Bible Standard August 1878

8/8/2019 Bible Standard August 1878

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THE BIBLE STANDARD.cannot imagine that Adam was skilled in metaphysics andsystematic divinity, we cannot suppose him to have under-stood "death" to mean all that. It was death that wasthreatened to the living soul, Adam. "Thou "-not thybody merely-" thou shalt surely die,"-cease to be a livingsoul. That which sinned was to die. And so we find itexpressed in the sentence passed upon Adam after his sin:" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread until thoureturn unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; fordust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." - Gen.iii. 19.Is it possible for language to express more unambiguouslyand emphatically, that, because he had sinned, Adam-theman formed out of the dust of the ground, and into whosenostrils God had breathed the breath of life-was doomed todie-to be resolved into the original elements whence hecame! Verily, no. At the very morning of human history,we see verified the divine fiat-" The wages of sin is death."

In confirmation of the foregoing statement of man'soriginal nature and penal condition, we point to the fact ofhis banishment from the tree of life, and the reason assignedfor that enactment. Man was driven out of Eden" lest heshould put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life,and eat, and live for ever,"-language quite meaningless ifAdam was an immortal being, and could never die, but mostexpressive in the light of the facts as we have set themforth. Thou shalt die; "dust thou art, and unto dust shaltthou return." The tree of life in the midst of the garden,which Adam was appointed to dress and to keep, wasendowed with such-life-preserving qualities, that it preventeddissolution, and imparted immortality to those who partookofits wonderful fruit. Had man stood the trial to which hewas subjected, this tree of life would have made himimmortal; but we know how he fell, and was driven beyondits reach, to toil and moil in suffering, sorrow, and decay,till life's brittle cord snapped asunder, and' he returnedto dust!

Ere we leave the sad and mournfully suggestive scene, letus notice the mercy of God tempering His judgments. Hedrove out the man, lest he should eat of the tree of .Ii fe , andlive forever. God's will is against the immortalizin~ of sinand sinners. He will put an end to both; only therighteous shall live for ever. Ana surely it is in mercy tothe sinner himself. Eternal life in sin, could the Holy Onepermit it, would be an awful fate to the sinner. Jehovah atonce stamps sin with His reprobation, and shows pity to theincorrigible transgressor by consigning him to utterhopeless death.

In the record of man's original creation, constitution, andposition in the world, we have seen that he was not immortal,but simply endowed with life, and with the means ofprolonging it everlastingly, placed within his reach, oncertain specified conditions; that he was, in short, a

candidate for immortality. In this candidature he failed-he lost the prize, and was banished from his state Oprimeval innocence and bliss under the doom of impendingdeath. Such b~ing the case, his offspring cannot bepossessed of immortality by natural constitution. "Dustthou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," was the fateappointed by God for the fallen father of our race-a fatewhich has descended to his children; for though to some theterm of life may be comparatively prolonged, sooner or laterthe same result comes alike to all. " All are of the dust, allturn to dust again." "The dust shall return to the earth,as it was, and the spirit (or breath of life) unto God whogave it."-Eccl. iii. 20; xii. 7. "Man dieth and wastethaway; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he! Asthe waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth anddrieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; till theheavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised outof their sleep."-Job xiv. 10-12. "Put not your trust inprinces, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in thatViry day his thoughts perish."-Psalm cxlvi. 3-4.

Not only ismankind without immortality by nature; but alsoin consequence of personal transgression, under sentenceof death; for" The wages of sin is death."-Rom. vi. 23"The soul that sinneth, it shall die."-Ezek. xviii. 4. Thatthe death which is the wages of sin is real death, and noteternal life in misery, we shall afterwards have occasion todemonstrate; but we hasten to a happier side of thepicture-

That the Lord was sent into the world, that sinners, bybelieving in Him, might obtain life everlasting, is so plainlytaught both by the Lord and His Apostles, that it is hardto conceive how any attentive reader of the Bible can believethe opposite. Let us consider a few of the testimonies."God so loved the world, that He gave His only begottenSon, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, buthave everlasting life."-John iii. 16. The teaching of thisand kindred passages is commonly put aside by the remark,that the term "life" in these passages, simply means"happiness." That those who obtain everlasting life shallbe everlastingly happy, is true; but it is a truth which isnot expressed in the term" life," for weknow that" misery"as well as "happiness" is commonly associated with life,and that it is as lawful to speak of a miserable life as of ahappy one. According to the common teaching, all menlive for ever; and it is simply because of this foregoneconclusion, that" life" is interpreted to mean "happiness."Happiness and life are not synonymous terms, and had theLord meant to express the idea of happiness simply, hewould have used the proper term. There is nothing in thecontext forbidding us to understand the terms" perish" and"everlasting life" in their ordinary acceptation; yea, rather,


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 83we should say, the context demands that these terms beunderstood to have their common and primary meaning(see verses 14-15). "As Moses lifted up the serpent in thewilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, thatwhosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but haveeternal life. " The analogy or comparison employed clearlyestablishes that the sense we are contending for is the trueone. A reference to Num, xxi. 4-9 will show this. "TheLord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit thepeople; and much people of Israel died."-v. 6. "AndMoses made a serpentof brass, and put it upon a pole: andit came to pass, if a serpent had bitten any man, when hebeheld the serpent of brass, he lived."-v. 9. The 'Israeliteswere perishing because of sin; to save them from dying, aserpent of brass, by the command of Jehovah, is elevated ona pole, and the appointment made, that whosoever of thedying Israelites looked at the brazen serpent, should live.And" as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, evenso must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoeverbelieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."The comparison is so simple and expressive, that he whoruns may read it.

And so is that other comparison which Jesus applies tohimself in John vi. 51, "I am the living bread which camedown from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shalllive forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, whichI will give for the life of the world." The parties to whomour Lord thus addressed Himself had desired from Himsome miraculous display of power, as an evidence that Hewas sent by God; and they supported their demand byreferring to the circumstance that their fathers had beenmiraculously fed in the wilderness by the hand of Moses."Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written,He gave them bread from heaven to eat." Jesus replied byasserting that God had given them a blessing of far superiorvalue, and that He Himself was that gift. "My Fathergiveth you the true bread from heaven; I am the livingbread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of thisbread, he shall live forever."

Jesus, in representing Himself as "bread," plainlyintimates that one grand end of His mission was to givelife. The only use of bread is to sustain life; and the onlyproper mark of analogy between Christ and the breadconsists in His being the source of life to all who believe onHim. The property of bread is not to communicatehappiness; for how many at this hour have abundance ofbread, and continue unhappy!

That it is as the Giver of life that Jesus represents Himselfas bread, is still further evident from His language in verse49-50: "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness,and are dead. This is the bread which cometh downfrom heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."

Where is the antithesis, on the supposition that the Lordmeant, your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, andare dead. This is the bread which cometh down fromheaven, that a man may eat thereof and not be unhappy, ornot live in misery for ever?

The true antithesis is this. The manna which fell in thedesert only sustained life for a while; it did not prevent theirfathers from dying; but the bread which God had now sentdown to them gave everlasting being. God had sent it thata man might eat of it and not die.

The sense in which the Lord used the terms "life" and"death," as consequences of fidelity or infidelity to Himself,is clearly defined in His language recorded in Matt.xvi. 25-26: Whosoever will save his life shall lose it,and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world andlose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchangefor his soul?" We are at no loss to understand whatsort of life it is which the unfaithful servant seeks to save.It is the same kind of life which he shall lose. No onehesitates about the kind of life which the faithful martyrloses for Christ's sake. Well, the Lord affirms that he wholoses his life for His sake shall find it-surely that lifewhich he lost.

It is of importance to notice that the word rendered"soul" twice in verse 26, is the identical Greek word twicetranslated "life" in verse 25; and should have beenrendered "life" in these four occurrences. "The Greeks,"writes the late Dean of Canterbury, "in their wonderfullyaccurate language, expressed by the same term (p suche) thesoul of man which he has to save, and the life of the reptilewhich man crushes under his foot. And it would have beenimmensely to our profit if we had done the same. For thenwe should have understood what very few now do understand-the true nature, the true place, of this our intellectual andemotional being. We should then have read in our Biblesnot only: 'Whoever will save his life shall lose it, andwhosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it," butalso-for the same word is used: "For what is a manprofited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his ownlife? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?'For it is the life of man which carries his practical will, withall those motions of intellect and feeling which sets it atwork; it is the life which is mysteriously bound up with thebody, which is reft from it at death; it is this life, which, ifa man spend upon God and upon good, he shall save tolife eternal." *

That the Lord Jesus Christ came to give "life," in itsprimary sense, is also taught in the beautiful language ofJohn x. 10-18: "The thief cometh not but for to steal, and

Good Words, January, 186 .


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astical landmarks, and desolating the country with heresy?Are all the safeguards with which earnest and good mensurrounded the citadel of truth to be ruthlessly throwndown by the hands of the invader?Is our long-continued national protest against the pagan

superstitions of Rome to die away in an unmeaning whisper,and at last to be silenced for ever by the tyranny of atriumphant priesthood?We ask these painful questions with all possible earnest-

ness, for if they are not asked now, we cannot avoid fore-seeinga time when it will be too late to ask them, and when goodmen, suffering for conscience sake, will wonder that theywere not put before.Let us miss this golden opportunity ot awakening all the

genuine evangelical Protestantism of Old England:to the perilsthat beset it, and when the mischief has been done, it will betoo late. To set a watch after the thief has entered anc1spoiled the house; to value the privilege after it has departed;to lock the stable-door after the steed has been stolen, ishardly policy worthy of a nation, many of whose noblestsons sealed their testimony at the stake rather than sur-render the light of revelation and liberty of conscience. Ifwe quietly cede now what they died for then, we shall notonly hand over our own dearest interests to an unscrupulousadversary and brand ourselves with disgraceful cowardice,but we shall, in effect, charge our heroic ancestors with aweakness and a fanaticism utterly unworthy of intelligentmen. Are we prepared for all this? Must we re-write thestory of the Reformation, and give an entirely new colouringto the era of persecution and the times of the Puritans?Shall we confess that the Reformation was a mistake; thatthe sufferers for conscience were under a delusion; that themen who died joyfully that the Bible might be free wereunthinking enthusiasts?Let it not be said that this is putting the matter in too

strong a light. So far from it, this light is not strongenough, for much more than this is involved .in our presentdisgraceful path. If the peerless boon of our Divine faithbe quietly given up, truth after truth, doctrine after doctrine,until nothing is left but the skeleton of a Bible without life orpower, what becomes of the Church, of liberty, of England,and of the nations that English missionaries are labouringto elevate in the scale of humanity? Let us give Romanism,or Bitualism=-for they are not two things, but one-all itasks, and where is evangelical truth? Let us give Ration-alism all it asks, and where is inspiration, miracle, atonement,salvation, peace, hope? Let us give each of the rampantheresies of this evil day all it asks, anc1 what will be left buta perfect jargon of "opinions" gilded only to bewilder,confuse, and distract? Is this the kind of legacy which theChristians of England mean to leave to their children and

84 THE BIBLE STANDARD.to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might havelife, and that they might have it more abundantly. I amthe good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth His life forthe sheep." "I lay down My life for the sheep. No mantaketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I havepower to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."Did Jesus lay down His spiritual life, or did He lay downmere happiness! Nay, it was His own" life" He laic1'downand took up again; and He likens Himself to a shepherdwho, to save his sheep, lays down his own life; unlike thehireling, who, to save His life, flies in time of danger, andallows the wolves to devour the flock. If such languagedoes not express the idea, that "life" in its ordinary sense,is the boon which Jesus laic1 down His own life to conferupon His own flock, then it is impossible to find language toexpress that idea.The beauty and force of the comparison would appear all

the more lively to a pastoral people in the East, where theattachment betwixt a shepherd and his flock seems muchstronger than in our Western clime. "Thy servant," saidthe son of Jesse to King Saul-" thy servant kept hisfather's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took alamb out of the flock; and I went after him, and smote him,and slew him. The Lord that delivered me out of the pawof the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliverme out of the hand of this Philistine."-l Sam, xvii. 34-37.David's love for this lamb of his little flock was great indeed;but how unspeakably greater is the love of Christ for ussinners, since He not only risked His life, but" laic1it c1own."He threw Himself into the lion's mouth, that His sheepmight escape. He "poured out His soul unto death,""that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, buthave everlasting life." Herein indeed is love! Contemplateit calmly and gratefully, .till tears of joy and adoration flowfrom your eyes. To save you fron the destiny of the brute,and make you a partaker of His own eternal Iife, the blessedGod sent His only begotten Son into the world, to live amortal's life and c1ie a mortal's death. He, with the. benignity of God, gave up freely not happiness alone, butlife itself, that you, through faith in Him, the risen andimmortal Christ, might, at His appearing, enter into lifethat knows no end, no sinning, and no sorrow!

o Lamb of God! was ever love like Thine!W. Laing.

THE COMING APOSTACY.

HAS the time come of which the apostle of the nations fore-warns us, when a dire apostacy from the faith once deliveredto the saints shall set in, carrying before it all our eeolesi-


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 85

their children's children? Forms without vitality, ceremonieswithout meaning, and a Bible without inspiration, are hardlyworth preserving, and our descendants will not thank us forthe gift. Gift! Why, the whole thing will simply proveto them all intolerable burden. Priestcraft on the one hand,Atheism on the other, and unblushing immorality on both,will be the consequences.

This is absolutely certain, there can be no mistake aboutit. Let him who doubts recall the story of France duringthe closing years of the last century. Let him ask whatwere the antecedents and principal features of that mostdireful story, and if he does not find Romanism and Ration-alism-otllerwise superstition and atheism-feeding thehorrors of that awful period, we have read history to verylittle purpose.

It may be suggested that superstition and atheism aremutual repellents, that they neutralise each other, and that,therefore, the union of their evil energies in the future ofEngland is impossible. Wllat harmony can there be, it willbe asked, between a priesthood whose entire pretensionsrest upon the supernatural, and the school of rationalistswhose distinctive dogma is a denial of the supernatural?Let not the objector be offended if we tell him that histhought in this instance is superficial, that he is viewingmatters on the surface, and that consequently, his questionhas no real force. The common adage that extremes meethas often been illustrated in this very region of thought, andthe action and reaction of credulity and infidelity upon oneanother is a well-known fact in the history of many minds.

Nay, so deep is our conviction on this point that we con-sider tile intellectual pride that ignores tile supernatural,and the priestly arrogance that assumes Divine prerogatives,as unconsciously, but most certainly, working in to eachother's hands. How this is we shall not attempt to showat present; but those of our countrymen who expect to seethe pretensions of Rome scattered to the winds by the laboursof men who deny all the peculiar doctrines of the NewTestament, are thoroughly mistaken. Be assured thatInfidelity is not the weapon with which to beat back Popery;but that, on the contrary, unbelief steadily and surelyprepares the way for over-belief, credulity, priestly assump-tion.

If we are to be true to ourselves, our country, our God,we must hold to the revelation of life and immortality whichhas been given us in the gospel; we must contend earnestlyfor the faith in its purity and entirety, not for man's import-ations into it, but for the glorious thing itself, without whichlife is the poorest thing imaginable; we must put on thefull armour provided by heaven's love for the Christiansoldier, and we must fight with" the sword of the Spirit,"which is the word of GQd.-Dr. W. Leark, in " The Hainbou:"

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD." If a man die, shall he live again?" This is one of the

most interesting and important questions relating to ourrace propounded in heaven or on the earth. Upon its truth-ful answer depends the existence of a future state to them,If the dead do not re-live, they are" perished," and there isno future life or experience for them. If tile dead do liveagain, there is for them a future existence of some kind, andin some condition. To believe that there is no future lifefor us produces a dark shade over this life; for we-know itis very brief at longest, and not secured to us an hour fromthe present. This short period, full of sadness, is all thatwe can have; the future is a dark blank, an eternal silence.Death is the ending of life, the cessation of the ction of ifeforces, so that the results of that action cease. "j1:andieswhen the pulsative forces cease, so that tile life fluid stopscirculating, which produced sight, hearing, and all theIruite

, of life. In death there can be no results of life, as seeing,and hearing, for then it would not be death. A living treeproduces foliage and fruit; but a dead tree can produceneither. Life means force, action; death means theopposite, absence of force, no action. All intelligence is thefruit of life forces, and cannot exist without them. Athought cannot be produced without a design and a powerto execute it; for nothing can produce itself. Happinessand woe result from intelligence, the volume of eachdepends upon the degree of intelligence producing them.The Scriptures represent the dead as having neither know-ledge, wisdom, or device. They~'are represented as being inthe land of " darkness" and "siLence;" that is, wherethey can neither see nor hear. Their thoughts are repre-sented as perishing the very day they die, and that theycease to remember and praise God.

Death is a terrible enemy to our race, an exterminationof life, intelligence, society, happiness, and all that can bedesired. It is a terrible foe to fallen humanity, and weinstincti vely fear it, .notwithstanding our arguments todisprove its fearful results. Human theology and poetrymay call it the gate to endless joys; but God 'represents itas a punishment for sin. Men, in their dreams, talk of theloveliness of death, and their triumphs in his embrace ; .butwhen they are awakened by the heavy tread of his approach,and feel the smart of his sting, they recoil under the pre-sence of his iron hand, and seek protection from his fataldarts.

The Gospel hope is hinged upon the resurrection of thedead, and depends upon nothing else, for Paul says, " If tiledead rise not, then is not Christ raised; and if Christ is notraised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Thenthey also which are fallen asleep [have died] in Christ areperished." The apostle's argument is logical and conclu"


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o thou conquering Immanuel, thou spoiler of death andexterminator of the curse, come back to our dark worldand illuminate it with Thy heavenly radiance. Awake theechoes of Thy life-giving voice, and let Lazarus hear itagain! Visit our planet once more, the world where Thymother su .ered the pangs that gave Thee birth, and herheart-grief-Sauaed tears of anguish at Thy death! 0 Jesus!we do not pray for Thy returning that our soil may be wetwith Thy tears and erimsoned with Thy blood, or themountains echo with the plaintive songs of Thy night-longprayers; nor would we have Thee drink our vinegar andgall, and suffer the terrible pangs of death for rebels again;. .but we pray that Thou wouldst come to raise our dead andgive us a sinless and eternal kingdom. 0 come speedily, forThy espoused Bride is exposed to dangerous snares, and iswatching at her altar with tears and prayers day and nightfor Thy appearing.-J. Couch.

86 THE BIBLE STANDARD.

sive, that if there be no such an event as a re-living of thedead, then no one has thus re-lived; consequently the faithwhich is produced by evidence that Christ was resurrected"in vain" (false), and the preaching of the Gospel wasvain, for it all rested upon an event which had not andcould not take place. This also proved that those who haddied in the hope of a resurrection had perished; for it wasthe only legitimate hope they had of life and happinessbeyond death. Not one ray of divine light has ever fallenupon men giving them a hope of a future existence beyonddeath without a resurrection.

All would be darkness beyond the terrible threshold, wereit not for the glorious radiance from a resurrected Christ.He opened the door of hope for a bright and happy futurefor a redeemed race. The day of His re-living is the grandanniversary of our world. The dawning awakened themelodies of .heaven, as the angel-honoured head arose fromthe sepulchral pillow by the power of an endless life. Thatwas the glorious epoch which gave our world an opensepulchre. The seal of Satan was broken, the bars of hischarnel-house were rent asunder, the tree of hope wasplanted by the river of eternal life, the triumphs ofImmanuel were written in the book of God.

Then let Satan rush through the field of blood, and roaras a hungry lion devouring his prey; he bears the captive'schain, held by the changeless purpose of God, and will soonreach the limit of his destructive work.

Standing at the parting of the river in Eden, andhearing the seducing words of the serpent, and seeing therebellion of sinners, and hearing the immortal sentence ofJehovah which blighted a beautiful world and draped it inthe darkness of night, and beholding it drifting downthrough six millenaries of earthly woes, witnessing therelentless work of death; gathering the generations intothe vast store-house of oblivion, the question seems to berepeated by countless voices of angels and men-" If a mandie, shall he live again?" The answering note from thethrone of Omnipotence, through His prophet; sweeter thanthe temple and morning music, is heard, saying, " Thy deadmen shall live." Glorious answer! Echo it, ye servants ofGod, to weeping humanity! Sound it in the ears of thewidow and fatherless! Proclaim upon the mountain topthat the Crucified will spoil death and rob the grave! Thenby faith we will wait by the sepulchre of Abraham, until heand Sarah shall stand up in immortality. The dreamlesssleep of Daniel will soon end by limitation, and the tombs ofthe countless dead be opened. Wonderful thought! Sub-lime anticipation! Hope of the Church! Glorious jubileefor the dead! We wait with earnest longings for its dawn-ing; to feel the vibrations of its rending; to hear thematchless music of its greetings, aad the swelling sounds ofits triumphs.

FORESHADOWINGS OF COMING EVENTS.

THEREexists at the present moment a prevalent impressionamong God', people, that important events are at hand,-that a crisis, greater than any which has appeared since thebeginning of time, is fast approaching, and that, howeverlong or short in continuance, it will result in the discomfitureof the enemies of God, and the deliverance and enlargementof His people. We hear of this expectation from the eastand from the west, from the north and from the south. Itis a conviction which has forced itself upon their considera-tion-which has sprung up spontaneously in their minds.We find a definite expectation of events, great and terrible,coupled with most undefined conceptions respecting theparticular forms they may assume,-a clear apprehension oftheir general character, bearing, and results, united withobscurity of vision in regard to their special attributes andaccompaniments; a remarkable unity of sentiment as tocharacteristic features, with some diversity as to subordinatedetails. This state of mind which pervades the Christianworld is precisely that which we ought to expect on the eveof an era so momentous. It is sufficient to stimulateprayer and intelligent observation, whilst it neither interferes.with freedom of action, nor with the due performance ofpublic duty.

Whence comes a unanimity so marvellous-a consentalmost universal? Doubtless the same reasons essentiallyhave, at one time or other, entered the hearts of all, anddetermined their judgment. But few comparatively mayhave given themselves the trouble to trace their convictionto its source, to distinguish its several grounds, and to sumthem up in order.-Signs of our Times.


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THE BIBLE STANDARD. 87"THE EARTHLY HOUSE OF THIS

TABERNACLE."LETus now give our attention to the consideration of 2 Cor.v. 1-8. 'Phe apostle having asserted his confidence in theresurrection of the dead, proceeds further to say, "For weknow that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis-solved, we have a building of God, a house not made withhands, eternal in the heavens."

The imagery here used-for the language is obviouslyfigurative-compares the believer in the present state ofexistence to an "earthly house" which may be dissolved;and in the next, as "a building of God, a house not madewith hands," which, unlike the former, is eternal, andcannot be dissolved.

As if Paul had said,- What though our prese1it nature bedissolved in death? We know that God has provided anothernature, an incorruptible and immortal one, which He willbestow upon us, when He raises us up by Jesus at theresurrection. He evidently is speaking of the two bodies towhich he alludes in 1 Cor. xv. 44-" There is a natural body,and there is a spiritual body." In the second verse he says:" For in this [mortal state] we groan, earnestly desiring tobe clothed upon with [immortality] our house which is fromheaven. For we that are in this tabernacle [dwelling hereas mortal beings] do groan, being burdened: not for thatwe would be unclothed, but clothed upon [with immortality] ,that mortalitu might be swallowed up of life. Therefore weare are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are athome in the body [that is, whilst we are possessed of thisearthly and mortal nature], we are absent from the Lord:(for we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, Isay, and willing rather to be absent from the body [that isfrom our' natural body' or corruptible nature] and to bepresent with the Lord," when "mortality shall be swallowedup of life."

In this passage the apostle contrasts the present bodywith the next; the natural body with the spiritual; the mortalnature with the immortal. "For," said he, "we must allappear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyonemay receive the things done in his body, according to that hehath done, whether good or bad."

This seems to be the sense of the text, and to be in strictagreement with what Paul says elsewhere. Let us glancebriefly at the popular interpretation of this ill-used passage.Orthodox expositors, with their notions of the duality ofman, use the phrases" clothed upon," "absent from," "athome in," as strictly literal expressions; and hence theyspeak of that which is "clothed upon,"-that which is"absent from,"-that which is at home in,"-and this some-thing they insist is the immortal soul of man. The imageryof clothiru; was in familiar use amongst the ancient Hebrews,and for modern expositors to use such obviously figurative

expressions in a literal sense is to violate one of the estab-lished rules of interpretation. Nor can such an interpretationbe carried through this passage without contradiction orabsurdity. It is popularly said that death

" Strikes off our chains, breaks up our cell,And gives us with our God to dwell."

And the first verse in the passage under consideration isoften quoted as proof. But we are not to go to heaven to be"clothed upon with our house," for this house is " From .heaven." The object of being" clothed upon with our housewhich is from heaven" is, that" mortality might be swal-lowed up of life." Hence it follows, that our house fromheaven is an expression to denote the immortality with whichif faithful we shall be invested at the resurrection. If theexpression" earthly house" denotes the present mortal body,the contrasted expression of "a building of God" mustindicate an immortal body.

But if the disembodied soul at death takes possession ofits immortal body in heaven, it follows, that at the resur-rection there will be two bodies for each soul-the immortalbody in heaven, and the resurrection body. This wouldcontradict the orthodox theory, but favour that of ProfessorBush and others, who assert that the resurrection of eachindividual takes place' at death.

Once more: if it be affirmed that it is the S01il that is"clothed upon" with an "earthly house" in this life, andthat after death it is clothed upon with a " building of God,"then consistency demands that the affirmant shall forthwithdiscard the notion of the soul's immortality; for it is written"this mortal must put on immortality." That which is"clothed upon;" then "this something within," call it thesoul if you please, must put on immortality, and is itself called"this mortal."

This noted passage, then, so far from proving the populardoctrine of immortality, is directly opposed to it; and thuswe are brought to the conclusion, that the New Testamentdoctrine of the resurrection of the dead is irreconcilablyopposed to the immortality of the souL-Extracted fromTVhitmOl'e 's Doctrine of Immortality.

THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA.EARTHknows no hiding place like ocean's depths. Thedimpled hand of infancy may there so conceal the costliestgem that only Omniscience can discover, and Omnipotence

. restore it, Art, science, wisdom, and ingenuity, may taxtheir utmost energies, and still the sea retains its treasures,and keeps its secrets safe. Nothing sinking by its ownweight into that soft bed of finest sand which carpets theocean's floor, has power ever to rise again: Covered by thatvast "cushion" of condensed water, incompressible byhuman power, but compressed in the hollow of the Almighty's


8/8

88 THE BIBLE STANDARD.hand to lie between the tidal surgings and the ocean's base,-gold is strewn uncounted, and treasures lie unwatched,where spoilers cannot enter, nor thieves break through andsteal.Into those waveless, tideless, stormless, silent depths,what multitudes have gone down! But of all those hosts,none have returned to tell the secrets of that hiding place.Kings and nobles, warriors thirsting for blood, and plunder-

ers laden with spoils, argosies of precious treasure, anddevastating ships of war,-all these have plunged downwardsto those silent realms. One eye alone can see that wastedwealth; one arm alone can reach those scattered spoils;one voice alone can wake the silence of those awful depths;one mandate alone can summon forth the slumberers there,-His mandate, His voice, which all that are in the gravesshall hear, and at which the sea shall give up the dead whichare therein, to stand in judgment at the great white throne.But awful and shadowy as is ocean's solemn mystery,there is one Scripture of which it reminds us, that brings tous unspeakable consolation.Hear it, 0 ye tempted, lost, and troubled souls. Hear it,ye against whom Satan roars in fury, and against whom he

plots ill guile. Hear it, ye whose eyes grow dim with thememories of evil days gone by, and whose penitential heartsyet quake with solemn fear in view of coming wrath andcoming doom. Hear it, ye forgiven ones, who yet lay holdon pardon with a trembling hand, and remember with tearsof shame the pit where once you lay :-"Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity,and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of Hisheritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because Hedelighteth in mercy. He will turn again, HE WILL HAVECOMPASSIONPONus; He will subdue our iniquities; andThou wilt CASTALL THEIR SINS into the DEPTHS OFTHE SEA."-1I1icah vii. 18-19.They are gone, thank God! let them go down, down,

down, to unfathomable depths, whence men nor devilscannot bring them back. " As far as the east is from thewest" they are removed. "Their sins and their iniquitieswill I remember no more," and "Who [now] shall layany thing to the charge of God's elect?" "Behold theLamb of God that taketli away the sills of the world."-Hible Echo.

WANTED.

G OD give us men! A time like this demandsStrong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands;Men whom the lust of office does not kill ;Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;Men who possess opinions and a will ;Men who have honour; men who will not lie ;Men who can stand before a demagogue,And spurn his treacherous flatteries without winking;Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fogIn public duty, and in private thinking;For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,Their large professions, and their little deeds,Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps.

Dr. Holland.

PUBLIOATIONSBy H. CON S TAB L E, M.A.,

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MENT. 5th Edition, 340 pp. An elaborate argument touchinthe Punishment of the Unsaved. It is particularly fine inphilological chapters respecting the meaning of the Greek worused by the inspired writers to indicate the doom of the loPrice 3s. 6d.

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NOTICE.- It is proposed to hold a Conference of Believersin the Truths advocated by this paper, in the month oSeptember next, in Lincoln. Friends desirous of takingpart therein, are requested to communicate with the Editorat once. Further particulars will be announced in our nextPrinted bv CHARLES AKRILL, Silver Street, Lincoln; and pub

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Bible Standard August 1878

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Transcript of Bible Standard August 1878