sure to be realized by every one present here to-day? Can it be so?
Or am I here just beating the air to make you and me hear myself talk?
I solemnly protest that I am not here for that purpose. I have a
higher aim, a nobler end. But let me point you to my authority for
what I say, and show you the Rock on which my faith is built. All the
authority which any man dare claim on this subject is found in God's
revealed Word. I will here quote a few passages:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him
shall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.... Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.... Then shall he say
also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire.... And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."

These words are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ; he here portrays,
in one grand view, the good state of the righteous in the next world
and the evil state of the unrighteous. In the very inmost of my heart
I believe what our Lord here says, and out of the abundance of my
heart my mouth now speaks. I also sincerely believe, friends, that
every one here to-day can most surely determine for himself, even
while living in this world, whether he will be happy in heaven
forever, or miserable in an everlasting hell. You may justly ask,
"How can this be determined?"

I answer that a man's life in this world determines this for every
individual, as surely as the fruit of a tree makes the quality of the
tree known. Notice these passages from Paul's writings: "He that
soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." "To
be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace." "God will reward every man according to his works."

Every intelligent man can know with certainty what kind of seed he is
sowing. Is he sowing the seeds of love and good will to his neighbor,
the seeds of peace, and order, and comfort, the seeds of faith, and
hope, and love? He surely can know what his _will_ is, at least; and
if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted of a man according to
what he hath; and