“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:  and before him shall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats....  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you....  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire....  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.”

These words are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ; he here portrays, in one grand view, the good state of the righteous in the next world and the evil state of the unrighteous.  In the very inmost of my heart I believe what our Lord here says, and out of the abundance of my heart my mouth now speaks.  I also sincerely believe, friends, that every one here to-day can most surely determine for himself, even while living in this world, whether he will be happy in heaven forever, or miserable in an everlasting hell.  You may justly ask, “How can this be determined?”

I answer that a man’s life in this world determines this for every individual, as surely as the fruit of a tree makes the quality of the tree known.  Notice these passages from Paul’s writings:  “He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”  “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”  “God will reward every man according to his works.”

Every intelligent man can know with certainty what kind of seed he is sowing.  Is he sowing the seeds of love and good will to his neighbor, the seeds of peace, and order, and comfort, the seeds of faith, and hope, and love?  He surely can know what his will is, at least; and if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted of a man according to what he hath; and if he does his all it is the widow’s mite in God’s eye.  Every intelligent man can know with certainty whether he loves God or loves him not.  His readiness to keep his commandments is the proof of this both ways.  I tell you, friends, there is no getting around this.  Your obedience to our Lord is the unquestionable and undeviating test of your love.  “He that loveth me, keepeth my words.  He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.”  “A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things:  but an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things.”  Is not this plain?