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flesh," "Soul longeth to eat flesh," "The soul lusteth after strong drink," "As cold water to a thirsty soul," "All the souls" in certain places died, etc.because such expressions are found, materialists simply ignore and brush aside the multitude of scriptures which teach that man possesses a soul, or spirit, which is separate and distinct in substance from the body, and just try to sneer this glorious truth out of the Bible. I have heard their most able ministers use such expressions as follows: "The little inner man is a meat eater." "A penny's worth of laudanum will put the little immortal fellow to sleep." The only spirit a man possesses is in his nostrils, and if you take a bad cold your soul is in danger." Thus they sneer and scoff at the precious truth of God, and contend that they "have no preeminence above a beast, for all is vanity."

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We take them at their word and will let the Bible describe their condition. "Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." 2 Pet. 2:10-12. "But what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves." Jude 10. “They are all ignorant, dumb," soul "sleeping dogs." See Isa. 56:10, 11. In the day of judgment, of them it will be said, "Without are dogs,

and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Rev. 22:15.

We want no weapons sharper than the truth, and the above scriptures describe the condition, present and future, of all soul-sleepers, who are truly sleeping souls. But let us return to the point. John said to Gaius, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." From this we learn that the soul may be in a blessed state of prosperity, while the body is in ill health. This could not be were the soul not distinct from the body. But when we can believe the plain Bible, which teaches that the soul is a spirit being, the scripture is made very plain.

"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." 2 Cor. 4:16. Man is a compound being. At the very time the outward man (the body) perishes, the inward man (the soul) is being renewed. "Though our outward man," that is, our body, that part of us that can be seen, heard, and felt, "perish"-decay and waste away through sickness, disease, and old age, "yet the inward man," the soul, that which can not be felt and seen by others, "is renewed"; viz., revived, and receives a daily increase of light and life from God. By the outer man and inner man Paul shows he was no materialist. He believed that we have both a body and a soul. And so far was he from supposing that when the body dies, the whole man is decomposed, and continues so until the resurrection, that he asserts that the decay of the one leads to the invig

orating of the other, and that the very decomposition of the body itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth.

But is the soul or spirit, the real inward man, a conscious entity? The apostle answers: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members." Rom. 7:22, 23. Here again the two-fold nature of man is clearly taught. The inner man, the soul, delights in the law of God, and at the same time the law of sin works in the members of the physical body. This was Paul's condition under the law.

But let us analyze this thought. In order for the inner man to delight in the law of God, it must first learn that law, get a knowledge of it. So it is a conscious entity, an intelligent being. But this fact is also taught elsewhere. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. 8:16. The very moment our sins are forgiven and we are born into God's family the Spirit of God communicates this fact to our spirit. A sweet, comforting witness and assurance of our acceptance with God is felt within. The soul is made conscious of this fact. "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." Eph. 3:16. Eph. 3:16. So while we may be very weak in body, the Spirit of God strengthens our spiritual man, and we can be "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." "Whose adorning

let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." 1 Pet. 3:3, 4.

How dark and godless the leaven of Adventism when compared with such scriptures as these, where immortality is so clearly brought to light in the gospel. How forcibly the language of Peter refutes this modern no-soul animalism. The subject is adornment, outward adorning and inward adorning. The former is condemned, while the latter is advised. "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning;" viz., adorning this body with costly apparel, gold, etc. Do not spend your time trying to adorn and beautify the outward man, the body, for it is corruptible and will soon decay and die; "but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible." Thank God for this plain text. A "hidden man" which is not corruptible dwells inside this corruptible and decaying body. The adorning of our hidden man is not something we put on, but is a state or condition of the soul. "Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit."

So man possesses both a corruptible and incorruptible part. The body, outer man, is corruptible, is mortal. Rom. 6:12. It is the only part of his being that will put on immortality and incorruption at the resurrection. See Phil. 3: 20, 21; 1 Cor. 15: 42-44.

But the inner or hidden man of the soul is not corruptible. It is of spirit substance. "For there is a spirit in man.'

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The words "not corruptible" in 1 Pet. 3: 4 are derived from the Greek word aphthartos. This word is found in the following texts: 1 Cor. 9:25, "Incorruptible [aphthartos]" crown; 1 Cor. 15:52, “The dead shall be raised incorruptible [aphthartos]"; 1 Pet. 1:4, "Inheritance incorruptible [aphthartos].' It is also found in 1 Tim. 1: 17, where it is rendered immortal. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal [aphthartos]." Here then we have its true meaning. The King of heaven is aphthartos, immortal. 1 Tim. 1: 17. The dead (corruptible body) shall be raised incorruptible (aphthartos). 1 Cor. 15:52. This is defined to be "this mortal shall put on immortality." Ver. 54. So aphthartos means immortal. And Peter declares that the hidden man of the heart is aphthartos. 1 Pet. 3:4. So this text is properly rendered as follows: "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is immortal." The words "not corruptible” in 1 Pet. 3:4 are rendered "imperishable” in Bible Union and Sawyer's translations.

Imperishable. "Not subject to decay; indestructible.-Webster.

To sum up all the scriptures cited in this chapter, the Bible plainly declares that man is a compound being. He inhabits a mortal body, mortal flesh. But inside this mortal covering lives a soul, which is a spirit being in form, the real inner man. The same

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