The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-01-08
WHAT IS HELL?
NO HELL HEREAFTER WOULD
MEAN ALL HELL HERE.

"u0u We Speak Vi u0ll, we call 10 all
hell, indifferently and without distinc-
ton. There r great differences of
constitution and of temperament, and
there must be necessarily correspond
ing differences of moral obligation.
That which is a temptation to one pro
duces in another the feeling of intense
disgust. Our natural capacities, our
means of obtaining knowledge, our
various aids to assist us in the pursuit
of it, the different natures and qualities
of u actions, will all be taken into
consideration.
Christ will not lej the devil have
more in hell than there will be in
heaven, for then satan would laugh at
Christ In thy fathers house are many
mansions. st. John tells us that there
will be a host beyond all count who
will get into heaven. Why should not
you, then, be saved7 We quote the
following to cheer up the disconsolate:
"And he measured the city with a reed
IL. 900 furlong5. The length, height
and breadth Of it are equal."-R9vela
tien xxi, Is.
Twelve thousand furlongs-7,92O, 900
feet-which, being cubed, is 948. $685.
600, 600, 900, 900, 900, 900 cubic feet, the
half of which we will reserve for the
throne Of God and the court of heaven,
half of the balance for the streets, and
the remainder, divided by 4 96, the
cubical feet in the rooms % feetsquare
and 16 feet high,) will be {, 743, 758, OOO,-
900 rooms.
ROOMS ITO LET" THROUGH ETERNITY.
We will now suppose the world al
ways did and always will contain 9OO,-
900, 600 inhabitants, and a generation
will last 333 years-2, zoo, 900 every
century-and that the world will stand
100, 600 years-27, 900, 600, OOO, 900 per-
sons. Then suppose there we're IL $50
such worlds equal to this number of in
habitants and duration of years; then
there would be'a room Is feet long and
II feet wide and Is feet high for each
person, and yet there would be room"
But a prepared place implies a prepared
people. There is a room in heaven for
every one of us, but unless we live
right that room will be "to let" through
all eternity.
God is love-" But love is not an
efeminate tederness-a weak, woman
ish sympathy that cannot punish the
disobedient. God is love, but he is also
just, and justice always Furnishes.
There was a time when the terror of
the law wa preached too much. Now
the pendulum has swung over to the
other extreme-too much love. AS a
consequence have much rose colored
religion-a soft, sentimental thing,
gaudy rhetoric which means nothing a
religion Of words, words-words such
as lovers use. We need to day an ag-
gressive, vigorous, positive Chris
tianity.
A.DEAD 7 T LAW.
God is bound by the holiness of his
nature to punish sim 1t is an exercise
of which becomes Him as the moral
governor of the world. There is moth
ing cruel or vindictive in God to pro
hibit sin by a law. A law without a
penalty is dead letter, and the penalty
must be such as to deter men from sin
ming. Is it cruel in God to ordain man
with the power Of choices Is God a
monster of cruelty. because when I
abuse my free agency he leaves me to
suffer the result of my folly3
God is almighty, and therefore He
will save everybody if He can, and if
He can save everybody He will. When
Christ was grooming in Gethsemane be-
meath a ponderous load of anguish, He
cried out in the deepest agony of His
soul, ,"It it be possible, let this cup
pass from me(" He prayed the same
words three times, yet it appears that
the cup did not pass from Him, and
why may it not be impossible for God
to save sinners who hate His law, bias
pheme His goodness, reject His grace,
scorn His Christ, laugh at His church,
boot at divine mercy, defy divine jus
tice and persist in rebellion and i'm
penitence to the end2 God can no more
save such men, because OF His very
nature, than He can create two noun
tains without a valley between them.
Will purgatorial fire fit a soul for
heavenG If so, the fundamental Bible
principle of divine forgiveness would
be done away with. Then why did
Christ die9 AS a matter. of fact, in
human experience, does punishment
reform9 If so, why is not one trial