Compelling Situations.--The Lord will force no man to Heaven, nor permit Satan to force any man to Hell. Human agency remains inviolate. But while there is no such thing in the Gospel of Christ as compulsion, in the sense of fettering man's free will, there is such a thing as a compelling situation, the creating of conditions and shaping of circumstances that have often influenced men to do, of their own volition, what they would not have done if the situation had not changed, if such conditions and circumstances had not arisen. A simple illustration is furnished in the old-time anecdote of the boy up the farmer's apple tree--refusing to come down when kindly requested; persisting in his refusal when sharply reprimanded and a handful of turf thrown; but, when pelted with stones, scrambling down in a hurry--of his own accord. That is my idea of a compelling situation; the offender retaining his freedom, exercising his right of choice, but yielding to force of circumstances, and changing his mind for his own behoof. "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough hew them as we will." The Parable of the Supper.--Force, indirect compulsion, applied without infringing upon man's agency, is undoubtedly an element of the divine economy. What else is the meaning of the Savior's parable in which he likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a feast? "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: "And! sent his servant at supper-time, to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. "And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. "And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. "And another said. I have married a wife: and therefore I cannot come. "So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. "And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. "And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and _compel_ them to come in, that my house may be filled." [1] The inference is, that they were "compelled to come in," but not against their own freedom of choice.