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pose on earth and
10
live forever
in
the
resentment, bitterness, attitude of rebel–
l.ion. and utter hopelessness and frustra–
tino of mind tbeir own sins brougbt
upon them. Once tbey perverted their
own
minds, they
can
never reg¡ún
bal–
ance. Happiness and joy has len them
rorever.
Whereas,
it
MAN, composed ofmatter,
sinned and refused to repent and tum
from his sin, he will die the seeond deatb
- he shall tJtterly PEiliSII - he will be
as
thougb he had not beco (Obadiah 16).
This refleets God's
~>reRCY.
But there
is
another all-important rea–
son.
As
the humanist philosopher Elbert
Hubbard said, «Nothing
is
permanent
but ehange." Matter does not remajo
cu
Ir
ls,
unehanged, permanently. But it
continuos
changlng
permanently. Per–
haps stone or iron
is
as
unchanging
as
any elements. But aner
a
few lhousand
years, the gianl slones in the waU
around Jerusalem have lost all lheir
newness and show their age. Whatever
you
see
now on this earth wiU CW.NGE.
In úme it
will
CHANOI!.
SP.irit is CHANGELES.S - except as God
inslllled in angel beings the power of
mind - of thinking. reasoning, malcing
dccisions and exen:ising
wi/1
10 act on
decisions or ehoices. But spirit substance
apart from the mind power of God or
spirit beings
is
CHANOEW!SS.
In reproduciog Himself God requires
righteous CHARACTllR OBVELOPMENT.
And that TC<¡uires CHANOE. lf God had
made
us
of spiril. the spirit couldn't
change. Man, composed of matter, is
subject to CHANGI!. Man, if called by
God,
can
be made to
realize
that he has
sioned, and he
can
ILUENT - CHANGE
from bis sin- tum
10
Gon's WAY. And
once bis course is changed. with God's
help he can pursue
it.
He can GR.OW in
spiritual knowledge, develop oharacter,
overoome wrong habits, weaknesses, and
faults. And this
is
all dooe by the PRYSI- ·
CAL MAN, through
lb
e PHYSICAL
BllAfN.
The human spirit in mao empowus
the braio witb pbysíca1 inlellect, and the
spirit of God uníted with
i1
empowm
the brajo
-with
spiritual comprehensioÍI..
aod these spirits RECOilO the know1edge
and the charaCler and preserve tbem,
as
1
well
as
tbe pbysical shape and appear–
ance. These spirits do not develop tbe
righteous eharacter, but througb tbe
holy spirit God does give us Hts failh,
Hts righteousness - as long as we our–
selves earneslly desire it. But once cbar–
acter
is
developed in physical man.
HOW
does God bridge the gap, chang–
íng
MAl'/
in
lOSPUUT?
The
Spírlt MOLO
1 have shown you that the Scriptures
pic:ture mao as the clay- which he liter–
ally
is
-
and God as our potter. We
might caU God, also, our SCULPTOR, for
witb our. submission aod eagér willing–
oess, we are the WORI( OP HtS HANDS in
spirilual aod eharacter development.
As
Job said. «if
a
mao die. shall he live
again?
All
the days of my appointed
úme will 1
waj¡
till my CRANGE oome.
Thou shalt call. and 1 will a.nswer thee
(in the resurrection): thou wih have a
desire
10
the work of thine hand.s"
(Job 14:14-15).
Thís brin&-
w
to the question of deatb
of tbe physical MAN ancf lhe resurrection
WEEK ENDINO SEPTEMBER 6,
1975
which Job called the "cHANGE" into lhe
kiogdom ofGod.
Now notice, as quoted before, in
lsaiah 64:8: "But now, () ETERI'IAL,
thou
art
our father; we are tbe clay, and
thou our pouer, and we
aJJ
are the work
ofthy band."
God eould not forro, sbape.
change,
and deve1op His character
in
us had we
been made ofspirit.
Notice further: "SbaU the clay say
10
him tbat fashionelh it, What makest
thou? or thy work, He hath no bands?"
(lsa.
45 :9.)
Another passage of scripture so oRen
misapplied: "For by .graoe are ye saved
through faith; and tbat not of your–
selves: it (the faith)
is
the gin of God:
not ofworlcs ...." We
do
oot
earn
salva–
ñon by good worlcs or gajo it by worlcs -
BUT
whtn
we receive it as God's OIPT,
/he degree of reward
wiU be ac(X)rdiog 10
our "works" (Mau. 16:27) - perfor–
mance in living Ooo's WAY - bui lding
character.
But now read the rest of this passage
The physical body,
afte r death, decomposes
a nd decays, but the
spirit that was in that
body, like the· sculptor's
mold, preserves the
form, the shape, the
memory, and the
character.
whicb is nearly always purposely
omiued by
lb
ose •nsleadiog people on
tbis polnt: " ... not of works" ...
Wuv?... "lest any man should boast.
For we are
H/S WORKMANSH/P,
cre–
ated in ChriSt Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS,
which God
h01h
before ordained that we
shouldwalk in them
(Epb. 2:8-10).
1
have tried to point out tbat we must
gain contaa witb God and that
Ht
is
the
poner - or sculp10r - fashioniog. mold–
IDg.
aod shaping our lives and rigbteous
cbaracter iniO His CHARACTI;R IMAOE,
AS WE DES/REAND Y/ELD.
All right. The godly character in us, 1
have stated, cannol be created by 1\at.
lt
must be developed. We must yield. We
musl desire it, seek it. But
it
comes from
Ooo.
Thus if we keep
a
close daily con–
tact witb our Creator. through
His
spirit
and through our spirit - for remember.
His holy spirit
~beareth
witness with our
spirit, thal we are the children of God"
(Rom.
8:
16) - then He
is
fashioning
and shaping our eharacters. Had God
made us ofspirit, this could not be done.
Now. as Job brought out, we die. Af·
terlífe comes througb the resurrectíon.
When we die, all oonsciousness ceases.
Seod for the free booldet
After Death ...
Thtn Wha1?
The physical brajo becomes
uncorucious and deeays.
With what BOOY do we come in the
resurrection? Thal question
is
aoswered
in 1 Corinthians 15:35-38: • su1 sorne
man
will
s6y,
How
are
th~
dead
rai$ed
up? atld with what body do lbey
come? ... that whieh lhou sowestlburial
in ground), thou sowest NOT tbat body
thal shaU be, but bare grain, it may
chance ofwheat, or ofsome other grain:
but God giveth ít
a
body as
ít
halh
pleased him."
The body thal dios
is
NOT the same
body tbat
will
come up
in
the resurrec–
úon.
Now we oome
lO
a MOST IMPORTANT
pan
for the SPfiUT IN MAN - which 1
have termed the "human spirit."
lt
does
not impart human life.
11
does not see,
hear or think. The HUMAN MAN makes
bis decisions, and it is in lhe physical
MAN that eharacler must be built.
lt
is
tbe human
cuv
thal Ood forms inlo
His charac:ter. The SPJJUT in man llEC·
OllDS what the brajo comes 10 know,
even the anitude, the facets of CHARAC–
n-.
not ooly of tbe human brain, but
also
of the whole body.
1t
keeps
the im–
print eveo oftbe dngerprints.
Compare it
10
a sculptor's mo1d. The
sculptor may want
10
produce a bronze
statue of a man. The sculplor migbt use
clay to forma clay model - or other ma–
terial. Theo the -sculptor makes a MOLO
of the modeJ he has formed aod shaped.
The mold is a bollow form, made from
tbe finished model. lniO tbe mold
is
poured molteo liqu.id bronze. The mold
is
removed, and tbe bronze figure
is
an
EXACT oopy ofthe original model.
The spirit that
is
in
every
human aets
as a MOLO.
lt
PRESERVES the human's
MEMORY, bis CHAilACTER, biS precise
fORM ANO SHAPB.
Now
1
do nol cooceive that the spirit
is
a
hoUow form. But it supplies the
same purpose as the sculptor's mold.
lf
one has received tbe holy spirit, tbeo in
tbe resurrection, the resurrected being
will
be COWPOSED Of
SPIIUT,
DOI matter
as
the human model
was.
But in tbe res–
urrected SPIRTT form be
will
suddenly
come AL!VE.
11
will seem like the oext
ftash of a seeond from bis loss of ooo–
seiou$nes at úme of death. He wiU bave
all bis memory intact. He will look as he
did in human life in form and shape.
E
ven bis dngerprints will be the same.
The CHARACTER which he aUowed
God to build within bim will be there.
He
will
be alive FOR.EVEJt! And, like God
tbe Father, by bis own will. he will bave
been made so that be CANNOT sin.
The body that comes in the resurree–
tion
is
not the same body that
was
ftesh
and blood in this human lifetime. God
does not
turn
ftesh and blood mauer
INTO spirit. The ftesh and blood physical
body, afte.r deatb, deeomposed and de–
cayed, but the spiril that was
rN
that
body, like tbe sculplor's mold, preserves
all the form and shape, the memoty, and
t.he character INTACT.
Notice wbat happens AT OEAm.
' 'Theo sball the dust retum 10 the
earth
as
it
was:
and the spirit shall re·
turn unto God who gave it." After
death, whether buríe<1 in the earth, cre–
mated, or wbat, \)le physica1 body re–
turns lo tbe earth. Butthe spiritthat was
IN the man, oow having reeorded every–
thing - tbe body's form and shape, the
facial ídeoúty, the memory aod the
character - retums
10
God.
h
will be
PRESERVE!>
UNCHANGED.
Sueh saiots
as Abraham.
Moses,
David and Daniel
died lbouundsofyemago.
_
So
STOP ANO THJNK A.BOUT
THAT!
Ood had to provide sorne way to PllE·
SERVE tbe form, Sbape, appearanoe,
mind and eharacler of saints for thou-
(Cont~nw<d
from
pog~
1)
NO CREDtliiUTY, ít would seem. Yet
He
is
the one who shaU ñoally STOP the
overthrow of govemments on earth and
usher in WOilLO PEACE tbe ooly way it
can be brougbt about -
BY
tbe POWI!J(
of tbe Creator Ood, seuing up tbe oov–
EilNMENT
of the KINODOM OF ÚOO on
earth - one super, world-rul.ing govem–
ment over all tbe naúons of
earth.
He wbo has sulfered the grealest
CIW>JtlUTY OAP of
aJJ
úme
will
lioally
rule FOReYER in Pl!ACI!- The prophecy
says:
•
"And the seventh anget sounded; and
lhere were great voices in heaven,
saying, The kiogdoms of this world are
beoome the lóngdoms of our Lord, and
of bjs Chrisl; and be sball
reign
for ever
and ever" (Reve1ation 11 :15).
He will
ha
ve 11:)()% aedibility EVERY·
wueuthen!
o
sands of years. They were composed of
corruptible tlesh and blood.
AIJ
thal was
THBM (man is composed whoUy of mal–
ter) long since deeomposed. Yet in the
resurrection,
it
will
s.eem
to
them as lhe
next fraction of a seoond since
\o$$
or
oonsciousness al death.
In
death. they knew abso1ute1y NOTH·
ING.
Says
God's Word, " For the living
know that they SRALL OlE: but rile
dtod
ltNOW NOTANYTRING"
(EocL 9:5).
The spirit wbich retums to Ood
is
the
human spirit lhat was in them through–
out life.
lt
was nol an "immort a1 soul,"
for tbe soul was mortal and corruptible.
Those who died witb God's boly spi.rit
will
be
in the 1\rst resurrec:tion
(Rev. 20:4-5). They
wiU
oome forth IM·
lo<OitTAt..
in
a glorious body of
SPIIUT
oomposnion. their faces aglow as the
SUN.
All
others wbo have oot been called 10
eterna! salvation by God during tbe11
human lifetimes will be resurrected aller
the lhousand-year reign of the kiogdom
of Ood under Christ, in the "great white
lhrone judgment" (Rev. 20: ll- 12). They
wiU be resurrected MORTAL, once agalR
in a tlesh and blood physical body. just
as before. In this grat judgmenl they
wiU
be
"caUed" - their eyes opened
10
Ood's truth. Then, finally, there
will
be
a
last resurrection (Rev. 20: 13-15) of
tbose wbo HAO been called by God in
their mortal human life, but had re–
jected or turned from it. They. witb
those who reject it
in
the great while
throne judgmenl, wiU be in the "lake or
Jire"
(11
Pet.
3:
10-ll), whieh is the sec–
ood death. They then shaU be ashes un–
der the soles ofthe feet ofthc irnmortals
in God's kíngdom (Mal. 4:3). and
will
be
as
thougb they had never been (Oba–
diah 16).
Then, ahead ofthe millions of tmmor–
tal rttlcemcd, shall líe lile tremendOII$
awesome HUMAN POTENTIAt. - wben
God tbe Creator shall have put THE EN·
TlR.E
UNIVERSB under our jurisdíction
(Heb. 2:7-8).
o
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