Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

THE SOUL

1. Our opening text reveals that when God created man He used two elements to make him "a living soul":
   1. He formed him of the dust of the ground - Gen. 3:19; Eccl. 3:19; 12:7; 1 Cor. 15:47; John 3:31
   2. He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils - Gen. 7:22; Isa. 2:22; Job 27:3
2. Here we have the original use of the phrase "living soul" or "living being" or "living creature":
   1. This same expression is found a number of times in the Bible - Rev. 16:3; Num. 16:48; 1 Cor. 15:45
   2. Thus it is seen that, originally, the word "soul" was used to denote Adam as a living human being in contrast to the dead.

1. Great confusion exists in the minds of men as to the true nature of the soul:
   1. Many believe and teach that the soul is the immortal ego of man, which separates from the body at death and exists in the Spirit world - good or bad.
   2. Others believe and teach that the soul is mortal, that it dies with the body, returns to the ground.
2. What the Bible teaches about the soul:
   1. It teaches that man is composed of two elements - dust and the breath of life - and that in death both elements cease to function. Compare Gen. 2:16, 17 with chapter 3:19; Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ezek. 18:4
   2. It teaches, further, that the soul dies - Ezek. 18:4; Rev. 16:3; Ps. 22:29; 78:50
   3. The Bible does not speak of "immortal souls" any where!

1. This is a crucial question, worthy of our consideration:
   1. What God said would happen is found in these words, "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" - Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12; Ezek. 18:4; Job 21:33
   2. What Satan said would not happen, "Ye shall not surely die" - Gen. 3:4
   3. Who spoke the truth? the Creator or the devil? John 8:44
2. The death of Adam, the living soul, was included in the sentence pronounced upon him in the Garden of Eden:
   1. "Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return" - Gen. 3:19
   2. "It is appointed unto men - the living souls - once to die" - Heb. 9:27
   3. "So death passed upon all men" - Rom. 5:12
   4. "For as in Adam all die" - 1 Cor. 15:22
3. What death does to man - the living soul:
   1. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth" - Ps. 146:4; 1 Cor. 15:45-47; Eccl. 12:7
   2. "In that very day his thoughts perish" - Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ps. 6:5
   3. "In death there is no remembrance of thee" - Ps. 6:5; 30:9; Eccl. 9:5
4. Why God drove the sinners out of the Garden of Eden:
   1. Very few readers of the Bible have noticed the reason given by God for driving our first parents out of the Garden of Eden.
   2. But that reason given in these words, "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" - Gen. 3:22
   3. Here is God's answer to the Soul question. Let us accept it!