“If one evil thought, if one evil word, if one evil action, deserves eternal damnation, how many hells, my friends, do every one of us deserve, whose whole lives have been one continued rebellion against God!” – George Whitefield
One thing I never have, and never will, understand is how men have deceived themselves into believing that they are impervious to death, as if to suggest they can live and act as they like and will never die (Psalm 94:7).
They hold fast to deceit by believing that in between the dashes on his or her headstone that they can live in rebellion towards their Maker without consequence (Hebrews 2:2-3).
Scripture says just the opposite.
“All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before Him: and none can keep alive his own soul.” -Psalm 22:9
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away…” -James 4:4
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” -James 4:13-14
We see these kinds of people such as ministers, congregants, politicians, sportsmen, young people, old people, you name it, who simply live like there is no tomorrow believing they will never have to answer for how they behave or what they do.
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” -Ecclesiastes 8:11-13
Who are the wicked? The wicked in Scripture are people who live in sin; transgressors of the divine law; all who are unreconciled to God, unsanctified or impenitent. (Webster’s 1828
Friends, it is a fact that 10 out of 10 people die!
Did you know that over 150,000 people die every day, and that many of those die unexpectedly? When they die, which they will sooner or later, they will face their Judge!
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” -Hebrews 9:27
I wonder how many would have repented (Acts 20:21) had they known the levity and severity of God’s threatening when they had the time to do so. The man that ended up in Hell, who refused to repent for transgressing God’s moral law (Exodus 20), can surely tell us all (Luke 12:4, 16:19-3).
So, what is going on here?
“There is a war between you and God’s Law. The Ten Commandments are against you. The first comes forward and says, ‘Let him be cursed. For he denies Me. He has another god beside Me. His god is his belly and he yields his homage to his lust.’ All the Ten Commandments, like ten great cannons are pointed at you today.
For you have broken all God’s statutes and lived in daily neglect of all His commands. Soul, you will find it a hard thing to go to war with the Law. When the Law came in peace, Sinai was altogether on smoke and even Moses said, ‘I exceeding fear and quake!’
What will you do when the Law of God comes in terror; when the trumpet of the archangel shall tear you from your grave; when the eyes of God shall burn their way into your guilty soul; when the great books shall be opened and all your sin and shame shall be punished… can you stand against an angry Law in that Day?” – Charles Spurgeon
“Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” -Galatians 3:24
It is certain when it comes to every single one of us, and regardless of statues here on this earth, that we will all individually end up answering before our Creator for ourselves (Revelation 20:12). Believe it or not, like it or not, it is inevitable.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” -2 Corinthians 5:10
What is the hope in all of this?
It has been rightly said that the man that is ready for the judgment is the man that longs to be free from his sin, not to the one who continues on and indulges in it (Philippians 2:12).
