"Conditional Immortality."

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4285, 25 September 1882, Page 2

"Conditional Immortality."

The Rev. H. Bull preached a sermon on " Conditional Immortality, orrAnpihilavrtion," at the Wesleyan Churchyesterday"Jevening, taking for his text Galatians, 6c. 7v-y"Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."" f The preacher -^ began his discourse by pointing put that the belief in the immortality of the soul had existed as far back as there 'was any history of man, and t'i at the belief was almost universal. And now: by far the,< r larger proportion of our most eminent men of science held that: there was a great gulf between the physical organism and human consciousness. Mail exhibits - capacity for a life beyond this one; and his aspirations were presumptive evidence that; he was designed for everlasting life. But the Christian argument was based on } God's word. "The; belief of Christians in - all ages had,not favored annihilation. The advocates of conditional immortality teach the final death of the impenitent Wicked, body and soul, and only endless existence .■ for belieTers in Christ. Most of them teach this takes place at death; others that God at the resurrection endows the body with, powers, only, however,, to be blotted out at the second death; and some that,, the spirit dies at the resurrection. God s word is suited to the coin- '■''' mon reader. We must have regard to the idiom of the Bible, which expresses what the eye saw and the spirit felt. It was I by looking only at the letter; that -the Pharisees missed the spirit of the.Scripture, :•<,.. and expected- a warrior Christ, In! the Old Testament God is spoken of 'as . a rock, but that passage is not capable of being construed in,a material literal sense; it signifies his steadfastness. Again, God is referred to as a man of war, which means that he would protect his people, annihilationists put a forced construction on the metaphor and idiom. They contend that spirit means the breath, and the soul only > animal life., Every instance -in which ; - death is threatened to the sinner is quoted : by the advocates of conditional immortality ■' as a proof of his annihilation. This the Bible doea not bear out. The word some* times refers to natural death; sometimes, ' v to separation from God; and sometimes to ' ex press the state of everlasting punishment. There is a natural death of the body, but there is also a spiritual death, separation from Gpd-r-.being dead in -trespasses, and sin: Total banishment from? God- '-rio spoken of in Bevelation as the; second death.- Adam did not die on the day he ,,. ; » brought the wrathpf God on himself, but * | h.e; died spiritually and bficame subject to.-. a bodily,.death.; God's design we should not die;in any respect, but-by- ; ?in< death came. ?With ( i«gard, to ' the "word Life-—everlasting life is different to mere existence. ..The word, ,pf "'^pdJJ ' teaches that man is mortal and 'eternal:' only God is immortal and eternal.'*- The ■• '■ sinher is living and dead—he is living yet spiritually dead. Great stress was laid ' by; the advocates of--cpndi|;ipn«l unmor* tality on such words as destruction^ perjdition< lost, : ,&e. All these prigiuate,frpm, v , one word Which does not teach annihi- ' lation. When used In a spiritaahsehse "the meaning is very plain. The prodigal son was lost, not annihilated. If used in ry thii way many passages would be ridicu- » lous. Although there was destruction there was not annihilation. Endless existence and eternal lifd I mast not be confounded. The sinner -exists ..eternally, but the child of God baly enjoys eternal life; T aeeqrdiiig 0 to. (itsj fuUet|t f|sens|t; q ' His children dwell in the'mansions" prepared for them by their immortal and eternal Father.- The doctrine of annihila«

tion violates the sense of Scripture, which teaches that men will be punished according to their sins. But annihilation admits

"of no degree of punishment. A theory -which is unscripturat is dangerous, and kthis one of annihilation is not' found one, fplaco in Scripture. A nica will not" sink

|into annihilation—every sinn>r will exist for ever. Whether we accept of God's

graccror not we live for ever; we will not sink into nothingness, but live to reap that which we .kav« <spwed. ;; He } that sowed -,-, evil shall liVe to reip anguish aad remorse; ■ he that believeth shall rise to enjoy that everlasting life w.hich is the, portion of #od's children.