“THERE is no hope” were the terrible words which greeted the ears of anxious relatives and friends, who had gathered at the pit’s mouth after a colliery disaster had taken place, hoping to hear from the rescue-party that some, at least, of the scores of men who were entombed in the mine below, were safe and well. But it was not so. What the explosion had not done the awful firedamp had completed; so that not one among the many who entered the pit that morning never saw daylight again. Little did they think, when they left their homes that morning, that they would never return there again. Some, we trust, were fully prepared for such a sudden call, knowing that for them “to be absent from the body” would be to be “present with the Lord.” But what of those that were unsaved? Is there any hope for such beyond the grave?
There is no hope!
“If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins,” said the Saviour to the unbelieving Jews (John 8:2424I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)). To die in unbelief is to die in our sins; and there is no hope of forgiveness on the other side of death. When the jailor at Philippi asked the important question, “What must I do to be saved?” the unmistakable answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30,3130And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30‑31)). There is no other way. For unbelievers, “the gospel of hope” has no place in Holy Scripture. There is not a single sentence in the whole of the Bible that gives support to the teaching that there is hope for the sinner after death. God’s blessed gospel is not preached to men after they have died: it is only while they live; and there must be faith in exercise; that is, the message must be believed if blessing is to be obtained. The Lord Jesus, after He had risen from the dead, sent forth His disciples, saying, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15, 1615And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:15‑16)). Nothing could be plainer than this. The blessed result to the believer is salvation; the awful result to the unbeliever is damnation.
Which, dear reader, is before YOU?
E. E. A.