I think that these are mainly the views that are entertained on this
most solemn subject. And it must be said that each one of them is
apparently supported by one or more passages of Scripture. Men of the
most devout spirit, intellectual acumen, and profound scholarship,
uphold these various theories. Such men are honest and sincere in the
last degree; above all things anxious to know what God has revealed
in His Word.
UNFOLDING LIGHT OF REVELATION.
Yet on this momentous question they differ. It is really no wonder. I
think I may say that there is no clear deliverance in Scripture, in
absolute support of either of these views; or if there is, it is offset
by some other statement that seems contrary. In the unfolding light of
revelation we do not seem to have come to the time when this momentous
question will be made absolutely and universally plain. It may be one of
those questions on which we are to exercise faith alone. "Shall not the
Judge of all the earth do right?" That was Abraham's consolation when he
did not know what God was going to do. And it may be our consolation.
The Judge of all the earth will certainly do right. Yes, and He will do
more than right. He is love. We can rest on that. Uncertainty as to
details may best become us now. But the eternal morning will break and
the shadows flee away. Meantime, while this uncertainty prevails, surely
there ought to be abounding charity of judgment.
When we come to think of it, we are not so much surprised that we have
but a partial and limited revelation on this subject. There may be more
divine kindness in that than at first sight appears. When we contemplate
the vastness of creation, we see that there are myriads of other worlds
far larger and more glorious than our own. Every one of these is likely
to have a moral history--it may be more important than ours.
Now, if we had a complete revelation of the destiny of our race,
possibly that would involve a history of some or many of those worlds;
for the affairs of this world may be largely involved in theirs.
Therefore, if God would give us such a revelation now, we can easily see
that it is quite beyond us; the subject would be too vast for us now and
here; we would be utterly bewildered, and rendered unfit for the
ordinary duties of life. How much wiser and kinder it is to give us but
a limited revelation, leaving unrevealed matters entirely to faith.
SUFFICIENT REVELATION.
It is not remarkable, then, that so little is revealed, even of Heaven.
We do not know what activities will have place there. What particular
business will engage redeemed souls, we do not know. We have a
sufficient revelation to stimulate hope, but not enough to pander to
curiosity. Such a limited revelation as we could receive would probably
only confuse us. It is not remarkable, then, that we have but a meagre
account of the preparatory processes for final blessedness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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