“And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.” Luke 16:23
March 22, 2023
Too many funerals deceive the grieving with the false belief that to die is a ticket to heaven. It’s a terrible and false theology to assume that justification before God comes by death itself. Jesus told a vivid story, true to fact it was, of a rich man, whose life was a continual party, who died. He immediately found himself in Hades, a place of eternal torment. He had died an unrepentant sinner without receiving eternal life. The Bible speaks of hell as a place of just punishment, loneliness, misery, unending regret, outer darkness, a lake of fire, weeping and gnawing of teeth, a place of eternal separation from the blessings of God, a prison with no hope of deliverance. It is the worst possible outcome imaginable for those who die without having placed their faith in Jesus Christ. These are not comfortable, cozy thoughts. The attempt here is not to merely fear death, but to go to the Scriptures and by faith lay hold of eternity found in Jesus Christ. Read John 3:16. Where will you be. . .one minute after you die?
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“O just and righteous God. I know that no one who enters hell can ever return. Keep my mind set on praying for those I know who have not believed in Jesus Christ. Lead me to someone who needs to hear about Christ.”