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SAVED OR LOST

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 5, 1879

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 53, No. 23.

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SAVED OR LOST.

By N. A. Porter

SAVED or lost! Which shall it be with us? Reader, this is an important question, one that has a direct bearing upon our eternal welfare. Shall we have a home in the kingdom of God with the saints, or shall we be destroyed with the devil and his followers?
Let us compare the final condition of the two. If we are saved, what awaits us? Let us look forward to the time when the Lord comes to take his people home. The graves are opened, and the righteous dead come forth, not as they died, but relieved from the marks of the curse; “then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:17. A home in the kingdom of God is then to be shared with angels, with the Son of God, to see him face to face, to converse with him, to live with him through all eternity, where there is no sorrow, sickness, or death. Those who are saved will have the privilege of eating of the tree of life, of walking the streets of the new Jerusalem, and of living through all eternity on the earth made new. Eternity! The mind is unable to grasp its meaning; it is lost in wonder.
But if we are lost, what then? Again let us look forward to the time of the resurrection of the wicked. The dead are raised, but their appearance is the same as when they died,—no such glorious change as in the resurrection of the righteous. You can see the marks of sin upon them. There is the evil eye, the look of malice, and all the evil traits of character which they bore during life. Now what is their end? Are they caught up into the air as the righteous were? No, far from it. But fire is rained down upon them from heaven, and they are destroyed forever; for “the wages of sin is death.”
Now, dear reader, which will you choose? To serve God for a short time here, enjoy his blessings, and have a home in his kingdom? or will you walk in the path of sin and be lost at last? Time is short. Life is uncertain. Let us choose the right way, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
N. A. PORTER.