Mental Science

“Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us. And he said, Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. But he said, No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent! But he said to him, If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:19-31 NASB).

We have the story given by the Lord Himself about the rich man and Lazarus. He does not call this a parable. In this story, the rich man’s name is not given. His name was not in the Lamb’s book of life; therefore, why give it? The rich man saw Abraham far away. Abraham had a body; he could not have been recognized if he did not have a body. The rich man referred to “Father Abraham.” He was a Jew. Note verse 25 and the word “remember.” Memory is our subject for this message.

We are going to study mental science or memory in the light of the Scriptures and not as a college course. The conscious continuance of existence subsequent to death is a reality. It may be one of either intense misery or joy. If it is misery, it will be continually increasing without ceasing. On the other hand, if it is joy and one is with the Lord in heaven, it will continue eternally.

Where is hell? Today most religionists do not believe in hell, but the Bible confirms its existence from Genesis to Revelation. One person has concluded that hell is anywhere outside of heaven. Where is heaven? This a big subject. The earth will be purified by fire (II Pet. 3). The eternal kingdom will be on the new earth after the earth’s purification by fire. There will be a shaking of the earth that is so bad that everything will be shaken to pieces. Those who go to hell will be ever burning but never consumed, ever dying but never dead. Furthermore, the influence of memory will increase the misery. “But Abraham said, Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony” (Luke 16:25 NASB). This agony will continue to increase because of memory. Memory does not die. There is a lesson that must not be overlooked in this portion of Scripture. The rich man who went to hell increased his responsibility because he was a descendant of Abraham. There will be degrees of punishment in hell, just as there will be degrees of glory in heaven. God is a just God.

Even though the rich man was a descendant of Abraham, he was an outcast. Since he was a Jew, we know certain things about him. He was circumcised the eighth day as a Jew. He was a child of God’s covenant with Abraham, and yet a vessel of wrath fitted for destruction (Rom. 9). He implored Abraham to save his brothers from “this place.” There is nothing flagrant, vicious, or immoral mentioned about the rich man. However, this adds up to the fact that religion without Jesus Christ merits that awful realm called hell. This is what the Bible teaches. The rich man was in the place where the worm does not die and the fire is never extinguished (Mark 9:48). He was more keenly conscious of the afterlife than is a normal person in this life. He knew what was going on in three different realms: (1) the realm of hell, (2) the realm of heaven, and (3) the realm of earth.

Men naturally love sin, but men hate the thought of retribution for sin. That is why men say that there is no hell. Remove all sense of righteousness or the righteous judgment of God from the mind and man will break God’s band asunder and cast away his cords from him (Ps. 2:3). Man will then plunge into every conceivable and abominable evil that one can think of. Read Romans 1:18-32. Hell is a “taboo” in modern theology. No one ever spoke such words of love and sympathy as Jesus Christ, and no one ever spoke such terrifying words of warning as He did.

God is everywhere. (1) He is in the world by His providence. (2) He is in the heart of every true believer by the Spirit of grace. (3) He is in the heart of every sinner by inspection. (4) He is even in hell by His justice.

In Luke 16:19-31, there are three different contrasts. (1) There is the contrast in life (vv. 19-21—rich man and pauper). (2) There is the contrast in death (v. 22—Christian goes to be with the Lord; sinner goes to hell). (3) There is the contrast in the world to come (v. 26—separation, a distinct feature of judgment).

The study of memory (v. 25) or mental science from a Biblical point of view is a rich and intriguing subject. In old age, the scenes of childhood and youth reappear. The sins of youth are recalled by a terrified conscience because there is no grace many times. Modern science teaches that no force is lost in the universe. It may be changed into other forces, but its equivalent is perpetuated. For instance, heat becomes motion, and motion stopped becomes heat. Nothing is lost in the hard domain of matter. The entire mental history of our lives will never be lost. The book of the human soul will not be lost. It has been said, “Sad memory weaves no veil to hide the past.”

Glorified saints cannot visit the prison house of the lost sinners. The Bible does not speak of dormant souls. Therefore, it behooves us to ask, what are we storing up in our memory bank? Memory is eternal. Consciousness lies at the foundation of all responsible life, and it soon merges into self-consciousness. Self-consciousness is the knowledge which self attains when it says “I” and recognizes that “I” is distinct from everything else in the universe. This involves three things: knowledge of myself, knowledge of something not myself (surroundings), and knowledge arising from relations arising from what is myself and what is not myself. In order to make these relations explicit, we need a faculty to tell us that we existed yesterday. That faculty is memory. However, unless we make memory to subsist in two parts, a capacity to retain and the ability to recall, we will not be able to explain either its workings or its eternality.

From our perspective, ideas and actions have relation to time. Since memory is complete and deathless, how is it possible for anyone to go from an imperfect life and derive any pleasure from its contemplation? The answer is simple and wonderful. Life in heaven will be permeated by perfect love; and by the laws of association, it will bring forth from the storehouse only those reminders that are pure and holy. Forgetfulness with saints is a defect. Forgetfulness with God is an attribute. “…I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34 NASB). God forgets our sins. The argument from memory for a future judgment is powerful because there is now a judgment of conscience and an expectation of a righteous reward. Our sins are under the blood of Christ, and God remembers them no more.

The Bible knows absolutely nothing about dormant souls. It has been said that death takes down the scaffolding, as a newly constructed building has the scaffolding removed, but it does not remove the edifice—the person. Man saved or lost never ceases to be man with memory to either bless or perish.