Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1904-11-17
PUNISHMENT.
BY REV. DAVID JAMES BURRELL

River of Death all the immortals are
permitted to wander in green pastures
and pluck the fruits of the same tree
of life; but, aside from Revelation,
there ia that within the soul which de-
MES the possibility Of this. We know
full well, even if God had never told
US, that between the holy and unholy
in that other world, there must be an
impossible gulf. For what fellow
ship is there between light and dark
ness?
You may cherish only the kindsst
feelings toward the poor drunkard
who knocks at your door and begs for
shelter; but you do not invite him
ragged and filthy, to make himself at
home in your family circle. Thus 1t
is with sinners in the life hereafter
they cannot be received in the com
pany Of the sons and daughters Of God.
As they were here, SO they shall be
there; as it is written, He that iS
filthy let him be filthy still" How can
they dwell with those who have washed
their robes and made them white in
the blood Of the Lamb2 They must
depart to their "own place" and that
place becomes He'll not by the reason
of its being bottomleIs pit or fur
mace of Ere or q region Of outer dark
ness, but because its inhabitants are
all slik. polluted with the indelible
stain of Gin. Without are dogs, and
Sorcerers, and whoremongers and MUIR
derers, and idolaters, and whatsoever
lovsth and maketh a lie" Here is
q penal colony where all earth's gull
ty and wretched are brought together
and forced to endure each others COM
.panionship.
If the faireIt star in the heavens
were set apart to be the dwelling of
these guilty souls, and if the richest
gift of mind and nature were poured
upon them in eternal plenty; if no
righteous man were ever to appear
among them if Sabbath bells and
prayers were never heard if the lust
of the flesh and the lust Of the eye
and the pride of life were to keep
never-ceasing saturnalis, with no re-
striction from God or conscience this
society would verify and illustrate the
Scriptursl law OF rstribution to the
uttermost. For there can be no real
happiness without God and the SEN
tencs upon those without is, Verify,
say untoyou l knowyou not, (MAtt.
25, 12)
If Paris during the Reign of Ter
ror," when no restraint was laid upon
passion and lust, became so horrible
that thieves and hsrlots fed from it
with their ears stopped, as from q
burning Sodom what must that place
be where all the viscious characters Of
earth are brought together and given
free license to revel as they will in an
endles, carnival of crime, with no re-
,traint put upon them by the felt pres
ence Of God.
Just beyond the walls Of ancient
jerusalem was deep gorge whore all
the waste and offal of the city were
deposited. 1t was called the valley
Of Hinnom and from this the Jews
derived their name of hell-a place
of stencil and corruption. There is
no possibility there of cOmmuniDg with
the holy and just. Each aoul. itself
polluted, is doomed to dwell forever
in the company of polluted souls.
Leaving out all thought of the un-
quenchable FIRE and the undying worm.
there is an unspeskable possibility of
pain in the abandonment Of the soul
to itself. If wicked men grow weary
of the dance and banquet here, what
veariness must oppress them there as
the interminable aeons roll by. Pleas
ure loses its power to please. The
stolen waters Of sin grow bitter as
Meribah. The thirsty drink without
quenching their thirst, and eat Of the
fruit of lust, that seemed so tempting
when it hung from forbidden trees, to
find that now they may gather it free
ly everywhere, it turns to ashes on
their lips The wheel of IIion rolls
round and round forever Sisyphus
drag. bis burden up the hill once and
again forever
This banishment from God is called
.'outer darkness" To be e1ilsd from
the presence of Him who alone can
satisfy the soul, who alone is the foun-
tain ofspiritual life, and without whom
all is emptiness and vanity, who alone
can deliver from guilt and bondage OF