B eloved, from Eden until now, there has been one deadly whisper in the ears of men: “Ye shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4). The serpent spoke it to Eve, and men echo it still. Today they phrase it differently: “Life goes on forever. Judgment will never come. There’s room enough in hell for all.”

But hear the decree of God: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27). No lie can erase that line. Life is no monument of marble. James tells us: “What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14). A vapor—here and gone.

The apostle Peter warned us long ago: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were.” (2 Peter 3:3–4).

Mark this, brethren: these scoffers mistake God’s patience for God’s absence. Because thunder does not roll today, they think the heavens are silent. Because judgment is delayed, they imagine judgment denied. But Paul cries, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” (Galatians 6:7). And the psalmist adds: “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.” (Psalm 2:4).

Oh, blind fool! To scatter lies like breadcrumbs to the pit—and think you are safe?

History itself is a preacher.

— Did not the Flood sweep away the mockers of Noah’s day? (Genesis 7:21–23).
— Did not fire and brimstone fall on Sodom? (Genesis 19:24–25).
— Was not Babylon weighed in the balance and found wanting? (Daniel 5:30–31).
— Did not our Lord foretell that Jerusalem would be cast down, stone from stone? (Luke 21:6)—and so it was.

Judgment is no dream; it is a pattern. What God has done, He will do again. Listen to Christ Himself: “The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:41–42).

You jest of hell’s “spaciousness.” But is your conscience spacious enough for the worm that never dies? (Mark 9:48). Is your soul broad enough to endure the fire that is never quenched?

But oh, here is mercy! Judgment delayed is not judgment canceled—it is mercy extended. Peter declares: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

Why does the earth still turn? Why do you still breathe? Because mercy reigns today. At Calvary, judgment thundered—but it fell on Another: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18).

The wrath you deserve has already been poured upon Him. Flee to that cross, and judgment passes over you.

Our Lord told of two men who went up to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9–14).

— One, a Pharisee, proud and blind, boasting of his fasting and tithes. He prayed to himself, not to God. He had no room for mercy.

— The other, a tax collector, stood afar off. He dared not lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast, crying: “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” (Luke 18:13).

And Jesus said: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.” (Luke 18:14). Which are you, my hearer? The scoffer scattering crumbs to hell, or the penitent crying for mercy?

Hear me, beloved: Hell may be wide, but the cross is wider. Sin may be deep, but grace is deeper still (Romans 5:20). The scoffer’s final word is, “Room enough in hell.” The gospel’s final word is, “Mercy enough in Christ.”

Therefore I plead with you: do not boast of endless tomorrows. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Lift your eyes to heaven and cry with the tax collector: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

That prayer will carry you beyond the grave, beyond the judgment, beyond the scoffer’s laughter, into the arms of Christ, into the joy of the Lord, into the everlasting kingdom.