CyberHymnal
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The Four Last Things:
Death, Judgment, Hell, Heavendevotions from Holy Writ
ON DEATH
Vanity, Uncertainty of Life
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it
is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away
as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are
like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and
groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. Psalm
90:4-6
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As
for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so
he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more. Psalm 103:14-16
LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the
son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity:
his days are as a shadow that passeth away. Psalm 144:3,4
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his
days also like the days of an hireling? As a servant earnestly
desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward
of his work. Job 7:1,2
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also
as a shadow, and continueth not. Job 14:1,2
Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day
may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1
The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And
he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I
have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will
I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there
will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my
soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him,
Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then
whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is
he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward
God. Luke 12:16-21
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Hebrews. 13:14
Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such
a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get
gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what
is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little
time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the
Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice
in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. James 4:13-16
Death of the Wicked
Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the
hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to
the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall
perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall
say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not
be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
Job 20:4-8
How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh
their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his
anger. They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that
the storm carrieth away. Job 21:17, 18
The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked
shall be put out. Proverbs 13:9
Death of the Just
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment
shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to
be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and
their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in
peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their
hope full of immortality. Wisdom 3:1-4
He who fears the LORD will have a happy end; even on the day
of his death he will be blessed.
Ecclesiasticus. 1:11
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their
works do follow them. Revelation 14:13
Death has No Terrors for the Just
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. Acts 7:59
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for
the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest
of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that,
whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say,
and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present
with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or
absent, we may be accepted of him. 2 Corinthians. 5:1-9
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet
what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far
better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for
you. Philippians 1:21-24
Happiness of a Good Death
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. John 11:25
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he
that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own
works, as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:9,10
But the just man, though he die early, shall be at rest. Ecclesiasticus
4:7
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 1 Thessalonians
4:14
Preparation for Death
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall
find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself,
and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve
them. Luke 12:37
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the
night cometh, when no man can work.
John 9:4
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that
both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they
that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as
though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed
not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the
fashion of this world passeth away. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
On Judgement
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister
judgment to the people in uprightness. The LORD also will be
a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Psalm
9:8,9
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised
him from the dead. Acts 17:31
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with
his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his
works. Matthew 16:27
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart,
and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment. Ecclesiasticus 11:9
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and
to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36
The Particular & General Judgement
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment Hebrews 9:27
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens
shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall
fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling
fig from the fig tree.
Isaiah 34:4
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other....Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew
24:29-31, 35
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with
his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his
works. Matthew 16:27
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare
it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall
try every man's work of what sort it is. 1 Corinthians. 3:13
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down
to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved
unto judgment... The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out
of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment
to be punished 2 Peter 2:4, 9
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by
thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt
be condemned. Matthew 12:36,37
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from
the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but
the goats on the left. Matthew 25:31-33
The Judge
For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me,
I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall
judge his people. Hebrews 10:30
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of
days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of
his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame,
and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came
forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment
was set, and the books were opened. Daniel 7:9,10
Sentence of the Just
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world:For I was an hungered, and ye gave
me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger,
and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and
ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall
the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered,
and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee
a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or
when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:34-40
Sentence of the Wicked
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat;
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and
ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in
prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these,
ye did it not to me. Matthew 25:40-45
On Hell
The Pain of Loss
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer
darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew
8:12
But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart
from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves
thrust out. Luke 13:27, 28
The Despair of the Damned
Then shall the just one with great assurance confront his oppressors
who set at nought his labors. Seeing this, they shall be shaken
with dreadful fear, and amazed at the unlooked-for salvation.
They shall say among themselves, rueful and groaning through
anguish of spirit: This is he whom once we held as a laughingstock
and as a type for mockery, fools that we were! His life we accounted
madness, and his death dishonored. See how he is accounted among
the sons of God; how his lot is with the saints! We, then, have
strayed from the way of truth, and the light of justice did not
shine for us, and the sun did not rise for us. We had our fill
of the ways of mischief and of ruin; we journeyed through impassable
deserts, but the way of the LORD we knew not. What did our pride
avail us? What have wealth and its boastfulness afforded us?
All of them passed like a shadow Wisdom 5:1-9
The Eternity of Hell
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:41, 46
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and
Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves
over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude
6, 7
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power;. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
How to Avoid Hell
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee
to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend
thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life,
than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that
never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the
fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it
out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with
one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire Mark
9:42-47
On Heaven
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And
there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they
shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 21:4, 5
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Revelation 7:16
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:46
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John
14:2, 3
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:29
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed
unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom,
and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke
22:29, 30
How to Obtain Heaven
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For
whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will
lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:23,
24
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the
tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden
manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new
name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Revelation 2:7, 17
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a
crown of glory that fadeth not away.
1 Peter 5:4
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his
life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:25
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