The Lord's Return

What then “shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” There is no profit in this life, for the pursuit of the world is mixed with many sorrows, and dashed with many disappointments, and, meanwhile, there is no fellowship with God, no discipline of faith, no joy of victory over sin, no growth in grace, and no radiant hope.And there is no profit in the hour of death. Saladin the warrior, after subjugating Egypt, becoming Sultan of Syria, and retaking Jerusalem from the hands of the Crusaders, had at length to yield to a still mightier Conqueror. A few moments before he breathed his last, he ordered a herald to suspend on the point of a lance the shroud in which he was to be buried, and to cry as he raised it, “Look, here is all that Saladin the great conqueror, the emperor, bears away with him of all his glory.”All worldly gain is reduced to the winding-sheet.And there is no profit in the day of judgment. The alternatives are: Sacrifice the world and save your soul, or gain the smallest fraction of the world and lose the whole of your soul.To rely on a possible chance of salvation after Christ's return is the maddest gamble, and you may die at any moment before Christ returns.“To die with no hope! hast thou counted the cost?To die out of Christ, and thy soul to be lost?”“Now is the accepted time: now is the day of salvation.” Take Christ now.