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READ: PSALM xxxvi. and 2 COR. v.
1-9.
ONE HOUSE WITH MANY MANSIONS.
“In my Father's house are many mansions.”
– John xiv. 2.
THE spirit in which the early Church regarded the prospect of death, and of the
life beyond the grave, is certainly not characteristic of the average experience
of Christians in the present day. The future world, and the solemn step which is
to usher us into the presence of the Redeemer are associated by us with terror
rather than with that joy which made St. Paul exclaim, “To me to die is gain” –
“I would rather be absent from the body and present with our Lord” and which
made the cry, “The Lord is at hand,” the watchword of courage.
Among the many causes which might reasonably be assigned for this common dread
of the inevitable change which awaits us, the unknown character of the future
life certainly contributes a very natural element of fear. When the Scriptures
are searched for information, there is much imagery discovered, evidently not
intended to be received as anything more than imagery. There are many hints,
also, suggestive of the vast increase of knowledge and perfection which is in
store for the children of God. But when positive statements are sought, which
may clearly delineate the nature of the life beyond the grave, not only are few
found, but an almost consistent silence is maintained. Such natural questions
as, Where is heaven? Is there an intermediate state, or do the souls of
believers immediately pass into glory? What is meant by “the spiritual body?”
How and under what circumstances shall friends meet and be recognised? – these
and a thousand similar inquiries are left without a definite answer in the Word
of God. When we earnestly ponder on them; when they are vividly suggested, as
some dear one passes from us into the great unknown, and we ask, “Where is he
now? what is he feeling, seeing, doing?”; when we search out the grounds of
popular beliefs, or try to put into clear shape the vague expressions which
content the unreflecting; we are appalled at the darkness, which still enshrouds
the momentous change from the seen to the unseen.
And that sense of ignorance is connected with other feelings which tend to
deepen our horror of death. Not only is the other world unknown to us, but we
love this present world. Life, with its warm friendships, is very dear to us. We
rejoice in the beauty of earth – in the flush of its morning glory, and in the
splendour of its sunsets. The excitement of business, the advancing history of
humanity, the progress of the Church, the discoveries of science, the mines of
literature yet unexplored by us, the world of art, and poetry, and song, the
flash of kindly humour, and the everyday tale of sweet domestic bliss all these
have an inexpressible charm for us. We are loath to leave them. To close our
eyes on those heavens which have canopied us since childhood, with their
drifting clouds and changing lights, to take the last look at hill and woodland,
or on the old home whose every room is linked with blessed memories, and to pass
from the circle of dear familiar faces into that vague, mysterious life “beyond
the veil” – it is this which fills many a religious mind with an uncontrollable
awe, or rather dread of death.
But if such feelings are natural, they are none the less unworthy. Scripture may
not give much positive information regarding the exact conditions of the life to
come, yet there are suggestive hints afforded which, if duly considered, ought
to inspire us with joyful expectancy. One of the most pregnant of these
incidental expressions, is the promise given by our Lord to His disciples before
His death, “I go to prepare a place for you.”
As we ponder on this saying, the first thing which occurs to us is the fact, so
frequently stated in Scripture, that this “place,” which we have found so fair
and precious, was “prepared” by the same Person, Who tells us that He is now
gone to prepare another suitable for a higher range of existence. “All things
were made by Jesus Christ.” The eternal Word has ever been the agent of Divine
manifestation in nature as in grace, and He Who made the earth seems to have
prepared it for man. It was His prescient wisdom which stored those mines of
silver, and iron, and coal, which man now opens for his use; which poured forth
the mighty rivers running as channels of intercourse through continents; which
hewed out the sheltered harbours, and which spread the seas as the pathway of
commerce from shore to shore. Physical geography shows the fitness of this
planet for educating the human race, and for developing those qualities which
give a moral value to its history. The beauty of the earth is also His gift. If
we delight in the majesty of the mountain range, or in the marvellous colouring
of the richer landscape, we know that all that is lovely for eye or ear has been
made by Him. He, also, has constituted the social system in which our affections
find their education. The names of father, child, brother, sister, husband,
friend, represent the blessed relationships in which He has placed us. In like
manner the charm of social intercourse, the ties which bind communities together
in mutual dependence, the thirst for knowledge, the joy which springs from
loyalty to truth, or from the sacrifices of devoted love, are various elements
in that system of things which He has constituted; and which make this world so
full of interest to us, that we cling to it as to a home, from whose familiar
and blessed associations we fear to be parted by death.
But it has been prepared only for the first stage of our education. There is
much to indicate the inadequacy of this present life as the ultimate sphere of
bliss. The imperfectness of our physical powers, the existence of sin and
disease, the comparatively limited range presented to our observation, the
manifold objects regarding which questions are suggested that are necessarily
insoluble here; these, and many other particulars, indicate the incompleteness
of this present system, as a theatre wherein life can reach its complete
development.
But He who has prepared this “place,” which has been found so suitable for our
present stage of advancement, tells us that He has gone to prepare another
“place” fitted for our eternal growth; and if we love so well what He has given
us in the lower world, with what confidence ought we to expect the priceless
gift of a new sphere proportioned to our everlasting progress! He may not give
us such details as would satisfy our curiosity, regarding the conditions of that
future life, but He affords enough to inspire an assured and courageous
hopefulness. He speaks of it as His Father's house, and therefore the home of
our continual abiding; as having many mansions, or different spheres suitable
for that variety of pursuit which is needful for our manifold requirements. He
Himself is there, and finds His joy there, and in calling us to be with Him He
would make us partakers of His joy.
There is, besides, much to be inferred from this statement calculated to
strengthen our faith, and to comfort our shrinking hearts while we remain
ignorant of details. The fact that He who made this present world has also
prepared the world to come, teaches us that there will be a certain similarity
in both. The sameness of the Creator not only implies unity of purpose, but all
we know of God's ways of working here may lead us to expect that the change from
the lower to the higher will be gradual. There is a certain smoothness in the
gradations through which life passes here, from the lowest to the highest types.
Each law is intertwined with another, and every step upwards in the scale of
being, contains in itself a kind of prophecy of the next. We are, therefore,
warranted in expecting a certain harmony between the present and the future,
because we believe that He will act there on the same principles as He acts
here. He who has given us the thirst for knowledge here, will not quench that
thirst in the life to come, but rather afford an infinitely wider sphere for its
exercise. He who has kindled these undying affections, will not ruthlessly
destroy the sweet ties which bind us to our beloved ones, but will surely
restore to us the objects of our love; for to eradicate the holiest instincts of
our nature would be to deny the principles by which He has educated us in our
earthly home. He who has made social intercourse, the activities of enterprise,
and the self-sacrificing charities, a source of blessedness to our nature in
this life, will not abjure the principles on which our humanity has been made to
rest; but will, in the higher place, provide higher opportunities for the play
of sympathy and the exercise of every faculty.
We may confidently believe, therefore, that the good, the true, the loving
elements which constitute the joy of redeemed humanity in this world, will find
their counterpart and fruition in the “place” which He has gone to prepare for
us. It may be that many elements of joy here, may be transfigured there, into
new forms of glory, absorbing without destroying the imperfect types to which we
now cling. It may be that life, when disenthralled, may expand into fresh
conditions which will strike into unexpected harmony a range of chords, now
slumbering, but ready to awake on the first touch of the eternal dawn.
But however this may be, the hope which is set before us is infinitely glorious,
for it represents this world, to which we cling so fondly, as but the scene of
our spiritual childhood, the first step in the march towards perfection, and the
first stage in our endless education Godward. And as regards other matters which
are necessarily concealed from us, we may well trust that God who has made this
life so sweet to us. Leaving all else in His hands, we may rejoice that He who
has given us our friendships, and our many interests, is, out of the infinitude
of the same love, educating us for a higher and better world, and is preparing
that higher world for us.
—-
PRAYERS.
ETERNAL FATHER, who hast given us all that makes life true and blessed, filling
the earth with Thy glory, and encircling us with the love of friends and the
influences of home and society, we thank Thee that Thou hast called us in
Christ, to the hope of a higher and a better life, whither He has entered, who,
having borne our nature, is ascended to Thy right hand. We believe that because
He lives we shall live also. O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast told Thy children not
to be troubled, for that Thou hast gone to prepare a place for Thy brethren,
among the many mansions in Thy Father's house, prepare us also, we beseech Thee,
for that heavenly abode. Subdue us unto Thyself, casting down every high
thought, and conforming our wills to Thy will. Thus may we be with Thee even now
in spirit. And do Thou by Thy Spirit dwell in us, and as the time comes for each
of us to depart from the things which Thou hast given us here, grant that we may
pass, through Thy grace, unto the fulness of that perfect joy, which is at Thy
right hand for evermore; who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
GRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe Thine only --
begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may
also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him continually dwell, who
liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
OUR FATHER, & c.
The Sunday Home Service.
by the Reverend Donald MacLeod, D.D.
Thirty-second Sunday.
Pp. 203–210.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SDI_YfU-xt3b1sSvZSQQpiH9VYhyCt56VSbbQcw5nfs/edit?tab=t.0
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