Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-12-03

THE FIRE OF HELL.
tBy Rev. Walter Rhodes. Tn. c.. pastor First
Baptist Church. Onancock. Va. and author Of
'Honiietics and PreachinE.'l
For by thy words thou shalt be ius-
titled and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned. Matt. 12:37.
The tongue" is set on the fire Of
Hell, and when it whets itself against
others, the greatest injury it infiicts
Sails upon the user, consuming his
honor, spotting his character, and de-
stroys his good name, without giving
him any compensation.
The text is sentence which fell from
the lips of our Lord, for the purpose of
demonstrating the fairness of the day
OF judgment. In that day our con-
demnation or justification will not de-
pend upon the words of others, but our
own words. In other words, the text
would teach Us, that every man be-
comes his own witness, he constitutes
his own jury, he becomes his own Judge.
and executes his own sentence. By the
use OF his own tongue here, he will
either justify or condemn himself here
after. From this truth we are naturally
led to consider the faculty of speech"
as part of our being.
The faculty of speech is peculiar to
mankind. 1t differentiates man from
the lower animals. A dog may bark, but
cannot speak, cat may purr, but can
not sing. horse may neigh, but cannot
talk. for man alone is equipped by his
Creator with this capability of his
tongue. consequently mankind exerts a
wonderful power. by the use Of this
tiny member, either for good or for
evil Patrick Henry SO welded his
tongue. that hostile House of Burgess
ses were moved to action for liberty and
independence and the power of his
speech still causes the heart of a nation
of 80. 600. 900 people to throb with pa
triotism and individuality. Christmas
Evans. the one-eyed Welsh preacher, by
the power of his words caused five
thousand people to fall to the ground.
as though paralyzed by gospel sermon.
Richard Fuller stampeded his congrega-
ton while preaching upon the Judg-
ment. as he suddenly cried Fire, fire. "
William Jennings Bryan threw a Demo-
cratic Convention into hysteria and the
country into a political frenzy by the
power Of q speech on the Cross of Gold.
But not only is speech a power, but
it Is also an index of character. We
talk what we are. We can form
very correct estimate of our neighbors'
character after hearing them talk
awhile. A fine character will express
itself IN fine words and low morality
In low vocabulary. The maiden who
said to Simon Peter while denying his
Lord "thy speech betrayeth thee"
spoke an infallible truth, which is an
epitome Of every man. Thoughts make
words. words beget acts. acts create
character. character determines destiny.
There are certain forms of speech
which every person should avoid, for
in using them untold sorrow comes into
the lives Of many people. / may mem
ton wicked" speech as one. To talk
wickedly means to talk vulgar,
which is a low form of speech, caleula-
ted to poilute the very atmosphere of
nobility. Men who delight in vulgar
jests. obscene jokes, and intersperse
their language with profanity, are like
the squid, which is worthless within
itself, and its most useful faculty Is to
make the water in which it lives as
black as ink and as poisonous as I've.
As vulgarity proceeds from the tip of
the tongue. it sends out a black vapor
filed with evil thoughts, resembling
the smoke of the fire of He'll, choking
and strangling virtue and character,
and burning with lust the manliness of
men, and the purity of women.
But again to talk wickedly. means to
talk falsely" We commonly call all
false speech gossip" Such manner of
speech is unscrupulous in its attacks,
the center of conversation is some
friend, enemy or neighbor. and long be-
fore the topic has been dropped, a
school for scandal has been instituted,
and multitude Of professional liars
become part of the faculty. while
siander is the principal study propaga-
ted A conversation which is false,
exaggerated, and has nothing in it televa-
ting or informing, but confines itself
to the defects and shortcomings of
others. is as distasteful to a noble think
ing man as it is possible for any thing
to be. and those who engage in it are
like the vultures Of the air. which fly
from place to place for the single pur-
pose of finding something that is dead,