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diff --git a/32830.txt b/32830.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4724c5e --- /dev/null +++ b/32830.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1623 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The State of the Blessed Dead, by Henry Alford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The State of the Blessed Dead + +Author: Henry Alford + +Release Date: June 16, 2010 [EBook #32830] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STATE OF THE BLESSED DEAD *** + + + + +Produced by Keith G. Richardson + + + + +The Blessed Dead. + + + +THE STATE + +OF THE + +BLESSED DEAD. + +By + +HENRY ALFORD, D. D., + +DEAN OF CANTERBURY. + +LONDON: + +HODDER AND STOUGHTON, + +27, PATERNOSTER ROW. + +MDCCCLXIX. + + + +_The following Discourses were delivered in Canterbury Cathedral +during Advent,_ 1868, _and appeared in the_ "Pulpit Analyst," 1869. + + + +The State of the Blessed Dead. + +I. + +I HAVE already announced that during this Advent season I would call +your attention to the state of the blessed dead. My object in so doing +is simply that we may recall to ourselves that which Scripture has +revealed respecting them, for our edification, and for our personal +comfort. And I would guard that which will be said by one or two +preliminary observations. + +With Death as an object of terror, with Death from the mere moralist's +point of view, as the termination of human schemes and hopes, we +Christians have nothing to do. We are believers in and servants of One +who has in these senses abolished Death. Our schemes and hopes are not +terminated by Death, but reach onward into a state beyond it. + +Again, with that state beyond, except as one of blessedness purchased +for us by the Son of God, I am not at present dealing. It is of those +that die in the Lord alone that I speak. + +And this being so, it is clear that the first point about them +demanding our attention is, the very commencement of their state at +the moment of death. And this will form our subject to-day. + +We shall be guided in its consideration by two texts of Holy +Scripture. The one is that where Our Lord answers the prayer of the +dying thief that He would remember him when He came into His kingdom, +Luke xxiii. 43: "VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, TO-DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME +IN PARADISE." + +And the other is an expression of St. Paul, Phil. i. 23, not +improbably taken from those very words recorded in the gospel of that +evangelist who was his companion in travel--"TO DEPART AND TO BE WITH +CHRIST." + +Now in both these one fact is simply declared, viz.: that the departed +spirit of the faithful man is WITH CHRIST. It is as if one bright +light were lifted for us in the midst of a realm brooded over by +impenetrable mist. For who knows whither the departed spirit has +betaken itself when it has left us here? One of the most painful pangs +in bereavement by death is the utter and absolute severance, without a +spark of intelligence of the departed. One hour, life is blest by +their presence; the next, it is entirely and for ever gone from us, +never to be heard of more. One word, one utterance--how precious in +that moment of anguish do we feel that it would be! But we are certain +it never will be granted us. None has ever come back who has told the +story. Where the spirit wakes and finds itself,--this none has ever +declared to us; nor shall we know until our own turn comes. Now in +such a state of uncertainty, these texts speak for us a certain truth: +The departed spirit is WITH CHRIST. + +I shall regard this revelation negatively and positively: as to what +it disproves, and as to what it implies. + +First, then, it disproves the idea of the spirit passing at death into +a state of unconsciousness, from which it is to wake only at the great +day of the resurrection. If it is to be with Christ, this cannot be. +Christ is in no such state of unconsciousness; He has entered into His +rest, and is waiting till all things shall be put under His feet; and +it would be a mere delusion to say of the blessed dead, that they +shall be with Christ, if they were to be virtually annihilated during +this time that Christ is waiting for His kingdom. Besides, how then +would the Lord's promise to the thief be fulfilled? What consolation +would it have been to him, what answer to his prayer, to be remembered +when Jesus came in His kingdom, if these words implied that he should +be unconsciously sleeping while the Lord was enjoying his triumph? +Therefore we may safely say, that the so-called "sleep of the soul," +from the act of death till the resurrection, has no foundation in that +which is revealed to us. + +It is perfectly true, that the state of the departed is described to +us as "sleeping in Jesus," or rather, for the words are a +misrendering, a having fallen asleep _through_, or _by means of +Jesus_. But our texts are enough to show us, that we must not take +such an expression for more than it really implies. Sleeping, or +falling asleep, was a name current among Jews and Christians, and even +among the best of the heathens, for death, implying its peace and +rest, implying also that it should be followed by a waking: but +apparently with no intent to convey any idea of unconsciousness. It is +a term used with reference to us, as well as to the dead. To us, they +are as if they were asleep: removed from us in consciousness, as in +presence. The idea also of _taking rest_ tended to make this term +appropriate. But it must not be used to prove that to which it +evidently had no reference. + +The spirit, then, of the departed does not pass into unconsciousness. +What more do we know of it? It is WITH JESUS. + +We have now to consider what this implies. And in doing so we shall +have further to make certain that which we think we have already +proved. For first, it clearly implies more than a mere expression of +safe-keeping, or reserve for a future state of blessedness. "The +righteous souls are in the hand of God, and there shall no harm happen +to them." This is one thing: but to be with Christ is another. We +might again appeal to the spirit of the promise made to the penitent +thief, in order to show this: we might remind you that in the other +text, St. Paul is comparing the two states--life in the midst of his +children in the faith, and death; and he says, "I have a desire to +depart and to be with Christ, which is far better:" better than being +with you, my Philippians. + +So that more must be meant than mere safe keeping in the Redeemer's +hands. We may surely say, that nothing less than conscious existence +in the presence of Christ can be intended. And if that is intended, +then very much more is intended also, than those words at first seem +to imply. Remember the contrast which this same Apostle elsewhere +draws. "We know," he says, "that while we are present in the body, we +are absent from the Lord: for we walk by faith, not by appearance: we +are willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the +Lord." That is, if we follow out the thought, this present state of +dwelling in our home the body is a state of severance from the Lord; +but there is a better state, into which we shall be introduced when +this house of the body is pulled down: and from the context in that +place we may add, much as we wish to be clothed upon with our new and +glorious body which is from heaven, yet even short of that, we have +learned to prefer being simply unclothed from the body, because thus +we shall be present with the Lord. + +So that we may safely assume thus much, my brethren: that the moment a +Christian's spirit is released from the body, it does enter into the +presence of our Blessed Lord and Saviour, in a way of which it knows +nothing here: a way which, compared to all that its previous faith +could know of Him, is like presence of friends compared to absence. + +Now let us take another remarkable passage of Holy Writ bearing on +this same matter. St. John, in his first Epistle says, "Beloved, now +are we children of God, and it never yet was manifested what we shall +be; but if it should be manifested, we know that we shall be like Him: +for we shall see Him as He is:" for this is the more accurate +rendering of the words: meaning, if any one could come back, or come +down, to us, and tell us what our future state is to be, the +information could amount for us now only to this, that we shall be +like Him, like Christ; because we shall see Him as He is. And in +treating these words at considerable length last year, I pressed it on +you that this concluding sentence might bear two meanings: either, we +shall be like Him, _because in order to see Him as He is, we_ MUST _be +like Him;_ or, _we shall be like Him, because the sight of Him as He +is will change us into His perfect likeness_. For, our present +purpose, or indeed for any purpose, it matters little which of these +meanings we take. At any rate, we have gained this knowledge from St. +John's words, that the sight of the Blessed Lord which will be enjoyed +by the Christian's spirit on its release from the body, will be +accompanied by being also perfectly like Him. + +Now, here, my brethren, are the elements of an immediate change, +blessed and joyous beyond our conception. Let us spend the rest of our +time to-day in dwelling upon it. + +And I will not now insist on the deliverance of the spirit from the +infirmity, or pain, or decay of the body; because this is not so in +all cases. Many a Christian's spirit is set free from a body in +perfect vigour and health. Let us take nothing but what is common to +all who believe in and serve the Lord. Now what is our present state +with reference to Him whom all Christians love? It is, absence. And it +is absence aggravated in a way that earthly absence never is. For not +only have we never seen Him, which is a case perfectly imaginable in +earthly relations, but also, which hardly is, we have no absolute +proof of His existence, nor of His mind towards us. Even as far as +this, is matter of faith and not of appearance. We have no token, no +communication, from Him. I suppose there hardly ever was a Christian +yet, living under the present dispensation, entirely dependent upon +his faith, who has not at some time or other had the dreadful thought +cross his mind--overborne by his faith, but still not wholly +extinguished, "What if it should not be true after all?" And much and +successfully as we may contend with these misgivings of unbelief, yet +that frame of mind which is represented by them, that wavering, +fitful, unsteady faith, ever accompanies us. The distress arising from +it is known to every one who has the Christian life in him. Only those +never doubt who have never believed: for doubt is of the very essence +of belief. But some poor souls are utterly cast down by the fact of +its existence--shrink from these half-doubting fits as of themselves +deadly sin, and are in continual terror about their soul's safety on +this account: others, of stronger minds, regard them truly as +inevitable accompaniments of present human weakness, but of course +struggle with them, and evermore yearn to be rid of them. + +Now if what we have been saying be true,--and I have endeavoured not +to go beyond the soberest inferences from the plain language of +Scripture,--if so much be true, then the moment of departure from the +body puts an end for ever to this imperfect, struggling, fitful state +of faith and doubt. The spirit that is but a moment gone, that has +left that well-known, familiar tabernacle of the body a sudden wreck +of inanimate matter, that spirit is with the Lord. All doubt, all +misgiving, is at an end. Every wave raised by this world's storms, +this world's currents of interest, this world's rocks and shallows, is +suddenly laid, and there is a great calm. Certainty, for doubt--the +sight of the Lord, for the conflict of assurance and misgiving--the +face of Christ, for the mere faith in Christ--these have succeeded, +because the departed spirit is "with the Lord"--companying with Him. + +Before we follow this out farther, let us carefully draw one great +distinction. We must not make the too common mistake of confusing this +sight of the Lord which immediately follows on the act of death, with +that complete state of the glorified Christian man, of which we shall +have to speak in a subsequent sermon. Though greater than our thoughts +can now conceive, the bliss of which we are speaking to-day is +incomplete. The spirit which has been set free from the body is alone, +and without a body. This is not the complete state of man. It is a +state to us full of mystery--inconceivable in detail, though easily +apprehended as a whole. We must take care, in what we have further to +say, that this is fully borne in mind. And, bearing it in mind, let us +proceed. + +This sight of Christ, this calm of full unbroken assurance of His +nearness and presence, what does it further imply? As far as we can at +present see, certainly as much as this. First, the entire absence of +evil from the spirit. It would be impossible to be with Christ in any +such sense, unless there were entire agreement in will and desire with +Him. It would be impossible thus to see Him as He is, without being +like Him. + +Let us imagine, if we can, the effect of the total extinction of evil +in any one of our minds. How many energies, now tied and bound with +the chain of sin, would spring upward into action! How many imprisoned +yearnings would burst their bonds, and carry us onward to higher +degrees of good! And all these energies, all these yearnings, can +exist in the disembodied spirit. It is in a waiting, a hoping state: +the greater the upward yearnings, the greater the accumulated energies +for God and His work, the higher will be the measure of glory to be +attained after the redemption of the body, and the completion of the +entire man. + +Well--as another consequence, following close on the last, all +_conflict_, from that same moment, is at an end. Conflict is ordained +for us, is good for us, now. If it were to cease here below, we should +fall back. We have not entered into rest, it would not be good for us +to enter into rest, in our present state. Here, this little platform, +so to speak, of our personality, is drawn two ways, downward and +upward: and it is for us who stand thereon, to keep watch and ward +that the downward prevail not; but from that moment, the dark links of +the downward chain will have been for ever severed, and the golden +cord that is let down from the Throne will bear us upward and onward, +unopposed. So that as to conflict, there will be perfect rest. + +And let us remember another matter. If the departed spirit were during +this time dwelling on its own unworthiness, casting back looks of +self-reproach, weighing accurately God's mercies and its own requitals +during life past, there would of necessity be conflict: there would be +bitter self-loathing, there would be pangs of repentance. It would +seem, then, that during the incomplete and disembodied state, this is +not so; but that all of this kind is reserved for a day when account +is to be given in the body of things done in the body: and we shall +see, when we come to treat of that day specially, how its account will +be, for the blessed dead, itself made a blessing. + +Again, as all evil will be at an end, and all conflict,--so will all +labour, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: even so saith the +Spirit, for they rest from their labours." Now labour here is a +blessing, it is true: but it is also a weariness. It leads ever on to +a greater blessing, the blessing of rest. Christ has entered into His +rest; and the departed spirit shall be with Christ: faring as He +fares, and a partaker of His condition. Any who have lived the +ordinary term of human life in God's service (for it is only of such +that we are now speaking) can testify how sweet it is to anticipate a +cessation of the toil and the harassing of life: to be looking on to +keep the great Sabbath of the rest reserved for the people of God. +What more may be reserved for us in the glorious perfect state which +shall follow the resurrection, is another consideration altogether: +but it clearly appears that the intermediate disembodied state is one +of rest. + +And let none cavil at the thought, that thus Adam may have rested his +thousands of years, and the last taken of Adam's children only a few +moments. Time is only a relative term, even to us. A dream of years +long may pass during the sound that awakens a man; and a sleep of +hours appears but a second. What do we know of time, except as +calculated by earthly objects? Day and night, the recurrence of +meals,--these constitute time to us: shut up a man in darkness, and +administer his food at irregular intervals, and he loses all count of +time whatever. Surely, then, no cavil on this score can be admitted. +In that presence where the departed spirits are, one day is as a +thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. + +Let us conclude with a consideration, to a Christian the most glorious +of all. The spirit that is with Christ in nearest presence and +consciousness, knows Him as none know Him here. Here, we speak of His +purity, His righteousness, His love, His triumph and glory, with +miserably imperfect thoughts, and in words still more imperfect than +our thoughts. We are obliged to employ earthly images to set forth +heavenly things. The revelations of Scripture itself are made through +a medium of man's invention, and are bounded by our limited +vocabulary. But then it will be so no longer. The Apostle compares our +seeing _here_ to that of one who beholds the face of his friend in a +mirror of metal, sure to be tarnished and distorting: and our vision +_there_ to beholding the same face to face,--the living features, the +lips that move, the eyes that glisten. That spirit which has but now +passed away, knows the love that passes our knowledge; contemplates +things which God has prepared for them that love Him, such as eye has +never seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man +to conceive. + +Therefore, beloved, let us be of good cheer concerning them that have +fallen asleep through Jesus: and let us be of good cheer respecting +ourselves. Good as it is to obey and serve God here, it has been far +better for them to depart and to be with Christ; and it will be far +better for us, if we hold fast our faith and our confidence in Him +firm unto the end. If to us to live is Christ, then to us to die will +be gain. + + + +II. + +WE stand to-day at this point in our consideration of the state of the +blessed dead. They depart, and are with Christ. "This day," the day of +the departure, they are consciously, blissfully, in His presence. +Their faith is turned into sight: their misgivings are changed for +certainty: their mourning for joy. Yet, we said, their state is +necessarily imperfect. The complete condition of man is body, soul, +and spirit. The former of these three, at all events, is wanting to +the spirits and souls of the righteous. They are in a waiting, though +in an inconceivably blissful state. Of the precise nature of that +state,--of its employments, if employments it has, we know nothing. +All would be speculation, if we were to speak of these matters. + +Our concern to-day is with the termination of that their incomplete +condition. When shall it come to an end? We have this very definitely +answered for us by St. Paul, in a chapter of which we shall have much +to say, and in a verse of that chapter which we will take for our +text, 1 Cor. xv. 23. Notice, he is speaking of the resurrection of the +dead: and he says, "BUT EVERY ONE IN HIS OWN ORDER: CHRIST THE +FIRST-FRUITS: AFTERWARD THEY THAT ARE CHRIST'S AT HIS COMING." + +Well then: from these words it is clear that the end of the expectant +state of the blessed dead, and the reunion of their spirits with their +risen bodies, will take place AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. Here at once we +are met by a necessity to clear and explain that which these words +import. In these days, it is by no means superfluous to say that we +Christians do look forward to a real personal coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ upon this our earth. I sometimes wonder whether ordinary +Christian men and women ever figure to themselves what this means. I +suppose we hardly do, because we fancy it is so far off from ourselves +and our times, that we do not feel ourselves called upon to make it a +subject of our practical thoughts. To this we might say, first, that +we are by no means sure of this; and then, that even if it were true, +the interest of that time of His coming for every one of us is hardly +lessened by its not being near us, seeing that if we be His, it will +be, whenever it comes, the day of our resurrection from the dead. It +is evidently the duty of every Christian man to make it part of his +ordinary thoughts and anticipations--that return of the Lord Jesus +from heaven, even as He was seen to go up into heaven. Now, our object +to-day is to ascertain how much we know from Scripture, without +indulging in speculations of our own, about this coming, and this +resurrection which shall accompany it. The latter of these two we made +the subject of a sermon a very few Sundays ago; but it was not so much +with our present view, as to lay down the hope of the resurrection as +an element among the foundations of the Christian life. + +Now one of the first and most important revelations respecting this +matter is found in the fourth chapter of 1 Thess., ver. 13-18. These +Thessalonians had been, as we learn from the two epistles to them, +strangely excited about the coming of the Lord's kingdom. Perhaps the +Apostle's preaching among them had taken especially this form; for he +was accused before the magistrates of saying that there was besides or +superior to Caesar another king, one Jesus. And in this excitement of +the Thessalonians, fancying as they did that the Lord's kingdom would +come in their own time, they thought that their friends who through +Jesus had died a happy death were losers by not having lived to +witness the Lord's coming. Indeed, they sorrowed for them as those +that had no hope: by which expression it seems likely that they even +supposed them to be altogether cut off from the benefits and +blessedness of that coming by not having been able to see it in the +flesh. Thereupon St. Paul puts them right by saying,--using the same +argument as in that great resurrection chapter, 1 Cor. xv.,--that "_if +we believe that Jesus Himself died and rose again, even so also those +who through Jesus have fallen asleep will God bring with Him_," that +is, will God bring back to us when He brings back to us Jesus. + +You may just observe, by the way, that the whole force of what the +Apostle says is very commonly lost, by a wrong method of reading these +words. We very commonly hear them read, "will God bring _with_ him." +But thus we, as I said, lose the force of the argument, which is:--If +Jesus, our first-fruits, our representative, died and rose again, so +will all who die in union with Jesus rise again. And in order to that, +the same power of God which brings Jesus back to us, will with Him, +with Jesus, bring their spirits back, in order to that resurrection. + +Well, what then? "_This we say unto you by the word of the +Lord_"--thus the Apostle introduces, not an argument, not a command or +saying of his own, but a special revelation--"_that we, which are +alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord_" (for notice that at +first, at the early time when these Thessalonian epistles were +written, first of all St. Paul's letters, the Apostle looked forward +to that day of which neither man nor angel knoweth, as about to come +on in his own time) shall have no advantage, no priority, over them +which have fallen asleep. And why? For this reason--that "_the Lord +Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of +the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall +rise first:_" that is, shall rise before anything else happens--any +changing, or summoning to the Lord, of us who are alive. + +Now here let us pause in the sacred text, and consider what it is +which we have before us. Mind, we are speaking to-day, as the Apostle +is speaking in this passage, entirely of the blessed dead; of those +of whom it may be said that through Jesus their death is but a +holy sleep. We have clearly this before us:--at a certain time, +fixed in the counsels of God, the Father, known to no created +being,--mysteriously unknown also, for He Himself assures us of this +in words which no ingenuity can explain away, to the Son Himself in +His state of waiting for it,--at that fixed time the Lord, that is, +Christ, shall appear in the sky, visible to men in His glorified body; +and His coming shall be announced to men by a mighty call, a signal +cry, and by the trumpet of God. + +Now let me at once say that as to such expressions as this, when we +are told that they cannot bear their literal meaning, but are only +used in condescension to our human ways of speaking, and thus an +attempt is made to deprive them in fact of all meaning, I do not +recognise any such rule of interpretation. If the _words_ are used to +suit our human ways of thinking, I can see no reason why the _things +signified_ by those words may not also be used to affect our senses, +which will be still human, when the great day comes. As to the sound +being heard by all, or as to the Lord being seen by all, I can with +safety leave that to Him who made the eye and the ear, and believe +that if He says so, He will find the way for it to be so. + +Now let us follow on with the description. With the Lord Jesus, +accompanying Him, though unseen to those below on the earth, will be +the myriads of spirits of the blessed dead, And notice,--for it is an +important point, since Holy Scripture is consistent with itself in +another place on this matter,--that at this coming none are with the +Lord, no spirits of the departed, I mean, except those of the blessed +dead. In other words, this is not the general coming to judgment, when +the whole of the dead shall stand before God, but it is that first +resurrection of which the Evangelist speaks in the Apocalypse, when he +says, chap. xx. 5, "_The rest of the dead lived not again until_ (a +prescribed time which he mentions, whatever that may mean) _the +thousand years were finished This is the first resurrection. Blessed +and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the +second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of +Christ_." + +Then, the Lord being still descending from heaven and on the way to +this world, the dead in Christ shall rise first--the first thing: the +graves shall be opened, and the bodies of the saints that sleep shall +come forth, and, for so the words surely imply, their spirits, which +have come with the Lord, shall be united to those bodies, each to his +own. + +Here, again, I can see no difficulty. The same body, even to us now on +earth, does not imply that the same particles compose it. And even the +expression "the same body" is perhaps a fallacious one. In St. Paul's +great argument on this subject in 1 Cor. xv. he expressly tells us, +that it is not that body which was sown in the earth, but a new and +glorified one, even as the beautiful plant, which springs from the +insignificant or the ill-favoured seed, is not that which was sown, +but a body which God has given. Whatever the bodies shall be, they +will be recognised as those befitting the spirits which are reunited +to them, as they also befit the new and glorious state into which they +are now entering. + +This done, they who are alive and remain on earth, having been, which +is not asserted here, but is in 1 Cor. xv., changed so as to be in the +image of the incorruptible, spiritual, heavenly, will be caught up +together with the risen saints in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: +to _meet_ Him, because He is in His way from heaven to earth, on which +He is about to stand in that latter day. + +Thus, then, the words which I have chosen for my text will have their +fulfilment. Christ has been the first-fruits of this great +harvest,--already risen, the first-born from the dead, the example and +pattern of that which all His shall be. This was His order, His place +in the great procession from death into life; and between Him and His, +the space, indefinite to our eyes, is fixed and determined in the +counsels of God. The day of His coming hastens onward. While men are +speculating and questioning, God's purpose remains fixed. He is not +slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness. His +dealings with the world are on too large a scale for us to be able to +measure them, but in them the golden rule is kept, every one in his +own order. Christ's part has been fulfilled. He was seen alive in His +resurrection body; He was seen taking up that body from earth to +heaven. And now we are waiting for the next great event, His coming. +Wisely has the Church set apart a season in every year in which this +subject may be uppermost in our thoughts. For there is nothing we are +so apt--nothing, we may say, that our whole race is so determined to +forget and put out of sight. It is alien from our common ideas, it ill +suits our settled notions, that the personal appearing of Him in whom +we believe should break in upon the natural sequence of things in +which we are concerned. And the consequence is, that you will hardly +find, even among believing men, more than one here and there who at +all realizes to himself, or has any vivid expectation of, this +personal coming of Christ. Think of the Christian Church as taking its +faith and hope from the New Testament; and then compare that faith and +hope, as it actually exists with reference to this point, with the New +Testament,--and the discrepancy is most remarkable. In the days when +it was written, eighteen hundred years ago, every eye was fixed on, +every man's thought was busy about, the coming of the Lord. You will +hardly find a chapter in the epistles in which it is not spoken of, or +alluded to, with earnest anticipation and confidence. Whereas now, +when it is brought so much nearer to us, it has almost vanished out of +the consideration of the Church altogether. No doubt, something may be +said by way of reason why it should occupy a less prominent place in +our thoughts than it did in theirs. The Lord's own words, and those of +the Divinely-commissioned messengers who announced His return, spoke +of it simply as certain, without any note of time being attached. +Hence, those who had seen Him depart believed that they themselves +should behold Him returning. There can be no doubt in any fair-judging +mind that, besides these eye-witnesses, St. Paul, when he wrote that +fifth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, had a full +persuasion that he himself should be of those on whom the house not +made with hands that is to be brought from heaven was to be put, +without his being unclothed from the earthly tabernacle. He looked at +such unclothing in his own case as possible, but was confident that it +would not happen so. And again, when, in the over-zeal of the +Thessalonians, they imagined that the coming of the Lord was actually +upon them, and he in his second Epistle checks and sets right that +premature assumption, he does so in words which, as he wrote them, +might very well have had all their fulfilment within the lifetime of +man. Those words now appear to us in more of the true sense in which +the Spirit, who spoke by Paul, intended them: we see that the apostasy +there predicted, and the man of sin there set down as to be revealed, +are great developments or concentrations of the unbelief of churches +and nations; but there is no evidence that the men of that day saw any +such meaning in the words. As it was gradually, and not without +conflict of thought, revealed to Peter and his side of the apostolic +band, that the Gentiles were to be fellow-heirs and partakers of the +peace of Christ, so it was gradually, and not without some sickness of +hope deferred, made manifest to the Church, that the coming of the +Lord should be for ages and generations delayed. Unmistakable +indications of this truth appear in the Lord's own prophetic +discourses, which we now know how to interpret. + +And all this is no doubt a reason why the great subject should be less +constantly and less vividly before our minds, than it was before +theirs. But it is no reason why it should have dropped out altogether; +none, why we should almost universally neglect the revelations of +Scripture respecting the manner and details of His coming, and confuse +them altogether in a vague popular idea of the judgment day; none, why +we should forget the mention of the landmarks which He Himself has +pointed out along the wilderness journey of His Church,--and so, as +far as in us lies, provide for her being unprepared when He appears. + +The end of the state of waiting of the blessed dead, the end of our +present state of waiting will be, that day of His appearing. Let us +fix this well in our minds; and do not let us be kept from doing so by +being told that there is danger in allowing the fancy to exercise +itself on the unfulfilled prophecies. No doubt there is. But I am not +exhorting you to exercise your fancy on them. Faith and fancy are two +wholly distinct things. To my mind, there can be hardly anything more +detrimental to the faith of the Church, than always to be fitting +together history and prophecy, magnifying insignificant present or +past events into fulfilments of prophetic announcements. They who do +this are for ever being refuted by the course of things; and then they +shift their ground, and come out as confidently with a new scheme, as +they did before with their old one. Nothing can more tend to throw +discredit on God's prophetic word altogether; and it is no doubt in +part owing to such speculations, that faith in the Lord's coming has +become weakened among us. He Himself has told us the great use of His +announcements of the future. "_These things have I told you, that, +when the time is come, ye may remember that I told you of them_." When +and as each prophecy comes to its time to be fulfilled, just as the +years of the captivity predicted by Jeremiah were interpreted by the +Church in Babylon, so the Lord's predictions, and the predictions of +His apostles, will fall each into its place; and the Church, if she +endure in faith and watchfulness, will stand on her look-out, and be +prepared for the sign of His coming. + +Let us, my brethren, with regard to those who have left us in the +Lord,--let us, with regard to ourselves and our own future, be ever +looking for and hasting to that day of God; the day when that better +thing which God hath provided for us shall be manifested, and they +with us shall be complete, who without us were not perfect. + +And let us not be discouraged by unpromising signs, or by prevalent +unbelief. Remember what our Master has said to us in the services of +this day, "Heaven and earth shall pass away; but My words shall not +pass away." + + + +III. + +WE have traced the condition of the blessed dead, from their departure +and being with Christ, to the glorious day of the resurrection. Their +spirits are safe in His keeping, till that day when He shall call +their bodies out of the graves, and they shall be once more complete +in manhood, body, soul, and spirit. And our present consideration is, +What, on that resurrection, is the next thing which shall befall them? +Now the best, because the most general text on this matter, is that in +Heb. ix. 27, "IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE, BUT AFTER THIS, +THE JUDGMENT." + +You will see that here is enounced something common to our nature. We +are all to die; we are all to be judged after death. And that this is +really true of all, and not merely stated generally, to be met +afterwards by special exceptions, St. Paul shows, when he, speaking of +things belonging entirely to his own practice, and his own +justification before God, says, in 1 Cor. v., "We labour, that whether +present in the body or absent from the body, we may be accepted with +Him. _For we must all be made manifest_ (there is nothing about +_standing_ in the original) _before the judgment seat of Christ, that +every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that +which he did, whether it be good or bad_." You will see that here he +expressly includes himself among those who are to be made manifest +before the judgment seat of Christ. + +Now perhaps you are wondering why I am accumulating this Scripture +evidence to show a matter which seems to all so plain. But I have a +sufficient reason. And that reason is, because in other passages of +Scripture the blessed dead, or rather the believers in Christ, whether +living or dead at that day, are spoken of as if they were not +subjected to the general judgment of all, but passed into the glorious +life without undergoing that judgment. Thus our Blessed Lord Himself; +in John v. 24, says, "_Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth +My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and +cometh not into judgment_" (for that, and not "_condemnation_," is the +word used by our Lord),--"_cometh not into judgment, but hath passed +out of death into life_." That would seem to mean that the faithful +man has already passed over out of death, and all that belongs to +death, sin, and guilt, and judgment, into life; and therefore when the +judgment comes he can have no part in it, cannot come into it at all, +because he is acquitted already through the faith in Him who bore his +guilt and took away his sin. And similarly, again, a few verses +further on, ver. 29, our Lord says, "_An hour cometh in which all that +are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall +come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; +and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment_." That +is, I suppose, the one shall rise into eternal life,--into the full +bliss of the heavenly state, and the others into the condition, +whatever it be, which the judgment shall decide. Of course I am fully +aware that I have not quoted these texts as they are read in our +English Bibles. The matter stands thus: the word which I have rendered +"_judgment_" is the word always meaning judgment--the word occurring +in the very next verse where our Lord says, "_As I hear, I judge, and +My_ judgment _is just;_" the word used also above in ver. 22, where He +says, "_The Father committed all_ judgment _unto the Son_." In those +two places, because there was no difficulty, our translators kept the +word "_judgment_." But in these other two which I have quoted, because +there was an apparent difficulty, they changed "_judgment_" in one +verse into "_condemnation_," and in the other into "_damnation_," +without any reason or right soever. Indeed, in the latter of the two +passages, not only is this so, but the whole sense is broken up by +their unfaithfulness. Our Lord having mentioned the resurrection of +judgment, proceeds to vindicate the justice of that judgment: "_As I +hear, I judge: and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own +will, but the will of Him that sent Me_." So that the difficulty, +which man's meddling with the Bible has tried to remove, does exist in +the Bible as it came from God. And we must try to see through it, not +to hush it up by being unfaithful to the plain language of our Lord. + +Nor does it exist here only. Our Lord Himself has given us one great +description of the final day of judgment, in His own discourses; and +another by the pen of His beloved apostle. We will take the latter +first, as being, for our present purpose, the fuller of the two: and +we will show in what remarkable point the two agree. In Rev. xx. 4, a +passage to which we made reference last Sunday, we find the first +resurrection taking place, and the faithful dead rising to reign with +Christ during a period known as a thousand years. And it is expressly +said, "_The rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were +finished_." Now, I am not here taking upon me to explain the meaning +of this, but merely to insist on the fact that, whatever may be the +precise import, it is so stated. Well, and what then? When the +thousand years are expired, and when the last great victory of the +cause of God over evil has been gained, then we read, "_And I saw a +great white throne, and Him that sat on it; and I saw the dead, small +and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another +book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged +out of those things which were written in the books, according to +their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death +and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged +every man according to his works_." So far the description in the +Revelation. Now, in that given us by our Lord in Matt. xxv. we find +the Son of man coming in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, +and sitting on the throne of His glory, and all the nations gathered +before Him. But there is this singular coincidence with the other +account, that when the King comes to address those on the right hand +and those on the left, He says, "_Inasmuch as ye did it_ (or _did it +not_) _unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it_ (or _did +it not_) _unto Me_." Now "_these My brethren_" cannot of course mean +the angels; therefore there must be some with Christ to whom the words +must refer. In other words, we have here also the risen saints in +glory with the Lord, as in that other account. + +But we may go even further yet, and may discover more from Scripture +respecting the position and employment of these the saints who are +with the Lord. When St. Paul in 1 Cor. vi. is dissuading the +Corinthians from taking their disputes before the heathen courts to be +settled, he says, "_Know ye not that the saints shall judge the +world?_" and again, "_Know ye not that we shall judge angels?_" Such +expressions as these can bear but one meaning, and that is that the +saints of Christ are actually to bear part in the judgment, as His +assessors. Further than this we now not. It is not our duty to be wise +above that which is written; but it is our duty to be wise up to that +which is written: otherwise it was written in vain. What, then, are we +to say respecting this apparent discrepancy in the statements of Holy +Scripture concerning the dead in Christ? If it be true that it is +appointed unto all men once to die, but after that the judgment; if it +be true that we all, including even the apostles themselves, shall be +manifested, laid open, before the judgment-seat of Christ, how can it +be also true that the believer in Christ has already passed from death +into life, and therefore cometh not into judgment at all? How can it +be true that while others shall rise to a resurrection of judgment, he +shall rise to a resurrection of life? How can those descriptions be +correct which we have been quoting, of these living and reigning with +Christ long before the general judgment, and even taking part in it +with Him? + +I believe the answer is not difficult, and perhaps may best be found +by remembering another variety of expression in Scripture respecting a +kindred matter; I mean the way in which the saints of God are spoken +of in relation to death itself. On the one hand we know that it is +appointed unto all men to die; and that the faith and service of the +Lord bring with them no exemption from the common lot of all mankind. +Not only is this proved every day before our eyes, but Scripture gives +us its most direct testimony that those who believe in Christ must +expect it. The very expressions, "_the dead in Christ_," "_those who +through Jesus have fallen asleep_," show that this is so. Yet again, +on the other hand, some passages would almost look as if death itself +for the Christian man did not exist. Christ is said to have abolished +death; we learn from His own lips that "if a man keep His word he +shall never taste of death;" He has said again, "He that liveth and +believeth in Me shall never die." Now in this case there is no +practical difficulty, yet the variety of expression is very +instructive. We all know what lies beneath it; namely, the fact, that +though the believer in Christ must undergo the physical suffering of +death like other men, yet death has become to him so altogether +without terror and curse, that it has been for him deprived of real +existence and power. The apostle in Rom. viii. gives the full +explanation: "_the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit +is life because of righteousness_." + +Well, now let us apply this to the case before us. Let us take the +same solution, and see whether it will not suffice. The Christian +shall, like other men, undergo the judgment after death; thus one set +of Scripture declarations shall be fulfilled. But to the believer, who +has died in the Lord, what is the judgment? He stands before the +judgment-seat perfect in the righteousness of Him to whom he is +united, and from whom death has not separated him. His sentence of +acquittal has been long ago pronounced; he cometh not into judgment, +so that it should have any substantial effect in changing or +determining his condition. The resurrection is for him not a +resurrection of judgment, not one in which the judgment is the leading +feature and characteristic, but it is only and purely a resurrection +of, and unto life: one in which life is the leading feature and idea. + +Thus for the blessed dead, the judgment has no dark side: "there is no +condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." But though it has no +dark side, it has a bright one. Never for a moment do the Christian +Scriptures lose sight of the Christian reward. Those who die in the +Lord, like the rest of men, shall be laid open before the tribunal of +Christ. Their sins have been purged away in His atoning blood; they +have been washed and justified and sanctified in the name of Jesus and +by the spirit of their God. + +But to what end? for what purpose? Was it merely that they might be +saved? No indeed, but that God might be glorified in them by the +fruits of their faith and love. + +And these fruits shall then be made known. The Father who saw them in +secret shall then reward them openly. The acts done and the sacrifices +made for the name of Christ shall then meet with glorious retribution; +yea, even to the least and most insignificant of them,--even according +to our Lord's own words,--to the cup of cold water given to one of His +little ones. + +It is much the fashion, I know, in our days, to put aside and to +depreciate this doctrine of the Christian reward. It looks to some +people like a sort of reliance on our own works and attainments; and +so, though they may in the abstract profess a belief in it because it +is in Scripture, they shrink from applying it in their own cases or in +those of others. Now, nothing can justify such a course. We have no +right to discard a motive held up for our adoption and guidance in +Scripture. And that this is so held up, who that knows his Bible can +for a moment doubt? Think of that saying of our Lord about the cup of +cold water just quoted,--think of the series of sayings of which it is +the end--"He _that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a +righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward_," etc. Think, +again, of that series of commands, to do our alms, our prayers, our +abstinences, in secret, each ending with--"_and thy Father which seeth +in secret shall reward thee openly_." Think, again, of the parable of +the labourers in the vineyard, where the great final blessing at the +hand of the Lord is throughout represented to us as reward, or +rather--for so the word used properly means--wages for work done. And +it is in vain in this case to try to escape from the cogency of our +Lord's sayings by alleging that the doctrines of the Cross were not +manifested till after His death and glorification. For if this were +so, then the apostles themselves had never learned those doctrines. +For the apostles constantly and persistently set before us the aiming +at the Christian reward as their own motive, and as that which ought +to be ours. Hear St. Paul saying that, if he preached the gospel as +matter of duty only, it was the stewardship committed to him; but if +freely and without pay, a reward, or wages, would be due to him. Hear +him again, in expectation of his departure, glorying in the certainty +of his reward: "_I have fought a good fight, I have finished my +course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a +crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give +me at that day: and not to me only, but to all them also that love His +appearing_." Listen to St. John, whom we are accustomed to regard as +the most lofty and heavenly of all the apostles in his thoughts and +motives. What does he say to his well-beloved Gaius? "_Look to +yourselves, that we lose not the things which we have wrought, but +that we receive the full reward_." Listen, again, to the writer of the +Epistle to the Hebrews, that apostolic man, eloquent and mighty in the +Scriptures, and hear him describing the very qualities and attributes +of faith, that he who cometh to God must _believe that He is, and that +He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him_, and saying of one +of the first and brightest examples of faith, that _he had respect +unto the recompence of reward_. + +So, then, these holy dead who have died in the Lord will in that +judgment have each his reward allotted him according to his service +and according to his measure. Then the good that has been done in +secret will all come to light. All mere profession, all that has been +artificial and put on, will drop off as though it had never been; and +the real kernel of the character, the fair dealing and charity and +love of the inner soul, will be made manifest before men and angels. +Then, not even the least work done for God and for good will be +forgotten. + +How such an estimate of all holy men will be or can be made and +published, utterly surpasses our present powers to imagine. We have no +faculties now whereby to deal thus truly and fairly with all men: our +organs of sense in this present state, and the minds themselves to +which those organs convey impressions, are too feeble and limited for +the effort required to apprehend all respecting all, as we shall then +apprehend it. But this need not form any difficulty in our way to +believe that such a thing shall be. The power to understand it and the +power to receive it surely do not dwell farther off from our matured +powers now, than the full powers of a grownup man from the faculties +and conceptions of a child. In all such matters, we are children now. +Think we then of the blessed dead at that day of the resurrection, as +rising sure of bliss and of their perfection in Him to whom they were +united; being as though there were no judgment, seeing that they have +One who shall answer for them at the tribunal: judged notwithstanding +before the bar of God, and passing not to condemnation, but to their +exceeding great and eternal reward. + +One more thing only now is left us: to ask what we know of that last +and perfected state of man--that highest development and dignity of +our race, when body, soul, and spirit, freed from sin and sorrow, +shall reign with Christ in light. + +With that question, and its answer, we hope to conclude this course of +sermons next Sunday. + + + +IV. + +WE are to speak to-day of the final state of bliss of those who have +died in the Lord. Their state of waiting has ended; the resurrection +has clothed them again with the body, the final judgment has passed +over them, and their last unending state has begun. There are no words +in Holy Scripture so well calculated to give a general summary of that +state as those concluding ones of a passage from which I have before +largely quoted: 1 Thess. iv. 17: "AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE +LORD." + +For these words contain in them all that has been revealed of that +glorious state, included in one simple description. The bliss of the +moment after death consisted in being with Christ: the bliss of +unlimited ages can only be measured by the same. Nearness to Him that +made us, union with Him who redeemed us, the everlasting and unvexed +company of Him who sanctifieth us: what glory, what dignity, what +happiness can be imagined for man greater than this? + +And yet it is not by dwelling upon this, and this alone, that we shall +be able to arrive at even that appreciation of heaven which is within +our present powers. We may take these words, "for ever with the Lord," +and we may find in them, as in our Father's house itself, many +mansions. In various ways we are far from the Lord here; in various +ways we shall be near Him and with Him there. + +But first of all we must approach these various mansions through their +portals and the avenues which lead up to them. And one of those is the +consideration, who, and of what sort, they shall be, of whom we are +about to speak. It will be very necessary that we should conceive of +them aright. + +Well, then, they will be men, with bodies, souls, and spirits like +ourselves. The disembodied state will be over, and every one will have +been reunited to the body which he or she had before death. What do we +know of this body? Very glorious thoughts rise up in our minds when we +think of it: but in this course of sermons I am not speculating; I am +inquiring soberly what is revealed to us about the blessed dead. Well +then, again, what do we know of this body of the resurrection? In +Phil. iii. 21, there is a revelation on this point. It is there said +that "our home is in heaven, from whence also we expect the Saviour, +the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change the body of our degradation +that it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory." And this +change is very much dwelt on as a necessary condition of the heavenly +state in 1 Cor. xv. "_Flesh and blood_," we are told, _i.e._, this +present natural or psychical body, the body whose informing tenant is +the animal soul, _cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither can +corruption_, that which decays and passes away, _inherit +incorruption_, that state where there is no decay nor passing away. +So, then, a change must take place at the resurrection: a change which +shall pass also on those who are alive and remain at the Lord's +coming. The bodies of the risen saints, and of those who are to join +them in being for ever with the Lord, will be spiritual bodies: bodies +tenanted and informed in chief by that highest part of man, which +during this present life is so much dwarfed down and crushed by the +usurpations of the animal soul; viz., his spirit. + +Now, it would be idle to conceal the fact, that we cannot form any +distinct conception what this spiritual body may be. No such thing has +ever come within the range of our experience. But some particulars we +do know about it, because God has revealed them. And of those, the +principal are specified in this very passage: "_It is sown in +corruption: it is raised in incorruption_." It cannot decay. Eternal +ages will pass over it, and it will remain the same. Again, "_it is +sown in dishonour: it is raised in glory_." There will be no shame +about it, as there will be no sin. Thus much from these words is +undoubted. What else they may imply we cannot say for certain; +probably, unimagined degrees of beauty and radiancy, for so the word +glory as applied to anything material seems to imply. Further: "_it is +sown in weakness: it is raised in power_." That is, I suppose, with +all its faculties wonderfully intensified, and possibly with fresh +faculties granted, which here it never possessed, and the mind of man +could not even imagine. This last also seems to be implied by its +being called a spiritual body. As here it was an animal body, subject +to the mere animal life or soul, hemmed in by the conditions of that +animal life, so there it will be under the dominion of, and suited to +the wants of, man's spirit, the lofty and heavenly part of him. + +And if we want to know what this implies, our best guide will be to +contemplate the risen body of our Lord, as we have it presented to us +in the gospel narrative. As He is, so are we in this world in our +essence even now--and as He is so shall we be entirely there. He is +the first-fruits, we follow after as the harvest. What, then, was His +resurrection body? While it was a real body and admitted of being +touched and seen, and had the organs of voice and of hearing, yet it +was not subjected to the usual conditions of matter as to its +locomotion, or its obstruction by intervening objects. It retained the +marks of what had happened before death. In order to convince the +disciples of His identity, our Lord ate and drank before them. We must +therefore infer that these were natural acts of His resurrection body, +and not merely assumed at pleasure. + +With a body, then, of this kind will the blessed be clothed upon at +the resurrection, and remain invested for ever in glory. Now let us +see what further flows from this as an inference. We may further say, +that we have implied in it a surrounding of external circumstances +fitted to such a state of incorruptibility and glory. Man redeemed and +glorified will not be a mere spirit in the vast realms of space, but a +glorious body moving in a glorious world. Nor is this mere inference, +however plain and legitimate. Holy Scripture is full of it. The power +of words does not suffice to describe the beauties and glories of that +renewed and unfailing world. I need not quote passage after +passage--they are familiar to you all. Nor, again, is it nature alone +which shall be glorious above all our conception here. It would appear +that art also shall have advanced forward, and shall minister to the +splendour of that better world. The prophets in the Old Testament, and +the beloved Apostle in the New, vie with one another in describing the +heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband, +lighted by the glory of the indwelling Godhead. + +_Where_ this glorious abode of Christ and His redeemed shall be, we +have not been told by revelation; and it were idle to indulge in +speculations of our own. From some expressions in Scripture, it would +seem not improbable that it may be this earth itself after +purification and renewal: from other passages, it would appear as if +that inference were hardly safe, and that other of the bodies in space +are destined for the high dignity of being the home of the sons of +God. + +We have now, I believe, cleared the way for the answer to a question +which presses upon us to-day: as far, at least, as that answer can be +given on this side of death. Of mankind in glory, thus perfected, what +shall be the employ? For I need hardly press it on you that it is +impossible to conceive of man in a high and happy estate, without an +employment worthy of that estate, and in fact constituting its dignity +and happiness. + +Now, some light is thrown on this inquiry by Holy Scripture, but it +must be confessed that it is very scanty. It is true that all our +meditations on and descriptions of heaven want balance, and are, so to +speak, pictures ill composed. We first build up our glorified human +nature by such hints as are furnished us in Scripture; we place it in +an abode worthy of it: and then, after all, we give it an unending +existence with nothing to do. It was not ill said by a great preacher, +that most people's idea of heaven was to sit on a cloud and sing +psalms. And others, again, strive to fill this out with the bliss of +recognising and holding intercourse with those from whom we have been +severed on earth. And beyond all doubt such recognition and +intercourse shall be, and shall constitute one of the most blessed +accessories of the heavenly employment; but it can no more be that +employment itself than similar intercourse on earth was the employment +of life itself here. To read some descriptions of heaven, one would +imagine that it were only an endless prolongation of some social +meeting; walking and talking in some blessed country with those whom +we love. It is clear that we have not thus provided the renewed +energies and enlarged powers of perfected man with food for eternity. +Nor, if we look in another direction, that of the absence of sickness +and care and sorrow, shall we find any more satisfactory answer to our +question. Nay, rather shall we find it made more difficult and beset +with more complication. For let us think how much of employment for +our present energies is occasioned by, and finds its very field of +action in, the anxieties and vicissitudes of life. They are, so to +speak, the winds which fill the sail and carry us onward. By their +action, hope and enthusiasm are excited. But suppose a state where +they are not, and life would become a dead calm; the sail would flap +idly, and the spirit would cease to look onward at all. So that, +unless we can supply something over and above the mere absence of +anxiety and pain, we have not attained to--nay, we are farther than +ever from--a sufficient employment for the life eternal. Now, before +we seek for it in another direction, let us think for a moment in this +way. Are we likely to know much of it? We have before in these sermons +adopted St. Paul's comparison by analogy, and have likened ourselves +here to children, and that blessed state to our full development as +men. Now ask yourselves, what does the child at its play know of the +employments of the man? Such portions of them as are merely external +and material he may take in, and represent in his sport: but the work +and anxiety of the student at his book, and the man of business at his +desk, these are of necessity entirely hidden from the child. And so it +is onward through the advancing stages of life. Of each of them it may +be said, "We know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come +hither." + +So that we need not be utterly disappointed, if our picture of heaven +be at present ill composed: if it seem to be little else than a +gorgeous mist after all. We cannot fill in the members of the +landscape at present. If we could, we should be in heaven. + +Remembering this our necessary incapacity for the inquiry, let us try +to carry it as far as we may. And that we may not be forsaking the +guidance of Holy Scripture for mere speculation, let us take the words +of St. Paul--"_Now we see in a mirror, obscurely, but then face to +face: now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I was +known_ (_by God_.)" This immense accession of light and knowledge must +of course be interpreted partly of keener and brighter faculties +wherewith the blessed shall be endowed; but shall it not also point to +glorious employment of those renewed and augmented powers? How could +one endowed with them ever remain idle? What a restless, ardent, +many-handed thing is genius even here below? How the highly endowed +spirit searches about and tries its wings, now hither now thither, in +the vast realms of intellectual life! And if it be so here, with the +body weighing on us, with the clogs of worldly business and trivial +interruption, what will it be there, where everything will be +fashioned and arranged for this express purpose, that every highest +employment may find its noblest expansion without let or hindrance? +Besides, think for a moment of the relative positions of men with +regard to any even the least amount of this light and knowledge of +which we are speaking. In order to take in this the better, think of +the lowest and most ignorant of mankind who shall attain to that state +of glory. Measure the difference between such a spirit and an +Augustine, and then recollect that Augustine himself, that St. Paul +himself, was but a child in comparison of the maturity of knowledge +and insight which all shall there acquire. Such a thought may serve to +show us what a gap must be bridged over, before any such perfect +knowledge will be attained by any of the sons of men. And when we +remember that all blessings come by labour and the goodly heat of +exercised energy, shall we deny to the highest of all states the +choicest of all blessings? So that the attainment of, and advance in, +the light and knowledge peculiar to that glorious land must be +imagined as affording unending employment for the blessed hereafter. +And this gives us another insight into the matter. As there is so +great disparity among men here, so we may well believe will there be +there. All Scripture goes to show that there will be no general +equalizing, no flat level of mankind. Degrees and ranks as they now +are, indeed, there will be none. Not the possession of wealth, not the +accident of birth, which are held here to put difference between man +and man, will make any distinction there: but inequality and +distinction will proceed on other grounds; the amount of service done +for God, the degree of entrance into the obedience and knowledge of +Him, these will put the difference between one and another there. + +But we hasten to a close: and in doing so, we come back to the simple +words of our text, "for ever with the Lord;" and we would leave on +your minds the impression that these, after all, furnish the best key +to the employment of the blessed in heaven. If they are fit companions +for the Lord, then must they be like Him as He is there; and thus we +seem to have marked out an employment alone sufficient for eternity. +Look at it in its various aspects. + +What is, what will be, the Lord doing in that state of blessedness? +Will He be idle like the gods of Epicurus, sitting serene above all, +and separate from all, created things? No, indeed, no such glorified +Lord is revealed to us in Holy Scripture. "My Father worketh hitherto, +and I work." The created universe will be then as much beholden to His +upholding hand as it is now. If they are to be for ever with Him, +attending and girding His steps, they, too, will doubtless be +fellow-workers with Him there, as they were here. And in this, only +consider how much of His creation was altogether hidden from them +here! Look abroad on a starry night--behold a field of employment for +those who shall be ever with the Lord. The greater part of His works +never came within sight of this our mortal eye at all. These are only +hints, it is true, which we have no power of following out: but they +may serve for finger-posts to point to whole realms of possible +blessed employment. + +Then, again, there is more in the words "for ever with the Lord" than +even this. Who can tell what past works, not of creation only, but of +grace also, the blessed may have to search into--works wrought on +themselves and others which may then be brought back to them by memory +entirely restored, and then first studied with any power to comprehend +or to be thankful for them? + +Then, again, the glory of God Himself, then first revealed to +them,--the redeeming love of Christ,--the glory of the mystery of the +indwelling of the Spirit,--dry and lofty subjects to the sons of men +here, will be to them when there as household words and as daily +pursuits. It seems to me, my brethren, when we look at all these +sources of blessed employment, though we are unable from our present +weakness to follow them out into detail,--and when we think that +perhaps after all in our earthly blindness we may be omitting some +which shall there constitute the chief, it seems to me, I say, as if +we should have to complain not of insufficient employ for the ages of +eternity, but of an infinite and inexhaustible variety, for which even +endless ages of limited being hardly seem to suffice. + +Such, then, beloved, are the thoughts which have occurred to us on a +subject of which I pray that it may be one of personal interest to +every one here present. + +When we are to leave this present state, is a matter hidden from our +eyes, and not dependent on ourselves: but how we will leave it, +whether as the Lord's blessed ones, or with no part in Him, this is +left for ourselves to determine. There is set before us life and +death. May we choose life, that it may be well with us; that we may +wake from the bed of death and find ourselves with the Lord; that we +may pass in joyful hope through the waiting and disembodied state, and +wake at the morning of the resurrection to that fulness of completed +bliss of which we have this day been speaking. + +_Pardon and Sons, Printers, Paternoster Row_. + + + +New and Recent Works. + +_The Prophecies of our Lord and His Apostles_. + +By W. HOFFMANN, D.D., Chaplain in Ordinary to the King of Prussia. +Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d. cloth. + +_The Education of the Heart: Woman's Best Work_. + +By Mrs. ELLIS, Author of "The Women of England," &c. Fcap. 8vo, price +3s. 6d. cloth. + +_The Divine Mysteries; The Divine Treatment of Sin, and the Divine +Mystery of Peace_. + +By J. BALDWIN BROWN, B. A., Author of "The Soul's Exodus," &c. New +Edition. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. cloth. + +_Misread Passages of Scripture_. + +By the same Author. Third Thousand. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. cloth. + +_Saint Mark's Gospel_. + +A New Translation, with Notes and Practical Lessons. By Professor J. +H. GODWIN, New College, London, Author of "The Apocalypse of St. +John," &c. Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. + +_The Son of Man: Discourses on the Humanity of Jesus Christ_. + +With an Address on the Teaching of Jesus Christ. By FRANK COULIN, +D.D., Minister of the National Church, Geneva. Fcap. 8vo, 5s. cloth. + +London: HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27, Paternoster Row. + + + +WORKS BY E. DE PRESSENSE D.D. + +_The Early Years of Christianity_. 8vo, 12s. cloth. + +"This is a sequel to Dr. Pressense's celebrated book on the 'Life, +Work, and Times of Jesus Christ.' 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The 'Life of Christ' is more dramatically +unfolded in this volume than in any other work with which we are +acquainted."--Spectator. + +_The Mystery of Suffering, and other Discourses_. + +New Edition, crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d. cloth. + +_The Land of the Gospel: Notes of a Journey in the East_. + +Crown 8vo, 5s. cloth. + +_The Church and the French Revolution_. + +A History of the Relations of Church and State from 1789 to 1802. +Crown 8vo, 9s. cloth. + +London: HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27, Paternoster Row. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The State of the Blessed Dead, by Henry Alford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STATE OF THE BLESSED DEAD *** + +***** This file should be named 32830.txt or 32830.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/8/3/32830/ + +Produced by Keith G. 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