a) Christ at death did not ascend to His Father, (b) He went in company with the penitent thief (Lu. 23:43) to Paradise and (c) we conclude that Para- dise is not Heaven, because God's throne is there, and it is also his dwelling place. David teaches this theory in many of his Psalms, but one quotation from him, cited by Peter, is sufficient for our present pur- pose. Speaking of the death of Christ, accomplished in conformity to the pre-determination of God, he said: ''For David speaketh concerning him, I fore- saw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad ; more- over also my flesh shall rest in hope; because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Hades) neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Acts. 2 :25-27. The physical structure of Christ was sin- less, therefore incorruptible. During its confinement in "Joseph's new tomb" it was miraculously pre- served, the ravages of decay being stayed, and the power of the Holy Spirit over-shadowing it contin- ually. But the divine nature was absent, in the separate state with the righteous dead, the exper- ience "thou wilt not leave my soul in hell" (Hades) referring to his sojourn in the mysterious land of [243] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT ''spirits of just men made perfect." The term Para- dise (Phulake) is used three times in the holy scrip- tures. Heaven and Paradise are never used synon- omously by any New Testament writer. The passage in Luke has already been quoted and we will intro- duce the two remaining passages. Paul uses one of them, when speaking of "visions and revelations of the Lord ' ' that had been accorded him. He says : " It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, whether out of the body I cannot tell ; God knoweth : how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard un- speakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." 2 Cor. 12:1-4. I am aware that it is com- monly held by many that Paradise and Heaven are the same place, and that there is no middle life. The misapprehension of the class referred to arises from supposing that Paul in these four verses refers to the self -same event, and that he had but one revela- tion. But he expressly declares in the first verse that he had visions (plural) and revelations, which he would proceed to relate. In the beginning of the narration he informs them of the fact that he was unconscious of his true state, hence he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it. However, he was consciously alive, and cognizant of his mys- terious surroundings. He went to the "third Hea- ven" but did not mention anything that he saw in [244] HEAVEN that celestial city. With the bare mention of the fact that he saw it, was in it, and lost for the time being in its luxurious glory and drunk with its ecstatic delights, he lets the curtain of silence fall upon the gorgeous scene. Then he speaks of Para- dise. He saw many things that it was not lawful for him to utter. He manifests a spirit of careful reserve as he proceeds with his meager description of the place. But it is clear from his language that the place is not inhabited at present by those persons who received their bodies thru translation or resur- rection in the past nor by disembodied souls. So far as we can gather from the descriptions that we have on record, in the writings of Paul, John, et al, its only occupants are the Three Persons composing the holy Trinity and guardian angels, that keep vigil with drawn swords at its pearly gates continually. ^'In thee no temple lifts its dome, No sun its radiant beam lets fall; For there — of like the eternal home — God and the lamb illumine all! The enraptured John triumphantly exclaims: ''And I saw no temple therein: For the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it : For the glory of God did lighten it and the lamb is the light thereof. The allusion here cannot be misunderstood. In the holy of holies of the earthly Jerusalem, there was [245] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT neither natural nor artificial light: No golden lamp shown within its walls, and not a ray of light could enter there; nor was there need for them, for that sacred place was illumined by the glory of the Shek- inah, which occasionly filled the temple with super- natural brightness, and shown forth to the view of the joyful worshippers without. The earthly Shek- inah was a symbol of the eternal sanctuary, where God and the lamb dwell and which needs not the light of sun, moon or stars, to furnish them light, for they furnish illumination for all the city, that shines resplendent thruout vast eternity in their own lus- trous and uneclipsed personality. Another very im- portant passage is found in Revelations, second chap- ter and seventh verse. It reads: ''To him that over- cometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." (R. V.). This is a highly figurative passage, and calls to mind the dark tragedy of the world 's first Paradise that our First Adam lost thru disobedience; but it rings the note of hope clear and strong, for the encourage- ment of the returning prodigal. Jesus is "the tree of life." He is omnipresent filling all space and is aces- sible to a penitent believer from every quarter of the globe. There can be no Paradise where Jesus is not, but the humblest home of the poorest Lazarus is heaven with him dwelling midst its poverty and want. Christ, as "the tree of life," dwells in the midst of heaven, in the midst of earth, and in the [246] HEAVEN midst of that happy place where multitudes of the blood-washed subjects of grace await His coming and the redemption of their bodies from the grave, — the Eden of joy that is known in the scriptures as ''the Paradise of God." Plurality of Heaven Heaven is unquestionably a place and not a mere state of spiritual happiness. This were essen- tial to the prosperity of the redeemed and the suc- cess of the Christian enterprise, because man cannot conceive of peace and safety apart from a local en- vironment, and would not be able to appreciate it if we could do so. We are social, clannish creatures. Our hearts crave the fellowship of our kind, and our nature demands for its satisfaction and contentment the association of congenial spirits. Heaven is the only place in the vast eternity of God that fully supplies the wants and cravings and desires of glorified hum- an nature. Christ said, ^^In my Father's house are many mansions," thus emphasizing the homelike features of the celestial city. Some man will ask, ''Where is heaven?" We cannot answer that ques- tion accurately. According to the scriptures it is above us. As to its exact location the scriptures are silent. But the prayers of the faithful in all ages have been ever directed UPWARD. Thus ''Solomon stood before the altar of the [247] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven," show- ing that he believed that it was above him. David also recognized the fact that heaven was above the earth. But this point is really immaterial, hence I will not consume any more time in discussing it. Suffice it to say, however, that HEAVEN IS WHERE CHRIST IS. 1 would rather live in hell with Christ, than to dwell in heaven without him! I remember having read an incident related by Mr. Moody that illustrates the point under consideration. A lady in a northern city was "sick nigh unto death." It was decided, therefore, to remove her to the home of an aunt that lived in a distant city. The little girl was dissatisfied, and kept wanting to see her mama. In the course of time the mother died, but the child could not realize the meaning of death. She became frantic and grief-stricken. She could not be recon- ciled to her surroundings. The good, kind aunt was not "mother." It was decided finally to take her back home. She went thru all the rooms, calling plaintively: "Mama! Oh, Mama!" No answer came. Failing to find her mother, she said to her aunt, "Let's go; mama is gone!" It was not home to her now that the chief attraction — the light — mother — had departed. Thus, to a Christian anywhere is heaven with Jesus. The scriptures re- cognize three heavens. First the region of the air thru which the birds fly; second, the firmament [248] HEAVEN above the clouds in which the sun and moon and stars are fixed ; third, the third heaven, the high and holy place of which the Jewish holy of holies was a type, the place of God's special abode, the "center and metropolis of the universe, in which the omni- potent Deity affords a nearer and more sensible man- ifestation of his glory than in the other parts of the divine kingdom." God reigns there, in the perfec- tion of his infinite holiness, clad with ineffable glory and insufferable light, which no imperfect being can see, or approach and live. Were a disembodied spirit to elude the angel that guards the gates of paradise and loose its way among the star-decked paths of eternity and wander up to His throne, it would per- ish eternally, finding for a winding sheet the glory of His presence, and for a grave, the magnificent scenes of the holy city. But such a calamnity cannot happen, because Jesus has locked the joy-gates of Paradise with the key of predestination, and those "prisoners of hope" are secured in the flower gardens of de- light, and He will not permit them to escape nor give those happy captives freedom, until the time is ful- filled for his return to the kingdom, and the clarion tones of the trumpet rings forth the thrilling message of complete redemption. Then the emancipated hosts of God shall possess the earth and Jesus shall reign Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Thank O^d for the glorious prospect ! [249] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT Heavenly Recognition This life is a prophecy — a forecast of that which is to come. The material universe is a shadow of things that are destined to appear at some future time. We are developing into a stereotyped and fixed character in this world, everything about us in reality contributing to that one grand aim and purpose of our existence ; but still, we must pass into another sphere of existence before the real object and true characer is attained. In this mortal sphere we change, decay like the forest. The strength of man- hood fails, and the beauty and charms of womanhood wane and perish like the flowers of the field, and like the beast of the earth all must die, and become food for worms. This mortal, thru this method of the div- ine procedure, must put on immortality. Now, the question presses heavily upon many minds, will these changes so far affect the identity of the individual, as to render us unrecognizable in the next life? Or will we know each other in Heaven ? If so, will there be recognition of each other in the place of torment ? These are very perplexing questions, and perhaps they are a more common source of anxiety and con- fusion than any other themes or theories of teachings in the Bible. But I am confident that we will know each other in the eternal world. Death does not des- troy the identity of the individual. There is a dead prince in King David's palace. Disease that stalks up the lane of the poor and poverty-stricken, putting [250] HEAVEN his cold hand on the lips of the wan and feeble, mounts the palace stairs and blows the frost of death in Bathsheba's child's face. Tears are wine to the king of terrors. Wailing and lamentations, dismal and heartrending, ring thru the palace. But David puts away the drapery of mourning, and cheers his heart in the prospect of a future meeting with the child in Paradise. He said, "He cannot come to me, but I can go to him." He certainly believed that he would know the child in a separate state. The scrip- tures certainly teach the identity of the soul in Para- dise. What comfort would it have been to David to meet the child anywhere in the universe of God, and not recognize him? What consolation would it be to any of us to know that we were in the company of loved ones, and not be able to distinguish between them? Heaven, it seems to me, would be a very lonesome place were we to be strangers to each other there. Then we would have less sense and know- ledge in that place, the sanctuary of eternal wisdom, than we possessed on earth. Shakespeare said : There is nothing in a name ; a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. But that sentiment is the logic of folly, if there can be such a thing. It is true that a rose would smell just as sweet with another name, but the name is so closely connected with the plant that bears it as to be inseparably identified. Our names, says Jesus, are '* written in heaven." Then, will we not hear them [ 251 ] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT there ? If the names of the faithful are not preserved for us, for whom are they kept ? Certainly they are not for the Lord, because he hath all wisdom, and does not heed a written record of any event, occur- rence, tragedy, date or name of anything, or any creature in heaven, or earth, to help him remember it. He cannot forget only in the sense that he chooses not to punish penitents for their evil deeds. Hence, I believe that we will have our present names in heaven, and that we will know each other in that celestial city. Dives knew Lazarus in Paradise, and asked for assistance, showing very clearly that two things were true of all who enter the abode of spirits, viz: (a) They have their creature wants and (b) they recognize each other in these widely separated places. The rich man knew Abraham, whom he had never seen, and called him father. He also remem- bered his brethren in this world, which is a very satisfactory proof to my mind that men in that place of darkness know each other, because the rich man missed his five brothers, and knew that they were not present among the black throngs of miserable creatures that wait in chains of darkness for the judgment of the great day. I am sure you remember what Peter and John said to Christ in the mount of Transfiguration. They requested Jesus to allow them to erect booths, "one for Moses and one for Elias." Moses and Elijah had been dead for many years. Neither Peter, James nor John had ever [252] HEAVEN seen nor had they ever looked upon any picture or likeness of these great men. Moses evidently repres- ented the resurrected state of the church, while Elijah represented the translated church. Peter knew Moses from Elijah, and so did James and John. Will they not know these notable worthies in the glory-world, and may we not joyfully expect to do so, too? Will heaven be all glitter, and gold, and glare, with no distinctions in rank and personality, variety and appearance? No! A THOUSAND TIMES NO! I do not believe heaven will represent monotony nor humdrum commonality. Neither is it a sort of dead level. There are abodes there. Ranks of angels there. Persons that made history charming by their patriotic devotion to Christ, and gave Chris- tianity a triumphant prospect in this life. They are not destined therefore to be buried, lost to acquain- tances and relatives in heaven. Jesus specially stresses this glorious truth, and offers it as an induce- ment to the lost to seek heaven, viz: ''They shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down in the kingdom of heaven, with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." If men do not know one from another, why mention the fact that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will be present at the great feast of joy, when the banquet chambers are opened to the redeemed and glorified? Suppose you were invited to attend a banquet at New Orleans, and as an inducement to secure your [253] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT attendance it was announced that President Wilson and Wm. J Bryan and Ex. Gov. Hughes and Senator Lodge, with many other great men from different parts of the world would be present. You have never met any one of them, and never saw a picture nor read a description of their personal appearance. You sit down to the banquet feeling like a dunce. You do not know Bryan from Wilson nor Hughes from Lodge. Then to carry the thought further, say that these men are unknown to each other. Would that be a very delightful occasion? Do you think that you would enjoy the evening? Nothing could be more preposterous and absurd. I believe that we will, thru the bestowment of divine knowledge to each separately and by name, the earth name, know every glorified person in Heaven. But some one will say: "I am sure that many of my relatives are lost, and if I should see, and know my unsaved children I could not enjoy Heaven." My dear friend, let me reason with you upon that subject for a few mom- ents. You are sincere, but you have failed to con- sider two very important truths in relation to this question. (a) Christ changes the genealogy of human nature and transfers its source and origin from the First Adam, to himself, the Second Adam. Hence the saved represent a new generation of men. They are made of one blood, the royal crimson of heaven, and they never die in the sense of torment. Those in the First Adam, do perish eternally and in [254] HEAVEN their own separate blood and individuality, perishing in their sins; their carnal natures, remaining un- changed, except to grow worse. But the saved will leave their carnal natures behind in the grave, and we will not know each other after the flesh, or in relation to carnality, but after the spirit, or in the same sense in which we know Christ. We do not know Him after the flesh at present, and we shall be ''made like him, for we shall see Him as he is." Thus we have the same physical structure, but sin will not be identifled with it, hence there will be no weddings in heaven, except that of Christ and the Church, but we shall be as the angels of God that never marry. Therefore, we will not have the power to mourn and lament in heaven, because our relations to each other will not be affected by the flesh, or carnality. The lost will be to us as a separate and unknown generation too. Thank God He will brush the tears from our cheeks and fill us with laughter and unceasing delight! ^'Oh, angel, lend me the shade of thy wing; I see the portals of light unrolled, With songs of welcome their arches ring — The ransomed are safe in their heavenly fold. ' ' I commend the beautiful statement of Bishop Norris to all thoughtful persons, viz: ''The joys of heaven are without example, above experience, and beyond imagination, — for which the whole creation wants a comparison; we, an apprehension; and even [255] CHRIST TRIUMPHANT the word of God, a revelation. ' ' The glory of heaven is indescribable, and its joys are unspeakable. And best of all, there is no death in heaven. It is life and life forever — eternal life. Life is glorious tho it be just for a moment — but who can measure, fathom, or weigh the period of its duration? Lift your scales and it is eternal life. Go to eternity's chronometer, and mark the flight of cycles infinite, and count the vibrations of its pendulum, ever going and coming; count the strokes of its sounding bell, dying away in music midst the flowery hills of heaven, each repeat- ing in its last dying murmur. Forever! Forever! when the chronicler of revolving cycles reveals the history of his records it will be, ^'forever! forever!^' Life is heaven, and eternity is the period of its enjoyment. [256] liiliir ' 1012 01207 9192