TIIE
Issued monthly by "The Bible Standard Publication Society," Lincoln.
EDITED
Geo. A. BROWN, Pastor of Mint Lane Baptist Church, Lincoln.
THE BIBLE ST.DIDARDis devoted to the exposition of Biblical Truth, especially the doctrine of Conditional
the Dead, the Final Destrnction of the Wicked, the ~igns of the Times, the Second Coming of Christ, and His Personal
" The Wages of Sin is Death; but the gift of Goel is Eternal
No. 10. JULY, 1878.
OUR OPPONENTS.
MR. J. PLUMTREE,of this city, has just published a pamphlet
of 42 pages, entitled, "Modern Thought Examined upon
Three Important Questions, viz: Is the Soul Immortal? Is a
State of Happiness or Misery entered upon immediately after
Death? Are Rewards and Punishments Everlasting? "
We regret that Mr. Plum tree should have undertaken to
criticise what he calls error, without first having become
conversant with the position which he seems to think has
been exploded by his masterly arguments (?) We think,
however, that he has not touched the question, for he first
assumes his postulate and then reasons from it. We wish
that our opponents would take the trouble to understand our
position, before they either speak or write against us, it
would then, at all events, save them a great deal of error,
and us annoyance. Logical arguments, brought to bear upon
our true position, would have some weight with us, but, as it
is, men blunder away and knock down what they themselves
set up, and then they leave the field, feeling that they have
given us our death blow, whereas th-y have only made
themselves and their theory more ridiculous than before.
Mr. Plumtree writes as if we admitted that, man was a
twin being, that he possessed a spiritual being inside the
physical, and that at death we believed that both died and
went into the grave. We believe no such thing, but, on the
contrary, we accept the record given by Moses, that" God
formed man out of the dust of the ground." There can be no
mistake in this language. Whatever the man is, he was
formed out of the dust of the ground, with all his functions
perfect; he was man before "God breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life," but lifeless; the act of breathing the
breath of life, or Spirit of life, on the part of God, into man's
nostrils, caused him to live, or to become a living creature or
soul. Mark well the grammatical sense of this passage:
that which God formed out of the dust became the" living
soul," and not what He breathed into him.
BY
Immortality, the literal Resurrection of
Reign on earth.
Life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Price Id.
The reasoning of Mr. Plum tree and his school of theo-'
logical thought, makes it that God first formed a house
out of the dust, after which God breathed into this house an
immortal soul, which is the real man, who takes his
departure at death to some spirit world, "beyond the bounds
of time and space."
Now, we challenge the so-called orthodox world to prove
this. It is true that Mr. Plumtree says of the soul, that it
is "That spiritual, immaterial, thinking, vital, responsible,
accountable, active principle or subsistence in man which
perceives, remembers, reasons, imagines, compares, lives,
hopes, fears, desires, resolves, judges, adores, and which,
from its capabilities of thought, volition, and conscious
personality, is brought into some resemblance to its Divine
Creator, and is, therefore,. immortal." He then quotes
A. Barnes, who says, "The word soul, with us, means the
thinking, the immortal part of man, and is applied to it,
whether existing in connection with the body, or whether
separate from it."
We should at once be convinced, if Moses, or Christ, or
Paul, had saic1 all this of the assumed immortal soul, but as
it is, it is Mr. Plumtree who says it, and we are not prepared
just yet, to accept the statement of a man who professes to
gather his information from the Bible, which says nothing
at all of the kind.
When we turn to the Book, we finc1that the Hebrew word
" nephesh " of the 0lc1 Testament, from which our English
word soul is translated, occurs about 700 times, and is
rendered soul 471 times; life and living about 150 times;
and the same word is.also rendered a man, a person, self,
they, me, him, anyone, breath, heart, mind, appetite, the
body (dead or alive), lust, creature, and even a beast; for it
is 28 times applied to beasts anc1 to every creeping thing.
The Greek word "psuchee" of the New Testament cor-
responc1enc1s with "nephesh" of the 0lc1. It occurs 105
bimes, anc1 is rendered soul 59 times, and life 40 times.
74 THE BIBLE
The same word is also rendered mind, us, you, heart,
heartily, and is twice applied to the beasts that perish.
" Pstichikas," an adjective derived from "psuchee," occurs
6 times, and is translated natural and sensual. It may be
worthy of Mr. Plumtree's notice, after his having given us
such an elaborate description of what the soul is, that in all
the 700 times which" nephesh " occurs, and the 105 times
of "psuchee," not once is the word "immortal," or "im-
mortality," or "deathless," or "never-dying" found in
connection, as qualifying the term. How then can we
accept Mr. Plumtree's qualification of the soul?
We wonder if Mr. Plumtree believes that animals have
immortal souls? Sometimes we are led to believe
that he does, and then again we are thrown into doubt.
We are led to believe that he does from the fact that,
in his description of the soul, he makes "thought,"
,. love," "fear," "memory," "volition," "resolution,"
attributes of the immortal soul, and neither he nor
we can doubt for a moment but that many of the animals
possess these powers. Then again we are almost compelled
to think that Mr. Plumtree believes in the immortality of
animals, by his reasoning on page 16. We mean the clause
in which he is going to sweep away this "soul-sleeping
rubbish." He tells us that" when men die, their SPIRITS go
UPWARDS, in the contrary direction of the SPIRITS of beasts,
which go DOWNWARDS." By the by, Solomon was not quite
so sure about this as Mr. Plnmtree seems to be, for Solomon
puts it in the form of a question.
And further, Solomon plainly declared his view of the
matter in the previous verses, for he says :-" For that
which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one
thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other;
yea, they have all one breath (or spirit); so that a man hath
no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go
unto one place; all are of the dust, and' all turn to dust
again."-Eccl. iii. 19-20.
It then 'seems to us that Solomon, in verse 21, turns
round upon some who evidently entertained like views with
Mr. Plumtree, and demands their evidence for such a creed.
We are plainly told by Mr. Plum tree that the spirits oj
men go upwards. By this we' are to understand that
the spirit which goeth upuiards is the real man, the ego, the
active, thinking, loving, fearing creature, which had been
imprisoned in its house of clay for a number of years, but
now had gotten its freedom.
Then if the spirit of the man is the ego, the real man
himself, what will Mr. Plumtree say about the spirit of the
beast that goeth downwards. Is this the real animal going
down to some animal spirit-land somewhere in the bowels
of the earth? We should like to know what Mr. Plumtree's
views are upon this subject.
We stated that we had doubts as to Mr. Plumtree's belief
STANDARD.
in the immortality of animals, from other- things which we
read in his pamphlet. For instance, on page 5, when giving
some of the senses in which the word soul is used in the
Scripture,' he says :-" In a still more subordinate sense
beasts have a soul, a spirit, a life ascribed to them in the
Scriptures. Surely," he says, "because the term' soul' is
applied in an ACCOMMODATED SENSE to irrational creatures, [the
italics are ours] that is no reason why it should not be used
in its highest sense when applied to man, who was made in
the image of God."
We should like to know why Mr. Plumtree says that the
term" soul" is applied to the animal creation in an accoln-
inodated sense. Perhaps his theory demands this assertion,
but he never got it from inspired men, " who wrote as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit."
It is strange that we find the original word "nephesh,"
from which our word" soul" is translated, used by Moses
five times when speaking of the animal creation in Gen. i.
The fact is, that animals are called souls before man was
created, and yet Mr. Plum tree says that the word is ouly
used, in an accommodated sense. From this we must
presume that Moses had no other word in his vocabulary to
call the animals by. Our English translators, however, have
managed to help Moses out of this dilemma by translating
"nephesh," in Gen. i., into' the English word creauu:e, and
when they come in contact with the same word used in
regard to man, Gen. ii. 7, they translate the word" nephesh"
into our English word" soul."
The higher sense of which Mr. Plumtree speaks we pre-
sume is the" soul's immortality." Therefore, at this stage
of his argument, we are thrown into doubt, for he does not
wish us here to think that he believes in the immortality of
animals at all.
But if "love," "fear,"" volition," "memory," &c., are
attributes of immortality, how is it that animals possess the
above-mentioned attributes without being immortal? It
does not seem unreasonable for us to ask that, if organised
matter, vitalized by the breath of the Almighty, can possess
love, fear, memory, &c.; in the animal, eannot that same
power which gave love, fear, memory. &c., to the
beasts, give those faculties, and others, in a larger
degree of fulness, to other organized and vitalized matter?
and has it not been exerted when God out of the
dust formed the grandest monument of His creative energy,
namely, man, and then breathed into that already formed
man, made capable by his organic structure to perform all
the mighty acts which he since his entrance into this world
has performed after having been made alive by the inbreath-
ing of the spirit of life from his Creator ? Can he not be all
he is without the importation of a spiritual, immortal man,
residing in the earth-formed structure? We think he can
and is, for we have only to look at the animal made capable
 THE BIBLE STANDARD. 75

by its, Creator to perform some things that man cannot do what we do, we do in order to elicit truth for its own sake;
with all his greatness, and yet there are few who believe in our aim is to try to bring us all to walk in the same line,
the immortality of animals. And if they have been created each' one according as they have won a good decree in
by God to use one attribute (which Mr. Plumtree believes Christ Jesus.
alone belongs to immortality) without being immortal, then 1.
may not and is not man made capable of using, say, twenty THE FIRST LINE IS: THAT THE PORTION OF THE NEW

attributes without necessarily being immortal? and in the TESTANIE:oiT SCRIPTURES, NAMED" THE GOSPELS," CONTAIN AN

absence of Scriptural testimony relating to the assumed ACCOUNT', NEARLY ENTIRELY so, OF THE SAYINGS AND DOINGS

immortality. of man, we feel it our imperative duty to cry, OF JESUS, THE OHRIST, AMONG THE JEWS.

with the prophet of old, "All flesh is as grass, and all the Not among the Gentiles. It is remarkable that Jesus did
'glory of man as the flower of the grass." Yea, we feel not, during His lifetime, nor in any after manifestations,
impelled, with the Gospel message in our hands, to pro- did not manifest Himself to the Gentiles. The commence-
claim to man, that in the first Adam he is but a mortal ment of His mission to the earth began in Jewry, and by
perishing creature, but that he may become like unto the Himself was carried to no other country. The news
second Adam, at the resurrection of the just, for those who concerning Himself was left to be given by His followers,
are in Christ at that day will be M;\.DEirnmortal, or put on who had been commanded to do so, to others.
immortality and incorruptibility. Now Death reigns, God Il.
taketh away man's breath (or spirit, or life); he returns to THE SECOND LINE IS: THAT THE PORTION OF THE NEW
his earth, and in that very day his thoughts perish."- TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES, NAMED" THE ACTS OF THE ApOSTLES,"
Psalm cx.lvi. 4; Psalm lxv. 17; Eccl. ix. 10. CONTaIN AN ACCOUNT OF THE RESULT OF APOSTOLIC TEACHING
We are sorry to say that Mr. Plumtree says nothing about IN THE GATHERTNG OUT OF PERSONS IN VARIOUS PLACES, WHO
the Gospel hope of the resurrection, and the second coming BECOME FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, THE OHRIST.
of our dear Lord and Master to raise our dead ones, but in
Not among the Gentiles at first. The order of proceedure
their stead he gives us the bare assumption of a poor mortal
is always the same: to the Jew first, to the Gentile next,
man, that, at death, we are sent in some spirit form either
In the Acts oj the Apostles, as soon as the Apostle Peter has
to heaven or hell. May the Lord of life and glory give the
admitted the first Gentile into fellowship, any further record
Church more light, and may they see that His purpose is to
of the Apostle's work among the Gentiles ceases; it is Paul
bestow upon the faithful "the gift" of immortality at the
who has to do the work among the Gentiles, and he proceeds
coming of our only Life-giver, Jesus.
in the same manner: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
We hope to give our friends and opponents a complete
At present I do not enquire as to whether there is any
answer to Mr. Plumtree's pamphlet in due time.
reason for this plan, b~t mark the plain fact set before us.
Ill.
•
THE THIRD LINE IS: THAT THE PORTION Ol!' THE NEW

TESTAMENT SClUPTURES, NAMED "THE EPISTLES," ARE

OHRIST: A:\fD, THE BODY.
LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THOSE WHO HAD AVOWED THEMSELVES

AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, THE CHRIST, AND TO NONE ELSE.

FOR those who have read the preceding paper, contributed
by myself to the "Bible Standard," the paper I now submit
for earnest thought, is intended, as a sequel to it, and not
otherwise.
Note well, that the New Testament Scriptures arrange
themselves into four well-defined lines. It is for us to
well consider these four clear-cut lines, and remember them
in any argument we may use, or any discourse we may have
to deliver. For, the different classes of those who heal'
require difference in their treatment. No one, thoroughly
understanding the truth, can assert that the same aspect of
the truth is suited to the babe in knowledge, as the
advanced. Alas, that the best of us have been so over-
weighted with the accumulated errors of the past, that we
sometimes wonder whether, indeed, we have found rest and
security, for ourselves and others. But this we know, that
To none else. True, all now read who choose to do so,
but this will not alter the truth; the Epistles are not for all.
This applies equally as well to other works written for men:
some are able to master only the introduction to a work;
others go a little further; further there are fewer still;
until the number greatly diminishes who can say they have
comprehended the end from the beginning.
First-see Jesus; then-the Apostles; after-the Church;
each in place and to be accepted in true course. If anyone
understand not Jesus, how can they understand that which
succeeds? If any accept not J esus, what have they to do
with those who followed in His steps? Let the workman
who aims to be a builder, divide the word of truth; it is not
for an opponent to do so; the Epistles to the Churches
are not for the opponents of the Churches,
 ~E:E BIBLE STANDARD.
.rv. One body m1.y vary from another as to power, kind, or
THE FOURTH LINI£ IS: THAT THE PORTION OF THE NEW composition, but all have for their basis that which is'
TESTA~1EN:r SCRIPTURES, NAMED "A REVELATION," WAS FOR substance.
THE SERVA~TS OF JESUS ALONE.- VI.
"A Revelation," not "The Revelation" of Jesus Christ. IN "THE GOSPELS," "THE BODY OF JESUS" IS MENTIONED'

To show to His servants coming things. The people of the THE BODY OF CHRIST NOT ONCE.

world are not the servants of the Lord Jesus, the Christ.
Too true it is, that this revelation has been abused in its
use; but its use, for His servants, still remains. From His
walk, amidst the seven churches of Asia to the rest in the
New Jerusalem, He remains the same. His servants hear,
see, and understand the message conveyed to them, and
walk in its light; to none else is it of use.
Having pointed out these four distinct lines, let us now
take the term, the body, and see how it is defined by
lexicographers, [or, as isJ;commonly said, explained in the
Dictionary.
V.
THE BODY REPRESENTS ONE, OR MORE THAN ONE.
In Ogilvie's Dictionary, Body is said to be the trunk of an
animal; the frame or material substance of an animal; the
main stem of a tree; matter; any portion of matter;
person; main part; collective man; main army; corpora-
tion; the trunk; a system; strength; substance; reality;
It is always applied to the person of Jesus, or to that
which constituted His personality, namely, the visible
substance which formed His person.-Matt. xxvii. 58 -59.
Compare Mark xv. 43-45, and Luke xxiii, 55., xxiv. 3 & 23.
Also John xix. 31, 38, 40., xx. 12.
The statement of Matt. is,_" [Of J oseph] He went to
Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate
commanded the body to be delivered, And when Joseph
had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
and laid it in his own new tomb."
After reading this in connection with the other passages
given above, we find that in the accounts of the resurrection,
it is Jesus who is identical with His body, The angel says,
Luke xxiv. 6.-"He is not here, but is risen." Mary says to
the supposed gardener, John xx. 13.-" They have taken
a away my Lord."
VII.
OTHER USES IN "THE GOSPELS" OF THE TEIlM "BODY"

ARE VARIOUS, BUT THE TERM IS USED WHEN SPEAKING OF

any solid figure.
In Booth's Analytical Dictionary, it is observed that REAL THINGS.

"body" was used instead of "person;" many examples to It is "thy whole body," see Matt. v. 29., vi. 22-23.
be found in Shakespeare', and in the Scottish dialect. Luke xi. 34-36.
In Parkhurst's Greek Dictionary, Soma is defined to be: "The body," see Matt. vi. 22, Luke xi. 34, .JIatt. vi. 25, _
I.~An animal body. H.-Somata: Bodies of men taken in Luke xii. 20, Matt. x. 28, Ltdce xiv. 12.
war and reduced to slavery. !II.-Soma denotes the Church. "Your body."-Matt. vi. 25. Luke xii. 22.
I.-In respect of Christ.-Eph. i. 23., iv. 10. Col. i. 18., "My body."-Matt. xxvi. 12. Mark xiv. 8.
ii. 19. 2.-In respect of bolievers.-Rom. xii. 5. 1 COT. " Soul and body."-Matt. x. 28.
xii. 12-13. Compare Eph. ii. 14-16. Iv.-An organ- "Her body."-llJar1c v. 29.
ized body, as of vegetable.-1 COT. xv. 37. v.-A body, a "Many bodies of the saints which slept fil'ose."-Matt.
material substance.c=I Cm'. xv. 41). VI.-A body, substance xxvii. 52.
or reality, as opposed to shadows or types.-Col. ii. 17. "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be
Somatikos : bodily; i.e., in the body of Christ as opposed gathered together."-Lu7ce xvii, 57. This passage is a
to the Jewish temple or tabernacle; truly and really in . prophetic one. The real thing, the body, is used as typical
opposition to types and figures, not only ej)'ectually, as God of some real thing or government, hereafter to exist.
dwells in good men, but substantially or personally, by the Other repre sentative uses are to be found in the expres-
strictest union, as the soul dwells in the body, so that "God sion: Matt. xxvi. 26. Marle xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19 -" Take,
and man is one Christ."-Col. ii. 9. " =. ':' ii. 21., xiv. 9-11. eat: this is My body." If the body of Jesus was real, then
The term "the body" then, is not always applied t~ one that which was to be imparted in the breaking of the bread,
person, or thing alone. It not only may be, but is, applied must be real also. The bread was real,-its breaking, real,
to a number of persons. What is true of a number of -it represented a real object, the body of Jesus which
persons forming a body, is true of anyone of the persons suffered on the cross.
helping to form a body. The many represents the one, as VII.
the one also represents the many. "THE TEMPLE OF HIS BODY" ONLY USED WITH REFEREliCE

The word "body," it will be seen, always refers to some- TO JESUS IN "THE GOSPELS."

thing which is 'substantial, real, able to be known by the "THE 'TEMPLE" N1WER USED ELSEWHERE TO ONE PERSON.

senses. It does not apply to shadows or imaginary things. ONLY TO THE LORD JESUS.

,
 THE BIBLE STANDARD. 77

The statement in John ii. 19, is, "Jesus answered and yet to behold those fair though lifeless forms, and press
said·unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will them to our bosom, real and tangible, all reanimated with
raise it up. (22.) "But He spake of the temple of His body.' life and vigour, but a thousand times brighter and lovelier:
Compare passages to be found ill Matt. xxvi, 61, xxvii, 40, hear that same familiar voice in firmer, sweeter tones than
Mark xiv. ss, xv. 29. when we last heard them, or listen to their sweeter accents
With the Temple in Jerusalem was connected the visible while they join in singing the song of the redeemed as they
manifestation of God. In Malt. xxiii. 21, it is stated, stand with palms of victory in their hands: and while
"Whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by we gaze upon these lovely resurrected, immortalized
him that dwelleth therein." The assertion of Jesus in John ones who were' as near and dear to us as the apple
xiv. 10, is, "the Father which dwelleth in me, He doeth the of our eye, that it is the same identical person that we
works." followed to the burying ground, as literal as ever ill the
Of this same Jesus, the Apostle declares, Col. ii. 9, world, and are again restored to us safe and sound, with all
"For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." the life and beauty of a spiritual existence, far beyond the
The body Of Jesus became the temple 0,£ God; or, the power of death and the grave, and to remain with us forever,
dwelling place in which God, the Father, manifested His and go no more out into the dismal night of death, to know
presence. these things is the greatest consolation and joy.
VIII. " Comfort ye one another with these words." 0 blessed
In the Acts of the Apostles there is only one occurrence of thought, to be assured of such a restoration! We shall
the phrase "the body," namely, in Acts ix. 40-41, relating to know each other there. And the same familiar forms and
the death of Dorcas; it reads as follows: "But Peter put faces, glorified. No shadow of immateriality that you never
them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning saw nor ever can see, will there be presented for you to
him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her recognize; but the same material organism that you can see
eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he with your eyes, and recognize with your understanding,
presented her alive." This is the work of the resurrection, and is the substance
Peter turned to the body, 01' to Dorcas, and said to it, or of the Christian's hope, and affords him the greatest comfort.
D01'Cas, '<Tabitha, arise," and she arose. 'I'o the reality,-the This was the hope that the two bereft sisters of Lazarus
body,-the command is uttered, and a real result follows. comforted themselves in when they mac1e known to Jesus
-H. Briuain, Birmingham. ~ )
P u.e.. 9>i~vl~ the sad story of their brother's death. Said Martha, " Lord,

(
{PtA
~0-. r~rV v~DS OF COl\,[~RT;/
"Whei'efore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. iv. 18.
THE last enemy, death, which is to be destroyed at the
judgment day is ever busy in his sphere of desolating the
happy homes of loving families, and robbing the social circle
of some of its brightest jewels, leaving kindred and friends
behind to mourn their absence, and grieve while calling to
mind reminiscences of brighter days gone by.
But to such, and to all such, we would say, "Concerning
them (the absent ones) which are asleep, that ye SOl'l'O\V not
even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with Him For the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and
remain (so, till Christ comes) shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort. one
another with these words." (1 Thess, iv. 13-18.)
Dear beloved ones, we have no cause to grieve: for the
foregoing aesuraace has in it the greatest consolation that
ever saluted the lost race of Adam. The fact that we are
if Thou hadst been here my brothel' had not died .
Jesus said unto her, " Thy brother shall rise again."
the words, dear reader.
Mark
Thy brother the same one, not
another. Here we have strong proof that resurrection glory
will bring back to us our own dear father, mother, sister,
brother, wife, husband, child. Martha said unto Him, "I
know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day." Jesus said unto her, " I am the resurrection and th~
life; he that believeth in Me though he were dead [as
Lazarus wasJ yet [at the resurrection] shall he live; and
whosoever liveth and believeth on Me [When? At the time
of the resurection, 1 Thess, iv. 15J shall never die." (John
xi. 21-26.) Evidently they did not' expect to see their
brother alive again until the time to which Martha referred
to, "the resurrection at the last day," which seemed to them
to be a long way off. But it is now nearer, thank God, and
hasteneth greatly, and then we shall meet one another
again, and greet each other with joy unspeakable and full
of glory.
It is but a little while" and He that is to come will come.
and will not tarry." So weary ones, cheer up, soon will end,
this dark night of sin and death of sorrow and crying, and
soon will dawn the glorious morning of the resurrection and
waken up all those loved ones who sleep in Jesus. Are we
all ready for it ?
 78 rns BIBLE
ABILITY AND OPPORTUNITY.
GODgives to everyone a measure of ability and opportunity,
and there are times in human history when th:ese opportuni-
ties are great. Moses had a great opportunity, when the
leadership of Israel was offered to him; had he persisted in
declining and objecting, how different his life would have
been. The young man who came to Christ had an oppor-
tunity, when he was bidden to sell all he had and follow the
Master; but he went away sorrowful, and he dropt out of
sight like a stone in mid-ocean, and is heard of no more.
What might he not have been, or done, had he embraced the
opportunity. What an opportunily was placed before the
Jewish nation, when the kingdom of God came nigh to them,
and Christ their King appeared.
But they knew not the time of their visitation; they
rejected their grandest opportunity; they dispised their
Messiah and desired a robber and a murderer in His stead.
There are people to-day before whom glorious opportunities
are set. God has granted to them a knowledge of great and
important truths, and if they will but prove faithful to their
trust they may become a power in the world for good.
Often, instead of fulfilling their high and holy mission, they are
seduced from the path of duty, and turn aside to strive about
words to no profit, seeking to build themselves up in world-
liness and pride; following demagogues as leaders, who
misguide them to their ruin; and at last, instead of standing
forth as the exponents of grand and eternal truth, they sink
down into the narrow ruts of sectarianism, and seem to hear
the voices of other once strong and courageous as they have
been, saying: "Art thou also become weak as we ? Art
thou become like unto us ? "
Let those to whom God has given grand opportunities,
and to whom He has committed important trusts strive that
to the utmost extent of their ability and their opportunity
they prove themselves faithful to their Maker. Let no con-
siderations of ambition, g~in, or worldly policy, cause them
to swerve from their steadfast devotion to God. Let them,
as they have received mercy, be faithful to the grace that is
given, and as they prize the joys and glories of immortality,
let them labour that in peace, without spot and blameless in
r- the_day of His appearing.-H. L. Hastings.
THE INFIDEL AND THE' MISSIONARY.
IT was on the steamer from New York to Amboy, in the
crowded cabin. The infidel was dressed like a New
England minister. His appearance and conversation would
give the impression, to those at a distance, that he was
doing a good work, and speaking good things to his fellow-
passengers. The Missionary saw those labours, and
reproached himself that he had not so much zeal. The
infidel spoke to companies of about a dozen at once, passing
around the cabin.
STAN"bARD.
But when he drew near enough to the missionary to be
heard by him, behold, he was speaking against Christianity,
as if it restrained men from some useful and proper indul-
gences. Men wanted larger liberties and fewer rules of
living. The Bible stood in the way of man's greater enjoy-
ments and higher development. The infidel looked for
approval towards the missionary. He shook his head in ' .
dissent.
At once the infidel marched up to him, and the crowd
closed around to witness the polemic war. There had been
no spice of adverse criticism so far. Now there was to be a
duel.
The infided opened his battery at once in the questions:
"Do you call David a man after God's own heart? Was
he not an adulterer? Did he not connive at the slaying of
Uriah? "
The missionary calmly answered: "David was a good
man, yet he fell into sin, and wrote a very penitent con-
fession of his sin. Have you, my friend, ever been moved
to write a confession of YOUT sin? "
Confessing he had not, but trying to parry the blow, he
again demanded: "But do you mean to justify Davids
cruelty in putting enemies under saws and harrows ,;,? "
The missionary answered: "David was a king, a warrior,
and a conqueror. As such, he punished rebels and
criminals. But when his personal enemies were in afflic-
tion, David put on sackcloth, and fasted, and prayed for
them. Have yot~, my friend, ever done so towards JOur
foes? "
He owned he never had.
Then the missionary, summing up, had but to say: "Thus,
you see, David was actuated by a spirit you have never felt.
He repented bitterly, and wrote a confession for all men to
read. While, for reasons of state or war, he punished
enemies, yet when his private foes were in affiiction, he put
on mourning for them, and fasted, and prayed. David
then had a spirit to which you are a stranger. He had
feelings into which you have never risen; he had a life you
have not experienced. Before you say more against
David, you had better pray for that spirit that enabled him
to be so penitent, so sympathizing, so forgiving."
The. infidel dropped his head in shame. He was not seen
talking to another group on that steamboat. Repenting,
sorrowing David was not the man for him. So this Goliath
fell by the smooth stone from the brook of Living Truth.
,;, Putting men" undal' saws" and" harrows" is properly
rendered by critics, putting them among them, or to them ;
1·~.
-that is reducing captives to bondage, as was the custom of
those times, and requiring them to work with satl"S, harrows,
axes, and in brick-kilne. Drs. Adam Clarke, Banjamin
Boothroyd, John Gill and others endors~ this .translation of
1 Sam, xii. 21, and existing manuscripts give the same
reading for 1 Chron, xx. 3.
 THE BIBLE
QUESTIONS ON IMMORTALITY.
I. What is Immortality?
Ans. Deathlessness: from im,-not; and mortal. A I will be thy destruction."
state of being not mortal, deathless; that cannot die.
II. Who has inherent Immortality?
Ans. "The King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
wise God."-l Tim. i. 17.
Ill. Are not men possessed of immortal souls?
Ans. No. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."-
Eeek, xviii. 4-20.
IV. Is Immortality attainable by us ?
Ans. Yes; for though "the wages of sin is death; the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
=Hom. vi. 23.
V. How is this gift ~obtained ?
AilS. Jesus saith: "This is the will of Him that sent Me,
that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him,
may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the
last day."-John vi. 40.
VI. Did Plato, or Socrates, or does spiritualism or
nature reveal Immortality?
Ans. No. It is only revealed "By the appearing of our
Life-giver, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and
hath brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel."-2 Tim, i. 10. . still to memory though lost from mortal sight, those saints
VII. To whom will God give eternal life, or deathlessness ?
Ans. "To them who by patient continuance in well doing
seek for glory and honour and immortality."-Rom. ii. 7.
VIII. Will God bestow on such this deathlessness ?
An,~. He will give them "eternal life."-Rom. ii. 7.
IX. You say to believe in Jesus is the first step toward,
the attainment of Immortality. What more is necessary?
Ans. To" fight the good fight of faith; lay hold: on
eternal life." -1 Tim, vi. 12. "He that endureth to the end
shall have life (Syriac)."-llIatt. x. 21.
X. When are believers put in possession of Immortality?
Is it at death, or at a subsequent period?
Ans. " At the last trump . . . . this mortal must put on
immortality."-1 Cor. xv. 52-53.
XI. Will this change be gradual or sudden ?
Am. It will be "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we (who are alive and
remain) shall be changed."-l Cor. xv. 52. 1 These. iv. 15.
XII. Will the change include the whole man?
Ans. Certainly. " This corruptible must put on incorrup-
tion, and t.iis mortal must put on immortality."-l Cor. xv. 53.
XIII. What Scripture will be fulfilled when this takes
place?
A ns. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, "death is swallowed up in victory."-Isaiah xxv. 8.
STANDARD. 79
1 Cor. xv. 56, and Hosea xiii. 14.-" I will ransom them
from the power of the grave (sheol) ; I will redeem them
from death; 0 death, I will be tllY plaguos ; 0 grave (~he,d),
XIV. Will the wicked, then, have Immortality,-incor-
ruptibility ?
Ans. They will not"; for" these, as natural brute beasts,
made to be taken and destroyed, . . . . shall utterly perish
in their own corruption."-2 Peter ii. 12. "He that soweth
to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption."--Gal. vi. 8.
"The wages of sin is 4.e~th."-Rom. vi. 23.
"HE COMETH."
" BEHOLDHe cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see
Him." "This same Jesus that ye have seen go into
Heaven, shall so come again in like manner as ye have seen
Him go into Heaven." "If I go away I will come again."
"Surely I come quickly."
What if this were the coming of a friend who has gone
from us to a distant land, whose hands we clasped in parting,
expecting to meet no more upon the shores of time? What
if it were the coming of the whole multitude of those who
love our coming Lord, and who share with us the hopes and
joys and fellowships of all the saints?
What if it were the coming of those loved ones, dearer
of God whose heads are buried in the dust; those members
of our families who calmly sleep beneath the silent stars;
those sharers of our tenderest love, over whose sepulchres,
unmarked by marble monuments, the rolling waves chant
their perpetual requiem?
What if it were the coming of the blessed of all ages,
climes, and lands, in all the splendours of the firmament to
the city of the Lord of Hosts? What if it were the coming
of the angel choirs to shine and sing as once they did over
Bethlehem's plain? What if it were the coming of all
Heaven's hosts, the countless angels with Cherubim and
Seraphim, with all the glory of the eternal God poured forth,
t to fill with its radiant outflow the universe which He has
made? What if it were the coming of Him who slept in
Bethlehem's manger, who bowed in Jordan's wave, who
hung on Calvary's cross, who burst from Joseph's tomb, who
rose to Heaven, and sits at God's right hand?
It is all this, it is all these. He shall come, and they
shall all come with Him: tlie Glory of God; the manifestation
of the Deity; the revelation of the Angelic myriads; the
'redemption of the universal Church; the gathering home of
the elect people of God; the bringing back of the absent,
the scattered, and those that sleep in silence in the grave;-
all these things are wrapped up in these words, "He cometh."
The world may despise Him, forget Him, and put far away
that day, but the Church, whose heart is bound with His,
\whose hope is anchored with His, whose very life is the life
of Christ made manifest in mortal flesh,-can she fail to be
" looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour?" Can she forget to love
His appearing? Can she ever cease to raise to Heaven
the loving, joyful, earnest cry, "Even so, come Lord Jesus?"
-H. L. Hastings .
80 THE BIBLE STANDARD.

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