Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-02-06


sons, God hath sent forth tho spirit of His son
into our hearts, whereby we call him Abba
Father Jesus OF Nazareth, man approved of
God, of the seed of Abraham, was tempted in all
free from sin, he was holy, harmless, undehled,
and separate from sinners. He came not to do
His own will but the will of Him that sent Him.
And this is the will of Him that sent Him that
every one which seeth the son and believeth on
Him that sent Him may have everlasting life, and
shall not como into condemnation, but is passed
from death unto life. And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in tho wilderness, so shall the son
of man be lifted up that whosoever belieyetl ON
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This WAS certainly good news glad tidings of
great joy to poor. perishing mortal? 10 live
forever was certainly u new and exceedingly in
terestlng feature in the ministry of Jesus.
But how was this to brought about2 What
agencies were to be employed III its accomplish
ments? First. Death must be abolished, and
life and Immortality brought to light. And this
was one of tho wonderful works which God did
by or through Jesus whom he brought again from
the dead that great shepherd of tho Sheep"
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know as
suredly that God hath made this same Jesus
whom ye have cruciiied both Lord and Christ
And that He hath appointed n day in which Ho
will judge Cor rule) tho world i'll righteousness
by that man whom He hath ordained whereof
he hath given iance unto all men, i'll that He
hath ras cd him from the dead" But why raise
HIM from tho dead? Because his soul was ex-
ceedingly sorrowful even unto death-Ilis soul
was made all offering for sin-IIiB soul was
poured out unto death. And the divine yeracity
stands pledged that His soul shall not be left III
hell, Qdes) the state of the dead, neither should
His holy ono SEQ corruption.
Now as jesus was the seed of Abraham, the
son of the Virgin Mary, lle was not immortal
consequently He was subject to death, not as a
sinner, for he knew no sin, but because Of his
mortality. His immortality was subsequent
matter, and was definitely expressed in these
words, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither shall thine holy one sec corruption"
Hence He was declared to be tho son of God
with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by tho resurrection from tho dead" And this
constitutes Him n high priest forever "wbo is
made not after the law OF II carnal commandment,
but after the power OF all endless life" And
hero We SEQ an evidence of ''tho mighty power
Of God which He wrought i'll Christ when lie
raised him from the dead"
The resurrection from the dead, then, is not
tho escape Of an imaginary conscious soul. or
ghost, or spirit, from its prison house, but the
reviuiication of that once mortal body, its COM
plete and perfect endowment with the attribute
of Immortality, of which the risen body of Jesus
is the perfect pledge and pattern. Our bodies,
mot spirits) are to be fashioned like unto His
glorious body. Hence, Jesus is the only being
IN tho universe so far as We can learn from scrip
ture, who call now say, g / am He that livetll
and was dead, and behold l am alive foreyei-
more" "Death hath no more dominion over
ulln. Anu VIII LOu DTluD hballl from lue tiehu
that great shepherd of the sheep, and never
bring the sheep where both shepherd and sheep
shall enjoy their promised everlasting inherl-
tance? believe he will. "1'ilo first fruits,
guarantee the harvest, but not Il harvest OF
ghosts. "The first born from tho dead IL
efficient surity that a nation shall be born at
once" and this nation is composed of - the
church of the first born, which are written i'll
heaven Their names arc there. but they them
selves are represented AZ groaning, both those
In
flesh, waiting. to wit, for tho redemption Of
the body"
Inherent immortality, then, as applied to man,
is simply the invention of human philosophy. Ii
has not oven the shadow of truth in scripture.
God only hath Immortality, and when he raised
up the Lord Jesus from the dead then, GAS tho
Father hath life in himself, 80 hath lie given TO
the Son to have life in himself, and hath given
him authority to execute Judgment ALSO because
lie il the son of man,"
Now, dear friends, arc we willing to seek by
patient continuance in well doing for immortali-
ty? Are we content to wait until this mortal
shall put on Immortality? Can wo believe that
God only hath Immortality? And do we,wil we.
believe these truths, and believing. clay hold
on the hope which is set before us-the hope OF
eternal life, which is the gift of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord? And as we honor the
Father, let ns do 30 by honoring Him, who
brought life and Immortality to light, as sent by
the Father for the special purpose of executing
His fathers will and raising up from the dead at
the last day. all that the Father has given him.
To all them, he says, 'bocause l live ye shall
1.-Two Also" 81 am come that they might have
life, and have it more abundantly." :" lay down
my life for the sheep" Now, If the Father did
send Jesus into tho world to accomplish His Will,
and in the faithful performance of that duty of
bearing Testimony to the truth, llo became the
object of hatred and bitter persecution and final
crucfxion on the cross, then tho Father had u
perfect right to raise him from the dead, exalt
him and give him a name Which is above every
name and to make this samo Jesus both Lord
and Christ The highest honor, which we can
bestow upon the Father is to accept His son, our
elder BROTHER and ejolce in the fact that II man,
a human being, by divine appointment, has be-
come tho author of eternal life to all them that
obey him." This is tho Lords doing, and it is
marvellous i'll our eyes"
Them tho doctrine of Inherent immortality in
man finds its deathblow in that divine announce
ment, "Thou shalt surely die, for dust thou art
and unto dust shalt thou rctuin." And 80
prophets understood it when directed by Jehovah
to say, "The soul that sinneth it shall die" So
apostles understood it when they said "The wa
ges of sin is DEATH" This is tho law of sin, the
enemy, tho adv ersary, the devil which has the
power of death, the executor of the divine law,
appointed by God himself to prevent the peIpe-
tuity of sin and consequent misery, for as the
dust of sleeping saints cannot praise God, 30
neither can the dead dust of sinners curse Him,
and as they remain eternally dead they must be
eternally silent, eternaly punished with death
But when Christ who is the life OF all his peo-
pie, shall appear and the sleeping saints are raised
immortal, then in the new heavens and on the
new earth, that part of Johns Apocalyptic vision
will then bo complete. "And every creature
which is in heaven, and on tho earth. and under
the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all
that arc in them heard l saying, " Blessing, and
honor and glory, and power be unto Him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the lamb for
ever and ever" Then, like Christ, They which
shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world
Cor age) and the resurrection from the dead,
are equal unto the angels neither can they dc
anymore. and they are tho children of God, be-
ing the children of tho resurrection"
We have thus examined all the passages wiler9-
in tho term immortality occurs i'll the bible, and
we have seen their united Testimony against tho
doctrine in question. Nor can We find in any
other passage i'll the ontirc bible such words used
as ''immortal soul, "never dying soul, " death
less spirit" "undying spirit" or "a death which
never, never dies" All such phraseology has
asked the question from whence its origin? We
sh uld unhesitatngy say that it was conceived
and born in sin, and is the legitimate offspring
of tho carnal mind, and as such it s not subject
to the law of God neither indeed can be. IL
had the amazing effrontery to contradict Je-
hovah by saying, ''ye shall not surely die, and
by this diabolical act, was introduced "enmity'
between truth and error, obedience and disobe-
dience which must continue until the lamb with
wounded heel, shall como with majestic tread,
as tho Lion of the tribe of Jehoya, and shall
sweep away this refuge of lies, and break this
covenant with death, and this agreement with
hell, and finally and forever crush the head of
that wily SERPENT, who stWaS n liar from the be-