,transcribed from the #aijj ,wells ,gardner1 ,darton ,co4 edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,waiting ,,soul ,,in ,,the ,,intermediate ,,state4 ,,by ,r4 ,e4 ,,sanderson1 ,d4,d41 ,,st4 ,,michael1 ,,brighton2 ,,canon ,,residentiary ,,of ,,chichester ,,cathedral2 ,,formerly ,,head ,,master ,,of ,,lancing ,,college4 ,london3 ,,wells ,,gardner1 ,,darton ,,co41 #c ,,paternoster ,,buildings1 ,e4,c4 ,,first ,,edition1 ,,may1 #ahif4 ,,second 11 ,,sep41 11 ,,third 11 ,,feb41 #ahig4 ,,fourth 11 ,,jan41 #ahih4 ,,fifth 11 ,,feb41 #aijj4 ,,preface4 ,these ,addresses were delivered in ,chichester ,cathedral1 and subsequently1 with slight alterations1 at ,hastings4 ,they would not have been printed but at the urgent request of very many who heard them preached4 ,it should be remembered that they are not a theological treatise1 but a course of plain words addressed to an ordinary congregation4 ,it seemed desirable to awaken interest in a subject which has dropped out of ,english ,christian thought1 and almost out of people's knowledge4 ,the ,addresses are an attempt to explain what can be known about the ,intermediate ,life4 ,there is nothing new in them4 ,if there were1 probably what is new would not be true4 ,the doctrines of so-called ,universalism and ,conditional ,immortality are not touched upon4 ,they do not belong to the period which is covered by the ,intermediate ,state4 ,moreover1 ,i doubt whether we can ever regard those doctrines as anything more than speculations invented to answer modern and possibly ephemeral objections4 ,how much ,i have unconsciously been indebted to those who have dealt with this subject more fully1 ,i hardly know4 ,one reads and remembers1 and reproduces in preaching1 often without thought of the sources from which material has been drawn4 ,i gratefully acknowledge in the notes what ,i know to be debts incurred4 ,i can only express my regret if any have been overlooked4 ,r4 ,e4 ,s4 ,easter1 #ahif4 ,i4 ,i would not have you to be ignorant1 brethren1 concerning them which are asleep4--#a ,,thess4 ,,iv4 #ac4 ,there are moments in the lives of every one of us1 when the mind is irresistibly drawn on to wonder what our own personal future shall be1 as soon as life is over and death has overtaken us4 ,we cannot help the speculation4 ,however bound by present duties and absorbed in present interests1 often1 in quiet hours1 in times of solitude or bereavement1 or under the sense of failing hopes or failing health1 in seasons of sorrow or of sickness1 the mood takes hold of us2 and it may be1 we know not why1 our eyes turn with an anxious and a wistful look towards that inevitable end which is surely coming upon us4 ,at such moments we ask ourselves1 what will my lot be when the hand of death touches me--even me2 when all the light of life goes out1 all thought of this world's cares1 all pleasant joys and hopes and desires of time sink down and fade into the chill gloom and shadow of the unknown8 ,such questionings1 brought close home to our very selves1 cannot but fill us with very anxious fears and misgivings1 as we either look back upon the past1 or think upon what chiefly possesses our minds and thoughts now4 ,indeed1 many of us cannot bear this forward glance1 and refuse to face it4 ,we would fain brush the thought aside1 and with some hasty utterance of vague trust1 of shadowy self-comforting hope that ,,god will be merciful1 we turn sharply round and give ourselves again to the calls of the life which is about us4 ,in this way1 we ,christians1 we children of ,,god1 heirs of life and immortality1 learn to be terrified at death1 which1 as we are taught to believe1 ushers us into life2 learn to associate it with trembling doubt and shuddering dismay4 ,but is this dread of death nothing else than the natural instinctive shrinking1 which the warmth of life feels at the touch of its cold hand8 ,or is it not rather1 in the case of most of us1 due to some false imaginations with which religion itself--that form1 at least1 of religion which to-day encompasses us--has for many years possessed and imbued the minds of men8 ,indeed1 ,i believe it to be so4 ,the ,christianity of to-day has too commonly accepted two untruths1 which yet it holds as truths4 #a4 ,one of them is this3 ,that death ushers the soul immediately and finally into the supreme condition which awaits the souls of men2 so that1 at death1 the souls of good men pass at once into heaven1 while the souls of bad men pass at once into hell2 in other words1 that the final and irrevocable severance between the just and the unjust takes place at death4 ,believing this1 men have lost all faith in an ,intermediate ,state between death and the ,day of ,judgment4 ,that intervening sojourn of the soul has virtually dropped out of recognition in the popular ,christianity of the day1 and is quite ignored4 ,if you walk through any resting place of the bodies of the dead1 into your own churchyards and cemeteries1 you will1 not seldom1 find inscriptions upon tombs1 which express the confident assurance that one1 whose death is recorded1 has already passed into heaven2 that another has now become an angel of ,light1 or is singing the praises of ,,god before the throne1 is1 in short1 in the full present enjoyment of consummate and final bliss4 ,thus it is that the ,intermediate ,state between death and the final condition of happiness in heaven1 which can only follow the ,day of the ,resurrection1 is quite forgotten and overlooked4 #b4 ,and the second untruth1 which is closely connected with the first1 is this3 ,that there are but two classes of those who pass hence and are no more seen2 classes sharply distinguished1 clearly outlined1--on the one hand1 of those who at death go straight to heaven1 and1 on the other1 of those who at death go straight to the place of final torment4 ,if then these are the only two clearly marked and sharply defined alternatives1 it follows that1 whensoever we dare not be sure of any one soul at death that it was good enough certainly for heaven1 there is nothing for it but to fear that the worse doom awaits it and that it is lost4 ,for if it is not1 at the moment of death1 pure enough or good enough for heaven1 into which there shall in no wise enter anything that defileth1 neither whatsoever worketh abomination1 or maketh a lie1 #e that soul1 according to this false belief1 is lost4 ,yet1 in fact1 what do we see within us and around us1 as we honestly look into our own lives1 and upon the lives both of the best and of the worst among us8 ,we see this1 and we are convinced that we are not mistaken1 that even among the most marked extremes of good men and evil men1 few even of the best are so free from stain or fault as1 at death1 to be certainly fit for heaven1 and few so vile and degraded as not to have still some good in them4 ,and between these two extremes there are multitudes of mixed characters1 in part good and in part bad4 ,among these1 of whom we know that they are full of worth yet full of imperfections too1 we count so many who are most dear to us1 many the companions of our lives1 our kindred1 and acquaintances1 and cherished friends1 whose failings and whose virtues we know so well1 of mixed and imperfect character1 too frail for heaven1 too good1 too lovable for hell1 partly good and partly not good1 strong and also weak1 marred with inconsistencies1 and often for these very inconsistencies the more dear to us1 of whom1 so truly have we loved and even honoured them1 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 good1 as would suffice to turn the balance against them and thus fix1 at the moment of their death1 their final doom4 ,what are we to think of such as these8 ,of some we perhaps say within ourselves1 ,would that there had been but a little amendment of this blemish6 ,a little more of strength and purpose against that fault6 ,if only this besetting hardness had not been the spoiler of his life1 that great heedlessness1 that fatal procrastination1 this too frequent sin6 ,oh6 but for this or that which marred the fair and well rounded character6 ,but for this we should have been full of hope3 there was so much on the better side1 that we should have been full of trust1 and even of confidence4 ,but1 now1 what are we to think8 ,if only there were some fit and fair proportion to be thought of1 duly measured out1 of reward and punishment1 a mixed destiny for a mixed character1 partly good and partly evil for those who in this life were in part good and in part were evil6 ,but these two awful and sharp alternatives1 either reward or punishment1 these two separate issues1 heaven or hell1 and if not heaven then necessarily and inevitably hell6 ,what shall we think8 ,we dare not think4 ,in the ,bible we are encouraged to believe that we shall receive the due reward of our deeds1 whether they be good or whether they be evil4 #h ,but how shall any receive in heaven the due reward of evil deeds done on earth8 and how1 in hell1 shall any wretched soul receive in any truth the due rewards of good deeds done on earth8 ,yet in each1 there was some good even in the worst1 and some evil even in the best4 ,we see then what follows upon this false belief1 that at death an instant judgment assigns finally the destiny of all men1 to men of every degree of wickedness1 without distinction1 ,hell2 and one final and absolute ,heaven to men of every varying measure of goodness4 ,surely there is a great perplexity in this4 ,no wonder if such beliefs lead men to dread the thought of death1 of their own death1 of the death of their friends4 ,no mere physical repulsion makes us shrink1 but rather the uncertainty and doubt of what may follow1 ,the dread of something after death1 ,the undiscover'd country1 from whose bourn ,no traveller returns1 puzzles the will1 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 ambitions4 ,it is the uncertainty of things1 wearing to some the aspect of caprice1 which leads to recklessness1 and sometimes to defiance4 ,i believe1 from my heart1 that ,holy ,scripture rightly understood solves these confusing riddles4 ,i believe that a more sound and ,scriptural grasp of what will be the future of each of us after death1 the restoration of a right belief in an ,intermediate ,state1 will go far to correct these unworthy and most un-,christian fears4 ,but it is said1 at times1 that nothing can be really known about this ,intermediate ,state1 that all that can be asserted of it is mere guess and vain conjecture1 and even that it betrays a too curious intrusion into things unseen to speculate about the condition of souls after death4 ,yes6 if we only speculate1 but not surely if we seek humbly to find out what the ,bible has taught us4 ,s4 ,paul did not think it a too presumptuous intrusion into things beyond the reach of our knowledge to make this enquiry4 ,i would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep4 ,he would rather that the ,thessalonians should know all that can be known1 to their edification4 ,and something can be known1 or he would not have written this4 ,and to know it will be to our edification also4 ,certainly to ignore what can be known has led1 as we have seen1 to loss and offence in these days4 ,therefore ,i propose to try and set before you not idle speculations indeed1 but what has been actually revealed in ,holy ,scripture1 or may be drawn from it about the ,intermediate ,state4 ,it is upon ,holy ,scripture that we must depend for our learning4 ,at least ,i shall make no attempt to build arguments upon any other foundation than ,holy ,scripture4 ,but let us1 in ,,god',s ,name1 get out of ,holy ,scripture all that can1 according to the proportion of the faith1 be deduced from it4 ,it is as perilous1 not to say as undutiful towards ,,god1 the ,revealer1 to neglect what ,he has for our sakes revealed1 as it would be to invent speculations of our own about that which ,he has not revealed4 ,the unseen world is not easy to apprehend1 and to our matter-of-fact ,english mind and temper is especially difficult4 ,yet1 with the awful future in our mind1 which awaits not only those who are very dear to ourselves1 but ourselves also1 we must be dull indeed1 if we have no concern for it4 ,then if sober questioning may reveal more clearly to us what ,holy ,scripture can tell us of things that shall befall each of us1 we may hope to gain fresh confidence1 and to renew our trust in ,him ,who launched us into time1 that we may live with ,him in eternity through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,,ii4 ,jesus said unto him1 ,verily ,i say onto thee1 ,to-day shall thou be with ,me in ,paradise4 --,s4 ,,luke ,,xxiii4 #dc4 ,if we should ask what happens to the soul of a good man when he dies1 the answer would probably be that he has gone to heaven4 ,of a little child it would be said at his death1 that he has become an angel in heaven4 ,but this would be quite untrue1 because it contradicts the ,bible4 ,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 ,christ1 to be judged for the deeds done in the body1 whether they be good1 or whether they be evil4 ,but if a good man's soul goes straight to heaven at death1 without waiting for the ,day of ,judgment1 he practically has no ,day of ,judgment at all4 ,he escapes it4 ,the ,bible also teaches that before the ,day of ,judgment there will be a general ,resurrection of all1 both of the just and of the unjust4 #ad ,but how can one who is already in heaven1 while his body lies in the grave of corruption1--how can he1 being already glorified and even now beholding the vision of ,,god1 to any intelligible purpose1 or for any conceivable end1 take part in the general ,resurrection8 ,why should he1 as it were1 come away from heaven and rise from the dead1 in order to be judged8 ,thus the popular belief1 that the souls of the righteous pass straight to heaven1 and the souls of the wicked go straight to hell1 is against the plain teaching of the ,bible4 ,but the ,bible not only contradicts this popular and careless fancy4 ,it asserts what is directly contrary to it3 it asserts positively1 ,i mean1 that there is an age-long period between death and the final state of happiness or misery1 during which period the soul is separate from the body and remains separate4 ,we are1 according to the ,bible1 destined to undergo three great changes in the mode and nature of our existence4 ,in the first period1 while we are here in this our life on earth1 the soul and spirit are united to a material and tangible body of flesh and blood1 suited to our life here4 ,the second stage begins at death1 the name we give to the separation which then takes place between this material fabric of the body and the incorporeal part of us2 and then the soul and spirit dwell disembodied for a time4 ,there follows at the ,resurrection the third period1 when the soul and spirit are reunited with the body1 but with the body now so spiritualized and refined as to suit the heavenly existence4 ,the second of these two periods1 coming between the first and the third1 is therefore fitly called the intermediate or middle state1 the state in which the disembodied soul dwells apart from its material tenement4 #ae ,what has the ,bible then to say about this ,intermediate ,state8 ,i will not ask you to listen to the comments or interpretations of the early ,christian writers1 although1 of course1 very great respect is due to what they say4 ,i will only beg of you to pay common attention to what the ,bible itself says4 ,now1 first1 ,i will point to the words which our ,lord spoke from the ,cross1 just before ,his ,death1 to the thief who was also slowly dying at ,his side4 ,to-day1 ,he said1 shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise4 ,so then within a few hours1--it was then not yet mid-day--they were both to be in ,paradise4 ,they both died before sunset1 and at their death both entered ,paradise4 ,their dead bodies were left behind upon the ,cross4 ,what then entered ,paradise8 ,not their bodies1 but the spiritual or incorporeal part of them4 ,was ,paradise then another name for heaven8 ,it cannot be2 our ,lord did not go to heaven until the day of ,his ,ascension1 forty-three days after ,his death4 ,for1 after ,his ,resurrection1 ,he said to ,s4 ,mary ,magdalene1 ,i am not yet ascended to ,my ,father4 #ag ,with ,his risen body1 united again to ,his human soul and spirit1 ,he went to ,heaven1 ,his whole human nature now being1 by ,his ,resurrection1 again completely one4 ,but into ,paradise only part of ,his human nature passed1 the spiritual part of it1 along with the spiritual part of the thief's human nature4 ,our ,lord's soul and spirit came back1 as we know1 from ,paradise on the third day4 ,the soul and spirit of the thief remain there still4 ,so then this is what our ,lord ,himself teaches us as to the state of the disembodied spirit1 that at death a just man's spirit does not go to heaven1 but into a sphere of life which is called ,paradise4 ,but1 if this be so1 why1 it may be asked1 did not our ,lord speak in plainer and more definite language8 ,such a truth1 it may be urged1 a truth which so much concerns us1 ought not to depend upon a single text4 ,i do not propose to ask you to be content with an inference from a single text4 ,but it may be that our ,lord did not say more than this about the great truth with which we are dealing for this reason1 that the disciples whom ,he gathered round ,him1 being ,jews1 perfectly well knew what ,he meant by ,paradise4 ,this single reference1 therefore1 is enough to show that what was a common and prevalent belief among the ,jews was a true belief1--a belief which our ,lord not only recognized1 but by recognizing established and sanctioned4 ,but if we are once clear on this point1 we shall find the belief more plainly set forth by our ,lord in another place4 ,what then is the belief that we have learned from this single passage8 ,we have learned this1 that the human spirit of our ,lord1 and the spirit of the dying thief did not pass at death to heaven1 though if any spirit should ever be fit to pass at death to heaven ,his spirit was fit1 but to a state which ,he called ,paradise4 ,now1 there was another expression used in the ordinary ,jewish language of the day for the state to which the blessed dead passed at death4 ,they were spoken of as at rest in ,abraham's bosom4 ,of a very holy man they would say1 ,this day he rests in ,abraham's bosom4 ,so that in the minds of the ,jews and therefore of the disciples the term ,paradise meant exactly the same thing as ,abraham's bosom4 ,we have learned what ,paradise meant4 ,therefore now we know what resting in ,abraham's bosom meant4 ,it meant the ,intermediate ,state4 #ai ,the scene then in the narrative of the rich man and ,lazarus1 which follows the deaths of the two men1 belongs not to the final state of happiness and misery at all1 but to the ,intermediate ,state4 ,the joy is the joy of the ,intermediate ,state4 ,the suffering1 which is in such strong contrast to the joy as to be divided from it by a deep gulf1 so that the joy cannot be tinged with the misery1 nor the misery relieved by the joy1--this suffering also is the suffering of the ,intermediate ,state4 ,the reality then of the ,intermediate ,state is confirmed by our ,lord in this narrative4 ,now observe the weight of this testimony4 ,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 mistake4 ,we may observe further from these two passages that the ,intermediate ,state has two parts or conditions4 ,there are those in it who suffer1 and there are those who rejoice4 ,at death1 the spirits of those whose lives have been evil pass to suffering and anguish1 as we read of the rich man that in ,hades he lifted up his eyes being in torments2 and the spirits of the faithful pass to rest and joy4 ,but between these two representatives in the narrative1 the one of the evil1 the other of the good1 there are the multitudes who are neither very good nor very evil1 so varied in the indeterminate tokens of good and evil which marked their lives on earth1 that it would seem to be impossible for us to know on which side of the great gulf their position ought to be4 ,but if the extremes enter the ,intermediate ,state1 and there is room for them in it1 is it to be supposed that there is no room for those who are between the extremes8 ,rather do we learn that the spirits of all go thither1 not only of the faithful and of the wicked1 but of the wavering and uncertain also1 of those who were weak and fell1 of those who1 with unsteady and tottering steps1 sometimes rising1 often falling1 now obeying1 now rebelling1 now believing1 now doubting1 now walking in the light1 now plunged in darkness1 at one time treading firmly the ground of the narrow path1 and then at times wandering into the quagmires and morasses of sin and lust1 passed through the pilgrimage of life1 and1 at length1 when their allotted span was completed1 were assigned to the place which awaited them1 to the place which was their own and was fitted for them4 ,we have seen what conclusions must be drawn from the express language of our ,lord ,himself4 ,let us now examine the evidence afforded by ,his ,apostles1 in the ,epistles and in the book of the ,revelation4 ,but first ,i would ask you to consider what1 according to the ,bible1 is the chief feature in the conception of the happiness and glory of ,heaven1 what is its essential nature4 ,is it not this1 that being the dwelling place of ,,god ,himself1 the glory and happiness of ,heaven will consist in the ,presence itself of ,,god1 and therefore in the vision of ,,god8 ,as a great writer has said1 ,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 simply1 not as an absorption into ourselves within1 but as a great spectacle without us1 the spectacle of a great visible manifestation of ,,god4 ,it is a sight1 a picture1 a representation1 that constitutes the heavenly state1 not mere thought and contemplation4 ,the glorified saint of ,scripture is especially a beholder2 he gazes1 he looks1 he fixes his eyes upon something before him2 he does not merely ruminate within1 but his whole mind is carried out towards and upon a great representation4 ,and thus ,heaven specially appears in ,scripture as the sphere of perfected sight1 where the faculty is raised and exalted to its highest act1 and the happiness of existence culminates in vision4 #bc ,if this be so1 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 fastened4 ,for then shall our eyes see ,the ,king in ,his ,beauty4 #bd;a ,they shall see ,,god1 see ,him face to face1--,,god6 ,no higher conception of happiness is set before the heart of man1 which ever craves for heaven and for perfection1 than ,,god ,himself1 the sight of ,,god1 the ,presence of ,,god1 the ,knowledge of ,,god4 ,in ,thy ,presence is the fulness of joy4 #bd;b ,but we must not lose sight of the effect which this vision of ,,god produces upon those who gaze4 ,to see ,him is to become like ,him4 ,then1 says ,s4 ,john1 we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see ,him as ,he is4 #bd;c ,we all1 says ,s4 ,paul1 with open face1 beholding1 as in a glass1 the glory of the ,lord1 are changed into the same image from glory to glory4 ,this is what seeing ,,god will do4 ,when1 then1 shall this vision be granted8 ,at death to any8 ,no6 but only at the ,second ,coming of ,christ4 ,all the great writers of the ,epistles speak1 as with one voice1 of this4 ,what says ,s4 ,peter8 ,when the chief ,shepherd shall appear1 ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away4 #be;a ,not therefore at death1 but at ,christ's ,second ,coming and appearance4 ,what does ,s4 ,john say8 ,we know that when ,he shall appear1 we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see ,him as ,he is4 #be;b ,not therefore until that time4 ,what again does the great ,s4 ,paul say8 ,when ,christ1 ,who is our life1 shall appear1 then shall ye also appear with ,him in glory4 #be;c ,again to ,s4 ,timothy he writes1 ,there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness1 which the ,lord the righteous ,judge1 shall give to me at that day3 and not only to me1 but also to all them that have loved ,his appearing4 #be;d ,there can be no doubt what ,s4 ,paul means by ,that ,day4 ,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 faith4 ,this is the frequent meaning of the expressions1 ,that day1 ,the day of the ,lord1 in the ,new ,testament4 ,we know it1 says ,dr4 ,liddon1 by a more familiar name given it on three occasions by our ,lord ,himself1 and on three at least by ,his ,apostles after ,him3 it is the ,day of ,judgment4 #bf ,s4 ,paul1 therefore1 when he says1 ,there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the ,lord will give me on that day1 does not expect that crown until the ,day of ,judgment4 ,these are a few out of many like passages1 all showing that heaven is not reached at death1 but only after the ,day of ,judgment4 ,from all which it is clear that the ,apostles had in their minds the firm assurance that there was to be a waiting time1 how long they knew not1 or how short they knew not1 during which the spirit without the body would dwell in expectation4 ,if it were otherwise1 if at death the spirit passes into the light which no man can approach unto1 into the ,presence of ,,god and beholds the ,beatific ,vision1 which1 as we saw1 constitutes the consummation of happiness and perfection in heaven1 ,i would ask1 how it can be conceived that our ,lord would have called ,lazarus back from that supreme happiness1 which eye hath never seen nor ear ever heard1 nor heart of man ever conceived1--called him back to mingle in the griefs and sorrows1 the pains and failures1 the doubts and fears1 the mists and confusions of this earthly life4 ,was this the act of ,him ,who loved ,lazarus8 ,was there no other way of consoling the living sisters1 than by so great a loss to the vanished brother8 ,was it not to call him from life to death1 rather than from death to life8 ,one more passage must be quoted1 the force of which cannot well be missed4 ,in the sixth chapter of the ,book of the ,revelation1 ,s4 ,john describes the vision which he saw at the opening of the fifth seal4 ,he saw1 he said1 under the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of ,,god1--and they cried with a great voice1 saying1 ,how long1 ,o ,master1 the holy and true1 dost ,thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth8--,and it was said unto them1 that they should rest yet for a little while1 until their fellow-servants also and their brethren 4 4 4 should be fulfilled4 #bh ,plainly these souls were not in heaven1 for they bemoaned the long delay1 and were bidden to wait for awhile until some great fulfilment4 ,where then could they be1 if not on earth1 nor yet in heaven8 ,they must have been in the ,middle ,state between the two1 these martyred souls1 in ,paradise4 ,but they are not spoken of as in ,paradise1 or in ,abraham's bosom1 but as under the ,altar4 ,where was this8 ,the ,jews spoke of departed souls not only as in ,paradise1 and in ,abraham's bosom1 but also as under the throne of ,glory4 ,by all these expressions they meant the same thing4 ,s4 ,john1 however1 uses a different expression in describing the ,intermediate ,state1 yet one so similar as to lead us to think that in the change he substitutes a ,christian formula for the ,jewish1 giving it a ,christian shape4 ,as the throne of ,glory was associated with the ,presence of ,,god in the mind of a devout ,jew1 so the ,altar would be as naturally associated with the ,presence of ,,god in the mind of a devout ,christian4 ,what1 therefore1 the ,throne of ,,god was to the ,jew1 that the ,altar of ,,god would be to a ,christian4 ,for the ,altar was to ,christian thought the ,throne of ,,god4 ,there1 at the ,christian ,altar was commemorated the one great sacrifice to which all former sacrifices had pointed1 and in which they were all fulfilled4 ,there the communion of ,saints was1 as in no other way on earth1 realized4 ,there1 as by one simultaneous vibration thrilling through the saintly dead1 and the living communicants1 the spiritual bond unites together in one unbroken living ,communion1 those of the ,church expectant who are departed in the true faith of ,christ's ,holy ,name1 and those of us who are still striving in the ,church militant on earth to perfect our probation4 ,these souls under the ,altar were still waiting1 and their waiting wearied them4 ,how long8 they cried4 ,they were not in the flesh1 their bodies had been slain4 ,they were absent from the body and present with the ,lord1 with ,christ1 as the crucified thief is still with ,christ1 in ,paradise4 ,the consummation for them is yet to come4 ,they are waiting for it4 ,it is postponed4 ,,god',s work on earth is yet uncompleted4 ,the number of the elect is not yet made up4 ,the ,second ,coming of ,christ is yet delayed4 ,all things are not yet ready4 ,a little while longer must they wait1 that they without us may not be made perfect4 ,,iii4 ,to be carnally minded is death1 but to be spiritually minded is life and peace4--,,rom4 ,,viii4 #f4 ,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 ,state1 in which the spirit dwells alone1 apart from the body1 awaiting the ,day of ,judgment4 ,we have now to see what can be known as to the condition of the spirit in that disembodied state4 ,it is one thing to be assured on good grounds that there is such a life1 and quite another thing to be assured what sort of life it is4 ,can we fully understand what is meant by the life of the spiritual part of our being when it is separated from the body8 ,we cannot4 ,we cannot understand that of which we have had no experience4 ,in speaking1 therefore1 of the disembodied spirit1 we are speaking of that which we cannot explain4 ,yet it does not in consequence follow that it is impossible to believe it to be4 ,for we are bound in reason to be assured of many things of which we can form no conception4 ,reason compels us to be assured of the reality of space1 of eternity1 of the creation of the universe out of nothing1 and1 perhaps we may add1 of the being of ,,god2 the being of ,,god1 ,i mean1 considered apart from ,his nature and attributes4 ,yet we cannot form any intelligent conception of these realities4 ,we cannot shape to our apprehension the faintest rational conception of the ,personality of ,,god1 of ,his ,omniscience1 of ,his ,omnipresence4 ,yet we are able1 and indeed are forced to believe1 as ,christians1 in these attributes of ,his ,nature1 although we cannot comprehend them4 ,in the same sense1 we can be reasonably sure that the spirit can still live after it has left the body1 even though we are unable to form to our minds any clear conception of the existence of the disembodied spirit4 ,we can do more4 ,on the assumption of the existence of the disembodied spirit1 we are able1 to some extent also1 to reason upon the laws and limits of that separate and secluded life4 ,we are1 no doubt1 in so doing1 dealing with a profoundly mysterious subject4 ,but it does not therefore follow that we are thereby really intruding into things which ought not to be enquired into4 ,for the questions raised in the search concern us very closely2 and1 moreover1 it is a matter about which ,,god has made a revelation4 ,and to know more about it than many people even care to know is a safeguard against many an unwholesome fear1 against many a mischievous deceit4 ,on the very threshold of this enquiry we are confronted with this question3 ,is the soul the same thing as the spirit8 ,if not1 what is the soul1 and what is the spirit8 ,that the ,bible regards them as distinct is sufficiently clear from the language used by ,s4 ,paul in his first ,epistle to the ,thessalonians3 ,i pray ,,god your whole spirit1 soul1 and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 #cd;a ,the same distinction is marked in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews3 ,the word of ,,god is quick1 and powerful1 and sharper than any two-edged sword1 piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit4 #cd;b ,it is thus that we understand the contrast which ,s4 ,paul enforces between things of the spirit and things of the soul4 ,the natural man1--i4e41 the psychical man1 the man who yields to the sway of the soul1--receiveth not the things of the spirit of ,,god4 #cd;c ,and again1 speaking of the resurrection1 he writes3 ,it is sown a natural body1--i4e41 literally a psychical body1 a body which is subject to the sway of the soul1--it is raised a spiritual body1--i4e41 a body subject to the sway of the spirit4 ,there is a natural body1 and there is a spiritual body4 #ce;a ,when again ,s4 ,james says3 ,this wisdom 4 4 4 is earthly1 sensual1 devilish1--the word translated sensual is the same word psychical1 i4e41 subject to the sway of the soul4 #ce;b ,s4 ,jude speaks of those who are sensual1 i4e41 psychical1 not having the spirit4 #ce;c ,enough has been said to show that1 according to the ,bible1 the soul is the seat of the senses1 the desires1 the will1 the reasoning and intellectual faculties1 the thoughts of the mind4 ,what then is the spirit in man8 ,we seem to have the answer given to us in the account of man's creation1 when we are told that ,,god formed man of the dust of the ground1 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life1 and man became a living soul4 #ce;d ,this breath of ,,god could be nothing less than the spirit1 which came from ,,god ,himself4 ,it is that higher endowment by which man is a spiritual being1 and therefore has an affinity to ,,god4 ,it is that which makes him ,,god-like1 even by nature1 at least by his nature as it was before the fall4 ,but even the fall did not utterly dissolve that nature2 man still remained a spiritual being1 although the spiritual part of him was subject to the sway of the animal in him1 and to the senses of the lower nature4 ,until that creative act of ,,god1 man's body and soul were scarcely higher in the order and rank of being than the body and soul of the brute4 ,it was the gift of the divine spirit which caused man's soul truly to live1 so that he became then a living soul4 ,herein1 henceforth1 the soul of man differs from the soul of the lower creature4 ,in man the soul is in contact with the spirit4 ,the beast shares with man the possession of an animal soul4 ,it is the prerogative of man to be endowed also with spirit4 ,by the spirit1 man is capable of apprehending ,,god1 can commune with ,,god1 can long for ,him4 ,herein lies his capacity for religion4 ,his soul is incorporeal no less than his spirit4 ,it is1 as it were1 midway between the body and the spirit4 ,it touches the body on the one side1 on the other side it touches the spirit4 ,the desires and the thoughts of the soul may become enslaved by the body1 or they may become the servants of the spirit4 ,the soul is the prize1 for the mastery of which the spirit strives1 and the flesh or body strives4 ,the spirit may gain the soul1 or the flesh may gain the soul4 ,if the spirit loses the soul1 it is a loss fatal and irreparable4 ,the soul is drawn now this way by the baser longings of the flesh1 now that way by the nobler appeals of the spirit4 ,it is the debateable ground #cg on which the real battle of life is fought4 ,the flesh lusteth against the spirit1 and the spirit against the flesh4 ,the gaining of the soul is the gaining of the whole man4 ,the losing of the soul is the losing of the whole man4 ,those have degraded and brutalized their life whose human spirit has yielded up its supremacy1 whose soul has been swept along in captivity by the bodily desires4 ,for as in some the spirit shapes the whole soul1 so in others the soul1 enslaved by the flesh1 shapes the spirit4 ,death at length steps in1 and tears asunder the flesh from the incorporeal part of us2 and soul and spirit1 still united1 pass together to the life which awaits them in the world unseen4 ,,iv4 ,and when he had said this he fell asleep4 --,,acts ,,vii4 #fj4 ,at death1 as we have seen1 the spirit and the soul are separated from the body1 and1 still united together1 are launched into the unseen world4 ,for though the soul is not the spirit1 these two form the incorporeal parts of our compound nature1 are the two immaterial elements of that trinity of life1--body1 soul1 spirit1 which are united to make one human being4 ,they both survive death4 ,for death is the separation of the soul from the body1 not of the soul from the spirit4 ,but it must be remembered that the spirit1 when at death it is1 in company with the soul1 withdrawn from the body1 passes into the ,intermediate ,state1 shaped and stamped with the impress which the life on earth has fastened upon it4 ,the spirit enters the new life1 either enslaved1 disfigured1 degraded1 dishonoured by the sensual soul1 or else strong1 free1 true1 purified in its victory over the flesh4 ,it carries with it1 in short1 the character which in life it has acquired4 ,it may be well to fall into the usage of ordinary speech1 and speak of that which survives death as the soul1 so long as we keep in mind what is really meant1 viz41 that it is the soul united with the spirit which survives death4 ,when1 then1 we say that the disembodied soul enters the ,intermediate ,life1 we are bound to consider in what condition it enters it4 ,for people sometimes argue thus3 ,yes6 ,i grant that there will be an interval or waiting time between death and the ,day of ,judgment4 ,but then1 during that time1 is not the soul asleep8 ,surely the dying are said to fall asleep4 ,then1 if asleep1 they are unconscious1 and to the unconscious soul the ,intermediate ,state will seem to last but for an instant1 and will no sooner be entered upon than it will be practically at an end4 ,for complete insensibility to the passing and movement of time is one of the effects of complete unconsciousness4 ,and1 in truth1 is it not the case that the ,bible over and over again speaks of death as a state of sleep or taking rest8 #da;a ,thus the ,intermediate ,state is in fact a blank4 ,the eyes close in death1 and they remain closed till they open to gaze upon the glories of the ,resurrection1 and the terrors of the judgment seat of ,christ4 ,does not our own ,prayer ,book sanction this view in her ,service for the ,burial of the ,dead8 #da;b ,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 'cemetery1' or sleeping place8 ,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 body1 but is quite inapplicable when it is used of the soul4 ,sleep is distinctly a physical and corporeal function4 ,the soul cannot be liable to or affected by corporeal influences when it is separated from the body4 ,the soul cannot sleep4 ,it is the body1 in the hushed stillness of the chamber of death1 which seems1 now that the last struggle is over1 and the spasm of dying leaves it motionless1 to be sleeping4 ,but even in life1 while the body sleeps1 the soul is awake4 ,it is often1 during the sleep of the body1 even more active than during the waking hours4 ,in dreams the soul is busy with its fancies4 ,thoughts flit this way and that through the mind of the sleeper4 ,indeed1 the body is more often a hindrance rather than a help to the activities of thought4 ,to lose all consciousness of the existence of the body1 to be as if the body for the time were not1--this is to set the mind thinking in freedom unrestrained4 ,for the body and the conscious sensation of the presence of the body seem to serve to drag down and encumber the energy of thought4 ,a sound through the ear1 a sight presented to the eye1 a touch1 an ache1--these break off sustained thinking4 ,no wonder1 when the body sleeps profoundly1 the soul is often then most active4 ,and will not this be so when the profoundest sleep of all falls upon the body8 ,it is clear that the disembodied soul1 if we may again go back to the ,bible1 is not by our ,lord regarded as in a state of lethargy and dull unconsciousness4 ,to-day1 said ,he1 shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise4 ,if this promise was meant to be a blessing and a solace it was meant to be consciously felt as a blessing and a solace4 ,how else could the thief have been in any true sense with ,christ8 ,s4 ,paul said1 ,for me to live is ,christ1 to die is gain4 #dc ,gain6 ,wherein could it be a gain to him to die1 if to die was to exchange that eager1 active vitality1 so full of welcome pain and happy suffering1 so full of a service1 whose fruits were rich in blessing1--to exchange all this for dull heaviness and blank oblivion8 ,in the narrative of the rich man and ,lazarus1 which1 as we saw1 describes the ,intermediate ,state1 the rich man is said to have lifted up his eyes being in torments4 ,so1 then1 his pain was felt4 ,he was conscious2 he reflected2 he remembered2 he spoke4 ,once more1 in a remarkable passage in the ,first ,epistle of ,s4 ,peter1 to which1 on a future occasion1 ,i shall again refer1 our ,lord is spoken of as having been put to death in the flesh1 but quickened1 i4e41 made alive1 in spirit #dd2 words which1 whatever the context may mean1 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 spirit4 ,in respect of ,his human body ,he was put to death2 but in respect of ,his human spirit ,he was quickened or lived1 lived still1 in ,paradise1 though ,his body was dead4 ,i need not1 ,i think1 refer to other passages4 ,it is abundantly clear1 both from the necessity of the thing1 and from the obvious testimony of the ,bible1 that the soul still lives1 still is awake1 still is conscious4 ,what1 then1 follows from the soul's consciousness in and through the passage of death8 ,obviously this1--that the life of the soul goes on1 and is therefore the life of the same soul1 sustained without break or interruption1 after death1 by an unsuspended continuity of the consciousness of personal identity4 ,for of what is the soul still conscious8 ,of itself4 ,the life therefore of the soul after death is one with the life of the soul before death4 ,the same soul lives on4 ,the only change to it is the absence of the body1 which has been withdrawn from it1 and is laid in the ground1 and dissolves into dust4 ,and this continuous consciousness of identity means that the soul's character is preserved unchanged and unaffected by the shock of the separation4 ,for a character it had been contracting during its sojourn in the body1 a character of its own4 ,the spiritualized soul before death is a spiritualized soul after death4 ,the animalized soul before death remains after death an animalized soul4 ,the righteous is righteous still4 ,the holy1 the pure1 the faithful1 the devout1 the true1 are true1 and devout1 and faithful1 and pure1 and holy still4 ,the wicked and tainted soul is still wicked and tainted when it enters the unseen1 and begins its life in the ,intermediate ,state4 ,it is on the other side what it was on this side4 ,death1--the crisis and shock of death1--makes no change1 no other change than this1 that it strips off the outer clothing which enveloped the soul4 ,it leaves the soul the same1 no better1 no worse4 ,this is what is implied in the personal identity of the soul4 ,it means the continuity of consciousness1 and therefore continuity of character4 ,do we cling to some vague and fanciful expectation that the mere act of dying1 so to call it1 will itself work a great change upon the soul1 will blot out our sins1 will clear away our imperfections1 will in an instant heal the wounds and scars1 which evil habits1 long inured in us1 have wrought upon the soul8 ,it will do nothing of the sort4 ,we shall be no better1 no holier on the other side than we were on this1 no more fitted for heaven than when we died4 ,if this be so1--and1 so far as we can see1 it must be so1--how much does it behove us to fear greatly the peril we incur by a careless and ,,god-forgetting life6 ,israel doth not know1 said the prophet1 ,my people doth not consider4 #dg ,that was the pity of it4 ,it was the thoughtlessness1 and the ignorance which came of it1 that ruined the nation4 ,oh6 that in life we would look things in the face more steadily6 ,would that we were ready to take heed how surely we are1 day by day1 shaping and moulding our character for good or for evil1 a character which no shock of dissolution will affect1 which will be ours when the crisis comes to end our probation here1 and to usher us1 as we are and have become1 into that unseen life beyond6 ,v4 ,being confident of this very thing1 that ,he which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of ,jesus ,christ4--,,phil4 ,i4 #f 7,r4,v47 ,the ,intermediate ,life is not a state of sleep1 but a waiting time4 ,but is it a time of mere waiting1 and of unemployed quiescence8 ,this would be no better than sleep4 ,there must be a reason for the waiting4 ,and what other reason can there be than that1 during it1 there is something to be done which can only be done then8 ,s4 ,paul speaks1 in the text1 of work which he is confident will be carried on till it is brought to completion on the ,day of ,judgment4 ,what is this work8 ,we have seen that the ,scriptural conception of the happiness of heaven is that it consists in the sight of ,,god1 the ,beatific ,vision4 ,but there can enter the heavenly city nothing that defileth1 nothing imperfect4 ,it is the pure in heart who shall see ,,god4 ,isaiah dare hardly approach the vision of ,,god',s glory on earth1 because he felt himself to be a man of unclean lips4 ,the very heavens1 the stars themselves1 are not clean in ,,god',s sight4 ,and at death1 who is pure8 ,who is free from stain8 ,who is perfect1 that he should be fit to look upon ,,god8 ,then1 if no one that is imperfect can enter heaven1 and none are perfect at death1 can we not see what the work is that has to be done between death and the ,resurrection8 ,it is this work of purification1 that the soul may be fitted for the vision of ,,god in heaven4 ,and this is what ,s4 ,paul is speaking of in the text4 ,the work begun in life1 under the conditions of earth's life1 shall not stop at death1 but1 under new conditions1 shall be carried on to perfection until the day of ,jesus ,christ4 ,so far1 then1 we may say that we are treading on sure ground4 ,but when we go on to ask how shall this work and process of purification be effected1 and what is the nature and method of it1 we are approaching a stage in our enquiry about which1 it may be thought1 nothing but conjecture remains1 because nothing has been revealed4 ,but let us see what light may be thrown upon this question4 ,and1 that we may narrow our enquiry within manageable limits1 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 ,,god1 died in good hope of salvation1 surely trusting that their sins had been forgiven through the blood of ,jesus ,christ1 and that1 however imperfect and blemished with sin their lives had been1 there was an assured forgiveness for them and a good hope of eternal mercy4 ,we will not define the exact limits of this reasonable hope1 nor attempt to show who are within or beyond those limits4 ,we will only1 in general terms1 speak of those who have entered upon the ,intermediate ,life in a condition such as would make them capable of perfect purification4 ,certainly it is impossible for any of us ever to say of any one absolutely that he is incapable of such progressive purification4 ,it is not possible1 in ,christian charity1 to pronounce sentence upon any4 ,and it may be1 and we may indeed hope1 that a vast number1 a much larger proportion than many now imagine1 will prove on their entrance into the ,intermediate ,life to be capable of such progress of effective purification as may fit them1 each according to his measure1 for the final salvation for which he may be qualified in that home where there are many mansions4 ,when then does this purification begin8 ,does it begin with dying8 ,that has been already disproved4 ,but so prevalent is the popular belief that dying has a kind of cleansing power in itself1 that it is well to touch upon it once more4 ,what is dying8 ,it is simply the parting of the soul from the body4 ,the soul1 up to the moment of death1 dwells in the body4 ,at death1 in a moment it ceases to dwell in the body4 ,but have not the pain1 it may be asked1 and the very agony of dying a chastening and purifying force1 serving in themselves to crown repentance1 and to achieve1 in the instant1 the complete cleansing of the soul8 ,why should it be so8 ,the pains which precede death are distinct from dying1 from what we may call the act of dying4 ,the act of dying is instantaneous4 ,it is the moment1 the crisis at which the soul takes its flight4 ,the pains and agony which accompany the process leading up to death are not the pains and agony of dying at all4 ,they are felt while the sick man is still living4 ,they belong to his life1 not to his death4 ,at the moment of dying the sufferings are probably over4 ,the body has just felt its last throb of sensible anguish1 and1 in the crisis of the soul's departure1 is incapable of feeling pain1 and therefore is incapable of the discipline of pain4 ,and it is the discipline of pain alone that has any cleansing power4 ,and the discipline of pain went on in life up to the moment1 if it be so1 of the dying1 and then ceased4 ,but it belonged1 as the pain belonged1 to the life1 and not to the death4 ,during the life1 at many times in the life past1 the wholesome discipline of pain may or may not have been working a salutary change in the character1 up to the very moment1 perhaps1 of death4 ,but it ceased1 as the pain ceased1 at death4 ,this then we conclude1 that the act of dying in itself1 apart from the pain which may have preceded it1 can have no moral effect1 or work any moral change4 ,moral change1 that is to say change of character1 can only go on in life4 ,dying is a physical operation1 not a moral act4 ,at death the possibility of change of character has stopped1 so far as this life can be the sphere of it4 ,life1 not death1 may be accompanied by cleansing1 life on this side of death1 and life on the other side of death1 but not death1 which is between1 the mere transition from life to life1 from one mode of life to another4 ,the soul1 therefore1 after death begins just where it left off1 just as life left it1 no better1 no worse4 ,it passes into the unseen world1 pardoned1 it may be1 by ,,god',s mercy1 but yet no other than it was before it left the body4 ,even ,,god',s pardon does not change the character1 nor yet remove the tendency to sin4 ,that still remains1 alas6 even in the penitent4 ,the consequences of our acts follow upon our acts1 and form our character4 ,as there is uniformity in the law of cause and effect in the realm of nature1 so1 in morals1 is it the case with what we do4 ,let a man yield to a temptation3--is he as strong against that temptation after he has yielded to it as he would have been if he had not yielded to it8 ,we know that he is not4 ,we know1 by our own experience1 that it needs a far greater and more strenuous effort to withstand the same temptation after previous yielding1 than it did before4 ,a man may repent and be pardoned1 but he is what his sin has made him1 weak and frail and prone to sin again4 ,,god',s pardon has cancelled his guilt1 but it has not removed his tendency1 nor the moral consequences1 which sin has wrought upon his character4 ,this then is what is meant when it is said that the soul1 which has received the gracious pardon of ,,god before it left the body1 is still1 when it is launched into the ,intermediate ,life1 clouded and disfigured with the stains and imperfections which it had contracted in this life4 ,but ,,god1 ,who has begun the good work of cleansing in this life1 will carry it on in the life unseen1 until the soul be made perfect in the day of ,jesus ,christ4 ,who of us1 the best of us1 does not feel within him the bitterness of the lingering poison1 which sin has deposited in his heart8 ,the holier a man is1 the more he is conscious of his sinfulness4 ,to the end of life this must be so2 for there is no reaching perfection here4 ,those1 chiefly1 who have made most progress in the struggle against sin here1 know how hateful it is4 ,the higher men rise here in the divine life1 the more they discern their imperfections1 because they can better measure them by the measure of ,,god',s perfections4 ,each loftier level is but a new standpoint from which to lift the eyes1 and view the peaks which soar upward towards infinite elevations4 ,for ,,god is holiness itself2 and holiness is infinite1 because ,,god is infinite4 ,,vi4 ,being confident of this very thing1 that ,he which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of ,jesus ,christ4--,,phil4 ,i4 #f 7,r4,v47 ,the ground is now cleared for an answer to the question1--,how is the purification of the soul effected in the ,intermediate ,life1 and what is the nature of the process8 ,we have seen1 #ast1 that this waiting time is not an idle time1 but a time when something has to be done which can only be done then2 #bnd1 that what has to be done then is the work of cleansing and purifying the soul1 that it may be perfected for the ,beatific ,vision in heaven2 #crd1 that the souls of those who die in grace do yet1 although fully pardoned1 retain frailties of character1 the consequences of former sins2 and1 #dth1 that dying in itself has no cleansing virtue whatever4 ,what1 then1 are the conditions on which we may rely as grounds for legitimate inferences8 #a4 ,first1 then1 memory survives death4 ,in the narrative to which we have had occasion to refer more than once1 ,abraham is spoken of as bidding the rich man to remember4 ,son1 remember1 that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things4 ,the survival of memory is involved in the soul's consciousness of its own existence4 ,and to be conscious of our own existence is to be conscious that we are still the same persons that we were4 ,therefore we must be able to remember each successive moment what and who we were in the moment previous3 so that the continuance of life involves the continuance of the consciousness that it is ourselves that live4 ,and this is memory4 ,bishop ,butler1 therefore1 says1 ,there is no reason for supposing that the exercise of our present powers of reflection is even suspended by the act of dying4 ,but if we grant this1 we may go further4 ,what is it which makes memory in this life so imperfect8 ,what is it but the obtrusive hindrance of the body8 ,the body is at the mercy of the disturbing assaults of present impressions4 ,through ear1 and eye1 and touch external objects invade the mind1 and dispel and distract fixed and steadfast retrospect4 ,the present blots out the past4 ,when we look back1 scenes1 and events1 and words1 and names fade from our memory1 and are dimmed by the haze of distance4 ,the past is smothered by what has happened since4 ,only with a supreme effort1 only in solitude1 and then only imperfectly1 can we recall what has gone by4 ,but there1 in the ,intermediate ,state1 when the soul dwells apart from the body1 there1 in the stillness of that cloistered and secluded life1 the powers of memory will be undistracted and perfect4 ,even in this life1 as we are told1 some1 in a great crisis1 have seen at a single glance the whole story of their past experience1 and scenes and events1 long since forgotten1 have flashed in an instant before the mind1 clear and vivid4 ,such clearness1 we may well suppose1 will the memory have in the ,intermediate ,life1 as it recalls in that quiet stillness the actions of the past days on earth4 ,here is the first equipment then for the work of cleansing4 ,all the evil things done in life1 all the forgotten sins1 in all their naked and uncouth colours1 will stand undisguised before the mind4 ,nothing will escape the memory3--nothing4 ,the days of childhood1 of youth1 of middle age1 of elder years will give in their report4 ,the soul will see things then as they are1 no longer tricked out in false and flattering guise4 ,there1 in all their miserable littleness1 and coarseness1 and meanness1 and cowardice1 bygone sins will rise up before the stern tribunal of the unsparing memory1 each as it was1 each as it is1 each as ,,god saw it at the time1 each as ,,god sees it now4 #b4 ,but this is not all4 ,the souls of those who have received forgiveness in life1 and have passed into the ,intermediate ,state in ,,god',s favour1 are1 we must remember1 with ,christ2 with ,christ1 however imperfect their characters1 however scarred with traces of former wounds of sin4 ,the malefactor's character at his death must have been full of blemishes1 yet he was to be ushered and welcomed into ,paradise by ,christ ,himself4 ,s4 ,paul again and again spoke of his own departure at death as that which would lead him into the presence of ,christ4 ,it may1 however1 be suggested that to be with ,christ is to be with ,,god1 and that the vision of ,christ must be the same thing as the vision of ,,god4 ,but the vision of ,,god is specially reserved for the redeemed in heaven1 while the vision of ,christ is possible in ,paradise2 for where ,christ is there is the vision of ,christ4 ,for ,christ has assumed the form of man1 and was seen as ,man by men4 ,but no man hath seen nor can see ,,god4 ,he dwells in the light which no man can approach unto4 ,this is the vision of ,him ,who is to mortal eyes in ,his essence invisible4 ,that vision will be granted to the pure in heart in the infinite glory of ,heaven1 granted to those who shall have become fitted to behold ,him in ,heaven4 ,but ,he ,who took our flesh was manifest in the flesh1 and was seen1 and touched1 and handled4 ,in that same body ,he rose from the dead2 in that same glorified body ,he ascended into ,heaven1 to fill all things4 ,and so after ,his ,ascension ,he was seen by ,s4 ,stephen #fc and by ,s4 ,paul4 ,that human nature1 therefore1 we are to believe is so present in ,paradise that the sight of ,him is vouchsafed even there to those who may be with ,him4 ,what1 then1 follows from this8 ,it follows that the soul will not only remember but also be able to judge of the past4 ,for not only will it see its sins1 but it will behold ,christ also4 ,it will see them1 therefore1 in the light of the perfect love1 and most gracious sinlessness of ,jesus ,christ4 ,it will look upon sin's stains as they stand out in contrast with ,his purity1 its ingratitude in contrast with ,his compassion4 ,he will be the atmosphere of the soul's existence4 ,all the shame and dishonour1 which in life the soul so complacently accepted1 will then overwhelm it with self-reproach and very bitter compunction4 ,this is what is meant by seeing sins as ,,god sees them4 ,it is to see them as the soul will see them under the sense of the ,presence of the ,holy ,christ4 ,then will the soul know its guilt as it never knew it before4 ,the guilt of sin will then be no bare expression1 no conventional formula1 but a spiritual fact1 not an abstract doctrine1 but a concrete reality4 ,there will be revealed also to the soul the true meaning and significance of ,,god',s providences in life1 which at the time were overlooked1 or slighted1 or strangely misunderstood4 ,tokens of ,,god',s love and care will then find their interpretation4 ,the soul will see plainly why was this1 wherefore was that1 what that sorrow meant1 what that loss1 that parting from one who was more dear than life4 ,the many perplexities which on earth misled the soul1 of these the loving mercy and the gracious reason will then be seen4 ,and will there not be with the amazing surprise at these revelations a strange and unaccountable gladness8 ,but1 no less1 at the thought of the soul's past blindness and persistence in ill-doing1 will there not be an exquisite pain8 ,and the soul's pain can be even more oppressive than the pain of the body4 ,pain1 it may be asked1 in the ,presence of ,christ8 ,yes1 indeed6 pain1 because in the ,presence of ,christ2 pain in remembering1 and in the consciousness1 new to the soul1 of its utter unworthiness before ,christ4 ,the soul cannot fully feel it now1 but it will feel it then4 ,the fire of ,his love will kindle a fire of loving self-reproach4 ,the weight of a heavy shame to think of the past1 and to know now of ,his beauty1 and ,his love1 and ,his care1 care for so careless a soul1 love for a soul so loveless1--this will sting with an extreme severity the soul humbled before ,him4 ,and here we should do well to remember that1 as the characters of each differ almost infinitely1 whereby there are innumerable shades and degrees of every conceivable distinction of merit and of sin1 so the proportion and depth of the pains which the souls will feel will vary equally4 ,the pains of no two souls will be exactly the same4 ,they will be measured out1 in subtle and exact aptness to each1 according to its guilt or goodness1 precisely as the process of its purification shall require4 ,there will be nothing unjust1 nothing capricious in them4 ,and thus the pain will surely be a very wholesome pain4 ,what could more deepen penitence8 ,the pain of self-reproach for unworthiness1 and the pain of the sense of goodness in the ,presence of ,jesus ,christ1--these two pains will purify the soul4 ,no work of sanctification has ever been wrought in any soul without suffering4 ,and none ever will4 ,even ,christ ,himself was not made perfect1 as ,man1 without suffering4 ,but the suffering in ,paradise will be accompanied with an exquisite delight and joy4 ,do we not know1 even here on earth1 how near to each other very often are joy and sorrow8 ,he whose spirit is swelling with a great gladness has often a sense of an undercurrent of great pain along with it4 ,how often tears and laughter go together6 ,so1 in that home of the disembodied soul1 the very process of purification will be marked by an intensity of joy and an intensity of pain4 ,they will be simultaneous4 ,nay6 increasingly1 it may be1 they will deepen in the soul4 ,the nearer the soul reaches its perfection the more abounding may be its gladness1 and the more piercing its compunction4 ,thus its very anguish will be a delight1 and its very delight will be an anguish1 and these will proceed1 and advance1 and increase until the soul is ripe for the ,blessed ,vision of ,,god in ,heaven4 ,for ,he ,which began the good work in the soul1 here1 in life1 will1 we may be very confident1 never abandon it1 nor suspend it1 but will continue it and perfect it all through the after life1 even until the day of ,jesus ,christ4 ,,vii4 ,being put to death in the flesh1 but quickened in the spirit3 in which also ,he went and preached unto the spirits in prison1 which aforetime were disobedient1 when the longsuffering of ,,god waited in the days of ,noah1 while the ark was a preparing4 --#a ,,peter ,,iii4 #ah1 #ai1 #bj 7,r4,v47 ,so far we have considered the case of those who die in the favour of ,,god1 and1 though as yet unfit for the vision of ,,god in ,heaven itself1 are nevertheless capable of becoming so in the course of the ,intermediate ,life4 ,what1 however1 must be said of those who in life had light and knowledge of ,,god and of ,his will1 and yet hardened themselves against ,,god2 who were free1 and in the exercise of their freedom rejected ,,god8 ,of these unhappy souls1 if there is no yielding of their will to ,,god in the ,intermediate ,life1 if1 and so far as1 they have absolutely made themselves by the fixedness of their choice incapable of yielding1 if after death they still hate ,,god and set the whole force of their determination against ,him1--one can only fear that even ,,god ,himself cannot help them4 ,on the supposition that the prerogative of free will1 once for all given to man1 must be respected by ,,god1 we are driven to the belief that ,,god cannot force the will4 ,it is not that ,,god changes towards them4 ,it is not necessary to suppose that ,he is even punishing them4 ,he may still be in ,himself all that ,he is to all1 full of love towards them1 full of pity1 full of mercy4 ,his mercy is over all ,his works4 ,he can no more cease to be a ,father to every man than ,he can cease to be ,,god4 ,he hates nothing that ,he has made4 ,but if the very knowledge and thought of ,,god',s longsuffering patience serves only to harden and to exasperate1 if it only stirs in the lost soul deeper pangs of inexorable hatred1 then1--man being man and ,,god being ,,god1--what can ,,god do8 ,it is they who reject ,,god1 not ,,god ,who is rejecting them4 ,it is they who spurn ,him1 not ,he ,who chastises them4 ,he does not banish them from ,his ,presence3 it is they who banish ,him from their presence4 ,and if this defiance against ,,god survives and lasts1 if1 as ages pass1 it becomes more resolutely inveterate and set1 what power can stop it1 what love can soften it8 ,and if it is never to be pacified1 and never yields1 what shall hinder it from going on up to and beyond the ,day of ,judgment8 ,it may be said that such utter determination is a moral impossibility1 that no will of man could finally defy and resist the love of ,,god4 ,if that be so1 well6 ,but on the assumption that it is not impossible1 the inference which has been drawn is inevitable4 ,but there are others who in life have never heard of ,christ1 the millions of heathen in all ages and all lands since the world began1 of whom it may truly be said that they never had a chance of salvation4 ,to these may be added many who have indeed fallen in with ,christianity1 but with a ,christianity of such a sort1 presented to them in such a way1 in such a form1 and under such circumstances as almost naturally to create in their minds a really honest doubt and distrust of it4 ,what shall be said of these honest unbelievers1 and1 scarcely through their own fault1 blind8 ,as to these1 let us ask whether the doctrine of the ,intermediate ,state can help to give us some better hope4 ,in the text1 #gb we are told that ,christ was put to death upon the ,cross in the flesh1 but was quickened in ,his human ,spirit1 that is to say1 that after ,his human ,spirit left ,his ,body it was still quick or alive4 ,we know1 from the ,gospel of ,s4 ,luke1 whither ,his human ,spirit went4 ,it went to ,paradise4 ,s4 ,peter now tells us what ,his ,spirit did there4 ,he tells us that it preached unto other spirits1 and he names the spirits of those who for #abj years1 while ,noah was building the ark1 were disobedient4 ,they had rejected ,noah1 the preacher of righteousness #gc as ,s4 ,peter calls him2 and now a greater ,preacher went to preach to them4 ,further1 we are told1 that they were in prison4 ,the word should rather be rendered in safe keeping1 that is to say1 still waiting1 under ,,god',s care1 for this visit of ,christ's human ,spirit1 when ,he should preach to them4 ,why the spirits of these men1 who lived before the flood1 are singled out for special mention1 is a question that does not really bear upon the point which we have in hand4 ,and we had better keep to that point1 and not be tempted to digress4 ,what then follows from this8 ,two things are clear1--first1 that from as far back as the days before the flood1 that is to say1 from the very beginning of human life on earth1 souls in the ,intermediate ,state had been waiting in safe keeping all these many thousand years2 and1 secondly1 that the disembodied soul of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ visited them there and preached to them4 ,assuming that these souls had repented1 however late1 before they died1 still we learn that something more than repentance was needful to them4 ,in this case1 it is clear that instruction was given to them4 ,it would not have been given if it had not been necessary4 ,and what instruction8 ,christ proclaimed1 we are told1 to them4 ,what did ,he proclaim8 ,surely the good news of the ,gospel1 #gd which ,he had been proclaiming on earth by the voice of the ,apostles4 ,what else did ,he make known than the mystery of ,his ,incarnation and the ,atonement which ,he had wrought out upon the ,cross1 in bearing the sins of men1 and their sins1 too1 who had so long been waiting in the ,intermediate ,state1 to hear it to their salvation8 ,s4 ,peter1 therefore1 in another place1 says1 ,for this cause1 that is1 because ,christ will ,himself be the ,judge of the living and the dead1--for this cause was the ,gospel preached even to the dead4 #ge ,here1 then1 we have a set of facts which throw light upon some of the dark places of that unknown and unseen land1 the ,intermediate ,state4 ,if we do justice to our ,bibles we must regard these as facts1 whether we can fully explain them or not4 ,scriptural facts they certainly are4 ,what1 then1 can we learn from them8 ,first1 we seem to learn this1--that some provision is made in the ,intermediate ,state for the salvation of those souls who in this life never heard of ,christ1 never had a chance1 as we say1 of salvation4 ,and when we think of it1 does it not seem to belong to ,,god',s eternal justice that souls should not be condemned for that which they could not help8 ,every human soul must have had a chance of knowing ,christ1 before it can justly be punished for the consequences of not knowing ,him4 ,countless millions in all ages1 since the world began1 in our own land1 and in other lands1 have never heard the good news of ,jesus ,christ in life4 ,it is not so with us4 ,with them it is and has been so4 ,christ preached to those who in safe keeping had been waiting long4 ,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 this8 ,why should ,christ preach to those and not to these8 ,this hope helps to solve that harassing enigma which perplexes and oppresses so many of us1--,i mean1 as to the condition and future destiny of the heathen1 and the outcast1 and the blind1 and the ignorant4 ,there1 in that stillness of the disembodied life1 souls may be taught and trained to know what they never could know in this life on earth1 the wonders and the blessings of the life in ,christ4 ,and1 besides1 do we not at least learn this from ,christ's preaching to these souls1 that intercourse and communication is possible in the life after death1 and will take place8 ,and this suggests another aspect of the work in that life1 besides the work of progressive cleansing and perfecting4 ,the souls of the faithful rest from their labours4 ,yes6 but they have also a work to do which can only be done then1 the work of the soul's purification4 ,the work1 however1 which they can do for others is better than that which can be done for themselves4 ,what can they do for the souls of others8 ,can they not do what ,christ's human spirit did8 ,here on earth men are charged1 not only with the care of their own souls1 but with the care of the souls of others also4 ,and why should they not be ambassadors for ,christ there1 if ,christ's work has to be done there8 ,here on earth ,he uses imperfect men to proclaim ,his ,gospel4 ,there1 in that after life1 if ,his ,gospel is to be proclaimed to those that never heard it in this life1 why should ,he not employ souls also1 not yet perfected1 upon the same happy task8 ,and may not this charge1 laid on ministering souls in the ,intermediate ,life1 help to solve another mystery--the mystery of many an early and1 as we might think1 untimely death8 ,how often do we see a life cut short at the very climax of its best powers1 in the very midst of its noblest service6 ,all the earlier days had been directed1 and had contributed to the perfection of the instrument1 and then1 just when its work was doing1 came the sudden end4 ,was it not so to our ,blessed ,lord ,himself8 ,may it not be said with due reverence that1 if only ,his human life on earth had been prolonged1 ,his teaching1 and ,his miracles1 and ,his sinlessness1 and ,his love must have swayed and melted the hearts of men1 even of those who so long and so stubbornly withstood ,him8 ,we might so think4 ,but1 just when ,his young life was at its prime of human excellence1 ,he died1 and ,his human ,spirit passed to preach salvation to souls in the spirit land4 ,so are souls1 it may be1 taken from us at the summit of their ripeness1 but only to be transferred to another scene1 and to be employed upon other work4 ,their labours change1 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 there1 and knowing ,him may choose ,him1 and choosing ,him may be ,his and ,he theirs even to the end4 ,,viii4 ,not handling the word of ,,god deceitfully1 but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of ,,god4 --#b ,,cor4 ,,iv4 #b4 ,the ,scriptural doctrine of the ,intermediate ,life1 as ,i have tried1 so far1 to set it forth1 is a very different thing from what our ,twenty-second ,article calls ,the ,romish ,doctrine concerning ,purgatory4 ,the word purgatory simply means the sphere or life of cleansing4 ,the ,intermediate ,state1 therefore1 during which the soul is being purified and fitted for the vision of ,,god in ,heaven may be legitimately called a purgatory4 ,but ,the ,romish ,doctrine concerning ,purgatory means much more than this4 ,it is a belief which1 originating in what was true and ,scriptural1 gradually became so overlaid with subsequent additions1 that the original truth was at length buried and lost sight of4 ,what the ,twenty-second ,article condemns is not any and every conceivable doctrine concerning ,purgatory1 but the ,romish doctrine only4 ,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 truth4 ,this it is which enabled them to survive3 this and nothing else gives to error its vitality4 ,these false beliefs are not mere error1 but contain truth and error mixed together4 ,the error perverts and makes void the truth2 but without the truth the error could not live4 ,in the case of the doctrine of ,purgatory1 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 ,purgatory4 ,wherein then lies the error of it8 #a4 ,in the first place1 whereas the ,bible teaches1 as we have seen1 that every soul at death enters the ,intermediate ,state1 the souls of the greatest saints as well as the souls of the greatest sinners1 the ,romish ,doctrine teaches that the souls of very many never enter the ,intermediate ,state at all4 ,the souls of the holy patriarchs of old1 of ,christian martyrs1 and of canonized ,saints1 it is held1 pass straight to heaven4 ,on the other hand1 the souls of those who die in mortal sin1 and of excommunicated persons are believed to go straight to hell4 ,thus practically the ,intermediate ,state is cancelled for these two classes4 ,there remains1 therefore1 only one class which is supposed to enter the ,intermediate ,state1 those namely1 who have died in venial sin4 ,and since it is part of the ,romish doctrine to regard ,paradise as the same thing as ,heaven1 and to hold that the souls which alone enter ,purgatory1 after suffering due torments1 pass direct out of ,purgatory into ,paradise or ,heaven1 it follows that in the ,intermediate ,state are only those who are actually undergoing1 for the time appointed1 the pains of ,purgatory4 ,for all1 therefore1 eventually the ,intermediate ,state is terminated at some time on this side of the ,day of ,judgment4 ,hence it came about that those who rejected the ,romish ,doctrine concerning ,purgatory rejected along with it the doctrine of the ,intermediate ,state1 since1 virtually1 ,purgatory and the ,intermediate ,state had been regarded as practically one and the same thing1 as indeed they were in duration conterminous4 ,in rejecting the one therefore1 men unhappily but almost naturally rejected the other also4 #b4 ,further1 the pains which are felt in the process of purification1 as has been shown1 spring from within the soul itself1 and are not necessarily or for all inflicted as a torment or punishment from without4 ,rather they arise from the soul's own action upon itself1 from its own pangs of shame and self-abasement1 all deepened and made more poignant by the ever increasing sense of the love of ,jesus ,christ1 then as never before apprehended1 and by the holy vision of ,his perfections4 ,thereby1 as they gaze on ,him1 they are changed by the influence of the sight of ,him1 into greater likeness to ,him4 ,on the other hand1 contrast with these the nature of the pains which the ,romish ,doctrine assigns to the souls in ,purgatory4 ,they are held in all cases to be penal1 that is to say1 inflicted by ,,god as punishment4 ,the souls are said to suffer torments6 #hd ,moreover these torments1 as is taught in ,roman ,catholic treatises on the subject1 are caused by literal and material flames1 by actual fires which would feed on and consume corporeal substances such as the human body4 ,but what enters the ,intermediate ,state is the soul only1 not the body3 and1 in the nature of things1 the sufferings of the incorporeal part of our being can only be themselves incorporeal4 ,the pains of the spirit can only be spiritual pains4 #c4 ,again1 the ,romish ,doctrine concerning ,purgatory is closely bound up with what are called in the ,thirty-first ,article the ,sacrifices of ,masses1 and with the sale of ,pardons or ,indulgences1 named in the ,twenty-second ,article4 ,the character of the ,romish doctrine1 as of every other doctrine1 must be tested by what has grown with its growth4 ,it was held that by these ,sacrifices of ,masses and ,indulgences souls1 one by one1 were released from ,purgatorial fires sooner than1 without their aid1 they could be delivered1 and thus were at once admitted to ,paradise or ,heaven4 ,what1 however1 does the ,thirty-first ,article precisely mean by ,sacrifices of ,masses8 ,the expression is peculiar1 and appears to have been designedly so shaped in order to be clearly distinguished from what is meant by the ,sacrifice in the ,mass1 or ,holy ,communion4 ,for that the ,holy ,communion has been held and taught by our chief ,english ,divines to be a ,sacrifice cannot well be disputed4 #hf ,but the term ,sacrifices of ,masses was intended to signify what were called1 at the time when the ,article was drawn up1 ,private ,masses1 which were offered chiefly for souls in ,purgatory1 and in return for money payment4 ,the ,article refers to modes of speaking prevalent on the lips of men at the time4 ,it condemns that which was commonly said4 ,and what was it that was commonly said8 ,it was commonly said that1 while ,christ's death on the ,cross was indeed a propitiation for original or birth sin1 on the other hand for daily sins1 committed after ,baptism1 another propitiatory sacrifice was needed1 viz41 the ,sacrifice of the ,mass4 ,thus the ,sacrifice of the ,mass1 which is not the same thing as the ,sacrifice in the ,mass1 was regarded as an addition to and distinct from the ,sacrifice on the ,cross1 as indeed a repetition of it1 having a propitiatory value of its own1 which the ,sacrifice on the ,cross had not2 just as though it were what ,bishop ,gardiner1 in repudiating it1 described as a new ,redemption4 #hg ,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 ,mass4 ,the practice1 therefore1 of offering private ,masses for souls in ,purgatory1 as it was very lucrative1 so it became very prevalent4 ,thus spiritual things were used for the purpose of bringing large money gains to the ,chantry ,priests1 and what should be1 and we may surely affirm was meant to be1 for the common benefit of all became the narrow privilege of the few4 ,for rich men could provide ,masses for their dead friends and for themselves after death1 which it was quite out of the power of the poor to provide4 #hh #d4 ,but a word also must be said about ,indulgences4 ,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 doer4 ,if the guilty person should show sincere proofs of penitence1 or by liberal giving of alms made satisfactory recompense for wrongs done1 his penance might be eased1 or the term of his excommunication shortened1 and his ,church privileges partly or wholly restored4 ,it may well be understood how all this might be very wisely and fitly done4 ,the authority which inflicted the penance may rightly have been entrusted with the power also of mitigating or removing it4 ,but gradually this remission of the temporal punishment for sins done in the past became applicable1 not seldom1 to future sin also3 and it soon was no uncommon thing to grant ,indulgences for #ejj1 or #aj1jjj1 and even for #ej1jjj years4 ,and1 since these long periods of years would1 of course1 extend beyond any man's term of life on earth1 it was obvious that they were intended to secure the remission1 not indeed of the guilt of the sin1 but of the temporal punishment of sin during all these years in ,purgatory4 ,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 curtailed4 ,but worse remained4 ,the ,papal ,court needed treasure4 ,and in an evil moment permission was given that these ,indulgences might be sold for money4 ,thus grew up an unholy traffic1 which1 as we all know1 first roused in ,germany the storm of the ,reformation4 ,subsequently1 the ,papal authorities so far yielded as to forbid all taking of money for these ,indulgences4 ,but the system itself had meantime taken deep root4 ,it continued1 and continues to this day4 ,it was1 however1 at its worst when the ,twenty-second ,article was drawn up4 ,can we be surprised that it sternly condemned it8 ,it is all a pitiful history4 ,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 accretions1 and also to prove how little the belief1 that in the ,intermediate ,state there is a progressive advance of the soul in holiness towards perfection1 is like the ,romish teaching and practice4 ,but it would be an act of disloyalty to the truth1 and of cowardice into the bargain1 if we should abandon or minimize a truth because it has been by some corrupted and perverted4 ,many a truth which has come down to us may have lost some of the fresh lustre of its early purity4 ,but all the same1 if it is the truth we cannot let it go4 ,and that truth which tells us something of the land1 now beyond our sight1 to which our dear ones have already passed1 which we shall each of us ourselves soon enter--the truth which ,,god has made known to us in ,holy ,scripture about this land1 we cannot afford to ignore and disregard4 ,nothing is easier than to discredit such a truth by raising the cry of ,popery4 ,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 round4 ,but we must not shrink from this duty4 ,in days when principles are questioned1 and almost all truths disputed1 we must1 at all hazards1 learn to keep our sight clear and our footing steady4 ,for the ,lord is our ,light and our ,salvation4 ,whom then shall we fear8 ,the ,lord is the strength of our life3 of whom then shall we be afraid8 #ib ,,ix4 ,the ,lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the ,lord in that day4--#b ,,tim4 ,i4 #ah4 ,we must now bring to a close the discussion which has been occupying our attention3 not that everything has been said that can or ought to be said about it2 for the interest of the subject grows with the handling of it1 as the various features of it open out to view4 ,so far we have been dealing with the condition of the faithful dead as it affects themselves1 with the mode of their own conscious life in the ,intermediate ,state1 and with the nature of their own progressive advance towards perfection4 ,but there is another aspect of the question1 about which nothing has hitherto been said1 ,i mean1 their relation to us who are still living on earth4 ,a few words1 and they must be very few1 must be said on this point4 ,it is asked1 for example1 whether the veil has completely shut out all knowledge of what is passing on earth from those who have gone to their rest4 ,no doubt1 we can know very little about this4 ,but1 at all events1 we do not know enough to warrant us in saying with any confidence that they are aware of nothing that is going on here4 ,it is true that1 as has been said1 the door that opens between this life and that life only open inwards1 and that none have come back to tell us what in that after life they knew about us and about our doings on earth4 ,yet this ignorance of ours is not the same thing as knowledge of the contrary1 any more than silence is always equivalent to denial4 ,because we cannot see with our eyes1 nor hear with our ears1 and cannot1 by our actual senses1 put the question to the test1 we are not on this account justified in denying4 ,do we not know almost nothing as to the limits of the powers of the spirit world8 ,all we can say1 so far as reason can be our guide1 is this1 that it is possible that souls in the ,intermediate ,state1 if they are conscious of themselves and of their present condition1 if they retain memory1 if they have means of holding intercourse with one another1 may have means of knowing what goes on here3 ,i say that reason will tell us that this is at least possible1 and that it is quite impossible to prove the contrary4 ,but does the ,bible throw any light upon this mysterious subject8 ,i think it does4 ,it will be remembered how1 in the narrative of the rich man and ,lazarus1 ,abraham is made to say to the rich man1 ,they have ,moses and the ,prophets1 let them hear them4 ,we may ask1 how could ,abraham1 who lived more than #djj years before the birth of ,moses1 have known of the existence of ,moses1 if there were no possible means of communication1 by which occurrences on earth could be made known in the unseen world where ,abraham was8 ,what could he know of the prophets who lived more than a thousand years after his time1 if no possible communication could find its way to that other world8 #if ,and we may trust this inference because1 in a narrative of this kind1 whether it be historical or not1 it is not to be supposed that our ,lord would have introduced a false detail4 ,let us1 however1 turn to another passage4 ,in the scene on the ,mount of the ,transfiguration there appeared1 talking with ,christ1 ,moses and ,elijah4 ,in what condition were they present8 ,they were still in the ,intermediate ,state4 ,the general ,resurrection had not1 and has not yet1 come4 ,in glory they appeared4 ,yes6 some outward clothing1 as of a bodily form1 gloriously radiant was thrown round them1 so that they became visible for the time to the eyes of the three disciples4 ,but in no resurrection bodies did they come2 for in those they could not yet present themselves1 since they had not yet received them4 ,and what was the theme of their conversation8 ,they spoke1 we are told1 with ,christ concerning the exodus or death1 which ,he should accomplish at ,jerusalem4 ,but how could they speak fitly of this great theme1 if they had no knowledge of the circumstances which were leading to it1 of the nature of ,christ's ,incarnate ,life on earth1 and something at least or the real significance1 known fully to the mind of ,,god only1 of ,his approaching death8 ,they must have known not only of each other1 who and what they had been historically in their own generation1 but also what was now passing on earth1 the course and connection of prophecies and types1 and the succession of events in history which had led up to this climax of the fulness of time4 ,thus we see that the hearts of these two visitants1--visitants not from ,heaven1 but from ,paradise1--were fastened with a keen interest and strained attention upon the unfolding of that wondrous ,life of ,christ4 ,his works and words were the theme of their adoring contemplation4 ,may we not learn then1 that what these two great ,saints could do was1 therefore1 at least a possible thing to do1 and1 according to the will of ,,god1 a thing which others might also do8 #ih ,if so1 the barrier between ,paradise and earth is so far transparent on that further side1 that what ,,god permits souls in the ,intermediate ,life to know1 that they do actually see and know of the occurrences that are passing here4 #ii ,but ,i must hasten to the answer of another question4 ,do they pray for us8 ,surely that question is as good as answered by what has just been said4 ,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 sorrows1 the hopes and fears1 the temptations and the warfare to which we1 whom they loved so well and still love1 are exposed on earth1 we are sure that they take thought of us and pray for us4 ,shall not they whose eyes are opened1 now that they are with ,christ1 care for and pray for those whom they have left behind1 tossing still upon the troubled seas1 and buffeted by the vexing winds and storms of this earthly life8 ,they are1 moreover1 with ,christ4 ,what does this really imply1--to be with ,christ8 ,it must mean at least this1 that1 where ,christ is1 there is the ,church4 ,and ,christ1 though ,he has ascended to the ,right ,hand of ,,god1 is still in a true sense in ,paradise also4 ,for ,he filleth all in all4 #ajj;a ,s4 ,stephen1 before his death1 prayed1 ,lord ,jesus1 receive my spirit4 ,our ,lord1 therefore1 must have been there in ,paradise to receive it4 ,s4 ,paul1 long after our ,lord's ,ascension1 knew that to die was better than to live1 because it was to be absent from the body and present with the ,lord4 #ajj;b ,but if ,christ is there1 ,he must be the object of the worship of those who are also there4 ,so then if ,christ be there1 and the ,church is there1 and worship is offered there1 then it follows that the whole energy of ,church life is there4 ,the souls in ,paradise are not so many isolated and individual units4 ,the ,church unites them4 ,they are organised in the exercise of worship1 sustained1 as it surely is1 in unfailing and perpetual intensity4 ,as the incense of our worship rises here1 it blends with the incense that ascends to ,christ there4 ,the ,church is militant on earth1 it is expectant in ,paradise1 it will be hereafter triumphant in ,heaven4 ,yet these are not three ,churches1 but one ,church4 ,and this helps us to see more clearly what is meant by the ,communion of ,saints4 ,the ,church on earth and the ,church in ,paradise are one1 and one thrill of spiritual communion vibrates through its members there and here4 ,but is prayer to be one sided8 ,communion is not one sided4 ,and communion implies that what they do for us1 we should also do for them4 ,this brings us to one more question4 ,may we1 then1 pray for those who have passed on before us8 ,let us plainly say that there is every reason for and none against the practice4 ,we have in favour of it the sanction of ,bible witness1 of primitive ,church custom1 of ,christian and human instinct4 ,in the ,jewish synagogues in our ,lord's time1 prayers for the dead formed part of the service4 #ajb ,our ,lord therefore1 ,who regularly frequented the synagogue worship1 must have been present at times when prayers for the dead were used4 ,if ,he had disapproved of such prayers1 ,he must have condemned the use of them4 ,but did ,he8 ,he did not4 ,we have then ,his tacit sanction of them4 ,s4 ,paul again1 a ,hebrew of the ,hebrews1 must have warned the ,gentiles against the practice1 unless he approved of it4 ,but so far from that1 there is every reason to suppose that he himself prayed for ,onesiphorus4 ,according to the best commentators1 ,onesiphorus was dead when ,s4 ,paul wrote the words quoted in the text1 ,the ,lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the ,lord in that day1 viz41 in the ,day of ,judgment4 #ajc;a ,he does not pray for temporal blessings1 for health1 or even for grace4 ,if it was too late to pray for these things1 this omission is quite intelligible4 ,the earliest ,church ,liturgies contained in them prayers for the dead4 #ajc;b ,and the earliest ,christian writers1 as well as the inscriptions on tombs bear such witness to the existence of this primitive practice1 that it cannot be disputed4 ,it is true that our ,english ,prayer ,book neither expressly sanctions nor yet expressly forbids these intercessions4 ,but in the ,liturgy1 in the ,litany1 and in the ,burial ,service1 prayers occur which appear to have been purposely so worded1 as to lend themselves to a reference in the minds of worshippers to the faithful dead1 if any should desire so to apply them4 ,bishop ,cosin1 one of the chief compilers of our present ,prayer ,book1 writes that the words1 that we and ,thy whole ,church may obtain remission of our sins1 and all other benefits of ,his ,passion1 occurring in our ,liturgy1 are to be understood to refer as well to those who have been here before1 that is to say1 who have died in the ,lord1 as to those that are now members of it1 that is1 who still are living4 #ajd ,and is not the custom reasonable8 ,are we to pray for those whom we dearly love up to the very last moment of their life1 and then for ever to refrain8 ,we could understand this on the supposition that death was the end of all things1 or that at death there followed an immediate heaven or an instant hell2 but not if the process of purification and of real ,church life are continuing after death4 ,and ,christian instinct urges it4 ,,god is a ,father4 ,as children we ought to tell ,him all that is in our heart4 ,whatever we may rightly desire we may rightly pray for4 ,it is only that which we ought not to desire that we ought not to pray for4 ,it is not right to pray that they may1 as by a miracle1 be restored to us2 that is not the will of ,,god4 ,nor is it right that we should seek by occult and forbidden ways to hold converse with them4 ,but we may surely ask for them what ,s4 ,paul asked for his friend1 that they may find mercy in that day1 that they may have rest and peace and light and refreshment1 the joy of ,christ's ,presence1 and the gladness of a blessed ,resurrection4 ,and now these words must be brought to a close4 ,the arguments which have been urged rest upon the very language of ,holy ,scripture1 or upon legitimate inferences from it4 ,what then8 ,if they are worthy of trust1 to accept them is to rob death of half its fears and alarms4 ,it is the unknown that inspires terror4 ,to know but a little more than we before knew of the land in which those who have gone before now sojourn1 is to gather fresh courage to face it with less misgiving for them and for ourselves4 ,they have passed on1 but they await us there4 ,they are only hidden from us for a little while4 ,their voices are silent4 ,but their life is as real a life as ours4 ,no dull oblivion weighs them down4 ,they live and think and see and know1--know1 it may be1 more of us than we think1 know as much of us as it is for their happiness to know4 ,a little while and we also shall know as they know1 and see as they see1 in the home and resting place of vision and of peace4 ,footnotes3 #e ,rev4 xxi4 #bg4 #h #b ,cor4 v4 #aj4 #ad ,acts xxiv4 #ae4 #ae ,see ,luckock1 ,the ,intermediate ,state1 pp4 #ad1 #ae4 #ag ,s4 ,john xx4 #ag4 #ai ,the expression is borrowed from the custom among the ,jews of reclining instead of sitting at a banquet4 ,the guest was stretched upon a couch1 his left elbow resting upon a cushion close to the table1 his feet being towards the outer side of the couch1 which was away from the table4 ,by slightly bending back his head he could touch with it the breast of the guest on his left hand1 and speak to him in a low voice4 ,thus ,s4 ,john bent back upon our ,lord's breast at the ,last ,supper to ask ,him1 ,lord1 who is it8 and is therefore spoken of as he who leant upon ,his breast at supper4 ,to sit therefore1 or to rest in the bosom of ,abraham1 represented the happy lot of those who had passed to ,paradise4 #bc ,mozley1 ,univ4 ,serm41 p4 #aee4 #bd;a ,isaiah xxxiii4 #ag4 #bd;b ,psalm xvi4 #aa4 #bd;c #a ,john iii4 #b4 #be;a #a ,peter v4 #d4 #be;b #a ,john iii4 #b4 #be;c ,col4 iii4 #d4 #be;d #b ,tim4 iv4 #c4 #bf ,advent ,sermon1 ,the ,day of the ,lord4 #bh ,rev4 vi4 #i1 #aj1 #aa 7,revised ,version74 #cd;a #a ,thess4 v4 #bc4 ,but the ,a4,v4 hardly brings out the full force of the distinction4 ,the definite article has a possessive force1 as if it were your spirit1 your soul1 your body2 as though the spirit was as distinct from the soul as each of them is distinct from the body4 #cd;b ,heb4 iv4 #ab4 #cd;c #a ,cor4 ii4 #ad4 #ce;a #a ,cor4 xv4 #dd4 #ce;b ,s4 ,james iii4 #ae4 #ce;c ,jude #ai4 #ce;d ,gen4 ii4 #g4 #cg ,mason1 ,faith of the ,gospel1 p4 #he4 #da;a ,for example1 ,acts vii4 #fj2 ,s4 ,john xi4 #aa1 #ad2 #a ,thess4 v4 #ad2 #a ,cor4 xv4 #ah1 #bj4 #da;b ,rev4 xiv4 #ac4 #dc ,phil i4 #ba4 #dd #a ,peter iii4 #ah4 #dg ,isaiah i4 #b4 #fc ,see p4 #ajj infra4 #gb ,in the ,a4,v4 the words in v4 #ah are printed differently from the ,r4,v4 ,in the former the reading is quickened by the ,spirit1 as though ,s4 ,peter meant to assert1 that it was by the special operation of ,,god the ,holy ,ghost that our ,lord1 after ,he died upon the ,cross1 still lived4 ,but this rendering entirely destroys the evident antithesis which is marked in the contrast between put to death and quickened1 and between flesh and spirit4 ,that antithesis limits the effect of ,christ's death to ,his human ,body1 while ,his human ,spirit was still alive4 #gc #b ,peter ii4 #e4 #gd ,the same word is used constantly in the ,n4,t4 for the special proclamation of the ,gospel4 #ge #a ,peter iv4 #f4 #hd ,thus the ,catechism of the ,council of ,trent states that ,there is a ,purgatorial ,fire where the souls of the righteous being tormented are purified4 #hf ,in the ,holy ,communion the priest and the people offer to the ,father the one full1 perfect1 and sufficient ,sacrifice1 oblation1 and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world4 ,the ,christian ,society is called in #a ,peter ii4 #i1 a royal priesthood1 7,greek71 and in ,rev4 i4 #f kings and priests to ,god4 7,greek72 and as ,greek and ,greek are sacrificial terms1 it is to be inferred that a ,sacrifice is really offered by them4 ,as ,christ perpetually1 being a ,priest forever1 and therefore having of necessity something to offer for ever 7,heb4 viii4 #c71 presents in the ,holy ,place not made with hands1 in ,heaven itself1 the ,sacrifice of ,himself before the eyes of the ,father1 so1 at every ,altar on earth1 the kings and priests being a sacrificing priesthood1 represent and commemorate the same sacrifice and none other1 a sacrifice which never can be repeated4 #hg ,see ,dr4 ,maclear on the ,articles1 p4 #cfh4 ,if the ,sacrifice on the ,cross served one purpose and effected one propitiation1 and the ,sacrifice of the ,mass another1 then the inference is that they were themselves1 so far1 different things4 ,it was the same ,body of ,christ which was offered in each case1 but the sacrifices of the same ,body were different4 ,therefore the ,sacrifice of the ,mass was a repetition of the ,sacrifice on the ,cross for a distinct object and a distinct purpose4 ,it was supplementary1 and supplied a defect which the ,sacrifice on the ,cross failed to supply6 #hh ,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 efficacy1 when pleaded in behalf of the souls in the ,intermediate ,state4 ,to use the words of ,bishop ,forbes1 ,the application of the ,blessed ,eucharist to the departed must in our ,church stand and fall with the practice of prayers for the dead4 ,in its aspect of the great oblation1 the ,holy ,communion may be considered as prayer in its most intense and highest form4 ,if it is unlawful to pray for the faithful departed1 it must be unlawful to remember them in the sacred mysteries2 but1 if the first be permitted1 the second must be so likewise4 7,article ,,xxxi41 p4 #fc47 ,the subject of ,prayers for the ,dead is dealt with in the next ,address1 page #aja sq4 #ib ,psalm xxvii4 #a4 #if ,a friend has suggested that ,moses and the prophets may1 one after the other1 have reported to ,abraham the occurrences on earth in which they had severally themselves taken part1 and that1 therefore1 we have in this narrative no more than an illustration of the mutual intercourse which exists in the ,intermediate ,life4 ,to this it may be replied that this suggestion1 so far from discrediting1 really confirms the argument in the sermon4 ,the suggestion is an attempt to explain the mode by which knowledge of what passes here is attained1 which is certainly no disproof of the existence of such knowledge4 ,but it is safer to say that1 some how or other1 the denizens of the ,intermediate ,state do probably know1 as ,abraham certainly knew1 occurrences on earth4 #ih ,both these illustrations are1 ,i find1 referred to by ,canon ,mc,coll in his ,life ,here and ,hereafter1 pp4 #aje1 #ajf4 ,but may ,i presume to question the value of his illustration of our ,lord's knowledge of what was said1 in ,his absence1 on the way to ,emmaus1 and by ,s4 ,thomas8 ,our ,lord's knowledge after ,his ,resurrection1 and indeed at any time1 is scarcely on a level with the knowledge possessed by souls in the ,intermediate ,state of what passes on earth4 #ii ,there is so much doubt as to the bearing upon this point of the words in ,hebrews xii4 #a1 that ,i have not referred to it4 ,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 spectators4 ,the existence of the spectators1 and their interest in the contests1 are integral facts in the similitude1 and essential elements in it4 #ajj;a ,eph4 i4 #bc4 #ajj;b #b ,cor4 v4 #h4 #ajb ,see #b ,macc4 xii4 #dd1 #de4 #ajc;a ,see ,plummer1 ,expositor1 ,pastoral ,epp41 p4 #cbd4 #ajc;b ,forbes on #ci ,articles1 p4 #fab4 #ajd ,see the note on p4 #hh1 ,address viii4 supra4