The Nature of Man and the Fate of the Ungodly by Mrs. M. E. Steward

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 11, 1912

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 15.

Read the full edition

The Nature of Man and the Fate of the Ungodly

By Mrs. M. E. Steward

MRS. M. E. STEWARD

“What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Ps. 8:4.

HAS man natural immortality?—

1. “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:19.

2. “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die [“dying thou shalt die,” margin].” Gen. 2:17. It is a fact that the moment one begins to live, he begins to die; his every motion causes death of particles in his tissues.

3. Man is to “seek for . . . immortality.” No sane person seeks for anything which he already possesses. Those who “by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality” will have “eternal life.” Rom. 2:7. Consequently, none have it naturally.

Man's condition in death:—

1. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146:4.

2. “The dead know not anything, . . . their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished.” Eccl. 9:4-6. What is a mind deprived of thoughts, reason, and all the emotions?

3. Without a resurrection, the dead “are perished.” 1 Cor. 15:13-18. By the power of God alone man lives again. Eze. 37:5-10.

Destiny of the wicked:—

1. They shall be punished with “everlasting destruction.” 2 Thess. 1:9.

2. They shall “be as though they had not been.” Obadiah 16.

3. The ungodly will be consumed in “the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:15.

The wicked recompensed in the earth:—

1. The lake of fire is this world being “melted with fervent heat.” 2 Peter 3:10. “The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” Prov. 11:31. God's people are with him in heaven during the thousand years; but the wicked never leave the earth. “Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Ps. 37:10. The last place of the wicked is in the lake of fire. By the hand of the wonderful Creator, the lake of fire becomes the new earth. “Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:5. Those who are cast into the lake of fire are tormented day and night. When the new earth appears, “there shall be no night there.” Rev. 22:5. Hence the wicked cease to exist before the earth is created anew.

2. During the thousand years the wicked are judged from records that angels have kept of their lives, in the books of heaven. Revelation 20. It is at this time that, as Paul foretold, “the saints shall judge the world.” 1 Cor. 6:2. In union with Christ they compare the acts of the wicked with the statute-book, the Bible, and decide all cases “according to their works.” Rev. 20:13. The book of life is also consulted: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” “Death and hell [Hades, grave] were cast into the lake of fire.” “This is the second death,” not the one inherited from Adam. From the second death there will be no resurrection, which is represented by the grave being cast into the lake of fire. Here, then, will be the eternal end of sinners. Sin will be no more; God's entire universe will henceforth be holy. Every living being will be in perfect harmony with the law of God, so that Christ will rule over free subjects, all walking at liberty, while the Lord will be “all and in all.”

3. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Dear sinner, hear the pleadings of infinite love: “Why will ye die? . . . I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”

Sanitarium, Cal.