We are not to assume that, because we find soul and spirit used interchangeably in some instances, they always mean the same, much less that they always mean life. When Paul prays that the “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless,” he does not use the words soul and spirit in the same sense, any more than he uses the words soul and the body in the same sense. He does not use the spirit, soul and body, in the same sense, or as meaning the same thing, but each having its own meaning. The word soul is used with more latitude than the word spirit. The word soul is frequently used in the sense of person, as “the soul that sinneth shall die;” “eight souls were saved in the ark,” and other cases. The word soul is used in the sense of life, in some instances. But it is used synonymously with spirit, in the following: “Are not able to kill the soul.” Matt. x. 28. Man can kill the body and the natural life, but the soul or spirit, man can not kill. The living being that dwells in the body, or the “inner man,” does not die when the body dies. This “inner man” may be “at home in the body, or absent from the body and present with the Lord.” This “inner man” may be caught away to paradise, in the body or out of the body. But we cannot go into the discussion of these matters, now.
We do not receive the idea of men losing their identity, individuality or consciousness; the transmigration of the soul, or the pre-existence of the soul; nor the atheistic idea that “death is an eternal sleep.” We can find better, and certainly more profitable themes than these, on which to dwell, both in our meditations, preaching and writing. Let us be careful and not get out where the water is too deep—we might find it over our heads.
[BELIEF IN THE BIBLE IS
INFALLIBLY SAFE.]
IT is infallibly safe, because no man has ever been able to show any evil consequences that could possibly follow the believer, upon any hypothesis. No man of any reason has ever doubted the safety of relying upon the Bible, if it be true. But we go beyond this, and declare, without hesitation, that if it were possible for it to prove untrue, it is infallibly safe to believe and rely upon it. Its moral precepts, to say the least, are good as any on earth. Its requirements in all our present relations are competent to make us as good and happy as we are capable of being in this life. And, certainly, if it could possibly prove untrue, the belief of it could not endanger our happiness in the life to come. Beyond all controversy, he who believes and practices the Bible, attains to the highest perfection and happiness of which his being is capable in this life, and stands as good a chance for happiness in the life to come as he who rejects it. And if, in the end, the whole could be shown to be a mistake, no man living can show that the believer in the Bible can possibly be in danger, in this world or in the world to come. No evil consequences can possibly follow the believer, in any event. It is strange, if that which is infallibly safe, should not prove true.
[REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY.]
GOD is unchangeable; the same yesterday, to-day and forever. Jesus, the manifestation of God in the flesh, and the exact representation of his person, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily; the concentration and embodiment of all divine benevolence, goodness and perfection, is unvaryingly the same—the constant, the ever blessed and merciful philanthropist. Christianity, as set forth upon the sacred pages of the New Testament, is but the revelation of the mystery from the beginning of the world, hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ, but the development of the eternal purpose of God, the unfolding of the infinite benevolence, mercy and goodness, in a gracious system of pardon, restoration and final redemption, for all them who obey him, through the proclamation of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. It was the infinite goodness that prompted it, the infinite will that resolved it, the infinite wisdom that devised it, and infinite power that executed it. God first purposed the gracious scheme of benevolence. He then promised it to Abraham, saying, “In thee, and in thy seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” He succeeded this promise by many clear predictions of the prophets, and divine testimonies from their hallowed lips. Yet these things were not understood by mortal man. Great and good men believed the promise and the testimonies of the prophets, rested in hope and died in faith, without understanding; fully appreciating or comprehending the full import of the good things to come. Eye had not then seen, ear had not heard, nor had it entered into the heart of man to conceive the good things God had prepared for them that love him. The things now revealed in the gospel, had been hid for ages, and not made known to the sons of men. Christianity is now a mystery explained, a secret revealed—that which was hid in God, made known—the purpose of God developed—a promise fulfilled according to the Scriptures of the prophets, and the commandment of the everlasting God, made known among all nations for the obedience of faith.