Job pondered the age old question, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (14:14) "Living is good enough for me, I really do not desire to think about death," reasons the average individual.

"Death is for the aged! Death is for the diseased! Death is for the less fortunate! Not for me, I am going to continue to live and enjoy myself. Don't even bother me with this religious philosophy regarding life after death." Sound familiar? Do we delude even ourselves with this rationale?

It is too late to purchase fire insurance while the fire engine is on its way to your inflamed house. It is too late to purchase hospitalization while you are seeking admittance to the emergency room! Preparation is the key word.

Aged Solomon cautioned, "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart" (Eccl. 7:2). David uttered, "We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away" (Psa. 90:9-10).

I was called upon once to preach the funeral oration of a lady aged one hundred ten years, eleven months, and some few days. Most people who live to be eighty years old have had a fairly full life. Some die much younger. But, in common to all of us, we will die! One cannot escape. The Hebrew writer declared, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). One may think he can escape this appointment . . . but in my lifetime, people always end up dead. Morticians know that someday every individual must use their services.

What then? Once dead, no additional preparation can be made, it is too late to seek spiritual insurance. One has one life in which to prepare. God has been very gracious in giving unto mankind the years of life, the vitality of mind, the pleasantries of life. Jesus died for sinners like you and me, taking our place upon the cross that we might be justified by his blood.

Peter warned, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation" (Acts 2:40). There are some things that no one else can perform for you . . . and this is one of them. You must prepare for eternity! Tears, prayers, and even money cannot change one's destiny at death! One is now in the hands of God's judgment.

"Every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt. 25:46). "When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou doest not speak to warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul" (Ezek. 33:8-9). "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15).

Conclusion

(1) It is up to you to learn about the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Be concerned about your soul and living forever. Accept by obedience the Lord Jesus Christ, and put your entire confidence in him. Quit walking as other frail humans walk, and trust Christ. (2) Christians need to recognize individual responsibility in attempting to lead others to Christ in order to save others and "deliver their own soul." One is responsible for both his activity and inactivity.

Guardian of Truth XXXII: 15, p. 456
August 4, 1988