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mountains. And some there are, eagerly expectant,
like the old admiral, who, in the
night-watches, have seen the light rise and
fall and they are sure it was not the phosphorescence
of the sea but beams of glory
from the blessed isles of immortal certainties.
2. Proofs of immortality from the Book
of Revelation,
There is a sect of literalists who claim that
they must have a direct and literal statement
in the Bible of every doctrine which they accept.
And because there is no direct and
literal statement in the Bible that Christ is
divir.e they declare that he is not divine. It is
not enough feir them that the Bibe says;
"In the beginning was the word, and the
word was with God, and the word vvas God "
They w ill not take such a simple step in reason
as they are lead to by the fact that the
Bible everywhere states that God and God
alone forgives sins; and Christ forgave sins
and that therefore Christ is God or divine.
It is not enough for them that when the
Jews understood Christ to claim that he was
divine and were about to stone him because
they thought he blasphemed, he did not correct
their mistaken ideas if he was not divine.
In the same manner because there is no
direct and literal statement in the Bible that
the soul of man is immortal they declare that
the soul is not immortal and that it cannot
be proved that it is immortal. The Bible proceeds
from first to last on the view tliat man,
the creature of GmI, is the finite copy of bib
Maker's nature, different in origin and destination
from the beasts put under his dominion,,
made like God and for fellowship
with Him and meant to live. There was a
vast diflference between what God created
when he created man and what he created
when he created the beasts of the earth. AVith
regard to the beast we are tidd: "And God
said, let the eartli bring forth the living creature
after his kind." But with regard to man
W'e are told: .And Cod said, let us make man
in our image, after our) likeness; and let
them have dominion over all the beasts of
the earth. "And the Lord God formed man
of the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul." The Hebrew word here
rendered breath is ••nishmath." There are
two other Hebrew words which are sometimes
rendered breath, "ruach" and "nephesh."
From the authorized English version
it is impossible to tell which of the three are
used in any passage. The last two are applied
to man and irrational animals alike,
but the firstis onlv applied to God or man.
THE CMISTIAN NATION. Vol. 69.
Nowdiere does the Bible place the brute on
the same plane wdth man, or speak of the
former as a creature made in God's image
and likeness. Everywdiere it gives us to
understand that man is a being entirely distinct
from the beasts that perish, a creature
made a little lower than the angels, whose
affinities are with God. Rob man of his immortality
and you reduce him to a creature
wdiose affinities are with the beasts, and make
him heir of a constitution as perishable as
theirs. These two orders of beings do not
come into existence in the same way, although
they consist of the same elements.
The lower creatures with the life or soul
that belong to them, emerge as the direct
product of the earth by the divine command.
They are the immediate offspring of matter
under the operation of the divine spirit. But
man's life or soul, and man himself as a living
being, are the result of a special and immediate
act of God himself, a direct Divine
communication of the breath of lives. Life
is not the same thing to the one that it is to
the other. There is a sacredness in man's
life that is not in that of the beast. It is
expi|essed i;i permission ;given to man to
shed the blood of the beast, and in the penalty
connected with the shedding of man's
blood.
(Concluded next week.)
Inthe Sabbath
School
Lesson AT. Nov. 9, 1913.
By the Rev. W. A. Aikin.
ABSTLVENCE FOR THE SAKE OF
OTHERS.—Romans 14:7-21.
Golden Text.—It is good not to eat flesh,
nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby
th\- brother sfumbleth.—Romans 14:21.
Psalms—133:1-3. C. M.; 73:11, 12, 17, 18.
C. AL: ''/i:i2-i4. C. M.
T'ime.—A. D. 58.
Place.—The epistle from which this lesson
is taken was written by Paul at Corinth and
was sent to the Christians at Rome.
This lesson was designed for a world's temperance
lesson. And the application of the
principle of truth contained in this passage
to the drink evil is very fitting. Yet this
principle cannot be restricted in its application
to thi: evil alone. The Aposde Paid is
here giving a general discussion on the subject
of Christian independence. He had not
yet been to Rome. He did not know that
there was any trouble there in this matter.
Sil he gave a general treatment of the subject,
and simply chose the instance of eatintr
certain meats and observing certain days as
illustrations uf the principle. He is contending
fnr the great truth that while a Christian
may be free to do certain things without
violating his own conscience or sufiferingmoral
injury himself yet he must refrain from
doing that thing if by doing those things he
may wound the conscience of another or lead
them astray. It is with the Apostle's argument
for this principle that our lesson is taken
up.
ANALYSTS AND COM.ME.NT.
"For none of us liveth to himself, and no
man dieth to himself. For zvhefher zve live
tl'c live unto the Lord; and zvhether we die,
zi'c die nnto tlie Lord:~-Etc." v.7-9. Christians
are all one in Christ.
Their lives are
bound up together in Him in a most intimate
and intricate manner. To live an isolated,
separated life in Christ where simply
one's self and their interests and desires are
to be considered is out of the question. Christ
died that He might bind us together in a
vital union. And now for us to live as though
We were apart from other believers and not
responsible for them is to ignore our actual
state in Christ with regard to- our relationship
to our brethren. We are all members
of one body and are, consequently, as much
under obligation to seek the welfare of our
brother as we are that of ourselves. The
unity in the body of Christ requires it.
"But why dost thou judge thy brother?
Every one of us shall give account of himself
to God." V. 10-12. It is not our privib
ege to judge our brother. His motives are
perhaps known tO' God only, to Whom we
must all give an account. "If a man is our
brother, if God has received him, if he acts
'from a sincere desire to do tbe divine will,
he should not be condemned, though he may
think certain things right which we think
wrong; nor should he be condemned if he
trammels his conscience with unnecessary
scruples." It is easy to say that a brother
ought to know better, or that if he does not
see the distinction between what you are doing
and something else much the same but
wrong, that he deserves to suffer the consequence,
but Christ says: "Judge not."
"But judge fhis rather, that no man put
a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in
his brother's zvay. Let not then your good
be ez'il spoken of. For the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink; but righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Etc." v.
13-18. Paul says that the person who is
prone to judge and censure the conduct of
others had better give his attention to his
owm conduct and see wherein he can avoid
giving an offense to others. There are some
things which all recognize as right, and other
things which are unquestionably wrong.
But "there are a large number of acts which
lie in the twdlight region, between the day
of certain right and the night of acknowledged
wrong. They are not wrong in themselves,
but according to the circumstances
and motives of their doing." Here is a field
for the exercise of judgment where the most
perplexing problems arise. And he who occupies
himself in facing and wrestling with
these problems is acting the part of a true
Chrislian. The man who simply makes up
his mind as to what he thinks is right and
goes ahead without regard to the convictions
of others has not yet learned wbat true religion
is. True religion consists not in external
acts, but in the inward .praces of the
Spirit.
Let us follozv after the things which make
for 'peace. It is good neither to eat flesh,
nor to drink zi'ine, nor anything whereby thy