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."(952)

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 constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so
in Cain's and in Noah's day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it is so
in our time. It is in mercy to the universe that God will finally destroy
the rejecters of His grace.

"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord."(953) While life is the inheritance of the
righteous, death is the portion of the wicked. Moses declared to Israel,
"I have set before thee this da