The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-02-21

improbable any new decision or ven
fure'on your part.
Biology, with It's lawc o. The de-
'vita''zrg OF the unuseG organs, has
Did you, IL you have II IN and don :
use them. you lose them. That Is
true meatally. spiri.ually, every way.
Every time you do a thing, 1t is easier
lur YOU TO do that same thing the
next time, whether what you did was
right or wrong. That is what we call
the acculativc force OF habit all
through.
:se5Iax e--. ( sI,'s 81. ~ ''4.
down because dogs did that yoa' j
age. SO all OF these things, folks, II
] had no scripture TO back Il up
which / have, they'd plant no flag OF
hope over inc grave of the sinner.
wish they did.
And every known law of our be-
ing, physical. mental and moral is a
silent preacher or the fact that the
older we grow, the longer VIC live,
the more difficult it will be for you -
make any radical decision or moral
venture. That is true in this lie.
Oh. therefore. as we grow older. is IT
easier for the old people to be con
verted than the young' 1t ss easier
for the young people to be conveyed
and the older you grow. the less your
world The older you grow In the
next. the longer you will be there
and the older you grow the harder you
will grow here. That liz right and you
know ~
Up Agnimnt II.
You are up against It.
The assurance OF a chance 70 repent
after death would remove one OF the
greatest moral restraiH 8 OF the human
20
frierd. and II may be that fact Is
not the highest motive to inspire
man to be decent I am perfectly tree
10 admit, sir. Ii is finer thing to be
decent and honorable and Christian
because It Is right and because OF love
and because God wants you to be that
way. than 1t Is TO be Christian for
fear you w,'l go TO he'll II you don't
will admit It. nut don't give
rap what keeps you out OF hell and
makes you q Christian. IL II 10 BE-
cause OF your love for Cod and you
want 10 do II because il is right and
honorable, or because you fear that
YOU will go to he'll II you don't. So
don't care what you do as long as
you do II. That is scriptural, too. Just
the scmc.
Now, hell may deter as many peo-
pie from doing wrong as Gods love
may WOO. Don't everypodY repent be-
cause God loves them? Not everyone
OF them this" doee. No, sir, But wait
d minute. am not such a fool as
to shut my eyes to the fact that II the
spectre OF fear. both temper al and
eternal were removed, 1T would mean
the iooscning OF a hoard OF .5liies and
passions and the food gates OF human
intquity would be lifted and a perfect
panorama OF damnstion, lust and Vile
ness would cut loose which are now
held In leash by the fear OF punish
rrent. There rs many n fellow tonight
would come out and stick a gun under
your noEe II he wasn't afraid led go
TO sing Sing II he did.
There's many Ia fellow would crack
your safe tonight and he would crack
your bean too. So therefore. his fear
of punishment holds him in leash, keeps
him. All right. That's Just as true
OF the other TOO. Just exactly.
Everybody that keeps the law don't
keep IL because they love the law, 1t
is because they are afraid X they don't
they viii get up against 1t. That In
true with whole lot of folks today.
A man one time said to Belief. Say,
IL / believed as you do about the fu-
life" and Beiiett, ehrewd as he was.
replied. Il believe you would. you look
like IL
on, that didn't remove the ques-
tom that the fellow had raised by his
question That was what was in his
mind. II what you say is true. then
7 will be free to DO anything in this
world knowing that | wifi get chance
10 repent over there.
DamnahIe Doctrine.
See what IL would mean then. What
a damnabie doctrine il is. God AL
mighty never taught the world that
doctrine. That crawIed out OF the pit
OF hell. He never taugh. the world
that. No, sir Wait a minute. II
you would be sure that the door OF
Gods great big heart would stand open
forever, still, II YOU die unrepented In
the light Of experience and OF COM
mon sense. you haven't even n garh-
ling chance that you would reverse
the decision that you have made in this
lie in rejecting Jesus Christ. and ac-
cept in the next world what YOU re-
fused In this world
. Joseph Cook, the great Liberal
preacher Of New England. advertised
ono time he was going 20 preach on the
second chance after death and all the
preachers, my friends. orthodox. Trtni-
tartan and Unitarians. and All other
''tarians." they flacked 70 here Josenh
Cook and he summed II all MP by saw
ing. 'I am not going to stake my i'm
mortal soul on guess. and the best
you can do is 10 guess at 1t" He
said, II am not going to do it,
Yes. hell is a horrid word will
agree with Lieber. in his book upon
deviitry. And that has been banished
from many pulpit today and the word
has been hanished from so-called po-
lite society. The doctrines. some say,
which proved to be a powerful deter
rent in holding people In other days
Oh, they won't hold good In the en-
i'ghtened days OF the twentieth CEN
.ury. Just as II God Almighty would
change his revelation and withdraw his
DEGREES and repeal his law as the word
grows old. Just az though we'd say.
Well God. II was all right for the sun
TO rise In the Fast and set In tho West
FOR the other days, hut in these en-
lightened days we prefer 70 have II rise
in the North and set In the South" God
would say, You go to hell"
No, sir. not at all And in spite of
tire 1eers and the laughter; hell re-
mains a fact No scoring or sneerine
based on human ideas Of Justice can
disprove the divine revelation. II that
doesn't meet with your approval, that
Isn't sirn that you are right and God
is wrong. on. no, not bit. The hu-
man race In past ages believed in Il.
And 4 Is held now by nearly all ma
tons and nearly all tribes and nearly
All tongues The MOST ancient rfit5es
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