13 - Chapter 13

XIII. THE COMPLETION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Are there few that be saved? (Luke 13:23).

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9). THE ideas entertained by many with regard to the final completion of the Kingdom of God are a stumbling-block in the way of their faith. When they think of the future which awaits us they are perplexed and troubled, for they see vast multitudes falling under a doom that is awful banished for ever from the presence of the Lord to a place where God has forgotten to be gracious, or ceasing to exist at the stern fiat of Him who called them into being.

If only a few are to be saved, has not God made man in vain? Has not the mission of Christ been a failure? Will not Heaven be shorn of great part of its glory and joy? And will not ’ the victory of God over Satan prove to be less complete than we now expect? But why should men have such ideas when they think of the completion of the Kingdom of God?

Nowhere in Scripture are we told the exact number of those who are to be saved. To the man who put the question, Are there few that be saved? our blessed Lord and Master replied: ’ Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.’ And these words remind us that when we attempt to answer this question definitely and precisely, we are trying to be wise beyond what is possible for us.

We do not know our own hearts perfectly, and we may be sure that our opinion with regard to what God thinks, or will think of others, is well nigh valueless. As we live in this world we doubtless have often to form judgments with regard to our neighbours, and there rnay be times when it is necessary for us to act upon such judgments. We may even find it incumbent on us to give expression to them. But we may take it for granted that such judgments are always more or less tentative and partial, and never wholly and absolutely true. Even when there is no beam in our own eye to obscure our vision, and no want of charity in our heart to bias our judgment, we cannot truly judge of the motives which are at work in another’s mind, and we cannot fully know his difficulties and temptations and trials.

“Who made the heart, ’tis He alone Decidedly can try us; He knows each chord, its various tone, Each spring, its various bias.

Then at the balance let’s be mute, We never can adjust it; What’s done we partly may compute, But know not what’s resisted.”

It is foolish of us, therefore, to dogmatise with regard to the future weal or woe of even our nearest friend. It is absurd of us even to attempt to give a definite answer to the question as to the number of those who are to be saved. It is not for us to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. It is not for us to dare to anticipate the judgments which will be pronounced on the great and awful day of the Lord. It is enough for us to make sure that all will be well with ourselves on that great day. It is enough for us to be certain that we are obedient unto the command, ’ Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.’ But although our Saviour has discountenanced all foolish curiosity and idle speculation on the subject of the number of those who are to be saved, He has never forbidden earnest and reverent thought about the future and about the completion of the Kingdom of God. And it is not difficult for us to understand why this should be so. Our hope with regard to what is to be influences our life in the present, and affects our destiny in the future. And so there is no reason why we should not, but every reason why we should, think earnestly and reverently sometimes about what we hope for, for ourselves and others.

Now, when we think about the future, the under-lying and determining thought with many is the love and goodness of God.

God is love, they remind us; and His purposes, which cannot fail, are purposes of love to us. And so they are full of hope with regard to the future of humanity. If not in this life, then certainly in the life that is to be, salvation will be found by every human soul. Far more confidently do they speak than does the Poet of the Larger Hope, to whom we are indebted for the well-known lines:

“ Oh yet we trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill, To pangs of nature, sins of will, Defects of doubt, and taints of blood. That nothing walks with aimless feet, That not one life shall be destroy’d Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete.”

They believe in the ultimate pardon of the wicked who are condemned at the Day of Judgment. They maintain that the Divine Purpose of love which will have all men to be saved will not for ever be frustrated by man’s resistance. They assert that, “ sooner or later, after, it may be, the lapse of ages numbered beyond human ken,” all souls will rest, purified and renewed, in the bosom of the Universal Father.

Now, there is no reason why Christians should not entertain a pious wish, or religious hope, with regard to the future well-being of all men. To such a wish or hope we are prompted by some of our best thoughts and feelings.

“The wish that of the living whole No life may fail beyond the grave, Derives it not from what we have, The likest God within the soul?” And are there not many passages of Scripture which seem to speak of a final victory when God shall be all in all, and when all things shall be as God wills them to be? But when men proceed to dogmatise on this subject, and to assert that, because God is love, every soul which He has made must find salvation in this life or in that which is to come, then they are wise beyond what is written, and their dogmas are not justified by the teaching of Scripture or by the facts of the case. Does not our Saviour speak of the sin that hath never forgiveness, of the worm which dieth not, of the fire that cannot be quenched, and of the great gulf which none can pass? And do we not see the power and persistence of evil in this world? and does it not seem as if it were possible for a man to so indurate himself in evil in this life as to extinguish all capacity for goodness? And what is there in the future which must of necessity bring about a great change in hardened sinners whom the incidents and accidents of life have not affected in the slightest? “ If God is anywhere He is here; if He is near to the soul at any time it is now; if a decision of eternal con-sequence can be taken under any circumstances, it can be taken in this world.” Even now we are living under a canopy of love, and if, so circumstanced, men remain blind to the love of God, or if seeing it they can remain untouched and un-affected by it, what reason have we for asserting that something will be met with in the future that must of necessity bring every hardened sinner to repentance? God is love now, as well as in the future; and yet we can all see the terrible prerogative of man’s freedom that freedom by which God’s purposes may be daily frustrated that freedom by which men may, in the course of time, harden themselves into “ an irremediable antagonism “ to God and goodness.

How then can we possibly assert that no soul will remain for ever unreconciled to God? To speak after this fashion on this great subject, is it not to belittle our present life? to forget that time is part of eternity? not to speak of putting a great temptation in the way of the thoughtless and the careless. But with others, when they think about the future, the underlying and determining thought is the righteousness rather than the love of God the severity rather than the goodness of God. And when this is the predominant thought, there are always many considerations which tend to give a sombre aspect to our view of things. The conviction that sin cannot be forgiven till it is repented of and forsaken: the belief that without holiness no man can ever see the Lord or enjoy His favour: our knowledge of the power and persistence of evil in this world: the fact that many die and make no sign, that multitudes pass away without ever hearing of Christ: the widely entertained opinion that many of our Saviour’s words assert or imply that our future destiny is determined during our life on earth: the stern and startling words of Jesus, ’ Many are called, but few are chosen,’ ’ Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life,’ these and many other considerations tend to darken our hope and to make us fearful and afraid when we think of the future of the great mass of men.

Nevertheless, in spite of all these things, it is possible for men and women who think often of the righteousness of God to entertain the larger hope as they meditate on the completion of the kingdom of God. For whatever else they believe in, they believe in the fairness and justice of God, and with confidence they can ask the question, Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

All men have not the religious advantages of which we stand possessed, but did not our Saviour give utterance to these words, ’ Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required ’? All men have not the knowledge of God that we have, but God has never left Himself without a witness on the earth, and no one is, or ought to be, wholly destitute of a knowledge of God’s will for him. ’ For when the Gentiles which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which shew the work of the law written in their hearts; their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.’ Many are still ignorant of the Gospel: many have not as yet heard the name of Christ; but has not St. Peter said, ’ Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.’ We may believe that it is only while the lamp of life holds on to burn that the sinful man may return to God, and yet in our hearts we may entertain the hope that God’s mercy at the last will be extended to multitudes whose case to our limited view may be desperate; for no man can truly read the heart or rightly interpret the life of a fellowman, and no one knows the germs of goodness or the earnest of eternal life that may be in men and women seemingly irreligious and godless. At death our fate may be fixed; and yet multitudes of those who die and make no sign may have within them the seeds of holiness which, under altered circumstances and in a more congenial clime, shall yet spring up and become beautiful trees abounding in good fruit. The atmosphere is much, though it be not every-thing. It cannot sow the seed or plant the trees; but it may promote the life and growth of both, or bring about their decay or death. And so translation to another world may not be able to bring to life those who are really and truly spiritually dead; but surely in the world unseen we may expect to find that which will be favourable to the growth of love, purity, holiness, that which will revive the spiritual life that is faint and flickering, that which will bring to maturity whatever forms of half-developed good-ness a man has won his way to here. When we think on these things after this fashion, it is easy for us to believe in those words which are so full of hope: ’ Be of good cheer: I have over-come the world.’ ’ I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.’ ’ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ ’ They shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.’ ’ I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.’

However orthodox we may be, therefore, we can all be sharers in the larger hope. We can all avail ourselves of the inspiration and encouragement that come to us from many passages in the Word of God. But a hope of this kind was given for our salvation and not for our undoing. He who is possessed of it ought to purify himself even as Christ is pure. For the best way in which to bring about that which we wish to happen is to make manifest in our lives the patience and the faith of the saints. When we make our own calling and election sure we are adding to the number of the faithful. When we give ourselves unto the Lord we are increasing the number of those who are to be saved. But when we give ourselves to the Lord, live in His love and fear, identify ourselves with His cause, and yearn and strive for the advancement of His kingdom, do we not feel as if something were lacking to our joy in life so long as multitudes are still enemies to God and to His cause? ’ There is joy in the presence of God over one sinner that repenteth.’

These words tell us that God and the Heavenly Host are profoundly interested in the career of every soul that lives that to them there is a sense of loss, a feeling that something is lacking, when a soul made in God’s image wanders into the paths of folly and sin that the joy of the Heavenly Host is in a sense bound up with the spiritual prosperity of men and women on the earth. And as it is in Heaven so is it with the saints of God on earth. The cause of God, the cause which we have so much at heart, is re-tarded by the faithlessness, the worldliness, the sinfulness of men. And so we are grieved by the sins of our fellowmen, and we rejoice in their faith and goodness. Our faith in God is strengthened by the fact that multitudes have faith in Him. Our joy and peace in believing are not lessened and weakened, but increased and deepened by every addition to the number of believers.

There is joy in the presence of the saints of God on earth over one sinner that repenteth.

How indeed should it be otherwise? Is not that sinful man now repentant our brother? And is he not, like ourselves, a son of God and a brother of the just men made perfect around God’s throne? And so all earnest Christians feel necessity laid upon them to live not for self but for others. They are constrained to pray, to labour, to strive for the moral and spiritual redemption of that world for which the Son of God lived and died.

God grant that day after day this may increasingly be the case. And in order that it may be so may we put aside all tormenting fears and anxieties with regard to the completion of the Kingdom of God. May we remember and realise the truth that God is our Father in Heaven, and that His purposes are purposes of love to us. And while we strive to make our own calling and election sure, and earnestly labour for the salvation of others, may we with hope and confidence commit our own future and the future of others to the keeping of Him in whose hands we are in death as in life, assured that God will never fail in mercy towards us, and that when the day of eternity breaks, and the shadows of time flee away for ever, we shall, if we have been faithful, find ourselves in the presence of God and in the company of that countless multitude who have died in the Lord, and are now with Him where He is.

GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO.