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THE KING’S BUSINESS
women have had these words of Christ before them to live by if they would, and thousands and tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, have decided that they would. Men and women by the mil lions have tested the words of Christ, His promises, His moral precepts, His warnings, in all the relations of life. They have tested His promises and His precepts in the home, they have tested them in the church life, in the place of business; they have tested them in sickness and in health; they have tested them in the joys of peace and in the horrors of war; they have tested them in life and when face to face with death; they Jiave tested them in the sweet fullness of the unbroken family circle, and in the utter desolation when every earthly friend has been taken away. For eighteen centuries men have tested these words of Christ from the cradle to the gave, and the words of Christ have stood the test, they have never failed—they never will fail. In all, these words of Christ have stood millions upon millions of tests and not one single case of failure. What may we say then without the shadow of the shade of a doubt? Not one word of Christ’s shall ever fail. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of Jesus Christ shall not pass away. If there is anything absolutely sure it is the words of Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth may pass away; they are material and subject to the changes and decay that are always going on in matter; they have stood for ages, but they will not always stand in their present form. There was a time, as both the Bible and science tell us, when the heavens and earth did not exist, and there will be a time when they do not continue to exist in their present form, but Christ’s words are spiritual, not material, unchangeable, not changing, eternal, not temporal, and while the endless ages of eternity roll on they will endure. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of Jesus Christ shall not pass away.
II. Some o th er things th a t are sure also. We have seen that Christ’s words are absolutely sure, that not one word of His shall ever fail, but if Jesus Christ’s words are sure some other things are sure also. 1. It is sure that there is a future eternal heaven and eternal hell. This, Jesus Christ plainly declares. The doctrines of an eternal heaven and an eternal hell are not speculations of the theologians, but procla-1 mations of the Son of God. Jesus Christ said that at His coming again, all nations then living on the earth shall be gathered before Him for judgment, and that He shall separate them one from the other as a shepherd separateth his sheep from the goats,, and that He shall set the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left, and of those on the left hand He says, “These shall go away into eternal punish ment: but the righteous unto eternal life” (Matt. 25:31-34, 41, 46). Remember that these are not the words of some, “antiquated, mediaeval, bigoted theologian;” they are the words of the Son of God, the words of Him not' one word of whose shall ever fail. 2. It is sure again . that any one who. believes in Jesus Christ shall receive for giveness of sins and eternal life, no matter how greatly nor how long he may have sinned. Jesus says that He “has power on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10). He says again, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:14). These words seem incredible; they seem too good to be true, but Jesus Christ is the speaker, and not one word of His shall ever fail. The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but His words shall not pass away. This statement that there is pardon and eternal life for any one and every one who will believe in Jesus Christ is absolutely sure. Is there any one who reads these words who is heartily sick of sin and heartily tired of death? Come, believe on Jesus Christ and
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