That is no overstatement. For if there was no
Atonement of Christ for that soul, there could be no possible escape for
it. That soul was doomed from all eternity to everlasting fire. Yet the
advocates of that thought will tell you that the Atonement was
sufficient for all, and adapted to all. Moreover, they will tell you at
the same time that God is Eternal Wisdom and Love! Could you conceive of
a greater contradiction?
It is no wonder that on this topic there has been a singular reserve of
late years. It would appear that preachers are undecided as to what
stand they ought to take; and so they usually say nothing definite on
this momentous question. To a candid mind it must appear a strange thing
that the question is so dormant. A more vital question could hardly be
conceived. Yet hundreds of books are written, and thousands of sermons
are preached, and the question is hardly touched. Will the impenitent
have any suffering in the next life; and if so, of what kind, for what
purpose, and of what duration?
Almost nothing is advanced on such all-absorbing topics. We hear
sometimes of the wrath of God in a very general way, which really has
little meaning, so long as no hint is given as to what that wrath
consists in. And we hear a great deal about opportunities in life being
missed, without any specific intimation of the consequences.
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