First Great Deception
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obedience, and not to be literally fulfilled. Thus the sinner can live in
selfish pleasure, disregarding the requirements of God, and yet expect
to be finally received into His favor. Such a doctrine, presuming upon
God’s mercy, but ignoring His justice, pleases the carnal heart and
emboldens the wicked in their iniquity....
If it were true that the souls of all men passed directly to heaven
at the hour of dissolution, then we might well covet death rather than
life. Many have been led by this belief to put an end to their existence.
When overwhelmed with trouble, perplexity, and disappointment, it
seems an easy thing to break the brittle thread of life and soar away
into the bliss of the eternal world.
God has given in His word decisive evidence that He will punish
the transgressors of His law. Those who flatter themselves that He is
too merciful to execute justice upon the sinner, have only to look to
the cross of Calvary. The death of the spotless Son of God testifies
that “the wages of sin is death,” that every violation of God’s law must
receive its just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. He
bore the guilt of transgression, and the hiding of His Father’s face,
until His heart was broken and His life crushed out. All this sacrifice
was made that sinners might be redeemed. In no other way could man
be freed from the penalty of sin. And every soul that refuses to become
a partaker of the atonement provided at such a cost must bear in his
own person the guilt and punishment of transgression....
Man Fixes His Own Destiny
Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellion against God
be suddenly transported to heaven and witness the high, the holy state
of perfection that ever exists there,—every soul filled with love, every
countenance beaming with joy, enrapturing music in melodious strains
rising in honor of God and the Lamb, and ceaseless streams of light
flowing upon the redeemed from the face of Him who sitteth upon
the throne,—could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God,
of truth and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their
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songs of praise? Could they endure the glory of God and the Lamb?
No, no; years of probation were granted them, that they might form
characters for heaven; but they have never trained the mind to love
purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is