Immortality To Be Sought For

"WHO will render to every man according to his deeds. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory, and honor and immortality, eternal life." Rom. 2:5, 6. The apostle here teaches that God will reward all men according to their deeds. To those who do right, and continue patiently to do so, and who seek- (i. e., "go in search of, or try to find."—Webster) three things; viz., 1. glory; 2. honor; 3. immortality,— to such he will give eternal life. The "glory" for which they seek is that glory which is revealed when Christ comes in the "glory of the Father and the holy angels." The "honor" they try to obtain is that honor which cometh only from above, when God takes from them the reproach with which a wicked world has regarded. them. What is the "immortality" for which they seek? Popular theology tells us it is something man has always had, that which has descended to us from Adam, which every creature in human form possesses, and which no man can possibly remove from him; something he has received as a legacy whether he desired it or not, and must continue to have, no matter how much he may desire to cast it aside. Evidently, the great apostle Paul and popular theology disagree. He would not represent a man as seeking for sontething he already had. We sometimes see old people who have become very forgetful, looking after their spectaoles when they have them on, and we always laugh. Popular theology would make the apostle guilty of a far more ridiculous blunder,—seeking for immortality when he had always had it. How plainly this language demonstrates that immortality is not something now enjoyed, but that which is to be given only to the faithful! and how sensible this conclusion seems! Wicked men, then, do not possess the priceless boon of immortal existence.