When Voltaire felt the stroke that he realized must terminate in death, he was overpowered with remorse. He at once sent for the priest, and wanted to be "reconciled with the church." His infidel flatterers hastened to his chamber to prevent his recantation; but it was only to witness his ignominy and their own. He cursed them to their faces; and, as his distress was increased by their presence, he repeatedly and loudly exclaimed: "Begone! It is you that have brought me to my present condition. Leave me, I say; begone! What a wretched glory is this which you have produced to me!"
Hoping to allay his anguish by a written recantation, he had it prepared, signed it, and saw it witnessed. But it was all unavailing. For two months he was tortured with such an agony as led him at times to gnash his teeth in impotent rage against God and man. At other times, in plaintive accents, he would plead, "O Christ! O Lord Jesus!" Then, turning his face, he would cry out, "I must die -- abandoned of God and of men!"
As his end drew near, his condition became so frightful that his infidel associates were afraid to approach his bedside. Still they guarded the door, that others may not know how awfully an infidel was compelled to die. Even his nurse repeatedly said, "For all the wealth of Europe she would never see another infidel die." It was a scene of horror that lies beyond all exaggeration. Such is the well-attested end of the one who had a natural sovereignty of intellect, excellent education, great wealth, and much earthly honour. We may all well exclaim with Balaam, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. ___The Contrast Between Infidelity and Christianity
There is a road that seems good in the sight of man but the end is destruction. So a scholar of this pedigree can be condemned to die in such ignominy. Are you ready to meet God? The greatest decision you will ever make throughout your lifetime is not who to marry, where to live, what to do but where you will spend your eternity. Don't pretend you don't know. Silently, you have an assurance about where you are going after here. Are you prepared for the last moment! Make right with God now and you will never regret it. Amen.
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