(James Smith, “Sunny Subjects for All Seasons” 1858) Play Audio! Download Audio
“God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:11
What a wonderful display of divine benevolence is this! What an extraordinary exhibition of sovereign love, to rebel sinners such as we are!
“You will not come to Me, that you might have life!” John 5:40. Rejecters of Christ are ungrateful and inexcusable. How can we properly represent the blackness of that ingratitude which refuses to come to Jesus for eternal life! Surely, surely, no one can pity the sinner who dies because he will not receive a pardon, because he will not have eternal life!
Sinner, if you perish, you die by your own hand! You die because you will not come to Jesus, and have eternal life. Such conduct must certainly be inexcusable. Surely, the very devils will laugh that sinner to scorn to all eternity, who goes to Hell from beneath the sound of the everlasting gospel.
He would not have eternal life!
And he would not go to Heaven!
There was the gate, but he would not pass through it.
There was eternal life offered, but he would not have it.
He would go to Hell.
Because he was determined to do so.
He chose death and damnation in his erroneous way.
Because he would not be stopped, either by the invitations of divine mercy, or the threatenings of divine wrath!No offer of eternal life was ever made to devils after they had fallen; so that they are more excusable in one sense than the sinner who perishes, because he will not come unto Jesus, and have life.
What a thought is this! There is an enormity about the sin of rejecting eternal life by Christ, not even to be found in the sin of devils!
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