young man , who had been killed instantly by an accident , a Universalist minister selected as his text the Scripture statement concerning David : " He was comforted concerning Amnon , seeing he was dead ." 2 Samuel 13:39 . " I am frequently asked ," said the speaker , " what will be the fate of those who leave the world in sin , die , perhaps , in a state of inebriation , die with the scarlet stains of crime unwashed from their robes , or die as this young man died , having never made a profession or enjoyed an experience of religion . We are content with the Scriptures ; their answer shall solve the awful problem . Amnon was exceedingly sinful ; he was unrepentant , he was made drunk , and while drunk was killed . David was a prophet of God ; he must have known whether it would be ill or well for Amnon in the world to come . What were the expressions of his heart ?
`The soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom : for he was comforted concerning Amnon , seeing he was dead .' Verse 39 . " And what is the inference to be deduced from this language ? Is it not that endless suffering formed no part of his religious belief ? So we conceive ; and here we discover a triumphant argument in support of the more pleasing , more enlightened , more benevolent hypothesis of ultimate universal purity and peace . He was comforted , seeing his son was dead . And why so ? Because by the eye of prophecy he could look forward into the glorious future and see that son far removed from all temptations , released from the bondage and purified from the corruptions of sin , and after being made sufficiently holy and enlightened , admitted to the assembly of ascended and rejoicing spirits . His only comfort was that , in being removed from the present state of sin and suffering , his beloved son had gone where the loftiest breathings of the Holy Spirit would be shed upon his darkened soul , where his mind would be unfolded to the wisdom of heaven and the sweet raptures of immortal love , and thus prepared with a sanctified nature to enjoy the rest and society of the heavenly inheritance .
" In these thoughts we would be understood to believe that the salvation of heaven depends upon nothing which we can do in this life ; neither upon a present change of heart , nor upon present belief , or a present profession of religion ." Thus does the professed minister of Christ reiterate the falsehood uttered by the serpent in Eden : " Ye shall not surely die ." " In the day ye eat thereof , then your eyes shall be opened , and ye shall be as gods ." He declares that the vilest of sinners--the murderer , the thief , and the adulterer--will after death be prepared to enter into immortal bliss .
And from what does this perverter of the Scriptures draw his conclusions ? From a single sentence expressing David ' s submission to the dispensation of Providence . His soul " longed to go forth unto Absalom ; for he was comforted concerning Amnon , seeing he was dead ." The poignancy of his grief having been softened by time , his thoughts turned from the dead to the living son , selfbanished through fear of the just punishment of his crime . And this is the evidence that the incestuous , drunken Amnon was at death immediately transported to the abodes of bliss , there to be purified and prepared for the companionship of sinless angels ! A pleasing fable indeed , well suited
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