(
—Rev. xiv. 13 v.).
The testimony of the Bible as to Christs Presence in the Spiritual World.
We glance, now, at some of the passages in the New Testament that teach the Presence of Jesus in the Intermediate World.
First, we place our Lord's words—'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world' (Greek —until the completion of the age, or Dispensation: Matt, xxviii. 20 v.).
We view those words as a promise to the whole Christian Church, and not merely to His Apostles. The command given at the same time as the promise —to go and teach all nations, and baptize them—was, undoubtedly, a command to the Church at large. But in whatever way the promise be taken, whether as given only to the Apostles, or to the Church that was to exist, it seems to us it cannot be fulfilled if there be no Presence of Christ in the Spiritual World.
We ask—Where are those Apostles now, and where is the great Church of Jesus, with the exception of that comparatively small section of it 'militant here in earth'? They and it are not in Heaven, if the Bible be right, but in the Spiritual World.
And the age, or Dispensation, has not yet reached its end, and Jesus is to be with them alway, even to that end. Is that true? We cannot see how it can be, if there be no Presence of Him in that Spirit-World, where are the Apostles, and where is the greater part of His Church, and where have been for eighteen centuries some of 'the host who have crossed the stream.'
Suppose, on the other hand, we take this beautiful promise to imply that the Saviour is in the Spiritual
World; what then? A magnificent vision of Him and His Church comes into view. I see a Christ Who does not complacently sit on His throne while myriads of unsaved ones must perish for lack of the knowledge of Him, and I see a Church, no longer half-hearted in her Master's work of saving souls, but doing Beyond what she never has done, and probably never will do on earth—obeying the Divine command to 'preach the Gospel to every creature.'
'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; . . . they rest from their labours'—yes, from all effort that is painful and wearisome; but not to be idle, not to cease their attempts to lead lost sheep to the unchanged Shepherd, but to be God's mediums of blessing to unfavoured others, because 'their
works
do follow
with
them.'
(—Rev. xiv. 13 v.).
There are statements of St Paul that declare the same truth. He wrote: 'Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight): we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord' (2 Cor. v. 6-8 v.).
The context of this passage shows that the Apostle knew that, at the death of his physical body, he would not go to Heaven, but into a World where he would be 'unclothed,' until such time as he should be 'clothed upon' with a new resurrection-body. His gaze was pre-eminently fixed upon 'the redemption of the body,' as the consummation of the work of salvation.
And yet he is willing rather to be absent from the body—to enter upon this 'unclothed' state—because thereby he would be present with the Lord.
How, we ask, could he be with Christ, if in the Spiritual World to which St Paul was going there was no Presence of Him?
The same great truth is expressed by the Apostle in another Epistle.
In Phil. i. 21, 23 and 24 v., he writes: 'To die is gain. . . . For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better; nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.'
There is another statement in the New Testament, which we commend to the thoughtful consideration of those who find it difficult to think of Christ being in the Intermediate World, on account of the words— 'He ascended into Heaven.'
St Luke describes a scene in which St Paul, in order that he might not be 'pulled in pieces' by the religionists of his day, was taken by force by the civil authorities, and put for safety into a castle. On the night following, 'the Lord stood by him, and said—Be of good cheer, Paul; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome' (Acts xxiii. 11 v.).
We ask this question—If Jesus, after His ascension, could, although He had ascended into Heaven, be at the side of St Paul in a Palestinian prison, why is it incredible that there is a Presence of Him in that great World where His saving power is needed so much?
Thus, from the Bible itself, are we sure that the Christ Who went among men on earth, 'doing good,' and lifting them to God, is still doing the same in that much larger World, into which is pouring, century after century, earth's myriads, unblessed, unenlightened and unsaved.
Some may frown at us for holding this glorious hope, but the trend of present-day religious thought is towards the recognition of it. This truth has been lost sight of for centuries, because the ugly shadows of Western theology have obscured the light of God.
They linger still—those shadows—but they are growing less black, in the returning day-dawn of a better understanding of the Word of God; and ere long, we venture to predict, they will have been scared away, and the Christ will stand forth, not as the Jesus Who loved so many and will win so few, but as the Christ of surpassing grandeur—the strong Son of God, mighty to save.
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