The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-11-27
'sThe Torments OF He'll"
Columbia State, NoU. 20.

Columbia State, NoU. 20.
Hardly ever before has St. Peter s
accommodated so large crowd as that
which came to hear the discourse de-
livered last night by Father Power on
the "Torments of He'll" The i'm
portance of the subject itself may
have contributed somewhat to this,
but its able treatment by the learned
preacher must have impressed it much
more fully upon them. For solidity
Of argument, depth Of reasoning and
thoroughness Of discussion the whole
discourse can take place in the first
ranks of oratory.
For over an hour the congregation
listened with the deepest interest, as
if they could hardly disengage their
attention from the eloquent words Of
the preacher. "The mercy of God, )"
he said, ''is extended to every sinner,
however great his iniquities may be,
but if the sinner obstinately refuses
to avail himself of this mercy and
chooses to remain impenitent, nothing
remains for him but the inexorable
rigors Of Gods justice.
"Whatsoever," says the apostle,
''a man soweth that same shall he
reap. He that soweth in the spirit of
the spirit, shall live everlasting; he
that soweth in the flesh, of the flesh,
shall reap corruption. Itis strange
instance of human blindness and self
deception that a man should go on
through life sowing the seed Of i'm
piety, sensuality, injustice and every
other sin aud fatter himself that such
evil seed should on Gods great day
spring up into harvest Of glory ever
lasting; that he should SOW tho seed
Of vice. and reap the reward Of virtue ;
that he should have satan for his mas
ter in this life and God for his master
in the next. Yet this is the foolish
belief of numbers who will say, Good
is too good to condemn u.s." God
indeed is very good, but not too good
to be just. Once in time he told
his people he would punish them with
deluge. What did they say? He
is too good to do 80. But he was not
too good to be just. He opened the
cataracts of heaven and deluged them
with food. He threatened the in
habitants of Sodom with birthstone
and fire. He is too good to punish us,
they said. But he was not too good
to be just. He fulfilled his threat
and destroyed with birthstone and fire
their unfortunate city.
So will he punish the sinner who
lives and dies unrepentant, and this
punishment is the fire of hell. The
reverend preacher then proved the
existence Of hell. This doctrine, he
said, has been taught since the first
days of Christianity and never once
until recent years has any one dared
to deny its existence. Even heathen
philosophers without the light of reve-
lation have taught this, and we, unless
we are willing to believe that Chris
tianity has been in error for 20 centu-
ries in teaching it, are bound to be-
lieve it. These torments are also
eternal. They are not for a day,
month or year, but forever and ever.
Some are willing to Admits existence
who would fain deny its eternity, and
give to it an end. But what do the
Scriptures say "Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels" Ever
lasting fire is fire which lasts forever.
You will find some to admit that life
may be everlasting, because it isagree.
able and pleasant, but not fire with all
its torments. Yet such is the case,
and we cannot admit the one and deny
the other.
The preacher then sketched rapidly
the punishment Of one doomed to this
fate. He feels the punishment and
torments of hell in his eyes which
continually see the hideous spectres
of demons fit before them; in his
ears which ring with the walls and
lamentations of the reprobate T; with
blasphemies of the condemned, ours
ing their lot; in his touch which
feels the foul and loathsome approach
of his tormentors. But these are the
lightest suferings. In hell God makes
one soul the seat of punishment, his
memory, which recalls all the moments
misspent on earth; all the hours which
he spent in treasuring up to himself
wrath against the day Of wrath and
revelation of the next judgment Of
God; in his will which withdrew from
the love of God into an uncompromis-
ing opposition to Him; which he filleth
with an implacable hatred toward Him
and His intellect in appreciating the
little varieties of this world to the
great things Of the next. He gave
here the example Of Judas Iscariot,
thinking over the 80 pieces of silver
by which he merited hell. Lastly he
gave the loss of heaven as the greatest
Of all torments and closed by showing
how easy it is to avoid hell and merit
heaven-to which course he warmly
encouraged them.