Sermons to the Natural Man | Page 6

eternity, as the
only light that shines clearly and without refractions. Hence it is, that

he importunes his hearers to estimate their duties, and their
relationships, and their personal character, as they will upon the
death-bed, because in the solemn hour of death the light of the future
state begins to dawn upon the human soul.
It is very plain that if a spiritual man like the apostle Paul, who in a
very remarkable degree lived with reference to the future world, and
contemplated subjects in the light of eternity, was compelled to say that
he knew but "in part," much more must the thoughtless natural man
confess his ignorance of that which will meet him when his spirit
returns to God. The great mass of mankind are totally vacant of any just
apprehension of what will be their state of mind, upon being introduced
into God's presence. They have never seriously considered what must
be the effect upon their views and feelings, of an entire withdrawment
from the scenes and objects of earth, and an entrance into those of the
future state. Most men are wholly engrossed in the present existence,
and do not allow their thoughts to reach over into that invisible region
which revelation discloses, and which the uncontrollable workings of
conscience sometimes force upon their attention for a moment. How
many men there are, whose sinful and thoughtless lives prove that they
are not aware that the future world will, by its very characteristics, fill
them with a species and a grade of information that will be misery
unutterable. Is it not the duty and the wisdom of all such, to attempt to
conjecture and anticipate the coming experience of the human soul in
the day of judgment and the future life, in order that by repentance
toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ they may be able to stand
in that day? Let us then endeavor to know, at least "in part," concerning
the eternal state.
The latter clause of the text specifies the general characteristic of
existence in the future world. It is a mode of existence in which the
rational mind "knows even as it is known." It is a world of
knowledge,--of conscious knowledge. In thus unequivocally asserting
that our existence beyond the tomb is one of distinct consciousness,
revelation has taught us what we most desire and need to know. The
first question that would be raised by a creature who was just to be
launched out upon an untried mode of existence would be the question:
"Shall I be _conscious_?" However much he might desire to know the
length and breadth of the ocean upon which his was to set sail, the

scenery that was to be above him and around him in his coming
history,--nay, however much he might wish to know of matters still
closer to himself than these; however much he might crave to ask of his
Maker, "With what body shall I come?" all would be set second to the
simple single inquiry: "Shall I think, shall I feel, shall I know?" In
answering this question in the affirmative, without any hesitation or
ambiguity, the apostle Paul has in reality cleared up most of the
darkness that overhangs the future state. The structure of the spiritual
body, and the fabric of the immaterial world, are matters of secondary
importance, and may be left without explanation, provided only the
rational mind of man be distinctly informed that it shall not sleep in
unconsciousness, and that the immortal spark shall not become such
stuff as dreams are made of.
The future, then, is a mode of existence in which the soul "knows even
as it is known." But this involves a perception in which there is no error,
and no intermission. For, the human spirit in eternity "is known" by the
omniscient God. If, then, it knows in the style and manner that God
knows, there can be no misconception or cessation in its cognition.
Here, then, we have a glimpse into the nature of our eternal existence.
It is a state of distinct and unceasing knowledge of moral truth and
moral objects. The human spirit, be it holy or sinful, a friend or an
enemy of God, in eternity will always and forever be aware of it. There
is no forgetting in the future state; there is no dissipation of the mind
there; and there is no aversion of the mind from itself. The cognition is
a fixed quantity. Given the soul, and the knowledge is given. If it be
holy, it is always conscious of the fact. If it be sinful, it cannot for an
instant lose the distressing consciousness of sin. In neither instance will
it be necessary, as it generally is in this life,