tween the most sinful, the most de graded man and the highest form of animal life. “Some time ago a noted professor took a chimpanzee into his home, that it might be a close companion with his own boy. As we might sup pose, he did this in order to study the animal carefully. Later he declared that the chimpanzee acted in many ways as intelligently as his boy; for among other things he learned cer tain customs of table etiquette. He could use a knife, a fork, a spoon, even a table napkin. The professor thus endeavored to show how closely related the animal kingdom was to man. Now all that he said about the formation of certain habits may be true; but there is one thing the boy could do that the ape could never do, no matter what his training or development might be. The ape could never reverently look into the face of God and say, ‘My Father.’ It re quires God-likeness to do that. It re quires the possession of a spirit. And only to man did God give this like ness to Himself when He created and ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.’ Man was not l e f t to be guarded by instinct, as in the case of the brute creation. To him God gave the intelligence to understand His will and His requirements.” • • • Do you believe that the sun actually stood still in the midst of the heavens in the days of Joshua? (See Josh. 10:12,13) Scientifically, no. To all appear ances, yes, even as the language of appearance is the language of the masses today. Our newspapers record each morning the actual time the sun rises and sets. Scientifically we know that the sun does not rise or set. Our newspaper editors know that fact, but they use figurative lan guage because there is no other language that better expresses to others the thought t h e y have in mind. It is the language of appearance that the Word of God uses; for the Bible is a universal Book, and the Holy Spirit in describing Joshua’s action uses the language that peo ple can understand.
What is the difference between soul and spirit? Genesis 2:7 reads as follows: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground [that was his body], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [his spirit]; and man became a living soul.” The Rev. William L. Pettingill, D.D. has aptly explained the dif ference between body, s o u l , and spirit ih these words: 1. “Man has a body. In this he is like all of the creation of God throughout the animal and vegetable world. The brutes have living bodies, and so do the trees and plants. 2. “Man has a soul. In this he is is unlike the trees and plants, but he is like the lower animals. The soul is the seat of the emotions, the passions, the feelings, the desires, the likes and dislikes, and affections, and the will. All these things we have in common with the beasts. 3. “Man has a spirit. In this he is unique among God’s creatures. ‘The spirit of man is the c a n d l e of Jehovah’ (Prov. 20:27), and it is this that is set aglow when man is born again; and then God’s Spirit testi fies with man’s spirit that he is a child of God. God cannot be known by the body, nor by the soul, but only by the spirit. And even the human spirit is incapable of finding out any thing about God or of knowing God except by revelation of the Spirit of God.’’ Two verses from the New Testa ment state clearly that there is a difference between soul and spirit. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians say ing: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul a n d body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). “The word of G od is quick [or living], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, a n d of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Let me quote from my book on God’s Plan of the Ages, pages 23, 24: “With the possession of a spirit, man became God-conscious, which fact determines an impassable gulf be- FEBRUARY, 1947 .
How do you harmonize 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish” with portions of the ninth chapter of Romans, which, seem to indicate that God made some to be wicked, to show forth His power and glory ? Romans 9 is very deep and diffi cult, but a careful study of it will reveal that God does not will that any man should be lost, or determine any man’s doom to eternal punish ment. For example, note verse 22, which is perhaps one of the most difficult in the chapter: “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” Who fitted these people for destruction? Not God, surely; nor does the text say so. On the contrary, God’s atti tude toward them has been one of ‘“longsuffering.” These unbelievers fitted themselves for doom by reject ing God’s grace, by rejecting the only Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. * * * What is the meaning of Matthew 24:28, “ Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered to gether” ? The carcase represents the corrupt and apostate part of the Jewish na tion; the eagles are symbols of God’s judgment. Of course, at the battle of Arma geddon, the Gentile nations will also be gathered, many of whom will also go into everlasting condemnation.1 But Matthew 24 was spoken to the disciples concerning Israel during the tribulation period, and at the return of Christ in glory. * * * What does Paul mean in Philip- pians 1:19, “I know that this shdll turn to my salvation” f The apostle here refers to his bodily salvation, in his approaching trial before Nero. He was a prisoner at Caesar’s court (Phil. 1:13), will ing to live or die for Christ, knowing that, if God willed, the prayers of his Christian friends at Philippi would be answered, and he would be set free. There is nothing in the passage to intimate that Paul re ferred to the salvation of his soul. 19
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