We Have Been Around for 5966 of 6000 Years of Man on Earth

 

45. We Have Been Around for 5966 of 6000 Years of Man on Earth

 For anyone who loves Scriptural study of the future, we know that it forbids making a prophecy about an exact date of the Lord’s return.  But how about signs to know it’s close?  We have a Biblical theory that could do that, below.

On the other hand, there is a large group of believers who think that His return has no signs to warn us at all--it is "imminent," they say; ie, it could happen at any time without any sign.  If you have read my blogs on the Last Days, you know that I discount this theory, believing that while we don’t know the exact date of His return, God will send us signs that the last day is not far away.  This proposition is based on a quote from Jesus in Matthew 24:30-33:

“Then… they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other… ³² “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!

The fig tree metaphor tells us that you can read Scriptural signs that tell us harvesting is near—the branches get tender, and the leaves sprout.  In like manner, we can expect signs for mankind’s harvest; we can KNOW that “it,” referring to the Parousia, the coming of Jesus for harvesting His own (the “elect”), is NEAR.

I have a theory about calculating an estimated date of His return.  Please do not assume that the calculations in it are accurate, but it’s pretty accurate.  It probably has flaws.  This “close, but not perfect” result is just available for correction.  He wants us to be as accurate as the fig tree.  There are signs to excite us, but not the exact date —that would encourage complacency, considering what evil we could do in the meantime.  This theory I will present does have a momentous and surprising conclusion. 

Before I get into it, I have to give credit to Michael Pedrin, a pastor in India from the Seventh Day Adventist Church (I’m not of that persuasion, but I’ll take any great idea from anybody, if it’s realistically based).  I made some changes on his base.

By way of introduction, the Word tells us that immediately after Jesus comes for His own, we get to spend a thousand years of freedom from Satan’s attacks, because he is bound for that time (Rev. 20:1-3). There, we will rest, finally, from the ravages of sin all around us and from our own nature. This millennium of one thousand years will be a “great Sabbath of rest” from the ravages of sin. Therein is a key in the word "sabbath."  Thinking back to Original Creation in Genesis 1, God rested on the seventh day.  What precedes it?  Six days of creation. So, God’s pattern was, six days of creation work, then one day of rest. But what happens if you multiply that math by one thousand?

My theory’s critical proposition is this: the 1000 years of rest in the End Times is preceded by six thousand years of man on earth, struggling, as in work, through six “days” of labor.

The key to this theory is simple:  it’s in the 6+1=7 equation.  Seven is God’s number of completeness and rest.  You begin a cycle with six, the number of days you work, followed by one day of rest. Then the cycle is complete.  Creation was like that:  God didn’t have to take six days to create—He could have done it in a second.  Nor was He tired, and needed a day of rest.  He did it as an example for us to follow.

He focused on the 6+1 again by instructing His people on how to till the ground.  You plant and harvest for six years.  The seventh, you let the ground rest.  Leviticus 25:3-4:

Six years you shall sow your field…and gather its fruit; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

Jesus has some interesting words on this subject in Matthew 13:38-39:

The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

He purposely ties in the cycle of earthly harvest with the cycle of heavenly harvest.  Jesus makes a comparison of land’s harvest, which we just saw to be 6+1, to OUR harvest.  There is good reason to believe that man likely is also on a 6+1 rapture scale in the heavenly harvest.  If the heavenly harvest is followed by a millennium of rest, why not believe that six millennia of man working on earth precedes it?  

The Apostle Peter gives us some tantalizing verses on this too.  In II Peter 3, he is telling us that there will be many unbelievers scoffing about Jesus’ return.  Then, in verses 8 and 9, he counsels us to be patient.  Then it seems that he is laying on us an insider hint.  II Peter 3:3-4, 8-10a:

...scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? ….But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise…but the day of the Lord will come….

Peter hints, it seems, how important is what he’s going to say, by his phrase “do not forget this one thing.”  And what is that one thing?  In talking about Jesus’ return, God is willing to proportionately lay down the idea of “one day=one thousand years.” So, just as Creation was six days of work followed by one day of rest, and then substituting Peter’s hint, you get six thousand years of work, followed by one thousand years of rest.

I want to make an additional comment about v 10, “the day of the Lord.”  The Bible has two contexts for that phrase.  First, the Sabbath is called the day of the Lord (Ex. 20:10).  Also, significantly, the Parousia, or the Second Coming of Christ is also called the day of the Lord.  See I Thessalonians 4:16-5:2, when Paul is comforting believers who were mistaken in their belief that Christ had already come: 

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 5 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. ² For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes…

 My point here is, using the “day of the Lord” for both, God is perfectly willing for us to compare the Sabbath with His Second Coming.  The former is: six days of work, then a single-day Sabbath. Well, God ties it in to the Return, which is followed by one thousand years of rest.  We’re suggesting that it is reasonable to assume that this is preceded by six thousand years of work for man on earth.

 We thus have five Scriptural proofs of the 6000+1000 for Man.  The big question is, how long has man been on earth?  Are we close to 6000 years?

 Did you know that it’s possible to count, with close proximity, how long man has been on earth?  (PS:  As you can tell, we’re ignoring the rantings of atheistic evolution).  After all, Matthew 1 and Luke 3 give many names from Adam all the way down to Joseph or Mary, Jesus’ stepfather and mother. It has this thing about genealogy.  There are long boring lists of ages in Genesis. So let’s put to good use, for once, those lists of names in Genesis and II Chronicles.  They go from Adam down pretty much through the generations to the exile in Babylonian captivity.  Sprinkle in some Scriptural shortcuts and prophecy.  From there, a final nod to secular history.  Let’s go:

Event                                                    Verse                           #yrs        Note

From Adam to Birth of Seth                                 Genesis 5:3                                            130              

From Seth to Enosh                                              Gen. 5:6                                                 105             1

From Enosh to Cainan                                          Gen. 5:9                                                   90

From Cainan to Mahalalel                                    Gen. 5:12                                                 70

From Mahalalel to Jared                                       Gen. 5:15                                                 65

From Jared to Enoch                                             Gen5:18                                                 162              2

From Enoch to Methusaleh                                  Gen. 5:21                                                  65

Methusaleh to Lamech                                         Gen. 5:25                                                187

Lamech to Noah                                                   Gen. 528                                                 182

Noah to Shem                                                       Gen. 5:32*                                              502              3                               

Cumulative years Adam to Shem                                                                                    1558

Shem to Arphaxad                                                Gen. 11:10                                               100

Arphaxad to Salah                                                 Gen. 11:12                                                35   

Salah to Eber                                                         Gen. 11:14                                                30

Eber to Peleg                                                         Gen. 11:16                                                34

Peleg to Reu                                                          Gen. 11:18                                                30  

Reu to Serug                                                          Gen. 11:20                                                32

Serug to Nahor                                                      Gen. 11:22                                                 30

Nahor to Terah                                                      Gen. 11:24                                                 29 

Terah to Birth of Abram/Abraham                        Gen. 11:26*                                             130               4

Cumulative 2: Shem to Abram’s Birth                                                                              450

Shortcut: From Birth of Abram to promise

      To Abraham                                                     Gen. 12:4                                                   75

From Promise to Abraham to Giving the Law      Galatians 3:16-18                                    430

From the Exodus from Egypt to Beginning

       Of Solomon’s Reign                                        I Kings 6:1                                              476

Back off: Counted twice: from Exodus from

        Egypt to Giving the Law                                 Exodus 19:1                                             -0.1            5

Solomon’s reign                                                       I Ki. 11:42                                               40

Rehoboam’s reign                                                    II Chron. 12:13                                        17              6

Abijah’s reign                                                           II Chron. 13:1-2                                        3

Asa’s reign                                                                II Chron. 16:13                                       41    

Jehoshaphat’s reign                                                   II Chron. 20:31                                       25

Jehoram’s reign                                                         II Chron. 21:5                                           8      

Ahaziah’s Reign                                                        II Chron. 22:2                                           1

Athaliah’s reign                                                         II Chron. 22:12                                         6

Joash’s reign                                                              II Chron. 24:1                                         40

Amaziah’s reign                                                         II Chron. 25:1                                         29

Uzziah’s reign                                                            II Chron. 26:3                                         52

Jotham’s reign                                                            II Chron. 27:1                                         16

Ahaz’s reign                                                               II Chron 28:1                                          16

Hezekiah’s reign                                                        II Chron. 29:1                                         29

Manasseh’s reign                                                       II Chron. 33:1                                         55

Amon’s reign                                                             II Chron. 33:21                                         2

Josiah’s reign                                                             II Chron. 34:1                                         31

Jehoahaz’s reign                                                         II Chron. 36:2                                          0 .3

Jehoiakim’s reign                                                       II Kings 23:36                                         11            7 

Jehoiachin’s reign, then Exiled                                  II Ki. 24:6, 12, 14                                     8

Cumulative 3: From Abraham to Exile

        In Babylon                                                                                                                      1411.2                   

Time in Exile—Sabbath for Land                              Jeremiah 29:10                                         70

From Artaxerxes Rebuild Edict to Palm Sunday        Ezekial 1:1-2, Daniel 9:25                     483        8                

Back off: Counted twice: birth of Jesus to

       Palm Sunday                                                                                                                         -33       9a          

From Jesus’ Birth til’ today                                                                                                       2026.8      9       

Grand Total                                                                                                                                5966

Wow! We be close to 6000. Only 34 years away to the Rapture

 Note 1: We do not need to record all of Seth’s life.  Only from his birth to the birth of his son, Enosh. Same treatment throughout.  (Since the question here is, "How long each person has been on earth before the next generation?" we don't care what age Adam was when created. Gen. 3:3 says "When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son...Seth." Similarly, 3:6 says "When Seth had lived 105 years...")

 Note 2:  Interesting point about Enoch:  He is the 7^th generation, and he deserved a special kind of rest—a rest from dying (Gen. 5:22-24).  There’s our 6+1 again.  Six generations of men dying, followed by a single generation of rest from dying.  In the same way, I’m suggesting that there will be 6 millenniums of men dying, followed by a single millennium of men, raptured, in heaven, not dying.  That’s our sixth proof that this theory is real.

 Note 3:  Gen. 5:32 actually records that Noah “was 500 years old…begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”  They were not triplets, and Shem was only mentioned first because he got the birthright (i.e, from his descendants would come the Christ.) So Noah wasn’t necessarily 500 when he had Shem.  So, how old was Noah when he begot Shem? Find out by comparing Gen. 7:6:  Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth” with Gen. 11:10: This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad; (this was) two years after the flood” This is saying that Shem was 98 at Flood time. If Shem was 98 at the time of the Flood, and Noah was 600 at Flood, then Noah had to beget Shem at age 502.

 Note 4:  Gen. 11:26 says: Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran” We see the same problem as Noah and his sons; here again, Abram was not the first son.  So, how old was Terah when he begot Abram?  Compare verses again for the answer.  Start with Gen. 12:1, 2:  Now the Lord had said to Abram:  “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you (Canaan, the promised land). I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing…And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot (and more) …. and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.”  So they only went  halfway to Canaan, and stopped in Haran.  Now read Acts 7:4: Then he (ie, Abram) came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell (ie, Canaan).  There is every reason to suspect that Abram packed up and headed for Canaan quickly after his father’s death. He was, as you will see from surrounding Scripture, old (for his day), and he didn’t want to die outside Canaan--if he did so, he would miss out on God’s promises. Finally, the clincher verse:  Gen. 12:4:  …And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” I believe that when Terah died, Abram immediately left Haran.  We conclude from that assumption that at the time of Terah’s death at age 205, Abram was 75.  Thus, Terah was 130 at the time of Abram’s birth. This is not rock-solid by any means.  Probably the weakest entry above.  Just a guess.

Note 5: A small portion of the exodus trip was counted twice.  Experts say God didn’t waste any time, once they started their trip, to get them to Mt. Sinai to give them the Law.  It took, best estimate, 2-1/2 months, which is .2 of a year.  So we backed off .2 year because it was counted twice in the shortcuts.

Note 6:  Since Jesus came from the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), we followed only Judah and descendants’ births.  Even when the tribes split up, we only follow David’s line, since he was from the tribe of Judah.  His son’s son was Rehoboam. And down from there.

Note 7: While we generally assume that once Babylonians took over the government (Jehoiakim was a “puppet” for the last 8 years), that the exile immediately began, so the land would get its denied rest.  Truth is, it was delayed.  II Ki. 23:36 and 24:6-14 clearly show that the real exile didn’t take place until the eighth year of his son’s reign.

Note 8:  Daniel’s 9:25 prophecy shows that “62+7=69 weeks” was the time period indicated from Artaxerxes’ edict to “Messiah the Prince.”  It is assumed by experts that “weeks” could be translated as “sevens,” with no explanations as “seven what—weeks, days, years?”  Because the time period from the Artaxerxes edict to Jesus’ hearing the hosannas on Palm Sunday (i.e, “Messiah the Prince”) was, historically, 483 years, the “weeks” must be years—69x7 years, or 483 years.  

Note 9:  From Jesus’ birth to today may seem obvious, but Scriptural things are never that.  It’s not “2025.8 years” He was born, best guess, 2 BC.  Finally, there is no “zero year.”  So, Jesus’ birth to today is 2025.8+2-1, or 2026.8.

Note 9a:  We’re counting something twice again. The note 8 shortcut took us out to Palm Sunday.  Jesus was 33 then, according to the best proofs.  Thus, we have counted 33 years, twice. So we’re backing it off.

So, mankind has been around for 5966 years, see my totals.  So only 34 years, best guess, til’ 6000 is up; and those alive then (and the dead in Christ) blast off to heaven for 1000 years of rest.  Now, if you’re over 70 when you read this (as I am), this 34-years-away from rapture could be considered a buzzkill. It would be so cool to be alive already when He comes.  But I thought again—I believe that Christians of that time will have to endure most of the 7 years of trouble (see my blog elsewhere), so you want to change your thinking--you DO want to miss it. It’s 7 years of persecution and disease and martyrdom before the rapture.  So, subtracting 7, for my younger readers, it’s only 27 years before such terror begins—if my data are accurate, which they are quite possibly not.  If you’re a Scripture thinker, please comment to me if you find any mistakes.  But, hey, if you’re old, that still leaves two things to consider: Anybody that dies before the last days, if a Christian, his or her soul goes to a wonderful place.  Your soul is very alive, conscious, and will love it.  (It joins the body at the rapture, His second coming).  But you need to MAKE SURE that you’re a Christian.  You tune up your car before a trip, right?  Even if it isn’t making any telltale noises, right?  Just so, I highly recommend you read some of my many blogs on what it takes to be a Christian. Don’t just assume (lazily, I think) that your denomination has it right and every other denomination has it wrong. Or, you can try a much better way: Put all the complacent assurances you’ve cherry-picked from Paul, and set them aside.  Start reading Scripture, hours at a time.  Read with fresh eyes what Jesus said involving what it takes for heaven—and what kinds of people go to hell.  Read Luke, Matthew, the 4 Gospels, writing down every sentence the World’s Greatest Teacher said about (eternal) life or (eternal) death.  You’ll be surprised at the result.  Please don’t be afraid to break from your denomination on some points (as I have).  Seminarians and pastors have led us into an “easy believism” which they substitute for the Gospel. It’s not a conspiracy:  It’s just the way the Western hemisphere is headed. We are sliding, ever so quickly, into downright Apostasy.  A sign of the last days, wouldn’t you know it.

My final thought: We are, it is suggested, two years away before the digital prison will be constructed. Ultimate Surveillance will then follow; this will, in time, be directed by the antichrist.

Acknowledgement:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfmNxkN7ZQo&t=783s&ab_channel=AnswersinGenesis  This does a good job of proving that mankind has only been around for about 6000 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                      

                                                       

 

                                 

Self Examination

 Charles Spurgeon was saved at 15, began 38 years of preaching at what became Metropolitan Tabernacle in England at 19, got married at 20—and unfortunately also was early in his death at 57, in 1892. In between, he was called “Prince of Preachers” for his oratorical skills and his ability to lead people to the Lord. At age 22, he was the most popular preacher in London, frequently speaking to crowds as large as 10,000. He also started a charitable organization and a college. He was a Baptist for the most part, but left the denomination in later years “over doctrinal convictions.” Because of his previous denomination, most people would say that he was a Calvinist, but his response to that was intriguing: “I love the name Calvin, but always regard him as sitting on one side of the room; and I love the name of Wesley, but I regard him as occupying another side place in the room…I am myself persuaded that the points of the Calvinist alone is right upon some points, and the Arminian alone is right upon others.” To which I agree. Here is one of his best sermons, in 1858, only reduced a bit for readership.

 

 Our text is II Corinthians 13:5: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you?

 

This is a solemn text—a text that preachers should continually impress on their congregations, exhorting them to frequently meditate on it.

 

The Corinthians were proud of their own skills in learning and language. But as men do, who are wise in their own eyes, they made a wrong use of their wisdom and learning—they began to criticize apostle Paul. His letters, they said, were weighty and forceful, but in person he was unimpressive, and his speaking “amounts to nothing.” They even went so far as to deny his apostleship. So Paul was forced to defend himself in Scripture—and scold them. And when he had verbally disarmed his opponent, he pointed the sword at them and said, as it were: “Examine yourselves—you have disputed my doctrine—examine whether YOU are in the faith. Use the powers that have been wrongfully exercising on me, for a little while, on your own character.”

 

 The fault of the Corinthians is the fault of the present age. When you leave church to go home today, none of you should say, “What did you think of the sermon this morning?” Do you come here to judge God’s servants? While it is a small thing for us to be judged by man’s judgement, our judgment is by the Lord our God. To our own Master we will stand or fall. A more profitable question for yourselves might be “Didn’t that sermon strike my heart? Wasn’t it a rebuke that I deserved—a word of reproof or exhortation? Let me take it to heart. Let me not judge the preacher, for he is God’s messenger to my soul. I came to church to be judged by God’s Word.” But since there is, in all of our hearts, a great reluctance for self-examination, I will earnestly exhort myself and all of you to examine ourselves whether we are in the faith.

 

 Dear friend, closely examine your heart. Question it, to see whether it has been growing in grace; to see if it knows anything of vital godliness or not. Ask your heart whether you have responded to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Go through the rank and file of your actions; and examine all of your motives. Just as the captain of a ship on the day of inspection is not content with surveying his crew from a distance, but must look at all their accouterment; so also you must closely look at yourselves, with the most scrupulous care. You have seen the witness sitting in the witness box when the lawyer has been cross-examining him. We can often tell if he lies. Never was there a scoundrel less trustworthy and more deceitful than your own heart. When you are cross-examining a dishonest person, he is bent on trying to cover up for someone—you set traps for him, and try to catch him in a lie. Now do the same thing with your own heart; question it backward and forward, this way and that way. If there is a loophole for escape, if there is any excuse for self-deception, rest assured your treacherous heart will be ready to take advantage of it.

 

 The Greek root of “examine” is reminiscent of a traveler, who cannot taste the flavor of a country by touching its borders. He must go right through the heart of the country. He climbs the hilltop. He drops into the deep valley, where he can only see a shaft of blue light coming from the lofty summits of the mountains. He is not content to gaze at the broad rivers unless he traces it to the spring from where it emerges. Nor will he be satisfied with the waving shafts of grain—he must discover the minerals that lie within its heart.

 

 Now do the same with your heart. Go right through yourselves, staying not only on the mountains of your public character, but go into the deep valleys of your private life. Do not be content to sail on the broad river of your outward actions, but follow backwards the narrow streams, until you discover your secret motive. Do not look only on your performance, which is but the produce of the soil, but dig into your heart, and examine the vital principle that moves you, good or bad.

 

 Very few of us will examine ourselves to the fullness of this solemn exhortation.

 

 Let’s look at the next phrase: “test yourself.” That’s more than self-examination. Here is an example: A man is about to buy a horse. He studies it. But after that, if he is prudent, he says to the seller, “I must determine the quality by testing; will you let me have it for a week?” You see, testing is a deeper word, and goes to the core of the matter. Do not merely sit and think. But go out into this busy world and see what kind of holiness you actually have on a consistent basis. Many men’s religion may not stand testing. It is good to look at, but when it comes to daily life, it fades. See whether you can be submissive to the yoke of gospel service. In the close testing, you may be revealed to cut moral corners.

 

 And lastly the phrase, “whether you are in the faith.” One may claim, “I am an orthodox Christian, believing acceptable things. There is no fear of my coming up to the mark—and beyond it too.” But my friend, that is not the question. Yes, I want orthodoxy. But it is not whether you believe the truth, but whether you are in the truth. Think of the Ark of Noah being built, and curious men around it. “Ah,” says one, “I believe that ark will float.” “Oh,” says another, “I believe in its gopher wood, and it must be strong from stem to stern.” But they took no belief in Noah, and they were elsewhere when the rain and floods came.  Their beliefs aside, it was being in the ark that saved men. There may be some of you that say, of the gospel of Christ, “I believe it to be true; that it honors God and casts down the pride of man.” But note, it is being in the faith, in Christ, taking refuge in Him as in the ark, that counts. Only having the faith as an outward belief will perish in the day of God’s anger. He who feels that faith operating on him, and is to him a living, day-to-day principle, that there he can abide, such a man is in the faith. Being in the “right” church will not save a man; but are you in the faith? Test yourselves. Perhaps you been busy with irrelevant affairs, while the richest treasure was at home. If Jesus is not living in your heart, you are reprobates, vain pretenders, false professors. Your religion is but a vanity and a show. They are called “rejected silver” (Jeremiah 6:30) because the Lord has rejected them.

 

 What is “Christ in you?” The Roman Catholic hangs the cross around his neck; the true Christian carries the cross in his heart. If Christ is crucified in you, in all this world’s troubles, you will be able to sustain them. Christ in the heart means Christ loved, Christ taken in your marriage. It means Christ communed with, Christ as our daily food, and ourselves as the temple and palace where Jesus daily walks. There are many here that are total strangers to the meaning of this phrase; they do not know what it means to have Christ in them. You may know about Christ on Calvary, but perhaps you know nothing about Christ in the heart. You are not saved. He must be your joy, your strength, and your consolation.

 

 Do you fail the test? May the Spirit of the living God drive the sword in all the way this morning; so that the power of God may be felt in every heart. Search and test. Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. It is a matter of the very highest importance. A retailer will examine a gold coin to see if it is real when it is offered for a large amount of product, because he may lose a significant amount of money. It would be the ruin of the man if he lost so large a sum.

 

 But if you are deceived in the matter of your own souls, you are truly deceived. After all, you bother to look carefully at the title deed to your estate. And to your insurance policies. But remember; all the gold and silver you have, are nothing but residue and scum of the furnace compared with the matter now at hand. It is your own soul, your never-dying soul—will you risk that? My friend, will you think about the condition of your soul? Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes; the soul is much more to be accounted of. You would say, “Let me be robbed of all my garments, if my body is safe.” But what is my body? It is a rag that enshrines and covers my soul. Let my body be sick; I can afford to lose my body. But, oh God, I cannot afford to have my soul cast into hell. What a hazardous course it is, that you and I are running if we do not examine ourselves. It is an everlasting hazard; a course that could end up in heaven or hell--a danger of losing God’s eternal favor, and gaining His everlasting curse. If you make a mistake in your assumptions, you can never rectify it, except in this world. Hence the importance of examining. A person who has gone bankrupt once, and has lost a fortune—but still he may make another. But make spiritual bankruptcy in this life, and you will never have another opportunity to gain heaven. There is no hope, no hope, of being able to gain it again. Now or never, man—remember that. Your soul’s eternal state hangs on the moments of today. If you waste your time, your abilities; if you trust your religion solely to your priest, your minister, or your family, then in the next world, you will truly regret the error, and you will have no hope—no hope--of amending it.

 

 Fixed is their everlasting state.

 If man could repent, ‘tis then too late.

There are no acts of pardon passed

In the cold grave to which we haste.

But darkness, death, and long despair,

Reign in eternal silence there.

 

 How many in this world think themselves to be godly, when they are not? In the circle of your acquaintances, you have persons making a profession—and you stand in astonishment, and wonder how they dare to do it? You know them better than they know themselves. But if others are mistaken in their assessment of themselves, is it not possible that you are too? I think I see the rocks upon which many souls have been lost; the rocks of presumption. The enticing plea of self-confidence lures you onto those rocks this morning. No, you stay on course, mariner! Let the bleached bones lying on the rocks keep you back. Many have been lost, and are wailing at this present hour, wailing their everlasting ruin. If their loss is to be traced, it is nothing more than this—that they never examined themselves to see whether they were in the faith.

 

Do not tell me that you are a long-time church member, or a minister. I am glad to hear it, but still I beg you—examine yourself. We may lay aside our robes to wear belts of flames and hell. We may go from our pulpits, having preached to others what we never knew ourselves, and have to someday join the everlasting wailing of souls we have helped to delude.

 

There is not a man or woman that does not have good reason to test and try themselves today. Examine yourselves, because God will examine you. God will not take His gold and silver by appearance; but every vessel must be purified in the fire. If our hearts condemn us, how much more will God condemn us? Thank God for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, or none of us would pass the test. Are you truly in the faith? God, robed in thunder, will summon you and all your fellow men to the last judgment.

 

I understand that many persons always doubt their eternal condition. It also might be because of a lack of self-examination. How many captains, when lost after a storm, and tensions rise, spends a long time searching his map and the stars, and comes up announcing “I know where we are. Hoist the sails! The water is deep, and you need not fear of any rocks.” How happy you might be, after searching yourselves, to say, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I’ve entrusted to Him for that day.”

 

What if your searching had a bad or uncertain result? Better to find it out now, than to find it out when it is too late. We should then pray. Pray, “Lord, if I have been living in a false comfort, Lord, tear it away. Let me know just what I am and where I am. It is better that I think too harshly of myself than too securely, and be ruined by presumption.” Can you say, “I realize that I need to pray daily. I do love God’s Word; it is my meditation many times daily. I love His people and His church. My hands are often lifted upwards towards Him; and when my heart is busy with this world’s affairs, I remember to seek His throne. That is a good sign. But go deeper; have you ever wept over the grasp that worldliness has on your heart? Have you ever been driven to rely, simply, wholly on Christ? Does your faith trust Him for direction, and not your savings, in the darkest hour? Do you seek His Word to find ever more of His ways, and follow them? If you can’t say, in the above examination, that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are reprobate. Go to Him humbly and sincerely; the Holy Spirit will help you to find Christ and find peace. Then you can rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy. Amen