Upon this subject there is a great diversity of opinion among men,
and almost every possible conjecture has, from time to time, held the
attention of the human family. If we are to judge by the accepted
creeds of the Christian world, we find that an almost universal belief
exists in future punishment.
We find also that the fear of future punishment is used as a mighty
power to influence the minds of the people in a religious sense.
The fearful horrors of a never-ending punishment of the guilty are
portrayed in the liveliest colors from the Christian pulpits of the
land. They are so clearly defined, that in many instances we find that
the love and justice of God are lost sight of in the description of
the fearful character of the punishment He inflicts, not so much upon
unbelievers as upon those who reject the creeds, articles of faith and
discipline, whereby men seek to "know God."
Let the reader lay aside preconceived notions, tradition and prejudice,
and examine this subject with a desire to know the truth.
We shall again refer to holy writ, and ask the candid attention of the
reader to the proofs we place before him.
If we had the history of two persons, the one good and the other bad,
after they left the earth, or laid down their bodies in death, it would
serve as a guide to decide upon the future destiny of the whole human
family. Fortunately, there is left upon record such information, and by
it we can determine this all-important question.
No one will dispute the assertion that Jesus of Nazareth was
appropriately termed the "Just One," a person of pure and holy life.
The confession of guilt by one of the men crucified beside Jesus, is
testimony enough to convict him of being a bad man. "We receive the
due rewards of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss" (_Luke
xxiii_, 41), were the words of the {317} malefactor, thus confessing
that death was the proper penalty for the many crimes that he was
guilty of.
Now, here are two persons that were born upon the earth, lived out a
certain number of years, and then laid down their lives, their bodies
becoming cold and inanimate in death, while their spirits, freed from
their earthly tenements, passed into another stage of existence,
leaving their remains to be cared for in the ordinary rites of
sepulture.
While suffering the agonies of crucifixion, a conversation was carried
on between them, which will serve our purpose in opening up an
investigation.
"And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise:" (_Luke xxiii_, 42, 43.)
The request of the thief was so favorably looked upon, that he had
the promise made that he should accompany Jesus to a place which He
designated as paradise. He could not have consistently granted him
the privilege of entering into His kingdom, when He had replied to
Nicodemus, "Except a man be born of water" (baptized) "and of the
Spirit" (receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy
Ghost), "he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (_John ii_, 5.) The
thief, not having attended to these ordinances, could lay no claim
to that privilege; but, says Jesus, "Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise."
We are aware that the majority of the Bible-believing world are of
the opinion that the thief was permitted to enter heaven, and enjoy
the presence of God; but is this idea a correct one? Let us candidly
examine it and see; for on it hangs a great principle of truth.
After the body of Jesus had lain three days in the tomb, the spirit
again entered into it. The angels rolled the stone away from the mouth
of the sepulchre, and the resurrected Redeemer of the world walked
forth, clothed upon with an immortal body of flesh and bones.
Mary, who seemed to have some special interest in the Savior, came
early to the tomb, and, weeping, discovered that the body of her
Master was not there. A voice spake to her, saying, "Mary." She turned
herself, and saith unto him, "Rabboni;" which is to say, Master. Jesus
saith unto her, "Touch me not; for I AM NOT YET ASCENDED TO MY FATHER:
but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and
your Father: and to my God and your God." (_John xx_, 16, 17.)
{318} Here we have the assertion of Jesus, Himself, that during the
three days immediately subsequent to His crucifixion, while His body
lay in the tomb, His spirit did not go into heaven or the presence of
His Father. Logically, it must follow, neither did that of the thief.
The generally-accepted idea, therefore, of the thief's being saved,
must inevitably fall to the ground. Jesus asserted that "Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise," and upon His return to earth He informed
Mary that He had not ascended to His Father.
The question naturally arises, where had He been during these three
days? We are not left in doubt upon this point, but scripture plainly
points out the character of the duties He was called upon to perform
while His body rested in peace in the newly-made tomb of Joseph. He to
whom Jesus transferred the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and who stood
at the head of the twelve apostles, would certainly be accepted as a
competent witness in this matter; and, by turning to his epistles, we
gain this information: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also He went
and PREACHED UNTO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON." (_I. Peter iii_, 18, 19.)
Here we have an account of what He was doing during the three days'
absence from the body: preaching unto the spirits in prison, also a
very clear explanation as to where the thief went. It was to a prison
world, where he would have an opportunity to hear the Savior preach the
gospel of deliverance to the captive spirits, "Which some time were
disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah." (_I. Peter iii_, 20.)
We now understand what Isaiah, the prophet, meant when speaking
of Jesus. He says, "That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go
forth" (_Isaiah xlix_,); and again, "He hath sent me to bind up
the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the _captives_, and the
opening of the _prison to them that are bound_" (_Isaiah lxi_, 1);
and again, "To open the blind eyes, to bring out the _prisoners_ from
the _prison_, and them that sit in darkness out of the _prison house_"
(_Isaiah xlii_, 7.)
How appropriately do these passages coincide with and support the
assertion of Peter relative to Jesus preaching to the "spirits
in prison!" Men, who in the days of the flood failed to obey the
commandments of God, and for two thousand long, weary years had
suffered the penalty for their wrong doing, had been fulfilling the
principle so clearly enunciated by our Savior when He said, "Verily I
say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast
paid {319} the uttermost farthing." (_Matt. v_, 26.) "And that servant,
which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that
knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with
few stripes." (_Luke xii_, 47, 48.)
With what joy must these long-suffering spirits, held in confinement,
have greeted the Redeemer when He appeared and preached to them the
glad tidings of great joy, and presented for their acceptance the
EVERLASTING GOSPEL! Through its means they could have their prison
doors opened, and themselves delivered from the grasp of Lucifer, the
son of the morning, who is appropriately described as one who "made
the earth to tremble, and did shake kingdoms; that made the world as
a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that _opened not the
house of his prisoners_." (_Isaiah xiv_, 16, 17.)
How grand and glorious is the plan of salvation that the Creator has
ordained for His children, reaching from eternity to eternity, and
covering in its details every possible emergency; controlling, guiding
and directing their footsteps while in a pre-existing state; teaching
them while sojourners upon the earth, and extending beyond the grave
into the spirit world, there to cause their hearts to rejoice and
gladden under its benign influence, growing and increasing in might and
majesty, power and glory, as the ages roll by, until the inspired words
of our divine Master shall be fulfilled: "Every knee shall bow, and
every tongue confess."
Well might Jesus say to the apostles just previous to His death,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when
the _dead_ shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear
shall live. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all
that are in the _graves_ shall hear His voice" (_John v_. 25, 28).
Turning again to the epistle of Peter, we find this assertion: "Who
shall give an account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the
_dead_. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that
are _dead_, that they might be judged according to _men in the flesh_,
but live according to God in the spirit." (_I. Peter iv_. 5, 6.)
Jesus, upon one occasion, when explaining the gospel to the apostles,
said, "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be
forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall
not be forgiven him, _neither in this world, neither in the world to
come_" (_Matt. xii_. 32).
This, in perfect plainness, explains itself to mean, that there is a
class of sins that can be forgiven in this world, and a class {320}
that cannot; also that there is a class of sins that can be forgiven in
the world to come, and a class that cannot.
Peter, speaking of the patriarch David, says, "For David is not
ascended into the heavens" (_Acts ii_. 34). But David himself, knowing
full well that the mercy of the Lord endureth forever, says, "For thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell." (_Psalms xvi_. 10). He knew that after
he had paid the penalty of the deeds done in the body, there would be a
way whereby he might gain a place in the midst of the righteous in the
presence of God.
If the present generation desire to know what will be the result of
their disobedience to the proclamation of the principles of the gospel,
and their contending against the servants of God who proclaim them, let
them read what Isaiah says: "The earth shall reel to and fro like a
drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage. * * * And it shall come
to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the hosts of the high
ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And
they shall be _gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit,
and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited_" (_Isaiah xxiv_. 20-22).
After having waited, perhaps, as long as they did who rejected the word
of God in the days of Noah--after having passed through, perchance,
thousands of years of punishment, until they have "paid the uttermost
farthing," then the gospel will again be presented to them, and "they
will be visited." Another opportunity will be given them, to hearken
unto the truth; but, in the meantime, the Saints of former and latter
days will have advanced in the scale of progression and passed beyond
the reach of those who, today, "reject the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized." A separation will have taken place, in
which there shall be "weeping and wailing," sorrow and mourning, over
the neglect to obey the gospel when there was opportunity.
In accordance with divine law, "they were judged every man _according
to their works_" (_Rev. xx_. 13), not indiscriminately consigning all
grades and classes of sinners to the same punishment, and that to
continue forever; but meting out judgment according to their works,
some with many stripes and some with but few.
Would it not be a libel upon justice, if a judge, presiding over one
of our ordinary courts should award to every criminal brought before
him the same punishment? "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children, {321} how much more shall your Father which
is in heaven give good things unto them that ask Him?" Certainly the
law of poor, weak, mortal man is not superior to that of the Judge of
all.
Paul beautifully and aptly expresses the principle in writing to the
Corinthians: "If in this life _only_ we have hope in Christ, we are of
all men most miserable" (_I. Cor. xv_. 19); but knowing that the gospel
would be preached to the spirits in prison, and that untold millions of
those who failed to accept the gospel here would do so there, he felt
to rejoice in his heart instead of being the most miserable of men. He
was fully aware that there was but one way to be saved, "One Lord, one
faith, one baptism," (_Eph. iv_. 5); that it was positively necessary
for man to pass through the door to enter into the sheep-fold; that the
many devices whereby men sought to save themselves must of necessity
fail, for "God's house is a house of order." He knew there was _only_
one name under heaven whereby men might be saved; that obedience to
this law was a prime necessity to salvation, for "in vain do ye say,
Lord, Lord, and do not the things I command you."
Knowing these facts, the life of every good and true man, as was Paul,
would be rendered miserable at the thought that so many millions of
the human family must irretrievably perish, and be subject to torture
throughout all the eternities to come; but understanding the great
principle of the mission of our Savior to the prison world, they can
rejoice in the fact that the plan of salvation is a complete one. They
have hope that, not only in this life, but in the life to come, the
gospel will be preached and men be taught its precepts.
We here introduce the evidence of some learned men, who have reputation
for scholarly ability, far and wide.
Prof. Taylor Lewis, a prominent English writer, states: "We are taught
that there was a work of Christ in hades. He descended into hades; He
made proclamation in hades to those who are there, in ward."
Bishop Alford says: "I understand these words (_I. Peter iii_. 19)
to say that our Lord, in His disembodied state, did go to the place
of detention of departed spirits, and did there announce His work of
redemption; preach salvation in fact, to the disembodied spirits of
those who refused to obey the voice of God when the judgment of the
flood was hanging over them."
Prof. A. Hinderkoper, a German writer, says: "In the second and third
centuries _every branch and division of the Christian church_, so
far as their record enables us to judge, {322} _believed that Christ
preached to the departed spirits_." (_Haley's Discrepancies of the
Bible_.)
"As to the endlessness of punishment, I have said that the law that
punishes sin is itself endless and for aught I know in the other
state souls may be passing from right to wrong and wrong to right,
and that may go on forever. I believe that we go out of this world
free to do good or evil, and I believe that if a soul repent and
turn to God, even in hell, he will not turn it away.