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In the face of all the foregoing facts and truths, it' must be a desperate case of will-worship, when a man will set aside the plain teaching of the gospel and cling to such a deceptive doctrine. With the sweet witness of God in our soul, and a knowledge of his blessed truth, we unhesitatingly declare that the whole doctrine is antichrist. It blights the souls of all who accept it, and they, with a few exceptions, are blind to the real experience of full salvation in this life. "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, . . should shine

unto them." 2 Cor. 4:3, 4.

The doctrine of materialism was the doctrine of the ancient sect of the Sadducees. "For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit." Acts 23:8. A great many modern Sadducees stand on the common ground of their ancient brethren. But a few, the Adventists, for instance, differ from their ancient brethren in that they have taken up the doctrine of a future resurrection of the dead. But with respect to the "angel and spirit," they with the Sadducees deny both. They deny that angels are immortal beings, and also deny that man. possesses a spirit, an immortal part, which is not subject to physical death.

This was the doctrine of the Sadducees in toto. But Jesus struck at the very root of their heresy. "Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by

God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Mat. 22: 31, 32.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had long since died. Their bodies are mouldering in the tombs. But Christ declares that his Father was still their God. "Not the God of the dead [those mouldering bodies], but of the living;" namely, "the God of the spirits of all flesh." Num. 27: 15, 16. So while their bodies were dead, their spirits lived. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-not the God of the dead (bodies), but of the living (spirits). The fact that their spirits live, is a proof that their bodies will again be raised. This argument put the Sadducees to silence (Mat. 22:34), and should silence their modern brethren.

As we shall hereafter prove, the orthodox Jews believed that man possessed a spirit or soul separate and distinct in substance from the body, and that the same remains alive after the dissolution of the flesh-born body. Also we shall prove that this was the doctrine of Christ and the apostles. Dr. Adam Clarke in his commentary says, "The vile doctrineof materialism is not apostolic." See comments on 2 Cor. 4:16. So teaches the Word, and our redeemed soul says amen.

THE NATURE OF MAN IN HIS PRESENT STATE.

In order to arrive at a correct understanding of the nature of man's being, it will be necessary to go back to his original creation.

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What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." Psa. 8:4-8.

From this we learn that man, in his nature, stands on a much higher plane than the beasts, and but a little lower than the angels. We have already seen in the previous chapter that angels stand wholly upon the plane of spirit beings, being immortal. Heb. 1: 7, 14; Mat. 22: 29, 30; Luke 20: 35, 36.

Now let us consider the nature of man, who is declared to be but "a little lower." "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing

that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Gen. 1:26, 27.

'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." Gen. 2:7.

The two-foldness of man's nature is clearly seen in his creation. The physical being was formed of the dust of the ground. This is the sense in which man is declared to be a little lower than angels. Angels were created entirely upon the plane of spirit beings. "Who maketh his angels spirits.' But man was created with a fleshly, physical body. That part of man which was made of dust and shall return to dust again is mortal. It is "your mortal body," "your mortal flesh." Rom. 6:12; 2 Cor. 4:11. But while God made for man a physical body, an "earthly house" to dwell in while here upon earth, the real "inner man," the accountable part of man's being, God created in his own image and likeness.

Now this could not apply to the material body, for "God is a spirit." John 4: 24. God is not a fleshly being. He is a "spirit," "eternal, immortal, invisible" (1 Tim. 1:17), wholly of spirit substance. It was the moral and spiritual part of man's being that God created in his image and likeness. We repeat, God is a spirit; he is immortal and invisible. So positively teaches the Word. John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17. Then, to create man in his image (exact likeness)

would be to create him a spiritual being, immortal, and invisible to the natural eye. And it is declared that God did make man in his own likeness-formed a spirit in man. Zech. 12: 1.

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Man, then, possesses an immortal part; for "there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." Job 32: 8. This spirit in man is invisible to the natural eye; hidden man of the heart." 1 Pet. 3:4. things not seen "are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:18. So inside this flesh-born body lives a spirit, a hidden man, which is immortal, invisible, eternal. Το deny this is to simply contradict the plain Bible. Let God be true, though men who contradict his Word be found liars.

Eternal. "Without end of existence or duration; everlasting; endless; immortal."-Webster.

Immortal. “Having life or being that shall never end; as, an immortal soul."-Webster.

Another thought. God is holy, and to create man in his image and likeness would be to create him morally pure and holy. This moral purity man lost through the fall. His moral and spiritual nature became defiled by sin. But through the atonement of Christ the soul is restored to the moral image of God again, into the same blessed state which it enjoyed before sin entered the world.

"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man [depraved sinful life and nature] with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which

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