When Is The Party Over?

When is the Party Over? By Gary Pace Many believe that life is one never-ending party. We have friends to meet, places to go, and things to get. We seek constant amusement in the pursuit of happiness. We need non-stop activity to fill the often emptiness inside, to fight the boredom that surrounds us. Drugs, alcohol, immoral sex, money, are some of the most popular choices in this never-ending party called life. We don't want to think about the fact that the party will end one day, and perhaps soon. The enemy to all this fun and excitement is death. We all have an appointment with death and eternity. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). We have a God-given soul which will spend eternity somewhere when the party is over. Where we will be in eternity may not matter to us right now. The thought of facing a sin-hating Holy God is a subject that many avoid at all cost. The Creator who put us here for His purpose has been trying to speak to us, and we just keep on partying as if this life is all there is--as if there is no life after death. There are things that God wants us to know before we die, because once the "party" is over it will be too late to put things in order. He wants to speak to us directly from His Word, the Bible. The Bible contains all the information we need to prepare for life after death.

God's Word declares, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man" (Matthew 15:19,20). We see in Scripture that we are all unclean in God's sight because of sin. We may not think that we are a hell-deserving sinner. After all, there probably is no God. Right? The Bible, creation and that small voice inside us say otherwise. God is real. God is holy and He hates sin. Sin will keep us from being with God in Heaven for eternity. Unless we receive God's forgiveness for sin, God's Word reveals that we will die in an unclean, unforgiven state. Because of our choice, we will spend eternity in Hell with all of the other people who refused God's mercy. "That's okay--all my party friends will be there too," we may think. Yes, sadly, they will be there too, but the thick blackness of "outer darkness" will separate us from each other (see Matthew 22:13). What other choice than Hell is there? There is one. Ephesians 2:4 tells us something about God that many do not know: "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us." Even though we have lived a life bound by sin far away from God, He loves us very much. Because He loves us and desires to have us with Him in Heaven, God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to the awful cross at Calvary some 2000 years ago to pay our sin debt in full. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The Lord Jesus provided payment for our sin debt, the death penalty we deserve, by bearing God's wrath there on that cross and dying. Then He arose from the dead. We now can receive God's forgiveness for our sins by seeing ourselves as God sees us--as hopelessly lost sinners, undeserving of the pure home of God in heaven where there is no sin.

Will you agree with God that you are a sinner? Will you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and then rose again according to the Scriptures? (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Perhaps you will say, "I have partied too much. How do I know if Jesus will receive a sinner like me?" Jesus said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ today, confessing to Him that you are a sinner and trusting Him as your Saviour. This may be your last call. Do not delay your answer. "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). How to get right with God…click here.

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