his experience the larger, his zeal the warmer. "To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much." This was the experience of "the chief of sinners." 9. The most heinous sin that ever was or could be committed was the murder of the Son of God. Yet Christ prayed-and never did He pray more fervently than-for the forgiveness of His murderers; and never was a prayer even of Christ's more eagerly listened to and readily answered. The answer of this prayer shows us that the most heinous and aggravated sin that can be committed may be forgiven; nay, may we not add that that prayer secured the forgiveness of all sin? Can it be imagined that Christ's prayer for such an object, in such circumstances, was unheeded? Was it a feigned prayer? Did it not ascend from the inner depths of His soul? And did it not touch the tenderest emotions of the Father's heart? Nay, did it not directly affect the powers and principles of universal existence? If ever there was sincerity in the heart of Christ-penetrating power in His cry and response in the being of God-it was certainly then. I. ON A FUTURE PROBATIONARY STATE. THE HE truths of revelation are more clearly understood now than in former ages. God, in the stages of uncompleted revelation, held back from human knowledge certain truths, lest these might be perverted by men to their own condemnation. The Gospel itself was a mystery "hidden from ages and generations." It is in the order of the Divine government that truths which have long been kept secret should be disclosed to after-generations. Revelation is always gradual. "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath kept in His own power." But the truths which He did not reveal to His disciples have been disclosed to the Church in the course of the ages which have followed. The danger is now less of men perverting to their own destruction their clearer knowledge of the future destiny of those sections of mankind who live and die without the knowledge of Christ. 2. God reveals His truth in the manner best fitted to prevent evil-disposed minds from wresting it to their own destruction. To those who are capable of being drawn by love He speaks in love. To those who are bent on perverting His truth He speaks in threatenings. On this principle it was that Christ depicted in such vivid colours the terrors of the future condemnation. But the dread of future punishment exercises no regenerating influence, and therefore was never made by the Master a means for the accomplishment of His mission. Still, knowing well the wickedness of the human heart, He held up to view in vivid light the danger of realizing in a future state of being the dreadful consequences of wickedness in this life. But He never appealed to fear as a motive. In the very nature of things, that course of action was impossible for Him. It is not denied that the sentiment of fear does occupy a place in the moral discipline of mankind. It sometimes restrains the passions of the wicked. But it cannot melt the hard heart into love, nor bring the selfish to practise selfsacrifice. 3. The infinitely varied characters of men may require other stages of probation, in order that immortal spirits may be trained for higher con ditions of existence. One child is born with stronger tendencies to evil than another. One man inherits a moral constitution in which the gentler characteristics are deeply fixed. The carly surroundings of one youth are helpful to his moral and spiritual growth, whilst those of another are baneful to both. The moral circumstances of one nation differ widely from those of another. Man may overlook these facts of human experience, but the Omniscient Impartial Judge never does. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 4. Geology has taught us that God created the universe by epochs, at long intervals. He so introduced each successive phase of cosmic development. And God makes known His will through successive dispensations, each of these being an advanced stage of Revelation. Now, the principle of analogy leads us to infer that God will continue this mode of continuous revelation in the after-spheres of existence. The state in which countless multitudes live and die leads to the hope that opportunities of turning to God will be afforded them in those future conditions of being. The clearer interpretation of Scripture inspires the same hope. A fuller understanding of the self-sacrificing love of God to man induces the expectation that there will be other dispensations of grace in worlds to come. |