The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-11-19

this world arc not adapted TO bring it to full fruit
age
| : This suggests. Sins consequences overlap this
life, and enter eternity. Death does not end all,
either Of the man, his sin. its consequences. Con
/ science, and the deepest instincts OF the human
| soul. and this Bible are at one in teaching that
| retrib1tiOn awaits the dOer of sin. Shakespeare,
! that master student Of human nature, makes
| Hamlet speak for our race, when facing the fu-
ture he says: "The dread of something after
| death. makes towards Of Us all.
Hell Is pec1liaEity of the Bible. Priests have
not made 1t. This Bible is no more responsible
for it than the Koran, Literature or Conscience
I Hell simply stands as an obstinate fact in the
| makeup Of the human soul-independent of reye-
latiou. One of England's bravest Generals, a man
OF unquestloued courage, confessed that he always
trembled at the first boom Of the cannon in battle.
he feared 1t as much in his ftieth fight as in his
/ first. Bot why? II was human nature. The world
over, man nee to face with death, trembles at some
/ thing beyond it Guilt, sooner or later makes us
all towards. We are afraid Of God, IL guilty. We
dread our own Immortality. We hear natures
ine1Orable logic THAT all violations Of law bring
punishment" The hard conclusion sends the
towards shudder along every nerve: $50 much
SIN, much suffering Ii IS not superstition to
fear Hell beyond sinful life. II is nature. The
heart throbbinCs are not more natural. fearful
looking for Of Judgment is sooner later, in the
order of nature, the frnitage of all sin.
ii, Let me press some truths which come out of
this subject
l. Man is the child of his own deeds. Actions
90 whatsoever a man soveth that shall he also
reap Your life is daily sowing. This sowing
Is character; and character Is destiny. What
man thinks, and saws and does will bring fruit,
and result in a final unchanging harvest. Your
whole conduct is germinal of something future.
What YOU plant in the soil of your moral charac.
ter will come forward to growth and maturity, and
harvest By the same undertaking law that makes
wheat scattered in the field in the Spring ripen in
Autumn. There is never any exception anywhere.
God will not make an exception in your case. Figs
are never gathered from thistles, nor grapes from
thorns This is Just as true in Honolulu, it was
III Palestine. Don't think yourself strong enough
70 reverse this law. That which you garner, will
b. the the seed sown. If you plant thistle
seed you know what to expect for life-harvest,
for eiernity's harvest. .. The suffering which re-
suits from sin Is not Gods arbitrary punishment
Of the sinner. 1t Is simply his own hand reaping
the harvest out OF his own sowing. The harvest
OF suffering belongs in the sin, and is an overflow
OF 1t. Ii is the sting of the nettle, the seed of
which he planted. 1t is the prick Of the thistle
come straight 10 him from his own thistle sowing.
1t is the return ball which his own hand threw.
). This suggests, again, that God does not damn
any one. Taking the arm of poor, half-intoxi-
Gated fellow in Portland Oregon, night start
ed 10 lead him up street 10 his miserable home: he
stopped: Aren't You ashamed TO be seen walking
with such God damned sinner as am p was his
profane question: No. answered You are mis-
taken. God has not damned you. You have
damned yourselfr' And this is always true.
God does not and never will damn any man.
our place, the place we have made for ourselves,
When man tramples on his moral nature: breaks
the laws Of his spiritual being against the grace
and warning OF God, he cannot truthfuly say that
God sands him TO He'll. He has made his own
Hell. IN spite Of God. He has spent his life in
buslly bringing fagots for his own burning He has
mGde his own bed of suffering against both God,
and his own better reason. Death is simply the
lying down upon the bed which he has made. He
has spent his life digging pit the grave is sim
ply the open mouth OF it, through which he falls
tie would not have the gifts of grace and salvation
which Christ came into the world TO bestOw. Now |
he Is his own t0mentur. An accusing cOnsciencs, |
a wrecked moral nature bitter memories : |
thoughts OF God, dismissed from his soul, all are
his tOrmentprs. He suffers under the ruin |
he has brought upon himself. He chose sin, and |
sin has found him out. II he could escape the |
punishment of SIM how can he escape sin itselfY |
This Is part OF his very self. There is place
m universe under the government of Holy |
God, where man can be happy in sin. None |
Will 50 away into eternal woe who do not deserve |
to, and desire to. There will not be any there |
who might not have been elsewhere if they would |
any who were not solicited in countless ways to |
cease to do evil and be at peace with God. But, 1
men must be sufferers long as they live in sin,
apart from God. If conscience distresses for |
wrong doing here, it must hereafter. If men in |
sin cannot be at peace in his ne, they cannot in
the next. Men must let go Of sin, or give up all |
thought Of happiness here and in the life to come.
The pure in heart shall see God, but without |
holiness man shall see the Lore
=. ".
to save him from the terrible gnawing of those |
twin serpenls, sin aud suffering. Law, no matter |
where he finds 1t, has for its first axiom, this |
terrible crushing fact:
VIOLATED law brings Its penalty always" Nature
shows him no fountain where his soul may, Naa-
wash and be clean. Conscience is only |
a stern Judge-nCver savior. II shuts him in 10
his dispair and leaves him there. Left alone he
must, like Cam, go out from the presence Of the
Lord" to return no more! Sin and suffering are
the companions of his solitude, forever and for
5yer.
;. Nov We see that the most reasonable question
any man ask Is what shall ] do to be
savedF' No man has any reason TO be ashamed
Of anxiety for the salvation Of his soul. Only
fools make mock Of sin, and an awakened sinner.
6. Nov also we can see the preciousness Of the
work of Christ. When we fill in the dreadful
,Olors Of Sin and its consequent, Suffering, for
back ground then how bright SHINES the picture of
he CrOss Christ Is precious because we are lost!
Yes, lost! No other word expresses so truthfully
he condition IN which Christ finds us all. Lost TO
1irturu: lost to conscience; lost TO self-respect
o hope to peace; TO the love and favor of God,
The past all guilt and the future all despair! 1t
3 TO such a being-to a crowded and forlom world |
IF such beings-that the Christ gave himself. He
ave himself TO Blot ont siH from the world. He
ave himself TO save mcn-not only from the
punishment, the suffering, Of sin-but from Sin
tself. de came not to call the righteous but sin
lers to repentance. On one of the street corners
# an Italian City stands life-sze statue of the
Jhrst on the Cross On the base of the pedestal are
hese words: IAN this for thee! how much for
ne;' How much? Give yourself!-Come to Chris,
Iyiug:
Just am, without one plea,
Save that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidst me come to thee
o, Lamb Of God comel"
Just as ! am and waiting not
To rid my soul Of one dark blot,
To thee whose blood can cleanse each spot
Lamb OF God Gomez
JasIl- I am, thou wilt receive,
VIII welcome, pardon cleanse, relieve,
Because thy promise believe
o, Lamb Of God / come!n