Sunday Night Meditations 22 Message and Song - 1950's — Welcome Detweiler

Greetings to our radio friends. Our program today opened with a choir singing a special arrangement of an old hymn in the sweet by-and-by. To the Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27, I read these arresting words.

Death and the Certainty of Judgment

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. If you have read your Bible to any extent, you will have noticed that it speaks very frankly on subjects that we prefer to dismiss from our minds.

The thought that each one of us will eventually stand before a thrice holy God causes the natural man to express a wish that that day might never appear. That there is something after death is a universally accepted fact.

Only a very few dishonest people will question this Bible fact. The most careless and indifferent as well as the most thoughtful are convinced that death does not end all. This universal impression has obviously been printed by the finger of God.

Spiritism and demonology prosper today because many are curious about the future and pay large sums of money to evil agents who claim to have contact with the unseen world. Some eccentric and gullible people would rather be deceived than turn to the clear statements of God's precious word.

No one but Christ has ever returned from the invisible world to describe what lies beyond death. We have watched our loved ones as they draw near to death, but we have no word from them after they pass over the threshold from time into eternity.

A few were raised from the dead during the days of the public ministry of Christ upon the earth, but they evidently forgot to leave us any information of what lies beyond. At least there is no record of their findings.

Since Christ is the only one who returned, and since his words are absolute truth, we are wise to listen to his statements regarding what happens after death. In Luke's Gospel, chapter 16, we have the inspired record of Christ saying, There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being informed. Here we have an unveiling of the unseen world, a description given by Christ of something that really happened to his personal knowledge.

The Rich Man’s Reversal After Death

He declares that the rich man died and was buried. Everything is changed in a moment. For a while he is clothed in purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day. But suddenly death comes, and what then?

He descends from wealthy robes to the depths of misery in Hades, where tons of gold could not purchase one drop of cold water. His funeral may have been a very imposing one, just as in his life, but in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment.

Long before his funeral ceremony on earth was concluded, the poor, respectable, but Christ-neglecting sinner was facing the reality of a lost eternity. I can almost hear his preacher saying many nice things about the man, of all his good deeds, and of the rest that he is now enjoying in a far better world.

While all this is going on on earth, the poor Christ-neglecter is suffering the early pangs of eternal punishment. In this place of torment, which is now his permanent home, he could see, he could feel, he could thirst, he could talk, he could remember.

First of all, he sees Lazarus with his mind's eye in a place of extreme contrast, a place of comfort. And surely he must realize that he too had the privilege of being in that better place, if only he had given heed to the message of the gospel.

But there's no use wishing or hoping now, for there's a great gulf fixed, and there is no passage from the prison house to the palace. That choice had to be made before death, and like many others, he made light of such matters in his bygone days.

He is no longer a rich man, but a beggar in one moment of time. He begs for one drop of water to alleviate his thirst, but he soon finds that he is in a place where no petitions are granted, not even small ones.

The Rich Man’s Warning for His Brothers

Once more he seems to look out into space. This time he sees five careless brothers on earth, and he seems to realize that they are on their way to the same place of torment. He makes one more petition.

This time it is not a selfish one, not a drop of cold water for himself, but a request to send a messenger to those five careless brothers, to warn them of the danger. They still have a chance to be saved.

They can still choose to be with Lazarus in comfort. They may be as careless and foolish as I was, but if one could be sent to them from the dead, they might believe, and his request is, send Lazarus to warn them.

His request is denied, for careless sinners on earth have the written word of God to warn them, and if they will not listen to God's word, they will not listen to Lazarus. This is exceedingly solemn. Perhaps you have never thought of it.

This very moment you may have a friend in hell who is earnestly praying for you. You may have a praying mother or father on earth who are deeply interested in your salvation. They may be praying for you daily, and this has gone on for a number of years, but I doubt seriously if any of your praying friends on earth are praying quite so earnestly as are those who are now in hell.

Your friends in hell are pleading for you. They are saying, my friends and relatives on earth don't realize how dreadful is this place. One might think that the rich man might be glad to see his five brothers in hell so that he might have a source of comfort, but it's quite evident that companionship is unwanted in God's prison house.

It's most likely a place of solitary confinement. I know of no scripture that suggests that you will ever meet a loved one in hell. Sometimes we hear a sinner say, since my wife is not saved, I would rather remain unsaved for I want to be with her in eternity, even if it is in hell.

Such reasoning is prompted by Satan, for you will never meet your loved ones in hell. You need to be saved right now, regardless of whether or not your life's companion is interested in this all-important matter.

Remembering Rejected Salvation

We notice too that the rich beggar in hell maintained a good memory. There's nothing that can make hell more unbearable than to remember that you heard the gospel and that you felt to some degree the desire to be saved and certain of heaven.

But on the other hand, you loved your sins. Even though you had a slight suspicion that you would someday be lost and miss the glories of heaven, you continued on, rejecting a loving Savior who died for you and desired to save you.

Remember, every time God's Spirit calls you and you deliberately refuse Him, you will remember that when you get to a lost eternity and you will have to blame yourself. I'm bringing some very solemn facts to your attention tonight and I ask you individually to listen to this message.

The Urgency of Responding to Christ

What will you do with the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins, who stands by your side, ready to save you from this horrible lost eternity? Will you turn down such a grand opportunity? If you do even once, you deserve to be banished from God's presence and you deserve to be branded as a Christ rejecter, as an unbeliever.

Whether you believe it or not, judgment is coming. Today we have apparently an unequal providence and surely there must be another world where the guilty will be punished and the righteous will be rewarded.

If men are not punished or rewarded in a future state, the administration of God appears to be neither equitable nor just. So your own reasoning demands that you submit to the clear and reasonable statements of God's precious Word.

I ask you to turn to Christ. Tell Him that you will trust Him, thank Him for dying for your sins and if you will close in with this offer of salvation, you have this promise that whosoever believeth in Him shall never perish but have everlasting life.

I trust you will take very seriously the fact that you are facing eternity. It will either be heaven or it will be hell and that matter is decided right here and now by your attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you reject Him, if you neglect Him, God will have to punish you. If you receive Him as your substitute, as your Lord and Savior, God will save you and you will be in heaven, in that place of comfort and rest and peace for all eternity.

God grant that you may make your decision this very hour.

Our radio friends, our program today opens by the girls' trio singing.

Satisfied With Thee, Lord Jesus. Dying, living, throned above, thee thou throned within my heart. Let all rivals thence depart. In temptation's testing hour, prove to me thy mighty power. Stand between me and the foe, warding off each fatal blow.

When affliction's billows roll, breathe thy grace into my soul. Grace to suffer and be still, to adore my Father's will. Though of creature joys bereft, thy sweet presence only left. Stripped and desolate and poor, having thee, what want I more?

When life's shadows deeper grow and with feeble steps and slow, I approach the close of day, unseen friend, be still my stay. Whom at last I shall behold as the mystic gates unfold? Who has ever been my guide?

The Human Heart as the Organ of Life

Veiled Emmanuel at my side. The organ is the human heart. Every day, Sundays and all holidays, this little engine keeps on pumping. It is pumping during our waking hours and ceaselessly pumping while we lie helplessly in sleep.

It doesn't complain about the condition of the weather and never asks for a vacation. It will work best when treated well, but it will do its utmost to give good service when working conditions are unduly taxing its strength.

How dependent we are on the heart. If an eye is blind, we see with the other. If one ear is deaf, we turn our head and listen with our good ear. If one leg is gone, an artificial one can help us along through life.

But one's earthly existence depends, as we all know, on the heart. This most interesting machine is about the size of one's fist and weighs somewhere around 10 ounces. It is divided into four chambers and enclosed in a sac called the pericardium.

It beats 70 times every minute, 4 ,200 times an hour. The volume of blood pumped by the heart in one year is about 650 ,000 gallons, or enough to fill about 81 tank cars of 8 ,000 gallons each. While this little organ that keeps our blood circulating constantly can be weakened by disease and abuse, if given a fair chance it will render excellent service.

Until weary with the years of ceaseless toil, it finally stops. This brings me to a question that I must ask, a very personal one, but also a very important question. That is, if your heart should stop five minutes from now and your soul should enter eternity, where would you be, in heaven with the redeemed or in hell with the lost?

There is but one beat of that heart between you and the great beyond and then eternal bliss or eternal woe. Which of these two destinies, should the present beat of your heart be the last, would be yours?

If you have not given this question the thought that it deserves, can there be any better time than now to face the issue? It may be that some of you can say with divine assurance, yes, I know where I would be in eternity.

There came a time in my life when I turned in repentance toward God and received the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I then and there put my trust in the atoning power of His precious blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary for my sins.

In doing so, I received the gift of God, which is eternal life. On the other hand, it may be that some of you will have to say, no, I do not know where I would be in eternity if my heart would stop only a few minutes from now.

But, perhaps you can say, I would like to know. The word of God has a great deal to say about the heart. Of course it does not always refer to the physical heart, but the heart is used to express the citadel of our being, the center of our life, or the soul.

Biblical Diagnosis of the Human Heart

In Proverbs 4 .23 we read, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. In Jeremiah 17 .9 we are told that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. That is the divine appraisal of the unregenerate heart.

So, in the spiritual sense, we can say that all unsaved people have heart trouble. The heart is not right with God and is deceitful, ever betraying its owner. The Lord Jesus, during His earthly ministry, said, Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man.

Romans 3 .23 declares, All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that all, of course, includes you. But while the Bible describes the wickedness of the unregenerate heart, it also, by way of contrast, reveals the very heart of God which is expressed in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ’s Atoning Work at Calvary

His heart was pierced at Calvary when He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. The Father's heart of love was revealed in the sending of His only begotten Son into the world. The heart of the Son was revealed when He laid down His life for hell-deserving sinners such as you and I.

At great cost, a loving God has provided salvation for you. His beloved Son came from heaven to procure it. To do so, He willingly went to the cross. There the terrible wrath of God due to your sins was poured out upon Him.

There He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. He died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and in doing so, He completely exhausted every claim of God against the sinner.

It is finished was His triumphant cry just before He expired. And in proof of His satisfaction with the accomplished work of His Son, God has raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand, a Prince and a Savior.

Salvation Through Faith in the Risen Christ

Just as the unsaved person's heart may be used for evil, after it is washed in the precious blood of Christ, it becomes the means to bring glory to the Savior. For if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with a heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with a mouth confession is made unto salvation. That's Romans 10, 9 and 10. Every genuine conversion must reach the heart, and the believing heart is blessed by God's free salvation.

The sinner is exhorted not to harden his heart and this he does each time he rejects God's offer of salvation. God is not selling His salvation. Were He doing so, no sufficient price could be put upon it.

But rather the offer is on these simple terms, freely by His grace. If you will but take the place of a lost sinner and receive Christ's salvation, you will be saved from your sins and you will know just where you will go if your heart should beat its very last in the next few minutes.

The Present Moment of Decision

Now is God's accepted time, but there is no time for trifling. Tomorrow may be too late. Soon your heart may lie cold and silent and your Savior's pleadings cease. So I ask you to trifle no longer. Come just as you are in response to His loving invitation.

And if you will trust this wonderful Savior who died for you on Calvary's cross, you shall this very hour know the joy of being saved and the owner of eternal life. May your heart's language be just as I am without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me and that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come.