Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-08-31
on IMMORTALITY.



In secordAnoe With previous announce
nent. Rev J. +. Gilbert preachsd yesterday
morning On ~Does mans spirit sgFylye hls
body, OF does death end slls" he toOk for
his te1t Eccissiastes Al. Than shall the
dust return 10 the earth a. II wss; and tue
spirit shall return unto God who gave it. !"
Sooner or later, the preacher proceeded ~
say, every man must stand before tomb
stoAe- he cannot 30 around il. lie must
20 under IL The question ARISES does aN
end then, or Is there something that viii hse
on. No one can avoid thinking on this sub
ject III We open the word Of 1od Nc shall
ind an immediate answer. The scripture
teaches that mans nature L. dual. We may
be able perhaps 10 show this morning that
the whole teaching OF the Bible Ii that man
has these two natures, one OF which lives on
after death. God says that after he had
made man he breathed into him the
breath of life. 80 farther on III Is said that
"Enoch walked with God" showing that
there was then belief III higher hfe.
Later on the figure Is made showing that
man Is only soJourner here. Da-
yld says, Thou shalt receive me into
glory" Though | walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, | will tear no evil"
II shall be satisfied when shall rise IN Thy
likeness" Daniel says, They that be wise
shall shine as the brightness OF the firma-
ment, and they that turn many TO righteous
ness, as the stars forever and ever" Surely
our Lord believed ia future hfe. In con
troyersies with the Sadducees who antagon-
lied the doctrine, he gave his views. On
two different occasions he gave pictures of
the future life. IF in this life only We
have hope, We are of all men most miser-
able" Numerous illustrations of this kind
.Bx At4s sH.zr ha
was uniform throughout the whole scripture.
liz was not asserted but assumed. This
establishes the doctrine unless We throw our
Bibles away. But there are some
who will not be satisfied with this. We will
20 further, therefore. No man has ever
proved TO his own satisfaction that there IL
no future life. But there are those who have
cast doubt on this subject. These are ma
terialists. They say that there is nothing but
matter in the world. They say man has
been developed from inferior forms, and that
finally matter has in II all the forces of life.
This brain of man has been analyzed by
chemists. Suppose that all thought, all
spirit manifestations, are but the secretion
of the brain. Then why cannot thought be
educed from "A combination of the chemical
elements contained in the brain! Further,
man has a moral nature. Some of his acts
his moral nature approves; others II con-
demns. IL all come from his material ma
ture, how account for that which condemns
his acts? Ii the mind is a result of matter,
the mir Amust be inferior; but on the other
hand the spirit acts the superior. Then,
if the spirit were the result of
matter, the spirit would grow infrm
rs the body grows infirm. Again, the mem
ory controverts the doctrine of materialism.
Materialists say that the mind is a tablet on
which the thoughts are impressed. What an
immense tablet this must be, But suppose
this TO be possible. psychologists tell Us that
the whole system changes once In every
seven years. Then the memory should
change with it. The whole materialist doc
trine breaks down. The indestructibiity of
matter confirms this theory of the immortal
ity of the soul. If the matter is indestructi-
ble shall we not believe that the higher ele-
ment. the spirit, is also indestructible?
Shall the bird die because the cage Is de-
stroyed? Mans habit of fore-casting, of
looking TO the future, tends TO show that
that there is, when man dies, still future
before him. Every life needs future to
he dies. Again, the concurrent belief of
men IN a future life. confirms our theory.
This belief is universal. We cannot account
for il If there is no future life. The preacher
quoted confessions of future life from
atheists. To all this, the testimony of
Christians of all ages Is added. Can IL be
that the thousands who have willingly laid
down their lives in the hope of future have
been so grievoCsly mistaken?