The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-01-24

with q man who, denied: Blackstone and
the laws of the State of New York. ]
have to ask you who reject the Bible two
Questions lis there 8 God 2" els He
Good?" You say, eyes" Now, I ask,
is it not reasonable that good God.
shouldigive us q revelation of some kind
some guide, some directory? You say.
.sOf course" Is it Shakespeare, or Com
.fucius, or the writings of Mohammed, or
the Bible9 IF you, can show me reye.
lation better than the Bible ] will take it
and preach from it. /, Is there "a! man ia
this house who denies everything7 IT Is
easy to deny. yi.si'I @; ,fss9fi- s:iat, 81
Eternal spirit Of, Almighty God fall
upon us now, while with fingers of dust
we turn the sacred leaves and with lips
of ashes lrecite the most stupendous
truths that ever shook the human SOUL;
4 have no sympathy with the :fippant
discussion of this truth, nor with that
manner on the part of the preacher which,
seems to say, You inpenitent people
will be lost, and good for you" ! think
I am a,sinner, and because of the million
sins of my life and heart 1 must perish,
unless some one can show me out of the
way of condemnation: - :
...s,: Is THERE FIRE.. I:,.,., j:
/ In the first place, I group together all
those passages which represent the suffer-
.ings Of the. lost as fire. I might explain
them away, but what is the use of ex-
planning away the. fire when God says
there is one?| A criminal might as we'll
attempt to explain away Sing Sing Prison.
IF there is mistake about it Christ made
the mistake. The last book of the New
Testament closes with q dark scroll in
the sky. What is it? Smoke. Where
there is no fire there is no smoke. It is
the smoke of the'furnace that ascendeth
forever and ever. 1t may be fguratiye,
but know very well that if it is not fire
it is something as severe as fire. l know
that itais q torment unmitigated. If
there is mental Estate as sharp and
severe as fire it might as we'll be FIRE. But
take any figure of your own. ] prefer
Gods because Gods comparisons are
right and human comparisons may be
wrong. Besides that it may be literal.
You say, "I don't. believe it; won't be-
lieve it." Then, be consistent and throw
your. Bible into the East River. Keep
ing both your Bible and your unbeGef
you stultify yourself beyond all possibil-
ity of other qualification.
The next thing I have to do is to group
all those passages which show the indig-
nation of God against sin and sinner, and
hence the possibility of such o place as
1 have spoken Of. Out of hundred
sermons niuety-eight are on the love. and
mercy of God and only two on the indig-
nation of God. The Bible more fire.
quently speaks of the wrath of God than
,of7His love, and yet we 80 on preaching a
one-sided God with character which we
would despise. in ourselves. Some seem
to think they can 60 on denying God and
striking Him in the face and He will
smile on them through all eternity. Are
you not persuaded by the passages which
show the Lords indignation? If not
then shall have to leave you to be per
suaded by your own experience, amid
the torments of the damned, when the
truths of Gods punishment shall be
OurneQ upon you. ua!o- uoohAn6 w VIZ
with objections to-day. l simply state
that God fifty-six times in the plainest,
most unmistakable, stupendous and over.
whelming way declares that there is q
hell. 1t is burning now, it has been
burning very long. 1t is become fierce1
by the victims that are being dropped
into it. There is a probability that there
are some in this house to-day who will
spend eternity in that lost world. Moth
ing but the hand of an outraged, defed,
Iinsulted, long suffering, indignant and
omnipotent God keeps this whole audi
ence this moment from sliding like an
avalanche into it. But I want to tell you
that there is no more need that you 90 to
that world than that you leap into the
geysers of California. Tell the people
gentlemen of the press, that there is nc
reason that any man should 90 there
and if he does he is the suicide of his
immortal soul. I turn to the same OLD
book and find that the Lord has made
| it possible for us all to be saved. He moi
only told US that there was'a hell, but He
descended into it, and coming forth criec
tout to all the ages, Ihave paid the price