"The Fate of the Wicked"

 September 21, 1903

"The Fate of the Wicked"

Australasian Signs of the Times 18 p. 456.

The righteousness which is acceptable with God is the righteousness "which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:22, 23. "He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." Heb. 3:9. And "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
Christ's coming to this world was not in vain. He came for a purpose, and that purpose is that those who will believe in Him may not perish, but have eternal life; and as surely as those who believe in Him shall have eternal life, just so surely those who do not believe in Him shall perish. If not, if those who do not believe in Him do not perish, then this record which He has given cannot be true. If, by virtue of the immortality of the soul, those who do not believe in Christ live as long as those who do, then where is there any point in these scriptures?
We know full well the meaning that is put upon the word "perish" by those who believe in the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul; that is, that is means eternal life in misery. But no such idea is contained in the Scriptures. Eternal life is the heritage of those who believe in Christ, and of those alone. Nor will language allow any such meaning to be put upon the word "perish." That word is defined thus: "To be destroyed; to go to destruction; to pass away; to come to nothing; to be blotted from existence; to die; to lose life." This is Webster's definition of perish; and every part of it can be duplicated time and again from the Scriptures. But no part of this definition can be true if the soul be immortal.
In Ps. 37:10 we read: "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." Again, in Isa. 41:11, 12, we read a promise of what the Lord will do with those who contend with the "seed of Abraham," "the friend of God;" "Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught." But to the meek, to those who learn of Christ, it is promise: "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves sin the abundance of peace." "The seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever." Ps. 37:11, 28, 29. All is summed up by the Lord Jesus in one sentence, as follows: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life." John 3:36. And again: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." John 6:53.
If these scriptures, from the first to the last, do not show that future life is obtained only in Christ, then it would be impossible for the Lord Himself to put words together that would show such a thing. If the Lord wanted to tell men that without believing in Christ they could have no life; that without believing in Him they should perish; if He wanted to tell them that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, how would it be possible to tell them so more plainly than He has already told, in the words quoted? Yet in defiance of these plain, positive scriptures, and in direct subversion of them, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which gives to all men immortal life irrespective of Christ, is held by many professed Christians as a veritable article of Christian faith. Why is it that men will not believe the record that God has given on this subject? Why is it that they will not believe that future life is given alone through Christ? It is no light thing to disbelieve this. Many seem to think, and will even so express themselves, that it makes no difference particularly whether this be believed or not. But it does make a difference.
One more article will conclude this series.