No.18. Eternity Where? Thy Word Is Truth. The Apostolic Faith N.W.Sixth & Burnside Portland, Oregon U.S.A.

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Clifford Montgomery
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1 Eternity Where? No.18 Thy Word Is Truth The Apostolic Faith N.W.Sixth & Burnside Portland, Oregon U.S.A.

2 ETERNITY WHERE? THEN shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:34, 41). Those who have bent over the deathbed of infidels who have passed into eternity have heard their last words: Oh, for a moment to get right with God! or, Only for a little while that I might change my life! One noted infidel exclaimed: I am taking a fearful leap into the dark! Another said: Till this moment I felt there was neither a God nor a hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty. Another dying infidel said: Eternity, eternity! Forever and forever! Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell! Not for a million worlds would we die the death of the infidel, the lost soul! They have raved in awful anguish and suffering of heart and spirit when they saw the approaching darkness. One said: I am suffering the pangs of the damned! On the other hand, we have knelt at the bedside of the saints of God. They go shouting home to Glory; or, with a smile of heaven resting upon their face, they will sometimes point upward. Some saints who have gone home to glory have exclaimed:

3 Eternity rolls up before me like a sea of glory! Oh, how beautiful! The opening Heavens around me shine! The battle is fought, the victory is won! I am sweeping through the Gates, washed in the Blood of the Lamb! The Wages of Sin You have your strength today, your health, your pleasure; but the time will come when sickness, suffering, and death will enter your door, and in that hour your infidel friends, your fashionable friends, will have no comfort to give you. Eternity is everlasting. Just a few years, and the bloom of youth will leave your face; just a little while, and the strength in your body will begin to wane; but with Christ in your life, so long as there is breath in your body you will praise the eternal God. There is an eternal hell as certainly as there is a Heaven. If not, why did Jesus die on Calvary? Everlasting punishment is as clear as the divinity of Jesus Christ. The same Book declares them both. The awful wages of sin, the immortality of the soul, and the death of the Son of God, all point to the same truth there is a hell! False Prophets The No-Hellite, the Adventist, and the Russellite say there is no eternal hell. They tell you

4 that the wicked are to be annihilated; but Jesus Christ warned of The fire that never shall be quenched, and of the end of the wicked, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And, again, we read in Revelation: The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8). We would rather take the word of Jesus Christ than that of the false prophets. He said: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep s clothing. Their clothing appears like wool; they preach, Love, love, love. They pat you on the back and tell you God will let you go on in your awful sin, deceit, and hypocrisy, living in adultery married to a second companion while the first companion is living and at last He will take you right through the Pearly Gates of Heaven, to where the angels are. You can believe the Christian Scientist and the No-Hellite if you like, but we believe Jesus Christ and His holy Word. He says: Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke 13:3). God s Word will stand. He says: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And whoever takes from the words of the Book shall have his part taken out of the Book of Life (Revelation 22:19).

5 The Rich Man and Lazarus Jesus told of two men who once lived on the earth as men do today (Luke 16:19-31). A beggar sat at the rich man s gate, desiring to eat of the crumbs that fell from the rich man s table, and the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died, and the rich man died also. Jesus said that Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham s bosom not because he was a beggar, but because he was a child of God. His position may have been low in the world, but he was a child of God. He was one whom Jesus came to save and for whom He gave His life. The rich man died also, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. Many say today they do not believe in hell but hell became very real to the rich man. He said: I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him [Lazarus] to my father s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment; and Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. God is not using Spiritualism: He is not sending departed souls back to warn the world. If they will not believe God and the message He has spoken through His prophets, they would not believe though one rose from the dead. Can you afford to discount God s Word, and let false doctrine rob you of eternal life which comes

6 through believing in Jesus Christ? God wanted His people to know there is a hell. He would not deceive people. He would not have led us to think there is such a place were there no such place. He came to bear witness to the truth. The Right of Choice God gives you the right of moral choice. He gives you the chance to say, I take life, or I take death. If you wake up in torment like the rich man, it will not be because God sent you there. We read: Choose you this day whom ye will serve. God made you a free moral agent. He gave you the power of choice to say, I take life instead of death. Yet people will trifle, and choose death instead of life. There are no people who are predestinated to be lost, as some falsely teach. If you repent, God will save you; and if you do not repent, you will be lost in hell. This is the kind of predestination God preaches. He said: Whosoever will, let him come. He provides a way of salvation for every man, woman, and child in the world. He provided a sufficient remedy for sin. God planned this salvation. It is just as plain as it could possibly be made so much so that a child who has reached the age of accountability can decide for God and be saved. A child understands the blessing and power that God gives a soul. The power of God s salvation reaches the whosoever will. You are not required to have an education or

7 ability; you do not have to be high, low, educated, or illiterate. It is for whosoever will. God speaks to your conscience. He gave you at the very beginning that knowledge of right and wrong. He reveals to you the real Gospel. But you can neglect it until at last the devil will deceive and blind you so that you cannot see it, and you will find that you have lost your soul. Paul asks: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? This salvation has been confirmed, and it commends itself to every man s conscience in the sight of God. There is not one who can hear the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ, preached in the power of the Spirit, without having it commend itself to him. Prepare now to meet thy God. You cannot prepare after death. Do not believe the one who tells you there is some place after death where you can be purged from your iniquities. There is no purgatory to cleanse the polluted soul. It takes the Blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. If you do not come under that Blood while on this earth, there is no salvation for you. There is no hope beyond the grave for the one who dies in his sins. (Our Ensign) J E S U S THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

PERISH 2 PETER 3:9 & OTHERS

Series: Add To Your Faith NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD Text: 2 Peter 3:9 PERISH 2 PETER 3:9 & OTHERS 2 Peter 3:9 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering