Intermediate State is confirmed by our Lord in this narrative.  Now observe the weight of this testimony.  If the Jews were wrong in believing that the spirits of the just passed into Paradise or into Abraham’s bosom our Lord would never have uttered words twice over which sanctioned their mistake.  We may observe further from these two passages that the Intermediate State has two parts or conditions.  There are those in it who suffer, and there are those who rejoice.  At death, the spirits of those

whose lives have been evil pass to suffering and anguish, as we read of the rich man that “in Hades he lifted up his eyes being in torments”; and the spirits of the faithful pass to rest and joy.  But between these two representatives in the narrative, the one of the evil, the other of the good, there are the multitudes who are neither very good nor very evil, so varied in the indeterminate tokens of good and evil which marked their lives on earth, that it would seem to be impossible for us to know on which side of “the great gulf” their position ought to be.  But if the extremes enter the Intermediate State, and there is room for them in it, is it to be supposed that there is no room for those who are between the extremes?  Rather do we learn that the spirits of all go thither, not only of the faithful and of the wicked, but of the wavering and uncertain also, of those who were weak and fell, of those who, with unsteady and tottering steps, sometimes rising, often

falling, now obeying, now rebelling, now believing, now doubting, now walking in the light, now plunged in darkness, at one time treading firmly the ground of the narrow path, and then at times wandering into the quagmires and morasses of sin and lust, passed through the pilgrimage of life, and, at length, when their allotted span was completed, were assigned to the place which awaited them, to the place which was their own and was fitted for them.

We have seen what conclusions must be drawn from the express language of our Lord Himself.  Let us now examine the evidence afforded by His Apostles, in the Epistles and in the book of the Revelation.  But first I would ask you to consider what, according to the Bible, is the chief feature in the conception of the happiness and glory of Heaven, what is its essential nature.  Is it not this, that being the dwelling place of God Himself, the glory and happiness of Heaven will consist in the Presence itself of God, and therefore

in the vision of God?  As a great writer has said, “It must be remarked by everybody that the glory of the future state is always put before us not as an inner consciousness or mental communion simply, not as an absorption into ourselves within, but as a great spectacle without us, the spectacle of a great visible manifestation of God.  It is a sight, a picture, a representation, that constitutes the heavenly state, not mere thought and contemplation.  The glorified saint of Scripture is especially a beholder; he gazes, he looks, he fixes his eyes upon something before him; he does not merely ruminate within, but his whole mind is carried out towards and upon a great representation.  And thus Heaven specially appears in Scripture as the sphere of perfected sight, where the faculty is raised and exalted to its highest act, and the happiness of existence culminates in vision.” [23]  If this be so, all the most entrancing spectacles

and scenes of earth shall appear dim and coarse and uncouth in comparison with the sight on which the ravished gaze of eternity shall be fastened.  For then shall our eyes see “The King in His Beauty.” [24a]  They shall see God, see Him face to face,—God!  No higher conception of happiness is set before the heart of man, which ever craves for heaven and for perfection, than God Himself, the sight of God, the Presence of God, the Knowledge of God.  “In Thy Presence is the fulness of joy.” [24b]  But we must not lose sight of the effect which this vision of God produces upon those who gaze.  To see Him is to become like Him.  “Then,” says S. John, “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” [24c]  “We all,” says S. Paul, “with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory.”  This is what seeing God will do.

When, then, shall this vision be granted? 

At death to any?  No! but only at the Second Coming of Christ.  All the great writers of the Epistles speak, as with one voice, of this.  What says S. Peter?  “When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.” [25a]  Not therefore at death, but at Christ’s Second Coming and appearance.  What does S. John say?  “We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” [25b]  Not therefore until that time.  What again does the great S. Paul say?  “When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” [25c]  Again to S. Timothy he writes, “There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.” [25d]  There can be no doubt what S. Paul means by “That Day.”  It is the day when “the Righteous Judge”

on His Judgment throne shall award the crowns to those who have fought the good fight and kept the faith.  This is the frequent meaning of the expressions, “That day,” “The day of the Lord,” in the New Testament.  “We know it,” says Dr. Liddon, “by a more familiar name given it on three occasions by our Lord Himself, and on three at least by