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Popular
Error and Divine Truth in contrast: The true test to apply
in the determination of religious truth is one given by Isaiah
(8:20): "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them." This principle is extensively applied in the
classification of scripture testimony contained in this pamphlet
as a whole. To bring the matter to a focus, the following
tabularised contrast of popular tradition with the Word of
God is here presented:
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Popular
Tradition
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The
Word of God
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"I
can imagine that when a man dies suddenly, one of the
first things in the next world will be a surprise.. He
looks about him, 'Oh, that glory, how resplendent beyond
yon throne!' He listens to the harps of gold, and he can
scarce believe it is true. I, the chief of sinners, and
yet in heaven; and then, when he is conscious that he
is really in heaven, 'Oh! What everlasting joy'"
C.H. Spurgeon, Sermon No. 349, p.311;
"I'll praise my Maker with my breath, And when my
voice is lost in death, Praise shall my nobler powers
employ." - Dr. Watts
"The souls of believers at death do immediately pass
into glory." - Methodist & Presbyterian Catechism.
"With Thee we'll reign, With Thee we'll rise, And
kingdoms gain, Beyond the skies."
"Beyond the bounds of time and space,The saints'
secure abode." - Dr. Watts
A never-dying soul to save,And fit it for the sky."
- Chas. Wesley
"Up to the courts where angels dwellIt mounts triumphant
there;Or devils plunge it down to hell,In infinite despair."
- Dr. Watts
"When the poor soul shall find itself in the hands
of angry fiends, it shall seem in that first moment as
though it had been a thousand years. What will be his
surprise. 'And am I,' he will say, 'really here? I was
in the streets of London but a moment ago; I was singing
a song but an instant ago, and here am I in hell'"
- Chas. H Spurgeon.
Sermon No. 369, page 312."God is therefore Himself
present in hell to see the punishment of these rebels
against His government, that it may be adequate to the
infinity of their guilt; His fiery indignation kindles,
and His incensed fury feeds the flame of their torment,
while His powerful presence and operation maintain their
being, and render all their powers most acutely sensible,
thus setting the keenest edge upon their pain, and making
it cut most intolerably deep. He will exert all His divine
attributes to make them as wretched through eternity as
the capacity of their nature will admit." - Benson,
the Methodist Commentator.
"O miserable state of the damned! In it they utter
as many blasphemies against God as the happy souls in
heaven shout hallelujahs to His praise" - American
Tract. Society, No. 277. |
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And no man hath ascended up to heaven (John 3:13)
For David is not ascended into the heavens (Acts 2:34)
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I
shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness (Psalm
17:15)
For 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 forgotten. Also their love and
their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither
have they anymore portion for ever in anything that is
done under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6).
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish (Psalm 146:4)
The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down
into silence (Psalm 115:17)
For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave,
who shall give thee thanks? (Psalm 6:5)
God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave (Psalm
49:15)
And this is the Father's will which 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 (John 6:39; 11:24;
1 Thessalonians 4:13-16).
But go thou (Daniel) thy way till the end be, for thou
shalt rest, and stand in thy lot, at the end of the days
(Daniel 12:13; Job 19:25)
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
(Matthew 5:5)
Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and
we shall reign on the earth (Revelation 5:10)
And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the
kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people
of the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:27)
The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4, 20)
He casteth the wicked down to the ground (Psalm 147:6)
The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction; they
shall be brought forth to the day of wrath (Job 21:30)
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth
before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence
of God (Psalm 68:2)
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord
shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into
smoke they shall consume away (Psalm 37:20)
For, behold the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven,
and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly shall be
stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root
nor branch… and ye shall tread down the wicked; for
they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet in
the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts
(Malachi 4:1-3) |
In
vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men (Matthew 15:9)
If
any man speak, let him speak the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11)
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