Updated
4 June 2005
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The Empty Tomb
Proposition
Christ: A Stubborn Fact of History
The Irrefutable Evidence of the 1st Century
The Unimpeachable Evidence of Eye-Witnesses
What the Eye-witnesses Claim
Why Deny The Evidence?
The True Character of the Bible
The Bible Its Own Witness
All Assaults on the Bible Have Failed
The Bible Provides Hope and Incentive to Life
What Do You Say To These Matters?
The resurrection of Christ is considered
by many a miracle so outside the scope of human experience as to be
unbelievable — and yet the fact of this miracle is impressed upon every
aspect of human experience today — as the book shows.
The Bible claims that the resurrection of the Lord provides the
guarantee of his second coming. Paul taught: '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 hat
He hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).
It is also the assurance of a physical resurrection unto Eternal Life
for all those who accept Christ in the way appointed (Mark 16:15-16).
To the Corinthians, Paul wrote:
"If there be no resurrection of the dead... we are found false witnesses
of God... For as in Adam all die, even so n Christ shall all be made
alive" (1 Corinthians 15:15-22).
That is the certain teaching of the Bible: not that of an immortal soul
that enters heaven at the death of the body. Closely analyse the
teaching of this book, with Bible in land, and pursue your understanding
of its glorious message of hope relating to the second coming of Christ,
when he earth shall befitted with the knowledge of the glory of he Lord,
as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14).
Sooner or later you will have to face the question, What do you think of
Christ? With that in mind give careful consideration to the logic set
forth in the book now on your screen.
Proposition
Proposition: The first appearing of Christ, and his resurrection from
the dead, is a fact that cannot be blotted from history, and one which
will vitally affect the future.
Whatever view you may take of Christ, you cannot exclude him from
history; he is one of those stubborn things that men call facts. You may
ignore him, but you cannot expunge him. You may neglect or misinterpret
him, but you cannot get rid of him. He has left an indelible impression
on the condition and institutions of mankind. Every church is in some
way a memento of him. Every organised Christian state is a monument to
his historical memory. He is before our eyes everywhere. His name is so
ingrained in the fabric of our daily life, that you cannot issue an
invoice or execute a deed, or even write a letter without Christ
appearing on the face of it in the date — A.D. "Anno Domini," the year
of our Lord.
Christ: A Stubborn
Fact of History
Now, this matter of undeniable fact calls for explanation. How came this
ascendancy of a particular name in all the realms of civilisation? It
must be due to circumstances of a very powerful and real character.
Names do not come of themselves. A name does not come into circulation
unless the man himself is there first of all. and does something to
bring it into circulation. We are acquainted with many great names in
various countries and various connections; but whoever heard of a great
name without a great man to cause it? We have all heard of Hitler, at
whose name years ago Europe turned pale. Should we ever have heard of
him if there had not been the German Dictator who wrought such havoc on
the continent? We have all heard of Napoleon, who thundered through
Europe at the head of victorious armies, upsetting thrones, and
over-throwing constitutions. But who would seek to account for his name
except by the fact that there was such a soldier-Emperor who performed
the exploits that made his name great? We have heard of Mahomet with his
fierce squadrons of turbaned cavalry: of Alexander the Great, the
Macedonian madman, who overthrew Persia, and fought his way through the
world; of Cyrus, the destroyer of Babylon, and of many other
celebrities. But who ever heard of a man's name great in history who
never existed?
The name of Christ has been ringing through the world during all the
centuries that have elapsed since his crucifixion. What is the cause
lying at the root of this simple and notorious fact? He led no armies,
raised no sedition, employed no violence, and yet his name is above
every name. You might get through life without hearing of Cyrus or
Alexander or even of Napoleon, and perhaps of Hitler, but who could live
in the world without hearing of Christ?
What is the cause of this? It must have a cause. Find it. You can find
it! In the case of all other famous men, you can tell exactly how they
came into notoriety, and by what acts and deeds and events they rose
into influence. Here is a name more influential than all. How did it
come about? Let us go back to the facts and look at them.
The Irrefutable
Evidence of the 1st Century
We turn over the pages of history into the First Century. Who have we
here that can testify regarding Christ? We might say we have Paul, we
have the apostles, we have Christ himself. But let us advance Nero, a
witness of a different character. Who was Nero? All the world has heard
of him. One of the most profligate and cruel of the Roman Emperors. He
burnt Rome, and threw the blame on the Christians. He lit the
amphitheatre with their burning bodies. He affixed living Christians to
stakes fixed in the ground at regular intervals round, and having had
them wrapped in skins and soaked in oil, he had the fire applied when
they wanted light, and in his perverted malignity enjoyed the tortures
that gave the light. His case shows us the Christians as a numerous and
active class shortly after the middle of the first century — about 30
years after the crucifixion of Christ.
How numerous the Christians were we learn in a very remarkable way — out
of the mouth of the enemy. Pliny, a provincial Roman Governor, wrote to
the Emperor Trajan to know what he was to do with the Christians. An
edict just promulgated required him to suppress them, and he was new to
the business, and did not exactly know how to do it. The Christians held
on to Christ and promulgated his faith, so that in whole regions the
temples were shut up. and the idolatries suspended. Pliny's letter
belongs to the early part of the second century, but the men lived in
the end of the first century, and are witnesses to the fact of the name
of Christ being a powerful influence in the Roman world at that time.
Why was that so?
Why was it that the name of a young Galilean carpenter, belonging to an
obscure province in the Roman Empire, who had been crucified as a felon,
by the Roman and Jewish authorities in Jerusalem became so influential
throughout the Roman Empire as to create a party that at last permeated
the army and subverted the very religion and politics of the State?
What was there in connection with Christ that could lead to such a
powerful influence?
In answering this question, we must be
careful to deal with facts and not with fancies. The world is full of
fancies, guesses, and speculations; they are bootless and foolish. We
want facts — truth. Can we ascertain them and it? Certainly we can, as
we shall try to show.
The first of these facts is the New Testament in our hands.
The veracity of the authenticity of the New Testament has never been
successfully challenged. It is acknowledged to be the production of
those men who claimed to have written it. No book has been so closely
scrutinised as this one; and no book has come more successfully through
such scrutiny. It has been handed down through a crowd of spectators
from the very first. In addition to this, it has been freely quoted by
writers in all the intervening centuries, so that we have a guarantee
that does not exist in the case of any other book that this is the book
written by the companions of Christ.
The Unimpeachable
Evidence of Eye-Witnesses
Next, consider that the writers of the New Testament, wrote in the
character of eye-witnesses. They did not narrate matters at second-hand.
They did not profess to be mere purveyors of the knowledge of other men.
Take Peter (2 Epis. 1:16):
"We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were EYE
WITNESSES".
Take John:
"That which we have SEEN AND HEARD declare we unto you that ye also
may have fellowship with us" (1 Ep. 1:1-3).
Take Luke's declaration:
"Those who from the beginning were EYE-WITNESSES..." (Luke 1:2).
Take the declaration of the apostles to
the authorities in open court:
"We cannot but speak the things which we have SEEN AND HEARD" (Acts
4:20).
Thus you have in the New Testament, beyond all reasonable question or
cavil, the very testimony of the men who lived along with Christ
nineteen hundred years ago. The only question to consider, before
introducing their testimony is — were they honest men? And were they
capable of judging of the evidence of their senses? As to the first
point, it may be remarked that if ever the veracity of witnesses are
guaranteed to subsequent posterity, it is the veracity of the apostles.
If men were advantaged by the evidence they give, you always feel that
though they may be honest men, you have not the guarantee of
truthfulness that you would have if their testimony told against them.
Now. how is it in this case? Why, that the apostles, and all who were
associated with them in this matter, were sufferers and only sufferers
by the testimony they delivered. We all know in a general way that they
suffered persecution, but take their case as circumstantially portrayed
in the following places:
"I think that God hath set forth us, the apostles, last as it were
appointed unto death... for we are made a spectacle unto the world and
to angels and unto men... Even unto this present hour we both hunger and
thirst and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling
place" (1 Cor. 4:9).
"For him (Christ) I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them dung that I may win Christ" (Phil. 3:8).
As to their capability of judging of the matters to which they bear
witness, their writings, apart from inspiration, afford proof of the
highest discernment. But the matters to which they bear witness are not
such as call for the highest gift. They are not matters requiring powers
of recondite investigation. It is no affair of abstruse calculation. It
is not a matter calling forth profound powers of judgment. They are
matters on which our courts every day allow very ordinary people to be
competent to give reliable evidence on, and that is the evidence of
one's senses, as to whether a certain man was seen so many times under
such and such circumstances.
What the
Eye-witnesses Claim
And now, as the New Testament is the very testimony of the men who were
with Christ, who were proved true men by their submission to death for
their testimony, and capable men by the writing of such a book, the only
remaining question is, what is their testimony as to the cause of the
name of Christ becoming so widespread in the Roman Empire in a day when
there were no speedy means of transport or methods of universally
proclaiming such news?
In brief, it is this, that the writers were companions of Christ for a
certain number of years; that they accompanied him in his journeyings.
and heard his teaching, which they reproduce in these documents; that
they saw his miracles, which they narrate with great clearness, and
simplicity; that he was arrested by the authorities, and condemned to be
crucified; that he was in fact crucified and buried; that they regard
his crucifixion as an upsetting of all their hopes in him but that a
certain number of days after his crucifixion he appeared to them alive —
appeared several times; spoke to them coherently and connectedly; ate
and drank with them; allowed himself to be handled; exhibited marks of
crucifixion; made appointments for meeting, which he kept, and finally,
after about six weeks of this kind of intercourse, and after telling
them that it would be their duty after his departure, to bear testimony
to all the world to these things, he took formal leave of them on the
summit of the Mount of Olives, and went away from the earth.
Their account does not stop here. They tell us that just before his
departure, he told them not to commence their testimony for his
resurrection until he should send power upon them to work miracles in
proof of their testimony to his resurrection. He told them to stay in
Jerusalem till this power should come. The account goes on to inform us
that they did so; that on the day of Pentecost, the tenth day after
Christ's departure, being assembled together in one place, the Holy
Spirit came upon them with the power of a rushing mighty wind, filling
all the place where they were, manifesting itself in a fiery appearance
resting on each, and imparting to them a supernatural knowledge of
languages they had not learned, and power to work various miracles. They
then proceeded to proclaim the resurrection of Christ, in accordance
with the command they had received, exhibiting the miracles in token of
the truth of their testimony.
The effect was to cause multitudes, who witnessed these things, to
believe. To these multitudes was extended the same power to work
miracles, so that the testimony of Christ's resurrection spread far and
wide. The authorities who had put Jesus to death naturally felt
themselves compromised by these proceedings, and strove to suppress the
movement. In attempting to do so they resorted to legal proceedings.
They imprisoned the apostles, and raised a great persecution against all
believers everywhere. The apostles, miraculously liberated, were
re-arrested and re-charged with the offence of proclaiming Christ's
resurrection. Their answer was "We cannot but speak the things we
have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20).
Believers everywhere were steadfast under similar tribulation: the
number of believers increased greatly.
Such, in brief, is the account of this most important matter. Is it a
true account? We submit that you cannot get rid of it without doing
violence to every principle of logic and of common sense. To say their
account is not a true one, you must make them liars, while you have, in
the same breath, to allow that they preached righteousness, and turned
thousands of people from wickedness. You must make them parties to an
imposture without a motive, and not only
without a motive, but against all motive, for they gained nothing by
their enterprise but opposition, calumny, spoliation, and death.
Accept their account and all is plain sailing. We then understand the
prevalence of the name and faith of a crucified carpenter. He said he
would send the Spirit of God upon them to qualify them as his witnesses;
that the words they should speak should not be their own; that he would
give them a month and wisdom that all their adversaries
should not be able to resist (Like 21: 15)
If this is true all is explained; if it
is not true, the inexplicable riddle remains, that the highest literary
fact upon earth was performed by ignorant fishermen, and that the
loftiest character and most influential name in the whole range of human
history has obtained its power in the world through what in that case is
a literary imposture.
But the question is not really an open one. The existence of Christendom
is an evidence that the declarations of the apostles are true; for
nothing less than the resurrection of Christ earnestly testified by
hundreds of eye-witnesses supported by miracle, will account for the
fact which no man can contradict, that in the first century the name and
faith of a crucified felon (as it was claimed) were diffused throughout
the Roman Empire in the face of imprisonment and death. If the
resurrection of Christ is denied, we stand in dim bewilderment in the
presence of these matters of undoubted fact which constitute a chapter
that cannot be erased from history.
Why Deny The
Evidence?
IAs a question of evidence, the resurrection of Christ cannot be denied.
It is attested by witnesses whose veracity cannot logically be called in
question. Yet, through mere force of intellectual prejudice it is
refused. Men deny the resurrection of Christ not because there is no
evidence of it, but because they have come to the conclusion on other
grounds that it is impossible. They say no evidence can convince them of
a thing they believe to be impossible.
What are we to say to this? We claim that it is unreasonable. It is the
attitude of the highest unreason and even of | presumption! It is
setting up the limited capabilities of the f human mind as the standard
by which we are to judge of the « possibilities of the infinite. It was
this intellectual stupidity I that for ages obstructed the progress of
true science, and now proves a barrier with thousands to the reception
of demonstrated truth of the only really and finally important character
for the afflicted race of man.
It is extraordinary that in this age. above all others, when the powers
of the universe are unloosed as never before, that such difficulties
should be raised in the way of believing a demonstrated fact. Why should
it be so difficult to believe in the resurrection of Christ, when it is
not considered incompatible with intellectual respectability to believe
in evolution? Does it not demand of us a greater credulity to believe
that all the diversity of creation, together with its marvellous order,
was produced by mere chance rather than by an intelligent Creator? Nay;
it is considered respectable to believe that man has sprung from
monkeys, and that monkeys sprang from — what? From bits of jelly, and
the bits of jelly from — what? From nothing?
But if it is not considered derogatory to human intelligence to believe
that the intelligence and life of man has come from nothing, why should
a word be raised against the attested, beautiful, and sublime fact that
the noblest man that ever appeared upon earth was a God-sent man to save
the world, and that when he died in demonstration of the wisdom and
righteousness of God, he was not permitted to slumber in a dishonored
grave, in which the malice of man placed him: but was raised to life
again by angels of light on the third day, as a germ of a new
generation, that will fill the earth with light and glory?
The True Character
of the Bible
And now, if Christ rose from the dead, consider what the fact means,
with regard to the character of the Bible, and the question of hope for
man in the future. The power of the Bible has been undermined through
the influence of various theories that change from age to age, except in
this one point, that by whatsoever means, they seek to displace the
Bible from its position as the Word of God. First it was the vulgar,
shallow, malignant opposition of Voltaire and Tom Paine; then it was the
more scholarly opposition of Colenso; then came the supposed opposition
of geology and astronomy. Then Darwin came into the arena with
speculations on the origin of man. Now it is the showy and plausible
suggestions of so-called "higher criticism." which is really guess and
speculation and surmise, and most of it in downright contradiction with
the mountain facts of the case.
All the hostile theories have a degree of plausibility at first, but
they are all proved equally empty, and vain and false by the side of the
undeniable fact of Christ's resurrection.
If Christ rose from the dead, his word is the truth, as he claimed. If
therefore we can know what he thought about the Bible, we can know what
is the truth on the subject. This is in our power, for his words have
been preserved. Ingenious theories charm the imagination, but they may
always be fallacious. Time and again, the most learned suggestions of
science are withdrawn or amended, but the Bible with its teaching
remains constant. Moreover, it is designed to give hope and salvation.
As a sample of its teaching in that direction, consider the following
quotations:
"Whatsoever things were written a foretime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope" (Romans 15:4).
"The holy scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness ..." (2 Tim. 3:15-16).
The Bible Its Own
Witness
It is evident if we are to be guided by
Christ and the apostles, and not by speculators and learned men in this
far off century, that we must hold the Bible to be an absolutely divine
book. The whole case requires this view. The literary character of the
New Testament is inexplicable without it. It is not only that it is a
self-evidently true narrative in its artless simplicity and its candid
narration of apparently damaging facts, such as that Peter denied
Christ, and that the apostles at first doubted his resurrection, but it
is a narrative in which you are bound to conclude there must have been
some extraordinary influence guiding the writers, as they alleged, for
it transcends all the ordinary literary achievements of men in this,
that in simple words, and without any attempt at literary effect, it
presents in its biographic exhibition of Christ a figure and a
personality unapproached in the whole range of human thought and
writing, a character such as has never been seen among men before or
since, towering as far above ordinary men as heaven is above the earth,
in Godlike dignity, purity, beneficence, faithfulness and power.
No genius known to man could have conceived such a character. But the
writers were not men of genius. Who were the writers? As admitted by
all, they were fishermen who were in no way naturally distinguished for
capacity, culture, or goodness, but rather for the smallness of
character usually belonging to their class. Yet these illiterate
companions of Christ have produced in the simplest language an ideal
portrait transcending the most gifted of human imaginations. How do you
account for it? There is but one answer: it is the result of divine
inspiration.
The whole case requires the view of the Bible put forth by Christ and
the apostles, for the Bible is not otherwise intelligible. Its character
excludes the supposition of its being of human evolution. Its tone of
thought in every sentence is in total contrast to that which is
congenial to man. It exalts God and the divine obligation of human life
everywhere, and depreciates man and all his ways. There is no human
glory in it anywhere. This is one ground of its unpopularity. Human
complications are popular because they appeal to human impressions and
human sympathies and human views. But the Bible is pitched in a key that
does not harmonise with human views and feelings. It is in unison with
the sublime declaration of God by Isaiah: "My thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. As the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My
thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Let Christ's view of the Bible prevail, and this Bible controversy is
settled. Men will then give it that attention in constant reading which
purifies and ennobles with righteousness and hope. Instead of this, it
is regarded as a venerable piece of literary antiquity, good in its way.
but not
deserving the first place in human life. How can you expect people to
read a book of which such a view is entertained and circulated.
All Assaults on
the Bible Have Failed
All assaults against the Bible have hitherto been in vain: and from the
nature of the case, they must ever be so. The Bible is like the rocks on
the seashore, against which the waves dash and roar in a very
threatening manner, but which break themselves upon the rocks, instead
of breaking the rocks upon which they dash. For a time the rock is
hidden by the rushing water, but presently it re-emerges untouched,
unscathed, unharmed. It has been well said:
"Tradition has dug a grave for the Bible; intolerance has lighted for it
many a faggot; many a Judas has betrayed it with a kiss, many a Peter
has denied it with an oath, many a Demas forsaken it for the world, but
the Word of God endures".
The Bible challenges us with its Divine origin. Five hundred times in
the first five books it prefaces or concludes its declarations with the
statement: "The Lord said. . . ."or "The Lord spake. ..." Three hundred
times again in the following books it does the same. Similar expressions
occur no less than twelve hundred times in the prophetical books.
Moreover, its prophetical utterances testify to its Divine origin. God
has declared:
"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like
Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all My pleasure" (Isa. 46:9-10).
Fulfilling prophecy reveals how true these words are! As predicted,
Babylon is still in heaps (Jer. 51:37); Nineveh still lies empty, void
and waste (Nahum 2:10); Egypt is among the basest of nations (Ezek.
29:15); Tyre has been submerged by the sea, and is literally a place for
the spreading of nets (Ezek. 26:5); Israel has not only been scattered
among the nations (Deut. 28:64), and Jerusalem given over to the
Gentiles (Luke 21:24), but today the Jews are returning to their land,
and building up the waste country as foretold (Jer. 30:18-24; Amos
9:14).
In 1967, the world witnessed an amazing vindication of Bible prophecy,
and therefore of the truth of the Bible, for in that year Jerusalem was
occupied by the Jewish people. It fulfilled the prediction of the Lord
Jesus Christ: "They (the Jews) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and
shall be led away captive into all nations: (as they were in A.D. 70),
and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).
With remarkable prescience he had foretold the overthrow of Jerusalem,
and the scattering of the Jews, but had also stated that this would be
for a limited period of time. In our own lifetime, we have seen the
return of the Jews to their ancient homeland, the revival of the State
of Israel, and the freeing of the city of Jerusalem — all the subject of
Bible prophecy, and a prelude to Christ's return to reign from that city
as king (see Ezekiel 37:21-23; Jeremiah 3:17; Isaiah 2:2-4).
The evidence of prophecy is irrefutable when the facts are examined, and
demonstrates that every confidence can be placed in the Bible. It is
what it claims to be: the inspired Word of God.
The
Bible Provides Hope and Incentive to Life
Consider these conclusions in the light of human hope and incentive.
What hope have we in any natural direction?
The universe in which we live is of over-powering greatness and glory;
but what is our life? It is a vapor that appeareth for a very little
while. It opens with interest and promise; but "soon fades the summer
sky." The effervescence of young blood subsides, the poetic ardors of
youth die; time flits by, life tones down. Business loses its aim and
interest; the friends of early life disappear one after the other in the
universal grave; mortal energy wanes; life flickers in its lamp; and we
are at last compelled to own the truth, however long ignored in pride,
or silenced in the din of folly, that man is subject to vanity and human
life is in darkness. The sun rises
and then sets on the changeless scene of death. The stars, in 'their
nightly procession, silent and solemn, look down with indifferent eye on
the woes of man. The cradle pours its
flood of new life from year to year and the cemeteries yawn to receive
its equal torrent. "One generation passed) away, and another cometh,"
only to pass away also. "All is vanity."
Is there no hope, then, of a better life, a better day! Is there no hope
of a time when existence will yield its measureless capacities of
enjoyment to the noble race upon this noble planet? Christ is the
answer, his resurrection the pledge. Human hope is bound up with him,
and with him alone. There is no hope in any other direction, "No other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Listen to
what he declared:
"Thou (God) hast given him (Christ) power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given him" (John 17:2).
"I am the resurrection and the life;
he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live; and
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).
"I am alive for evermore; and have the keys of the grave and of death"
(Rev. 1:18).
Listen to what the Bible declares of his future:
"This same Jesus, which is taken up into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
"Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation"
(Heb. 9:28).
"There is laid up for me (the Apostle Paul) a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not
to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Tim.
4:8).
"He shall put down all rule, authority and power. For he must reign,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).
"The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he
shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there
shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33).
"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His
Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).
"Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in
the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his
glory, ye (the Apostles) shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone that hath forsaken
(anything) for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall
inherit everlasting life" (Matthew 19: 28-30)
The teaching of the Bible clearly shows
that the Lord Jesus is to return to the earth in like manner as he left
it nineteen hundred years ago; that he will return to raise from the
dead and reward those who have lived faithfully in accordance with his
precepts (Rev. 22:12); that he will command the obedience of all
mankind; and that he will set up on earth the righteous rule of the
Kingdom of God. so that Daniel 2:44 shall be fulfilled:
"The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people: it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
forever".
The Bible being true, this is what it
teaches, and to what it calls you. And what can we say to these things.
In Christ we have a man who never sinned; who taught righteousness and
condemned wickedness with a fervour never before shown by man; who cured
all diseases; who raised from the dead; who was put to death because he
said he was the Son of God and the King of Israel; who said his death
was no accident, but his own voluntary submission to the violence of men
in obedience to the commandment of God as a sacrifice for sin; who said
he would rise after he should die; whose body could not be found three
days after his death; whose resurrection was trumpeted through the Roman
world as a matter of their personal knowledge, by his apostles, within a
year after his crucifixion, in the teeth of universal opposition and at
the hazard of every consequence that men dread: and whose aim in the
proclamation was to turn men to righteousness in preparation for the
return of Christ to raise his friends from the dead to immortal life and
fill the earth with righteousness.
What Do You Say
To These Matters?
What do you say to these things? Can you say they are not true? Do you
say the apostles were guilty of falsehood and imposture without a
motive, and against all motive, and in the interest of righteousness and
holiness? The suggestion is an insult to common sense and an outrage
upon reason.
No, the case stands squarely on Ms Own foundation. Christ rose from the
dead and lives for evermore and will re-appear on the earth in due time.
Paul taught:
"God hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world fat
righteousness by that man He hath ordained, whereof He hath given
assurance unto all men in that He hath raised him from the dead" (Acts
17:31).
Do not let your eyes be blinded to his glory by the false glamours of
pseudo-science. Science is useful in its sphere out it has nothing to do
with the foundation of things. It is only a little knowledge on the
surface of a boundless universe. It can tell us nothing of the origin or
the purpose of things. The universe existed before science. All the
forces that science investigates — all the phenomena it studies — the
glorious constellations of the starry depths towards which it turns its
enquiring telescopes in vain — were all there before science began. Men
forget that the professors of science are poor mortals who sucked their
bottles a short time back!
Let us clear the cobwebs from our eyes. Wisdom did not begin with man.
It does not consist of the scientific technicalities which men have
invented for themselves. It was in the universe before the human race
had appeared upon the earth; before the earth itself existed; before the
sun and moon made their majestic appearance.
"In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word
was God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything
made that was made. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,3,14).
This is the word by which Jesus Christ speaks to us. It is on this
strong foundation that our hope is built. Christ is to us the power of
God, the wisdom of God, and the salvation of God. Look to him and
embrace him with an your heart. Reject the delusive shadows that play
everywhere on our path. Lay hold of the hope that is built on the solid
rock of actual fact and truth. It is no phantom figure that stands at
the other end of the long vista of the nineteen centuries that lie
behind us; it is no mocking voice that sounds in our ears when he says,
"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." It is the voice of God Himself that says by Isaiah the
prophet:
"Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath
no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is
not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken
diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul
delight itself in fatness. Incline your ears, come unto me, hear and
your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55:1-8).
Happy is the man that finds that .wisdom, and the man that gets that
understanding. Happy is the man whom Christ shall approve in the day of
his coming — now at hand. For the time allotted for Christ's absence has
nearly expired. The next event for which the Scriptures bid us look is
his return to gather together his followers (from among both dead and
living) to assist him in his divinely-appointed work in connection with
his millennial reign on earth. With the advent of Christ, God's gracious
invitation to the Gentiles to associate with him in this reign, will
cease. Now is the time to accept it. The invitation is open to all who
will comply with the conditions attached to it, which are:
(1) — a belief of the truth concerning the Kingdom of God and the name
of Jesus Christ; and (2) — baptism in water for remission of sins and
union with Christ. Christ gave this preaching commission to his
Apostles:
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel; he that believeth and
is baptised shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be condemned"
(Mark 16:16).
Let us obey this instruction by coming to an exact understanding of
Gospel truth and by embracing Christ in the way indicated — by baptism
into his name. We shall be happy to forward you free literature
explanatory of the Gospel message, enabling you to become a sound
interpreter of its glorious teaching.
H. P. MANSFIELD
Reproduced
by courtesy of the Christadelphian Press, West Beach, South Australia
by whom all rights are reserved.
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