DEATH TO THE UNSAVED
"As
he reckons within himself so is he." (Prov. 23:7)
What is the beginning of the life to come for
the man who is irreligious? Death. What is death for that man? Exactly what it
is for the other, transition, the laying aside of a tent, the entry upon a
vaster environment. What, then, is the difference? Let me answer that question,
by asking another. Is there still a point of identity? Yes, there is. As in the
life of the saint the word that marks the relation of this life to the life
that is to come is continuity, so also is it in the life of the godless man.
The set of the life here is the set of the life hereafter. Each man makes for
the depth of hell by desires and lusts created over a lifetime. The direction
of the life here is the direction of the life hereafter. When a man lays aside
the tent he enters upon a larger, more mysterious, wonderful existence. What is
he there? What he is here. But he lacks the vehicle to perform the lusts he has
accumulated, his or her body. And those lusts, cravings, desires go on for
eternity. You ask me about a second probation. The word of God has nothing to
say about a second probation, and I have nothing to say about it. I do know of
the present probation, and I know that the probation of today is to every man
in the world, and I know that the basis of the present probation is the light a
man has, and not the light he lacks. As a man passes out of this life into the
next the matter of utmost importance is not what he believes about Jesus, for there
are thousands who have never heard His name. What is the matter of utmost
importance? The set of the life, the direction of the life. The matter of
utmost importance to me as I pass out of this world is not the actual influence
of the moment, but the direction, the master passion of the life, the thing
that drives and impels and inspires, for that is the central thing after all. "As
he reckons within himself so is he." (Prov. 23:7) What is your
thinking? That is the deepest of you! Is it passionate desire to do the will of
God? That is the set of your life and death does not change it. Is the deepest
thing in your life desire to please yourself? That is the set of your life and
death does not change it. You go out into the vaster environment in which vaster
environment you discover more terribly and awfully your inability to satisfy
the deepest cry of your own life. Hunger without bread. Thirst without water.
Desire without answer. No body to fulfill the longings.
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