I now hold the case in my left hand, and the works in my right hand. As these works constitute the real watch, so the soul constitutes the real person, and as these wheels and hands continue to move, and to keep time regularly even after they have been removed from the case; so the soul, when God removes it from the body, continues to exist and to be possessed of all that makes the reasoning, thinking, immortal and indestructible being of man. I might take this case, which I hold in my left hand, and bury it in the ground, but the works would not be affected by this fact, but would continue to run on just the same. Suppose I were to leave this case buried in the ground until it had all rusted away. Then suppose that, as a chemist I could gather up all these particles again and make them anew into a watch case, and then put the works back into the case which had been restored or made anew; that would represent the resurrection of the body, and the reuniting of the soul with the body, which will take place at the resurrection day.
Some years ago there was a great chemist, whose name was Faraday. It happened one time in his laboratory that one of the students, by accident, knocked from the table a silver cup, which fell into a vessel of acid. The acid immediately destroyed or dissolved it, and the silver all disappeared, the same as sugar dissolves or melts in a tumbler of water. When Professor Faraday came in and was told what had happened, he took some chemicals and poured them into the acid in which the silver had disappeared. As soon as these two chemicals came together, the acid began to release the silver, and particle by particle the silver settled at the bottom of the vessel. The acid was then poured off and the silver was all carefully gathered up and sent to a silversmith, who melted the silver and made it anew into a silver cup of the same form, design and beauty. It was the same cup made anew. So, my young friends, our bodies may dissolve in the grave and entirely disappear, but God is able to raise them up again. He tells us in the Bible that these bodies which are buried in corruption shall be raised in incorruption, and that these mortal bodies shall put on immortality.
I trust that I have illustrated to you how the soul and the body are separated when we die, and God's Word assures us that they shall be reunited again in the morning of the resurrection, for all these dead bodies "shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth." It matters not whether they were buried in the ground, or in the water, they shall arise from every sea and from every cemetery, and every grave in all the world, and shall live anew and forever, either in happiness with God in heaven, or in misery with Satan in eternal banishment from God's presence.
Questions.—What are the principal parts of a watch? Which part is like the body? Which part is like the soul? Which is the real watch? Could the works alone run and keep time without the case? When does the soul become separated from the body? Does death affect the existence and life of the soul? If a watch case were buried and rusted away, could it be made new again? Does the Bible say our bodies are also to be raised again from the grave? What is that raising up of the body called? Will it make any difference whether a body was buried in the sea or in the earth? ("The sea shall give up its dead"). Whose voice shall call the body to immortality? Will the immortal body ever die?
PEARLS.
ONE OF GREAT PRICE.
Suggestion:—A single pearl, or a string of pearls will serve well for illustration.
