The herald., 1898-12-05
IN CITY PULPITs
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at the F1rst OnrlStlan cnurcH upou L He
Doctrine of He'll"
Bible Doctrine preach upon this top
ofHeI ic, said the speaker,
becaues of the univer-
sal interest commanded by the subject, and
because of its Importance as doctrine OF
the word of God. All that is known of the
future life is revealed in the word OF God,
and to this source the student is forced to
90 for information on this subject. Nothing
definite is revealed in the Old Testament
with reference to the future life. The He
brew word there used, sheol, simply means
the grave without reference to the condl-
ton of the departed ones. The Greek word
hades has similar meaning in the New les
lament. The Hebrew word Gehenna is
used in the New Testament as descriptive
of the place where the wicked shall suffer,
and is translated in the revised version of
the New Testament by the word hell.
Among the Jews this was the word descrip'
tive of their conception of the suffering of
the wicked after death. This word was the
symbol among them of all that was degrad-
ed polluted, vicious and cursed. and was so
called from the valley of Hinnon. 1t was
the strongest word in use among the Jews
detinitive of anguish and suffering after
death. Jesus used this word frequently as
applied to the condition of the wicked after
death. With Gehenna he associated the
idea of Judgment and of 'un-
Guenchable fire." and of the destruc-
ton therein of the soul and body. His other
teaching on this subject is but corroboratlve
of the meaning OF the terrible word Gehenna,
which is translated hell. In Matt. 25:4l,
Jesus SAYS to the wicked: depart from Me,
We cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels" Such are the teach
ings of the Bible on this subject.
Every intelligent Bible student under
stands these figures of speech to be descrip-
tive of the anguish of body and soul that shall
come to those who continuously defy the
law and mercy of God. 1t is the common
observation of men that those who sin
against even physical law must suffer in
consequence therof, and this suffering, too,
is often projected far into the future. Ii
such be matter of common observation,
should it be thought any stranger that men
should suffer in the future life for evil done
here than that they enjoy happiness in the
future life for good done here!
1t is often objected to the doctrine of the
suffering of the wicked in the future life
that it would be contrary to the goodness
of God to allow such consequences. Men
in the limitations of the finite mind should
exercise great caution in defining what God
ought to do or will do. When God has
spoken his purposes or has declared his will,
it is becoming in men to keep silent. Fur
thermore, God does allow men to suffer for
their sins under our very eyes every day.
There seems to be no divine intervention
to prevent the daily suffering of the race.
Is it any more marvellous that God should
in the future refrain from interference with
the suffering of those who transgress His
laws than that he refrains from such inter-
ference on this earth today? Suffering
III the future is but the outworking of a
principle, of the laws that we see enforced
every day
Again, the suffering of the wicked in the
future is not because of the infliction of
punishment upon sinners by God, but is
the result of an often long continued and
defiant rejection of the divine law and love
by man, and by his reckless disregard of
every injunction of the divine law Men
in this creation are free moral agents.
They possess the power of choice, and in
scparably connected Herewith is the doc
trine of personal responsibility. Acting
upon this freedom, they often choose to do
evil and spend lives of ungodliness and sin.
Following upon such conduct as inevitable
as the force Of gravitation, is the penalty
for such wrong doing. For this God is no
more to blame than for the suffering of the
man who throws himself down a precipice
In the very nature of man there is reward
for good and suffering for evil
The goodness of God follows such sinners
to their destiny and puts forth every posi-
bic effort, exerts every possible influence
to restrain such persons from evil. They
defy the Son of God and the whole scheme
of human redemption and rush headlong to
suffering and separation from that which is
pure and holy and good. The love of
God in seeking the salvation of men from
sin and death sent Jesus into the world, and
his love pursues the rebellious sinner to the
borderland of Gehenna to save him from
eternal anguish and separation from God.
Men will suffer as long as they continue to
sin and defy the only means of their sal
vation, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Divine love
ard goodness cannot prevent men who have
the power of choice from choosing evil in
stead of good and going down to the grave
in sin and suffering, and by virtue of their
the presence of all that is pure and good
on earth and in heaven
AT the First Universalist church the pas.
tor, Rev. A. A. Rice, spoke yesterday on
Jesus and the Poor, -
Inc foor from Matthew, v:3:
in Spirit blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven"
The Sermon on the Mount is without doubt
the most important utterance of our Lord
and our text, the first beatitude is given
precedence in it, both in place and in sig
niticance, being mention of the kingdom
OF heaven, the supreme end OF human en-
deavOr, and a statement that heaven SIS. -
not shall be-" the possession of the poor
We apprehend the text to mean not that
the poor, the destitute, the lowly, are
blessed by a poor spirit, nor alone in the
recognition of poverty of soul which certain
ly would be a blessing if such existed; but
rather, blessed in spirit are the poor; :" l. e.
the poor are blessed in the peculiar spirit
that predominates them. In fact their
spirit is such that the kingdom of heaven
is theirs. That life which is of heavens
kingdom is hardly born midst luxury or
opulence or where there is surfeit of world
" benefits. 1t arises from the activities
forced by want, destitution and suffering.
The poor are blessed, first, by the spirit
OF endeavor, which is forced upon them.
There IS no lethargy or stagnation of human
energies when starvation stares one in the
face. Those who have little are forced both
to an economy OF what they possess and to