Part 9 (1/2)

First, let us take direct testimony; that given by the Son of G.o.d himself, who is to be the judge of all--even the ”quick” and the ”dead.” The first are those quickened into life by the spirit, the last are ”those who are dead in trespa.s.ses and in sin.”

You will find this evidence in the 16th chapter of the ”Gospel according to Saint Luke.” Christ, the Son G.o.d, said,

”There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at they rich man's gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pa.s.s that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom; The rich man also died, and was buried, and in h.e.l.l he lifted up his eyes. Being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my parched tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus his evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulph fixed; so that they who would pa.s.s from hence to you cannot; neither can they pa.s.s to us that would come from thence.”

”Then he said, I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham said unto him, they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. Abraham answered and said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

Thus, we see plainly that there are two separate places; one for the righteous, who are saved through obedience and faith, and the other for the wicked who are lost through disobedience and unbelief. Nothing could be more plain, pointed, or conclusive.

Now let us recall to your mind that which we have related in preceding pages; wherein we have told you that most Astronomers have agreed upon the fact, or hypothesis, of two atmospheres around the vast globe we have denominated heaven. The one next to it appears to be _non-luminous_; while the outer one--around this--is _luminous_, which they denominate _photosphere_, to which we have added _ethereal_, or ”_spirit-fire_.” This is what we see in looking at the Sun, and is the vast volume of fire, or _ethereal flame_, that sends out heat and light to this and other surrounding worlds. This light and heat extend over a region of the illimitable s.p.a.ce, not less than _six thousand millions of miles in extent_. We have endeavored to approximate to the mind the intense heat of the Sun at its source, but it far exceeds finite comprehension.

We have also given you the views and suppositions of able investigators that the extent of that photosphere, or volume of flame, is vast indeed. It is said that 'flame-like ma.s.ses--some computed to be one hundred and fifty thousand miles in length--are piled upon and overlap each other, and sweep onward in constant agitation like mountain billows of living fire.' This, as we have told you, is the source of all fire, or heat known to us on this Earth, and to all the other planets of our solar system.

The precise nature and elements of fire, we have said, we cannot fully comprehend; neither its original source, save that it emanated from the Great First Cause. The Sun is its direct source to us, and we realize it always the same; never augmenting nor diminis.h.i.+ng. We know that it is the source of light to a vast region around, and, from the offices it performs, we cannot think less than that it is--as we have before said--an attribute of the Great Jehovah; and especially this when we consider G.o.d's own revelations as found recorded in the Bible.

In describing the dimensions of the _Sun_, we have said it is 2,655,000 miles round it, or to bring this vast extent nearer our comprehension, we may state that it would require 321 Earths, the size of this, set side by side to reach around it, and vast numbers more to cover its surface, and when thus covered with worlds like this, the stratum would only be about 8,000 miles deep, while it is reasonable to estimate that _photospheric flame to be 100,000 miles in depth_.

We have mentioned the ”_inner globe_,” estimated to be more than a million times the size of this Earth, and we have denominated it _heaven_, and this outside surrounding volume of ethereal fire we shall denominate _h.e.l.l_, as we believe no other true hypothesis can be advanced. And, in a.s.suming this, we believe ourselves sustained by the revelations of G.o.d, as well as by all we can comprehend of Nature.

In order to incite our minds to know and comprehend more of Him, and become obedient to His requirements, G.o.d has shown us, by manifestations, His instrument of destruction and punishment. His prophets have also announced His threatenings against the wicked, and have told us that _fire_--the element of heat--is the instrument with which He will fulfil His threatened vengeance, and we have seen this manifested by the destruction of the ”cities of the plains”--even ”Sodom and Gomorrah,” as also the destruction of those who offered incense upon strange altars.

Now as this volume of flame, denominated the _Sun_, is the _only_ source of fire; and as fire seems to us one of the controlling elements of nature, and pervades all things, and G.o.d rained down fire and destroyed those cities, and also sent down fire and destroyed those who offered incense on a strange altar, we plainly see where the fire is that is to be the punishment of the wicked. That it is said ”fire came down from heaven,” or ”out of heaven,” does not vitiate, but rather confirms our hypothesis. For G.o.d is omnipresent, and dwells in _all_ heavens, and, from that region, _that permanent source of fire_, He commanded--doubtless--the concentration of the rays of the Sun, and it thus came at His command from heaven, and fell as flame of fire. But to prove that our hypothesis as to the location of h.e.l.l is correct, we direct your mind again to the narrative of the Saviour, of the rich man in _h.e.l.l_, and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. That Abraham was in heaven no one can doubt, while we are plainly told that the rich man was ”_in h.e.l.l_,” and, although ”afar off,” yet within speaking distance.

How far distant the voice of _spirit_ can be heard, no one in mortality can know. We know that on this earth sound is limited because of the density of the atmosphere, and we realize even here that when the atmosphere is the more rarified, the greater the distance of sound. It is computed that the condensed, or earth-atmosphere, extends outward from the earth about forty miles.

When we have pa.s.sed this stratum, and have gained s.p.a.ce in the _ethereal atmosphere_, it may be possible that the same volume of voice we are accustomed to here, might be heard thousands, or even millions of miles distant from us. Heat rarifies atmosphere as we here realize by the influence of the sun. If the addition of a few rays of the sun will dissipate the dense clouds, and so materially rarify our atmosphere at the distance of ninety-five millions of miles, what may we suppose the condition of the atmosphere ninety millions of miles nearer its source? Therefore, we may readily believe that although Dives, and Abraham, were far apart--possibly thousands of miles--yet they could see and converse with each other.

You will remember that astronomers inform us that there seems a volume of non-luminous atmosphere, or void, between the outer phostosphere of fire and the body of that _inner globe_ (which globe we believe is heaven). Now remember the words of Father Abraham, ”Beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulph fixed; so that they who would pa.s.s from hence to you cannot; neither can they pa.s.s to us that would come from thence.” Is not here conclusive evidence that the two places--heaven and h.e.l.l--are not in far distant regions from each other?

_Remember._ It is said of the wicked ”These shall go away into outer darkness, there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth.”

When death and h.e.l.l shall give up their dead (for the souls of the wicked--who are dead in trespa.s.ses and in sin--are still enduring that death that never dies), and all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ, where ”every one shall receive according to the deeds done in the body,” and the wicked are ”driven from G.o.d, and from the glory of His power,” to reach again their eternal destiny, they will doubtless pa.s.s through that dark void, even that ”great gulph fixed between,”

and there _will_ be weeping and wailing, and gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth.

Although we believe the evidence furnished is conclusive beyond cavil or doubt to every intelligent mind, yet we will still add more affirmative arguments which we desire that all should consider.

First, Let us refer again to the declarations--we have several times repeated--of the Prophets and Apostles. That heaven, and the Holy City in it, hath no need of the light of the _Sun_. That the ”glory of G.o.d doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” That there is no night there, but one eternal day.

Now let us call to your mind the _extent_ of that empire wherein _the Sun does not s.h.i.+ne_. From astronomical measurement, we may form in our minds an approximation of its dimensions. To fix for it a low estimate, we may safely conclude that the domain proper, is at least _five hundred thousand miles_ in diameter, and _one million five hundred thousand miles around it_. The empire is vast indeed, so great that, by comparison, we can form no correct idea of it. We can only approximate by saying that it would require about _one million of earths_, the size of this, to make a globe of equal magnitude.

In order to bring all home to your own reason and comprehension, let us ask, Where else is it feasible for so large a place to _be_ whereon, or into which the _Sun_, or _suns_, do not or _cannot s.h.i.+ne_?

We have shown you that suns (the surrounding volumes of photospheric ethereal fire) are--so far as we can comprehend--the natural sources of light throughout the Universe of Jehovah's empire. They seem as G.o.d's own _eternal lamps_, scattered and placed at His will in different regions of illimitable s.p.a.ce, to illumine the universe without, and give _light everywhere_, as also life and animation to all their surrounding worlds. Each perhaps to its own, even as our Sun does to its own planet-worlds. Now when we consider that the fact is well established by all leading Astronomers that this outside flame or volume of fire is _far out_ from that INNER GLOBE, or world, and that between them _there is a void_, possibly thousands of miles in depth; that the fires and light of the _Sun_ have no perceptible effect upon this non-luminous void--and, indeed, the void s.h.i.+elds the globe within from the light and heat of the Sun--we can readily imagine the wise arrangement of the Great Architect, and also comprehend the truth of His own declarations, that heaven is a place where neither the Sun nor its heat shall light upon its inhabitants.

Now the nature of the _element_ of this intervening void or s.p.a.ce, whether _it_ is _ethereal_ or not, we cannot now comprehend. That it is a safe covering or s.h.i.+eld to the world within, we can readily suppose. For Sir John Herschel says that it seems as ”an awning or screen, protecting the body,” or world within, from the Sun's heat.

But we are not left to conjecture alone, without philosophical reason in this matter. We know the laws of gravitation and attraction are fixed and sure, and upon these universal laws we can base correct conclusions.

The tendency of fire or heat is _outward_ and _upward_. The sense in which we use the term ”upward” is that of s.p.a.ce far out from the earth, or like solid bodies. We have shown, in our explanation of the law of gravitation, that _upward_ is simply away from the earth. Thus, we ignite material with fire and produce combustion here, and we see the flame _rise_, and feel and know the heat ascends _upward_. So also may the Chinaman do the same, at the same moment, on the opposite side of the globe--while his position is directly under us, as we construe downward--and yet the flame and heat of his fire ascends _upward_ from the earth where he stands, which is in a directly opposite direction from the course ours pursues. Thus, to us, outward from the earth is _upward_, no matter where our position on it.