George
Storrs
1796-1879
CHRIST THE
LIFE-GIVER
OR
THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL
"Earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints."
Jude 3
THE Syriac version reads, "Maintain a conflict for the faith," &c. It will be my object first to determine what is the faith spoken of; and then note the importance of the apostolical exhortation, earnestly contend for it. "The faith," I apprehend, is expressed in the previous part of the verse, under the appellation of the "common salvation." It is "the aith" of salvation by or through our Lord Jesus Christ. But what is the distinctive feature of that salvation? |
In
answering the question, I wish to avoid the looseness which seems to
pervade most men's minds when they speak of salvation, or being saved.
The terms saved, and salvation, have a great latitude of meaning; and
hence the sense of these terms will accord with the fancy, prejudice,
or judgment of different individuals, according to their preconceived
notions, unless we can show that they have a definite sense, when used
in relation to man as the object of God's favor. Such a sense I
believe the New Testament writers have in the use of those terms. To
assist in determining that sense, I shall bring to our aid the Syriac
New Testament, as translated by Prof. Murdock, late of the Theological
Institution of Andover, Mass. Of the "Peshito
Syriac Version of the New Testament," Prof. Murdock says - It "is very
generally admitted to be the oldest version that has come down to us,
of the New Testament in any language. It is called by the Syrians t he
Peshito version on account of its style or character. The Syriac verb
signifies to unfold or spread out that which was folded up, so that it
can be seen in its true form, dimensions and character. Hence the
participle signifies spread out, not involved or folded up, simplex
and not duplex; or as applied to a translation, explicit, free from
ambiguities, direct, simple, and easy to be understood. And precisely
such is, in fact, the character of this venerable version." - P.489. Among
the principles which Prof. Murdock adopted in his translation of this
version, the "5th" is, "In general, to avoid using technical
theological terms, when good substitutes could be found, in order to
call away attention from the word to the thing." In his illustration
of this principle, he says - "Saviour is rendered Vivifier, as being
more literal, for the verb properly signifies to make alive, to
vivify; and its derivatives properly signify life, life-giver, or
vivifier. These are the usual terms of the Syriac version, denoting
that salvation which Christ bestows on fallen men." Preface, p.7. In
accordance with the principle here laid down, the Professor gives us
"life, Life-Giver," or "vivify and Vivifier," throughout his
translation, where it is save, Saviour, &c., in the common English
version. In following his translation, I shall use the term Life, and
Life-Giver, where he, in some instances, has inserted vivify and
Vivifier, &c.; as these last terms have a Latin cast, and do not as
clearly express to the mere English reader the sense of the text. With the
light shed on the Scriptures by this venerable Syriac version, I shall
be able to satisfy my own mind, at least, as to what "the faith" is,
of which Jude speaks. In the first part of the verse from which my
text is taken, Jude says - "My beloved, while I take all pains to
write to you of our common life;" - Syriac. The great theme of Jude
and all the apostles was, that of Life - Eternal Life, through Jesus
the "Life-Giver." This was the faith, the doctrine, the great matter
to be believed, the truth to be preached, the faith for which they
were "earnestly to contend." In
further presenting this subject, I shall pass over, for the present,
the multitude of texts in the common English version which express the
same great and glorious truth, and call attention directly to the
Syriac version, where life, Life-Giver, &c., occur in place of save,
saved, salvation, and Saviour in our version. I begin the examination
with Matthew 19:25; where, after our Lord had spoken of the difficulty
of a rich man entering into the "kingdom of God," the disciples
wondered greatly, and said: Who then can attain to life?" Here,
attaining to life is the salvation looked for. Our version reads -
"Who then can be saved?" What the salvation is, might be a matter for
dispute, as that term is more or less indefinite: but life is a
definite term, and brings us at once to the nature of the salvation.
It is salvation from death, into life. Again,
Matt.27:42; when Jesus hung upon the cross, our translation reads -
"He saved others, himself he cannot save." The Syriac has it - "He
gave, life to others; his own life he cannot preserve." This version
is truly open, and easy to be understood. He gave life to several
during his ministry; and that which determined the Scribes and
Pharisees to put him to death, at all hazards, was the fact that he
gave life to Lazarus, who had been dead four days: see John 11:48-53.
He was a Life-Giver. In John
3:17, our translation reads, "For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
The Syriac - "That the world might live by means of him." Here the
nature of the salvation is clearly expressed, and no doubt is left on
the mind as to its real character. It is life - that's what the world,
the dying world need; and Christ came that they might live. Acts
2:21, reads - "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved." The Syriac - "Shall live." Thus showing that Life is the great
proffered blessing to the human race; and the doctrine of life,
through Jesus, is "the faith delivered to the saints," and which they
are to maintain, earnestly contending for it. Acts 4:12, reads - "There is
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." The Syriac - "There is not another name under heaven which is
given to men, whereby to live." Here, as in the previous texts, there
is a definiteness that forms a firm basis for faith. The salvation is
life. Who is it that gives this life? Acts 5:31 - "Him [Jesus, who was raised from the dead] hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour." Syriac - "Him hath God established as a head and Life-Giver." Jesus, Messiah, died - God raised him from the dead and made him "head" of another life, even an endless life, and constituted him the Life-Giver; he is to bestow that life of which he is now the fountain. It is not in ourselves, but in him who was dead, but, is alive again, and lives forevermore; who also has "the keys of death and hades." When the angel directed Cornelius to send for Peter, as related Acts
11:14, he said - "Who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy
house shall be saved." The Syriac reads - "He will utter to thee
discourses by which thou wilt live," &c. Here again the nature of
the salvation is definite: it is life. Thus
the testimony is uniform in regard to the great end of the gospel;
it is to call men to life, and bestow it upon them. The language, by
this translation of the Syriac, is divested of all vagueness and
speaks out to the comprehension of all minds. "We will, however,
present a few more places where Saviour, save, and salvation, in the
common English version, are in the Syriac Life-Giver and life.
2Timothy 1:10, "The appearing of our Life-Giver, Jesus the Messiah,
who hath abolished death, and hath made manifest life and
immortality by the gospel."
Chap.2:10 - "Therefore I endure everything for the elect's sake,
that they may obtain life in Jesus the Messiah, with eternal glory."
Life is still the theme; and the glorious object set before us.
Chap.3:15 - "From thy childhood thou wast taught the holy books,
which can make thee wise unto life, by faith in Jesus the Messiah."
Chap.4:18 - "My Lord will rescue me from every evil work; and will
give me life in his heavenly kingdom." One theme still - one end in
view, viz: life - life in the kingdom of God. To
Titus Paul writes, on opening the epistle, "In hope of eternal life
. . . grace and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus
the Messiah, our Life-Giver." Chap.2:10,13, - "For the life-giving
grace of God is revealed to all men; and it teaches us to deny
ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live in this world in
sobriety, and in uprightness, and in the fear of God, looking for
the blessed hope, ["hope of eternal life;" see chap.1:2] and the
manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Life-Giver,
Jesus the Messiah."
Chap.3:4-6 - "When the kindness and compassion of God our Life-Giver
was revealed . . . . according to his mercy . . . . by the
renovation of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly, by
Jesus the Messiah, our Life-Giver, that we might . . . . become
heirs in the hope of eternal life." Thus the author and giver of
life is clearly set before our minds; and in a manner that cannot
fail to make an impression of our obligation, and of God's great
mercy. Paul,
in writing to the Hebrews, speaking of angels, asks, chap.1:14 -
"Are they not all spirits of ministration, who are sent to minister
on account of them who are to inherit life?" He asks, chap.2:3 -
"How shall we escape if we despise the things which are our life?"
&c. Again, verse 10 - "It became him . . . . [who] bringeth many
sons unto glory, to perfect the Prince of their life by suffering."
How forcible are right words? All the commentaries in the world
cannot make plainer the work of Messiah, and the blessing he came to
give the perishing.
Chap.5:7-9 - "When he [Jesus] was clothed in flesh, he presented
supplication and entreaty, with intense invocation and with tears,
to him who was able to resuscitate him from death; and he was heard.
And though he was a son, yet, from the fear and sufferings he
endured he learned obedience; and thus he was perfected, and became
the cause of eternal life to all them who obey him."
Chap.7:25 - "He is able to vivify [give life] forever, them that
come to God by him, for he always liveth, and sendeth up prayers for
them." And chap.9:28, Paul saith Messiah will "a second time . .
appear for the life of them who expect him." What is Messiah coming
a second time for? For the life of his followers: to give them the
"crown of life." We now
come back to Jude, the point from which we started. He calls this
life, which we have been tracing out, "the common life" of the
"beloved." This is that which so deeply interested them all - which
the saints were exhorted to lay hold of; for which they labored and
suffered; for which they hoped, believed, and fought; and in the
firm persuasion of possessing it, when called to lay down their
lives, met death without terror, knowing that God, who cannot lie,
had promised it to all who by patient continuance in well-doing seek
for it. If such, then, is "the faith" of the gospel, the importance of "contending earnestly" for it can hardly be magnified. The necessity of such a course is as apparent as that nearly all Christendom have departed from "the faith," and perverted the very words in which the Bible presents the subject, to mean "happiness" instead of life; thus corrupting the testimony of God, and affirming that it is not life that man needs, but something else: yea, insisting that all men have endless life in themselves; so that he who would maintain the Bible truth on this subject must contend earnestly for it, and is in danger of being denounced as an "infidel" for believing that God, Messiah, and the apostles, mean what they say, and speak what they mean. Surely, there never was a subject or topic that Christian men needed apostolical authority more to sustain them in their work, than the one we have been contemplating. "Fight the good fight of faith," said Paul to Timothy, "lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called." And he adds - "I give thee charge, in the sight of God . . . . that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Tim.6:12-14. Can a subject of such importance be magnified above its just claims? I think not. Let us, then "earnestly contend for" it, as "the faith once delivered to the saints." Let those be admonished who assume that man has immortality or endless life in himself, that they are not by such a course, contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, but for a fable imposed upon them by tradition and the corruption of the words of God. May they quickly have they their eyes open to see the truth, and be able to defend it.
ADDENDA A few
texts have been passed in the foregoing sermons, without special
notice, which some rely on as proof of the immortality of man and
the endless sin and suffering of the wicked. They were passed simply
because they involved the State of the Dead, which the author of the
Six Sermons thought best to take up in another work of a more
general character. The Rich Man and Lazarus is one of the texts
passed. A single remark here is all that is necessary on it till the
state of the dead is under consideration.
Suppose the rich man to be actually in a conscious state after
death, and in torment, it does not prove him immortal, or that his
conscious suffering is to be eternal: for, the advocates of the
immortality of man admit the state of the rich man, spoken of, was
immediately after death and before the day of judgment. Hence,
whatever his state is now it is not his proper punishment - that may
be utter annihilation for all there is in the text to prove the
contrary: he has not yet passed the judgment; when he has, then
comes the real punishment, and the Scriptures elsewhere must
determine what it is. We have positive testimony that "The wages of
sin is Death:" Rom.6:23. The
phrase "immortal soul" is not once found in the Old and New
Testament Scriptures; either in our translation or the original
languages in which they were written; while - among many other terms
which clearly express the idea of deprivation of life - that of
annihilation is found distinctly in the Hebrew Scriptures as
expressive of the doom of the wicked. Prof.
Pick, in his "Bible Student's Concordance" - a work of great value
to a mere English scholar - gives us two original terms, the literal
signification of which is, "to annihilate:" and these terms are
applied to the destiny of wicked men in such connection as to make
it certain that the Spirit of God - which inspired "holy men of old"
- designed to teach the utter extirpation of the wicked, and not a
preservation in any living state. These Hebrew terms are Tsomath and
Shomad. In our translation they are sometimes rendered destroy,
destroyed, and cut off. According to Prof. Pick there are about
forty different Hebrew words that are translated destroy and
destroyed. We will give a few instances where the terms occur, the
literal signification of which, he tells us, is "to annihilate." In
Ps.18:40 tsomath occurs. None doubt but that a portion of this Psalm
is prophetical of Messiah and what he will do. Thus speaks the word
of prophecy - "Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies;
that I might tsomath - annihilate - them that hate me."
Saith
Jesus, Luke 19:27, when the Nobleman shall return he will say -
"Those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring hither, and slay them before me." Thus the prophecy, in Ps.18,
is to have a fulfillment when Messiah, who is to be King on David's
throne, shall "return from heaven." So Paul declares, on that return
the disobedient "shall be punished with everlasting destruction:"
2Thess.1:9. Thus the Prophet, our Lord, and Paul, witness together,
the enemies of Christ are to be annihilated. Again
prophecy thus speaks, Ps.54:5 - "He [God] shall reward evil unto
mine enemies: tsomath - annihilate them in thy truth." The truth of
God is, the wicked shall be annihilated. In
Ps.94:23, tsomath occurs twice; and the verse literally reads thus -
"He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall annihilate
them in their own wickedness: yea, the LORD our God shall annihilate
them." Thus the fate of the wicked is clearly stated. In
Ps.101:8, tsomath occurs twice; and as the language is clearly
prophetical of Messiah it speaks in language not to be mistaken. "I
will early annihilate all the wicked of the land; that I may
annihilate all wicked doers from the city of the Lord." Once
more, Ps.143:12, David personating Messiah, prays - "Of thy mercy
annihilate mine enemies, and annihilate all them that afflict my
soul."
Finally, Ps.145:20, we read - "The LORD preserveth all them that
love him: but all the wicked will he shomad -annihilate." These examples are amply sufficient to warrant us in using the term annihilation in relation to the destiny of all the enemies of God. Those who choose to deny it, and affirm that such a disposal of them is impossible, we leave to settle their controversy with Him who cannot lie, and whose word abideth forever. We believe that men who reject Christ as the Life-Giver will be eternally excluded from life - "be no more" - "be as though they had not been:" Ps.104:35: Obadiah 16. - "The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume: into smoke shall they consume away." Ps.37:20. Thus do the wicked PERISH UTTERLY AND FOREVER.
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