BIBLE PROOFS
OF
UNIVERSAL SALVATION;
CONTAINING THE
PRINCIPAL PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE
THAT TEACH
THE FINAL HOLINESS AND HAPPINESS OF ALL MANKIND.
By J. W. HANSON, D.D.
SEVENTH EDITION.
BOSTON :
UNIVERSALIST PUBLISHING HOUSE.
1888
________________________________________________________
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by
J.W. HANSON,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington
________________________________________________________
Editor’s notes for Tentmaker, 2000 The original’s King James text has been edited only in that Old English words have been changed to modern English and the Bible Chapter Roman Numerals changed to Arabic. A table of Contents has been added and the Index moved to the back. Microsoft Word format starting on original page 5 follows; Page setup: Paper size, 8 ½" x 11", portrait orientation Margins, top .7, bottom .7, left .7, right .7, gutter .6 inches font: Times New Roman, style: regular, size: 12 Paragraph Indentation: left 0, right 0, first line .2, original page # -.2 Line spacing: exactly 14 pt.
(Original page numbers listed in margin for use with index)
CONTENTS
God's Silence 6
Adam’s Punishment 6
Cain’s Punishment 8
The Antediluvians 9
The Deluge 9
Sodom and Gomorrah 10
The Testimony of Scholars 12
The Promise to Adam 15
The Promise to Abraham 16
The Promises to Obedient 19
The Threats to Wicked 21
Gathered to their Fathers 22
The Spirit Returns to God 23
The Fate of Amnon 23
Knowledge of God Gives Peace 25
God's Anger is Limited 25
God’s Mercy is Unlimited 27
The Testimony of the Prophets 27
Universal Obedience 28
Man’s Infirmity Doubts God’s Goodness 28
Universal Dominion 29
The Prophet Isaiah 29
God's Word Conquers 30
Jeremiah 31
Hosea 31
Micah 32
Daniel 32
The Wise Woman 32
A Refiner 33
The Name Jesus 34
The Word Gospel 35
The First Christmas Anthem 35
John the Baptist 36
An Incident and its Lesson 36
Be Like God 38
The Lord’s Prayer 40
The Universal Fatherhood 40
The Good Samaritan 45
The Gospel Leaven 46
The Jewish Leaven 46
All the Lost are to be Saved 47
Ninety and Nine (Poem) 49
Christ Will Accomplish His Mission 50
The Resurrection 56
The Resurrection to Damnation 58
The Nature of Punishment 65
The Prayer of Jesus for His Murderers 66
God the Creator 68
God's Holiness 69
God's Mercy 69
God's Justice 70
God's Omniscience 73
God's Omnipotence 74
God's Love 75
God's Attributes Unlimited 77
God's Power Unlimited 78
God's Wisdom unlimited 78
God's Love Unlimited 79
God's Will, Pleasure, Purpose, Promise and Oath 80
You Must be Born Again 88
A Conditional Promise Fulfilled 88
Sin Burned, Sinners Saved 88
Every Soul Worth Saving 88
Comfort for All 88
Heaven's Joys Certain 89
The Substance of Things Hoped For 89
The Wickedest Saved 89
The Image of God 90
Paul’s Hope 92
The Glad Tidings of God 92
The Universe shall be Delivered from Sin 93
What God will not do 94
What God will do 94
Sin, Satan, Death and Hell Destroyed 94
All Shall be Righteous 95
All Destined to God 97
The People were Astonished 98
Universal Pardon and Obedience 98
Christ Cancels Adam 99
A Healthful Doctrine 99
No More Sorrow 100
Universal Obedience Prophesied 100
The Universal Propitiation 100
Their Works Follow Them 100
The Building of God Sure 102
God Hates Sin 102
God All in All 102
God's Glory 103
God A Universal Savior 103
Why Paul was Persecuted 104
All are to be Righteous 104
The Final Consummation 105
UNIVERSAL SALVATION
THE DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE.
The author of these pages proposes, in the briefest and simplest manner of which he is capable, to set forth the leading Scriptural arguments in favor of the doctrine of Universal Salvation. He will not attempt to exhaust the subject, nor will he endeavor to explain what are called "The Difficult passages," that is, those that are popularly supposed to teach a different doctrine. Remanding that task - a perfectly easy one - to another volume, a proper companion to this, he will only attempt, in these pages, to present the prominent considerations that are contained in the Bible in support of the final redemption of all souls. In this important task he invokes the benediction of Almighty God; praying that any word herein contained, that is false, may perish, fruitless, while whatever is in harmony with the Divine Oracles may bring forth many good results in the promotion of truth and righteousness in the world.
The first thought that astonishes the mind when the Scriptures are consulted on this great question, by one who has taken for granted that they teach endless torture, for any part of the human family, is
THE SILENCE OF GOD.
The Almighty Father of the human family would not fail, at the very beginning of human history, to announce to his children the penalty of sin. To conceal such a doom as that of endless torment from any would be cruel treachery towards those whom he had created, and who would have the right to know all the consequences of disobedience. And yet only limited consequences - temporal punishments - were threatened at the announcement of the law to Adam, or when the penalty of their Sin was referred to, in the history of the earliest transgressors. If endless punishment were true, it would be stated as the threatened penalty of the original sin.
ADAM'S PUNISHMENT.
But Adam was neither before nor afterward told that he had incurred or should receive endless woe.
Here is the law, and its penalty:
And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. Gen. 2: 15-17.
Adam died as the penalty of his sin. How? This threatened death is not (1.) of the body, for physical dissolution was the natural result of physical organization, and the death threatened was
to be "In the day he sinned." His body did not die in that day. (2.) It was not eternal death for the same reason. He certainly went to no endless hell "in the day" of his transgression. It was (3.) a moral, spiritual death from which recovery is feasible. Paul describes it:
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts. Eph. 4: 18. You has he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. 2: 1.
Jesus describes it in the parable of the Prodigal son:
It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this, your brother, was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. Luke 15: 32. See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live. Deut. 30: 15-19.
Adam died this kind of death and no other "in the day" he sinned. The death God threatened was in this life. The devil denied this penalty. If it was any different from that threatened, then the devil told the truth. This penalty is described in the language used toward Adam after he had sinned:
And unto Adam he said, Because you have harkened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat of it; cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you
taken; for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return. Gen. 3: 17-19.
Would all these consequences be so fully described, and the one of surpassing importance be concealed? Would God perpetrate a "snap judgment" on his poor deluded creatures? Impossible. Our first parents died in trespasses and sins, as did the prodigal, "in the day" they sinned. The whole penalty to which Adam or any other should ever be liable was fully described, but not a word of endless punishment is there.
CAIN'S PUNISHMENT.
The case of Cain is equally explicit. What penalty did the first murderer experience? Here it is fully stated:
And the Lord God said unto Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I know not; Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries unto me from the ground. And now are you cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto you her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shall you be in the earth; And Cain said onto the Lord, my punishment is more than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from your face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that finds me shall slay me. Gen. 4: 9-14.
Not a word of endless punishment for this greatest of crimes. "A fugitive and a vagabond in the earth" not torment in an endless hell, is the punishment of the first murderer. His punishments were all temporal, and were so understood by him. Is it credible that in addition to all this an
endless hell was in store for this first fratricide, and not a word said of the awful doom?
THE ANTEDILUVIANS
Read the detailed account of the Flood and of multitudes of antecedent transactions for the long period of more than seventeen hundred years, and not an instance can be found in which any other than temporal and limited consequences are described as the result of sinfulness.
THE DELUGE.
The wicked people who were overwhelmed by the deluge were not threatened with endless punishment. Noah, the first great "preacher of righteous," (Titus 2: 5,) did not say a word of it when he announced the flood. He threatened drowning, but said nothing of post mortem sufferings. Would he have spoken of this comparatively slight disaster, and conceal the enormous one of endless suffering if he knew anything of it?
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. Gen. 6: 17. The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Gen. 5: 11-13; 23.
Just think of charging God with describing the
height of the waters, the amount of the flood, the number of days, and all the small particulars of a limited penalty, and entirely overlooking the dreadful fate in store for the millions destroyed!
SODOM AND GOMORRAH.
Nothing is said of endless punishment in connection with the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Then the Lord God rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and all that which grew upon the ground. And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord, and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. Gen. 19: 24-28.
The fire and brimstone that these people suffered were here, in this world. And that it was limited is evident from the following:
For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. Lam. 4: 6.
Jerusalem experienced a greater punishment than Sodom, as we know from the words of Jesus:
Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time. No, nor ever shall be. Matt. 24: 21.
All this shows that the suffering was in this world. The Sodomites never received a hint that they were exposed to endless punishment, nor is there any record that they ever went to such a doom.
VARIOUS INSTANCES.
The wicked whose character is described from Adam to Moses, a period of twenty-five
hundred years, are never threatened with endless punishment, nor is it ever said to have been visited upon any. The builders of Babel, Joseph's brethren, Pharaoh, many wicked people are there threatened and punished, but not a word is said of endless punishment. Is it credible that for twenty-five hundred years God should have led men along to the brink of the grave, threatening them with all sorts of things, and entirely conceal this doom, which, if true, should have been reiterated to all from the cradle to the grave?
The punishments of sin are thus described two thousand five hundred years after Adam:
It shall come to pass, if you will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and statutes which I command you this day; that all these curses shall come upon you, and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your store. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall send upon you cursing, vexation and rebuke in all that you set your hand unto for to do. . . He shall smite you with consumption, and with a fever, with blasting and mildew; etc. In the morning you shall say "Would God it were evening," and at evening you shall say, "Would God it were morning." Deut. 28: 15-29, 67.
All through the Old Testament, subsequent to the enunciation of the law, the wicked who are spoken of are never threatened with any but temporal penalties. Abimelech is a case in point:
Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father in slaying his seventy brethren. Judges 9: 56
So with Ahithophel, the suicide:
And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father. 2 Sam.17: 23.
Is it asked how this suicide was punished? Paul answers:
Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment. 1 Tim. 5: 24.
Hence Paul tells us that under the Law
Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. Heb. 2: 2.
Now for four thousand years every wicked act was fully punished in this life. "Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward." Would God have an endless hell and keep it a secret from the world for four thousand years? Would he keep sinners for four thousand years from a hell he had made, and then use it as a prison for other sinners no worse? No; the silence of God for forty centuries is a demonstration that he had no such place reserved for any of his children.
If God all the time he was threatening these limited consequences of sin, intended to inflict a doom compared to which all these are as nothing, then he deceived the people, for this is the full statement of the law:
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. Lev. 26: 46.
The laws of Moses enumerate many forms of punishment, many different penalties, but never lisp a hint of endless woe.
THE TESTIMONY OF SCHOLARS.
That endless punishment is not revealed in the law, the wisest theologians of all creeds agree:
Warburton: In the Jewish Republic, both the rewards and punishments promised by heaven were temporal only. Such as health, long life, peace, plenty, and dominion, etc. Diseases, premature death, war, famine, want, subjections, and captivity, etc. And in no one place of the Mosaic Institutes is there the least mention, or intelligible hint, of the rewards and punishments of another life. - Div. Leg, vol. iii - JAHN: We have not authority, therefore, decidedly to say, that any other motives were held out to the ancient Hebrews to pursue the good and avoid the evil, than those which were derived from the rewards and punishments of this life. Archaeology p.398.—MILMAN: The law-giver (Moses) maintains a profound silence on that fundamental, if not of political, at least of religious legislation -- rewards and punishments in another life. He substituted temporal chastisements and temporal blessings. On the violation of the constitution followed inevitably blighted harvests, famine, pestilence, defeat, captivity; on its maintenance, abundance, health, fruitfulness, victory, independence. How wonderfully the event verified the prediction of the inspired legislator! How invariably apostasy led to adversity – repentance and reformation to prosperity! Hist. Jews, vol. i. –DR. CAMPBELL: It is plain that in the Old Testament the most profound silence is observed in regard to the state of the deceased, their joys and sorrows, happiness or misery.
If, then, the penalties of sin are limited in duration, we can understand this reticence, even though those penalties should continue in the future state, but if God meant all the time he was thus declaring temporal consequences, to inflict endless torment, he was deceiving his children -- an impossible supposition.
Were endless punishment true, the Garden of Eden should have sighed the awful tidings from all its leaves, it should have been thundered from the
rocky pulpit of Sinai, and have been shrieked into the ears of every transgressor from Adam down. Would a good being, a Father, would a decent being, any one better than a demon, sum up and particularize a score of trivial penalties, and conceal the one that should be mentioned most of all? Would a wicked human king threaten three months' imprisonment, say, for crime, and then behead the criminal, when convicted, all the time concealing from him this capital penalty? Is it supposable that God would stay to talk about drought, and fever, and scab, and itch, when he had intended to burn, or even to imprison in an endless hell? Such a supposition is too enormous for the human mind to cherish.
The silence of God for four thousand years, the fact that he never hinted at such a doom, demonstrates that it was not then impending, and if not then, under the severe dispensation of Moses, it is impossible that it should be found in the milder message of the Gospel of the grace of God.
Now all Christians admit that the people in the times of the Old Testament accepted the doctrine of the resurrection. Is not the fact that nothing is said to the contrary prima facie evidence that the resurrection state was by then regarded as one in which all was to be well? Is not the silence of the Scriptures concerning any evil fate there, a powerful argument in behalf of the New Testament doctrine of the resurrection, that all there are equal to the angels?
But let us proceed to some or the most striking of the positive declarations teaching universal salvation. We adduce first:
THE PROMISE TO ADAM.
While we would not claim that God gave to Adam a distinct declaration that our first parent understood to mean universal salvation, we are certain that he gave him the germ of that sublime result when he announced the consequences of the warfare between man and evil. After Adam had sinned, the first promise was given:
I will put enmity between you (the serpent,) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel Gen. 3: 15.
This was an announcement of the destruction of Satan, the tempter and enemy of man, inasmuch as a wound on the head of a serpent indicates his destruction, while a wound on the heel of man is not irremediable. What is the serpent? It is explained as follows:
Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. From whence come wars and fighting amongst you? come they not hence, even of the lusts that war in your members? James 1: 14; 4: 1.
But Satan and his works, the lusts and sins of mankind, are to be destroyed:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death, were, all their life-time, subject to bondage. Heb. 2: 14, 15. For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3: 8. So Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20: 14.
And the apostle exulted over their destruction:
Oh Death where is your sting? Oh Grave where is your victory? 1 Cor. 15: 55.
The promise to Adam was fulfilled in Christ, who came to vanquish the vanquisher, and who placed in operation those means that will result in delivering man from all his foes, death, hell, the devil, and the works of the devil. The original promise to Adam contained in embryo the idea of universal deliverance through Christ.
THE ABRAHAMIC PROMISE.
How can any believer in the Bible escape the conclusion that the reconciliation of all men to God is taught in the promise to Abraham?
Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show you; and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless you; and curse him that curses you; and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. Gen. 12: 1-3. And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore: and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice. Gen. 22: 15-18. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in your seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Acts 3: 25, 26.
I. It is a Universal Promise. Every human being who ever lived or ever shall live is included in "all the nations families and kindreds of the earth."
II. The blessing is Christian Salvation. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to your seed which is Christ. Gal. 3: 16
III. It consist in a Gospel Blessing. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel to Abraham, saying: In you shall all nations be blessed. Gal. 3: 8.
IV. It is Salvation from Sin, through faith. Know you therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In you all nations shall be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Gal. 3: 7, 8, 9. It included the murderers of Christ. But you denied the Holy One, and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead: whereof we are witnesses. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in your seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Acts 3: 14, 15: 25, 26.
V. It is to be fulfilled in the resurrection. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? Acts. 26: 6, 8. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. Heb. 6: 19, 20.
VI. It has been attested by the Oath of God. For
when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself saying, surely, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the vail: whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. Heb. 6: 13-20.
VII. Man's unbelief will not prevent its fulfillment. For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar: as it is written, That you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged. Rom. 3: 3-5 If we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself. 2 Tim. 2: 13.
VIII. Man's disobedience will not always exist. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. Gal. 3: 17.
IX. All the conditions are to be complied with, and it is so certain that it is spoken of as already accomplished. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? Gen. 18: 17, 18.
X. Abraham believed it. Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. Gal. 3: 6. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And, therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness. Rom. 4: 20.
XI. All Christians are required to believe it. Now, it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him: but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Rom. 4: 23-25.
Thus God's promise to Abraham is (1) a universal one, (2) of Christian salvation, (3) consisting in a Gospel blessing, (4) of deliverance from sin, including even the murderers of Christ, (5) and will be finally fulfilled in the resurrection, to which (6) the oath as well as (7) the promise of God is pledged, and (8) against which man's unbelief, (9) and sinfulness will not always be opposed, but (10) all the conditions will be complied with, and it is so clearly stated that (11) Abraham believed it, and enjoyed the righteousness that comes through faith, and (12) all men are under obligations to see in Christ the promised seed that will deliver humanity from sin. Can Scriptural demonstration go beyond this positive language?
THE PROMISES TO THE OBEDIENT
In the Old Testament teach that immortal blessedness is not, but that limited happiness and prosperity are the reward of goodness:
He that dwells in the secret place of the Most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. He
shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation. Ps. 91: 1-16. Great peace have they which love your law: and nothing shall offend them. Ps. 119: 165. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delights in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his seed is blessed. Ps. 37: 23-25. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you; because he trusts in you. Isa. 26: 3. My son, forget not my law, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and long life, and peace shall they add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them about your neck: Write them upon the table of your heart; So shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Prov. 3: 1-4. See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil in that I command you this day to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God shall bless you in the land whither you go to possess it. Deut. 30: 15-16. And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your kine, and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be your basket and your store. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blest shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall cause your enemies that rise up against
you to be smitten before your face: they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand unto; and he shall bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord shall establish you a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn unto you, if you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give you. The Lord shall open unto you his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow. And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if that you hearken unto the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them. Deut. 28: 1-13.
This was the reward, and the extent of it, of well doing. Exactly opposite were
THE THREATS TO THE WICKED.
These were not endless but limited, not hereafter but here.
Thorns and snares are in the way of the forward. Prov. 22: 5. A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Ps. 107: 45. The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace says my God, to the wicked. Isa. 57: 20, 21. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of the oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; and his off-spring shall not be satisfied with bread. Those that remain
of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. He builds his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper makes. The rich man shall lie down but he shall not be gathered; he opens his eyes, and he is not. Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he departs: and as a storm hurls him out of his place. For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. Men shall clap their hands at him and, shall hiss him out of his place. Job. 27: 13-23.
To attempt to quote all the passages that teach this doctrine would be to cite every precept and every declaration in the Old Testament. All that refers to Adam, Cain, the Antediluvians, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot's Wife, Pharaoh, the Egyptians, Ahab, Solomon, Jeroboam, Absalom, Amnon, David, the Israelites, teaches that all are visited by limited, temporal punishments and pains, and the doctrine is continually taught, that after the wrath of God has run its full career in pain and penalty to the transgressor, the Divine Mercy remains unspent and inexhaustible.
GATHERED TO THEIR FATHERS.
The reader of the Old Testament is frequently met by passages that demonstrate that the ancient worthies who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, cherished this sublime faith. Is not this the teaching of such passages as these:
Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the Ghost and died,
and was gathered to his people. And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. Gen. 25: 8, 17; 35: 29; 49: 33.
They all went to "one place" to meet the "great majority," and there is no hint that any part of them went to any endless prison house. Indeed, the testimony is that at death all go to God.
THE SPIRIT RETURNS TO GOD.
Solomon declared, when describing the dissolution of the body:
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Eccl. 12: 7.
He depicts the destiny of every member of the body: the "keepers of the house," the hands; the "strong men," the legs; "the lookers out at the windows," the eyes; "the silver cord," the spinal marrow; "the golden bowl," the skull; "the pitcher at the fountain, the wheel at the cistern." the heart; all these become dust. Would he not tell us the fate of the soul? He does, it "returns to God who gave it." There, in the hands of its maker and owner, it cannot fail to be cared for.
THE FATE OF AMNON.
Incidental passages frequently occur in the Old Testament showing that the Bible worthies entertained the idea that the next state of existence is an improved one, even to those who die in sin. We find an instance where it reads:
And the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon seeing he was dead. 2 Sam. 13: 39.
The king of Israel loved his two sons, but when the wickeder of them died, he felt at ease concerning him, was even comforted, while he still mourned over the living one. Why? Because he believed in his heart that he had gone where "the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Job 3: 17. Would David have been comforted concerning his son who committed a horrible and nameless crime, and died drunk, had he believed that he had gone to a world of endless torment? No, he was comforted because he believed he had bettered his condition. This harmonizes with what his son Solomon subsequently said:
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive. Eccl. 4: 1, 2.
When the wise seer uttered these words millions of sinners had died - the ante-diluvians, the people of the wicked cities, and multitudes besides, and yet he could say of the dead - all the dead - they are more to be praised, that is, better off, than the living. He therefore agreed with his father David that those who leave this world improve their condition. He teaches that those who lay aside what Paul calls "the body of this death," our earthly nature, are in improved relations. They cannot, therefore, be in a state of ceaseless torment, but must be in a world where Divine disciplines are being administered, for the purpose of working out the redemption of the sinner. The dead are not more to be praised than the living unless they are better, purer, holier; and no father, loving a son,
could be comforted because he was dead, unless he believed in his heart of hearts that he was better, happier, and so better off than when living. David mourned over wicked Absalom, living, but was reconciled, "COMFORTED," as he thought of wicked Amnon, dead. The dead son must have been better off than the living son.
Let us glance at a few of the declarations in the Old Testament, confessedly less numerous and less explicit than those of the New Testament, and yet developing the increasing purpose that grows and augments from the beginning to the end of Revelation.
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD GIVES PEACE.
Job says: "Acquaint yourself with God and be at peace. Job. 22: 21. If he were the being the creeds describe, the better we knew him the more we would be tormented. Ignorance of his character would be the soul's bliss. But the better he is known the more peace the soul enjoys. Hence he must be incapable of torturing the soul forever, or punishing it more than its good demands. It is ignorance of God that makes the soul unhappy, while knowledge of him renders the soul peaceful. Hence it follows that God has no attribute that would harm or injure. To know his purposes, to understand his disposition, to see him as he is, gives joy.
GOD'S ANGER IS LIMITED
A great number of passages of Scripture speak of what the Bible calls God's anger or wrath -meaning thereby his disapprobation and punishment of sin - as limited, brief and destined to end, frequently contrasting it with his mercy, which, it is said,
will never end, and declaring that the soul of man could not exist as the victim of endless wrath.
God's delight is in mercy, and he displays anger towards men for their benefit, and when the purpose of the anger is accomplished, mercy is resumed.
He retains not his anger forever because he delights in mercy. Micah 7: 18. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger forever. Ps. 103: 8, 9. For his anger endures but a moment: in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Ps. 30: 5. In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. Isa. 54: 8.
One reason why God will not "be angry forever" is, because no soul could endure the storm of God's endless wrath. The benevolence of God is demonstrated in the statute of limitations, by which when pain becomes unendurable, the victim dies. Endless torture no soul could endure.
For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit would fail before me and the soul which I have made. Isa. 57: 16. Hence, The Lord will not cast off forever; but, though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies, for he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. Lam. 3: 31-33.
God could not be angry with any soul forever, because it would be infinite folly in him to do so. The wise man says:
Anger rests in the bosom of fools!" Eccl. 7: 9.
Can it rest forever in the great heart of infinite wisdom? Preposterous thought, Anger is contrary to God's nature, but mercy is his delight. Hence
GOD'S MERCY IS UNLIMITED.
O, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endures forever. Ps. 107: 1.
In Psalm 136, this language, "his mercy endures forever" occurs twenty times. There never can come a moment, in the endless existence of the sinner, when he cannot resort to the fountain of infinite mercy, and find a full supply of Divine grace. It is for all souls, and the fountain will ever be accessible.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE PROPHETS.
The prophets often "built better than they knew," and uttered truths which later generations comprehended better than they did themselves. Especially is this true of some of their utterances concerning man's final destiny. Even in the times of our Savior, the prophets were not understood even by those who professed to follow them. For instance, the Sadducees did not accept the doctrine of the resurrection, while they professed to follow Moses, and yet Jesus told them that God taught the resurrection to Moses when he said:
I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, for God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Luke 20: 38.
So the Apostle declares:
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3: 20, 21.
We have shown that Moses prophesied the destruction of man's passions and sins, when he announced the death of the serpent. And we must accept the declaration of the Apostle that all the holy prophets, ever since the beginning of the world,
foresaw and foretold "the restitution or all things." Let us consult a few of the prophetic declarations. The sweet singer of Israel often utters the great truth on which he built the hopes he cherished.
UNIVERSAL OBEDIENCE.
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures. He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Ps. 72: 6-8. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before you. Ps. 22: 27. All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord; and shall glorify your name. Ps. 86: 9.
This is David's method of expressing universal obedience.
MAN'S INFIRMITY DOUBTS GOD'S GOODNESS.
He regards doubt of God's universal and unending goodness as an infirmity of man, founded on no reality in God's purpose or disposition. Hence he declares:
Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? does his promise fail for evermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. - Ps. 67: 7-10. For he says, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever. Ps. 54: 8-9. For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Ps. 30: 5. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my
commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes, nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. Ps. 89: 30-33.
UNIVERSAL DOMINION.
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. Ps. 165: 8, 9. All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. Ps. 86: 9. O you that hears prayer, unto you shall all flesh come. Ps. 65: 2. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before you. Ps. 22: 27.
See also his faith in the welfare of his wicked son Amnon as expressed heretofore. We might here rehearse his triumphant exaltations concerning the brevity of God’s anger, and the endless duration of his mercy, elsewhere found in the Psalms. He evidently looked forward to the expiration of God's anger, and the triumph of Divine mercy and grace in all souls.
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
Uttered some of the most comprehensive and glorious of all the statements of this doctrine ever framed by human lips or pen.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. Isa. 25: 8.
If we have any doubt whether this teaches universal deliverance from death and sorrow, in other words, whether the prophet inculcates universal life, and happiness, we have but to turn to 1 Cor. 15, where Paul quotes it, and applies it to the final
resurrection, so that if Paul has not made a mistake, Isaiah, in this language teaches the restitution of all things to God.
GOD'S WORD CONQUERS.
Look unto me and be you saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself; the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear, surely shall say: "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." Isa. 45: 24-27.
Here is universal worship and service.
He, (Christ) shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Isa. 53: 11.
As he died to redeem all souls, and is satisfied with the result, it follows that the purpose of his mission was accomplished.
The triumph of God's grace is thus described:
As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isa. 55: 10, 11.
The Divine word is irresistible, and it has gone forth to compel every soul to confess righteousness and strength in the Lord. This certainly was a prophetic anticipation of the universal reign of Christ. The prophet must have been inspired by the spirit of this faith when he inquired:
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. Isa. 49: 15.
God will never forget a child of his or cease to care for it, or neglect it, and can only fail to
restore it to himself from lack of means, a lack we cannot impute to one whose wisdom and power are infinite.
JEREMIAH
Foresaw the grand result when he declared:
Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke although I was a husband unto them, says the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the Lord, for I will forgive their sin and I will remember their iniquity no more. Jer. 31: 31-34.
It will at once be perceived that this language is uttered of the Jews, but it should be remembered that the Jews cannot be saved till after the Gentiles are redeemed.
For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. Rom. 11: 25, 26.
This is the substance of his declaration found in Lam. 3, 31, 32. Thus even the "weeping prophet" saw the bow of promise in the sky, beheld "the rainbow round about the throne!"
HOSEA
Agrees with his brethren, the prophets.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will
be your plagues: O grave, I will be your destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. Hos. 13: 14.
We are not left in doubt as to the meaning of this language for Paul quotes it in 1 Cor. 15 and declares that it denotes the anastasis, or ascension of all humanity to a condition of holiness and happiness. Even Hosea foresaw the destruction of hell, and the delivery of its inhabitants at the final resurrection.
MICAH.
Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger forever because he delights in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities, and you will cast all their sins into the depth of the sea. You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. Mic. 7: 18, 19, 20.
This reference to the promise to Abraham, coupled with the declaration that he retains not his anger forever, harmonizes with the idea expressed by
DANIEL
And there was given him dominion, and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him: his dominion is an ever lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Dan. 7: 14.
Thus, whatever may be the extent of sin, or its duration, even those who had not seen the fullness of the Gospel as revealed by him "who brought life and immortality to light," were able to agree with
THE "WISE WOMAN,"
Who told King David:
For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on
the ground which cannot be gathered up again, neither does God respect any person, yet does he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. 2 Sam. 14: 14.
The Prophet Malachi comprehended this when he called Jesus
A REFINER.
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. Mal. 3: 3.
The silver refiner kindles the fire beneath his crucible that he may purge the dross away from the precious metal, and when he can see his perfect image reflected in the molten mass, his task is done. So Jesus will pursue his great work till the dross of sin shall be purged from all hearts, and every soul shall "resemble the Son as the Son resembles the Father." In thus designating Jesus as the Refiner, the prophet foretold the Divine event to which the whole creation moves," when
"O'er every foe victorious,
He on his throne shall rest,
From age to age more glorious -
All blessing and all blest.
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove.
His name shall stand forever,-
That name to us is Love."
Thus the end of the elder dispensation harmonizes with its beginning, when the universe was finished, and all that God had made was pronounced very good.
And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good." Gen. 1 :31.
We have thus briefly denoted the more prominent considerations in behalf of our blessed faith that are recorded in the Old Testament. It was not to
be expected that the dim twilight of Revelation would be radiant with the glory that bursts from the cross having beheld the dawning of the truth, let us turn with delight to the glory that streams from the Sun of Righteousness. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ we shall find the truth so plainly revealed that "he who runs may read," and "the wayfaring man need not err," as he consults the declarations of him "who spoke as man never spoke," and the words of his disciples who repeated the blessed truths they had heard him utter.
The great truth of universal redemption is taken for granted, or expressed on nearly every page.
THE NAME JESUS.
Before the birth of Jesus the Angel of the Lord comprehended the grand result when he said to Joseph,
You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. 1: 21
He is to save his people. Who are his people? Sinners, for they are to be saved from their sins. How many sinners will he reach and redeem?
Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. Ps. 2: 8. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hands. John 3: 35.
In one sense, in the sense employed in this passage, the people of Christ are sinners, and all sinners are his people, and as "no man lives and sins not," the expression "his people" denotes all men. The apostle illustrates the thought when he says:
God has concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy on all. Rom. 11: 32.
The heavenly messenger made his name, Jesus, (one who saves,) an epitome of his character and mission. He is entitled to be called Jesus, because he will deliver his people, sinners, all men from transgression and sin.
THE WORD GOSPEL.
The word Gospel, (Anglo Saxon, "good spell,") signifies good news, glad tidings. Nothing so deserves this description as the doctrine that announces the deliverance of universal humanity from sin and sorrow; and this Gospel is to all.
Behold I bring you good tidings (the Gospel) of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2: 10.
It is a glad announcement to all souls, because it teaches all that sin, error, suffering, and evil shall be destroyed. No other Christian doctrine so deserves the name Gospel, and this blessed assurance is fully entitled to it.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS ANTHEM.
This was the burthen of the first Christmas song, on the plains of Bethlehem, on the birth-night of the Savior. The messenger from the skies said to the shepherds:
Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2: 10, 11.
And the heavenly choir repeated the declaration in angelic chorus:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2: 14.
The glad tidings of joy are ultimately to reach all people, Christ's people, sinners. To say that one soul will be omitted from the saving influence of his grace and truth, is to charge the angels
with falsehood, for then the glad tidings would not be to all people. The aged Simeon caught a glimpse of the truth when, taking the infant Jesus in his arms, he said:
Lord, now let you your servant depart in peace, according to your word: For mine eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel. Luke 2: 29-32.
JOHN THE BAPTIST.
John the Baptist differed very much from modern Baptists in the style and substance of his preaching. In announcing the coming of one, after him, whose shoe latchet he was not worthy to loosen, the forerunner and herald of the Savior cried:
As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Luke 3: 4-6.
He thus affirms that the moral universe shall have no valleys, no hills, nothing crooked or perverse, but that universal salvation shall result from the laws of Christ. "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." He uttered the same great truth, when, seeing Jesus approach, he said:
Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. John 1: 29.
Not the sin of a few, or even of many, not of a part only, but of the WHOLE WORLD!
AN INCIDENT AND ITS LESSON.
In the very beginning of our Savior's ministry he came to "Nazareth where he had been
brought up," and the account says (Luke 4: 16-20.) He read to the people in a Jewish synagogue. He read these words:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Isa. 61: 1.
Here he stopped short, in the middle of a sentence, refusing to read the remainder of the prophet's language, and "closed the book, and gave it to the minister, and sat down" What was the sentence he refused to read? This:
And the day of vengeance of our God. Isa. 61: 2.
Why did he end thus abruptly, and decline to read what the prophet had spoken of him? Because he came to represent God as a Father and Savior, and would not utter of himself one word that would seem to contradict that great fact. Now it is admitted by all commentators that the Old Testament is silent concerning the subject of endless hell, but say some, the New Testament teaches that awful doctrine, and Jesus came to reveal to men endless torment in the immortal world. And yet when Jesus stood for almost the first time in the presence of his people, and read the prophetic declaration concerning himself, he refused to admit that he came to announce a day of vengeance, but rolled up the parchment in the middle of a verse. He would not read language that might seem to teach that he came to represent God as other than the Father and Savior of all.
BE LIKE GOD.
What is the spirit of that grandest discourse ever yet heard or uttered, the Sermon on the Mount. Be like God. He is kind to the wicked, good to the bad. Be like him.
Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. But love you your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be you therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6: 27, 28, 35, 36. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just, and on the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matt. 5: 44-48.
Could this language be employed concerning God, if he consigned the sinner to an endless hell? And if he did torment his enemies forever, should we be like him, if we loved our enemies. The fact that we are like God only when we are kind to those who injure us, demonstrates that God is the same, and as he is without variableness, or even the shadow of turning," James 1: 17, the same yesterday to-day and forever, Heb. 13: 8, it follows that he will always manifest himself with impartial kindness towards all. The spirit of this language is in eternal hostility to the idea of
endless torment, and inculcates the restitution of all souls to Him whose property they are. We must treat each other as God treats us, in order to be merciful as God is merciful. If God is not merciful to all who offend him, where is our obligation? and if we must not be unmerciful because he is not, how can he eternally punish? God forbids us to overcome evil with evil, and demands of us that we overcome evil with good.
Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom. 12: 21
And yet it is said that he employs his infinite power in overcoming evil by evil to all eternity! "Recompense no man evil for evil," Rom. 12: 17, is the Divine injunction, and yet God employs eternity in disobeying his own commands! We are told to bless our foes:
If your enemy hunger feed him; if he thirst give him drink; for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head, Rom 12: 20.
And yet we are taught that damned souls shall cry for water in vain - a drop of water - to all eternity. Thus God is represented as not doing what he commands us to do, and doing what he commands us not to do, and that to all eternity! Let it be shown that God is unforgiving, cruel, unmerciful, will torment his enemies forever, and men will resemble him most when they are most fiendish. If God were to torment one soul forever, a Sioux Indian would be his best representative among men. But as we are most like him when kindest and tenderest, it follows that his mercy and love towards every child of his will be without limit or bound.
As this Divine discourse proceeds, it culminates in
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
And this may be called the Universalist Profession of Faith. All men are required to recognize and address God daily as their Heavenly Father; one who is always kind and merciful toward all his children. They are commanded in that prayer to pray for his kingdom to come, his kingdom of holiness and purity, and for his will to be done. We will show hereafter that his will is that all souls shall be saved, (See 1 Tim 2: 1-6; Eph. 1: 9-14; John 6: 38-40). It is declared that all true Christian prayer must be in faith, nothing doubting, (1 Tim 2: 8,) for whatever is not of faith is sin, Rom. 14: 23). Now, how can any one address God as a Father. and pray that his will may be done, and understand that will to include the final welfare of all souls, and offer that prayer in faith, and not be a Universalist? The doxology of the prayer is in the same vein. He who offers it understandingly, and who prays in faith, can say triumphantly, "Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory," and his "Amen." Signifying, So may it be, and So shall it be, is an aspiration and a psalm, a petition and an exultation. He sees the Father's will universally triumphant, or his Amen is but an ignorantly pronounced expletive offending heaven with idle rhetoric. Unless he utters it as a triumphant ejaculation that the desire "Deliver us from evil" will at length be answered in universal redemption, his Amen has no meaning. But let us dwell a little on the one great fact in this prayer that demonstrates universal salvation:
THE UNIVERSAL FATHERHOOD.
The prophet Malachi (2: 10) asks. "Have we not
all one Father?" If he employed this language in a restricted sense, confining it to the Jews, Christianity enlarges it. In the Lord's Prayer, above, all are under perpetual obligations to call God by the dear name that describes as no other word can, his kindly purpose towards all men, his children. Jesus declares: "One is your Father:" Matt 23: 9. Paul affirms, "There is one God and Father of all. Eph. 4: 6, and he adds that his punishments are all administered to correct and reform those who, by sinning, deserve them.
We have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected as and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us, after their own pleasure but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Heb. 12: 9, 10.
He illustrates his paternal love not only in sending the sunshine and the rain on the evil and the good, who are alike his children, but he punishes because he loves and for the purpose of redemption. Sin does not destroy this relation. It continues when man forgets or disregards it.
A certain man had two sons; and the younger or them said to his father, father, give me the portion or goods that falls to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his field to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and
I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him: and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. Luke 15: 11-24.
God continues to be the father of the lost, remaining always the same to sinners.
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten their God. Return you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. Jer. 3: 21, 22.
We are to judge God's feelings towards his children by our own feelings towards our offspring.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matt. 7: 9-11.
Make the heart of the best earthly parent the unit to be multiplied as far as the mind can go, and the quotient - differing in degree, but the same in kind, indicates Our Father. The earthly parent will do all he can for his children, but God not only will do so much, but he can do all he will. Let any earthly parent look into his own heart, and in the
drop of love there he will see reflected the great heart of God, planning, devising, executing, in time and in eternity, the best possible for every child. The fact of God's paternity infinitely wise and powerful, is a guaranty of universal salvation. God created, governs, punishes, does all things as a Father. He will not permit final woe to befall any one of his vast family. He will accomplish the ultimate welfare of each and all, this we know, as truly as we know that he is "Our Father."
How the Scriptures dwell on this great fact.
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matt 5: 44, 45.
That is, being the children of God, we ought to imitate him in character. God's paternal love resembles that of the good earthly parent for his children, only it is infinitely greater, and far more enduring.
Or what man is there of you whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matt. 7: 9-11. But Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. Isa. 49: 14, 15.
A parent would not cast off his child forever. Will God, whose love is infinite? The wicked are
still God's children, and are punished that they may be made better.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which spoke unto you as unto children. My son, despise not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is he "whom the father chastens not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh that corrected us and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby. Heb. 12: 5-11.
We act like illegitimate children until punishment reforms us, but we are not such, for what would God be, if we were really illegitimate?
God is father in three senses:
1. By creation in his image. You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with honor and glory. Gen. 1, Ps. 8.
2. By faith in Christ and love of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. Rom. 8: 15.
3. By being raised in his perfect likeness at the final resurrection, as all souls will be. And Jesus answered and said unto them, the children of this world marry, and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection of the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither can they
die any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Luke 20: 34-36.
If the sinner forget his relation as a child of God, the Father remembers it, and though man cannot say, "Abba, Father. God says," My son give me your heart. Prov. 23: 26.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
What else than this is taught in that immortal parable, the Good Samaritan?
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he look out two pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, take care of him, and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again I will repay you. Which now of these three, think you, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, go and do you likewise. Luke 10: 30-37.
Here a man is given as an example to all time, of a divine and god like spirit, because he was merciful and compassionate to an enemy, ministered to his necessities, and relieved his wants. Would the God who gave to man this sublime ideal, violate it in his treatment of his enemies? Is not the parable of the Good Samaritan a demonstration that the
Father of men will employ all his infinite attributes in the most blessed work that men or angels, or the great God himself, can ever perform - the hallowed work of restoring and saving? Is not this story a guaranty of universal redemption?
THE GOSPEL LEAVEN.
The power of leaven is irresistible. However small the quantity placed in meal it overcomes by its fermentation, all opposition, and assimilates the entire mass to its own likeness. Jesus makes this beautiful figure illustrative of the irresistible influence of his Gospel in the human heart, in the moral world.
Another parable spoke he unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matt. 13: 33. And again he said, whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Luke 13: 20, 21.
The Gospel leaven must prevail universally; it will ferment until "the whole is leavened."
THE JEWISH LEAVEN.
The Sadducees taught that there is no resurrection, and the Pharisees taught endless torment after death, for a portion of mankind. Jesus warned his disciples, alike, against the doctrines of each party.
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. The disciples did not understand his meaning. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O you of little faith, why reason you among yourselves, because you have brought no bread? How is it that you do not understand that I spoke it not to you concerning bread, that you should beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matt. 16: 6-12.
The Sadducees taught no resurrection, the Pharisees believed in the future happiness of a portion of mankind. Jesus told his disciples to beware of both. Only one other view is possible, the final happiness of all.
ALL THE LOST ARE TO BE SAVED.
All Christians admit that men are in a lost condition. While there is no such language as "finally impenitent," or "finally lost" in the Bible, the Gospel everywhere assumes that souls are lost. For the purpose of seeking and saving such, all such, Jesus came to this world.
The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. Luke 19: 10.
Not a part, but all the lost. Will he succeed? This question he answers, and in the three parables, the Lost Silver, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Prodigal, he teaches that all the lost are to be restored.
What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it. A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, father give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he came to himself, he said; how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare,
and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, father I have sinned against heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, father I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to he called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, - for this, my son, was dead and is alive again; he was lost, AND IS FOUND. Luke 15: 11-22.
Now, had these parables been related to teach the common doctrines of the sacrificial church, they would have represented the shepherd as having found say twenty sheep, while eight were irreclaimable; the woman would have lost, say six pieces of silver, and found but two, while four were utterly gone, and the father would have had, say four disobedient children, only one of whom returned, while three wandered in the great desert of sin irredeemable forever. But this is not the teaching of these simple yet divine stories. Their significance is not in the loss of sheep, or silver, or prodigal, nor in the value placed on them by their owners, nor in their diligence in searching. There are beautiful lessons in all this, but the emphasis is placed where the Christian world does not place it, not on the loss, or the finding of a part, but on the fact that the search was continued until all the lost were found. The word that Christians overlook, is the word UNTIL - "Until he find it," "Until she find it," th