The Key to God's Silence

“We shall all be changed.” — 1 Cor. xv. 51.

Often have I asked myself, “Why is it that the religion of the Son of Man is so silent about the destiny of the sons of men? He has told us of many mansions, but He has not revealed their form. Other masters have been explicit, minute, detailed in their descriptions of the coming heaven, but the verdict even of Christ’s most beloved disciple is this: “It doth not yet appear what we shall be.” And here is the key to the whole silence: before we reach heaven “we shall all be changed.” It is as if it were said: What is the use of describing the joys of heaven? they would not be joys to you as yet. You would not tell the child of the pleasures he shall have when he becomes a man. And why? because the pleasantness of these pleasures is now beyond him. He would shed bitter tears to be told that in the time to come he should rejoice in that which is not play — in study, in work, in care, in responsibility, in duty. He shall see the glory of these things when he himself shall be changed.

Thou who art crying for a new revelation of heaven, art thou ready for thy wish? Would it be to thee a joy if there were revealed to thee the pleasures at Gods right hand? .What if these pleasures should be what the selfish man calls pain? Knowest thou not that the joys of love are not the joys of lovelessness Love’s joy is the surrender of itself; the joy of lovelessness is the keeping of itself. If heaven were open to thy vision, the sight might startle thee; thou mightst call for the rocks to hide thee, for the mountains to cover thee from the view. To make the revelation a joy to thee thou thyself must be changed into the same image. It is not every soul that can rejoice to be a ministering spirit sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation; to rejoice in it fully we must all be changed. If death were abolished to-day it would not free thee from that need. It is not death that demands thy change; it is life. It is not death that brings thy change; it is the Spirit of the Christ. Thou needst not wait for death to find thy change, for the Spirit too can transform in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Blessed are they who shall not taste of death until they shall see the kingdom of God.