Page:The New View of Hell.djvu/218

 Word of God and do it." "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock." But "whosoever heareth and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand." Whosoever doeth the will of the Heavenly Father," shall enter into the Kingdom.

It is impossible, therefore, to escape hell and win heaven through faith alone; that is, by simply learning, understanding, and believing the truth. Only those who religiously do as the laws of the heavenly life require, can hope ever to attain unto that life, or to have an inward experience of its joys.

And the first steps in the way of obedience, are, like all first steps, the most difficult. They have to be taken from a sense of duty—taken laboriously, with an effort, through self-compulsion, and without one throb of heavenly delight. They have to be taken when our natural inclinations urge us in the opposite direction. But as we go on practicing the laws of the higher life, every successive step becomes easier and more delightful. And as obedience becomes more and more the habit of the soul, hell and its delights recede, and the life and joy of heaven flow in with continually increasing fullness.

No: not by faith alone, or by a mere knowledge and acknowledgment of the truth, can a man ever escape hell or reach heaven; but by yielding a voluntary, though at first a self-compelled, obedience to the laws of