Love's Final Victory Part 14

How will it fare with any church that acts so? Will not the light that is in her be darkness? How can we expect to receive growing divine illuminations if we affect to believe what we are convinced is untrue?

Would it not be wiser and safer to put all the orthodox Confessions on the shelf--yes, on the top shelf--and take instead such a simple creed as this: "We believe the Scripture to be the Word of G.o.d." Then, though we might differ, we would not be afraid to avow, our convictions, and we would not be accounted heretics. Let the dead past bury its dead.

There is another serious consideration. When one of the heathen is converted, especially an intelligent one, how would it do to put into his hands our orthodox Confessions of Faith? Would he not stumble at the doctrine of endless torment? He would think reasonably, of course; not like ourselves who are so dominated by tradition. Then, I say, would he not stumble? If we tried to substantiate the doctrine, would it not be a serious impediment to his faith? On the other hand, if we tried to explain it away, would he not think us a lot of hypocrites?

Professor Faulkner, of Toronto University, said lately, and I think truly, that one reason why theology is now under a cloud, is that men are afraid of heresy. Surely, nothing could be more unfortunate than to carry this spirit into missions.

We do hope that the missionary campaign lately launched will have great success. Only we would like it if it had been launched on a higher plane. It is worthy of the highest.

We are often told that there are a thousand millions of heathen; and our creed teaches us that they are dropping into h.e.l.l every? day. What could be so compelling a motive in any missionary enterprise as to save some of 'them from such a fate? But it is never mentioned. Is it believed?

Certainly, we profess to believe it. But do we? If we do, would it not be the paramount, compelling motive? But instead of that, the main idea is to convert the heathen from savagery to civilization. Make them good citizens--that is the idea. Especially in regard to the influx of immigrants, there seldom seems to be no higher motive than to make them worthy of this great country. I have read just now an article in one of our religious papers, which affects to be very earnest, but to me it seems a mere outburst of quasi-patriotism.

Now is it not time to be honest? The trouble is, that men are afraid to be. We have put the doctrine of endless torment in the Confession, both of the Methodist and of the Presbyterian Churches, and we are afraid to go back on it for fear of the pains and penalties of the church.

Moreover, we do not like to confess that for ages we were wrong; and it seems disloyal to go back on the fathers who framed these confessions.

So we hang on to them in theory, but repudiate them in fact. Is it not so?

Now, what is the compelling power in all missionary enterprise? To those who believe in endless torment, surely the controlling motive is to save the millions of heathen from such a fate. Both the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches profess to believe in that doctrine. But the singular thing is, that in neither church is it preached. The suspicion is, that it is not believed. And this is more than a suspicion. I myself have heard no sermon on h.e.l.l, nor any definite reference to it, since I was a child. A Methodist minister in Canada, largely in touch with his brethren, told me lately most positively, that Methodist ministers do not believe in endless torment. Many Presbyterian ministers with whom I have spoken take the same ground.

Now, it is a hard thing to say that a doctrine of such eternal moment is openly professed, yet inwardly repudiated. But if it were really believed, would it not be preached--yes, preached morning, noon, and night? For there are reckoned to be a thousand millions of heathen in distant lands, besides all the other millions that we have here at home.

So all these heathen are supposed to be dropping by the thousand into h.e.l.l every day. And consider; there are a thousand millions of them, and their number is continually increasing.

Would it not then be the main incentive to give these uncounted millions the Gospel, in order to save them from such a doom? There may be other considerations; but in all consistency, is not this the pressing one?

Yet not once have I heard this matter referred to in any late missionary address. There was a little spiritual truth in them all. But the chief motive presented was, to convert the heathen from savagery to civilization. So the whole performance usually seemed to me not much more than an exploitation of materialism.

Then, if ministers do not believe in endless torment, why do they not say so? I can imagine two reasons. First, as I have said, there is the fear of pains and penalties. A man may lose his position; and that is a serious consideration. Then there is an unwillingness to go back on the fathers who framed these creeds.

But do either or both of these reasons justify conscientious men in suppressing a truth of such momentous importance? A thousand times, No!

Candor and honesty first; veneration for the fathers after. Would it not conduce to real success if this matter were maturely and honestly considered? It might arouse some amount of disunion and debate. But would it not lift the whole tone of the missionary movement to a far higher plane? And might we not believe that it would lead to more sustained effort, and far greater success?

At all events, there is one matter well worth considering. How can the Spirit of Truth lead us into larger visions of Truth if we willingly, tamper with our most sacred convictions? Let us remember that there are growing revelations. May we be of an open mind, and so in an att.i.tude to receive them!

It does seem to me that much of the activity of the evangelical churches is in a large measure discounted by this want of candor. If earnest men only knew how amenable the world would become to the Gospel, and what a glad day they would usher in when they would candidly renounce the doctrine of endless torment, I believe the majority would do it.

Surely, this would be one of the brightest days that has ever dawned on the world.

Just now I have had a strange experience. On a certain Sabbath morning I opened the Bible at random at the eleventh chapter of the Romans. That, you know, is the great chapter about the Restoration of the Jews. I had read some verses of that chapter, when there flashed on my mind the idea that here we have a most profound argument for spiritual Restoration. I had not been thinking at all of Restoration at the time; but here the subject was forced upon me in quite a new light. As I read on, that conviction grew. From the point of view of Restoration, the argument of the apostle seemed coherent, profound, glorious. From any other standpoint it seemed to me, and had always seemed, a mystery. All mystery was cleared up now. The Restoration of G.o.d's favored people is clearly foretold; but orthodoxy had never thought of locating the event in the next life. But it has ever been a great tax on men's ingenuity to show how the event can occur in this life. For we cannot ignore facts, and facts are all against such a conception.

Even if in future generations the Jews who are then living are all turned to G.o.d, as we believe they will, what about the millions and millions who have died? The enigma receives a glorious solution when we realize that the future life is to be the time of the Restoration. Oh, yes; the prophecy will be fulfilled; G.o.d's ancient people will be restored. Divine power and grace are not limited to this short epoch of time; they are from everlasting to everlasting. Surely, here is a theme for heaven's eternal songs!

XIII.

PROPHECIES YET TO BE FULFILLED.

Enlarging Vision--Promise to Abraham--A Host of Similar Promises --Many of them Not Merely National--Their Fulfillment--Not Limited by the Short Epoch of Time--The Present Only One Part of the Divine Administration--Why the Revelation Was Not Given Sooner--Groping in the Twilight--Growing Illumination--A Time for Everything--Dazzle or Enlighten--Discoveries in Science and Revelation--Our Slowness in Receiving Spiritual Truth--Limitations of Great Men.

If reason, even when based on revelation, still appears to you a very fallible guide, will you please take note of some direct promises contained in revelation itself? And I would ask you to consider how these promises could ever come true apart from Restoration. There are glorious promises that are partly or wholly of a local or national character. These that I shall cite now are not to be so restricted. They have a far grander sweep and application. No doubt the writers of them may not have been conscious of their full import. But that is the nature of revelation. It grows in meaning from age to age. And the noontide glory of those promises is beginning to break on our larger vision.

Take the words spoken to Abraham: "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." To realize that this promise was of no mere national importance, listen to the way in which Paul applies it in his Epistle to the Galatians. He says: "The Scripture, foreseeing that G.o.d would justify the heathen through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."

Now has that promise been fulfilled? Since Abraham's time have not millions and millions of the families of the earth pa.s.sed out into darkness unblessed? Other millions of families are pa.s.sing away now, without having once heard the Saviour's name. And other millions deliberately reject Him. Certainly, all these millions are unblessed, In their case the promise has not been fulfilled. But it will be fulfilled.

Beyond the bourne of time it will come true. This glorious enlargement of the scope of the promise takes away all difficulty, and fills us with joy and praise.

The other pa.s.sages that I shall quote bear the same way, but we shall not stay to make any comment on them. I would ask you to think them over seriously; disarm your mind as far as possible from prejudice; let the glorious truth prevail. Ponder such pa.s.sages as these:

"All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our G.o.d."

"As the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain."

"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."

"All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord."

"All nations whom thou hast made shall come and wors.h.i.+p before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."

"All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our G.o.d."

"In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."

"I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth."

"His name shall endure forever; it shall be continued as long as the sun; men shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call him blessed."

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord."

"It is written in the book of the prophet Esaias, All flesh shall see the salvation of G.o.d."

"Wherefore G.o.d also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of G.o.d the Father."

"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and wors.h.i.+p before thee."

"All Israel shall be saved."

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever."

Such are some of the Scripture forecasts of the final day of grace. Men have tried to confine the realization of such promises to the present life. But they will not be so confined. The vast scheme of grace extends far beyond the narrow span of time. Only conceive of the fulfillment of such glorious hopes as being extended into the next age. Such a prospect begins to appear to be truly worthy of G.o.d. And surely, the news of such an enlarged scheme of salvation is the most joyful that ever fell on mortal ears. Men of the most devout and reverent spirit are beginning to take these larger views. The day is breaking; soon the shadows will flee away.

If such promises as we have quoted seem too general, or merely national, just confine your attention to a few which are evidently of a far wider scope.

Christ says he will draw all men to Himself. Then He must do so in the next life; for certainly He is not doing so now. But His word will stand. He will do all His pleasure. It is a marvel that the Christian world has taken so long to see this promise in its glorious fulness.

In harmony with the statement just referred to, we read in Isaiah that "he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Are not these wonderful words? How are they to be explained? The travail of His soul! Who can fathom that abyss of woe? The very words are suggestive of untold agony. I believe that at the last He touched a depth of woe which no man or angel has sounded.

But He shall have a recompense that will satisfy Him. Does not that point to the salvation of the whole race? Would anything less satisfy Him? Does He not say that He came to save the world? And will anything less satisfy Him? Certainly He is not satisfied now. The moiety of mankind that is saved now, or to be saved to the end of time, will not satisfy Him. No! His divine love embraces the whole race.

What then about the uncounted millions who never heard of Him? What about the millions that are dying now, and that never heard the music of His name? Is not every one of them in the divine scheme of salvation?