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Lee diagrammee suivents lllustrent la mithoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^^ " 1 ' I ' .f Jt 5*';' ,;<'■• ' %:> , REVIEW H ^- tv'''. -A ■ - OF- "?*'*- D. J. MACDON NELL'S S E! I^ Oi/C O 3Sr ENTITLED DEATH ABOLISHED: PBEiOHED IN ST. ANDREW'S GHURGI, TORONTO, ON SUNDAY. 3rd MARCH, 1889, ^V', |pj|ii ppmjection with the death of George Paxton Young, LL.D., ,■ Professor of I^gic, Metaphysics and Ethics in University '^ -r: College, Toronto. ■^ —I ^ ROBERT S. WEIR. m I ^~"X/ \ fwpf asa« ;«i /'.'•'■ >.. .'»i. ,'^ 1 r^iW'^' ^^' 1 OF •DEATH ABOLISHED." A sermon preached in St. Andrew's Church, Toronto, on Sunday, March 3rd, 1889, . by Rev. D. J. MACDON.,iLL, B.D., in connection with the death of George Paxton Young, LL.D., Professor of Logic, Metaphysics and Ethics, in University College, Toronto. By ROBERT S. WEIR. Xr SOME may consider an apology necessary on the part of a lay- man who dares to call in question the utterances of an "ordained" minister, and especially one of such scholarly celebrity as Mr. Macdonnell. We. would remind all such, that perfect accord does not exist among "ordained" ministers, on scripture exegesis— a fact that deprives them of any logical claim to author- ity. There is not a factor in their doctrinal standards which has not been toughly controverted by one or other of the various sects, whose name is legion — nay, even by the individual ministers of each or all of the sects, as is abundantly proved by the wrangling which often occurs at Meetings of Presbytery, Conferences, &c. The degrees conferred by Universities may be very useful for some purposes, but are not a sine quo non to the understanding or ex- planation of scripture. There were no Doctors or Batchelors of ' Divinity in Apostolic days, and the truth needs no doctoring now. It is often hidden from "the wise and prudent" of this world and "revealed unto babes." In the circumstances therefore, we deem apology unnecessary. When vital portions of Scripture are taken as texts for funeral sermons and manipulated in such a way as to pervert the meaning of the sacred writers, it ill becomes those who understand the truth of the matter to remain silent. That such has been done in the present instance we fully believe and shall try to make manifest. The text selected for the sermon is 2nd Tim. i : 10. — "Our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and incorrup tion to light through the gospel." It is one of the most important of Paul's utterances on the great question of life and death. The teaching of the Presbyterian body thereon is that "the souls of be lievers are at their death made perfect in holiness and do immedi ately pass into glory, and their bodies being still united to Christ do rest in their graves till the resurrection."* This in effect means that believers at death immediately pass into glory, and with it Mr. Macdonnell is in harmony. He says, "The man is reconciled to God through the death of His Son. Being set right with God all things are new to him. Not only is life full of new meaning, but death comes now to summon into the presence, not of an angry Judge, but of a loving and righteous Father." He further says, "The Christian, keen as n^ay be the pang when he is called to leave this home-like world, with all in it that has made life bright and good, will be sustained by the hope of a more blessed and glorious abode, — a better country, that is a heavenly^ and will be ready to pass through the swellings of Jordan, assured that the 'Father's house ' is on the other side, and that the Elder Brother is waiting to receive him." Again — "The physical death must come in the order of nature ; but it is a beginning rather than an ending, a process of life rather than of death #♦♦*■** it is the shuffling off of the mortal coil of flesh that the life within may have room to expand and may re- ceive from God a * spiritual body^ which may be a fit organ for the renewed spirit." This teaching seems to corroborate that of the poet who says: — . " There is no death. What seems so is transition. These lives of mortal breath Are but the suburbs of the life Elysian >^ Whose portals we call death." If this be not a false estimate of the event which closes our present career, what could have prompted the writers of the Bible to use the term death; or why should our contemporary make such frequent use of it in his brief sermon ? * Shorter Catechism. An uncharitable person might suggest in reference to the latter that the "Faculty" sometimes employ bamboozling words which are calculated to mystify rather than edify, but surely no. such imputation can be brought against the sacred writers. Death is "the wages of sin" Rom. 6: 23 — and is not a friend but an enemy. This Mr. M. states— "The life of the most devoted saint is no more secure against the attacks of this great enemy than that of the vilest reprobate." '' We are puzzled with his utterance here. If death be the usher from a world of sin, sickness and privation "into the presence of a righteous and loving Father" as he has set forth, on what prin- ciple can it be regarded as a ^^gteat enemy" ? Similar reasoning ought to characterise as ''^great enemies^" our ocean steamships, which in reality are the angels of mercy of modern times, carry- ing their burthen of suffering humanity from the congested labor centres of the old world to this land of freedom and plenty. But, Mr. M. will no doubt agree that the Bible is the only real authority in matters of this kind, and ive recognise no other. " To the law and to the testimony, if the/ :^peak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for tiiewi." Isa. 8: 20. R.V. Hezekiah — one of Judah's best kings, and a true servant of God, seems not to have regarded death as "the portal to the life Elysian." * Note his attitude: — Isa. 38: i. "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said : Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord and said. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept SORE. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah saying. Go and say to Hezekiah. Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years." After recovering from his sickness Hezekiah spake as follows: — 17th v. "Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; ...... For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth; the living, the living, he shall praise thee as I do this day." Hezekiah evidently believed death to be a state of unconscious- ness in which man has no ability to praise Jehovah, where " the wicked cease from troubling and the weaiy be at rest.'' Besides, he seems to have had a very different conception of his soul's destiny from that entertained by religious teachers nowadays — he says, "God in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption." Nor is he alone in this, the Psalmist was equally unenlightened if we may so speak. In Psal. xlix. 15, he says — "God will redeem my sou/ from the power of the graved Were these eminent servants of God living in 1889 they would be called "Soul- sleepers" and "Heretics." Modern souls are now held to be "immortal," "never-dying," and not related to the grave When did the change occur? At Pente- cost, Acts 2: 34. David "the man after God's own heart" had not "ascended into Heaven," and he was not isolated in this respect, for Jesus affirmed " No man hath ascended into heaven." Where then had all these saints gone who had died during the past 4000 years ? If David — " the man after God's own heart" did not go there, what scriptural warrant has Mr. M. for saying that the righteous go now at deatR? Had he carefully thought out the i ith /of Hebrews before preaching this funeral sermon he would not have voiced such sentiments. It is there stated in unmistak- able language that 'Uhese all died in faith,'' NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES, but having seen them afar off." Eternal life is a very large factor in these promises — "This is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.'' i John 2: 25. Again, "In hope di eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began," Tit. 1:2. It follows therefore, that as these saints all died in faith not having received the promises, they received not eternal life, and therefore cannot be living in Heaven or Paradise now; also that death is extinction of being. Seeing, however, that Mr. M. has grouped "the speculations of Plato" and the books of the Old Testament together, in contrast with the ^^clearer light of the New Testamenty' we pass on and cite Paul as a witness: — Phil. ii. 25. — "But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus. my brother and fellow- worker and fellow-soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, since he longed after you all and was sore troubled, because ye had beard that he was sick; for indeed he was sick nigh unto death; 5 but God had MERCY on him; and not on him only but on me also, that I might not have SORROW UPON SORROW." Those who hold that at death "the souls of believers (in effect believers themselves) immediately pass into glory" must surely view this as a queer ACT OF mercy to Epaphroditus— a man sur- rounded by troubles such as accompanied Paul and his colleagues, is by a special act of MERCY, prevented from passing through the door leading from this state of sin, corruption and suffering, into endless glory ! ! The death and resurrection of Lazarus which has been made to do duty by Mr. M. in a very strange way, furnishes we think, ex- ceedingly strong proof against his teaching. He says: — "Once and again Christ gave proof that he held the 'keys of death,' by unlocking its portals and summoning back to human fellowship those who had passed beyond the reach of the voices of kindred. When to the man that had been dead four, days. He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth, and he that was dead came forth, Jesus demonstrated that 'these other living whom we call dead,' have not really ceased to live." How does this "demonstrate that they have not really ceased to live" ? Note the circumstances: — Martha, Mary and Lazarus their brother, lived at Bethany and were loved by Jesus. Lazarus became sick. The sisters sent word to Jesus saying, "he whom thou lovest is sick." Jesus did not go immediately but allowed Lazarus to die. He then said to His disciples, " Our friend Lazaius sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." The disciples responded — " Lord, if he sleep he shall recover." " Then Jesus said unto them plainly Lazarus is dead." " Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming went and met Him," and said, " Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died." " Jesus saith unto her thy brother shall rise again." " Martha saith unto Him I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection AT THE LAST DAY. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me though he die, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall not die for ever." (Englishman's Greek Concordance.) When they came to the grave Martha said, " Lord by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days." Then they took away the stone, and Jesus after address- ing His Father, " Cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth, and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes." ' Instead of this being a demonstration "that these other living whom we call dead, have not really ceased to live" to us it seems strong proof of a resurrection from the dead; of the unconscious condition of man when dead, and his consequent need of a resurrection, for the following among other reasons : — 1. Lazarus being a friend of Jesus, must have gone to heaven according to Mr. Macdonnell's teaching. 2. Martha did not appear to know that^ but said, "/ know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 3. Christ's answer is "I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live : and whoso- ever liveth and believeth on me shall never die ;" thereby teaching Martha that there would not only be a resurrection from the dead "a/ the last day\ but that "the keys of death and the grave" hal been given to him ; that the power to raise the dead and bestow eternal life had been vested in Him, and he could use it even then, but there was a time coming viz : — "the last day" of Martha's belief, when those who had died would live again, and those righteous believers who were then living' would never die, but would be changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible, and "then would be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory," ist Cor. 15: 52. 4. As a disciple of Christ and therefore a believer of the Gospel, Martha's statement concerning resurrection "a/ the last day* is significant, because it indicates what her instruction had been, and is in harmony with the teaching of Paul, to the effect that eternal life through a resurrection from the dead is the hope of the GOSPEL— the ONLY TRUE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 5. If Lazarus was in heaven "these four days" enjoying the delights thereof, what could have been his feelings when recalled to reinhabit a corruptible body, or how can such recall be con- sidered an act of kindness ? • ' 6. The silence of Lazarus in reference to his experience when dead, argues strongly against the assumption that he was alive, also Mr. M's statement that "little is told us of the dead" is not true, for the scriptures speak freely of the mental condition of man in death— to wit ; — s " In death there is no remembrance of thee." — David, Psalm 6: 5. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence," (the modern theological idea is that they are prais- ing God continually).— Psalm 115: 17. "Put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help; his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish". Psalm 146: 3. "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything Neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgot ten, as well their love, as their hatred and their envy is now perished There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither THOU GOEST" — Solomon. Eccles. 6: 10. Some may be disposed to wonder how an " immortal " or " never-dying " soul can become subject to " corruption " or " the grave." A never-dying or immortal soul cannot die — immortality is deathlessness^ and its attainment by man is made to depend up- on a belief and obedience of the gospel. Immortality — deathless ness,— eternal life, in the case of man, is the result of his seeking ^^ incorruption" and becoming ^^incorruptible." Proof:- God will render to every man according to his works, to them that by patience in well doing seek for glory and honour and incorruption^ eternal life." . . , "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel." — Paul to the Romans, chap. 2:7. Again — "Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." " For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed up in victory." i Cor. 15: 51-54. Again, " Our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory." Phil. 3: 20. It would seem to follow from these quotations that Paul, (though a celebrated servant of God;, did not in his \\i^-\Sm& possess immortality or eternal life, because he was not then incorruptible^ but HOPED to get it "at the last 8 trump," by having his corruptible body changed to incorruption^ or fashioned anewy in conformity with " Christ's glorious body. " Proof: — " Paul a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, IN HOPE oi .eternal life which God who cannot lie, promised before the world began." Titus i : 2. Again, that we might be made heirs according to the hope of ETERNAL LIFE." V. J. This he expected to receive through a resurrection, — " if by any means I may attain to a resuirection from the dead." Phil. 3: 2. It may now be in order to define what we understand death to be. Death is the opposite of life. Walker and Webster give as its primary meaning — " extinction of life," and they add, "it ap- plies to every form of existence^^ i.e. if life be predicated of a horse', a whale, an eagle, an insect, a plant, an institution, death is the appropriate .term by which to describe the termination thereof, it is the opposite of the life in question. Seeing that Mr. M. has defined death to be " Negation," he doubtless will agree with the foregoing application, but if he admits of death being so applied to the items enumerated, (and it would be inter- esting to know how he can refuse, without claiming immortality for them also), why not admit of its being so applied in the case of man ? By doing this he would join company with the wisest of men, who said " that which befalleth the sons of men, befalletji beasts; even one thing befalleth them: AS the one dieth SO dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath. All go unto one place : all are of the dust and all turn to dust again." Ecc. 3: 19. The origin also of man would thus become intelli- gible to him, and he would be able in a measure to realise what Moses meant by saying, that *'the Lord Qq^ formed MAN of the dust of the ground," Gen. 2:7. He would also derive a valuable lesson on consistency ^ by observing the harmony which exists be- tween this description of man's creation and its reversal^ i.e. his death — " in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3: 19. By adopting this scriptural and simple description of the nature of man and his destiny, Mr. M. would see a logical and vital need for a resurrection^ and would be able to show how Christ by ^^His resurrection^^ " abolished death and brought life and incorruption to light." , . Referring to Christ's resurrection, on page 7, Mr. M. says: " This fact is, after all, the corner stone of our Christian faith and hope." '* If Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain; your faith also is vain." " But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that are asleep." " That is to say, Christ was the first that rose from the dead to die no more." We cordially assent to the prominence here given to Christ's resurrection, but entirely dissent from Mr. M's application of it. He says "Christ's resurrection demonstrates the continuity of life? in the unseen world." What does he mean ? He immediately quotes — "I am .... the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore." "Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him." This quotation will prove admirably that Christ ^''having been raised from the dead the first-fruits of THEM THAT SLEEP,' "continues to live." But this is not what Mr. M. wishes to be confined to. He means that life is unbroken; as is clearly shown by what has been already adduced as well as by what follows. He says "He (Christ) comforts Mjirtha with words that lighten the gloom of the sepulchre, by the assurance that the dead CONTINUE TO LIVE." Note his proof of this, "I am the resur- rection and the life, he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live." It will be observed that the Saviour does not say, "yet shall heV^«//««^ to live " His teaching anent resurrection forbids such an exposition, but intimates that they shall \\\%yet i.e. after they are raised. . That this is the Redeemer's meaning is evident from His teaching, Jno. vi. 39 — "This is the Father's will who hath sent me* that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day." We submit that the obvious inference from this teaching is, that, in the absence of a " resurrection at the last day," they would be "/