Southern Pulpit Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; There is a tremendous alternative before men — acceptation or vengeance. When we speak of vengeance in this connection, and as a Divine act, it must be understood not in a malignant and revengeful sense, but in a judicial. It must be regarded as an act of eternal justice. We propose to interrogate Nature and ask her what she has to tell us of this alternative. We would greatly prefer to present Christ as the light of the world, but we know of no light without a shadow. Observe, however, the terms in which the light and the shadow are expressed in the prophet's language. It is the "year" of acceptation, and only the "day" of vengeance. This is a very natural description. The light always attracts us most: we scarcely think of the shadow. The idea of hell is in accordance with the laws of nature, and cannot be eliminated from thought. I. ANTITHESES BELONG TO THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF THINGS; HENCE, ARE TO BE FOUND EVEN IN FINALITIES. All positive things involve a corresponding negative; and are comprehensible only by contrast with their negative. If you paint a picture all white, you have nothing but a white. washed canvas and no picture; it is only by contrast between lights and shadows that you can give it expression and form. What is there in the world that has not its corresponding negative? If there is light there is also darkness; if there is height there is also depth; if there is joy there is also sorrow; if there is perfection there is also deformity; if there is beauty there is also ugliness; if there is upward there is also downward; if there is heat there is also cold; if there is good tilers is also bad; if there is reward there is also punishment; if there is heaven there is also hell. II. ALTERNATIVES ARE NECESSARY TO MORAL BEINGS. A moral being is one who has power of choice; and there can be no choice except as between alternatives. Our whole life is a choosing between alternatives. It would then, indeed, be singular if this choice was only possible in matters of secondary importance, but eliminated from matters of the highest importance. If there is no alternative over against heaven, then heaven is not a matter of choice; if not matter of choice, then it must be arbitrarily conferred, and, there being no alternative, it must of necessity be conferred arbitrarily upon good and bad alike. III. THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCES REVEALS A HELL. Who can compute the consequences of an act? It may be but momentary, yet consequences of the most momentous character are entailed upon the world. IV. THE LAW OF GROWTH REVEALS A HELL. Growth is of two kinds: by assimilation of things without, and by development from within: the first, scientific people call by involution; the second, by evolution. Sin grows, and grows by this double process. It assimilates with itself the elements of evil around it. This is the law of its existence, which forecloses any prospect of remedy from within. Moreover, sin grows by evolution. Sin propagates, and it propagates nothing but itself. Hence it cannot become extinct. It must propagate itself in the soul for ever unless some external power shall eliminate it. It cannot outgrow itself. The soul, therefore, which is identified with sin, must partake of this eternal process. That there is an external remedy we will confess: but we can readily perceive that the growing processes of sin must more and more repel this remedy. The history of a sinning soul, then, unfolds an ever-diminishing hope of reclamation. V. THE EVIDENT TENDENCY OF CHARACTER TO ASSUME STABILITY IS INDICATIVE OF A HELL. This final stability is what we call second nature — the outcome and ultimate form of the plastic powers of the soul. Hence the welfare of the creature demands a limited probation. Man's happiness demands that he should be able to work towards an assured future: but the laws which facilitate stability in goodness must also facilitate stability in evil. Hence it will be seen why it is that the ambassadors of God are for ever proclaiming: "Now is the day of salvation," and warning you to "seek the Lord while He may be found." Hence it is we are telling you that the fittest time for giving yourselves to God is in your youth. VI. CONCLUSION. Nature has told us there is a hell. Thus nature is a school-master to bring us to Christ. (Southern Pulpit.) Parallel Verses KJV: To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; |
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