A DREAD reality indeed for a man to die in his sins. “If ye believe not that I am He,” said Jesus, “ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:2424I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24).) Think, dear reader, what it must be to appear before God “in your sins”— before Him who hates rebellion and iniquity with infinite hatred! And yet, if you refuse God’s great salvation, despise the gospel of His grace, turn not to the Lord Jesus Christ, choose rather to do your own will and walk in your own ways, you must appear before the Lord Jesus to receive a just and eternal judgment according to your works. This is the record of divine truth. But the haters of God’s truth and His people are sometimes suddenly cut off “suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy.” They are cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb. We subjoin a couple of narratives to warn any who may be persecutors of God’s children.
“One man in particular,” said W. H., “was a most dreadful enemy to me. He at times uttered such blasphemies that I have been obliged to leave the garden and go into the fields, like a pelican of the wilderness, or owl of the desert.... But that same man, sometime after, fell sick; and, as God had delivered my soul out of trouble, I was determined to visit him, which accordingly I did; and as soon as I saw him, this noble champion of Satan was dissolved into many tears at the sight of him on whose head he had formerly showered so many heavy curses. I stood astonished to see a person so depressed and bowed down under the heart-felt dart of all-conquering and triumphant death, who, in his health, could boast of his strength, of his excesses, and of his disdain of all thoughts of God and of futurity. I asked him if I should pray for him. He wept, and said, Yes. I did so, but the answer returned to my own bosom; for, before I departed, he cursed the limb of his own body, where he saw that death had made its first attack, and soon after he closed his eyes in sorrow.”
“At E. there were two men who had been very bitter enemies to the gospel. One of them frequently assaulted me on the high road, made very wry faces, or, as his insolence termed it, looked me out of countenance, and used every effort to provoke me to anger. His wife frequently attended my ministry, which circumstance gave him great offense, and for this he often beat and abused her. At one time in particular he took her out of bed, beat her in the most cruel manner with a large staff, and afterward turned her out of doors naked on Ewell Common, and thus exposed her to the rigor of a frosty night. In the morning following he went in search of her, and was under some apprehension that she had perished through the severity of the weather. At length he found the poor suffering woman, who had taken shelter in a hovel among some straw, scarcely alive, where in all probability, had she remained a little longer, she would have fallen a victim to his brutality. But an all-seeing God suffered him not long to reign; he was soon after visited with a long and severe fit of illness, during which time he desired to see me. I accordingly attended him once or twice. He seemed much distressed, read and wept continually, but appeared very ignorant of the way of salvation to the last moment of his life.”
“Thus man giveth up the ghost; and where is he?” (Job 14:1010But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? (Job 14:10).) What an awful thing it is to be a hater of God’s truth, and a persecutor of His people! Well hath the apostle said, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish!”