Fifth Sunday after Epiphany.
Hell.
"Gather up the cockle and bind it into bundles to burn" — Matt. xiii. 30.
SYNOPSIS.
Ex.: I. Love and fear. II. Fear a worthy motive. III. Parable.
I. Existence : 1. Various opinions. 2. Proofs from Scripture. 3. From reason.
II. Nature: 1. Inconceivable. 2. Buried alive. 3. Lost soul.
III. Pains: 1. Of sense. 2. Of loss of God. 3. Eternity. Per. : Self-examination as to mortal sin.
SERMON.
Brethren, hope and fear are the two great master-passions of every human soul. We become virtuous either through love of God or fear of hell. Hence it is that God and the Church appeal now to our love and again, and alas! oftener, to our fear, for so selfish are we that fear will drive us where love was powerless to lead. Nor is fear an altogether unworthy motive, sanctified as it has been by the Saviour Himself. " Fear not them," He says, " that kill the body, but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body unto hell." If in the Old Law the fear of the Lord was held to be the beginning of wisdom and had power to expel sin, how much more so in the New. Say what you will, but as long as the way to hell is so broad and pleasant, fear of God's threats will be an essential element of religion. " For," says St. Augustine, " fear precedes love as the
