Infinite Being and Perfection—Grades of Being—Variety—Man's
Limitations—Moral Beings—Hopeless Surroundings—All Are Children of
God—Righting the Wrongs of Time—"The Heart of the Universe is Love"
—Eternal Conscious Torment Incredible—Conquering Power of Love
—Eternal Purpose Will Not Fail—Omnipotence in the Moral Realm—The
Divine Expression of Love—Universal Atonement Involves Universal
Salvation—Final Success of God's Designs—Will Evil Necessarily
Perpetuate itself?—Triumph of Good Over Evil—Few Stripes or Many
—Reformatory Punishment—Bringing Good out of Evil—Possibilities of
Redeeming Grace—The Ransomed of the Lord—Wrath but the Shadow of
Love—Former Eternity of Sinlessness—Wrath no Constituent of the Divine
Character—Pity and Indignation.

There can be no mistake here. The Scripture declares, again and again that God is Love. Also, the Scripture is clear in regard to His infinity. In fact our reason would almost carry us so far. For if all things had a Creator, that Creator must have had no beginning. But we take it that God will be freely conceded to be infinite in His being, and in the qualities of His character.

He is infinite then in His love. Being infinite in His being, He could be no less than infinite in His love. That surely means that He loves every being that He has made. Will He not therefore do the most and best that is possible to be done for each one of His creatures? To be sure, there are grades of being. Some have a larger capacity than others. We know of no law by which love would impel the Creator to create all beings alike. No, there is a law of variety which we shall consider later; and that accounts for beings of different function, capacity, surroundings, employment, and so on. At the same time, is it not safe to infer that there is a possible maximum of happiness which every being has attained, or will attain, under a government of divine love?

Of course there may be limitations. Man has been made a free being. He may therefore limit his own possibilities. He may deliberately choose to do wrong. Thus he may impose a limitation on himself. In one sense this may be considered a great misfortune. But how else could a moral being be created? We cannot conceive of any other way. If we had not been created moral beings, we could never rise to anything worth while. God wanted to make the most and the best of us. But with that possibility of rising there was also the possibility of falling. Therefore, so far as that consideration is concerned, our creation, on this human status, was an expression of infinite love.

But then, the present is a state of discipline. Since sin has come in, and so marred our perfection and happiness, it has been ordained that the present life will be a preparation for a better future life. Therefore our present sinful limitations are not finally disastrous. They may be even turned to benedictions. Instances are not wanting where untold suffering has issued in great moral perfection, with a corresponding high place in the world beyond. Such considerations as these show clearly that our creation, even though we are fallen, was an act of infinite love.

Yes, but what about the untold millions who do not turn their present suffering to good account? Especially what about the uncounted millions of heathen? Many of them were born into conditions of utter hopelessness; their surroundings were of the worst; it would be utterly futile to expect that their present life could be a preparation for final blessedness.

Now is it to be supposed for a moment that God does not love every heathen just as He loves every Christian? Surely, they are all His children, and He loves every one of them with a Father's love. Then what about the other millions that live in Christian lands who have no idea of making the present life a preparation for the future? Are they not all equally dear to Him? Let us rise above all insular, mean, petty love of our own, and think of the love of God—impartial, free, infinite, everlasting! Can it be believed that the few favored ones who have lived in certain surroundings, and who thus have come to hear and heed the message of salvation, are destined for everlasting bliss; while all others, naturally no worse than they, are consigned to everlasting woe? Are these few fleeting years, and circumstances which we had little or no hand in forming, charged with such eternal possibilities? Yet we profess to believe that God rules, and that He loves every one of His creatures with an everlasting love!

Surely every candid mind and every human heart will repel such a possibility as their final extinction or damnation. And when we realize that God has all eternity to right the wrongs of time, we begin to realize that the present is but one epoch of His administration.

I have just read these words of an orthodox divine: "The heart of the universe is love." Yes, that is the language of the heart in its best moods, whatever our creed may be. And the heart will sometimes speak its conviction strongly. It does seem that orthodox divines at times forget that according to their belief God consigns untold millions of His creatures to eternal fire. Yet surely He is "the heart of the universe;" and "the heart of the universe is love." Does it not seem the blackest of contradictions?

And when we think of His wisdom to arrange, and His power to execute, it does seem hard to believe that eternal conscious torment will be the fate of any of His creatures. We may see but a short way into the whole scheme of the divine administration; but the heart will refuse to believe in such a paradox.

"Omnia vincet amor"—love conquers all things. We accept that as a proverb even in this selfish and cruel world. Yes, and despite all hindrances, we often see love's triumphs. When everything else fails, love will win. And is it to be conceived that God, Who is Love Personified, will not win? Yes; if we knew nothing more than the general principle, we might make a confident forecast that He will not fail. But how overwhelming is our conviction when we see infinite love joined with infinite wisdom and infinite power! What will not this triumvirate of infinites accomplish?

We may be told that sin is an infinite evil, and that even infinite love cannot conquer it. We refuse to believe it. God is omnipotent in the moral, as well as in the material realm. Surely His infinite love will incline Him, His infinite wisdom will show Him how, and His infinite power will accomplish His desire.

Now again: The advocates of eternal torment will freely grant that God loves every soul that He has made. They will also concede that He is omniscient. Very well. Then He must have known that the millions of beings, now supposed to be in torment, were coming into the world; and He must have known that there was no possible way for them to avert their doom. And though He loved each of them with an infinite love, He made no way of escape, but consigned them to eternal torment. Foreseeing in His omniscience that all this would happen, He did not intercept their coming, which He could easily have done; nor did He provide any means of escape.

Is this the way infinite love, joined with divine foreknowledge, would act? Do not say that the matter is too high for us to understand. Even on a human plane we would expect a more beneficent result. How much more in the case of Him who foresees and arranges all contingencies, and whose love is from everlasting to everlasting. Do not such considerations as these absolutely prohibit the idea of endless suffering? Just take counsel with your own heart and mind.

Again, it is written that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." Now if He loved the world, He loved every individual in the world. He loves every soul of the human race. Not color, nor climate, nor civilization, nor any special epoch of the world's history, can make any restriction.

Now if God loved the world, He expressed His love for the world; and how did He express it? By giving his Son. Then He must have given His Son for every soul of man. It would be no expression of His love for me to give His Son for somebody else. But He loved me personally, and gave His Son for me personally. Hence Paul could say: "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." And so everyone of the human race may truly say.

A THEORY.

Generality here tends to confusion and mistakes. It has been too much the habit to think and speak of God as giving His Son for the world, and yet holding a reserved and unexpressed idea that He gave His Son only for the saved. Such an idea is not often expressed publicly, and I believe is not held heartily, But it is formally professed; it is theory in a certain creed. Not only so, but it is felt that universal atonement involves universal salvation; and that is an issue which in many cases men are not prepared to accept In fact many plain statements of Scripture are twisted and tortured out of their plain meaning, apparently to avoid the issue of universal salvation.

But let universal salvation be once granted, and all difficulty disappears. Then the plain statements of Scripture do not need to be modified, or explained away. Then all may freely accept the corollary that universal atonement involves universal salvation; only in a far larger sense than believed heretofore. We take in eternity now, as well as the small span of time. We begin to realize that the sweep of the eternal years makes no difference in the divine love or the divine purpose. In God's administration of the universe there may be good reasons for saving some of our race in this life; and some in the next; but the principle is the same; infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite love, will not fail of their purpose.

It is this belief in the final success of God's designs that gives us the assurance of ultimate Restoration. For if God loves the world—that is, every soul in the world—and if He gave His Son for the Salvation of the world—and if the sacrifice of the Son is sufficient for the salvation of the world—then we may be sure that infinite wisdom, love, and power will find a way of attaining the end in view. Somehow—some time—somewhere—the divine purpose will be accomplished.

I am fortified in this view by the words of an eminent Presbyterian divine that I have just chanced to meet with. He says: "God infallibly accomplishes everything at which He aims." I take that principle in a wider application than he intended; and taking it so, it is a strong argument for ultimate Restoration.

A SERIOUS DEPARTURE.

Just apply that principle to the theory of everlasting torment. Is it to be supposed that God really "aims" at that, and that hence He "infallibly accomplishes" it? It is almost blasphemy to think so. Yet that is the idea that has been held to be orthodox, and any apparent swerving from it has been treated as a serious departure from the faith. But men's hearts are sometimes better than their heads; hence we hear little now of eternal torment.

And the heart is a good place for a reform in doctrine to begin. When these larger ideas simmer for a while in men's hearts, they will gradually find expression on their tongues. There are many men who feel the truth now that they will speak bye and bye. There is at present a fear, and a natural fear, of being disloyal to orthodoxy: but I believe the truth will come triumphantly to the front later on. There is a stage of silence, and there is a stage of speech. Meantime I plead for toleration; that is as much as can be expected now. It is well if we have advanced so far. Not long ago there was persecution.

To all this it may be objected that if men remain obdurate in this life, withstanding all the overtures of mercy that are addressed to them, is it not likely that they will remain so for ever? This is a serious question. Let us seriously consider it.

EVEN IF THEY ARE FAVORED.

Roughly, there are two classes of men to be recognized. First there are those who have sat under the Gospel for years, but who have not yielded to its claims. The question is, Will they ever yield, even if they are favored with another opportunity? Will not the habit of their life culminate in an eternal refusal?

Some think it will. My old minister used to say that it is the nature of evil to perpetuate itself. Hence it was argued that grace refused here will be always refused, even though it were offered. It was argued that the increased evil character which will come to a wicked man on entering the next life, together with the evil influences and surroundings of that life, will so absolutely steel him against all good that he will inevitably go on from bad to worse for ever. Hence the eternity of suffering.

To my mind, all this is only theory. We really know very little of the next life. The influences that may be used for reformation may really be overpowering. Just think how it has fared with this world of ours since the introduction of evil. Has evil perpetuated itself? Or will it perpetuate itself? No! the very opposite has been the case, and will be the case. A scheme of redemption above all human thought has been enacted here, by which the world has in part regained the innocence that if lost, and is destined to regain it fully.

No one could have foreseen this. We can imagine some sinless world, cognizant of the evil that had entered here, forecasting our eternal doom. They might reason that evil would perpetuate itself, and that therefore there could be nothing in store for us but eternal sin and suffering. They did not know the provision that was to be made for our redemption; hence their conclusion would be all wrong.

TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL.

It may just be so in our forecasts of the next life. In fact there is more likelihood of the triumph of good over evil in the next life than there could have been originally in this. And why? Because we know that a ransom has not to be provided, but that it is provided. We also know that it has been provided at a fearful cost, and we know that the glory of God is to a large extent bound up in its success. Moreover, we know that Christ is yet to see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. And will anything less satisfy Him than the salvation of every one for whom He died? He has said, too, that He will draw all men to Himself. It is plain that He does not draw all men in this life; will He not then draw them in the next life? Therefore I think it is not too much to say that so far as we know, there does seem a greater probability of grace triumphing over sin in the next life than there was antecedently in the present life. What a door of hope is thus opened for our lost race!

I recall another passage of wonderful import in this connection. Our Lord said: "That servant which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes."

Now it is very dear that in thousands of cases those words are not fulfilled in this life. There are atrociously wicked men who are not beaten with any, not to say many, stripes. That was the Psalmist's trouble. He saw that the ungodly prospered. He said that they were not in trouble as other men, nor plagued as other men. He said that they had more than heart could wish. Plainly, the threatening was not executed upon them in the present life. If the words are to come true at all, they must be fulfilled in the next life. It is one of many passages that require our purview to be extended into the future life to understand them. But if the words are to be fulfilled in the next life, must not their fulfillment be conditioned on the theory of Restoration? Suppose there is extinction at death. How could any stripes be laid on a man who is extinct? Does not that consideration settle the idea of extinction?

And what about endless torment? Certainly many stripes are laid on the man in endless torment. But what about the man who is to be beaten with few stripes? Would it be possible to conceive of endless torment as being only a few stripes? To be sure, there might be degrees of torment; and the man in a mild degree of suffering would not suffer so much as the man in an intense degree. But then, the suffering is to be for ever and ever. It is to be an eternity of suffering. In that case, the suffering might be reduced to the mildest form of discomfort; but as it is to be eternal in duration, the sum total of it would be infinite. Could any stretch of imagination conceive of such suffering being only a few stripes? It does seem to me that both the theory of extinction, and that of torment, utterly break down under that test.

But how natural and reasonable is the statement on the theory of Restoration. In that case the words come literally true. We can well believe that atrocious sinners have terrible pains and penalties before they repent, and are redeemed. On the other hand, we can imagine that sins of a milder type, especially sins of ignorance, will call for but few stripes. We would go further, and believe that in the case of advanced Christians, there will be only such suffering as is inseparable from the discovery of mistakes, and consequent development.

In the case of all suffering, of whatever degree, we believe that it will be rather of a reformatory, than of a punitive character. Suffering may or may not be proportionate to sin. The idea is this, that, when it has accomplished the reformation of the sinner it will cease.

Thus the statement of our Lord will find its due fulfillment. It is one of many statements which can be explained only on the basis of its application to the next life. But when we give such statements their true application, they require no forcing to make them seem natural and reasonable.

Further, I think it is fair to imagine, as we said before, that the suffering induced by sin will be an object lesson to all eternity of the evil of sin. Possibly it may be an infallible safeguard against sin in every form. This would be an expansion of the principle that God brings good out of evil; and it would be the grandest expansion of that principle that we can conceive.

When we put all these considerations together, and when we add to them the further consideration that God's love is from everlasting to everlasting, we begin to see wonderful possibilities of redeeming grace.

* * * * *

Along the same line, take as an illustration the salvation of particular individuals. We see what has been enacted in the case of a lost world. Now take the case of one lost soul; and the matter may become a little clearer.

NOT ASKED TO SURRENDER.

Take the case of Saul of Tarsus. I have referred to him elsewhere as a man who went as far as man could go in crime. But he was arrested and saved in a moment. And mark you, he was not coerced. No violence was done to his perfect freedom. Every man is free; that is his birthright; in Saul's case he was not asked to surrender an iota of it. Yet by some mysterious divine power he changed in a moment of time. Henceforth he was a new man, with a new heart, new ideals, new hopes, new ambitions, a new life.

Now what I contend is, that the power and grace that could so radically and so quickly change a man like that, is not to be limited to this little span of life, nor to the most incorrigible transgression. What are a few years of time to Him whose power, whose presence, whose love, fill all eternity? I imagine that He who knew how to convert Saul in a moment, can convert the most abandoned of mankind.

Then, as I said, there is another class of men to be considered. I mean the heathen, and all those who never had the means of knowing the way of life. What about the untold millions that passed away in the darkness? Will not the grace and power that redeemed such a man as Saul be available in their case? Yes! we think that—judged by the highest standards we know—there would be far more mercy for them, and the work of saving them would be a thousand fold easier. But we are dealing here with power and love that are infinite. No doubt the sin that has to be overcome is great; but we believe it will come true again that "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." After all, it is infinite grace against human sin. In such a case, it is not hard to forecast which will win the day. God will evermore be triumphant.

O yes! the ransomed of the Lord will come home at last. What a day it will be when they will come to Zion with songs! The old prophecy will then have its complete fulfillment: "They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Though I lay so much stress on the omnipotence of divine love, I do not forget that divine wrath must be reckoned with as well. "God is angry with sinners every day." "Tribulation, and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil." "Our God is consuming fire." But the essential thing is love. "God is love." It is a constituent of His character. That could not be said of wrath. It is but the dark shadow of love. In a state of innocence it could not exist. When sin is done away, wrath will be seen no more.

If we only go back far enough in our thought we will certainly come to a time when divine wrath could not exist. Go back to the time before the angels sinned. Go back to the time before there was sin of any kind in all God's universe. But mark, no matter how far that takes you back—there was an eternity of sinlessness before it. Yes; an eternity of sinlessness. There was no wrath then. It could not exist. Therefore we could not say that it was a constituent of the divine character. No; but it was a potentiality of the divine character. It could have no existence until sin appeared. But love is from everlasting. It is by far the mightier attribute. It is of the very essence of God. United with infinite wisdom and power, we would expect it to have the final victory.

STERN FOR THE MOMENT.

Even when there is divine wrath, there is infinite love blended and mingled with it. We shall see this as in a picture if we look at that scene in the life of Christ when He healed a certain man in the Synagogue. It was the Sabbath day. Knowing the hardness and hypocrisy of those present, He flung out this challenge—"Is it right to do good on the Sabbath day?" They could make no answer without committing themselves. Then we read that Christ "looked round about them with indignation." Ah, but listen. It is added immediately that he "was grieved for the hardness of their hearts." His face that was stern for the moment was strangely softened. O yes; love was ever behind His wrath. His indignation was never far removed from tears. And so God can be angry with sinners, at the same time that He loves them with an everlasting love.

We see the same union of pity with indignation in that scene where Christ wept over the sinful city. He had to weep tears of pity over the nation's coming doom; yes, but He could pronounce that doom; and in His wonderful providence He could even arrange for effecting it. So I do not overlook the fact that we have manifestations of divine wrath, as well as divine love; yes, fiery indignation as well as tender compassion. But let us not forget that love is the positive, essential, eternal attribute; and it would be strange indeed if it is not finally victorious.

You may bring this idea of the union of love and indignation close home to yourself. We will suppose that you are a father, and that a son of yours has turned out to be a prodigal. He has gone away from home, bent on a course of crime. Will you not have alternations of love and indignation? Yes, you will sigh and pine for his return; and you will have righteous anger at times over his evil course. And if the son repents, and one day comes home again, will you not receive him with joy? O yes, you will run to meet him, like the father in the Gospel story.

And do you think that your love is more enduring than God's? Are not we all His children, though we have strayed away from Him? Does He not look and long for our return? O yes; and He will accomplish it. The difference is, that He has all power, and He has ways and means of attaining His ends. Let us be assured that "His counsel will stand, and He will do all His pleasure."

In this connection there is a very important consideration. It is this—that no design of God can ultimately fail. We read that He "willeth not the death of a sinner." We read that He "desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." Have we ever stopped to think how unlikely it is that the Infinite One has any desire which He cannot accomplish? If any of His creatures are consigned to eternal torment, and if He wishes, as He says He does, to save them from that fate, does He not desire what He cannot accomplish? Remember that he has all moral as well as all physical power; remember that his love will impel Him to use His power; remember that in His infinite wisdom He knows how; and it will be seen that He has no design which He cannot effect. Just ponder this idea for a while before you go farther.

I was revolving this thought in my mind when I chanced to meet with, a very terse expression of it. I have already quoted an eminent divine who said: "God infallibly accomplishes everything at which He aims." The theologian did not think that his dictum would be given such a wide application. But it commends itself to our judgment nevertheless, be the application what it may. The same thought was differently expressed recently, from a scientific point of view. Sir Oliver Lodge said in a recent lecture: "The Creator of the Universe is not going to be frustrated by the insignificant efforts of His own creatures."

ON A LARGE SCALE.

In the light of this fact sin appears but an episode in eternal providence; and we can conceive that it is permitted for a time, for the realization of a greater good. It is but an expansion of the acknowledged principle that God brings good out of evil. Sin is not the normal condition of the universe. It is abnormal, and in time will give way to normal conditions. We are accustomed to believe in this principle on a small scale; but if we accustom ourselves to regard the same principle or a large scale it will not be difficult to believe that sin will ultimately be done away. In the history of eternity, we can imagine it to be but a transient circumstance, like a fleck of cloud in a summer sky; and even that fleck will disappear.

* * * * *

Just now, since writing these lines, I have had a very singular experience. A gentleman had written me a year ago in warm appreciation of my books. But I did not meet with him until a few days ago. In our conversation he told me that on reading a certain passage—he quoted the passage—be was so overpowered that he fell backward in a kind of swoon or trance. Then he was struck by something like a spark of fire. His impulse was to cry out, but he restrained himself, and had such a vision of the love of God that he wept, and wept, and wept, in an ecstasy of joy. Indeed he was overcome when he told me the story. And this man is no weakling, by any means. He is a strong man, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. When I realized that I could be used to produce an effect like that, I was filled with wonder, and love, and praise.

Now I hesitated about giving this experience, for to some it may look like egotism. But it may be taken on a higher ground. I would like to ask: Is it conceivable that such divine love, united with divine wisdom, and divine power, has no better way of disposing of the great majority of the human race than consigning them to everlasting torment? And more than that; each one of these myriads is God's own child, as truly—perhaps more intimately—than our children are our own. I say, is it conceivable that he has nothing better for them in store? Except our mind and heart have been utterly warped by traditional views, surely we will refuse to believe it.