The Golden
Future
The Golden
Future
A Foreview of
Better Times
””’
These things
shall be! A loftier race
Than e’er
the world hath known shall rise,
With flame
of freedom in their souls
And light of
knowledge in their eyes.
They shall
be gentle, brave and strong
To spill no
drop of blood, but dare
All that may
plant man’s lordship firm
On earth and
fire and sea and air.
””’
Bible
Fellowship Union
4 Manor
Gardens, Barnstone,
Nottingham,
NG13 _ 9JL, England
——-
1st Edition,
1939
2nd Edition,
1940
3rd Edition,
1940
4th Edition,
(Litho) 1970
5th Edition,
1993
ISBN 0900166 14
2
C O N T E N T S
——-
PAGE
Chapter I. DOES
GOD CARE? ......... 5
A II. INTO THE
DARKNESS ...... 9
A III. WHITHER
MAN? ......... 12
A IV. CHRIST—A
KING! ......... 17
A V. A NEW
SOCIAL ORDER... ... 20
A VI. DEAD MEN
LIVE "GAIN! ... 27
A VII. THE
CHOICE ......... 32
CHAPTER I DOES GOD CARE?
THE Author of
all creation is actively planning for the happiness of mankind. Man from his
limited viewpoint sees only the dark shadows of life, and even though he
usually endeavors to make the best of an unsatisfactory situation, he cannot be
happy while disease, disaster and death wait at every turn to claim the
unsuspecting victim. Until God speaks, no man knows of the magnificent scope of
his glorious destiny, reaching beyond the power of death and evil and
stretching into the illimitable reaches of eternity.
But God cannot
speak until man inquires. He who implanted free will and the power to choose in
the human heart forever respects that liberty of choice. Even though the
immutable laws of creation decree that willing and willful continuance in evil can
only end in eternal death, the wisdom of God waits while man learns for
himself, and learning, makes voluntary choice of his destiny.
God’s voice
echoes along the corridors of time, sweeping through the long ages of history,
passing over the rise and fall of great civilizations, traversing times of
darkest ignorance and seasons of human enlightenment, until at last it reaches
men in this twentieth century. What has God to say? What is there in the words
of the Infinite to which man can listen, and listening, find at last a key to
the riddle of existence.
The voice of
God has two mediums of expression—the Bible on the one hand, supreme in the
sphere of ethics, and on the other hand Nature, now rapidly yielding her
secrets to the scientist and investigator. The history and prophecy, poetry and
philosophy of the Bible presents a conception of the Divine purpose in creation
which is to-day confirmed in ever increasing degree by the results of
scientific research and discovery. The combined testimony of these two
witnesses declares and reiterates one eternal truth. God DOES care, and the
pages of the Book clearly reveal that salient fact.
To reconcile
the existence of evil, and the chaotic condition of the world to-day with faith
in the reality of God is sometimes very difficult. Some who cannot effect this
reconciliation have turned to agnosticism or atheism, demanding a satisfactory
explanation of the paradox before they can honestly acknowledge the sovereignty
of an omnipotent Creator. But from whence shall such an explanation come?
Traditional theology has in its composition too many relics of paganism and
insufficient insight into the nature of Divine Law to afford reliable guidance.
A system of belief which grew up in the Dark Ages of human ignorance and
superstition has too many accretions born of those ages fitly to reflect the
Word of God in this more enlightened day. Hence it becomes necessary to look at
the Divine revelation in the Bible from a new standpoint and to seek an
exposition of the Creator’s plans which will commend itself to men and women of
this generation.
GOD DOES CARE.
The evidence is to be seen in Nature all around, in the wonderful adaptability
of natural resources for human life and happiness; in the immense possibilities
which are within the grasp of man. It is written on the pages of history,
telling of events which move irresistibly toward the marvelous climax which is
the consummation of God’s purpose. It is revealed in the words of God
concerning that part of His Plan which, when it goes into effect, will cause
sin to be no more and evil to flee away, and man to learn, and well learn, the
lessons of this dark period of sin and death.
The story in
Genesis reveals God’s care. Man, a new creation, endowed with qualities of heart
and mind which made him a mental and moral image and likeness of God, placed in
a perfect environment and with every possibility within himself for continued
progress in the control and use of earth’s resources. A remarkable story
indeed, but one that took a tragic turn when man fell into sin and so death
passed upon all men. Yet
God’s care did not cease. Throughout the long story of human frailty
and wickedness His controlling hand has been manifest, diverting the course of
events when evil appeared likely to sink men into irremediable degradation. Two
outstanding events of this nature are recorded in the Old Testament, one being
at the time of the Deluge when "every imagination of the thoughts of man’s
heart was only evil continually" and the other at the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah—two cities which had become sinks of iniquity. God’s care for
those people was manifest in that He took them away in mercy before they sank
into hopeless and irrecoverable wickedness, knowing as He did that the provisions
of His plan would, in a
future day, enable those same people to rise out of the depths and come into
harmony with righteousness and with God. That was why he said of the Sodomites, "I took them away as
I saw good." { Eze 16:50}
God’s care is
evidenced in the preservation of the Bible—a record which has been the
inspiration of millions in all ages of the world’s history. Men have endeavored
by every means known to human ingenuity to exterminate it, but still the Book
lives, in veritable truth a beacon in the darkness of this world’s night.
The rest of the
story has not yet been told. We are only too familiar with the sad tale of sin,
suffering and death. The cry of those who are the victims of violence goes up
to heaven, and throughout the earth crime and injustice remain unpunished.
Nevertheless the plan of God is moving steadily on into that brighter day when
righteousness will be enthroned and evil restrained; when multitudes of
humanity will come with gladness and enthusiasm to the feet of the Savior; and
when the dead, returning from graves in which they have lain maybe for
centuries, will find themselves upon an earth restored and made new and in
which nothing that "defileth or maketh a lie" { Re 21:27} will ever
be again.
"Close
your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow
that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the
glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a
perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or word; love,
welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every other heart, and
benevolence marks every act. There sickness shall be no more; not an ache nor a
pain, nor any evidence of decay—not even the fear of such things. Think of all
the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that
you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing
loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify
every radiant countenance, and benevolence will mark every act. Such will
earth’s society be."
Those words
were written over ninety years ago. To-day their fulfillment is rapidly
approaching. Is it too good to be true? There is Divine authority for its
certainty. "For as truly as I live," saith God, "the whole earth
shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." { Nu 14:21}
AAnd it
shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is
our God;
We have
waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the
Lord;
We have
waited for Him,
We will be
glad and rejoice in His salvation."
{ Isa 25:19???}
Because, after
all, GOD DOES CARE.
CHAPTER II INTO THE DARKNESS
CIVILISATION
has come to the cross roads. The cataclysm of 1914 unloosed characteristics in human
nature which men fondly imagined had been repressed for ever. Honesty in
business, courtesy in politics, and morality in social life, all have suffered
degeneration in the last few decades—and the edifice of social ethics built up
by the peoples of Western Europe and North America during three centuries is
shaken and driven to its foundations, . The nations which achieved greatness on
the basis of an open Bible, religious toleration, and the emergence of true
democratic principles of government, are now sliding into the abyss just as
truly as they are rejecting those same foundations of their past standing.
Europe’s statesmen are at their wits end; every conference becomes abortive and
every agreement a scrap of paper, and with each successive endeavor to stay the
headlong descent it becomes more apparent that the existing social order is
doomed. Truly, as predicted by Jesus two thousand years ago, there is to-day
"Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity... men’s hearts
failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming upon
earth." { Lu 21:25}
The catastrophe
is inevitable. There can be no other ending. Despite the pious hopes of the
last few generations and the belief of many that civilization never stood on a
higher level, the whole foundation upon which human society has existed from
the dawn of history has made such a climax certain. The world is built on
selfishness. Sin and injustice are allowed to flourish measurably unchecked,
and the constant endeavor of men to acquire power and possession at the expense
of fellow-men has resulted in a condition upon earth aptly pictured in the
oft-quoted saying:
AMan’s
inhumanity to man
Makes
countless thousands mourn."
In the
beginning the human race was endowed with full mental, moral and physical
perfection. The story in Genesis is plain in its teaching. Our first parents
were adapted to a material environment which could be made to afford them
everything desirable for the necessities and amenities of human life. The Divine
commission was to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
{ Ge 1:28} Man was intended to be the lord of this earthly creation, making use
of all its products for his own pleasure and satisfaction, and living his life
in perfect harmony with his Creator and with his fellows. That is why man would
have lived eternally in this sublime condition had he not deliberately and
willfully transgressed the Divine laws of creation and plunged himself and all
his descendants into sin—and all the disease, suffering and death which sin
entails.
Consequently
to-day, although man has attained an almost complete mastery over the forces of
Nature; although he can at the touch of a switch converse with his neighbor
halfway round the earth or view in his sitting-room scenes which are at that
moment being enacted a half hundred miles away; although he can set upon his
table the fruits and products of lands in another hemisphere and be carried in
comfort to those same lands at a hundred miles an hour; although he has thus
conquered outward forces and subdued the earth, he has not yet learned how to
subdue himself. The canker of sin and selfishness in the heart vitiates those
wonderful possibilities which are latent in human powers, and renders him
impotent to achieve the one thing every man at heart really desires—everlasting
life under conditions of ideal happiness.
Now mankind
awaits the greatest cataclysm of all. The imminent collapse of the world
economic system is foreseen by many. The complex nature of this vast structure
built upon wrong principles has at length reached the point where all the
endeavors of its sponsors are insufficient to avert irretrievable ruin. As the
writer to the Hebrews so truly says in another connection: "That which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away", { Heb 8:13} and to-day
the world waits with bated breath for that final catastrophe which spells the
ultimate and utter failure of man’s attempt to govern the world—without God.
It is then that
God will reach down from Heaven to save. He who has, for long ages, led men
through a dark and devious way that they may learn well the laws which must
govern their future well-being, will listen to that cry which will ascend from
a stricken race. It is then that Peter’s confident prophecy uttered on the Day
of Pentecost to the wondering crowds in Jerusalem will have its glorious
fulfillment.
AHe shall
send Jesus Christ, which before 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." { Ac 3:21}
For it is in
the promised coming of Jesus Christ to restore order out of confusion that men
will, at last, see the light.
CHAPTER III WHITHER MAN?
THERE is an old
story in English history which tells of the conversion of Edwin, king of
Northumbria, by Bishop Paulinus in the year A.D. 627. The old pagan, surrounded
by his thanes, gave respectful attention to the Christian missionary, and at
the conclusion of his words looked around the circle and asked each one present
to say what he thought of the new teaching. Spake one old warrior: "The
life of man, O king, is like the swift flight of a sparrow through the room
wherein we sit at supper in winter, with your counselors and ministers, and a
good fire in the midst, whilst the rain and the snow prevails without. The
sparrow flies in at one door, and out at the other, and vanishes out of our
sight into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So is this life of man,
appearing to us for a short time; but of what went before, or of what is to
follow, we are utterly ignorant. If this new teaching has something more
certain to tell us, it deserves to receive our closest attention.:
This story
expresses the attitude of mankind through the ages. Shakespeare’s "bourne
from which no traveler e’er returns" is for many people a land shrouded in
mystery, and the purpose of life and the intention of God in creation an
insoluble enigma.
Why is this?
Largely because of inaccurate beliefs respecting the teaching of Christ and the
message of the Bible. A vaguely defined Heaven, a dreadful Hell, and the awful
prospect of the "Day of Judgment" has colored religious thought with
a somber hue which is not easily brightened. Yet to the thoughtful and
reflective, the Bible can speak to-day with a clarity never known before and
convey a hope for all humanity which is founded upon logical and understandable
principles.
There is a
basic law governing all God’s creation. That law declares that only
righteousness can persist for all time; evil, although intruding and permitted
for a season, must eventually bring about its own end. The whole of creation
will ultimately continue to all eternity without the existence of evil in any form.
Any other conclusion is wholly irreconcilable with the character of the
Creator.
An equally
important principle is that God, in bringing into existence a material
creation, the earth, did so for the deliberate purpose of providing a suitable
environment for a race of beings of a new order—mankind. Spiritual beings,
inhabitants of the spiritual realm, had existed for countless ages before this
earth came into existence, but with the ending of those long epochs during
which the primitive globe gradually cooled and became capable of supporting
living creatures, God created something entirely new—MAN, made in the mental
and moral image and likeness of God, adapted in every way to this earth and its
resources, and—this is most important—intended to live for ever upon this earth
under conditions of perfection.
Man was never
intended to become an angel. The spiritual and earthly worlds are separate and
distinct, and will always remain so. It is true that in the development of the
Divine Plan a certain company of human beings—the "Church of Christ,"
His disciples of this Age—are invited to a "High Calling" which
results in their transformation from earthly nature to spiritual nature ,{ 1Co
15:46-52} but apart from this exception, which is a subject demanding separate
and detailed consideration, God’s purpose for mankind is an earthly one—eternal
life in an environment for which they are by every law of nature best fitted.
The symbolic golden harps and trumpets, be-jeweled mansions and white robes of
the New Jerusalem are to be interpreted as allegorizing the immensely varied
interests and occupations, the arts and sciences, of that perfect state of
human society dwelling in shadowless happiness amidst the green fields and
sparkling streams of an earthly Paradise.
One grim
specter bars the way. Evil, the dread influence which is the cause of all sin
and death, must never enter that fair land. Those who are vouchsafed entrance
to this wonderful inheritance must themselves be perfect, upright, in fullest
accord with the righteous laws of all creation and able to take their place as
citizens of earth through the eternal ages. And man is not fit. Every member of
the race is fallen below normal, under the influence and power of some one or
other of the many manifestations of evil or held in the grip of sin. Before
mankind can enter the Promised Land there must be a great cleansing.
No external
purification this. No mere adherence to some code of rules which defines, in
human language, the Law of God. It is not sufficient to profess a renunciation
of sin and only casually and formally accept the name of Jesus Christ. These
things are laudable in themselves but they do not penetrate deeply enough. The
men and women who will compose that sinless society of the future will retain
their uprightness before God by reason of an intelligent understanding of the
principles which underlie God’s decree that righteousness must be universal;
and a voluntary acceptance of the conditions of life as laid down by their
Heavenly Father. Man will be brought to view with dispassionate eyes the nature
and effects of evil upon the one hand and the nature and effects of good upon
the other, and then make a deliberate choice. The present life is an object
lesson in the former, for all humanity has a very practical and first-hand
experience with sin and evil. There will be a time, through, when all men will
enjoy an equally practical experience with the effects of righteousness. Since
many of the earth’s past inhabitants now sleep in death, there must be a great
awakening from the grave, that all who have ever lived may take up their
position in this further development of the Divine Plan.
That future
experience of righteousness will need a benevolent and all-powerful
administration. Benevolent, because the whole subject of that period is for the
ultimate happiness of men. All-powerful, because it is essential that the
influence and machinations of evilly-minded men shall not impose restraint or
bondage upon those who are endeavoring to learn the laws of the Kingdom. The
practice of evil will therefore be forcibly restrained, and a theocracy of
righteousness instituted, whilst mankind, as yet in a childhood stage, are
progressing in an education which is to bring them eventually to the cross-roads
of decision.
For that
decision has to be made. God will coerce no man’s will; and although it is true
that during this age and this lifetime no man has any option but to be born and
live as best he can under the domination of evil; and equally true that in the
next age he will live his life under the dominion of truth and equity; yet at
the end of that era there is a time when all restraining influence is removed
and to every man upon earth comes the solemn adjuration "Choose ye this
day whom ye will serve." The Messianic reign of Christ comes to an end
when He steps aside and allows every man and woman, fully informed as to the
relative consequence of evil and righteousness, and fully able to choose the
one or the other without let or hindrance, to make the momentous choice.
That choice is
momentous because by that day not one living soul will be ignorant of the basic
principle of creation—the consequence of sin, eternal death; and that of
righteousness, life in perpetuity. And when it has been made, the immutable
laws of God will bring to an irrevocable end the presence of evil in His fair
universe.
There is no man
who can be entrusted with the oversight of that righteous administration of the
Messianic Kingdom, —no statesman or politician, no writer or philosopher, no
scientist or organizer, who could possibly be given all power in heaven and
earth for the reclamation of the human race from degradation and their
advancement to perfection. That is why Jesus Christ is to be earth’s new King, to
rule in righteousness and equity. That is why the Bible speaks of the world as
rejoicing at His coming to inaugurate this epoch of universal instruction in
righteousness which shall be for the salvation of "whosoever will."
That is why,
without any possibility of doubt, JESUS CHRIST MUST COME AGAIN.
CHAPTER IV CHRIST—A KING!
THE greatest
event of history since the Crucifixion is the coming again of Jesus Christ to
complete the work He commenced two thousand years ago. From Pentecost onward
the Christian church has hoped and prayed for that day when the Lord will
return to fulfil the promise He gave to His first disciples. The imminence of
His return has been proclaimed and prophesied to almost every generation since
that time, but the fact that so many lurid happenings have been associated with
that coming has, in this matter-of-fact day, thrown the age-old expectation
into disrepute. The frequent attempt of well-meaning Christians to fix upon a
definite day for the visible appearance of Jesus in the clouds of heaven; and
the equally frequent failure of these predictions, has disinclined a great many
from paying any attention to such an apparently visionary subject.
It is certainly
true that many Christians will expect the coming of Christ to be accompanied by
terrific convulsions in Nature—rending rocks and falling mountains, hosts of
trembling sinners brought up from the grave to hear their sins rehearsed and be
condemned to everlasting punishment, a few saintly ones caught away to heavenly
glory and the world and all that it contains burned up. All this is an
inheritance from the crude religion of medieval times and it dies hard. But die
it must and die it will. The vivid symbols of scripture were never intended to
be interpreted in any such wildly literal sense, and such beliefs are born, not
of the reasoned teaching of Jesus, but of the dark and terrifying mythologies
of paganism.
The return of
Christ is to be a time of universal rejoicing. He comes to inaugurate a reign
of righteousness over the earth which has as its object no less an end than the
extermination of evil. The time of His return is marked by the downfall of
those man-made institutions and systems which are founded upon unrighteousness.
His lightnings which enlighten the earth { Ps 97:4} reveal the inherent rights
and privileges of every man and hence His return is the signal for a great
clamor upon behalf of liberty. The kingdoms and governments of this present
order of things will crumble and vanish away, the "hills melting like wax at
the presence of the Lord "and the "mountains being cast into the
midst of the sea" ( Ps 97:5, and 46:2), and amidst the strife and
confusion of this great Time of Trouble upon the nations { Mt 24:21—Dan
12:1???} there will ring
out, clear and
commandingly, the voice of One having authority: "Peace, be still."
And just as it was in that day when those words were first uttered during the
storm on the Galilean lake, there will be a great calm.
The return of
Jesus to this earth, and His revelation to all men, therefore, is definitely an
event to be expected. Our knowledge of the spiritual world makes it no longer
necessary to insist that He must be seen with the physical eyesight, descending
from the upper atmosphere, before the fact of His coming can be accepted, for
the Lord’s own words to Nicodemus make it clear that a spiritual being comes
and goes "as the wind" and is not discerned as such by the natural
sight. It is evident also that after dwelling among men in the days of His
First Advent and propounding that teaching which will eventually save the
world, He returned to His Father’s throne to wait whilst that teaching had its
effect. The world at the First Advent was not ready for the full revelation of
all that the principles of Christianity can and will yet do for man; it was
ready only for the germ of Christ’s teaching, and it is that germ which for two
thousand years has worked in the hearts of a relatively small proportion of
earth’s millions whilst the remainder have held to the laws of evil and reaped
their bitter harvest.
Christ returns
to establish a new order of society the spiritual administration of which will
be in the hands of those who during the past two thousand years—the
"Christian Age"—have come into heart-harmony with His teachings and
by reason of a consecrated devotion to His message and service are thoroughly
trained in every aspect of Divine Law. These faithful followers of Jesus
Christ—called variously in scripture the "Church," the "Bride of
Christ," the "Little Flock," are those in whom the educational
and uplift work of the next Age can be safely entrusted. Christian disciples
who have learned well the foundation principles of their faith and have
manifested their profession in daily life will have achieved a balance of judgment
and a clear apprehension of right and wrong which is lacking in many of even
the noblest of men and women to-day; and it is just these characteristics which
will be needed in the administration of that coming day when all men will be
required to hear the Word of God, and make choice of their eternal destiny. It
follows therefore that the first work to be accomplished by Christ at His
return is the gathering to Himself of His faithful "saints" who all
through the Age have been "looking for His appearing". { Tit 2:13} To
be made like their Lord, the definite promise of the New Testament, these must
be "changed" from earthly to spiritual nature, thus becoming an
exception to the purpose of God for mankind in general.* such passages as 1Co 15:35-58, and 1Th 4:14-18, describe this change to the spiritual world as the
great hope and destiny of the Christian Church, and it is from their new
environment in that spiritual world that these risen ones will administer the
affairs of this new Kingdom.
Thus in the
world, a groaning creation, travailing in pain together, waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God. { Ro 8:19} In that day
when the power of the Almighty Father is manifest in that new social order
which is the Kingdom of God upon earth, men will look up into the heavens and
will realize that, even as He promised, CHRIST HAS COME.
—————————————————————————-
*For a
comprehensive treatise on this subject, read "The Call of the Church"
from the publishers of this booklet, post free.
CHAPTER V A NEW SOCIAL ORDER
THERE is much
in the Bible to guide enquirers into the outstanding features of that still
future—although imminent—day when God will "speak peace to the
nations." It is useless to search its pages for spectacular predictions in
the manner beloved of certain "prophets" of a generation ago, but it
is possible to build up a tolerable clear picture from its foundation
principles, illuminated by the prophetic vision and inspired revelations of
Hebrew seers and Christian apostles. Both the Old and the New Testaments
contribute their quota to this preview of the coming social order which is now
the happy lot of Christians to perceive.
That the sin
and selfishness of man is to culminate in the utter and final breakdown of all
human forms of self-government is certain and definite; and this catastrophic
ending to the "kingdoms of this world" is predicted by our Lord and
by many of the sacred writers, purely because of their knowledge that no other
ending was at all possible. Those same men also declared that in this time of
human extremity the alternative system of government—a Divine theocracy based
on righteousness—would immediately come into operation.
"It shall
come to pass" says Isaiah (2:2) "that the mountain of the Lord’s
house shall be exalted in the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow
unto it. And many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord... and He will teach us of His ways, and we shall walk in
His paths’."" For then," declares the Infinite Himself,
"will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon
the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent." { Zep 3:9} Again He
declares, "I will put my laws in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts... for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them... and I will remember their sin no more." { Jer 31:33-34}
These
declarations imply a paternal administration dealing with fallen humanity along
educational lines; and just as with children in school, so will it be true that
whilst liberty to do right will be the prerogative of all, liberty to hurt,
destroy, or injure will not be permitted to any.
There will then
dawn a day when despairing mankind realizes that a new power has taken control
of earth’s affairs. The politicians and statesmen, weary and dispirited at the
failure of all their efforts, may at first pay little heed to the new voice
which is raised. Certain allusions scattered throughout the Bible seem to
indicate that the men to take control will be certain stalwart heroes of old,
returned from the grave; men who walked with God and understood those
principles of Divine Government which are so much discounted to-day. The
experiences of a number of such are recapitulated in the eleventh chapter of
Hebrews. In any case the histories of Moses the founder of a nation, Daniel the
Babylonian statesman, Nehemiah the patriot, and others too numerous to mention,
are sufficient to carry assurance that if men like these were alive to-day to
administer affairs of state, then peace upon an honorable basis would speedily
come to this war-wracked world.
And these are
the men who will rise from the grave to do this very thing.
Is it too
fantastic to believe? "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with
you," cries Paul before Agrippa, "that God should raise the
dead?" { Ac 26:8} The whole foundation of Christian expectation is built
upon the belief that Christ died, was raised from the dead and became the first
fruits of "them that slept." { 1Co 15:20} Why then should it be
thought a fantastic thing that in the fullness of time and in man’s extremity
God will restore to earthly life men who have already demonstrated their
fitness for the stupendous task of administering affairs of state in the
earthly phase of the Kingdom of God? { Isa 1:26}
The shattering
impact of this clarion call to righteousness and equity resounding through the
civilized world will awaken all men to a realization that some strange new
power has taken control of earth’s affairs. Many there will be, men and women
of goodwill, who will at once hail this proclamation with eagerness and range
themselves upon the side of these new "princes in all the earth." {
Ps 45:16} Some there will be who will stand aloof, suspicious, sullen, not
willing that the searching light of Truth shall reveal the darkness of their
own lives. Those who are by nature degraded and brutalized, and have lost the
finer instincts of humanity, will cry out that they want none of this new life;
whilst without any doubt at all some whose lives have been spent in preying
upon their fellows and in gratifying their own pleasures and desires at the
expense of others will fiercely oppose this threatened invasion of their vested
interests. Yet this first reaction in favor of the new administration, even if
confined to a relative few, will produce an immediate effect throughout the
world such as no revolution or reformation in all past history has ever
approached.
The next
development will be even more startling; for men will begin to discover that
vice and abuse of right principles no longer escape retribution; moreover that
the very attempt to injure or destroy another will be frustrated at the outset.
The psychological atmosphere created by the strangeness of such event; the
missionary zeal of teachers who will already be at work amongst the people; but
above all the evident operation of divine power in a totally inexplicable
manner will begin to render it literally true that "They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain." { Isa 65:25} The maliciously-minded and
the evil-doer may injure themselves; others they cannot injure; and when this
realization sinks into the minds of men, that dread enemy, fear, which holds
all men in thrall, and shadows almost every life, will be swept away. "My
people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in
quiet resting places." { Isa 32:18} In such an atmosphere of confidence
there will be possibilities of rapid development in the knowledge of the
Eternal laws, and the writing of those laws in the hearts of men.
In proportion
as men and women sympathize with and desire the accomplishment of God’s
ultimate purpose, so will they come into harmony with His precepts. Every
individual in turn will become a teacher, assisting less fortunate ones along
the pathway on which they themselves are progressing. Opportunities for every
form of Christian endeavor and social service will abound, and the sincerity of
every man’s heart will be demonstrated by the eagerness with which he throws
himself into the work of helping others. Under such conditions it is easy to
comprehend that mankind will become one great family, men consulting with each
other for the wise and effective utilization of the common blessings, and for
the undertaking of those enterprises which will be necessary for the continued
welfare of the human race. The present evils of competitive enterprise and
international antagonism will cease to be, and so will the word be fulfilled
which declares, "He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth."
"They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into
pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more." { Ps 46:9 Isa 2:4}
Social service
will be the keynote, and the "Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of
Man" will become a reality in a sense more stupendous by far than has ever
been dreamed by the most ardent of political reformers. The order of the day
will be reconstruction. No longer shall the brevity of human life discourage
and dissuade men from setting their hands to enterprises which may require
centuries for their full accomplishment. The pulling down of all that is drab
and ugly in the dwelling-places of men and the painstaking erection of edifices
beautiful to the eye and sumptuous in their amenities will provide occupation
of the most pleasant kind. Agriculture will come into its own, for the earth
itself is to be restored and made beautiful and to bring forth in abundance.
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the
desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose... for in the wilderness shall
waters break out, and streams in the desert." { Isa 35:1-7} Stupendous
irrigation schemes will transform the world’s deserts into fertile plains;
hitherto inaccessible regions will become the playground of men; and in every
possible sense of the word it shall be true that "the earth shall yield
her increase." { Ps 67:6}
Nor is the new
social order to content itself with the external aids to man’s happiness. The
arts and sciences, the pursuit of which is so often restricted to the leisured
classes among humanity, will then be open to all. Knowledge will be pursued for
its own sake, and the fruits of scientific research applied to worthy objects
for the increase of human comfort and happiness. The musical festivals and
philosophical debates of that day will surpass by far the loftiest attainments
of man in the present or the past.
Thus will the
inspired words of John Addington Symonds be literally fulfilled:
ANew arts
shall bloom of loftier mould,
And mightier
music fill the skies,
And every
life shall be a song,
When all the
earth is Paradise."
There is a
crowning glory to this sublime picture. These glories are not for the living
nations only. Not just for those who chance to be alive when the day of
Christ’s Kingdom bursts upon an unbelieving world.
For the Word of
God lays down a teaching as definite as it is certain of fulfillment—that all
who are in their graves shall come forth to re-creation of physical form to
share in the glories of that Messianic Kingdom.
AU believe
in the resurrection of the dead!" The creeds of Christendom have re-echoed the solemnity of those
pregnant words for centuries. A day will dawn when the returning millions,
gazing upon a fairer earth than ever they have seen before, will with one
accord break into that expression of rapture born of the eloquence of the statesman-prophet
of Israel:
AAnd the
ransomed of the Lord shall return, and shall come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away." { Isa 35:10}
CHAPTER VI DEAD MEN LIVE AGAIN!
AN
inconspicuous little man, broad of shoulder but below average height, made his
way up the steps to the Court of the Areopagites. The place—Athens, the pride
of ancient Greece. The time—about the year 51 A.D., just before Nero became
Emperor of the Roman empire and the British king Caractacus was defending South
Wales against the invading legions of Rome.
The
philosophers stirred in the sunshine. At a loss, for the nonce, for a subject
of debate they watched with the languor of boredom as the stranger approached,
perceiving by his actions that he intended to make use of the time-honored
privilege of addressing the learned and wise in their own sanctuary.
Indifference changed to interest, and interest to close attention, as Paul the
Cilician expounded, in the best style of Greek oratory, the thesis of his
choice—"Jesus Christ and the Resurrection." Whilst he philosophized
upon the nature of God "in whom we live, and move, and have our being; as
certain also of your own poets have said," { Ac 17:28} they retained their
interest; but when he began to speak of the resurrection of the dead, the wise
shrugged their shoulders and went back to their lounging. The world was already
a long way past such a childish notion as that!
The seventeenth
chapter of Acts records the pitiable story with a distinctness and sharpness of
outline which stamps it as truth. The philosophers are dust and ashes these
many years; but the words spoken on that memorable occasion live on into
eternity. "God hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world
in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given
assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead!" { Ac
17:31}
Both the
teaching of Jesus and the theology of Paul concur in declaring that the
resurrection of all men is to take place in that day when Christ reigns over
the earth. Very soon after the new administration is set up the fulfillment of
Christ’s words may be expected, "All that are in the graves shall hear His
voice, and shall come forth." { Joh 5:28} Not only the righteous—the
examples given in the Scriptures are an assurance that this re-awakening is to
be universal and to affect all who have ever lived. Thus the men of Nineveh, of
Sodom and Gomorrah, cities which were notorious for their iniquity, are to
return { Mt 12:41,42 Lu 11:31,32 Eze 16:55} and Caiaphas, the leading figure in
the greatest crime of human history, is to see the coming of that Kingdom
against which he so blindly fought. { Mt 26:64} The innocents of Israel, { Jer
31:15-17} Job the proverbial symbol of patience, { Job 14:13-15} Israel the
people of God, { Da 12:2} and many more will come back from death in one
continuous stream of awakened humanity questioning and wondering at this
strange thing which has happened to them.
"How are
the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?" asked the imaginary
critic Paul’s reasoning in 1Co 15 calls
into being. Truly a question that needs an answer, for if men and women who
have been dead and forgotten for centuries or for millenniums and whose
physical bodies have long since moldered into dust, are to re-appear upon earth
again as human beings—well, with what body do they come?
The story of
the Garden of Eden has often suffered at the hands of its best friends, but the
more that the Bible is studied in the light of twentieth century knowledge the
more it becomes evident that in some wonderful manner the first human beings
did in very truth receive their physical bodies as a special and a direct creation
of God. There is something in man which the brute creation does not possess and
never can possess—something which makes all the difference between the highest
and most intelligent of animals and the lowest and most degraded of men.
God formed man of
the dust of the ground (the physical elements of this earth), breathed into his
nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, and man became a
living soul—an intelligent, sentient being. It was the spirit of life, and the
mental processes of thought, reasoning, memory and anticipation, operating
through a suitable physical organism, that made man what he was and enables him
to know himself for what he is.
If then this
thing did happen once at the dawn of human history, clearly that same Divine
power is able to repeat the process when the time comes for "all who are
in their graves" to "come forth." " newly-created physical
frame, impressed with the character, memory and disposition of a being who once
lived, and died, and now awakens to consciousness and sentient existence again!
The identity being thus the same, the period spent in
death will be nothing more or less than a sleep so far as that individual is
concerned, and the moment of awakening will be as the moment after that
unconsciousness which was death, taking place perhaps four or five thousand
years before.
From that
point, the thread of existence will be taken up, and the individual commence to
live with the same mentality and disposition which he had at the moment of
death. And here the stern law of Divine retribution comes into full effect; for
"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap!" { Ga 6:7} The one
who went down into death degraded, brutalized, vicious, will come back with the
same characteristics. The one who sought to live a life of uprightness,
rectitude and benevolence toward his fellow-men, will come back an upright and
noble man. In consequence, and because righteousness will be dominant in that
day, and the practice of evil restrained; and because truth will be paramount
and doubt and deceit no longer possible, the noble and upright of heart will
already be much farther advanced toward the Divine standard which is then to be
attained by all, than those who have misused their human powers and
opportunities in their previous life.
It is suggested
by some, with good show of reason, that this stupendous awakening of earth’s
millions from the sleep of death will continue progressively, in the reverse
order to that of their death, until at length the earliest of the most ancient
nations will be restored to their place.
Men will
without doubt organize the earth’s resources to meet the needs of this
returning multitude; and as each generation comes back so there will be those
among them who, lovers of God or benefactors of men in their own lifetime, will
quickly grasp the significance of this amazing thing which has happened to them
and turn with enthusiasm and zeal to the work of instructing their fellows.
Thus will be brought to pass the saying of Isaiah, "Thy dead shall live
... awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust... the earth shall cast out the dead." { Isa 26:19} "Thou shalt call, and I
will answer thee," says Job (14:15). "Thou wilt have a desire to the
work of thine hands." Every man and woman entering upon a social order
which has a use for each one will find an obligation devolving upon them to
take their own place in its administration and service; by means of an all-powerful
and absolutely righteous system of government having the opportunity to come to
a true and correct knowledge of the principles which shall govern all human
life to all eternity—those laws of Nature which are also the laws of God.
The scientist
and the statistician may and does oppose such a prospect with the cold logic of
alleged facts, questioning the capacity of this planet to support life in
perpetuity and talking about an ultimate "running-down" of the
Universe. Such talk sounds convincing at first, but the scientists of past ages
argued just as convincingly that the earth was flat, that men could never fly
in the air lest they got too near the sun and were consequently burned up—and
even as recently as a century ago stated with perfect assurance that human
endurance could never survive a travel speed of more than sixty miles an hour!
The integrity
of the Bible stands involved in this whole question. Long years ago it was
stated that God created not the earth in vain—to be a ruin—but to be inhabited.
{ Isa 45:18} The Divine promise is that this planet is to be filled with the
glory of God, to be the home of a happy race of undying beings who, having at
long last learned by bitter experience the "exceeding sinfulness of
sin" will live to all eternity amidst glorious surroundings and a perfect
environment, in complete accord and amity with each other and in absolute
harmony with God.
And before this
desirable condition of things can be brought about it must be that "Death
and Hades deliver up the dead which are in them", { Re 20:13} that all men
may have this wonderful opportunity to accept the grace of God in Christ.
CHAPTER VII THE CHOICE
SO will the
centuries pass, whilst the earth grows ever fairer and more beautiful and
mankind attains to a better and more complete understanding of the message of
Jesus Christ and the goodness of God. The days of evil will slip away into the
background—never forgotten, always remaining an imperishable recollection of
the terrible consequences of sin but no longer with the power to hurt or
destroy. The song of the angels, "Peace on earth—goodwill among men,"
will be an accomplished fact at last. Human beings will be fair of form and
virile in body; magnificent examples of the creative power of God; and with the
consciousness of that eternity of supremely happy life which is before them
will rise at every dawn to pursue with unflurried minds the occupations and
pursuits to which they have set themselves. The world’s work will go on—men
will till the soil and reap the fruits of their labor; they will foregather
together for the study and practice of arts and sciences which will always have
something new to reveal; they will travel and rejoice in the varied glories of
nature and live their lives in absolute peace and harmony with each other and
with God.
One thing
remains yet unfinished. The glories of this restored earthly creation will be
so stupendous and so completely satisfying to the natural man that it is
well-nigh impossible to imagine a discordant note—and yet the Divine standard
of righteousness must ever remain established with its uncompromising law,
"The wages of sin is death." To those who have accepted Christ Jesus
and in the light and power of that acceptance have progressed to full perfection—morally
as well as mentally and physically—the prospect of everlasting life under
Edenic conditions stretches out enchantingly into the illimitable future. But
what of those—if such there be—who, despite all the opportunities and blessings
which will have been so abundantly conferred upon them, despite all the
illumination and instruction in the essential laws and principles of Divine
creation and government which they have received, despite the fact that the
power of Almighty God has been exerted to its uttermost to bring about in them
a change of heart, still inwardly reject the Divine standards? Whilst outwardly
conforming to the laws of the Kingdom, they are at heart allied with sin, and
remain unrepentant. That there is a possibility of some such characters being
met with in that Kingdom is plainly indicated in the Scriptures.
To the normal
man or woman, conscious of ordinarily decent instincts and principles, the
condition of an utterly degraded and brutalized human being is hard to
comprehend. History does record cases of monsters in human guise, men and women
whose cruelty or callousness have made them notorious through the ages, yet
even in these there were sometimes revealed quite unexpected streaks of better
principles which indicate that they were not hopelessly degraded, not beyond
the hope of redemption or outside the reach of Divine power. There is therefore
reasonable basis for belief that the processes of the Kingdom will reclaim many
such and bring them into full reconciliation with God and His righteousness.
But as to those whose entire moral and intellectual nature is willingly and
willfully given over to the reception and practice of evil, and who after the
abundant and all-sufficient administration of the future Age remain
incorrigibly set in their allegiance to evil for evil’s sake, knowing full well
the Divine alternatives; for them the Divine law will operate with the
clear-cut precision of all God’s ways. "The wages of sin is—death!"
Therefore,
before the time comes that Christ’s reign closes, the final blow will fall upon
the dominion of sin and all who have not accepted the way of salvation which is
offered by God through Christ. The choice will come to them as it did to Israel
in the days of Joshua, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve," and
as the shades of eternal night close round those who are determined to continue
in the practice of evil in full face of the goodness of God, the last enemy
will flee from the earth to return no more. Words spoken three-and-a-half
millenniums previously will at last have their fulfillment, "It shall come
to pass in that day... that at evening time it shall be light." { Zec
14:7}
None will be
coerced into everlasting life. None who despise the Divine gift of life will be
compelled to accept it and live on into all eternity tortured by an existence
which they resent and an environment into which they will not fit. The Lord who
gave is also the Lord who will take away if the gift of life, joy and happiness
is not esteemed or desired. No shadow of injustice or even hardship is
inflicted upon one who, called into being by the will and power of the
Universal Creator, and finding this creation, its laws and its principles, its
obligations and its responsibilities, so distasteful that he will not
voluntarily assume his rightful position as a citizen of creation, loses the
life of which he cannot make rightful use. The Divine power that gave him life
and existence withdraws that life, and existence ceases as though he had never
been.
To those who
realize, on the other hand, that true religion after reconciliation through
acceptance of Christ, consists in whole-hearted acceptance of all God’s gifts
and the voluntary sharing, with every fellow-creature, of the resources,
products, labors and responsibilities of the everlasting earth, and who
willingly play their part in this final realization of the Divine Plan of the
ages, there stretches out an eternity of supreme happiness. Every human being
will be fully mature, and old age will never come. The Divine intention to fill
the earth having been achieved, the increase of the race will naturally cease,
and all humanity rejoicing in full maturity and the zenith of health and
strength will in the knowledge of undying vigor occupy their places in this new
eternal world. The ideal companionship ordained to all eternity by One who
first said, "It is not good for man to be alone", { Ge 2:18} will
come into its heritage as a greater and in every respect more glorious
fulfillment of the first eloquent picture in the Bible—that of the human pair
together in the garden, all in all to each other and with no shadow of sin to
mar their happiness.
This is our
hope! This is the prospect seen in vision by seers of Old Testament days,
depicted in miniature by the miracles of Jesus Christ, deepened and clarified
by the theology and the teaching of the twelve apostles. For two thousand years
have Christian people prayed "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Here is the fulfillment. Here is
that for which holy men of old endured fire and water, imprisonment and
persecution, holding on in certainty "as seeing Him Who is invisible."
In that glorious day when mankind at last understands why God has permitted
this dark day of evil, one rapturous strain will ascend to the heaven of
heavens and roll in resounding crescendo through the everlasting years,
AEven so,
Lord God Almighty.
True and
righteous are Thy judgments."
Any of the
undernoted leaflets will be sent with pleasure upon request.
——-
31 The
Bible—the Book for To-day!
32 World
Conversion—When?
33 The Divine
Permission of Evil
34 Everlasting
Punishment
35 Conversion
in the After-life
36 The
Resurrection of the Dead
37 The Second
Advent—its Nature and Purpose
38 The Call and
Destiny of Israel
39 The
Personality of the Devil
40 The Gifts of
the Spirit
41 Man—the
image of God
42 The Call and
Purpose of the Church
154 The
Antiquity of the Books of Moses
——-:——-
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