In harmony with the statement just referred to, we read in Isaiah that "he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Are not these wonderful words? How are they to be explained? The travail of His soul! Who can fathom that abyss of woe? The very words are suggestive of untold agony. I believe that at the last He touched a depth of woe which no man or angel has sounded.
But He shall have a recompense that will satisfy Him. Does not that point to the salvation of the whole race? Would anything less satisfy Him? Does He not say that He came to save the world? And will anything less satisfy Him? Certainly He is not satisfied now. The moiety of mankind that is saved now, or to be saved to the end of time, will not satisfy Him. No! His divine love embraces the whole race.
What then about the uncounted millions who never heard of Him? What about the millions that are dying now, and that never heard the music of His name? Is not every one of them in the divine scheme of salvation? Their time will come. The Saviour's operations are not limited to one age. His love is from everlasting to everlasting; and so are the means at His disposal. In this age we see but the beginning of the outgoings of His grace. We cannot conceive of Him being satisfied till the last soul of the human race is redeemed.
I shall not go farther along this line than simply to remind you that it is written that God will be "all in all." That is a wonderful expression when we look into it. What does it really mean? Does it not mean that God will be all in all? That is—He will be everything in everybody. I take it that this is the real meaning of the words, Everything in everybody! O mystery of love and power divine!
I apprehend that the significance of the words "all in all" is not fully appreciated or understood. See, for instance, the way in which the words are used in that hymn, "That Christ is all in all to me."
The words, "all in all to me" seem to be used as an attempt to emphasize the force of the sentiment, "all to me." That is, He satisfies my every want. But I apprehend that the words have a much larger meaning than that. It is not myself alone, but everybody that is concerned here. It is that Christ is everything to every human soul. Everything that He is, is made over to everybody. What a glorious expansion of the words! "All in all;" that is, everything in everybody. Was there ever such an infinite wealth of meaning packed into a few short words?
UNCOUNTED MILLIONS.
Or, take the message which the angels brought down to earth on the occasion of the Saviour's birth. They told the shepherds that they brought good tidings of great joy to all people. What, then, about the uncounted millions of our race who had departed this life without ever having heard of a Saviour? If they were either in hopeless torment, or in extinction, how could the Saviour's coming be good tidings to them? And what about the millions that were then living in heathenism, and would die in heathenism? How could the Saviour's coming be good tidings to them? And what about the millions that are living now, and the other millions that will be born who will die without hearing of a Saviour? How could His advent be good tidings to those? And what about the other millions in Christian lands, who will live and die without any saving power being brought into their life? How could the Saviour's birth be good tidings to any of these myriads of our race?
Only on the theory that the benefits of His coming extend into the next life, could the words be true. If these uncounted millions are in endless torment, or if they are annihilated, the words could not be true. But they are gloriously true if there is a future state of probation. In that case the benefits of the Saviour's life and death extend beyond human life to those myriads who never heard of Him here.