But was the eternal destiny of
the great majority of our race to depend on the whim of men? If God
provided salvation for the heathen, would He not convey it to them in
some way? Evidently, He has not done so in this life. Do we not begin,
then, to see that there must be some other time, or some other means, of
effecting His purposes? For "His purpose will stand, and he will do all
his pleasure."
And when we consider the eternity of His being, and of our own, nothing
is more reasonable than that He has ordained a fitting opportunity
beyond the boundary of time. Let us only rid ourselves of our insular,
contracted ideas, and we will see how worthy of the Infinite Wisdom is
such a scheme of grace.
Then there is another consideration. God loves every soul of man. And
every man was endowed with a capacity of worshipping Him, and of having
communion with Him to all eternity. If any failed from any cause
whatever to rise to this great experience, would not God's own happiness
be curtailed?
I know that it has been an orthodox doctrine that God cannot suffer. I
have long had my doubts of it. To be sure, we read that He is "without
variableness or shadow of turning." Does not that apply to His
character? In that respect He is absolutely unchangeable. It is no
infringement of that great truth to believe that He can suffer.
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