The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-08-17
81 SERMON. *
THE SECOND DEATH.
BY REV. J. N. PARKER.

"And saw the dead, small and great, STAND
before Cod and books were opened and an
other book was opened, which is the book of
life; and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, accord
ing to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in
1t. And death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them; and they were judged ev-
cry man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death. And whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake Of fire. Rev. Xxx, 1915.
The text is, for two particular rea-
sons, deserving our prayerful and
candid consideration. The first of
which is that we may thereby, if pos
sible, arrive at its true meaning, and
thus be enabled to give a reasonable
view of the subject when we are ques-
toned concerning it by those who
oppose the doctrine of the final res
toration of all men. And the second
reason why the subject contained in
the text is deserving our particular
attention is, that many, very many
protesting Christians firmly and con-
scientiously believe that in the words
of our text exists an insurmountable
objection to the doctrine of universal
grace and salvation. Now just SO
long as mankind believe that the
words of our text stand opposed to
the doctrine of the final holiness and
happiness of all men, just so long
will they be prejudiced against our
whole system of faith, and thus be
kept from coming to knowledge of
the truth which will make them free
indeed.
In the examination of the subject
before us / earnestly solicit your un-
divided attention; and if you have
preconceived opinions or prejudices
in your minds, in relation to the
Scripture under consideration, ask
you to lay them for the time being,
entirely aside, and let us go to the
work before us earnestly praying
that the divine blessing may rest
upon us, that our minds may be fitted
for inquiry after truth, and whenever
truth is found, that we and all men
may have moral courage sufficient to
enable us to stand forth boldly in its
defence.
The First Thing Necessary.
The first thing necessary in the in
vestigation of our subject is to decide
the question, when the book of Rev
citation was written. This, as DR.. A.
Clarke has justly observed, is extreme
ly necessary in order to understand
its contents. You will perceive that
by reference to King James's version
of the Bible, that the date of the
book is fixed in the year of Christ SO;
thus showing, acknowledging the cor
rectness of the date, that the Mosaic
dispensation had been done away 26
years before the Revelation was writ
ten.
The date to which I have referred,
as being set to the book in the sacred
volume, and which fixes it in the year
So Of the Christian era, is of human
origin, and the validity of it is not
only to my mind, but to many others
seriously questioned.
DR.. Clarke, in his introduction to
this book, in noticing the various
opinions which had existed in ancient
times in reference to its date, says in
substance, that although those who
believe it to have been written after
the Jewish nation was destroyed were
the most numerous, yet those who
were of the contrary opinion were the
most respectable and best informed.
He gives it as his settled conviction
that the book of Revelation was writ
ten before the Levitical priesthood
closed.
l therefore take the ground that
the book from which we have selected
our text was written before the Jews
as nation were scattered, and their
rights and privileges brought to an
end.
The Revelator's Words.
The Revelator commences the book
in the following language: "The Re-
velation of Jesus Christ which God
gave unto him, to show unto his SER
wants things which must shortly come
to pass-and he sent and signifed it
by his angel unto his servant John
who bare record of the word of God
and of the teachings of Jesus Christ
and of all thing that he saw. Blessed
is he that readeth, and they that hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep
those things which are written there
in: for the time is at hand"
In closing the book the Revelator
says; HE which testifeth these things
saith, Surely / come quickly" Here
the Revelator declares that the time