YOUNG preacher was confronted at the close of his service by a skeptic, Burt Olney, He told the preacher, “You did well, but you know, I don’t believe in the infallibility of the Bible.”
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” was the young man’s calm assertion.
“I can prove to you there is no such thing as a judgment after death,” declared the skeptic.
“But men do die,” the preacher declared, “for it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
“But that’s no argument,” the skeptic protested. “Let’s get down to business and discuss this matter in regular argent form.”
The preacher shook his head. “I am here to preach the Word of God—not to argue over it.”
Olney, annoyed, turned away with the remark, “I don’t believe you know enough about the Bible to argue about it.”
“Perhaps you are right,” was the calm reply, “but please remember this ‘It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.’ "
As Olney went home, the words kept going over and over in his mind, “Judgment, judgment, judgment.”
The next morning he called to see the preacher. “I’ve come to see you about that verse of Scripture that you gave me last night,” he said. “I’ve spent a terrible night with those words burning their way into me. I can’t get rid of them. Tell me what I must do to be saved. I’ve got to get rid of this torture.”
When he left, he was a child of God through faith in the finished work of Christ.
My reader may not be a skeptic: in fact, you no doubt believe there is a God, but do you know the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do not rest until you know for certain that your sins are washed away in His precious blood. It is in this life only that we can prepare for that which follows after death. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1).
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
ML-10/09/1960