Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/135

 needle does  the  thread,  so  that  love  can  neither  enter nor come  forth  from  the  soul  unless  preceded  by  a salutary  fear."  Such  being  the  case,  let  us  reflect a  while  on  that  terrible  sentence  of  the  Gospel:  "  In the  time  of  the  harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers: gather up  the  cockle  and  bind  it  into  bundles  to burn."  According  to  Christ's  own  explanation  God is  the  sower  of  the  seed;  His  field,  men's  souls;  His servants,  the  Church's  ministers;  His  enemy,  the devil;  the  cockle,  sinners;  and  the  harvest,  the  end of  the  world,  when  God's  angels  shall  cast  the  wicked into  hell  to  be  burned  forever.

Brethren, is  there  a  hell? The world  seems strangely divided  on  this  subject. Some admit  it, but they  contend  that  hell  will  cease  to  exist  after the General  Judgment. Others say  there  is  a  hell, but they  hold  that  out  of  hell  there  is  redemption even for  the  devils. Others still  go  so  far  as  to deny  there  is  a  hell  at  all. But our  holy  religion lays it  down  as  an  article  of  faith,  and  common sense, supplying  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us, asserts that  there  is  a  hell,  an  eternal  hell. Holy Writ, the  infallible  word  of  God,  in  both  Old  and New Testaments,  teems  with  allusions  to  the  existence of  hell. We find  it  spoken  of  first  in  respect to the  rebel  angels,  where  Christ  says:  "  I  saw  Lucifer, like  a  thunderbolt,  fall  from  heaven." And whither did  he  fall? We find  the  answer  in  the  words God will  address  to  the  rebel  souls  on  the  judgment day: "  Depart  from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting fire  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." There is