Here I would advert briefly to a topic that seems to me to have a strong bearing in the same direction. I mean the descent of Jesus into Hades, and the intimation that He "preached to the spirits in prison." On this subject the whole Christian world--at least the Protestant world--has maintained a singular reserve. In fact I have never heard the matter even once casually referred to in any Protestant pulpit. It may be that even a casual reference to it might be taken as favoring the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory. Such is the craven fear that men have of being supposed to be tainted with Romanism. In other cases it may be that the whole subject is thought to be involved in so much mystery that it is better to leave it alone. But I believe that if we had a larger and more sympathetic view of the entire domain of truth, this topic would be seen to be radiant with eternal hope.

In this spirit it is referred to by Dr. Calvin S. Gerhardt in his book on "Death and the Resurrection." That book came out some years ago, and there were some letters pa.s.sed between the author and myself in reference to the contents. He holds the view that the body of Christ was not raised, but His spirit only; and he tries to sustain that view by a variety of arguments, some of which seem to me very unworthy. My own view is, that the body was actually raised, but that now being a spiritual body it had the power of transformation, so that at pleasure it could become visible or invisible to fleshly eyes.

However, in the same connection Dr. Gerhardt refers to Christ's descent into Hades; and he treats that matter with a candor and eloquence, along with good sense, that in my opinion, leaves nothing to be desired. I will here transcribe some pa.s.sages of his on that topic, and so dismiss further discussion of it. He says:

"The popular doctrine which teaches that the opportunity of salvation _always_ ends with the present life, finds no support in sacred Scripture and is completely overthrown by Christ's descent into Hades.

This important stage of His mission is often overlooked, or ignored; and we must confess that we too stand with bated breath, before the problem which its consideration presents, for we are confronted here with mysteries. But the mysteries are not closed, and are not utterly incapable of solution."

Again he says: "Christ's visits to the earth were few and brief after His resurrection. Where then was He during the forty days when not visible to His disciples? Not in heaven, for He had not yet ascended.

Neither was He on earth, for if any one truth was constantly more fully enforced by Him, it was that through His death He had pa.s.sed beyond the sphere of the earthly. Where else then could He have sojourned but in Hades--that unseen world of the dead into which all men pa.s.s when they lay aside their mortal bodies, and begin to live in spiritual bodies."

Again: "To the penitent thief on the cross Jesus said, 'To-day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.' The Saviour, therefore, must have gone to the regions of the dead, for to the Jews, Paradise meant the locality in Hades to which the blessed dead were received."

Again: "St. Peter not only a.s.sures us that Christ descended into Hades, but also tells us why He went thither, 'Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to G.o.d; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit,' in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison."

Again: "Again 'For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to G.o.d in the spirit,'"

Again: "These pa.s.sages of Scripture, as well as the whole drift of the New Testament, make plain the important truth that the great work which our Saviour prosecuted on earth He continued also in Hades. His incarnation and full union with us, in our earthly, mortal life, involved Him in a similar revelation to the dead, according to their altered conditions and environment. What He did for our earthly life He did for them there in full harmony with the changed circ.u.mstances of their post-mundane form of existence."

Again: "By His descent into Hades," says Martensen, "Christ revealed Himself as the Redeemer of all souls."

Once more: "The descent into the realm of the dead gave expression to the truth, that the distinctions Here and There--the limits of s.p.a.ce--are of no significance regarding Christ, and do not concern His kingdom. No powers of nature, no limits of s.p.a.ce or of time, can hinder Christ from finding His way to souls. His kingdom has extended even into the region of the dead, and still includes that region; and the distinctions of living and dead, of earlier and later generations of men, of times of ignorance and times of knowledge, possess but a transient significance."

In confirmation of these views, I would add one consideration of rather an abstract character. When our Saviour died on the cross, why did He not revive at once? Instead of that we know that He waited until the third day. I have no doubt that one reason was, that He intended that all believers in Him might have a conclusive proof that He had really died and revived. But one other reason may have been this, that He intended to visit the spirits in prison, and in order to be en rapport with them, He needed to go in the spirit. They were in the spirit; and for Him to go to them in a human body would have been to interpose an effectual barrier between Himself and them. If they are somewhere in the spirit world, a spirit body alone could reach them.

X.

DIVINE LOVE.

Infinite Being and Perfection--Grades of Being--Variety--Man's Limitations--Moral Beings--Hopeless Surroundings--All Are Children of G.o.d--Righting the Wrongs of Time--"The Heart of the Universe is Love"

--Eternal Conscious Torment Incredible--Conquering Power of Love --Eternal Purpose Will Not Fail--Omnipotence in the Moral Realm--The Divine Expression of Love--Universal Atonement Involves Universal Salvation--Final Success of G.o.d's Designs--Will Evil Necessarily Perpetuate itself?--Triumph of Good Over Evil--Few Stripes or Many --Reformatory Punishment--Bringing Good out of Evil--Possibilities of Redeeming Grace--The Ransomed of the Lord--Wrath but the Shadow of Love--Former Eternity of Sinlessness--Wrath no Const.i.tuent of the Divine Character--Pity and Indignation.

There can be no mistake here. The Scripture declares, again and again that G.o.d is Love. Also, the Scripture is clear in regard to His infinity. In fact our reason would almost carry us so far. For if all things had a Creator, that Creator must have had no beginning. But we take it that G.o.d will be freely conceded to be infinite in His being, and in the qualities of His character.

He is infinite then in His love. Being infinite in His being, He could be no less than infinite in His love. That surely means that He loves every being that He has made. Will He not therefore do the most and best that is possible to be done for each one of His creatures? To be sure, there are grades of being. Some have a larger capacity than others. We know of no law by which love would impel the Creator to create all beings alike. No, there is a law of variety which we shall consider later; and that accounts for beings of different function, capacity, surroundings, employment, and so on. At the same time, is it not safe to infer that there is a possible maximum of happiness which every being has attained, or will attain, under a government of divine love?

Of course there may be limitations. Man has been made a free being. He may therefore limit his own possibilities. He may deliberately choose to do wrong. Thus he may impose a limitation on himself. In one sense this may be considered a great misfortune. But how else could a moral being be created? We cannot conceive of any other way. If we had not been created moral beings, we could never rise to anything worth while. G.o.d wanted to make the most and the best of us. But with that possibility of rising there was also the possibility of falling. Therefore, so far as that consideration is concerned, our creation, on this human status, was an expression of infinite love.

But then, the present is a state of discipline. Since sin has come in, and so marred our perfection and happiness, it has been ordained that the present life will be a preparation for a better future life.

Therefore our present sinful limitations are not finally disastrous.

They may be even turned to benedictions. Instances are not wanting where untold suffering has issued in great moral perfection, with a corresponding high place in the world beyond. Such considerations as these show clearly that our creation, even though we are fallen, was an act of infinite love.

Yes, but what about the untold millions who do not turn their present suffering to good account? Especially what about the uncounted millions of heathen? Many of them were born into conditions of utter hopelessness; their surroundings were of the worst; it would be utterly futile to expect that their present life could be a preparation for final blessedness.

Now is it to be supposed for a moment that G.o.d does not love every heathen just as He loves every Christian? Surely, they are all His children, and He loves every one of them with a Father's love. Then what about the other millions that live in Christian lands who have no idea of making the present life a preparation for the future? Are they not all equally dear to Him? Let us rise above all insular, mean, petty love of our own, and think of the love of G.o.d--impartial, free, infinite, everlasting! Can it be believed that the few favored ones who have lived in certain surroundings, and who thus have come to hear and heed the message of salvation, are destined for everlasting bliss; while all others, naturally no worse than they, are consigned to everlasting woe?

Are these few fleeting years, and circ.u.mstances which we had little or no hand in forming, charged with such eternal possibilities? Yet we profess to believe that G.o.d rules, and that He loves every one of His creatures with an everlasting love!

Surely every candid mind and every human heart will repel such a possibility as their final extinction or d.a.m.nation. And when we realize that G.o.d has all eternity to right the wrongs of time, we begin to realize that the present is but one epoch of His administration.

I have just read these words of an orthodox divine: "The heart of the universe is love." Yes, that is the language of the heart in its best moods, whatever our creed may be. And the heart will sometimes speak its conviction strongly. It does seem that orthodox divines at times forget that according to their belief G.o.d consigns untold millions of His creatures to eternal fire. Yet surely He is "the heart of the universe;" and "the heart of the universe is love." Does it not seem the blackest of contradictions?

And when we think of His wisdom to arrange, and His power to execute, it does seem hard to believe that eternal conscious torment will be the fate of any of His creatures. We may see but a short way into the whole scheme of the divine administration; but the heart will refuse to believe in such a paradox.

"Omnia vincet amor"--love conquers all things. We accept that as a proverb even in this selfish and cruel world. Yes, and despite all hindrances, we often see love's triumphs. When everything else fails, love will win. And is it to be conceived that G.o.d, Who is Love Personified, will not win? Yes; if we knew nothing more than the general principle, we might make a confident forecast that He will not fail. But how overwhelming is our conviction when we see infinite love joined with infinite wisdom and infinite power! What will not this triumvirate of infinites accomplish?

We may be told that sin is an infinite evil, and that even infinite love cannot conquer it. We refuse to believe it. G.o.d is omnipotent in the moral, as well as in the material realm. Surely His infinite love will incline Him, His infinite wisdom will show Him how, and His infinite power will accomplish His desire.

Now again: The advocates of eternal torment will freely grant that G.o.d loves every soul that He has made. They will also concede that He is omniscient. Very well. Then He must have known that the millions of beings, now supposed to be in torment, were coming into the world; and He must have known that there was no possible way for them to avert their doom. And though He loved each of them with an infinite love, He made no way of escape, but consigned them to eternal torment. Foreseeing in His omniscience that all this would happen, He did not intercept their coming, which He could easily have done; nor did He provide any means of escape.

Is this the way infinite love, joined with divine foreknowledge, would act? Do not say that the matter is too high for us to understand. Even on a human plane we would expect a more beneficent result. How much more in the case of Him who foresees and arranges all contingencies, and whose love is from everlasting to everlasting. Do not such considerations as these absolutely prohibit the idea of endless suffering? Just take counsel with your own heart and mind.

Again, it is written that "G.o.d so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." Now if He loved the world, He loved every individual in the world. He loves every soul of the human race. Not color, nor climate, nor civilization, nor any special epoch of the world's history, can make any restriction.

Now if G.o.d loved the world, He expressed His love for the world; and how did He express it? By giving his Son. Then He must have given His Son for every soul of man. It would be no expression of His love for me to give His Son for somebody else. But He loved me personally, and gave His Son for me personally. Hence Paul could say: "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." And so everyone of the human race may truly say.

A THEORY.

Generality here tends to confusion and mistakes. It has been too much the habit to think and speak of G.o.d as giving His Son for the world, and yet holding a reserved and unexpressed idea that He gave His Son only for the saved. Such an idea is not often expressed publicly, and I believe is not held heartily, But it is formally professed; it is theory in a certain creed. Not only so, but it is felt that universal atonement involves universal salvation; and that is an issue which in many cases men are not prepared to accept In fact many plain statements of Scripture are twisted and tortured out of their plain meaning, apparently to avoid the issue of universal salvation.

But let universal salvation be once granted, and all difficulty disappears. Then the plain statements of Scripture do not need to be modified, or explained away. Then all may freely accept the corollary that universal atonement involves universal salvation; only in a far larger sense than believed heretofore. We take in eternity now, as well as the small span of time. We begin to realize that the sweep of the eternal years makes no difference in the divine love or the divine purpose. In G.o.d's administration of the universe there may be good reasons for saving some of our race in this life; and some in the next; but the principle is the same; infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite love, will not fail of their purpose.

It is this belief in the final success of G.o.d's designs that gives us the a.s.surance of ultimate Restoration. For if G.o.d loves the world--that is, every soul in the world--and if He gave His Son for the Salvation of the world--and if the sacrifice of the Son is sufficient for the salvation of the world--then we may be sure that infinite wisdom, love, and power will find a way of attaining the end in view. Somehow--some time--somewhere--the divine purpose will be accomplished.

I am fortified in this view by the words of an eminent Presbyterian divine that I have just chanced to meet with. He says: "G.o.d infallibly accomplishes everything at which He aims." I take that principle in a wider application than he intended; and taking it so, it is a strong argument for ultimate Restoration.

A SERIOUS DEPARTURE.

Just apply that principle to the theory of everlasting torment. Is it to be supposed that G.o.d really "aims" at that, and that hence He "infallibly accomplishes" it? It is almost blasphemy to think so. Yet that is the idea that has been held to be orthodox, and any apparent swerving from it has been treated as a serious departure from the faith.

But men's hearts are sometimes better than their heads; hence we hear little now of eternal torment.

And the heart is a good place for a reform in doctrine to begin. When these larger ideas simmer for a while in men's hearts, they will gradually find expression on their tongues. There are many men who feel the truth now that they will speak bye and bye. There is at present a fear, and a natural fear, of being disloyal to orthodoxy: but I believe the truth will come triumphantly to the front later on. There is a stage of silence, and there is a stage of speech. Meantime I plead for toleration; that is as much as can be expected now. It is well if we have advanced so far. Not long ago there was persecution.

To all this it may be objected that if men remain obdurate in this life, withstanding all the overtures of mercy that are addressed to them, is it not likely that they will remain so for ever? This is a serious question. Let us seriously consider it.

EVEN IF THEY ARE FAVORED.

Roughly, there are two cla.s.ses of men to be recognized. First there are those who have sat under the Gospel for years, but who have not yielded to its claims. The question is, Will they ever yield, even if they are favored with another opportunity? Will not the habit of their life culminate in an eternal refusal?

Some think it will. My old minister used to say that it is the nature of evil to perpetuate itself. Hence it was argued that grace refused here will be always refused, even though it were offered. It was argued that the increased evil character which will come to a wicked man on entering the next life, together with the evil influences and surroundings of that life, will so absolutely steel him against all good that he will inevitably go on from bad to worse for ever. Hence the eternity of suffering.

To my mind, all this is only theory. We really know very little of the next life. The influences that may be used for reformation may really be overpowering. Just think how it has fared with this world of ours since the introduction of evil. Has evil perpetuated itself? Or will it perpetuate itself? No! the very opposite has been the case, and will be the case. A scheme of redemption above all human thought has been enacted here, by which the world has in part regained the innocence that if lost, and is destined to regain it fully.