BATTERING DOWN THE WALLS OF HELL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 23 August 1913, Page 3

BATTERING DOWN THE WALLS OF HELL.

I (Inserted by Arrangement.) The above was the topic discussed by Pastor Russell, of the London Tabernacle, on Sunday last before a large'audionco of Bible Students, in which ho declared the hell of the Bible as totally different from the the hell of the Dark Ages. This, 'he said, still casts a gloom over the ; massefc and hinders a proper* appreciation of the Divine character of Love and Justice. He took a combination text: "0 Sheol (hell) I will be thy destruction" (Hosea xiii. 14); "0 Hades (hell), whore is thy victory ?" (I. Cor. xv. 55.) My text, said the Pastor, teaches that Jesus will destroy ihe holl of ths! Bible, the tomb—the state of death. He will do this by delivering all mankind from death by the resurrection. Thus he will ultimately gain his great, victory over sin and death, and deliver humanity from their power. No one but Jesus can do this. Hence we must wait for the appointed time—the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. Meantime, it is ours to batter down the hell of torment which for centuries has troubled God's saints, and turned the hearts of the-masses from their Creator.

The Pastor dealt s6me vigorous blows at the doctrine he condemned. They were not blows of anger, nor of sentiment, but blows of .logic and of Scripture. He urged his hearers not to think that the cultured and intelligent ministers opposed him. His oppo'nents are comparatively few) he said, and they are of two classes. Some good, and honest, but ignorant; others thoroughly informed, who', no more believe in a hell of torture than does he, but who dodge the question, and give the impression that they do not believe it, so as to hoodwink the people, and keep them in darkness or this subject of the most vital importance to human happiness how and throughout eternity.

A SERIOUS INDICTMENT. . ' ..... The majority of Christian ministers are educated. Preachers in general know well that the Bible does no teach a hell of torture—that tli. words Sheol, Hades, .Gehenna, anr Tartarus do not signify a place -c torture, where all except the saint]; will eternally suffer. These mini's ters do not come forth into* the oper to combat the error, presumably b' cause they do-not beHeve'Hhat tV,terrible blasphemy against the Divino character lies at the bottom of nearly all the. and .the. unbeteef in the Divine Word now pr< valent. ■ To me it is evident, said Pastor, that reverence for God and faitli in the* Bible can never be re : 'stored until this great Moloch of false teaching is demolished. lliis explains my zeal for exposing errors of the past, and revealing truth the subject of future punishment. The Pastor did not on this occasion attempt explanations of some of th parables, which by mistranslations, misunderstandings, and interpolations have been made to support the Goddishonouring' doctrine that everlasting torture is the wages of sin, in contradiction of the Bible statement, "The wages of sin is death." He contended himself with reminding his hearers that he had already preached on th# parable of the "Rich Man and Lazarus," the parable of the "Sheep and the Goats," and Lord's statement "Where their worm dieth not and their fire is not Quenched"; and again in Revelation about the Devil being cast with the beast and false prophet into torment. v

These four figurative (statements, the Pastor declared ,are the whole basis, as far as the Bible is concerned, of the doctrine of everlasting torture. He had preached upon all o them. Many of his hearers had read his sermons and were familiar wit..' the reasonable expositions of these Scriptures. To others who have not heard and have not xpad, he offered to send his views in printed form, fi'ae, upon postcard applications. THE GOD OF ALL GRACE. The Gods of theTJible, said the Pastor, is such an one as every human heart needs and craves. He is a God of sympathy and love, respecting whom jt is declared (Psa. cii. 1920), The Lord looked down from His holy "Habitation aud beheld, and He heafd the groaning of the prisoners. . . . "Then His-own arm brought salvafion" (Ica. Ixiii. 5). The groaning of the prisoners was not in some far-away furnace, l)ut right here on earth—in every home. St. Paul declares, '.'The whole creation groaneth and tvavaileth in pain together.'' He is quite right Jj&Our race goans be_ cause we are slaves to sin, and r in paying us the prescribed penalty, namely, death. v "We aire a dying race, mentally, mor&lly, and physically. We are disappointing to ourselve/s and to others, and we hasten towards the tomb, slaves and prisoners—going down into the great prison-house of death. That prison-house of death, the tomb, is the Bible hell. All the aches and pains that come to us as we approach and enter the prison , are' incidental parts of the penalty. The arm of Jelioval stretched down was not intended merely to resque the handful of saints tliuS far ''called, chosen, and fairthful," and who are to have their honour and glory in Hie First Resurrection. •

a wideness of God's mercy, Like ther wideness of the. sea." He has purposed a blessing-upon every member of the race, all of whom have - suffered Joss through the disobedience of the first man, Father Adam. The second Adam is to undo completely tlie work of the first, and is to give to every member of the race fullest opportunity for reconciliation and return to the Father's house. THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. The work of. Jesus at"the first Advent was only a preparatory one. His death "was necessary as a corresponding price for the sin of the first Adam. Only by paying the penalty could He ever have the right to destroy the great prison-house—the tomb, Hades —and to deliver the prisoners by resurrection from the dead. He lias

suffered. work \wis s;u factory. Ho has been m-oued up uuo glory "where he was buton*," o .j„. -afch^ added fligntty at th«.' I'afh'.r"t> right hand. There ho units, i...: t'saJxnist tells us, for tin- hour to bUiiic. >vhcn he shall take Ins grout, pu.. «r and reign. The first feature or hia campaign will be the binding of Satan. Then ho will cause the -Sim of isness to ehino forth; with hoaiir.g 'n us beams. The liglu. of !ho knowledge of God shall fill thy whole earth. Every knee will bow and every tongio confess. All will Iku o the fullest opportunity to return to God, and only the willingly disobedient and rebellious against light will dio the second Death, and go into "everlasting destruction." The God of Love and Grace, the God who sympathised with His creatures and who promises ultimately to wipe away all their tears, is the only God who really appeals to the hinian heart and head. Our misconceptions in the past serve to drive the world further and further away from God; and even the saintly found it difficult to worship Him in spirit and in truth—so dense was the cloud of ignorance and superstition which enshrouded us. Hark to Cardinal Newman's words: "Lead, kindly Light, Amid the encircling gloom!" God is sending oUt His Light-'and Truth, the encircling gloom is breaking. The errors and superstitions which hindered us from seeing the beauty of God'e Word are being scattered. fhe light from one page and statement is shining upon another, i The entire Word of God is being heard as never before. God is speaking. His people are Bible students' in all parts "of the eartK are awakening to the unsectarian study of the Lord's Word.