Why will you live another hour as a rebel against God upon the face of the earth? You know what is right, that is why you criticize others. Your criticism of your neighbor is a demonstration of the fact that you know what right is, and that you demand that other people do it. You know it is wrong to swear, to drink; wrong to defraud your neighbor; wrong to gossip or tell a lie. You cannot plead ignorance; you know what is right, and what is wrong. You are not ignorant of the consequences of sin. Sin will ruin a man and damn his soul. A drunkard ruins his family and his health. A whore ruins her body and soul. Sin makes homes unhappy and a place of confusion and heartache. Every man that continues in sin ends up wrecked and ruined in character and life, even if there was no God, heaven, or hell. In the prisons and jails, the convicts wear their stripes, shame and guilt. In hell, the sinner will wear his sins and shame forever.
Sin, it dooms and damns every soul it gets control of. Sin drove Adam from the garden of Eden and peaceful presence of God, and locked the gates behind him. Sin brought the flood on the world and drowned all the human race except Noah and his family. Sin brought down fire and brimstone from heaven upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin drowned Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea. Sin cause the earth to open her mouth and swallow up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram into hell forever. Sin caused Jesus to die on Calvary’s Cross. Sin caused Ananias and Sapphira to drop dead when they were convicted of their lying and falsehood. If God did all this because of sin, how can you hope to escape being a rebel in God’s universe, and sinning continually against Him every day? God will punish your sins. Sin will damn you, whiskey will make you drunk, dishonesty will put you in stripes, murder will put you in the death-chamber, and sin against God will bring you down to Hell where you belong. Sin will ruin you on earth in time, and sin will burn your soul down in Hell in Eternity.
You know the facts, you know what kind of life you are living right now, and you know what the consequences will be. You know what sin is, but you are indifferent to it. It will be a dreadful thing to face an angry God, if you die in your lost and ruined state. You have a soul that needs to be saved, a heaven to gain, and a hell to shun. Consider your danger and destiny. Only a fool, a stark, raving madman would cast his soul away forever for a few years of lust and foolishness. Many people are tormented by alcohol. They are torn and racked with whiskey; they spend days on their drunken binges. They drink and drink and end up in a drunkard’s grave. Don't try to face God in your sins. A man that rushes into God's presence unprepared is the biggest fool in all the world. Don’t be reckless and in a hurry to be damned.
Your body will be in a cemetery, and your soul will be in Hell one day. Reckless sinner, it is an insult to God to practice your sins, one day soon your defenseless, guilty soul will exit your diseased body into the presence of God. Sin is the recklessness that drinks, that gambles, that forsakes the home life and lives at a bar, that forsakes the wife for a strange woman, that cheats his neighbor and does the dishonest thing. Your continual sinning, day by day is increasing your momentum on your road to death and hell. A coffin and the final judgment bar of God is coming soon.
A man who is not afraid of the final, eternal bar of God is an idiot and hopelessly diseased in mind and soul. The bar of God! We are all heading that way. The Judge (God), the witnesses (conscience and evidence), and the jury (Books of the Bible), the witness will deliver their testimony, Satan will make his speech, the verdict will be read by God, and you will be sentenced. “We the jury, find the defendant guilty.” God will say to you, “Depart, ye cursed.” You will be gone forever and ever. You may waste away your life now, set a bad example, you may lead your children and friends down to Hell, you may take it lightly now, but then you will be shaken and stirred and ashamed. Indifference and recklessness will wreck and ruin your soul.
You say, “I intend to be saved one day, but just not today.” The devil doesn’t care who is going to be saved Tomorrow. Satan’s work and effort is to keep you from being saved Today. Tomorrow, tomorrow, you will never see it. Today is yours, it is yours, it is mine. Will you make it right with heaven by the help of God? Now is the time, not tomorrow. The way to hell is paved with good intentions. Settle the question in your heart now. Become a Christian now. The decision of the moment is an eternal one. Are you prepared to die in your sins? Are going to stick to your sinning and lay down in Hell one day? This is what you are really saying, if you say, “I intend to be saved later.” “I deliberately, eternally, irrevocably, made up my mind to brave the terrors of damnation and to sink down to Hell at death.” Decide now for God, Jesus, Heaven, and a better, cleaner life. You must decide where you will spend Eternity. Settle this question for time and Eternity. Don’t put Christ off, if you do, you will lose your soul. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. Don’t go on in your ways of sin, loving your sins, one day you will stumble into your coffin and over into Hell Fire. Don’t put off turning to God. Don’t continue in your dirty ways, leading a compromising life. Will you, or will you not, trust Jesus Christ with your soul and become a Christian?
You say this, "What you say is right. I know I’m a sinner, but I’ll come out as well as any of you. I know you think I’m in danger, but I will be fine. God is going to be better to me than anybody down here. I know it’s all going to turn out well for me." Sin has already started its work in you, and when it is finished, it will end in death – eternal death and the Lake of Fire. It is high time that you were repenting. Don’t put Jesus off, I beg you. This night thy soul may be required of thee. That rich man didn’t die that night, he was effectually doomed living as he was finally damned. If you continue on in your love for sin, you will be damned as certain as the sun rose this morning. Your body will die, and then your soul shall die the second death forever and ever. The wages of sin, in which you continue, is eternal death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What is eternal death? I know what death is, I have seen that before in hospital rooms: a sick and dying body with glaring eyes, feverish brow and lips, pale face, heaving bosom, jerking muscles, twitching of nerves. Death is very cruel to the body. The clutches of death is the most cruel thing you can ever see on earth. Take that word “death,” and then take that word “eternal.” They are two of most dreadful words in the English language. Couple them together. Eternal death, or death eternal. Death is horrible, but how horrible when associated with Eternity. Eternal death is a terrible thing to face without God and His Son.
But what is eternal death? It is everlasting misery and pain; it is dying, dying, dying, and yet you can never stop dying. Here is a picture of the death of a lost sinner: His body lies motionless and powerless in physical death. And the reptile of eternal death approaches him. It comes closer and closer. He would run before the serpent reaches him, but he is motionless. The reptile comes and coils itself around his limbs and his body, and he shudders in its embrace. And the sinner, in pure horror, looks into the face of the reptile. And then it strikes him with the fatal bite and sinks its fangs into his soul and injects the poison of eternal death, and he begins to die forever. Friend, you need to seek eternal life in Christ and live forever, shun the second death that never, never dies. Stop wasting your time, health (body and mind), money, and soul in sinning. Are you interested in your soul?
