"I WOULD like to ask one question before we begin the study tonight," said Mr. Barker, as he and Mr. Rogers drew up to the table in Mr. Summers’ sitting-room, after the latter had offered a brief prayer that God would guide and bless them all in the search for truth.

"Certainly," was the response.

"It is this," said Mr. Barker: "I can feel the force of what you read to us and told us last week, and am convinced that we ought to be familiar with the truth concerning the Savior’s second coming, and give it a large place in our hearts, but I can’t yet see how that doctrine is going to do Christians any more good than the old idea did, that they ought always to be prepared for death. What is the difference between being ready for the Lord’s coming, and being ready for the hour of death?"

"That is a question that you will have to find the answer to in your own experience," replied Mr. Summers.

"Hitherto you have, I doubt not, found help in remembering the shortness and uncertainty of human life, and in cultivating a state of preparedness for death; but you have given no thought to the coming of the Lord, so you cannot tell how much more helpful it would have been if you had cherished the apostolic hope in waiting for the Lord to come from heaven. With your present experience, it may well be that you can see no difference in the degree of helpfulness connected with the two expectations. But if you cherish what Paul calls ‘the blessed hope,’ you will find a great deal more blessing in it than you ever found in being prepared for death. Indeed, the hope of the Lord’s coming is so inwrought into His own teaching and that of the apostles, that one must perforce get wrong conceptions of truth, and occupy a wrong point of view, if one fails to give it its rightful place."

"Well," said Mr. Barker, "I suppose the matter will grow plainer, as you say. I know we must not expect to get all the blessing there is in any truth by the mere exercise of our intellectual gifts. The Holy Spirit must make the truth a living reality to us."

"All the same," put in Mr. Rogers, "I wish Mr. Summers would try to answer the question more directly, for I have the same difficulty. I have been speaking to two or three people since we met last week, asking them if they ever thought of the Lord’s coming. About all I could get was: ‘Don’t bother your head about such questions as that. Do your duty day by day, and be ready when the Lord calls you, and you’ll be all right!’ Now, what can I say to such people? Isn’t it just the same to a man whether he goes to be with the Lord at death or whether the Lord comes and fetches him at the Second Advent?"

"That question," said Mr. Summers, "raises the very point I was intending to ask you to study tonight. If you remember, I said last week that we would consider at our next meeting one reason why the church has in a large measure lost sight of the blessed hope of the Lord’s return. Mr. Rogers has just stated that reason. It is that the church today has somehow transferred to the hour of death what the apostolic church connected with the second coming. Christians look now to the time of their dying as the time when they go to be with the Lord. If that view of the matter is correct, naturally enough they fail to see how the coming of the Lord can bring to them any greater joy or privilege than they enter into at death."

"That is my point exactly," said Mr. Rogers.

"Well," continued Mr. Summers, "let us find out first what the New Testament teaches as to the time when Christians do enter into the presence of the Lord. The apostle Paul has given us some very clear statements on this point. Will you turn to the first epistle to the Thessalonians, fourth chapter, and thirteenth verse? Mr. Barker, why does Paul take up this subject, and deal with it so explicitly in the passage before us?"

Mr. Barker read: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."

"Thank you," said Mr. Summers. "Let us try to get the meaning of the apostle. May we desire to understand the condition of the dead without indulging an idle curiosity? Certainly we may; for Paul says: ‘I would not have you to be ignorant.’ In other words: ‘I am anxious that you should have clear knowledge concerning the departed, so that you may not mourn like the heathen, but may cherish a Bible hope.’ Now what is that hope? The next verse will tell us."

Mr. Rogers turned eagerly to the place and read: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even- so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him."

"How," asked Mr. Summers, "is the condition of the departed saints described in this verse?"

"They ‘sleep in Jesus,’ Mr. Barker replied."

"Yes," continued Mr. Summers, "and just as Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring forth His sleeping children from the tomb.

Then Paul goes on to tell us just how and when God will raise up those that sleep in Jesus. Note the words carefully, for this passage was written for the express purpose of making us intelligent concerning the dead; so if we are to look anywhere in the Bible for light on this point, it must be here."

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 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 and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

"We are not left to conjecture," continued Mr. Summers, "as to how Paul got his information about the resurrection. He writes: ‘This we say unto you by the Word of the Lord.’ And what is it that the Word of the Lord teaches? ‘That we which are alive and remain shall not prevent them which are asleep.’ You know, of course, what the word ‘prevent’ means in this passage?"

"Yes," said Mr. Barker, "it meant to ‘go before’ when the Bible was translated. It is found also in the Prayer Book with the same meaning."

"Then," went on Mr. Summers, "the statement of the apostle Paul is that those who do not fall, asleep in death, but live on until Christ comes, will not go to be with Christ in advance of those who have died."

"No-one ever thought they would," put in Mr. Rogers. "Surely it is those who die in the Lord who go to Him first?"

"That is the popular idea, but see what the apostle says," replied Mr. Summers. "It does not seem to occur to him that Christians would ever entertain the idea that the dead go first. The only mistake which he regards as possible is the error of thinking that the living will go first to be with Christ. The believers in Thessalonica were troubled about some of their number who had died, and Paul is writing to comfort them, that they may not sorrow without hope. Those who have fallen asleep will not be behind those who live until the coming of the Lord. Why? ‘For 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 and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. Now, Mr. Rogers, do those who die in the Lord go first to Him?"

"Not according to these verses," was the answer.

"Notice how plain the statements are," said Mr. Summers. "First the Lord descends with a shout, and with the trump which awakens the dead in Christ; they rise up from the grave and stand on the earth with those who have not died; then both classes, living and raised, are caught up together in the clouds, where they meet the Lord; and so, in this manner, are they ever with Him. Not at death, then, but at the resurrection the believer meets his Lord, and so is he ushered into the bliss of being ever with the Savior. What use does Paul say we are to make of this teaching, Mr. Barker?"

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words," read Mr. Barker.

"Now suppose," said Mr. Summers, addressing himself to Mr. Rogers, "that you were calling on Mrs. Williams, whose husband is to be buried tomorrow, and were trying to give her some comfort in her sad bereavement. What would you say to her?"

"I did call there yesterday," answered Mr. Rogers, "and I told her what I thought was true, that her husband was now in glory, and that it was wrong to wish him back again; that some day she would go to join him there."

"And were you acting on the instruction of Paul, when you comforted her with those words?" asked Mr. Summers further.

"Well, it seems I wasn’t," confessed Mr. Rogers. "But I have always been led to believe that a Christian went to be with the Lord at death. I suppose, after what we have been reading here, if we attempt to give Bible comfort to the mourners, we ought to tell them about the coming of the Lord to raise the dead.’

"That is true," replied Mr. Summers. "You can both see now why it is that people have had their minds turned away from the coming of the Lord and the resurrection. They have been taught that death does for them what only the resurrection can do, and if at death they go to be for ever with the Lord, why should they look forward to the resurrection? Every time we comfort others, we ought to point them to the blessed hope, and so keep that fresh in all minds. But, as the result of leaving it out of our reckoning, we have come to ignore it, and to think of the world as going on and on indefinitely, while the good enter heaven individually at their death."

"Is there any light on this question in Paul’s great chapter on the resurrection?" asked Mr. Barker.

"Yes," was the reply; "let us turn to first Corinthians fifteen, and read, beginning with the fifty-first verse:

"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.’ Here Paul is stating the same great facts which we found in his epistle to the Thessalonians. The fifty-fourth verses tells us," went on Mr. Summers, "when we get the victory over death. It is not at the moment of dying, but when we rise from the grave, glorified, to meet the Lord. ‘So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.’

"Do you see from these words of the apostle Paul," asked Mr. Summers, "how tremendously important the second coming of the Lord becomes to the believer? It is not only the time of the Savior’s return, but also the time when we shall put on immortality. Then there will be no more sin and no more death, for death will be swallowed up in victory. Not when we die, but when the Lord comes, do we enter the gate of life. Yet, is it not a fact that the doctrine of the resurrection is as much ignored today as the hope of the coming of the Lord, although it was one of the principal topics of the early church? We read in Acts 4:33: ‘And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus."

"Yes, ‘the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,’ " said Mr. Rogers: "of course they had much to say of that; everybody knows that the resurrection of Jesus is at the foundation of the Gospel; but what did the apostles have to say about the resurrection of His people?"

"They could not separate one resurrection from the other," was Mr. Summers’ answer. "Don’t you remember how closely Paul connects the resurrection of Christ with the resurrection of the saints? He writes, in 1 Corinthians 15: ‘Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen.’ Again, he says: ‘For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.’ So that the resurrection of Christ is a certain pledge of the resurrection of the saints. Every time we think of the resurrection of Christ, it ought to remind us that we, too, are to be raised as He was, and in His likeness. Mr. Barker, will you read verses forty-seven to forty-nine of this chapter?"

Mr. Barker read: "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." "What a wonderful promise," he said: "‘we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

"Yes," rejoined Mr. Summers. "It is indeed wonderful. The resurrection of Jesus is in itself a promise of what we shall be. Christ is ‘the first fruits of them that slept.’ ‘We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him."

"But what becomes of the Christian when he dies?" asked Mr. Rogers. "Where is he between his death and his resurrection at the coming of the Lord?"

"What does the Scripture say?" replied Mr. Summers. "Have we not already read that he is ‘asleep in Christ?"

"Well, what does that mean?" Mr. Rogers asked.

"It means," was the answer, "that death is a sleep, from which the resurrection is the awaking. If it were not for the resurrection, as we have just read, ‘then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.’ So, you see, it is very clear that Christians do not enter the bliss and glory of heaven at death. If they did, and the resurrection should never take place, whatever else they lost, they would at least enjoy the life of heaven. But the fact that they ‘are perished’ without the resurrection is proof positive that they are not alive, somewhere, between death and the resurrection. The resurrection is the very heart of New Testament teaching. We have already had several texts proving this. Perhaps one or two more will suffice. What was the essential requirement in an apostle? You will find it in Acts 1:22, Mr. Barker."

"To be a witness with us of His resurrection," read Mr. Barker.

"Yes; and what, to the heathen, seemed to be the whole burden of Christian teaching? We get it from the words of Festus, the Roman governor, in Acts 25:18, 19."

Mr. Barker turned to the place, and read: "Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: but had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive."

"You can see from these texts, and from many others which we have not now time to read," said Mr. Summers, "that to take the resurrection out of the teaching of the apostles would have been to rob it of its very life. Indeed, the apostle himself shows this, for, going back to 1 Corinthians 15, we read there his words that, if there is no resurrection, ‘then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.’ Now tell me, does the preaching of today lay as much emphasis on the resurrection as this?"

"I never heard any preaching that did," admitted Mr. Rogers.

"Speaking for myself," said Mr. Barker, "I have always believed that one day there would be a resurrection, when the soul would be re-united to the body, but I never heard any very clear teaching on the subject. Besides, to my mind, it did not seem to matter much whether the resurrection came soon or was a great way off, since we went to be with Christ at death, and the resurrection of the body could not add anything to our heavenly happiness."

"But can you not see now, from the texts we have read," asked Mr. Summers, "that the resurrection, so far from being a matter of indifference, is one of vital importance to the Christian, for the reason that until the resurrection takes place he is not awakened from his sleep; and that it is at the resurrection, and not before then, that we go to be with the Lord?"

"Yes," replied Mr. Barker, "I cannot help seeing that; I must confess that this study has been a revelation to me. But it is there plainly in the Word of God and I cannot but believe it."

After a few parting words Mr. Barker and Mr. Rogers set off on their homeward way, profoundly impressed with the truth that had come to them.

oooOOOooo 　

PROMPTLY at the appointed time Mr. Barker and Mr. Rogers presented themselves at Mr. Summers’ house to continue their weekly study of the Scriptures. Mr. Summers led them in prayer, and asked earnestly that the Lord would grant them knowledge and understanding according to His promise, not for their own sakes alone, but that they might better be able to serve and glorify Him.

As the three men rose from their knees and opened their Bibles, Mr. Summers suggested that they take up a consideration of some of the evils that have arisen out of an unscriptural view of man’s nature and his state in death.

"Before you take that up," said Mr. Rogers, "I wish you would help me out of a difficulty I have got myself into. I have been telling old Mr. Day something about our Bible studies. I thought he would be pleased to hear of some of the things I had learned, but he did not take kindly to them at all. He said that if I didn’t mind I should find myself becoming an infidel. I pointed out to him that, so far, it wasn’t working that way; that I was much more interested in the Bible than ever I had been before. But he said such doctrines as I was talking about would do away with the Gospel, for if people got the idea that there was no hell for the wicked at death, they wouldn’t trouble about their sins, or about being saved."

"But there is a lake of fire, the second death, into which every one will be cast whose name is not written in the book of life," said Mr. Summers.

"Well, I wish you would give us a few facts about what it is that happens to sinners," said Mr. Rogers. "Mr. Day quoted some texts to me about everlasting torment, that I could not answer. I gave him texts to prove that we do not live on after death, but he answered me back with texts showing that the soul would suffer for ever and ever; so we came to a deadlock, and he went off thinking he had the best of it, and advising me to give up my new-fangled notions."

"Have you brought the texts he gave you?" asked Mr. Barker.

"Yes, I think I have got them all down here on this piece of paper. I had better give you them," was the answer. "The first one is Matthew twenty-five, verse forty-six: ‘And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.’ Now, as Mr. Day pointed out to me, the punishment is said to be everlasting, and the same thing is said about the reward. If one of these statements does not mean what it says, how do we know that the other does?"

"The words certainly ‘mean what they say," answered Mr. Summers. "The question is, Do the words say what we think they mean? Suppose we examine them. What is the punishment of sin?"

"That’s what I am in doubt about, and want to clear up," replied Mr. Rogers.

"Well, you will find an explicit statement from Paul’s lips in the epistle to the Romans, chapter six, verse twenty-three: ‘For the wages of sin is death.’ What is due to the sinner, then, Mr. Rogers?"

"Death," was the answer.

"For how long?" asked Mr. Summers. "Will the sentence be revoked after seven years, or after any period, so that the sinner can come forth again from death, and enjoy once more the privilege of life?"

"No, of course not," answered Mr. Rogers.

"Then we might say that the sentence passed upon the sinner is one of everlasting death, and since we have just read that the reward of sin is death, everlasting death is the everlasting punishment. The words, ‘These shall go away into everlasting punishment,’ simply mean, ‘these shall go away into everlasting death."

"I wonder I didn’t think of that," remarked Mr. Rogers. "But in the forty-first verse Jesus says: ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.’ Why should the fire last for ever unless the lost are burning for ever?"

"That text calls for careful study," said Mr. Summers. "You notice that it says the fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. Now we know from several scriptures that even the devil and his angels will not be tormented for ever. The epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Christ died ‘that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.’ So Satan himself is to be destroyed.

Then, again, the last chapter of the Old Testament tells us that ‘the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, said the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.’ How many does Malachi say are thus to be burned up?"

"All that do wickedly," said Mr. Rogers.

"So, then," continued Mr. Summers, "we have in this passage from the book of Malachi the same fire spoken of by Christ, into which the wicked will be cast, together with the devil and his angels. Satan is the root of wickedness, and sinners form the branches; but in that devouring fire both, root and branches will come to an utter end. What, then, will the result of the everlasting fire be?"

"It will burn to ashes whatever is cast into it," said Mr. Barker.

"True," replied Mr. Summers. "And this agrees with the language used on one occasion by John the Baptist, which you will find in the third chapter of Matthew, verse twelve: ‘He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ The word ‘unquenchable’ means ‘that cannot be quenched,’ but although the fire is unquenchable, it does not follow that what is thrown into it will go on burning for ever and ever. We have in this text a plain statement that the effect of an unquenchable fire is to ‘burn up the chaff.’ So, again, when we read of an ‘everlasting fire,’ it does not follow that the material on which it feeds will continue for ever. Although the wicked are cast into an everlasting fire, they will not go on burning everlastingly, but as Malachi tells us, will be destroyed root and branch."

"Well, here is another text that Mr. Day gave me to prove that the wicked suffer eternally," said Mr. Rogers; "it is in the ninth chapter of Mark, verses forty-three and forty-four: ‘And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.’ I suppose you could say the same about this passage as about the last; that it does not tell us that the sinner will suffer eternally, only that the fire is unquenchable. I admit that, according to the words of John the Baptist, unquenchable fire does burn up what is thrown into it, but I am afraid I could not get old Mr. Day to admit it. Can’t you please, give me an explanation of this text in Mark that will silence him?"

"It seems to me," replied Mr. Summers, "that the text we have already read in Malachi is as perfect a refutation of the theory of eternal torment as you, or even Mr. Day, can ask. It does not leave a single loop-hole of escape from its positive statements. Remember what it says. There will be a day of punishment for ‘all that do wickedly,’ and that day shall burn as an oven. Malachi tells us what the wicked will be in that day, not gold or some indestructible substance, but stubble-about the most combustible thing that one could think of. Then the text goes on to say that the wicked shall be burned up, and to make it quite plain that they are absolutely burned up, we are told that neither root nor branch will be left. Could anything be plainer or more specific in its statements than that, Mr. Rogers?"

"No, I don’t see how anything could," answered Mr. Rogers.

"But even that is not all," went on Mr. Summers. "We stopped with the first verse, but Malachi goes on-or rather the Lord, for the passage reads, ‘said the Lord of hosts’ to say still more about the end of sinners. He tells us first what will be the portion of the redeemed: ‘But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.’ Then the prophet tells us what and where the wicked will be at that time. ‘And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, said the Lord of hosts.’ This is in harmony with what has gone before. Put stubble into a fierce fire, and all that will come out of the flame will be ashes. So the wicked will be reduced to ashes, and will return to the earth from which they were taken, dust to dust. When the righteous tread on the surface of the new earth they will walk on all that is left of sinners. If Mr. Day is not willing to listen to your explanation of the passage in Mark, ask him to explain this passage in Malachi."

"I will," said Mr. Rogers.

"However, the passage in Mark offers no real difficulty," continued Mr. Summers, "when you bear in mind the general teaching of the Bible on this subject. You will notice that it is not the sinner who is said not to die, but the worm; it is not the sinful existence that never shall be quenched, but the fire. The Savior is quoting here from the last words of the book of Isaiah, and it is plain from his language that Isaiah refers to the very same time that Malachi has in view. ‘And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.’ In what condition, then, are the wicked, when they fall victims to the undying worm and the unquenchable fire?"

"They are carcasses," said Mr. Barker.

"And what does that word mean?" inquired Mr. Summers.

"It means that they are dead bodies, as dead as the carcasses in the meat market," was Mr. Barker’s answer.

"That is evidently the idea conveyed by Isaiah’s words," answered Mr. Summers. "The gnawing of the worms and the fury of the flames are not felt by the sinner after the point at which he becomes a carcass."

"But I don’t understand why the worms do not die eventually," said Mr. Rogers.

"We are not told what becomes of them after their work is done," said Mr. Summers, "but we can see very clearly that the words applied to them cannot mean that the sinners on whose carcasses they feast go on suffering for ever. If the worms were likely to die and the flames to expire, the sinner might possibly escape his fate; but that cannot be: the fire is unquenchable, and the worms do not die; so the end of the sinner is certain."

"Would you like to hear my next text?" asked Mr. Rogers. "You seem to have disposed of the first two quite thoroughly."

"Wait a moment," said Mr. Summers. "Did you stop to think at all how those to whom Jesus spoke would understand His words in this passage?"

"I see by my Revised Version," remarked Mr. Barker, "that hell is the word Gehenna. What does that mean?"

"Gehenna simply meant the valley of Hinnom," replied Mr. Summers. "This valley was just outside Jerusalem, and was the place where all the rubbish of the city was burned. Dead bodies of animals and sometimes of malefactors were cast on this huge rubbish heap. Fires were continually kept burning to consume the refuse and prevent pestilence, and, naturally, the decomposing mass bred worms in abundance. So there was Gehenna right before the eyes of the Jews, a place where worthless rubbish was cast, not to be preserved, but to be destroyed as thoroughly as possible; and the agents relied upon for its complete destruction were the worms and the fires."

"I am glad you told us that," said Mr. Rogers. "It makes the passage seem quite simple."

"Yes," continued Mr. Summers, "the point must have been very plain to the dwellers in Jerusalem. Jesus advised His hearers to suffer any loss in this life, even if it were as severe as the loss of an eye or a limb, rather than to be cast at length, on the rubbish heap of the world’s Gehenna, as refuse fit only for the agencies of utter destruction."

"I wonder," said Mr. Barker reflectively, "why the fire in which the wicked perish is said so often to be unquenchable. Have you any idea, Mr. Summers?"

"Well," answered that gentleman, "I am not prepared to answer your question positively, but I have thought a good deal about it myself, and I can see some reason for the expressions used. Have you ever noticed that the righteous also are to pass through the same fire?"

"No, surely not," said Mr. Rogers.

"Turn to the thirty-third chapter of Isaiah," continued Mr. Summers, "and there you read: ‘The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ The answer to this question is: ‘He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.’ So you see the righteous will also pass through everlasting burnings, but there will be an all-important difference between them and the wicked."

"Our God is a consuming fire," quoted Mr. Barker.

"Yes, that’s it," responded Mr. Summers. "Evidently the fire that burns up the wicked and turns the earth into a lake of fire is the consuming glory of God, and in that blaze of glory the righteous are in perfect safety. What is death to the wicked is life to them. So we read in one scripture concerning the Second Advent of the Savior, that the glory of His power destroys the wicked. You might read from the second epistle to the Thessalonians, Mr. Rogers, first chapter, beginning with the last part of verse seven."

Mr. Rogers turned and read: "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints."

"Thank you; that will do," said Mr. Summers. "You notice, do you not, that the very glory which is in that day manifested in the saints is the same glory that destroys the wicked?"

"Yes," replied Mr. Rogers. "Doesn’t it say somewhere about Christ that His countenance is like the sun shining in its strength, and that His eyes are as a flame of fire?"

"John so described Him in the first chapter of the Revelation," answered Mr. Summers. "And the same apostle also describes the terror of the wicked, as they pray to the mountains and rocks: ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne."

"I must try to make old Mr. Day see this point," said Mr. Rogers. "I can understand much better now why the fire that destroys sin must be unquenchable. It will be because the blazing glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. But II mustn’t forget to give you my last text about the eternal torment of the sinner. It’s in Revelation, chapter twenty, verse ten: ‘And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.’ That’s a puzzler to me. Whatever can you make of it?"

"Well," said Mr. Summers, "we have often found a text becomes much plainer when we read it carefully. Let us notice this one. What does it say about sinners?"

"Nothing at all," answered Mr. Rogers, after looking at the text and reading it over slowly to himself. "It’s about the devil apparently."

"Yes; and if you look at the ninth verse," continued Mr. Summers, "you will find distinctly stated what becomes of those whom the devil deceived: ‘fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.’ So this difficult text does not refer to sinners, but to the devil.

Yet even he, as we have already learned, is to be destroyed at last, so he cannot be tormented eternally. The only conclusion we can come to is, then, that from the time of his defeat, as long as the present age shall last, the devil will be tormented day and night. Mr. Barker, you have the Revised Version. How does it render this phrase ‘for ever and ever’?"

"Unto the ages of the ages," answered Mr. Barker.

"That sounds as long as ‘for ever and ever,’ doesn’t it?" remarked Mr. Rogers.

"It does," replied Mr. Summers, "but it suggests that duration of time is reckoned by ages, and that when the ages reach their termination, the torment of the devil will cease. Now the very next chapter introduces us to a new age: ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.’ That marks a new order of things, then, and perhaps justifies us in thinking that at that time the period of suffering for the devil has reached its appointed limit. Whatever view we take, however, we learn positively that his torment has ceased, for if it had not ceased, the fourth verse could not possibly be true: ‘There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ At that time, Satan, and sin, and suffering, and death, the former things, have passed away.

"But we must stop at this point. If you still feel, Mr. Rogers, that there is any difficulty unexplained about this subject, bring your question next week, and I feel sure the Scriptures will give you a clear and consistent answer."

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"AND how did you get along with old Mr. Day?" asked Mr. Summers, as the two old friends drew their chairs up once more to his table for their weekly study. "Were you able to answer all his objections, Mr. Rogers?"

"Well," replied that gentleman, "I tried to show him what you gave us last week but he did not seem disposed to study the matter with me. He said he had known his Bible before I was born, and what had been good enough for generations of Christian men, with wiser heads than his or mine, was good enough for him. So I didn’t make much headway. He said you were undermining the Gospel by your teaching; for if you took away the fear of eternal torment from the eyes of sinners, very few would trouble themselves about getting their sins forgiven. I told him I didn’t think frightening people was the right way to convert them, but he replied that my experience was a rather limited one, and I had, a lot to learn yet. So I came away disappointed. You don’t think preaching the truth about hell fire and eternal torment will have the effect of making sinners less anxious to be converted, do you, Mr. Summers?"

"We are not to stand still questioning what may or may not be the effects of preaching Bible doctrine," replied Mr. Summers. "We must do our duty, and leave results with God. Our one question ought to be, ‘What is truth?’ It is our duty to proclaim truth, regardless of consequences. But we may be perfectly sure that the Gospel will not be really advanced by the preaching of error, or hindered by the preaching of truth. Paul tells us, you must remember, that it is the goodness of God, not His sternness, which leads to repentance. God commends to us His love, not the contemplation of torments in hell if we are disobedient."

"There is a text, though, that says something about ‘knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men’," said Mr. Barker.

"There is," answered Mr. Summers; "and we do well to make known the terror of the Lord. But we ought to be careful that we do not proclaim an imaginary terror. Do you remember what it was that Paul preached to the covetous Felix that made him tremble? It is told us in the Acts, chapter twenty-four, verse twenty-five: ‘And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." There is a doctrine which is a terror to the sinner, and we have Scripture authority for preaching it, the doctrine of the judgment to come. That doctrine makes known a time to which every one of us must come, when we shall give account of ourselves to the Judge of all the earth. No evangelist need ask for a more thrilling, heart-searching subject than this to arouse the conscience of the unconverted."

"Oh, I wish you would take up that subject with us," said Mr. Rogers. "I have always had a great desire to understand it. I am sure it is as you say, that it does appeal to the heart, for I never heard the subject touched upon in any sermon without feeling a keen desire to listen attentively and learn all I could of it. But I don’t really know much about the judgment."

"I should be very willing to study the subject," replied Mr. Summers; "for it is a most interesting and important one. Perhaps we may go into it next week. But I was going to remark that so far as the results of preaching eternal torment are concerned, there are a good many definite evil results to set off against the very doubtful result of alarming the unconverted. I say doubtful because, so far as my observation goes, there are more people turned against the Gospel than are drawn to it by the doctrine of eternal torment."

"I agree with you there," said Mr. Barker. "It has lifted a load off my mind to learn that I need no longer think of my heavenly Father as horribly tormenting a great host of His creatures day after day for weeks and months and years and centuries and ages without end. I know that is one of the first points that an infidel makes use of when he wants to lead a young man astray."

"Yes," said Mr. Summers; "and not only has it blackened the reputation of God outside the church; it has also, naturally enough, had its effect within the church. We cannot wonder’ that men tortured one another to keep down heresy, and thought they were doing God service, when they were taught to think of God Himself as pitilessly tormenting the lost. A man cannot rise in moral character above the level of the god he worships. If he thinks of God as implacable in revenge, he is sure to display the same disposition himself. But even in the apostate church of the Dark Ages, the human mind revolted against the idea of an eternity of torment. It is indeed unthinkable, an appalling blasphemy against the God of love. So the church invented the idea of purgatory, and thus led men to hope for some termination to their fiery torment. We owe the doctrine of purgatory, with all the priest craft and superstition that grew out of it, to the doctrine of eternal torment. Today, as you know, we get the ‘larger hope’ and Universalism, as a revulsion against the idea that sinners must be tormented everlastingly. So you see the doctrine has a good deal of mischief to answer for, instead of being a helpful and salutary one.

"The belief in eternal torment," continued Mr. Summers, "is itself the offspring of the false doctrine that the soul of man is by nature immortal. Everybody can see that if the soul is immortal, it must spend eternity somewhere or other. The sinner cannot enter heaven, for whatsoever defiles is excluded from that holy place; therefore, he must remain for ever in the lake of fire into which he is cast. So you see, eternal torment is an inevitable conclusion from the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. We have already noted some false doctrines which owe their existence to the falsehood of eternal torment. There are many more which spring from the mistaken teaching that the soul of man is naturally immortal. You could probably name them yourselves."

"I was running over some in my own mind," said Mr. Barker, when you mentioned purgatory. I thought:

"Why, what a hole it would make in the doctrines of the Church of Rome if people were to acknowledge the truth concerning the mortality of the soul.’ It would settle all the controversy over prayers for the dead, and do away with all the saints. Who would ask a saint to intercede for him if he believed that the saint was lying asleep in the tomb until the day of resurrection?"

"And that is not all," added Mr. Summers. "Think how much the Church of Rome has to say about the Virgin Mary and her influence with her divine Son, and then reflect that she is but dust in the silent grave, and has heard not a syllable of the countless prayers that have been addressed to her for a thousand years."

"Isn’t it amazing to think of it!" pondered Mr. Rogers. "What a master of fraud the devil is! I don’t wonder the book of Revelation speaks of him as deceiving the whole world. Why, just think of the millions of hands that have been stretched out to Mary, and the millions of voices that have called upon her, and she as unconscious of it all as a babe unborn. How surprised she will be in the resurrection to learn about it! What a tremendous harvest of ignorance and superstition the devil can reap from the seed of a single false doctrine!"

"It shows," said Mr. Summers, "that we need to adhere closely to the Word of God, and speak it faithfully, or we may find in the judgment that we have a harvest to reap we little expected. It shows, too, that a system may look very imposing, and yet be less than vanity because based on a falsehood. But even the gross errors of the Church of Rome do not exhaust the catalogue of results that flow from the doctrine of natural immortality. The greater part of heathen religion, with its ancestor-worship and transmigration of souls, and a host of other false and hurtful theories, is founded on men’s immortality. Prominent among these is the Spiritualism which is being revived in our very midst today."

"Do you really think there is anything genuine about Spiritualism?" asked Mr. Rogers. "I have read so many accounts of the exposure of trickery in connection with it that I have about made up my mind that it is all a fraud."

"Undoubtedly there has been a good deal of trickery connected with the movement, but there is also a good deal that cannot be disposed of by any such explanation," replied Mr. Summers. "Scientific men who have gone into the phenomena with the purpose of discrediting and exposing them, have been surprised to find themselves in the presence of a mystery that they could not fathom. None of their scientific tests have been able to reveal the secret. It is one of the striking features of Spiritualism that it finds so many of its converts, among the leading men of science, who accept nothing that is not capable of demonstration. No; I cannot dismiss the matter by supposing that all these able investigators have been imposed upon by clever conjuring. The true explanation is a far more serious one."

"What do you think, then, that Spiritualism really is?" asked Mr. Barker. "I have always had an idea myself that Christians were forbidden to have anything to do with it, but I could hardly see why, if by it a man might really communicate with his departed loved ones, he should not do so. Now that I know that is impossible, I can see clearly that Spiritualism must be an evil thing. But who are the spirits that speak through the medium?"

"There is only one possible answer to that question," replied Mr. Summers. "We know they cannot be departed human beings; therefore they must be spirits of evil or fallen angels, personating the dead."

"How horrible!" said Mr. Rogers. "Fancy thinking you were talking to your dead mother, when all the time it was a demon!"

"It is indeed a terrible delusion," answered Mr. Summers. "The fallen angels are not deficient in cunning, and it is certainly a masterstroke on their part to appeal to the tenderest feelings of the human heart to win acceptance for their falsehoods. But they are skilled in making temptation attractive."

"What is the object of the demons in coming to people through this avenue of Spiritualism; do you know?" asked Mr. Barker.

"Because in that way they can secure a more perfect control over men," answered Mr. Summers. "When one believes that a dead friend is speaking to him, or some person in whom he felt entire confidence, and when he believes, too, that that one has passed away from earth into a sphere of more perfect knowledge, you can understand how he will prize whatever information comes to him from such a source. He will think there is no revelation to be compared with that which comes from beyond the grave. Whatever is told him by the spirit, he will receive with implicit confidence. You can see, then, how the words spoken by a fallen angel, personating the dead friend, will be regarded as gospel by the recipient. Thus the teachings of demons will be firmly believed, and will, in the minds of all who yield to the delusion, displace the Scriptures given to us by God."

"Yes, I have seen that," said Mr. Barker. "The Spiritualists I have met usually professed to believe the Bible, but they thought that their message was far more valuable to men than the Bible, and that without it there was no real evidence of a future life."

"Just so," replied Mr. Summers. "In one way or another the demons displace the Word of God, and thus practically secure the honor due to Him. Wherever they can succeed in doing this, they have almost complete control over the man they lead astray. Spiritualism becomes his religion, and the message of the demons his Bible. In this way the fallen angels are seeking to carry out their old purpose of ruling the world and dethroning God. Wherever Spiritualism is accepted they gain their end, and wherever the immortality of the soul is accepted, there is the foundation laid already for the work of Spiritualism.

"Why, yes," replied Mr. Rogers. "If a man goes on living after death, and enjoys an ampler life than he could possibly live in, the body, it would certainly seem to be a good thing to get into touch with him, if it is at all possible."

"Just so," replied Mr. Summers. "That is how it appeals to most people. You will hear many good and pious men say that they believe the spirits of their dead wives, or friends, are round about them, helping and inspiring them. If that be true, why can the spirits not go a step farther, and speak a few words to those in whose welfare they are so deeply interested? Once grant the immortality of the soul, and there is no apparent reason why you should not go on another step, and grant the possibility and blessedness of speaking with the dear departed. But that is Spiritualism, pure and simple. One main reason why Spiritualism has met with such remarkable success is that its foundation principle, the immortality of the soul, is taught in nearly all the churches. When Spiritualism addresses its appeals and arguments to a member of one of those churches, it finds him already instructed and grounded in its fundamental doctrine. No wonder, then, that the error spreads so rapidly. For you must not think of Spiritualism as comprehending only those who actually call themselves Spiritualists. The devil is too wise to work openly at present. It would alarm Christians too much if Spiritualism appeared before all in its true proportions.

The way is being prepared by means of the spread of the doctrines of Spiritualism, under various names and forms suited to different classes of people. But there is a family likeness and connection among all these varieties of doctrine. Spiritualism and Theosophy and Christian Science and the New Thought and the New Theology are all phases of one movement. All of them throw away the Bible and put their emphasis on man’s inherent divinity, the proof of which they find, or think they find, in the immortality of the soul. When these have done their preparatory work, I believe we shall see developments that people little expect."

"How did the doctrine of the immortality of the soul first come into existence?" asked Mr. Barker.

"That is easily answered," said Mr. Summers. "We have a record of the very first occasion on which the doctrine was preached, and we also have the name of the preacher. We also know how the idea was received. It was in the Garden of Eden that the immortality of the soul was first broached. Satan was the preacher, and Eve was the one to whom the doctrine was presented. Mr. Barker, will you read to us from the third chapter of Genesis, from the second verse to the fifth?"

Mr. Barker read accordingly: "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

"And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

"Thank you," said Mr. Summers. "If you look at these words closely, you will notice some important points. First, there was a conflict between what the serpent said and what God said. The two statements were contrary the one to the other. God said that if man transgressed the command, he should surely die: the tempter said: ‘You shall not surely die.’ So before Satan could gain his end, he must persuade Eve to disbelieve and reject the word of God.

"Second, while God had told man that - he was only mortal, subject to death in the event of disobedience, Satan assured Eve that she was immortal. ‘You shall not surely die.’ Here is the first recorded utterance on the subject of the immortality of the soul. It was Satan who preached it, and the doctrine formed an essential part of the temptation which brought about the fall.

"Third, Satan promises that by transgression of God’s command, man shall become as a god.

"Now you will find these three points emphasized today in Spiritualism, and the New Theology, and all the kindred movements I mentioned a few minutes ago. There is, first, a rejection of God’s Word, second, an assurance of personal immortality, and third, an emphasis on the idea that man himself is divine.

"So you see the origin of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is entirely in keeping with the fruits it has borne in the past and is bearing today. The seed of falsehood was sown by Satan himself; the first fruits was the fall of man, and the full harvest will be reaped when ‘whatsoever works abomination or makes a lie’ shall find its end in the lake of fire."

"God helping me," said Mr. Barker solemnly, "I will do all that I possibly can to help others see this falsehood in its true light."

"I am truly glad to hear you say so," said Mr. Summers. "I knew if you would only go into the matter fully, and let the Bible speak for itself, that you could come to no other conclusion. I see it is time you were going, but I would like you to read just one passage more in which God speaks especially to those who strengthen themselves in the falsehood of their own immortality, and league themselves with the powers of darkness in their warfare against God. Mr. Rogers, you might read to us from the fourteenth verse of Isaiah twenty-eight."

Mr. Rogers turned to the passage named, and read: "Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because we have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves."

"Now, read on Mr. Rogers, if you please, verse seventeen," said Mr. Summers.

"Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it."

"Thank you," said Mr. Summers. "You see from these words that it is vain to expect anything from death. The man who believes that death is a friend which will bring him enlargement of life, is going to find that covenants with death are worthless, and that the grave has nothing for him. He will perish utterly when the overflowing scourge shall pass through the land. Our efforts must be directed to save men from making their worthless covenant with death, and hiding under a refuge of falsehood. We must make known the truth concerning death and immortality to them, and tell them of the sure refuge which God has Himself provided for the time of storm.

"Therefore thus said the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.’ Christ is man’s only refuge, his one hope of escape from the grave. In Him alone is there any true promise of immortality."

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