Resurrection and judgment await you. All is not over when the last breath is drawn and your body becomes a lump of cold clay. No: all is not over!
The realities of existence then begin. The shadows will have passed away for ever. The trumpet shall one day sound, and call you forth from your narrow bed; the graves shall be rent asunder, and their tenants shall be summoned forth to meet God; the ears that would not obey the church going bell shall be obliged to obey that summons; the proud wills that would not submit to listen to sermons shall be compelled to listen to the judgment of God. The great white throne shall be set: the books shall be opened. Every man, woman and child, shall be arraigned at that great court appearance. Every one shall be judged according to his works. The sins of every one shall be answered for. And every one shall receive his eternal portion either in heaven or in hell!
The realities of existence then begin. The shadows will have passed away for ever. The trumpet shall one day sound, and call you forth from your narrow bed; the graves shall be rent asunder, and their tenants shall be summoned forth to meet God; the ears that would not obey the church going bell shall be obliged to obey that summons; the proud wills that would not submit to listen to sermons shall be compelled to listen to the judgment of God. The great white throne shall be set: the books shall be opened. Every man, woman and child, shall be arraigned at that great court appearance. Every one shall be judged according to his works. The sins of every one shall be answered for. And every one shall receive his eternal portion either in heaven or in hell!
~ J.C. Ryle
Old Paths, “Our Sins”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 158.