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diff --git a/21881.txt b/21881.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..014251e --- /dev/null +++ b/21881.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2149 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Life of the Waiting Soul, by R. E. +Sanderson + + +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 Life of the Waiting Soul + in the Intermediate State + + +Author: R. E. Sanderson + + + +Release Date: June 20, 2007 [eBook #21881] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF THE WAITING SOUL*** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1900 Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +THE LIFE +OF +THE WAITING SOUL +IN +THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. + + +BY +_R. E. SANDERSON_, _D.D._, +ST. MICHAEL, BRIGHTON; CANON RESIDENTIARY OF CHICHESTER +CATHEDRAL; FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF +LANCING COLLEGE. + +London: +WELLS GARDNER, DARTON & CO., +3 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C. + +FIRST EDITION, MAY, 1896. +SECOND ,, SEP., ,, +THIRD ,, FEB., 1897. +FOURTH ,, JAN., 1898. +FIFTH ,, FEB., 1900. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +These Addresses were delivered in Chichester Cathedral, and subsequently, +with slight alterations, at Hastings. They would not have been printed +but at the urgent request of very many who heard them preached. It +should be remembered that they are not a theological treatise, but a +course of plain words addressed to an ordinary congregation. It seemed +desirable to awaken interest in a subject which has dropped out of +English Christian thought, and almost out of people's knowledge. The +Addresses are an attempt to explain what can be known about the +Intermediate Life. There is nothing new in them. If there were, +probably what is new would not be true. + +The doctrines of so-called "Universalism" and "Conditional Immortality" +are not touched upon. They do not belong to the period which is covered +by the Intermediate State. Moreover, I doubt whether we can ever regard +those doctrines as anything more than speculations invented to answer +modern and possibly ephemeral objections. + +How much I have unconsciously been indebted to those who have dealt with +this subject more fully, I hardly know. One reads and remembers, and +reproduces in preaching, often without thought of the sources from which +material has been drawn. I gratefully acknowledge in the notes what I +know to be debts incurred. I can only express my regret if any have been +overlooked. + +R. E. S. + +_Easter_, 1896. + + + + +I. + + + "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which + are asleep."--1 THESS. IV. 13. + +There are moments in the lives of every one of us, when the mind is +irresistibly drawn on to wonder what our own personal future shall be, as +soon as life is over and death has overtaken us. We cannot help the +speculation. However bound by present duties and absorbed in present +interests, often, in quiet hours, in times of solitude or bereavement, or +under the sense of failing hopes or failing health, in seasons of sorrow +or of sickness, the mood takes hold of us; and it may be, we know not +why, our eyes turn with an anxious and a wistful look towards that +inevitable end which is surely coming upon us. + +At such moments we ask ourselves, what will my lot be when the hand of +death touches me--even _me_; when all the light of life goes out, all +thought of this world's cares, all pleasant joys and hopes and desires of +time sink down and fade into the chill gloom and shadow of the unknown? +Such questionings, brought close home to our very selves, cannot but fill +us with very anxious fears and misgivings, as we either look back upon +the past, or think upon what chiefly possesses our minds and thoughts +now. Indeed, many of us cannot bear this forward glance, and refuse to +face it. We would fain brush the thought aside, and with some hasty +utterance of vague trust, of shadowy self-comforting hope that GOD will +be merciful, we turn sharply round and give ourselves again to the calls +of the life which is about us. + +In this way, we Christians, we children of GOD, heirs of life and +immortality, learn to be terrified at death, which, as we are taught to +believe, ushers us into life; learn to associate it with trembling doubt +and shuddering dismay. But is this dread of death nothing else than the +natural instinctive shrinking, which the warmth of life feels at the +touch of its cold hand? Or is it not rather, in the case of most of us, +due to some false imaginations with which religion itself--that form, at +least, of religion which to-day encompasses us--has for many years +possessed and imbued the minds of men? Indeed, I believe it to be so. +The Christianity of to-day has too commonly accepted two untruths, which +yet it holds as truths. + +1. One of them is this: That death ushers the soul immediately and +finally into the supreme condition which awaits the souls of men; so +that, at death, the souls of good men pass at once into heaven, while the +souls of bad men pass at once into hell; in other words, that the final +and irrevocable severance between the just and the unjust takes place at +death. Believing this, men have lost all faith in an Intermediate State +between death and the Day of Judgment. That intervening sojourn of the +soul has virtually dropped out of recognition in the popular Christianity +of the day, and is quite ignored. If you walk through any resting place +of the bodies of the dead, into your own churchyards and cemeteries, you +will, not seldom, find inscriptions upon tombs, which express the +confident assurance that one, whose death is recorded, has already passed +into heaven; that another has now become an angel of Light, or is singing +the praises of GOD before the throne, is, in short, in the full present +enjoyment of consummate and final bliss. Thus it is that the +Intermediate State between death and the final condition of happiness in +heaven, which can only follow the Day of the Resurrection, is quite +forgotten and overlooked. + +2. And the second untruth, which is closely connected with the first, is +this: That there are but two classes of those who pass hence and are no +more seen; classes sharply distinguished, clearly outlined,--on the one +hand, of those who at death go straight to heaven, and, on the other, of +those who at death go straight to the place of final torment. If then +these are the only two clearly marked and sharply defined alternatives, +it follows that, whensoever we dare not be sure of any one soul at death +that it was good enough certainly for heaven, there is nothing for it but +to fear that the worse doom awaits it and that it is lost. For if it is +not, at the moment of death, pure enough or good enough for heaven, into +which there "shall in no wise enter anything that defileth, neither +whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie," {5} that soul, +according to this false belief, is lost. Yet, in fact, what do we see +within us and around us, as we honestly look into our own lives, and upon +the lives both of the best and of the worst among us? We see this, and +we are convinced that we are not mistaken, that even among the most +marked extremes of good men and evil men, few even of the best are so +free from stain or fault as, at death, to be certainly fit for heaven, +and few so vile and degraded as not to have still some good in them. And +between these two extremes there are multitudes of mixed characters, in +part good and in part bad. Among these, of whom we know that they are +full of worth yet full of imperfections too, we count so many who are +most dear to us, many the companions of our lives, our kindred, and +acquaintances, and cherished friends, whose failings and whose virtues we +know so well, of mixed and imperfect character, too frail for heaven, too +good, too lovable for hell, partly good and partly not good, strong and +also weak, marred with inconsistencies, and often for these very +inconsistencies the more dear to us, of whom, so truly have we loved and +even honoured them, it seems almost like an outrage upon their memory to +bring ourselves to think that there was just so much of evil in them and +just so little good, as would suffice to turn the balance against them +and thus fix, at the moment of their death, their final doom. + +What are we to think of such as these? Of some we perhaps say within +ourselves, "Would that there had been but a little amendment of this +blemish! A little more of strength and purpose against that fault! If +only this besetting hardness had not been the spoiler of his life, that +great heedlessness, that fatal procrastination, this too frequent sin! +Oh! but for this or that which marred the fair and well rounded +character! But for this we should have been full of hope: there was so +much on the better side, that we should have been full of trust, and even +of confidence. But, now, what are we to think? If only there were some +fit and fair proportion to be thought of, duly measured out, of reward +and punishment, a mixed destiny for a mixed character, partly good and +partly evil for those who in this life were in part good and in part were +evil! But these two awful and sharp alternatives, either reward or +punishment, these two separate issues, heaven or hell, and if not heaven +then necessarily and inevitably hell! What shall we think? We dare not +think. In the Bible we are encouraged to believe that we shall receive +the due reward of our deeds, whether they be good or whether they be +evil. {8} But how shall any receive in heaven the due reward of evil +deeds done on earth? and how, in hell, shall any wretched soul receive in +any truth the due rewards of good deeds done on earth? Yet in each, +there was some good even in the worst, and some evil even in the best." + +We see then what follows upon this false belief, that at death an instant +judgment assigns finally the destiny of all men, to men of every degree +of wickedness, without distinction, Hell; and one final and absolute +Heaven to men of every varying measure of goodness. Surely there is a +great perplexity in this. No wonder if such beliefs lead men to dread +the thought of death, of their own death, of the death of their friends. +No mere physical repulsion makes us shrink, but rather the uncertainty +and doubt of what may follow, + + "The dread of something after death, + The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn + No traveller returns, puzzles the will," + +and makes us Christian men and women turn to find relief from these +bewildering fears by plunging deeply into the waters of life's amusements +and ambitions. It is the uncertainty of things, wearing to some the +aspect of caprice, which leads to recklessness, and sometimes to +defiance. + +I believe, from my heart, that Holy Scripture rightly understood solves +these confusing riddles. I believe that a more sound and Scriptural +grasp of what will be the future of each of us after death, the +restoration of a right belief in an Intermediate State, will go far to +correct these unworthy and most un-Christian fears. But it is said, at +times, that nothing can be really known about this Intermediate State, +that all that can be asserted of it is mere guess and vain conjecture, +and even that it betrays a too curious intrusion into things unseen to +speculate about the condition of souls after death. Yes! if we only +speculate, but not surely if we seek humbly to find out what the Bible +has taught us. S. Paul did not think it a too presumptuous intrusion +into things beyond the reach of our knowledge to make this enquiry. "I +would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep." He +would rather that the Thessalonians should know all that can be known, to +their edification. And something can be known, or he would not have +written this. And to know it will be to our edification also. Certainly +to ignore what can be known has led, as we have seen, to loss and offence +in these days. Therefore I propose to try and set before you not idle +speculations indeed, but what has been actually revealed in Holy +Scripture, or may be drawn from it about the Intermediate State. It is +upon Holy Scripture that we must depend for our learning. At least I +shall make no attempt to build arguments upon any other foundation than +Holy Scripture. But let us, in GOD'S Name, get out of Holy Scripture all +that can, according to the proportion of the faith, be deduced from it. +It is as perilous, not to say as undutiful towards GOD, the Revealer, to +neglect what He has for our sakes revealed, as it would be to invent +speculations of our own about that which He has not revealed. + +The unseen world is not easy to apprehend, and to our matter-of-fact +English mind and temper is especially difficult. Yet, with the awful +future in our mind, which awaits not only those who are very dear to +ourselves, but ourselves also, we must be dull indeed, if we have no +concern for it. Then if sober questioning may reveal more clearly to us +what Holy Scripture can tell us of things that shall befall each of us, +we may hope to gain fresh confidence, and to renew our trust in Him Who +launched us into time, that we may live with Him in eternity through +Jesus Christ our Lord. + + + + +II. + + + "Jesus said unto him, Verily I say onto thee, To-day shall thou be + with Me in Paradise." + + --S. LUKE XXIII. 43. + +If we should ask what happens to the soul of a good man when he dies, the +answer would probably be that he has gone to heaven. Of a little child +it would be said at his death, that he has become an angel in heaven. But +this would be quite untrue, because it contradicts the Bible. The Bible +teaches that there will at the end of the world be a day when all the +dead shall rise and stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, to be +judged for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good, or whether +they be evil. But if a good man's soul goes straight to heaven at death, +without waiting for the Day of Judgment, he practically has no Day of +Judgment at all. He escapes it. The Bible also teaches that before the +Day of Judgment there will be a general Resurrection of all, both of the +just and of the unjust. {14} But how can one who is already in heaven, +while his body lies in the grave of corruption,--how can he, being +already glorified and even now beholding the vision of GOD, to any +intelligible purpose, or for any conceivable end, take part in the +general Resurrection? Why should he, as it were, come away from heaven +and rise from the dead, in order to be judged? + +Thus the popular belief, that the souls of the righteous pass straight to +heaven, and the souls of the wicked go straight to hell, is against the +plain teaching of the Bible. But the Bible not only contradicts this +popular and careless fancy. It asserts what is directly contrary to it: +it asserts positively, I mean, that there is an age-long period between +death and the final state of happiness or misery, during which period the +soul is separate from the body and remains separate. We are, according +to the Bible, destined to undergo three great changes in the mode and +nature of our existence. In the first period, while we are here in this +our life on earth, the soul and spirit are united to a material and +tangible body of flesh and blood, suited to our life here. The second +stage begins at death, the name we give to the separation which then +takes place between this material fabric of the body and the incorporeal +part of us; and then the soul and spirit dwell disembodied for a time. +There follows at the Resurrection the third period, when the soul and +spirit are reunited with the body, but with the body now so spiritualized +and refined as to suit the heavenly existence. The second of these two +periods, coming between the first and the third, is therefore fitly +called the intermediate or middle state, the state in which the +disembodied soul dwells apart from its material tenement. {15} + +What has the Bible then to say about this Intermediate State? I will not +ask you to listen to the comments or interpretations of the early +Christian writers, although, of course, very great respect is due to what +they say. I will only beg of you to pay common attention to what the +Bible itself says. + +Now, first, I will point to the words which our Lord spoke from the +Cross, just before His Death, to the thief who was also slowly dying at +His side. "To-day," He said, "shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." So +then within a few hours,--it was then not yet mid-day--they were both to +be in Paradise. They both died before sunset, and at their death both +entered Paradise. Their dead bodies were left behind upon the Cross. +What then entered Paradise? Not their bodies, but the spiritual or +incorporeal part of them. Was Paradise then another name for heaven? It +cannot be; our Lord did not go to heaven until the day of His Ascension, +forty-three days after His death. For, after His Resurrection, He said +to S. Mary Magdalene, "I am _not yet_ ascended to My Father." {17} With +His risen body, united again to His human soul and spirit, He went to +Heaven, His whole human nature now being, by His Resurrection, again +completely one. But into Paradise only part of His human nature passed, +the spiritual part of it, along with the spiritual part of the thief's +human nature. Our Lord's soul and spirit came back, as we know, from +Paradise on the third day. The soul and spirit of the thief remain there +still. So then this is what our Lord Himself teaches us as to the state +of the disembodied spirit, that at death a just man's spirit does _not_ +go to heaven, but into a sphere of life which is called Paradise. + +But, if this be so, why, it may be asked, did not our Lord speak in +plainer and more definite language? Such a truth, it may be urged, a +truth which so much concerns us, ought not to depend upon a single text. +I do not propose to ask you to be content with an inference from a single +text. But it may be that our Lord did not say more than this about the +great truth with which we are dealing for this reason, that the disciples +whom He gathered round Him, being Jews, perfectly well knew what He meant +by Paradise. This single reference, therefore, is enough to show that +what was a common and prevalent belief among the Jews was a true +belief,--a belief which our Lord not only recognized, but by recognizing +established and sanctioned. But if we are once clear on this point, we +shall find the belief more plainly set forth by our Lord in another +place. What then is the belief that we have learned from this single +passage? We have learned this, that the human spirit of our Lord, and +the spirit of the dying thief did not pass at death to heaven, though if +any spirit should ever be fit to pass at death to heaven His spirit was +fit, but to a state which He called Paradise. + +Now, there was another expression used in the ordinary Jewish language of +the day for the state to which the blessed dead passed at death. They +were spoken of as at rest "in Abraham's bosom." Of a very holy man they +would say, "This day he rests in Abraham's bosom." So that in the minds +of the Jews and therefore of the disciples the term "Paradise" meant +exactly the same thing as "Abraham's bosom." We have learned what +"Paradise" meant. Therefore now we know what "resting in Abraham's +bosom" meant. It meant the Intermediate State. {19} The scene then in +the narrative of the rich man and Lazarus, which follows the deaths of +the two men, belongs not to the final state of happiness and misery at +all, but to the Intermediate State. The joy is the joy of the +Intermediate State. The suffering, which is in such strong contrast to +the joy as to be divided from it by a deep gulf, so that the joy cannot +be tinged with the misery, nor the misery relieved by the joy,--this +suffering also is the suffering of the Intermediate State. + +The reality then of the Intermediate State is confirmed by our Lord in +this narrative. Now observe the weight of this testimony. If the Jews +were wrong in believing that the spirits of the just passed into Paradise +or into Abraham's bosom our Lord would never have uttered words twice +over which sanctioned their mistake. We may observe further from these +two passages that the Intermediate State has two parts or conditions. +There are those in it who suffer, and there are those who rejoice. At +death, the spirits of those whose lives have been evil pass to suffering +and anguish, as we read of the rich man that "in Hades he lifted up his +eyes being in torments"; and the spirits of the faithful pass to rest and +joy. But between these two representatives in the narrative, the one of +the evil, the other of the good, there are the multitudes who are neither +very good nor very evil, so varied in the indeterminate tokens of good +and evil which marked their lives on earth, that it would seem to be +impossible for us to know on which side of "the great gulf" their +position ought to be. But if the extremes enter the Intermediate State, +and there is room for them in it, is it to be supposed that there is no +room for those who are between the extremes? Rather do we learn that the +spirits of all go thither, not only of the faithful and of the wicked, +but of the wavering and uncertain also, of those who were weak and fell, +of those who, with unsteady and tottering steps, sometimes rising, often +falling, now obeying, now rebelling, now believing, now doubting, now +walking in the light, now plunged in darkness, at one time treading +firmly the ground of the narrow path, and then at times wandering into +the quagmires and morasses of sin and lust, passed through the pilgrimage +of life, and, at length, when their allotted span was completed, were +assigned to the place which awaited them, to the place which was their +own and was fitted for them. + +We have seen what conclusions must be drawn from the express language of +our Lord Himself. Let us now examine the evidence afforded by His +Apostles, in the Epistles and in the book of the Revelation. But first I +would ask you to consider what, according to the Bible, is the chief +feature in the conception of the happiness and glory of Heaven, what is +its essential nature. Is it not this, that being the dwelling place of +GOD Himself, the glory and happiness of Heaven will consist in the +Presence itself of GOD, and therefore in the vision of GOD? As a great +writer has said, "It must be remarked by everybody that the glory of the +future state is always put before us not as an inner consciousness or +mental communion simply, not as an absorption into ourselves within, but +as a great spectacle without us, the spectacle of a great visible +manifestation of GOD. It is a sight, a picture, a representation, that +constitutes the heavenly state, not mere thought and contemplation. The +glorified saint of Scripture is especially a beholder; he gazes, he +looks, he fixes his eyes upon something before him; he does not merely +ruminate within, but his whole mind is carried out towards and upon a +great representation. And thus Heaven specially appears in Scripture as +the sphere of perfected sight, where the faculty is raised and exalted to +its highest act, and the happiness of existence culminates in vision." +{23} If this be so, all the most entrancing spectacles and scenes of +earth shall appear dim and coarse and uncouth in comparison with the +sight on which the ravished gaze of eternity shall be fastened. For then +shall our eyes see "The King in His Beauty." {24a} They shall see GOD, +see Him face to face,--GOD! No higher conception of happiness is set +before the heart of man, which ever craves for heaven and for perfection, +than GOD Himself, the sight of GOD, the Presence of GOD, the Knowledge of +GOD. "In Thy Presence is the fulness of joy." {24b} But we must not +lose sight of the effect which this vision of GOD produces upon those who +gaze. To see Him is to become like Him. "Then," says S. John, "we shall +be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." {24c} "We all," says S. +Paul, "with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, +are changed into the same image from glory to glory." This is what +seeing GOD will do. + +When, then, shall this vision be granted? At death to any? No! but only +at the Second Coming of Christ. All the great writers of the Epistles +speak, as with one voice, of this. What says S. Peter? "When the chief +Shepherd _shall appear_, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth +not away." {25a} Not therefore at death, but at Christ's Second Coming +and appearance. What does S. John say? "We know that _when He shall +appear_, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." {25b} Not +therefore until that time. What again does the great S. Paul say? "When +Christ, Who is our life, _shall appear_, then shall ye also appear with +Him in glory." {25c} Again to S. Timothy he writes, "There is laid up +for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord _the righteous Judge_, +shall give to me _at that day_: and not only to me, but also to all them +that have loved _His appearing_." {25d} There can be no doubt what S. +Paul means by "That Day." It is the day when "the Righteous Judge" on +His Judgment throne shall award the crowns to those who have fought the +good fight and kept the faith. This is the frequent meaning of the +expressions, "That day," "The day of the Lord," in the New Testament. "We +know it," says Dr. Liddon, "by a more familiar name given it on three +occasions by our Lord Himself, and on three at least by His Apostles +after Him: it is the Day of Judgment." {26} S. Paul, therefore, when he +says, "There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord +will give me on that day," does not expect that crown until the Day of +Judgment. + +These are a few out of many like passages, all showing that heaven is not +reached at death, but only after the Day of Judgment. From all which it +is clear that the Apostles had in their minds the firm assurance that +there was to be a waiting time, how long they knew not, or how short they +knew not, during which the spirit without the body would dwell in +expectation. If it were otherwise, if at death the spirit passes into +the light which no man can approach unto, into the Presence of GOD and +beholds the Beatific Vision, which, as we saw, constitutes the +consummation of happiness and perfection in heaven, I would ask, how it +can be conceived that our Lord would have called Lazarus back from that +supreme happiness, which eye hath never seen nor ear ever heard, nor +heart of man ever conceived,--called him back to mingle in the griefs and +sorrows, the pains and failures, the doubts and fears, the mists and +confusions of this earthly life. Was this the act of Him Who loved +Lazarus? Was there no other way of consoling the living sisters, than by +so great a loss to the vanished brother? Was it not to call him from +life to death, rather than from death to life? + +One more passage must be quoted, the force of which cannot well be +missed. In the sixth chapter of the Book of the Revelation, S. John +describes the vision which he saw at the opening of the fifth seal. He +saw, he said, "under the altar the souls of them that had been slain for +the word of GOD,--and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O +Master, the holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on +them that dwell on the earth?--And it was said unto them, that they +should rest yet for a little while, until their fellow-servants also and +their brethren . . . should be fulfilled." {28} Plainly these souls were +not in heaven, for they bemoaned the long delay, and were bidden to wait +for awhile until some great fulfilment. Where then could they be, if not +on earth, nor yet in heaven? They must have been in the Middle State +between the two, these martyred souls, in Paradise. But they are not +spoken of as in Paradise, or in Abraham's bosom, but as "under the +Altar." Where was this? The Jews spoke of departed souls not only as in +Paradise, and in Abraham's bosom, but also as "under the throne of +Glory." By all these expressions they meant the same thing. S. John, +however, uses a different expression in describing the Intermediate +State, yet one so similar as to lead us to think that in the change he +substitutes a Christian formula for the Jewish, giving it a Christian +shape. As "the throne of Glory" was associated with the Presence of GOD +in the mind of a devout Jew, so the Altar would be as naturally +associated with the Presence of GOD in the mind of a devout Christian. +What, therefore, the "Throne of GOD" was to the Jew, that "the Altar of +GOD" would be to a Christian. For the Altar was to Christian thought the +Throne of GOD. There, at the Christian Altar was commemorated the one +great sacrifice to which all former sacrifices had pointed, and in which +they were all fulfilled. There the communion of Saints was, as in no +other way on earth, realized. There, as by one simultaneous vibration +thrilling through the saintly dead, and the living communicants, the +spiritual bond unites together in one unbroken living Communion, those of +the Church expectant who are departed in the true faith of Christ's Holy +Name, and those of us who are still striving in the Church militant on +earth to perfect our probation. These souls "under the Altar" were still +waiting, and their waiting wearied them. "How long?" they cried. They +were not in the flesh, their bodies had been slain. They were absent +from the body and present with the Lord, with Christ, as the crucified +thief is still with Christ, in Paradise. + +The consummation for them is yet to come. They are waiting for it. It +is postponed. GOD'S work on earth is yet uncompleted. The number of the +elect is not yet made up. The Second Coming of Christ is yet delayed. +All things are not yet ready. A little while longer must they wait, that +they without us may not be made perfect. + + + + +III. + + + "To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life + and peace."--ROM. VIII. 6. + +So far we have examined the witness which the Bible affords in support of +the truth that there is such a sphere as the Intermediate State, in which +the spirit dwells alone, apart from the body, awaiting the Day of +Judgment. We have now to see what can be known as to the condition of +the spirit in that disembodied state. It is one thing to be assured on +good grounds that there is such a life, and quite another thing to be +assured what sort of life it is. Can we fully understand what is meant +by the life of the spiritual part of our being when it is separated from +the body? We cannot. We cannot understand that of which we have had no +experience. In speaking, therefore, of the disembodied spirit, we are +speaking of that which we cannot explain. Yet it does not in consequence +follow that it is impossible to believe it to be. For we are bound in +reason to be assured of many things of which we can form no conception. +Reason compels us to be assured of the reality of space, of eternity, of +the creation of the universe out of nothing, and, perhaps we may add, of +the being of GOD; the being of GOD, I mean, considered apart from His +nature and attributes. Yet we cannot form any intelligent conception of +these realities. We cannot shape to our apprehension the faintest +rational conception of the Personality of GOD, of His Omniscience, of His +Omnipresence. Yet we are able, and indeed are forced to believe, as +Christians, in these attributes of His Nature, although we cannot +comprehend them. + +In the same sense, we can be reasonably sure that the spirit can still +live after it has left the body, even though we are unable to form to our +minds any clear conception of the existence of the disembodied spirit. We +can do more. On the assumption of the existence of the disembodied +spirit, we are able, to some extent also, to reason upon the laws and +limits of that separate and secluded life. + +We are, no doubt, in so doing, dealing with a profoundly mysterious +subject. But it does not therefore follow that we are thereby really +intruding into things which ought not to be enquired into. For the +questions raised in the search concern us very closely; and, moreover, it +is a matter about which GOD has made a revelation. And to know more +about it than many people even care to know is a safeguard against many +an unwholesome fear, against many a mischievous deceit. + +On the very threshold of this enquiry we are confronted with this +question: "Is the soul the same thing as the spirit? If not, what is the +soul, and what is the spirit?" That the Bible regards them as distinct +is sufficiently clear from the language used by S. Paul in his first +Epistle to the Thessalonians: "I pray GOD your whole spirit, soul, and +body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." +{34a} The same distinction is marked in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "The +word of GOD is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, +piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." {34b} It is +thus that we understand the contrast which S. Paul enforces between +things of the spirit and things of the soul. "The _natural_ +man,"--_i.e._, the psychical man, the man who yields to the sway of the +soul,--"receiveth not the things of the spirit of GOD." {34c} And again, +speaking of the resurrection, he writes: "It is sown a natural +body,"--_i.e._, literally a psychical body, a body which is subject to +the sway of the soul,--"it is raised a spiritual body,"--_i.e._, a body +subject to the sway of the spirit. "There is a natural body, and there +is a spiritual body." {35a} When again S. James says: "This wisdom . . . +is earthly, _sensual_, devilish,"--the word translated "sensual" is the +same word "psychical," _i.e._, subject to the sway of the soul. {35b} S. +Jude speaks of those who are "sensual," _i.e._, psychical, "not having +the spirit." {35c} Enough has been said to show that, according to the +Bible, the soul is the seat of the senses, the desires, the will, the +reasoning and intellectual faculties, the thoughts of the mind. What +then is the spirit in man? We seem to have the answer given to us in the +account of man's creation, when we are told that "GOD formed man of the +dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, +and man became a living soul." {35d} This breath of GOD could be nothing +less than the spirit, which came from GOD Himself. It is that higher +endowment by which man is a spiritual being, and therefore has an +affinity to GOD. It is that which makes him GOD-like, even by nature, at +least by his nature as it was before the fall. But even the fall did not +utterly dissolve that nature; man still remained a spiritual being, +although the spiritual part of him was subject to the sway of the animal +in him, and to the senses of the lower nature. Until that creative act +of GOD, man's body and soul were scarcely higher in the order and rank of +being than the body and soul of the brute. It was the gift of the divine +spirit which caused man's soul truly to live, so that he became then "a +_living_ soul." Herein, henceforth, the soul of man differs from the +soul of the lower creature. In man the soul is in contact with the +spirit. The beast shares with man the possession of an animal soul. It +is the prerogative of man to be endowed also with spirit. By the spirit, +man is capable of apprehending GOD, can commune with GOD, can long for +Him. Herein lies his capacity for religion. His soul is incorporeal no +less than his spirit. It is, as it were, midway between the body and the +spirit. It touches the body on the one side, on the other side it +touches the spirit. The desires and the thoughts of the soul may become +enslaved by the body, or they may become the servants of the spirit. The +soul is the prize, for the mastery of which the spirit strives, and the +flesh or body strives. The spirit may gain the soul, or the flesh may +gain the soul. If the spirit loses the soul, it is a loss fatal and +irreparable. The soul is drawn now this way by the baser longings of the +flesh, now that way by the nobler appeals of the spirit. It is the +"debateable ground" {37} on which the real battle of life is fought. "The +flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." The +gaining of the soul is the gaining of the whole man. The losing of the +soul is the losing of the whole man. Those have degraded and brutalized +their life whose human spirit has yielded up its supremacy, whose soul +has been swept along in captivity by the bodily desires. For as in some +the spirit shapes the whole soul, so in others the soul, enslaved by the +flesh, shapes the spirit. + +Death at length steps in, and tears asunder the flesh from the +incorporeal part of us; and soul and spirit, still united, pass together +to the life which awaits them in the world unseen. + + + + +IV. + + + "And when he had said this he fell asleep." + + --ACTS VII. 60. + +At death, as we have seen, the spirit and the soul are separated from the +body, and, still united together, are launched into the unseen world. For +though the soul is not the spirit, these two form the incorporeal parts +of our compound nature, are the two immaterial elements of that trinity +of life,--body, soul, spirit, which are united to make one human being. +They both survive death. For death is the separation of the soul from +the body, not of the soul from the spirit. But it must be remembered +that the spirit, when at death it is, in company with the soul, withdrawn +from the body, passes into the Intermediate State, shaped and stamped +with the impress which the life on earth has fastened upon it. The +spirit enters the new life, either enslaved, disfigured, degraded, +dishonoured by the sensual soul, or else strong, free, true, purified in +its victory over the flesh. It carries with it, in short, the character +which in life it has acquired. + +It may be well to fall into the usage of ordinary speech, and speak of +that which survives death as the _soul_, so long as we keep in mind what +is really meant, viz., that it is the soul _united with the spirit_ which +survives death. + +When, then, we say that the disembodied soul enters the Intermediate +Life, we are bound to consider in what condition it enters it. For +people sometimes argue thus: "Yes! I grant that there will be an interval +or waiting time between death and the Day of Judgment. But then, during +that time, is not the soul asleep? Surely the dying are said to fall +asleep. Then, if asleep, they are unconscious, and to the unconscious +soul the Intermediate State will seem to last but for an instant, and +will no sooner be entered upon than it will be practically at an end. For +complete insensibility to the passing and movement of time is one of the +effects of complete unconsciousness. And, in truth, is it not the case +that the Bible over and over again speaks of death as a state of sleep or +taking rest? {41a} Thus the Intermediate State is in fact a blank. The +eyes close in death, and they remain closed till they open to gaze upon +the glories of the Resurrection, and the terrors of the judgment seat of +Christ. Does not our own Prayer Book sanction this view in her Service +for the Burial of the Dead? {41b} And do we not in common language +ourselves express the same belief when we give to the resting place of +the bodies of the dead the name of 'cemetery,' or sleeping place?" + +The answer to all this is that the language which represents death as a +profound slumber is language applicable enough to describe what befalls +the body, but is quite inapplicable when it is used of the soul. Sleep +is distinctly a physical and corporeal function. The soul cannot be +liable to or affected by corporeal influences when it is separated from +the body. The soul cannot sleep. It is the body, in the hushed +stillness of the chamber of death, which seems, now that the last +struggle is over, and the spasm of dying leaves it motionless, to be +sleeping. But even in life, while the body sleeps, the soul is awake. It +is often, during the sleep of the body, even more active than during the +waking hours. In dreams the soul is busy with its fancies. Thoughts +flit this way and that through the mind of the sleeper. Indeed, the body +is more often a hindrance rather than a help to the activities of +thought. To lose all consciousness of the existence of the body, to be +as if the body for the time were not,--this is to set the mind thinking +in freedom unrestrained. For the body and the conscious sensation of the +presence of the body seem to serve to drag down and encumber the energy +of thought. A sound through the ear, a sight presented to the eye, a +touch, an ache,--these break off sustained thinking. No wonder, when the +body sleeps profoundly, the soul is often then most active. And will not +this be so when the profoundest sleep of all falls upon the body? + +It is clear that the disembodied soul, if we may again go back to the +Bible, is not by our Lord regarded as in a state of lethargy and dull +unconsciousness. "To-day," said He, "shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." +If this promise was meant to be a blessing and a solace it was meant to +be consciously _felt_ as a blessing and a solace. How else could the +thief have been in any true sense with Christ? S. Paul said, "For me to +live is Christ, to die is gain." {43} Gain! Wherein could it be a gain +to him to die, if to die was to exchange that eager, active vitality, so +full of welcome pain and happy suffering, so full of a service, whose +fruits were rich in blessing,--to exchange all this for dull heaviness +and blank oblivion? + +In the narrative of the rich man and Lazarus, which, as we saw, describes +the Intermediate State, the rich man is said to have "lifted up his eyes +being in torments." So, then, his pain was felt. He was conscious; he +reflected; he remembered; he spoke. Once more, in a remarkable passage +in the First Epistle of S. Peter, to which, on a future occasion, I shall +again refer, our Lord is spoken of as "having been put to death in the +flesh, but quickened," _i.e._, made alive, "in spirit" {44}; words which, +whatever the context may mean, can only have the force of bringing the +effect of death in its relation to Christ's human body into sharp +contrast with its effect in relation to His human spirit. In respect of +His human body He was put to death; but in respect of His human spirit He +was quickened or lived, lived still, in Paradise, though His body was +dead. I need not, I think, refer to other passages. It is abundantly +clear, both from the necessity of the thing, and from the obvious +testimony of the Bible, that the soul still lives, still is awake, still +is conscious. + +What, then, follows from the soul's consciousness in and through the +passage of death? Obviously this,--that the life of the soul goes on, +and is therefore the life of the same soul, sustained without break or +interruption, after death, by an unsuspended continuity of the +consciousness of personal identity. For of what is the soul still +conscious? Of itself. The life therefore of the soul after death is one +with the life of the soul before death. The same soul lives on. The +only change to it is the absence of the body, which has been withdrawn +from it, and is laid in the ground, and dissolves into dust. And this +continuous consciousness of identity means that the soul's character is +preserved unchanged and unaffected by the shock of the separation. For a +character it had been contracting during its sojourn in the body, a +character of its own. The spiritualized soul before death is a +spiritualized soul after death. The animalized soul before death remains +after death an animalized soul. The righteous is righteous still. The +holy, the pure, the faithful, the devout, the true, are true, and devout, +and faithful, and pure, and holy still. The wicked and tainted soul is +still wicked and tainted when it enters the unseen, and begins its life +in the Intermediate State. It is on the other side what it was on this +side. Death,--the crisis and shock of death,--makes no change, no other +change than this, that it strips off the outer clothing which enveloped +the soul. It leaves the soul the same, no better, no worse. This is +what is implied in the personal identity of the soul. It means the +continuity of consciousness, and therefore continuity of character. + +Do we cling to some vague and fanciful expectation that the mere act of +dying, so to call it, will itself work a great change upon the soul, will +blot out our sins, will clear away our imperfections, will in an instant +heal the wounds and scars, which evil habits, long inured in us, have +wrought upon the soul? It will do nothing of the sort. We shall be no +better, no holier on the other side than we were on this, no more fitted +for heaven than when we died. If this be so,--and, so far as we can see, +it must be so,--how much does it behove us to fear greatly the peril we +incur by a careless and GOD-forgetting life! "Israel doth not know," +said the prophet, "My people doth not consider." {47} That was the pity +of it. It was the thoughtlessness, and the ignorance which came of it, +that ruined the nation. + +Oh! that in life we would look things in the face more steadily! Would +that we were ready to take heed how surely we are, day by day, shaping +and moulding our character for good or for evil, a character which no +shock of dissolution will affect, which will be ours when the crisis +comes to end our probation here, and to usher us, as we are and have +become, into that unseen life beyond! + + + + +V. + + + "Being confident of this very thing, that He which began a good work + in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ."--PHIL. I. 6 + (_R.V._) + +The Intermediate Life is not a state of sleep, but a waiting time. But +is it a time of mere waiting, and of unemployed quiescence? This would +be no better than sleep. There must be a reason for the waiting. And +what other reason can there be than that, during it, there is something +to be done which can only be done then? S. Paul speaks, in the text, of +work which he is confident will be carried on till it is brought to +completion on the Day of Judgment. What is this work? We have seen that +the Scriptural conception of the happiness of heaven is that it consists +in the sight of GOD, the Beatific Vision. But there can enter the +heavenly city nothing that defileth, nothing imperfect. It is the pure +in heart who shall see GOD. Isaiah dare hardly approach the vision of +GOD'S glory on earth, because he felt himself to be a man of unclean +lips. The very heavens, the stars themselves, are not clean in GOD'S +sight. And at death, who is pure? Who is free from stain? Who is +perfect, that he should be fit to look upon GOD? Then, if no one that is +imperfect can enter heaven, and none are perfect at death, can we not see +what the work is that has to be done between death and the Resurrection? +It is this work of purification, that the soul may be fitted for the +vision of GOD in heaven. And this is what S. Paul is speaking of in the +text. The work begun in life, under the conditions of earth's life, +shall not stop at death, but, under new conditions, shall be carried on +to perfection until the day of Jesus Christ. + +So far, then, we may say that we are treading on sure ground. But when +we go on to ask how shall this work and process of purification be +effected, and what is the nature and method of it, we are approaching a +stage in our enquiry about which, it may be thought, nothing but +conjecture remains, because nothing has been revealed. But let us see +what light may be thrown upon this question. And, that we may narrow our +enquiry within manageable limits, let us confine our attention for the +present to the condition of those of whom it may with truth and reason be +said that they died in the favour and grace of GOD, died in good hope of +salvation, surely trusting that their sins had been forgiven through the +blood of Jesus Christ, and that, however imperfect and blemished with sin +their lives had been, there was an assured forgiveness for them and a +good hope of eternal mercy. We will not define the exact limits of this +reasonable hope, nor attempt to show who are within or beyond those +limits. We will only, in general terms, speak of those who have entered +upon the Intermediate Life in a condition such as would make them capable +of perfect purification. Certainly it is impossible for any of us ever +to say of any one absolutely that he is incapable of such progressive +purification. It is not possible, in Christian charity, to pronounce +sentence upon any. And it may be, and we may indeed hope, that a vast +number, a much larger proportion than many now imagine, will prove on +their entrance into the Intermediate Life to be capable of such progress +of effective purification as may fit them, each according to his measure, +for the final salvation for which he may be qualified in that home where +"there are many mansions." + +When then does this purification begin? Does it begin with dying? That +has been already disproved. But so prevalent is the popular belief that +dying has a kind of cleansing power in itself, that it is well to touch +upon it once more. What is dying? It is simply the parting of the soul +from the body. The soul, up to the moment of death, dwells in the body. +At death, in a moment it ceases to dwell in the body. But have not the +pain, it may be asked, and the very agony of dying a chastening and +purifying force, serving in themselves to crown repentance, and to +achieve, in the instant, the complete cleansing of the soul? Why should +it be so? The pains which precede death are distinct from dying, from +what we may call the act of dying. The act of dying is instantaneous. It +is the moment, the crisis at which the soul takes its flight. The pains +and agony which accompany the process leading up to death are not the +pains and agony of dying at all. They are felt while the sick man is +still living. They belong to his life, not to his death. At the moment +of dying the sufferings are probably over. The body has just felt its +last throb of sensible anguish, and, in the crisis of the soul's +departure, is incapable of feeling pain, and therefore is incapable of +the discipline of pain. And it is the discipline of pain alone that has +any cleansing power. And the discipline of pain went on in life up to +the moment, if it be so, of the dying, and then ceased. But it belonged, +as the pain belonged, to the life, and not to the death. During the +life, at many times in the life past, the wholesome discipline of pain +may or may not have been working a salutary change in the character, up +to the very moment, perhaps, of death. But it ceased, as the pain +ceased, at death. + +This then we conclude, that the act of dying in itself, apart from the +pain which may have preceded it, can have no moral effect, or work any +moral change. Moral change, that is to say change of character, can only +go on in life. Dying is a physical operation, not a moral act. At death +the possibility of change of character has stopped, so far as this life +can be the sphere of it. Life, not death, may be accompanied by +cleansing, life on this side of death, and life on the other side of +death, but not death, which is between, the mere transition from life to +life, from one mode of life to another. + +The soul, therefore, after death begins just where it left off, just as +life left it, no better, no worse. It passes into the unseen world, +pardoned, it may be, by GOD'S mercy, but yet no other than it was before +it left the body. Even GOD'S pardon does not change the character, nor +yet remove the tendency to sin. That still remains, alas! even in the +penitent. The consequences of our acts follow upon our acts, and form +our character. As there is uniformity in the law of cause and effect in +the realm of nature, so, in morals, is it the case with what we do. Let +a man yield to a temptation:--is he as strong against that temptation +after he has yielded to it as he would have been if he had not yielded to +it? We know that he is not. We know, by our own experience, that it +needs a far greater and more strenuous effort to withstand the same +temptation after previous yielding, than it did before. A man may repent +and be pardoned, but he is what his sin has made him, weak and frail and +prone to sin again. GOD'S pardon has cancelled his guilt, but it has not +removed his tendency, nor the moral consequences, which sin has wrought +upon his character. + +This then is what is meant when it is said that the soul, which has +received the gracious pardon of GOD before it left the body, is still, +when it is launched into the Intermediate Life, clouded and disfigured +with the stains and imperfections which it had contracted in this life. +But GOD, Who has begun the good work of cleansing in this life, will +carry it on in the life unseen, until the soul be made perfect in the day +of Jesus Christ. + +Who of us, the best of us, does not feel within him the bitterness of the +lingering poison, which sin has deposited in his heart? The holier a man +is, the more he is conscious of his sinfulness. To the end of life this +must be so; for there is no reaching perfection here. Those, chiefly, +who have made most progress in the struggle against sin here, know how +hateful it is. The higher men rise here in the divine life, the more +they discern their imperfections, because they can better measure them by +the measure of GOD'S perfections. Each loftier level is but a new +standpoint from which to lift the eyes, and view the peaks which soar +upward towards infinite elevations. For GOD is holiness itself; and +holiness is infinite, because GOD is infinite. + + + + +VI. + + + "Being confident of this very thing, that He which began a good work + in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ."--PHIL. I. 6 + (_R.V._) + +The ground is now cleared for an answer to the question,--How is the +purification of the soul effected in the Intermediate Life, and what is +the nature of the process? We have seen, 1st, that this waiting time is +not an idle time, but a time when something has to be done which can only +be done then; 2nd, that what has to be done then is the work of cleansing +and purifying the soul, that it may be perfected for the Beatific Vision +in heaven; 3rd, that the souls of those who die in grace do yet, although +fully pardoned, retain frailties of character, the consequences of former +sins; and, 4th, that dying in itself has no cleansing virtue whatever. +What, then, are the conditions on which we may rely as grounds for +legitimate inferences? + +1. First, then, memory survives death. In the narrative to which we +have had occasion to refer more than once, Abraham is spoken of as +bidding the rich man to remember. "Son, remember, that thou in thy +lifetime receivedst thy good things." The survival of memory is involved +in the soul's consciousness of its own existence. And to be conscious of +our own existence is to be conscious that we are still the same persons +that we were. Therefore we must be able to remember each successive +moment what and who we were in the moment previous: so that the +continuance of life involves the continuance of the consciousness that it +is ourselves that live. And this is memory. Bishop Butler, therefore, +says, "There is no reason for supposing that the exercise of our present +powers of reflection is even suspended by the act of dying." + +But if we grant this, we may go further. What is it which makes memory +in this life so imperfect? What is it but the obtrusive hindrance of the +body? The body is at the mercy of the disturbing assaults of present +impressions. Through ear, and eye, and touch external objects invade the +mind, and dispel and distract fixed and steadfast retrospect. The +present blots out the past. When we look back, scenes, and events, and +words, and names fade from our memory, and are dimmed by the haze of +distance. The past is smothered by what has happened since. Only with a +supreme effort, only in solitude, and then only imperfectly, can we +recall what has gone by. But there, in the Intermediate State, when the +soul dwells apart from the body, there, in the stillness of that +"cloistered and secluded life," the powers of memory will be undistracted +and perfect. Even in this life, as we are told, some, in a great crisis, +have seen at a single glance the whole story of their past experience, +and scenes and events, long since forgotten, have flashed in an instant +before the mind, clear and vivid. Such clearness, we may well suppose, +will the memory have in the Intermediate Life, as it recalls in that +quiet stillness the actions of the past days on earth. Here is the first +equipment then for the work of cleansing. All the evil things done in +life, all the forgotten sins, in all their naked and uncouth colours, +will stand undisguised before the mind. Nothing will escape the +memory:--nothing. The days of childhood, of youth, of middle age, of +elder years will give in their report. The soul will see things then as +they are, no longer tricked out in false and flattering guise. There, in +all their miserable littleness, and coarseness, and meanness, and +cowardice, bygone sins will rise up before the stern tribunal of the +unsparing memory, each as it was, each as it is, each as GOD saw it at +the time, each as GOD sees it now. + +2. But this is not all. The souls of those who have received +forgiveness in life, and have passed into the Intermediate State in GOD'S +favour, are, we must remember, "with Christ"; with Christ, however +imperfect their characters, however scarred with traces of former wounds +of sin. The malefactor's character at his death must have been full of +blemishes, yet he was to be ushered and welcomed into Paradise by Christ +Himself. S. Paul again and again spoke of his own departure at death as +that which would lead him into the presence of Christ. It may, however, +be suggested that to be with Christ is to be with GOD, and that the +vision of Christ must be the same thing as the vision of GOD. But the +vision of GOD is specially reserved for the redeemed in heaven, while the +vision of Christ is possible in Paradise; for where Christ is there is +the vision of Christ. For Christ has assumed the form of man, and was +seen as Man by men. But no man hath seen nor can see GOD. He dwells in +the light which no man can approach unto. This is the vision of Him Who +is to mortal eyes in His essence invisible. That vision will be granted +to the pure in heart in the infinite glory of Heaven, granted to those +who shall have become fitted to behold Him in Heaven. But He Who took +our flesh was manifest in the flesh, and was seen, and touched, and +handled. In that same body He rose from the dead; in that same glorified +body He ascended into Heaven, to fill all things. And so after His +Ascension He was seen by S. Stephen {63} and by S. Paul. That human +nature, therefore, we are to believe is so present in Paradise that the +sight of Him is vouchsafed even there to those who may be "with Him." + +What, then, follows from this? It follows that the soul will not only +remember but also be able to judge of the past. For not only will it see +its sins, but it will behold Christ also. It will see them, therefore, +in the light of the perfect love, and most gracious sinlessness of Jesus +Christ. It will look upon sin's stains as they stand out in contrast +with His purity, its ingratitude in contrast with His compassion. He +will be the atmosphere of the soul's existence. All the shame and +dishonour, which in life the soul so complacently accepted, will then +overwhelm it with self-reproach and very bitter compunction. This is +what is meant by seeing sins as GOD sees them. It is to see them as the +soul will see them under the sense of the Presence of the Holy Christ. +Then will the soul know its guilt as it never knew it before. The guilt +of sin will then be no bare expression, no conventional formula, but a +spiritual fact, not an abstract doctrine, but a concrete reality. + +There will be revealed also to the soul the true meaning and significance +of GOD'S providences in life, which at the time were overlooked, or +slighted, or strangely misunderstood. Tokens of GOD'S love and care will +then find their interpretation. The soul will see plainly why was this, +wherefore was that, what that sorrow meant, what that loss, that parting +from one who was more dear than life. The many perplexities which on +earth misled the soul, of these the loving mercy and the gracious reason +will then be seen. + +And will there not be with the amazing surprise at these revelations a +strange and unaccountable gladness? But, no less, at the thought of the +soul's past blindness and persistence in ill-doing, will there not be an +exquisite pain? And the soul's pain can be even more oppressive than the +pain of the body. "Pain," it may be asked, "in the Presence of Christ?" +Yes, indeed! pain, because in the Presence of Christ; pain in +remembering, and in the consciousness, new to the soul, of its utter +unworthiness before Christ. The soul cannot fully feel it now, but it +will feel it then. The fire of His love will kindle a fire of loving +self-reproach. The weight of a heavy shame to think of the past, and to +know now of His beauty, and His love, and His care, care for so careless +a soul, love for a soul so loveless,--this will sting with an extreme +severity the soul humbled before Him. And here we should do well to +remember that, as the characters of each differ almost infinitely, +whereby there are innumerable shades and degrees of every conceivable +distinction of merit and of sin, so the proportion and depth of the pains +which the souls will feel will vary equally. The pains of no two souls +will be exactly the same. They will be measured out, in subtle and exact +aptness to each, according to its guilt or goodness, precisely as the +process of its purification shall require. There will be nothing unjust, +nothing capricious in them. + +And thus the pain will surely be a very wholesome pain. What could more +deepen penitence? The pain of self-reproach for unworthiness, and the +pain of the sense of goodness in the Presence of Jesus Christ,--these two +pains will purify the soul. No work of sanctification has ever been +wrought in any soul without suffering. And none ever will. Even Christ +Himself was not made perfect, as Man, without suffering. But the +suffering in Paradise will be accompanied with an exquisite delight and +joy. Do we not know, even here on earth, how near to each other very +often are joy and sorrow? He whose spirit is swelling with a great +gladness has often a sense of an undercurrent of great pain along with +it. How often tears and laughter go together! So, in that home of the +disembodied soul, the very process of purification will be marked by an +intensity of joy and an intensity of pain. They will be simultaneous. +Nay! increasingly, it may be, they will deepen in the soul. The nearer +the soul reaches its perfection the more abounding may be its gladness, +and the more piercing its compunction. Thus its very anguish will be a +delight, and its very delight will be an anguish, and these will proceed, +and advance, and increase until the soul is ripe for the Blessed Vision +of GOD in Heaven. For He Which began the good work in the soul, here, in +life, will, we may be very confident, never abandon it, nor suspend it, +but will continue it and perfect it all through the after life, even +until the day of Jesus Christ. + + + + +VII. + + + "Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit: in + which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which + aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of GOD waited in + the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." + + --1 PETER III. 18, 19, 20 (_R.V._) + +So far we have considered the case of those who die in the favour of GOD, +and, though as yet unfit for the vision of GOD in Heaven itself, are +nevertheless capable of becoming so in the course of the Intermediate +Life. + +What, however, must be said of those who in life had light and knowledge +of GOD and of His will, and yet hardened themselves against GOD; who were +free, and in the exercise of their freedom rejected GOD? Of these +unhappy souls, if there is no yielding of their will to GOD in the +Intermediate Life, if, and so far as, they have absolutely made +themselves by the fixedness of their choice incapable of yielding, if +after death they still hate GOD and set the whole force of their +determination against Him,--one can only fear that even GOD Himself +cannot help them. On the supposition that the prerogative of free will, +once for all given to man, must be respected by GOD, we are driven to the +belief that GOD cannot force the will. It is not that GOD changes +towards them. It is not necessary to suppose that He is even punishing +them. He may still be in Himself all that He is to all, full of love +towards them, full of pity, full of mercy. "His mercy is over all His +works." He can no more cease to be a Father to every man than He can +cease to be GOD. He hates nothing that He has made. But if the very +knowledge and thought of GOD'S longsuffering patience serves only to +harden and to exasperate, if it only stirs in the lost soul deeper pangs +of inexorable hatred, then,--man being man and GOD being GOD,--what can +GOD do? It is they who reject GOD, not GOD Who is rejecting them. It is +they who spurn Him, not He Who chastises them. He does not banish them +from His Presence: it is they who banish Him from their presence. And if +this defiance against GOD survives and lasts, if, as ages pass, it +becomes more resolutely inveterate and set, what power can stop it, what +love can soften it? And if it is never to be pacified, and never yields, +what shall hinder it from going on up to and beyond the Day of Judgment? +It may be said that such utter determination is a moral impossibility, +that no will of man could finally defy and resist the love of GOD. If +that be so, well! But on the assumption that it is not impossible, the +inference which has been drawn is inevitable. + +But there are others who in life have never heard of Christ, the millions +of heathen in all ages and all lands since the world began, of whom it +may truly be said that they never had a chance of salvation. To these +may be added many who have indeed fallen in with Christianity, but with a +Christianity of such a sort, presented to them in such a way, in such a +form, and under such circumstances as almost naturally to create in their +minds a really honest doubt and distrust of it. What shall be said of +these honest unbelievers, and, scarcely through their own fault, blind? +As to these, let us ask whether the doctrine of the Intermediate State +can help to give us some better hope. + +In the text, {72} we are told that Christ was put to death upon the Cross +in the flesh, but was quickened in His human Spirit, that is to say, that +after His human Spirit left His Body it was still quick or alive. We +know, from the Gospel of S. Luke, whither His human Spirit went. It went +to Paradise. S. Peter now tells us what His Spirit did there. He tells +us that it preached unto other spirits, and he names the spirits of those +who for 120 years, while Noah was building the ark, were disobedient. +They had rejected Noah, "the preacher of righteousness" {73} as S. Peter +calls him; and now a greater Preacher went to preach to them. Further, +we are told, that they were "in prison." The word should rather be +rendered "in safe keeping," that is to say, still waiting, under GOD'S +care, for this visit of Christ's human Spirit, when He should preach to +them. Why the spirits of these men, who lived before the flood, are +singled out for special mention, is a question that does not really bear +upon the point which we have in hand. And we had better keep to that +point, and not be tempted to digress. What then follows from this? Two +things are clear,--first, that from as far back as the days before the +flood, that is to say, from the very beginning of human life on earth, +souls in the Intermediate State had been waiting in safe keeping all +these many thousand years; and, secondly, that the disembodied soul of +our Lord Jesus Christ visited them there and preached to them. Assuming +that these souls had repented, however late, before they died, still we +learn that something more than repentance was needful to them. In this +case, it is clear that instruction was given to them. It would not have +been given if it had not been necessary. And what instruction? Christ +"proclaimed," we are told, to them. What did He proclaim? Surely the +good news of the Gospel, {74} which He had been proclaiming on earth by +the voice of the Apostles. What else did He make known than the mystery +of His Incarnation and the Atonement which He had wrought out upon the +Cross, in bearing the sins of men, and their sins, too, who had so long +been waiting in the Intermediate State, to hear it to their salvation? S. +Peter, therefore, in another place, says, "For this cause," that is, +because Christ will Himself be the Judge of the living and the dead,--"for +this cause was _the Gospel_ preached even to the dead." {75} + +Here, then, we have a set of facts which throw light upon some of the +dark places of that unknown and unseen land, the Intermediate State. If +we do justice to our Bibles we must regard these as facts, whether we can +fully explain them or not. Scriptural facts they certainly are. What, +then, can we learn from them? First, we seem to learn this,--that some +provision is made in the Intermediate State for the salvation of those +souls who in this life never heard of Christ, never had a chance, as we +say, of salvation. And when we think of it, does it not seem to belong +to GOD'S eternal justice that souls should not be condemned for that +which they could not help? Every human soul must have had a chance of +knowing Christ, before it can justly be punished for the consequences of +not knowing Him. Countless millions in all ages, since the world began, +in our own land, and in other lands, have never heard the good news of +Jesus Christ in life. It is not so with us. With them it is and has +been so. Christ preached to those who in safe keeping had been waiting +long. Then is it not possible for such as those in all ages to receive +the teaching in the Intermediate Life which they never received in this? +Why should Christ preach to those and not to these? + +This hope helps to solve that harassing enigma which perplexes and +oppresses so many of us,--I mean, as to the condition and future destiny +of the heathen, and the outcast, and the blind, and the ignorant. There, +in that stillness of the disembodied life, souls may be taught and +trained to know what they never could know in this life on earth, the +wonders and the blessings of the life in Christ. + +And, besides, do we not at least learn this from Christ's preaching to +these souls, that intercourse and communication is _possible_ in the life +after death, and will take place? And this suggests another aspect of +the work in that life, besides the work of progressive cleansing and +perfecting. The souls of the faithful rest from their labours. Yes! but +they have also a work to do which can only be done then, the work of the +soul's purification. The work, however, which they can do for others is +better than that which can be done for themselves. What can they do for +the souls of others? Can they not do what Christ's human spirit did? +Here on earth men are charged, not only with the care of their own souls, +but with the care of the souls of others also. And why should they not +be ambassadors for Christ there, if Christ's work has to be done there? +Here on earth He uses imperfect men to proclaim His Gospel. There, in +that after life, if His Gospel is to be proclaimed to those that never +heard it in this life, why should He not employ souls also, not yet +perfected, upon the same happy task? + +And may not this charge, laid on ministering souls in the Intermediate +Life, help to solve another mystery--the mystery of many an early and, as +we might think, untimely death? How often do we see a life cut short at +the very climax of its best powers, in the very midst of its noblest +service! All the earlier days had been directed, and had contributed to +the perfection of the instrument, and then, just when its work was doing, +came the sudden end. Was it not so to our Blessed Lord Himself? May it +not be said with due reverence that, if only His human life on earth had +been prolonged, His teaching, and His miracles, and His sinlessness, and +His love must have swayed and melted the hearts of men, even of those who +so long and so stubbornly withstood Him? We might so think. But, just +when His young life was at its prime of human excellence, He died, and +His human Spirit passed to preach salvation to souls in the spirit land. +So are souls, it may be, taken from us at the summit of their ripeness, +but only to be transferred to another scene, and to be employed upon +other work. Their labours change, but their works indeed do follow with +them to that land where other souls of those who knew not Christ here may +learn to know Him there, and knowing Him may choose Him, and choosing Him +may be His and He theirs even to the end. + + + + +VIII. + + + "Not handling the word of GOD deceitfully, but by the manifestation of + the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight + of GOD." + + --2 COR. IV. 2. + +The Scriptural doctrine of the Intermediate Life, as I have tried, so +far, to set it forth, is a very different thing from what our +Twenty-second Article calls "The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory." +The word "purgatory" simply means the sphere or life of cleansing. The +Intermediate State, therefore, during which the soul is being purified +and fitted for the vision of GOD in Heaven may be legitimately called "a +purgatory." But "The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory" means much +more than this. It is a belief which, originating in what was true and +Scriptural, gradually became so overlaid with subsequent additions, that +the original truth was at length buried and lost sight of. What the +Twenty-second Article condemns is not any and every conceivable doctrine +concerning Purgatory, but the Romish doctrine only. And here it is well +to note that all false beliefs which have had for any length of time a +wide currency among men have been founded upon and have retained in them +some element of truth. This it is which enabled them to survive: this +and nothing else gives to error its vitality. These false beliefs are +not mere error, but contain truth and error mixed together. The error +perverts and makes void the truth; but without the truth the error could +not live. + +In the case of the doctrine of Purgatory, the true and Scriptural +doctrine of the progressive purification of the soul in the Intermediate +State is the element of truth on which has been based the Romish Doctrine +of Purgatory. Wherein then lies the error of it? + +1. In the first place, whereas the Bible teaches, as we have seen, that +every soul at death enters the Intermediate State, the souls of the +greatest saints as well as the souls of the greatest sinners, "the Romish +Doctrine" teaches that the souls of very many never enter the +Intermediate State at all. The souls of the holy patriarchs of old, of +Christian martyrs, and of canonized Saints, it is held, pass straight to +heaven. On the other hand, the souls of those who die in mortal sin, and +of excommunicated persons are believed to go straight to hell. Thus +practically the Intermediate State is cancelled for these two classes. +There remains, therefore, only one class which is supposed to enter the +Intermediate State, those namely, who have died in venial sin. And since +it is part of the Romish doctrine to regard Paradise as the same thing as +Heaven, and to hold that the souls which alone enter Purgatory, after +suffering due torments, pass direct out of Purgatory into Paradise or +Heaven, it follows that in the Intermediate State are only those who are +actually undergoing, for the time appointed, the pains of Purgatory. For +all, therefore, eventually the Intermediate State is terminated at some +time on this side of the Day of Judgment. Hence it came about that those +who rejected the Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory rejected along with +it the doctrine of the Intermediate State, since, virtually, Purgatory +and the Intermediate State had been regarded as practically one and the +same thing, as indeed they were in duration conterminous. In rejecting +the one therefore, men unhappily but almost naturally rejected the other +also. + +2. Further, the pains which are felt in the process of purification, as +has been shown, spring from within the soul itself, and are not +necessarily or for all inflicted as a torment or punishment from without. +Rather they arise from the soul's own action upon itself, from its own +pangs of shame and self-abasement, all deepened and made more poignant by +the ever increasing sense of the love of Jesus Christ, then as never +before apprehended, and by the holy vision of His perfections. Thereby, +as they gaze on Him, they are changed by the influence of the sight of +Him, into greater likeness to Him. On the other hand, contrast with +these the nature of the pains which the Romish Doctrine assigns to the +souls in Purgatory. They are held in all cases to be penal, that is to +say, inflicted by GOD as punishment. The souls are said to suffer +torments! {84} Moreover these torments, as is taught in Roman Catholic +treatises on the subject, are caused by literal and material flames, by +actual fires which would feed on and consume corporeal substances such as +the human body. But what enters the Intermediate State is the soul only, +not the body: and, in the nature of things, the sufferings of the +incorporeal part of our being can only be themselves incorporeal. The +pains of the spirit can only be spiritual pains. + +3. Again, the "Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory" is closely bound up +with what are called in the Thirty-first Article "the Sacrifices of +Masses," and with the sale of "Pardons" or Indulgences, named in the +Twenty-second Article. The character of the Romish doctrine, as of every +other doctrine, must be tested by what has grown with its growth. It was +held that by these "Sacrifices of Masses" and "Indulgences" souls, one by +one, were released from Purgatorial fires sooner than, without their aid, +they could be delivered, and thus were at once admitted to Paradise or +Heaven. + +What, however, does the Thirty-first Article precisely mean by +"Sacrifices of Masses"? The expression is peculiar, and appears to have +been designedly so shaped in order to be clearly distinguished from what +is meant by the Sacrifice in the Mass, or Holy Communion. For that the +Holy Communion has been held and taught by our chief English Divines to +be a Sacrifice cannot well be disputed. {86} But the term "Sacrifices of +Masses" was intended to signify what were called, at the time when the +Article was drawn up, "Private Masses," which were offered chiefly for +souls in Purgatory, and in return for money payment. The Article refers +to modes of speaking prevalent on the lips of men at the time. It +condemns that which was "_commonly said_." And what was it that was +"commonly said"? It was commonly said that, while Christ's death on the +Cross was indeed a propitiation for original or birth sin, on the other +hand for daily sins, committed after Baptism, another propitiatory +sacrifice was needed, _viz._, the "Sacrifice of the Mass." Thus the +Sacrifice of the Mass, which is not the same thing as the Sacrifice _in_ +the Mass, was regarded as an addition to and distinct from the Sacrifice +on the Cross, as indeed a repetition of it, having a propitiatory value +of its own, which the Sacrifice on the Cross had not; just as though it +were what Bishop Gardiner, in repudiating it, described as "a new +Redemption." {87} Hence it came about that the belief arose that Masses +offered for specific purposes had more virtue for those purposes than +what was called "a Common Mass." The practice, therefore, of offering +"private Masses" for souls in Purgatory, as it was very lucrative, so it +became very prevalent. Thus spiritual things were used for the purpose +of bringing large money gains to the Chantry Priests, and what should be, +and we may surely affirm was meant to be, for the common benefit of all +became the narrow privilege of the few. For rich men could provide +Masses for their dead friends and for themselves after death, which it +was quite out of the power of the poor to provide. {88} + +4. But a word also must be said about "Indulgences." An Indulgence was +an abatement or remission granted by the Church's authority of some part +of the temporal penance imposed by that authority upon an evil doer. If +the guilty person should show sincere proofs of penitence, or by liberal +giving of alms made satisfactory recompense for wrongs done, his penance +might be eased, or the term of his excommunication shortened, and his +Church privileges partly or wholly restored. It may well be understood +how all this might be very wisely and fitly done. The authority which +inflicted the penance may rightly have been entrusted with the power also +of mitigating or removing it. But gradually this remission of the +temporal punishment for sins done in the past became applicable, not +seldom, to future sin also: and it soon was no uncommon thing to grant +Indulgences for 500, or 10,000, and even for 50,000 years. And, since +these long periods of years would, of course, extend beyond any man's +term of life on earth, it was obvious that they were intended to secure +the remission, not indeed of the guilt of the sin, but of the temporal +punishment of sin during all these years in Purgatory. Thus it was +supposed that the best possible provision was made whereby the duration +of the long years of torments due for sin in Purgatory might be +curtailed. But worse remained. The Papal Court needed treasure. And in +an evil moment permission was given that these Indulgences might be sold +for money. Thus grew up an unholy traffic, which, as we all know, first +roused in Germany the storm of the Reformation. Subsequently, the Papal +authorities so far yielded as to forbid all taking of money for these +Indulgences. But the system itself had meantime taken deep root. It +continued, and continues to this day. It was, however, at its worst when +the Twenty-second Article was drawn up. Can we be surprised that it +sternly condemned it? It is all a pitiful history. But it was necessary +to refer to it in order both to show how the growth of the Romish +Doctrine of Purgatory gradually gathered round it mischievous accretions, +and also to prove how little the belief, that in the Intermediate State +there is a progressive advance of the soul in holiness towards +perfection, is like the Romish teaching and practice. + +But it would be an act of disloyalty to the truth, and of cowardice into +the bargain, if we should abandon or minimize a truth because it has been +by some corrupted and perverted. Many a truth which has come down to us +may have lost some of the fresh lustre of its early purity. But all the +same, if it is the truth we cannot let it go. And that truth which tells +us something of the land, now beyond our sight, to which our dear ones +have already passed, which we shall each of us ourselves soon enter--the +truth which GOD has made known to us in Holy Scripture about this land, +we cannot afford to ignore and disregard. Nothing is easier than to +discredit such a truth by raising the cry of Popery. It is one of the +penalties which those have to pay who seek to disentangle the truth which +He has in His Church revealed from the untruth which has wrapped it +round. + +But we must not shrink from this duty. In days when principles are +questioned, and almost all truths disputed, we must, at all hazards, +learn to keep our sight clear and our footing steady. For the Lord is +our Light and our Salvation. Whom then shall we fear? The Lord is the +strength of our life: of whom then shall we be afraid? {92} + + + + +IX. + + + "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that + day."--2 TIM. I. 18. + +We must now bring to a close the discussion which has been occupying our +attention: not that everything has been said that can or ought to be said +about it; for the interest of the subject grows with the handling of it, +as the various features of it open out to view. + +So far we have been dealing with the condition of the faithful dead as it +affects themselves, with the mode of their own conscious life in the +Intermediate State, and with the nature of their own progressive advance +towards perfection. But there is another aspect of the question, about +which nothing has hitherto been said, I mean, their relation to us who +are still living on earth. A few words, and they must be very few, must +be said on this point. It is asked, for example, whether the veil has +completely shut out all knowledge of what is passing on earth from those +who have gone to their rest. No doubt, we can know very little about +this. But, at all events, we do not know enough to warrant us in saying +with any confidence that they are aware of nothing that is going on here. +It is true that, as has been said, the door that opens between this life +and that life only "open inwards," and that none have come back to tell +us what in that after life they knew about us and about our doings on +earth. Yet this ignorance of ours is not the same thing as knowledge of +the contrary, any more than silence is always equivalent to denial. +Because we cannot see with our eyes, nor hear with our ears, and cannot, +by our actual senses, put the question to the test, we are not on this +account justified in denying. Do we not know almost nothing as to the +limits of the powers of the spirit world? All we can say, so far as +reason can be our guide, is this, that it is _possible_ that souls in the +Intermediate State, if they are conscious of themselves and of their +present condition, if they retain memory, if they have means of holding +intercourse with one another, may have means of knowing what goes on +here: I say that reason will tell us that this is at least possible, and +that it is quite impossible to prove the contrary. + +But does the Bible throw any light upon this mysterious subject? I think +it does. It will be remembered how, in the narrative of the rich man and +Lazarus, Abraham is made to say to the rich man, "They have Moses and the +Prophets, let them hear them." We may ask, how could Abraham, who lived +more than 400 years before the birth of Moses, have known of the +existence of Moses, if there were no possible means of communication, by +which occurrences on earth could be made known in the unseen world where +Abraham was? What could he know of the prophets who lived more than a +thousand years after his time, if no possible communication could find +its way to that other world? {96} And we may trust this inference +because, in a narrative of this kind, whether it be historical or not, it +is not to be supposed that our Lord would have introduced a false detail. + +Let us, however, turn to another passage. In the scene on the Mount of +the Transfiguration there appeared, talking with Christ, Moses and +Elijah. In what condition were they present? They were still in the +Intermediate State. The general Resurrection had not, and has not yet, +come. "In glory" they appeared. Yes! some outward clothing, as of a +bodily form, gloriously radiant was thrown round them, so that they +became visible for the time to the eyes of the three disciples. But in +no resurrection bodies did they come; for in those they could not yet +present themselves, since they had not yet received them. And what was +the theme of their conversation? They spoke, we are told, with Christ +concerning the exodus or "death, which He should accomplish at +Jerusalem." But how could they speak fitly of this great theme, if they +had no knowledge of the circumstances which were leading to it, of the +nature of Christ's Incarnate Life on earth, and something at least or the +real significance, known fully to the mind of GOD only, of His +approaching death? They must have known not only of each other, who and +what they had been historically in their own generation, but also what +was now passing on earth, the course and connection of prophecies and +types, and the succession of events in history which had led up to this +climax of the fulness of time. + +Thus we see that the hearts of these two visitants,--visitants not from +Heaven, but from Paradise,--were fastened with a keen interest and +strained attention upon the unfolding of that wondrous Life of Christ. +His works and words were the theme of their adoring contemplation. May +we not learn then, that what these two great Saints could do was, +therefore, at least a possible thing to do, and, according to the will of +GOD, a thing which others might also do? {98} If so, the barrier between +Paradise and earth is so far transparent on that further side, that what +GOD permits souls in the Intermediate Life to know, that they do actually +see and know of the occurrences that are passing here. {99} + +But I must hasten to the answer of another question. Do they pray for +us? Surely that question is as good as answered by what has just been +said. If those who have gone from our sight are still permitted to know +what it may be good for them to know of the trials and sorrows, the hopes +and fears, the temptations and the warfare to which we, whom they loved +so well and still love, are exposed on earth, we are sure that they take +thought of us and pray for us. Shall not they whose eyes are opened, now +that they are with Christ, care for and pray for those whom they have +left behind, tossing still upon the troubled seas, and buffeted by the +vexing winds and storms of this earthly life? + +They are, moreover, "with Christ." What does this really imply,--to be +"with Christ"? It must mean at least this, that, where Christ is, there +is the Church. And Christ, though He has ascended to the Right Hand of +GOD, is still in a true sense in Paradise also. For "He filleth all in +all." {100a} S. Stephen, before his death, prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive +my spirit." Our Lord, therefore, must have been there in Paradise to +receive it. S. Paul, long after our Lord's Ascension, knew that to die +was better than to live, because it was to be absent from the body and +present with the Lord. {100b} But if Christ is there, He must be the +object of the worship of those who are also there. So then if Christ be +there, and the Church is there, and worship is offered there, then it +follows that the whole energy of Church life is there. The souls in +Paradise are not so many isolated and individual units. The Church +unites them. They are organised in the exercise of worship, sustained, +as it surely is, in unfailing and perpetual intensity. As the incense of +our worship rises here, it blends with the incense that ascends to Christ +there. The Church is militant on earth, it is expectant in Paradise, it +will be hereafter triumphant in Heaven. Yet these are not three +Churches, but one Church. And this helps us to see more clearly what is +meant by the Communion of Saints. The Church on earth and the Church in +Paradise are one, and one thrill of spiritual communion vibrates through +its members there and here. + +But is prayer to be one sided? Communion is not one sided. And +communion implies that what they do for us, we should also do for them. +This brings us to one more question. May we, then, pray for those who +have passed on before us? Let us plainly say that there is every reason +for and none against the practice. We have in favour of it the sanction +of Bible witness, of primitive Church custom, of Christian and human +instinct. + +In the Jewish synagogues in our Lord's time, prayers for the dead formed +part of the service. {102} Our Lord therefore, Who regularly frequented +the synagogue worship, must have been present at times when prayers for +the dead were used. If He had disapproved of such prayers, He must have +condemned the use of them. But did He? He did not. We have then His +tacit sanction of them. S. Paul again, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, must +have warned the Gentiles against the practice, unless he approved of it. +But so far from that, there is every reason to suppose that he himself +prayed for Onesiphorus. According to the best commentators, Onesiphorus +was dead when S. Paul wrote the words quoted in the text, "The Lord grant +unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day," _viz._, in the +Day of Judgment. {103a} He does not pray for temporal blessings, for +health, or even for grace. If it was too late to pray for these things, +this omission is quite intelligible. + +The earliest Church Liturgies contained in them prayers for the dead. +{103b} And the earliest Christian writers, as well as the inscriptions +on tombs bear such witness to the existence of this primitive practice, +that it cannot be disputed. It is true that our English Prayer Book +neither expressly sanctions nor yet expressly forbids these +intercessions. But in the Liturgy, in the Litany, and in the Burial +Service, prayers occur which appear to have been purposely so worded, as +to lend themselves to a reference in the minds of worshippers to the +faithful dead, if any should desire so to apply them. Bishop Cosin, one +of the chief compilers of our present Prayer Book, writes that the words, +"that we and Thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all +other benefits of His Passion," occurring in our Liturgy, are to be +understood to refer as well to "those who have been here before," that is +to say, who have died in the Lord, as to those "that are now members of +it," that is, who still are living. {104} + +And is not the custom reasonable? Are we to pray for those whom we +dearly love up to the very last moment of their life, and then for ever +to refrain? We could understand this on the supposition that death was +the end of all things, or that at death there followed an immediate +heaven or an instant hell; but not if the process of purification and of +real Church life are continuing after death. And Christian instinct +urges it. GOD is a Father. As children we ought to tell Him all that is +in our heart. Whatever we may rightly desire we may rightly pray for. It +is only that which we ought not to desire that we ought not to pray for. +It is not right to pray that they may, as by a miracle, be restored to +us; that is not the will of GOD. Nor is it right that we should seek by +occult and forbidden ways to hold converse with them. But we may surely +ask for them what S. Paul asked for his friend, that they may find mercy +in that day, that they may have rest and peace and light and refreshment, +the joy of Christ's Presence, and the gladness of a blessed Resurrection. + +And now these words must be brought to a close. The arguments which have +been urged rest upon the very language of Holy Scripture, or upon +legitimate inferences from it. What then? If they are worthy of trust, +to accept them is to rob death of half its fears and alarms. It is the +unknown that inspires terror. To know but a little more than we before +knew of the land in which those who have gone before now sojourn, is to +gather fresh courage to face it with less misgiving for them and for +ourselves. They have passed on, but they await us there. They are only +hidden from us for a little while. Their voices are silent. But their +life is as real a life as ours. No dull oblivion weighs them down. They +live and think and see and know,--know, it may be, more of us than we +think, know as much of us as it is for their happiness to know. A little +while and we also shall know as they know, and see as they see, in the +home and resting place of vision and of peace. + + + + +Footnotes: + + +{5} Rev. xxi. 27. + +{8} 2 Cor. v. 10. + +{14} Acts xxiv. 15. + +{15} See Luckock, "The Intermediate State," pp. 14, 15. + +{17} S. John xx. 17. + +{19} The expression is borrowed from the custom among the Jews of +reclining instead of sitting at a banquet. The guest was stretched upon +a couch, his left elbow resting upon a cushion close to the table, his +feet being towards the outer side of the couch, which was away from the +table. By slightly bending back his head he could touch with it the +breast of the guest on his left hand, and speak to him in a low voice. +Thus S. John bent back upon our Lord's breast at the Last Supper to ask +Him, "Lord, who is it?" and is therefore spoken of as "he who leant upon +His breast at supper." To sit therefore, or to rest in the bosom of +Abraham, represented the happy lot of those who had passed to Paradise. + +{23} Mozley, Univ. Serm., p. 155. + +{24a} Isaiah xxxiii. 17. + +{24b} Psalm xvi. 11. + +{24c} 1 John iii. 2. + +{25a} 1 Peter v. 4. + +{25b} 1 John iii. 2. + +{25c} Col. iii. 4. + +{25d} 2 Tim. iv. 3. + +{26} Advent Sermon, "The Day of the Lord." + +{28} Rev. vi. 9, 10, 11 (_Revised Version_). + +{34a} 1 Thess. v. 23. But the A.V. hardly brings out the full force of +the distinction. The definite article has a possessive force, as if it +were "_your_ spirit, _your_ soul, _your_ body"; as though the spirit was +as distinct from the soul as each of them is distinct from the body. + +{34b} Heb. iv. 12. + +{34c} 1 Cor. ii. 14. + +{35a} 1 Cor. xv. 44. + +{35b} S. James iii. 15. + +{35c} Jude 19. + +{35d} Gen. ii. 7. + +{37} Mason, "Faith of the Gospel," p. 85. + +{41a} For example, Acts vii. 60; S. John xi. 11, 14; 1 Thess. v. 14; 1 +Cor. xv. 18, 20. + +{41b} Rev. xiv. 13. + +{43} Phil i. 21. + +{44} 1 Peter iii. 18. + +{47} Isaiah i. 2. + +{63} See p. 100 _infra_. + +{72} In the A.V. the words in v. 18 are printed differently from the +R.V. In the former the reading is "quickened by the Spirit," as though +S. Peter meant to assert, that it was by the special operation of GOD the +Holy Ghost that our Lord, after He died upon the Cross, still lived. But +this rendering entirely destroys the evident antithesis which is marked +in the contrast between "put to death" and "quickened," and between +"flesh" and "spirit." That antithesis limits the effect of Christ's +death to His human Body, while His human Spirit was still alive. + +{73} 2 Peter ii. 5. + +{74} The same word is used constantly in the N.T. for the special +proclamation of the Gospel. + +{75} 1 Peter iv. 6. + +{84} Thus the Catechism of the Council of Trent states that "There is a +Purgatorial Fire where the souls of _the righteous_ being tormented are +purified." + +{86} In the Holy Communion the priest and the people offer to the Father +"the one full, perfect, and sufficient Sacrifice, oblation, and +satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." The Christian Society is +called in 1 Peter ii. 9, a "royal _priesthood_," ([Greek]), and in Rev. +i. 6 "kings and _priests to God_." ([Greek]); and as [Greek] and [Greek] +are sacrificial terms, it is to be inferred that a Sacrifice is really +offered by them. As Christ perpetually, being a "Priest forever," and +therefore "having of necessity something to offer" for ever (Heb. viii. +3), presents in the Holy Place not made with hands, in Heaven itself, the +Sacrifice of Himself before the eyes of the Father, so, at every Altar on +earth, the "kings and priests" being a sacrificing priesthood, represent +and commemorate the same sacrifice and none other, a sacrifice which +never can be repeated. + +{87} See Dr. Maclear on the Articles, p. 368. If the Sacrifice on the +Cross served one purpose and effected one propitiation, and the Sacrifice +of the Mass another, then the inference is that they were themselves, so +far, different things. It was the same Body of Christ which was offered +in each case, but the sacrifices of the same Body were different. +Therefore the Sacrifice of the Mass was a repetition of the Sacrifice on +the Cross for a distinct object and a distinct purpose. It was +supplementary, and supplied a defect which the Sacrifice on the Cross +failed to supply! + +{88} What has been said on the subject of "The Sacrifices of Masses" for +souls in Purgatory must not be understood as implying that the Sacrifice +in the Holy Communion has no efficacy, when pleaded in behalf of the +souls in the Intermediate State. To use the words of Bishop Forbes, "The +application of the Blessed Eucharist to the departed must in our Church +stand and fall with the practice of prayers for the dead. In its aspect +of the great oblation, the Holy Communion may be considered as prayer in +its most intense and highest form. If it is unlawful to pray for the +faithful departed, it must be unlawful to remember them in the sacred +mysteries; but, if the first be permitted, the second must be so +likewise." (Article XXXI., p. 63.) The subject of Prayers for the Dead +is dealt with in the next Address, page 101 _sq._ + +{92} Psalm xxvii. 1. + +{96} A friend has suggested that Moses and the prophets may, one after +the other, have reported to Abraham the occurrences on earth in which +they had severally themselves taken part, and that, therefore, we have in +this narrative no more than an illustration of the mutual intercourse +which exists in the Intermediate Life. To this it may be replied that +this suggestion, so far from discrediting, really confirms the argument +in the sermon. The suggestion is an attempt to explain the mode by which +knowledge of what passes here is attained, which is certainly no disproof +of the existence of such knowledge. But it is safer to say that, some +how or other, the denizens of the Intermediate State do probably know, as +Abraham certainly knew, occurrences on earth. + +{98} Both these illustrations are, I find, referred to by Canon McColl +in his "Life Here and Hereafter," pp. 105, 106. But may I presume to +question the value of his illustration of our Lord's knowledge of what +was said, in His absence, on the way to Emmaus, and by S. Thomas? Our +Lord's knowledge after His Resurrection, and indeed at any time, is +scarcely on a level with the knowledge possessed by souls in the +Intermediate State of what passes on earth. + +{99} There is so much doubt as to the bearing upon this point of the +words in Hebrews xii. 1, that I have not referred to it. Yet I would +suggest that the comparison of our life on earth to the endeavours of the +runners in the games of the amphitheatre implies that those efforts are +made under the gaze of a cloud of spectators. The existence of the +spectators, and their interest in the contests, are integral facts in the +similitude, and essential elements in it. + +{100a} Eph. i. 23. + +{100b} 2 Cor. v. 8. + +{102} See 2 Macc. xii. 44, 45. + +{103a} See Plummer, Expositor, Pastoral Epp., p. 324. + +{103b} Forbes on 39 Articles, p. 612. + +{104} See the note on p. 88, Address viii. _supra_. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF THE WAITING SOUL*** + + +******* This file should be named 21881.txt or 21881.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/8/8/21881 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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