Heaven or Hell?
Table of Contents
Heaven or Hell? No. 1
It is an appalling thought that every one of us must be either eternally saved or eternally lost. There is no middle place. It is impossible to be in a neutral position. The Judge is quickly coming to execute His awful work. None can escape His flaming eye, none can flee beyond His reach. Some will go into everlasting punishment, and others into eternal glory. How vastly momentous is the subject! How intensely solemn! Can anything be compared to its weighty importance? Is anything so worthy of consideration? What a difference between one lifting up his eyes being in torments, and another lifting up his eyes on the Savior's face in perpetual joy and glory! Well might the blessed Lord say, " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
The scriptures give the fullest warrant for our having now the assurance of eternal salvation; and most blessed it is to know that we have passed from death unto life, from condemnation to justification, from enmity and rebellion to reconciliation and peace. It seems strange that persons who read the Bible should have a moments rest till they can say with the patriarch " I know that my Redeemer liveth;" or, with the apostle, " We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens/' Many, however, with the Bible in their hands, appear to live as if the present time-state would last forever; as if there were no eternal torment to fear and flee from, no eternal glory to be enjoyed. So dull is the human mind as to a right contemplation of these everlasting realities, that, except the Spirit of God arrest and enlighten the conscience, men perseveringly pursue the broad road that leadeth to destruction, deaf to the gospel call, unmoved by the Savior's grace; and in vain work hard to find happiness without having salvation.
Our Lord, however, often raised in the clearest and most unmistakable way the warning voice. On one occasion He spoke of some going away into everlasting punishment, and of others into life eternal. Again, He declared that some would be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. He spake of some who would be rejoicing at the marriage supper, while others are bound hand and foot and taken away. He referred to some who go into the marriage when the Bridegroom comes, while others are forever shut out. The apostle, too, plainly declares that some will be " forever with the Lord," and others " punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." Seeing then what eternal consequences are involved, doth it not behoove men to obtain a solid, scriptural assurance, that they are delivered from the wrath to come, and at peace with God?
But who are the lost? for scripture speaks of living men as lost; that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost In a word, they are without Christ. Whatever else they may have, they have not Christ as their Savior. This is the vital and decisive point. The sure mark of a lost soul is that he has not embraced Christ as his only Savior; he has not received Him whom God has sent. He is therefore in his sins, unforgiven, unsaved, lost.
There may be the greatest possible variety of natural character, educational attainment, or of surrounding circumstances; still men are lost, because they have not Christ. " He that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." Some may be moral, others immoral; some chaste, others rude; some professors of religion, others scoffers; some nominal protestants, others professed infidels; some clever and argumentative on religious topics, others profoundly ignorant; still they have not life, they are dead in sins, lost, because they have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Nothing can be clearer, or more plainly set forth in scripture; and the consideration of it is very solemn. Their hearts have not been melted by the Savior's love, they see no beauty in Him, they discern nothing charming in His gracious voice; they have been deaf to His groans and cries; His agony, and death, and blood-shedding for sinners are nothing to them. Their souls have not been affected by eternal realities; their comforts and expectations are limited to the narrow bounds of time and sense. They believe only what they see, or what they can prove. They believe not on Him whom having not seen we love. Benevolent and generous to their fellow-creatures they may be, but they know nothing of the sweetness of ministering to Christ's needy ones for His sake. Such are the lost round about us; and the gospel of the grace of God is preached that dead souls may live, and the lost be found. Blessed are those of whom it can be said, " He was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found."
Now let us look at the doom of the lost. Having lived in rejection of the Savior, they die unsaved. How solemn is the thought, that some, with whose faces we are so familiar, may possibly fall under God's everlasting punishment! Yea, we are certain that it must be so, if they continue to refuse to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.... whither I go ye cannot come;" thus they are excluded forever from the glorious presence of God and the Lamb, eternally separated from the fountain of love, life, light and joy, and forever in outer darkness. As body and soul have been engaged in sinning against God, so body and soul must be under the inflictions of divine wrath, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. When men die, they vainly imagine they have done with their bodies forever; but it is not so. They may be laid in the grave, and worms may feed upon them, or the corruptible frame molder into dust, but the body must rise again. "All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." " There shall be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust" The dead, small and great, must stand before God. Body and soul must be banished from His presence. Body and soul must be cast into outer darkness. They will be bound hand and foot and taken away, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. "Fear him," said Jesus, "who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." Independently of the mental anguish, the bodily suffering must be dreadful beyond conception. We experience pain now connected with what may be called natural sickness, and we realize the comfort of the tear of sympathy, and relieving remedies; but the pain then will be deserved infliction for transgressions and sins; it will be unmitigated wrath poured out by divine justice, without sympathizing friends to comfort, or possible means of affording one moment's relief; but ceaseless and everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. The interminable weeping, the constant shrieks of bitterest remorse, the thickest, blackest darkness, the intolerable anguish, the ceaseless frown of God, the pit filled with vilest companions, give us but a faint idea of what God has revealed concerning the eternal misery of the lost. No tongue can possibly describe their wretchedness. The power of mental reflection, the ability to bring past scenes to remembrance, the knowledge of having rejected the only Savior, the certain sense that some they once knew here are forever blessed in glory, while they feel tormented in the flame, with vain and ceaseless longings for one drop of water to cool their parched tongues, while they so bitterly experience that they are separated forever from all relief; the deepest remorse too connected with the thought that had they in their time-state bowed to the Savior's name, hearkened to His voice, wept at His wounded feet, believed in the efficacy of His blood, how unutterably different their state would be; all this and much more will combine to fill up the torments of those who die in their sins. Ο the inconceivable blackness of eternal despair! What artist could delineate it? What words can describe it! What finite mind can grasp it! Surely it needed a gracious, mighty Savior to redeem from such destruction. The blood of Jesus, and nothing less, was necessary to be shed in order that divine justice could exclaim, " Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.,י Yes, Jesus is mighty to save; and still He says of all who come to Him, " I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: Ο death, I will be thy plagues! Ο grave, I will be thy destruction;" so that the coming sinner can now triumphantly respond, " Ο death, where is thy sting? Ο grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
How awful, then, is the instruction conveyed by such words of scripture as " everlasting destruction," "eternal fire," "everlasting punishment"! Surely men do well to inquire like the prophet, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" Should not every one who reads these lines honestly put the question to his own conscience, " Shall I be there?" Some may hesitate, but we earnestly entreat them to make this pointed and personal inquiry. Others may reply, that it is impossible to give a decided answer to such a question. No, dear reader, bear with us when we still press for a reply, for the scripture saith, "He that believeth on him [the 8 things new and old.
Lord Jesus Christ] is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God." (John 3:18.) Can any language, dear reader, be plainer, to show you, that at this moment, the Searcher of hearts beholds you either not condemned, or condemned already? Let your own conscience then respond.
There may be others who say, It is very harsh to speak so plainly of the dreadful horrors of the lost; but our answer to such is, Did not our Lord warn people against coming where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched? Did He not speak of the greater damnation? Did not He also say, " Preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned"? Did not the Apostle Paul say, " Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men "? and also, " How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?, Or dear reader, our desire is that you may flee from the wrath to come, and be saved, for God is still rich in mercy. The door of eternal salvation is still wide open. The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. The blood of the crucified Savior still cleanses from all sin. It is indeed a great salvation. The foulest sinner now has liberty to come to the Lord Jesus without money, and without price. He delivers from eternal condemnation, blots out all sin and transgression by His blood, freely gives everlasting life and righteousness, and introduces the far-off, self-destroying, guilty sinner, at once to perfect peace in the Father's bosom. Is not this a great salvation? If the reader has neglected it to the present moment, let him now inquire how he can escape the wrath to come. You may not have neglected chapel-going, church-going, alms-σίνίησ, or the outward ordinances of religion, and yet you have neglected this great salvation. Ο unsaved soul! Plow can you be happy? How can you give sleep to your eyes again, without receiving this great salvation? Oh, that the Holy Spirit may so awaken you to a sense of your real danger, that you may flee to the Savior now, agonize to enter in at the strait gate, make the precious blood of Christ your only refuge, and find that it purges your conscience, and puts you on the ground of eternal salvation, and therefore of perfect peace with God. The Lord delights to save• Let us now consider who are the saved? That must be me (says the Pharisee), for I give alms, make long prayers, pay my dues, injure no one, and live a good life. But in this he is sadly deceived, for he knows not the only Savior,, refuses His gospel, and all his righteousness is only filthy rags before God. God has declared, " There is none righteous, no, not one.... none that doeth good, no, not one." And, notwithstanding all the boasted religiousness of many, it is further declared that " By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." Who then can be saved? Is there any way by which a crimson sinner can be made whiter than snow? Yes, in Christ and through His blood—even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Λ believer, then, is cleansed from all sin by the blood of Christ, and made the righteousness of God in Christ who is risen and ascended; and all on the principle of faith. And there never has been any other way of a sinner^ being accounted righteous before God but in the way of faith. Abel and Noah were accounted righteous by faith. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. David also spoke of the doctrine of righteousness without works. Paul often brings it before us in his epistles, and shows that it shall be imputed to them now who believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. To the sin-stricken soul then, who has taken refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, He still says, "Thy sins are forgiven.... thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." (Luke 7:48, 50.) He has eternal life, and God wishes him to know that he has it for his present comfort and blessing. The language of the beloved apostle John is "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life," and elsewhere he says, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." (1 John 5:13; 3:14.) Such also have remission of sins, and are justified from all things; this also God wishes them to know for present assurance. "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [Christ] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him, all that believe are justified from all things;" and again, "To him. [Christ] give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." (Acts 13:38, 39; 10:43.) Moreover, to such as have remission of sins, the Holy Ghost is given as the seal and earnest of the inheritance; and because they are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, the Holy Ghost is given as the Spirit of adoption. " Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (See Acts 10:43-47; Gal. 3:26; 4:6.)
Can anything more clearly show the present and eternal salvation, those are brought into, by divine grace, who know the Son of God now in glory, who was crucified but is risen and ascended, as the Object of their faith? Well might the apostle say, that the preaching of the cross is, " unto us which are saved", the power of God.
Heaven or Hell? No. 2
While God has revealed in scripture some of the miseries of the lost, He has not left us in entire ignorance of the everlasting happiness of those who are now justified by the blood of Jesus. Being already partakers of the heavenly calling, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, we await the coming of our Lord from heaven, when we shall meet Him in the air, and be taken to the Father's house, until the heaven opens and we come out with Him in manifested glory. " When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
But who can describe the blessedness of being "forever with the Lord"! What tongue can utter the bliss of being joint-heirs with Him who is Heir of all things! What pen could depict the joy of the Father's house, the blessedness of sharing the honor and glory of the glorified Son of man I What mortal mind could comprehend such infinite heights and depths! What words could portray the beauty and brightness of these cloudless regions of peerless purity and perfection! At our very approach to the subject, we seem to hear a voice within us, saying, " Take thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
We are clearly taught that the " inheritance" will be " incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;" that it is reserved in heaven for us, and that we are kept by the power of God for it through faith. All our blessing being founded on the blood of Christ, He will there be the absorbing object of delight, the untiring subject of praise, the source of uninterrupted joy and thanksgiving.
How widely all this contrasts with the present state! Now is the time for " evil things/' then to be forever comforted and blessed; now to sow in tears, then to reap in joy; now to endure suffering, then to enjoy pleasures for evermore; now to live in a Christ-rejecting world, then to dwell forever amid Christ-exulting crowds; now to know Christ only by faith, then to see Him with unclouded vision, and so be forever with the Lord. No Satan to tempt us then, no deceitful world to allure, no false friends to betray, no wicked to trouble, no vile body to clog, no infirmities to hinder, no sin to distress, no bereavement to cause weeping, no perplexities to harass, no separations to call for mourning, no failure to give sorrow. In the eternal state there will be no pining sickness, no aching brow, no breaking up of happy associations no heaviness of spirit, no disappointment, no un-kindness; but Satan bruised under our feet, heaven and earth passed away, the wicked cast into everlasting punishment, our present body of humiliation changed and fashioned like unto the glorious body of the Savior, and everlasting songs of joy in every heart. Distress will not be known, for " God shall be with them, and be their God; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away." Well may one who joyfully anticipates the coming glory sing, " There shall I bathe my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest; And not a wave of sorrow roll Across my peaceful breast."
It is declared to be the purpose of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "that, in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:7.) In the millennial age, when nations are still occupying this earth, and the bride, the Lamb's wife, has descended from God out of heaven, and taken her appointed place over the earth, then God and the Lamb are everything. Then too the world, when it looks up and sees the glorified saints, will know that the Father loves us as He loved Jesus. (John 17:23.) What wondrous grace to us!
Heaven will be the region of unsullied holiness. We are told that the living creatures rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come/'
God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, therefore " There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
It will be the abode of unchanging light and glory, for God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all, hence we are twice told, " There shall be no night there.'' How can there be darkness in the presence of God and the Lamb? There will be no need even of created light, neither of the sun nor of the moon to shine in it; " for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof." "They need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign forever and ever." How wonderful the thought that such as are now saved by the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ will then have the glory of God, and be where the eternal and uncreated light of divine glory will be their light, and forever shine through the Lamb. So bright then will be the glory reflected by the bride the Lamb's wife, when she takes her place as having descended out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone clear as crystal, that the nations on earth will walk in the light of it. (See Rev. 21:9-27.) Surely it is the precious blood of Christ that gives us title to this glory.
The Lord having come for us ere this, given us glorified bodies, taken us to our prepared abode in the Father's house; the marriage of the Lamb having taken place, and the bride presented to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, and, as we have seen, being then in manifested glory with Himself, we shall ever realize nearness to God. It was the Father's eternal purpose to have us before Him in love, without blemish, in the endearing relationship of children; therefore, as redeemed and a new creation in Christ Jesus, nearness, unspeakable nearness to God, must be known. Did not Christ once suffer for sins that He might bring us to God? And here we find its true fulfillment. We are told, " I saw no temple therein." A temple was ordered for God's chosen, loved, and redeemed Israel, and a mark also of distinguishing privilege, but it always implied distance. And it could not be otherwise; for why the magnificent building with its many sacrifices, successional priesthood, veil unrent, and the only house on earth where Jehovah had recorded His name? but to show that His people, though in covenant relationship with Himself, were still at a distance from Himself; shut out from His presence, and not yet brought in conscious nearness to God. It is well to observe, then, in this heavenly vision, that the reason assigned for there being no temple in it is, " for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it;" for the Lamb will be the everlasting Witness that all our blessings are founded on the claims of divine righteousness having been met for us in His accomplished work, and that the rending of the veil removed all thought of distance. For the same reason it is said, " There shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it." Grace too will be flowing like a river, pure, abundant, widening and deepening as it flows on; for what else than living blessing could flow from the throne of God and the Lamb? What refreshment, what satisfaction, what delight, this pure river of water of life tells us of, "which is clear as crystal, and proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb." " The tree of life" also in the midst, not of the earthly paradise, but of the paradise of God, will be ever feeding and gladdening us with its varied and soul-satisfying fruits, while the healing virtues of the leaves of the tree are given to the nations on earth. But the best of all will be to see His face—to see the Lord Himself, the One who loved us and gave Himself for us; for nothing less could ever satisfy one who is born of God. " They shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads." What heavenly, what eternal, and perfect bliss! Yes, " There we shall see His face, And never, never sin. There from the rivers of His grace Drink endless pleasures in."
Besides all this, there will be willing and happy service—" His servants shall serve him;" and it need not be added that the deepest reverence and profoundest humility will also be manifested. If the sinless seraphims which are ever ascribing holiness to the Lord of hosts, were seen by the prophet with covered faces and covered feet, how much more will it become us in unfeigned lowliness and holy reverence, to rise from off our thrones of glory, and, while prostrating ourselves, cast our crowns before Him who sits on the throne, and say, " Thou art worthy"! Yes, so conscious shall we then be that we owe all our happiness, all our blessings, all our eternal salvation to the rich, unmerited grace of God, that our becoming utterance will be, " Not unto us, Ο Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be all the praise, all the honor, all the glory Moreover, it will be the dwelling place of perfect love, for God is love. The eternal love of the Father, the self-sacrificing love of the Son, the love and fellowship of the Spirit will then be fully known, calling for ceaseless and grateful response from the innumerable hosts of the blood-washed dwellers in heaven. There the Father will be rejoicing over His returned and welcomed prodigals with exceeding joy, the Shepherd rejoicing over His lost sheep safely folded, the Spirit filling each vessel with fruit in season, and the praises of countless ransomed ones causing heaven to resound with joyful hallelujahs, and the untiring anthem of " Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood;" while myriads of bright angelic hosts add their ascriptions of "Worthy is the Lamb."
It need scarcely be said there will be rest there, even the rest which now remaineth, as it is written, " There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."
What will it be to be " forever with the Lord"? To be forever gazing upon His face, to see His name written on every forehead; to behold Him in His rightful place as Lord of all; to hear Him honored and extolled by every creature; to find all there harmoniously employed in serving Him; every mind in heaven according to His thought; every heart responding to His desire; every soul delighting unceasingly in Him—His fullness, His perfection, His worth, His glory; all feeding on His joy, filled with His love, and waiting in His presence; every knee bowing to Him; every tongue praising Him. His name how fragrant, His love how perfect, His voice how sweet, His glory how unutterable, His word how blessed, His will how just; and, above all, His blood, how precious! He Himself our Life, our Peace, our Righteousness, and not ashamed to call us brethren, but still saying, "My Father and your Father, my God and your God." He Himself satisfied at seeing the travail of His soul, and we forever satisfied at being forever with the Lord. Well may we exclaim, " What must it be to be there!" But we must stop. Our thoughts are too poor, our conceptions too meager, to attempt further description of the unspeakable glories of that bright and hallowed region. It is most happy to know that the blood of Jesus has secured it for us, that Christ is made unto us righteousness, that He has accomplished eternal redemption for us, and that He ever lives to make intercession for us, so as to save us through all this checkereda path right on to the end. Λ little while, and then the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and His saints, living or dead, shall be caught up to meet Him in the air; then this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, this mortal shall have put on immortality, and death shall be swallowed up in victory. Then shall we see His face, and be with Him and like Him forever. " Forever on His face to gaze, And meet the full assembled rays, While all His beauty He displays To all the saints in glory!"
Reader! Will you be there?
Man has a living soul. No doubt other creatures have living souls, but it is bound up with their organization. " Man became a living soul" by the in-breathing of God, and the difference is immense, and of all-importance. (Compare Gen. 1:20, 30, margin, with Gen. 2:7.)