Good morning,
Today is the last day of 2019. It is the end of another decade of life. What if this were the last day of your life? My devotions have tried to prepare you for heaven. But what happens if you choose not to accept Christ as personal Lord and Savior?
This devotion by J. M. Humphrey will answer that question.
The lost soul’s first day in eternity!
(J.M. Humphrey, 1912)
“The rich man also died and was buried. In Hell, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called
to him: Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”
Luke 16:22-24
At last I am in Hell. In spite of all my resolutions not to come, I am here to
suffer the just demands of a broken law. O God, can it be that I, who has
taught the way of truth, virtue and Heaven–should choose sin, Hell and eternal
damnation?
Death and judgment are passed. The time of repentance has slipped away. Mercy’s
door is forever shut. I would not heed the warning voice of God, though it
thundered in my ears night and day from my cradle to my grave. I hardened my
heart and said, “I will not yield!”
At last death came; I tried to repent, but my heart refused to shed a tear. I
passed into eternity, a damned soul.
The worm that never dies has coiled its slimy folds around my naked heart and
in it fastened its venomous fangs.
Merciful God, pity me. But the white-winged angel of mercy has flown away
forever.
The fiends with their bony hands are grasping for my defenseless soul. Away,
you devils, you shall not touch me, you shall not have my soul.
Ah, they have me at last! It is useless for me to resist. Is there none to
deliver–none, great God, none! I turned my back on You, now You refuse to hear
my cry of anguish. The flames of damnation are wrapping my soul in shrouds of
eternal misery!
O that I had a drop of water to quench this raging thirst that consumes me, but
there is no water here.
Devils laugh at my agony and exultantly shout: Enjoy the wages of sin,
FOREVER!
O God, I have been here but one short hour and have suffered more than a
thousand tongues can tell; and must I forever suffer thus? Through the
ceaseless ages yet to come, must I still suffer on?
Yes, it is forever! FOREVER!
The darkness is intense, broken only by the lurid flashes of divine wrath that
are thrown like thunderbolts from the hand of a just God! I grope in the darkness
to find Him, but plunge over the precipice of despair onto the rocks below.
Bruised and mangled I rise and stagger on in search of friends, but none are
found. All are my enemies. I scream for help and the only answer is the echo of
my own sad cry and the yells of delight from the throats of demons.
Alone! Yet multitudes are here; they gnash on me with their teeth; they trample
me under their feet. I struggle to rise, and they dash me into the lake of
everlasting fire.
Alone! Yes, alone! Without God, without hope, without Heaven. O that I had a
moment in which to repent, but it will never be given. I have sealed my own
doom. God’s mercy was extended; I refused until too late. Now Eternal Justice
is being satisfied. ‘Tis just. God is love and just and holy. He is righteous,
but I am guilty damned, and that righteously.
~ ~ ~ ~
Seriously consider your relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ.
Your choice: heaven or hell.
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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