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C.I. Scofield

C.I. Scofield (August 19, 1843 – July 24, 1921) was an American preacher, theologian, and author whose ministry and editorial work profoundly shaped dispensational theology through the creation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Born Cyrus Ingerson Scofield in Lenawee County, Michigan, to Elias Scofield, a sawmill worker, and Abigail Goodrich, he was the seventh child in a family disrupted by his mother’s death in childbirth and his father’s remarriage. Raised in Wilson County, Tennessee, he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861–1865), earning the Confederate Cross of Honor, before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as a lawyer and politician, elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1871. Converted in 1879 at age 36 under the influence of YMCA worker Thomas McPheeters, he abandoned his legal career for ministry. Scofield’s preaching career began with ordination as a Congregational minister in 1882, pastoring First Congregational Church in Dallas, Texas (1882–1895), where he grew the congregation from 14 to over 500 members, and later Moody Memorial Church in Northfield, Massachusetts (1895–1902). His most enduring contribution came in 1909 with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, a King James Version annotated with dispensational notes that sold over 10 million copies, popularizing premillennialism among evangelicals. Married twice—first to Leontine Cerré in 1866, with whom he had two daughters (divorced 1883), then to Hettie Hall van Wark in 1884, with whom he had a son—he faced early controversy over alleged fraud and forgery, though he claimed redemption through faith. He died at 77 in Douglaston, New York, leaving a legacy as a key architect of modern dispensationalism.
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C.I. Scofield delivers a powerful sermon on the consequences of rejecting God's remedy, as seen in the wickedness of the king, priests, and people of Judah. Despite warnings from prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah, the people continued to mock and despise God's messengers and His words, leading to the inevitable judgment when 'there was no remedy.' Scofield emphasizes that when God's remedy is rejected, there is no hope for redemption, highlighting the importance of heeding God's warnings and instructions to avoid spiritual destruction.
The Captivity of Judah
(2 Chron. xxxvi:11-21.) I. The Analysis. 1. The Wicked King (verses 11-14).—Note that the rejection of the words of Jeremiah was in reality the rejection of God's words. 2. The Wicked Priests (verse 14).—The priests were, equally with the king, rejectors of the word of the Lord. In all history priests side with kings against prophets. 3. Warning and Judgment (verses 15-20).—This is ever the divine way—warning precedes judgment. II. The Heart of the Lesson. ''Till there was no remedy"—that awful phrase opens the deepest heart of this lesson. It is not, observe that man had no remedy as against the king of the Chaldees, but that God had no remedy for His people—"till there was no remedy." There had been a remedy. Jeremiah and Isaiah and all the pre-exile prophets had published abroad the divine and perfect remedy. Isaiah had said, "Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." Jeremiah had cried: ''O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved." "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say. Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place." In Jehovah was a perfect remedy for all the evil of Judah, but—"They mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, and there was no remedy." In other words, when God's remedy is rejected, "there is no remedy." Doubtless the majority called Jeremiah a "gloomy pessimist." The times were good, the comfort of life constantly increased, men spoke of the ruder times of their fathers and boasted of progress. The priests would be ready to point out the improbability, even the absurdity, of the notion that Jehovah would permit His city and temple to be overthrown. Had not Israel a great mission yet unaccomplished so long as all peoples did not recognize the unity of God? To say that He would destroy the religion which He had Himself planted would be to say that the purposes of God were thwarted. Just so men reason in this Gospel age. To speak of coming judgments of an apostate church, of another advent of Christ, is to say that the Gospel has failed. The answer both then and now is that neither the ultimate purposes of God through Israel nor through the Gospel will fail. It is men who fail; men who become apostate, whether in Israel or the church and then ''there is no remedy," so far as men are concerned. But God remains, and in other ways He accomplishes His purposes. Judah was judged and sent into captivity. ''There was no remedy" for that. Judah, after seventy years, was restored and held in the land till Christ came and was rejected. Then again "there was no remedy," and Judah was sent into a dispersion which still continues. But Israel will be restored, and then, that people will not fail.
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C.I. Scofield (August 19, 1843 – July 24, 1921) was an American preacher, theologian, and author whose ministry and editorial work profoundly shaped dispensational theology through the creation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Born Cyrus Ingerson Scofield in Lenawee County, Michigan, to Elias Scofield, a sawmill worker, and Abigail Goodrich, he was the seventh child in a family disrupted by his mother’s death in childbirth and his father’s remarriage. Raised in Wilson County, Tennessee, he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861–1865), earning the Confederate Cross of Honor, before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as a lawyer and politician, elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1871. Converted in 1879 at age 36 under the influence of YMCA worker Thomas McPheeters, he abandoned his legal career for ministry. Scofield’s preaching career began with ordination as a Congregational minister in 1882, pastoring First Congregational Church in Dallas, Texas (1882–1895), where he grew the congregation from 14 to over 500 members, and later Moody Memorial Church in Northfield, Massachusetts (1895–1902). His most enduring contribution came in 1909 with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, a King James Version annotated with dispensational notes that sold over 10 million copies, popularizing premillennialism among evangelicals. Married twice—first to Leontine Cerré in 1866, with whom he had two daughters (divorced 1883), then to Hettie Hall van Wark in 1884, with whom he had a son—he faced early controversy over alleged fraud and forgery, though he claimed redemption through faith. He died at 77 in Douglaston, New York, leaving a legacy as a key architect of modern dispensationalism.