Immortality Universally Desired
By E. HILLIARD
Do We Have It by Nature?—What We Receive at the Resurrection—Will a Merciful God Eternally Burn the Wicked?
THE word "immortal" is defined by Webster as follows: "Having unending existence; exemption from death; not mortal." Exemption from death is what every sane person desires. All, naturally, have a dread of death. The cold, dark tomb, where the body crumbles to dust and the victim rests in unconscious slumber, holds the human family in abject fear. It is through Christ, the first-fruits of them that slept, that we have the promise of the resurrection. "The dead in Christ shall rise first." This promise removes the dread of the tomb from those who believe the word of God. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 1 Thess. 4:14. DELIVERED FROM FEAR OF DEATH
Christ clothed Himself in sinful flesh, that He might pass through the tomb, and thereby "deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. 2:15. If it be true that the souls of men are immortal, and pass directly to heaven when the breath leaves the body, then we might covet death rather than life. Death, in such case, would be our best friend. But the Bible teaches the contrary. It says, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. Anything that deprives us of life is our enemy. If Christ had not brought immortality within the reach of man, through the gospel, death would be an eternal sleep. But thank God that through the plan of redemption, death is to be abolished. 2 Tim. 1:10. Immortality was promised to man on condition of obedience. Adam disobeyed, and therefore could not transmit to his posterity immortality, for he did not possess it. Had not God sacrificed His Son, there would have been no hope for the transgressor. This great, wonderful sacrifice was made that death might be swallowed up in victory. A BARRIER AGAINST SPIRITUALISM
There are many who do not seem to understand the nature of man and his condition in death. The Lord does not want us to be ignorant concerning our dead. Paul says, "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep." 1 Thess. 4:13. A correct knowledge of the condition of man in death will prove a barrier against the inroads of Spiritualism; for that whole superstructure is built upon the doctrine of inherent immortality. The Scriptures teach us that the dead are asleep in the tomb, therefore they can not appear in spiritualistic seances. Those who purport to be our departed friends, are but the personification, by evil angels, of those whom we knew and loved in life. This representation is a clear-cut counterfeit; for David declares of man, when he departs this life, that "his breath goeth forth; he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:4. His son Solomon testifies to the same. He says: "The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. . . . Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished." Eccl. 9:5, 6. Such texts of Scripture ought to leave none in ignorance concerning the dead. It is the soul in man that thinks and knows in life, that ceases to think and know in death. It is the intelligent man—the real man—instructed by the divine word of God, that knows when death takes place. He becomes unconscious, and not his body, which knows nothing in life or death. THE RESURRECTION AND THE CONSCIOUS DEAD
The belief that the souls of men depart at death, the righteous to heaven, and the wicked to hell or some intermediate place, has relegated the doctrine of the resurrection to the background, and is largely responsible for the silence that prevails upon this subject, so clearly set forth in both the Old and the New Testament. The martyr Tyndale, in defending the doctrine that the dead sleep, declared to his papist opponent: "Ye, in putting them [departed souls] in heaven, hell, purgatory, destroy the argument wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection. If the soul be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels be. And then what cause is there of the resurrection?" Of course, if the soul departs to heaven or hell at death, there remains no cause for a resurrection. This is patent to all, and is the fundamental reason for the silence from the pulpit upon this doctrine. Dr. Adam Clarke said concerning the resurrection, "There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect." "IF THERE BE NO RESURRECTION"
Paul declared that "if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: . . . then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. . . . Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Cor. 15:13-18. Now if for four thousand years the souls of the righteous had gone directly to heaven at death, how could the apostle truthfully have said that if there is no resurrection, they "which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished"? THE FALSE SUPPRESSING THE TRUE
It is evident that when a false doctrine is promulgated, and almost universally accepted, it leads to the suppression of true doctrines, and also breeds other false teachings. He who believes that man is naturally immortal, must, to be consistent, deny the resurrection, and also hold to the repugnant, unreasonable, anti-Scriptural dogma of eternal life in misery; for if man is now in possession of an "unending existence," the sinner must writhe in the flames of hell forever. Let us thank God that we are not naturally immortal, but that immortality is the gift of God, to be received at the resurrection of the just. Adam was barred from the tree of life, after his disobedience, "lest he put forth his hand, . . . and eat, and live forever." Gen. 3:22. What a blessing to the human family that the tree that perpetuates life was guarded by the flaming sword! This was done that there might not be, in all of God's universe, an immortal sinner. Our heavenly Father was too kind to immortalize sin, and then torture, to all eternity, its victims. It is true that He is also a God of justice, who will by no means clear the guilty. Such can clear themselves through repentance, confession, and faith in Christ, during the probationary period; but if found in sin in the final day, they will be punished327according to their works, and then destroyed. "All the wicked will He destroy." Ps. 145:20. "The transgressors shall be destroyed together." Ps. 37:38. "The day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1. "And they shall be as though they had not been." Obadiah 16. The wicked who reject proffered mercy until they pass away in their iniquity, will have no claims upon a merciful God at the resurrection of the unjust. To say that God will plunge them into eternal misery in a burning hell, would be a shameful impeachment of His character of mercy and love. Is God a tyrant? Are the blasphemous shrieks of the wicked to ring in the ears of the redeemed saints, and the ears of the Lord of hosts, to all eternity? Must all heaven listen to the screechings of demons for countless ages?—No, never! Such, however, would be the case if man were naturally immortal—in possession of an unending existence. THE TIME OF CHARACTER FORMING
At the coming of our Lord to bestow immortality upon His faithful people, their characters are not changed. Character is formed, through Christ, in the mortal body, and remains the same. Immortality pertains to the body, and is put on at the resurrection, in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Cor. 15:51-54. The saints then, with their bodies changed from mortality to immortality, will enter heaven, to dwell forever in the presence of God. They will be continually advancing in the knowledge of their Creator and Redeemer. Blessed day, indeed, when the last great trump shall reverberate throughout this lost dominion, calling forth the dead, who for centuries have slept in the tomb, to life and immortality. Then will he who through Christ has sought, by patient continuance in well-doing, for glory, honor, and immortality, realize the full fruition of his hope. Then will King David arise in the likeness of his Lord, and "be satisfied." Who is there in this vale of tears but that longs for the dawning of that day, when disease and death will be abolished? All who love their Redeemer can but say, Hasten on, glad day of deliverance.