The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 433

The European Union in Prophecy
enjoyment could heaven offer to those who are wholly absorbed in earthly and selfish
interests?
Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellion against God be suddenly
transported to heaven and witness the high, the holy state of perfection that ever
exists there,-- every soul filled with love, every countenance beaming with joy,
enrapturing music in melodious strains rising in honour of God and the Lamb, and
ceaseless streams of light flowing upon the redeemed from the face of Him who sitteth
upon the throne,--could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth and
holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their songs of praise? Could they
endure the glory of God and the Lamb? No, no; years of probation were granted them,
that they might form characters for heaven; but they have never trained the mind to
love purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is too late.
A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven. Its purity, holiness,
and peace would be torture to them; the glory of God would be a consuming fire. They
would long to flee from that holy place. They would welcome destruction, that they
might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the
wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from heaven is voluntary with
themselves, and just and merciful on the part of God. Like the waters of the Flood
the fires of the great day declare God's verdict that the wicked are incurable. They
have no disposition to submit to divine authority. Their will has been exercised in
revolt; and when life is ended, it is too late to turn the current of their thoughts in the
opposite direction, too late to turn from transgression to obedience, from hatred to
love.
In sparing the life of Cain the murderer, God gave the world an example of what
would be the result of permitting the sinner to live to continue a course of unbridled
iniquity. Through the influence of Cain's teaching and example, multitudes of his
descendants were led into sin, until "the wickedness of man was great in the earth"
and "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "The
earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." Genesis
6:5, 11. In mercy to the world, God blotted out its wicked inhabitants in Noah's time.
In mercy He destroyed the corrupt dwellers in Sodom. Through the deceptive power
of Satan the workers of iniquity obtain sympathy and admiration, and are thus
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