The Rest of His Time [Tract]

Full Text of The Rest of His Time

A young man is driving his motorcycle. He is 300 feet from work; he has the right of way; the street is bare. A car pulls out from a stop sign, then the squeal of brakes and the grinding impact of metal and flesh.

Now the sound of the ambulance, and then the skill of the doctors and nurses as they desperately attempt to save the life of a 20-year-old man. A few words of goodbye from anxious parents as he is transferred to a larger city hospital. All attempts fail; the sad news is told to family and friends … Dead.

If you were to have asked this young man the night before, “How long is the rest of your time?” could he have told you? No, he could not.

And now I want to ask you this same question. “How long is the rest of your time?” More solemn yet, where are you going when you do end this life? I am happy to tell you that for this young man, it was to be with Christ, which is far better. Yes, he knew the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior. Do you?

I hope that you will continue to read this paper, because I want to tell you how you can know with definite assurance where you will spend eternity. Yes, we can know on the authority of the Word of God the destiny of our never-dying soul.

The Word of God tells us: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

But you may say, “I am not such a bad person. I’ve never done anything really serious. I think everything will be all right with me when I die … I hope so anyway.” The Word of God says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23).

This takes us all in, you and me and also the young man in this accident. Have you ever, in the presence of God, told Him that you were a sinner? He loves you, my friend, and He has provided a way that all your sins can be put away forever. “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Deep Love

I knew this young man very well. He was my own son. I loved him very much, but I could do nothing to save his life. When he left home that bright sunny morning in June, he said goodbye and left. I did not send him out to die. I did not plan on the sad events of that day. But, dear friend, I know a Father who loved His Son with a deeper love than you or I can imagine. Yet He sent His Son to die. You know who I am talking about. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Marvellous love …

Would you really like to have the question settled? Would you like to be saved? You can be. All the work for your salvation has been done for you by another. “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38‑39).

What an impact death has upon close friends … The  tears flowed freely … But I wish to be very personal with you. I want to search your thoughts for a few moments. If your father were writing this paper about you,  what would he say? Could he truthfully say of you, “With Christ which is far better” (Philippians 1:23)? “Absent from the body, present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8)? Or would he say, “I don’t know”? Oh! the foolishness of unbelief when God has made the way of salvation so simple and plain. We read, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

The young man I am telling you about did not willingly give up his life. No, as we stood by him in the emergency room, we could sense the effort to live as his precious life ebbed away. But the blessed Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of the living God, gave His life for you and me. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

The scripture from which the heading of this tract is taken has often searched my own soul. I will quote it for you. “That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2).

If you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your own personal Savior, I would encourage you to read your Bible daily and to be faithful to the One who died to redeem you.