(191)
FROZEN TO
DEATH
Many years ago the frozen bodies of a woman and child were found near a
railroad track. They had died as the result of a terrible mistake made by a
passenger on the train on which they had been traveling. A blizzard was
blowing, and the woman who was a stranger to the district, had expressed
concern lest she should miss the small country train station which was her
destination.
A fellow passenger who knew the area, volunteered to tell her when they came
to the place. A little later the train stopped at one small station, and the
passenger who had offered his help, told the woman that the next stop would be
the one she wanted. Accordingly when the train made its next stop she and the
child alighted. It wasn’t until the next stop that the would-be-helpful
passenger discovered that the previous stop had been to clear some obstruction
from the tract. The misdirected woman and her child had stepped out into the
blizzard at a lonely section of country, and when a search party found them it
was too late - they were dead.
This tragedy need not have occurred had the woman sought direction from one of
the crew instead of from a well meaning, but none the less mistaken passenger.
Every day a similar but more terrible mistake is made by countless thousands
who come to the end of life’s journey expecting to find themselves in heaven,
only to discover with horror that they have arrived in hell. Instead of
consulting the only authoritative source of information, the Bible, they have
accepted the mistaken, though often sincere counsel of fellow travelers on the
road to eternity. The woman’s informant meant well, but his good intentions
didn’t save her life.
Where did you obtain your directions for getting to heaven? No matter how
sincere your clergyman, priest, or similar spiritual adviser may be, the soul
that will be in heaven or hell for eternity is yours. If your spiritual
adviser is right the Bible will confirm his teaching. If he’s wrong the soul
that will be in eternal torment is yours.
Here is what the Bible says, “You must be born again,” John 3:7, for, “Except
a man be born again, he cannot see (enter) the kingdom of heaven,” John 3:3.
Have you been born again? You say, “I’ve been baptized, confirmed, taken
communion, I’m a member of a church, and I try to keep the ten commandments,
etc.” All of these things may be true, but none of them constitutes the new
birth. In spite of them, you will be first in hell, and then eternally the
lake of fire, if you can’t remember a time when, and a place where you
realized that you were a sinner without one shred of righteousness, and when
you learned that the only way to heaven was not by the things mentioned above,
but by believing that Jesus Christ loved you enough to die in your place for
your sins, and that in response to that faith God has pardoned all your sin,
and will receive you into heaven. That faith constitutes the new birth apart
from which you will be in hell, not heaven, eternally.
God warns, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end of that
way is death,” Proverbs 14:12.
******
(192)
A PARDON
REFUSED
In 1829 George Wilson of Philadelphia was convicted of murder and sentenced to
death. Friends, however, obtained a pardon, but Wilson’s refusal to accept it
raised the question, Could the State execute a pardoned man? An appeal to the
Supreme Court produced the decision, “A pardon is a paper, the value of which
depends on its acceptance by the person implicated. If it is refused it is no
pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.” And so the man was executed even
though his pardon lay on the sheriff’s desk.
Your pardon, too, has been granted, but I wonder whether it will be found
lying unused and useless after you are dead? You are already condemned, but a
pardon has been granted, and unless you accept it you will die - eternally.
Here is a statement of your position before God, “ALL have sinned,” Romans
3:23. “The soul that sins shall die,” Ezekiel 18:4. “The Lord is
longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance,” 2 Peter 3:9.
George Wilson’s insistence on dying may have indicated contrition, but his
death couldn’t undo his crimes. Your refusal of God’s pardon, which cost Him
the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will bring you into eternal
torment in the lake of fire. Acceptance of it will bring you into heaven with
all your sin forgiven.
How did George Wilson know that he had a pardon (though he refused it)? The
President of the United States said so. How do sinners know that they have a
free pardon for all their sins (even though they may refuse it)? God says so,
as it is written, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that
whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” John
3:16.
George Wilson lost his life by refusing the president’s pardon. You will lose
your soul by refusing God’s pardon. Accept it today by believing that Christ
died for you. Tomorrow the pardon may be useless: you could be dead and your
soul lost for ever.
******
(193)
THE MARK OF
CAIN
Since atonement for sin could not be made other than by the shedding of blood,
see Leviticus 17:11, Cain’s presentation of a bloodless vegetable offering
from the ground which God had cursed - and which therefore rendered also
cursed everything which the ground produced - was blatant disobedience. But
God, patient and gracious, gave him the opportunity to bring the proper
offering, see Genesis 4:6-7.
Cain, however, stubborn, rebellious, and angry because God had rejected his
vegetable offering, killed his brother Abel, and the resultant curse then
pronounced upon him caused him to cry, “My punishment is greater than I can
bear,” Gen 4:13. Eternally doomed, he was driven from God’s presence, and to
mark him as one whose ultimate judgment would come at the end of life and by
the hand of God rather than man, “The Lord set a mark upon Cain,” Genesis
4:15.
Cain and Abel are representative men whose eternal destiny depended entirely
upon the offering each brought to God, the presentation of that offering being
the tacit acknowledgment of each that he had sin which needed to be atoned
for. Abel brought a lamb which is a type of Christ the Lamb of God, and was
accepted purely on the basis of his obedience in bringing the prescribed
offering, not on the basis of any work he himself had done. He represents
those who admit that they are sinners, and who accept God’s word that they can
be forgiven, not on the basis of their own good works, but by faith to believe
that the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary makes full atonement for all the sins
of those who believe that He loved them enough to die in their stead, and that
God responds to that faith by pardoning every sin, thus assuring them of
heaven rather than hell at the end of life on earth. Abel was justified and
considered righteous by God purely on the basis of his sacrifice, as it is
written, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,” Hebrews 11:4, the blood
of that lamb pointing to the blood of Christ, relative to which it is written,
“The blood of Jesus Christ his (God’s) Son cleanses us (believers) from ALL
sin,” 1 John 1:7.
Cain, however, represents those who believe that their sins can be forgiven
through Christ’s sacrifice plus their own good works, even though God says
emphatically, “By grace you are saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the GIFT of God; NOT BY GOOD WORKS, lest any man should
boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9.
As Cain’s rejected offering was tainted by the cursed ground from which it
came, so are the imagined good works of those who expect to be saved by the
addition of those works to Christ’s impeccable sacrifice offered at Calvary.
They fail to grasp the fact that as sinners they are like the cursed ground
from which Cain brought his rejected unclean offering. They are unclean, and
their imagined good works are therefore also unclean in God’s sight, as it is
written, “We are all as an unclean thing, and ALL OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE AS
FILTHY RAGS,” Isaiah 64:6, for, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an
unclean? not one,” Job 14:4. “There is none that does good, no, not one,”
Romans 3:12.
The sin of these Cain-like people is that not only does God reject their
offered imaginary good works, but in addition He is insulted, for such an
offering implies the inadequacy of Christ’s sacrifice to cleanse ALL the
believers sins, and makes God a liar, for He declares, “The blood of Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us (believers) form ALL sin,” 1 John 1:7.
The false doctrine that the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse
only “original sin” is blasphemy, and will bring upon those who teach it, and
those who believe it, the same Divine wrath as condemned Cain, and impelled
his hopeless despairing wail, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”
These blinded dupes will add their wails to his from the eternal torment of
the lake of fire, see Revelation 20:11-15, God’s Word declaring, “Woe unto
them! for they have gone in the way of Cain,” Jude 11.
If this false belief is the basis of your hope of entering heaven, be warned:
it will bring you first into hell, and then into the eternal torment of the
lake of fire.
******
(194)
THE
SMUGGLER
Finding escape from a pursuing coast guard boat impossible, a smuggler ordered
the contraband tobacco to be thrown overboard, but the attempt was useless,
for in the midst of dumping the illicit cargo someone noticed that the
jettisoned cases were floating, forming a trail of condemning evidence.
The result was that the smuggler was given a three-year jail sentence.
After his release from prison he was rowing out to his ship one night when the
moon suddenly broke through the clouds, casting a band of silver light across
the water. It reminded him of the jettisoned tobacco cases of three years
ago, stretching, not like a band of light, but like a band of black
condemnation, proving his guilt, and bringing him the three-year jail
sentence.
With the memory came another from the days of his boyhood - a verse from the
Bible, “Be sure your sin will find you out,” Numbers 32:23. As his life swept
before him again he realized that one day he would have to stand before God,
with his sins stretched out across the sea of life, condemning him even more
surely than had the abandoned cargo of tobacco condemned him three years ago.
Other memories of his boyhood crowded before him, among them the truth he had
learned from his mother, but hadn’t heeded, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s
Son, cleanses us from all sin,” 1 John 1:7. “God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life,” John 3:16. Right there in the rowboat he accepted
Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Do you realize that we must all one day stand before God, and unless our sins
“Are sunk in the depths of the sea,” Mal 7:19 through faith in Christ, they
will lie on the surface of life’s sea to condemn us, and sink our souls into
hell and the eternal torment of the lake of fire, Revelation 20:11-15? God
warns, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation,” 2 Corinthians 6:2. Why not trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior
right now? Tomorrow may be too late. Tomorrow you could have gone from time
into eternity - passing for ever beyond hope of mercy.
******
(195)
HOW GOOD -
HOW BAD?
Have you ever wondered just how good you have
to be in order to enter heaven, or how bad you have to be to go to hell?
Most people have an idea that if you do the
best you can, live a pretty good life, and belong to a church, God will take a
lenient view of your failures and let you into heaven. Then there are others
who believe that after death the soul must spend some time undergoing
purifying punishment in a fictitious place called purgatory, though the Bible
doesn’t even hint at the existence of such a place. Others believe that
people who are absolutely bad - people like Hitler, Al Capone, etc., - go to
hell without any question. And then there are those who believe that God is
too loving to send anyone to hell, and that because of this everyone will wind
up in heaven.
It is strange that these views are held by
people who profess to believe the Bible, for the truth is that there isn’t a
word in the Bible to support any of these beliefs. The Bible, in fact, makes
it very clear that at death the soul goes instantly either to heaven or hell.
There is no intermediate place where the soul becomes fitted for heaven. If
your soul isn’t fitted for heaven while you’re alive here on earth, it never
will be.
If I were to ask you if you are a righteous
person, you’d probably laugh, and say, “Oh, I’m not the worst person in the
world, but I’m not righteous either.” How then can you entertain any hope of
entering heaven when God says, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. There is none who does good.
ALL have sinned and come short”?
Again, if I were to ask you whether a man who
committed adultery, and then murdered the wronged husband, to hide his sin,
should get into heaven, you’d probably say, “Absolutely not! He should go to
hell.” The Bible, however, tells us that David, who was guilty of just such
sins, is in heaven today!
You see, none of us can ever make himself good
enough for heaven, and God will not take a lenient view of sin. But
neither is anyone so bad that he must go to hell. All of us, “good”
and bad” alike are born with sinful natures, and it is that sinful nature, not
the enormity of the sins we commit, that shuts us out of heaven. What is
needed to fit one for heaven is a new nature, and God offers that nature as a
gift to everyone willing to admit that he is a sinner, but who believes that
Jesus Christ loved him enough to die in his stead at Calvary for the remission
of all his sins, and that in response to that confession and faith God pardons
every sin and bestows His priceless gift of the new nature needed by all who
hope to escape hell and enter heaven.
Why then engage in the worthless activity of
trying to fit yourself for heaven by such things as moral living, church
membership, confirmation, baptism, Bible study, prayer, giving, etc., when God
warns that apart from reception of His gift of a new nature through faith in
Jesus Christ as your Savior you have no hope of entering heaven, and must
therefore enter hell, and ultimately the lake of fire?
There is, however, a condition and a warning
connected with God’s priceless gift. He has imposed an unrevealed time limit
on His gracious offer, and warns, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold,
now is the day of salvation,” 2 Corinthians 6:2. Tomorrow may be too late!
******
(196)
AN ELEPHANT
AND
TWO
BRIDGES
Many years
ago in
India
an elephant stopped at the approach to a bridge, and began to cross only after
much goading by its driver.
Neither the
man nor the elephant reached the other side. Halfway across, the bridge
collapsed, plunging both to their deaths. They died because the man ignored
the warning the animal had tried to give.
Near the
town of
Wandsworth
in England is another bridge bearing this notice, “No limit to the load
permitted on this bridge.”
“And what
is the connection between these two bridges?” you ask.
None,
except in so far as each represents a vital truth about where your soul will
be in eternity. The first bridge is like the one many people are using to try
to reach heaven; but none who use it ever reach the other side. Like the
bridge in the story, it proves to be but the place from which multitudes
plunge to eternal destruction, first in hell, and eventually the lake of
fire. It is a bridge that consists of “good works, doing the best I can,
living a good life, joining a church, being baptized, reading the Bible, doing
penance, fasting, taking the sacraments, believing about Christ but not
trusting Him as personal Savior.”
If you
think that any or all of these things will take you to heaven, I ask you to
read your Bible, and show me anything in it that offers even a hope of
entering heaven through any of them.
The bridge
at Wandsworth however is like God’s bridge to heaven.
Are you too
sinful to even have a hope of entering heaven? Have you not done the
best you could? Do you belong to no church? Have you never been baptized?
Never gone to confession, never done penance? Have you never taken communion,
never read the Bible? Then God’s bridge to heaven was specially prepared just
for you.
Christ
said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by Me,” John 14:6. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance,” Matthew 9:13. Christ is God’s “Bridge” between earth and
heaven. Paul the Apostle, who described himself as the chief of sinners, has
crossed in safety. Why don’t you assure yourself of a safe crossing when it
comes time leave earth behind for ever, and go out into eternity? No load of
sin is too heavy for that “Bridge,” for the Bible assures us that, “The blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from ALL sin,” 1 John 1:7, as it
assures us also, “He that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life:
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him,” John 3:36.
******
(197)
TWO ROADS
TO ETERNITY
Life is a journey along two roads running in
opposite directions: one road bringing souls into heaven; the other, plunging
them first into hell, and then into the eternal torment of the lake of fire.
In view of this fact, then, don’t you think it
would be wise to find out whether you’re on the one leading to heaven, or
whether the end of the road will find you, with no chance to retrace your
steps, brought to the dreadful realization that you’ve been on the wrong one?
The Bible warns, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death,” Prov 14:12. Have you read your Bible to make
sure that you’re on the right road, or does your way only seem right?
Let’s look for a moment at what the Bible has
to say about the way to heaven. First of all, no one is born on the road
which leads there. On the contrary, everyone is born on the one that leads to
hell and the lake of fire, hence God’s warning, “You MUST be born again,” John
3:7, for “except a man be born again, he cannot see (enter) the kingdom of
God,” John 3:3, His further warning being, “Enter ye in at the strait (narrow)
gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction,
and many go in thereat: because strait (narrow) is the gate, and narrow is the
way which leads unto life (heaven), and FEW FIND IT,” Mt 7:13-14.
(Incidentally we don’t become sinners by committing sin! We are BORN sinners,
the sins we commit being the evidence of the evil nature with which we entered
this world).
A man is born again when he (1) accepts God’s
indictment that all of us are sinners, as it is written, “There is none
righteous, no, not one ... there is none that does good, no, not one,” Ro
3:10-12; “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags,” Isa 64:6; (2) believes that Jesus Christ loved him enough to die
in his stead for his sins; and (3) believes that in response to that faith God
pardons every sin, and will receive him into heaven on the just basis of
Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary.
Have you been born again? I’m not asking
whether you’ve been baptized, confirmed, or have become a faithful church
member, or whether you do good deeds, give generously, study the Bible, pray,
etc., for while many religions teach that these things constitute the new
birth, THEY DON’T! Relative to good works, God says, “You are saved through
faith ... not by (good) works,” Eph 2:8-9; and again, “For the wages of sin is
death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Ro
6:23; and again, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us ... through Jesus Christ our Savior,” Titus
3:5-6.
A further word of warning is necessary
relative to good works. The new birth should bring about a change in a man’s
life, that change being evidenced by his good works, but it is a fatal mistake
to believe that good works have anything to do with saving anyone. They
don’t! They are the result of salvation already received through faith
in Christ as Savior, but have nothing to do with bringing salvation or
keeping it.
******
(198)
The Funeral
Unlike the celebration of
a wedding or a birth, the occasion that brings us together today is not a
happy one, for death and joy are rarely if ever found together, yet we are
reminded from Scripture that there are two kinds of sorrow related to death:
there is the sorrow of those who have hope, and there is the sorrow of those
who have none, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep (dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
This sorrow - clearly
less terrible than that of those who have no hope - is that of those who can
anticipate being reunited with the deceased, for Paul concludes by saying
that, "the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with
these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
Who are those who
have this hope? Scripture makes it clear that they are believers; and their
hope is related to resurrection - first, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and then the resurrection of the loved one who has died.
Regarding resurrection
however, it was Christ Himself Who declared that there are two
resurrections, "Marvel not at this:" He said, "for the hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth;
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28-29).
But a fundamental truth
of the Gospel is that salvation is by faith, and not by works, "For by
grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
How then are we to reconcile this seeming contradiction? Very simply, for
Scripture itself supplies the answer. In response to the question, "What
shall we do that we might work the works of God?" the Lord replied, "This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John
6:28-29).
It is necessary however
to understand something about this belief in Christ that makes one a believer,
causing him or her to be born again, an experience that brings
assurance of pardon for all sin, God's gift of eternal life, and the certainty
of being raised at the resurrection of life, to enjoy eternal blessing in
heaven. In addition to believing the historicity of Christ, it is necessary
to hold that belief in relation to an equally firm belief relative to myself.
I must believe that I am what God says I am: a sinner by birth (I'm born with
a sinful nature), and by practice (I commit sins); whose only salvation is to
believe that when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, it was in my place
as my Representative, God imputing that death to me, so that by His reckoning
I have died in the person of Christ.
That is only half the
story however, for clearly it leaves me dead, and what I need is life; and
that brings us to Christ's resurrection, for an essential part of saving faith
is to believe in His resurrection, "If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).
"I say unto you, that
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over
ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance .... Likewise, I say
unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth" (Luke 15:7, 10).
******
(199)
THE
UNFINISHED STAIRWAY
One of the early chapters of
R.L.Stevenson’s famous novel Kidnaped contains the account of an
attempted murder. David Balfour, the youthful hero of the book, was staying
with his uncle who secretly wanted to kill him. One pitch black night, after
giving the boy some gold to allay his suspicions, the uncle sent him to fetch
something from a tower in an unfinished wing of the large old house. While
refusing to provide a light, he nevertheless cautioned David to keep close to
the wall up which the stairway ran, telling him that the only danger lay in
the fact that the stairway lacked a banister.
As the boy cautiously groped
his way up the stone staircase, a flash of lightening revealed another danger
which his uncle hadn’t mentioned: the stairs were of unequal length. With
still greater caution, he continued to climb until suddenly his searching
fingers found only empty blackness. The stairway was unfinished, ending in
mid air at a height of nearly five stories. One more step would have plunged
him to his death.
The story impressed me with
its likeness to the journey of life. The scheming uncle sought to hide his
true intention with a gift of gold. Satan, the arch enemy of men, often
employs the same tactic. With wealth, power, fame, pleasure, and a thousand
other devices, he lulls men’s suspicions. Under the pretense of good, he
sends them to climb a stairway, which, he says, leads to heaven. With
apparent care for their welfare, he even advises them to keep away from sin,
warning them that murder, adultery, etc., will bring them into hell.
What he doesn’t mention is
that envy, deceit, hatred are also sins stemming from the same evil nature
that produces murder and adultery, and that all sin is deadly, “The
soul that sinneth, it shall die,” Ezekiel 18:4.
“Join a church,” he says,
“Be generous in your contributions to charity. Pray. Live a good moral,
upright life. Do the best you can, and you’ll get to heaven.” But God warns,
“All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,” Isaiah 64:6. The way to
heaven is not by doing good, but by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as your
Savior. “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Not of (good) works, lest any man should boast,”
Ephesians 2:8-9. Christ said, “I am the way ... no man cometh unto the
Father, but by Me,” John 14:6. “There is a way that seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” Proverbs 14:12.
One day the question was
addressed to Christ, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?”
His reply? “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent,” John 6:28-29. The jailer in Philippi asked the Apostle Paul, “What
must I do to be saved?” Paul’s reply was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved,” Acts 16:30-31. John warns, “He that believeth on
him (Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” John
3:18. Note that salvation is not by good deeds, but by faith; and that
condemnation is not for evil works, but for lack of faith to believe in Christ
as the One Who died in our place for those evil works.
Any other way, except that
of faith in Christ as the One Who died for your sins, in your guilty stead, is
like an unfinished stairway from which your soul will plunge one day to
eternal ruin.
Are you depending on any or
all of the things mentioned above to take you to heaven? Be warned. Read the
Bible for yourself to see how worthless they are. If heeded, this message
could be the flash of light sent by God to show you your danger. Don’t ignore
it. You may never have another.
******
(200)
FREE COAL
One
winter many years ago in
Britain,
when houses were heated by open coal fires, a wealthy man made free coal
available to the poor people of the village.
The man
employed to deliver this free coal, knocked at the door of a dilapidated
cottage and was told by the ragged old man who came to the door that he hadn't
ordered any coal.
"I
know," replied the delivery man, "But this is free!"
"I
don't want anybody's charity," snapped the old man, as he slammed the door,
and shuffled back to his desolate kitchen where a few dying embers scarcely
shed warmth a foot beyond the fireplace. Pride made him refuse the gift that
would have kept him comfortably warm all through the winter.
Many
people today are guilty of the same foolish pride in regard to God's free gift
of eternal life. They refuse His gift, and insist that they are quite capable
of getting to heaven by their own efforts. Morality, religion, kindness,
etc., are all clung to as being sufficient to save from hell and fit for
heaven, in spite of the clear teaching of Scripture that there is no salvation
apart from faith in Jesus Christ, and that all these other things are useless
for the salvation of men's souls.
Christ
Himself declared, "I am the way ... no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,"
John 14:6.). And in regard to all other ways, the Bible warns, "There is a
way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,"
Proverbs 16:25. It warns further, "By grace are ye saved through faith:
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest
any man should boast," Ephesians 2:8-9. "Not by works of righteousness which
we have done...." Titus 3:5.
God
gives the assurance of eternal life, not to the man who attempts to justify
himself by his own good works, but to the man who is willing to confess, like
the repentant malefactor at Calvary, or the returning prodigal, that he is fit
only for hell, and unworthy of heaven. That confession calls forth God's
command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," Acts
16:31; and brings His assurance, "He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life," John 3:36.
The old
man of our story suffered cold through his refusal of the kind man's gift; but
those who refuse God's gift will suffer the eternal agony of an undying flame
in the lake of fire, for the same verse that assures the believer of eternal
salvation, assures the unbeliever of eternal torment, "He that believeth not
the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him," John 3:36.
John,
given a glimpse of the final great assize, wrote, "And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" Revelation 20:15.
Is your name written
there?
******
