New Britain herald., 1923-03-12
|DR. HILL TALKS ON
 FINAL JUDGMENT
Explains Various Popular Beliefs
 in Sermon at South Church

He took for his text the words of tn
 Apostle Paul in Roman 141O, "Fo
 We Shall All Stand Before the Judg
 ment Seat of God" Here is paren
 thetical remark of the Apostle whicl
 he used in writing to the Church fl Rome to endeavor to stop the censor
 iousness which different ones wer
 passing on each other, saying that thi
 were idle sort of talk, that it wer, i wise for each to have clear con science with respect of himself; 1 were needless to worry about hi
 brothers acts for at last all shal
 stand before the judgment seat o l God. After this introduction, Il.
 went on to speak of the fact that tho
 idea of final judgment is one of tht persistent and unquenchable ideas O.
 the human mind. Men in all age.
 have had the conviction that some.
 time and in some way there would bs
 a judgment. This is seen in even the
 common affairs of life. and for one idling his time, or neglecting busi
 ness, or abusing his body we say there will be day of reckoning In one
 way or another we hold this thought
 of continuation of experiences and 8
 time of accounting. This we got from
 our common sense of justice. In the
 ordinary course of affairs things can- not go on forever, an vnd must come and judgment be drawn. We rec ognize this as inevitable in the nature
 of things. From this thought man
 has passed on to the idea of a gen. eral judgment. If in separate events or experiences men are judged, why
 not of life as whole? Life comes tc an end; why not also to an &C., counting?
 As matter of fact, lives are judged, have final judgment. The high. normal use of life judges a fin- ished life. There is an accepted standard~amongst men which gaves Judgment. A man is under obliga tions to live his life to a high end {: tor when d man is made with his various noble capacities of body, and mind, and spirit it is incumbent upon man to give this the finest possible use. Thus man is judged.
 The human mind, however, has not been satisfied with this alone, but has insisted that there, must be, and is, some final accounting of ones living. Humanity follows Paul in his state- nent that all shall stand before the judgment seat of God
 Tn this belief of the human mind, three particular ideas have been set forth. There is first the common or thodox view, that at the end of life there will be two classes of souls, one assigned to intending bliss, the other to eternal torment. This has given rise to literature and an art which is entirely repugnant to any sense of decency and justice. Many difficulties are in the way of such a belief How can we know such thing to be; who says so? It is questionable if any thoughtful persons today hold such a conception, for it is practically and morally impossible. The whole trend of the New Testament is against any such crude and outrageous conception. The entire New Testament puts em- phasis not on belief, but on attitude and conduct. By their fruits ye shall know them Not all that saith Lord, Lord, but he that doeth the will of the Father It is futile to dogmatize, for as a matter of fact, who knows? conception is that men are punished for evil in this life, they hereafter is not for tor nent but for correction, and that at last God will have. His way and all will be purified and saved. This is q beautiful and attractive thought and has won large number to it's belief. It is that of Tennyson,
 70 yet we trust that somehow good
 Will be the final goal of ill"
 That nothing walks with aimless feet,
 That not one life shall be destroyed, Or cast as rubbish to the void,
 When God hath made the pile
 complete.
 This thought, however has it's diff iculties. the main one of which is that ife and character arc matters large y of choice, and in spite of all ap- peals and encouragements some delib- ,rately choose the evil. There are all 50 the solemn words of our Lord that he unprofitable servans are cast out, hat the foolish builder on the sand goes down in the wreck of his house, md that men are repeatedly warned o SOW alright, to enter the strait gate. | \ third idea which has had wide &C., ,eptance is that men grow more and nore into goodness. or more and nore into evil; that a good life is worthy of surviving and an evil life s unworthy and ought to be extin- ;uished Righteousness increases the oul, and evil kills it. The Wages Of lin is Death; but the Gift of God is Eternal Lffe.' There is, however, a measure of injustice in such con- option. What of those who have rought up without knowledge of piritual things, children of the slums r of miserable homes, peoples of low. nd backward civilization?
 Tt is necessary then, to look. fur her for some adequate and satisfy lg idea of a last judgment. Concern ig this we may say that it is idle, nd foolish to dogmatize. The fact ] that there is nowhere any specific, etailed program given us by God. II such are man made. No man nows, can say, nor ever will know ere, what is the correct idea. The hief business and inquiry of a man es lin another direction. Suffice it, owever, that sometime, somehow. we shall be brought to an :counting of our lives. History, the stincts and experiences of humah- $ v, the words of Jesus tell us this. ( S a man chooses life, he judges him. If. The choices we make tell plain