DO YOU LOOK BEYOND THIS BRIEF EARTHLY LIFE? - The Lord Jesus warned that if we fail to place our faith in Him “you will die in your sins” If you remember someone who has died, you know that that person will face God in judgment and presently is alienated from Him. This friend of yours is in torment, anguish, and in agony. Now consider where you are – now be aware of your own lost condition and your desperate need of a Savior! Jesus Christ has come into the world to “save sinners” — and this includes you and me. Let us remember our Lord’s hopeful words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believe in Me will never die” Now is the time to come to Jesus and find true life — a life that will last forever in the blessed presence of God - If you are like me, you are very concerned about the death of people you have known. It may be a person you knew in school, or a friend you had on a previous job, or a neighbor that you used to have. You may also remember certain government figures you have known in the past, certain educators you have had, or movie stars or musicians you knew about, or certain other public figures. But now they are gone. Maybe this was five or ten years ago or. But now they are no more. We tend to think of these figures from time to time, maybe when we see an older, faded photograph. Whatever the remembrance, they are now gone.

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Do You Look Beyond this Brief Earthly Life?

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The Lord Jesus warned that if we fail to place our faith in Him “you will die in your sins” If you remember someone who has died, you know that that person will face God in judgment and presently is alienated from Him. This friend of yours is in torment, anguish, and in agony. Now consider where you are – now be aware of your own lost condition and your desperate need of a Savior! Jesus Christ has come into the world to “save sinners” — and this includes you and me. Let us remember our Lord’s hopeful words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believe in Me will never die” Now is the time to come to Jesus and find true life — a life that will last forever in the blessed presence of God

Richard Hollerman

Truedisipleship

If you are like me, you are very concerned about the death of people you have known.

It may be a person you knew in school, or a friend you had on a previous job, or a neighbor that you used to have.

You may also remember certain government figures you have known in the past, certain educators you have had, or movie stars or musicians you knew about, or certain other public figures.

But now they are gone. Maybe this was five or ten years ago or, if you are older you may recall these people from long ago. But now they are no more.

We tend to think of these figures from time to time, maybe when we see an older, faded photograph, or when we remember some feat they performed or statement that they have made, or you may remember times that you spent with such a person.

Whatever the remembrance, they are now gone.

They may have been gone thirty or fifty years ago — but you can no longer have contact with such a person.

If the person was a singer, you may remember a song they sung many years ago — but that melody is long gone and you can barely remember the lyrics.

Whatever the person and whatever the circumstances, you sometimes recall the person and this brings a note of nostalgia to your remembrance.

Sometimes this happens to me. I may look the person up on the internet and quickly read of their demise, along with the physical problems and social interactions they had before death.

All of this brings an inner wistfulness about the past and we wonder…

We know, deep in our heart, that we can’t resurrect the past and live life over, but they are gone and this can’t be changed.

There is something about this that needs to be refined and we can only do this with the truth of Scripture before us.

I suggest that we read Luke 16:19-31 and the account of the rich man and Lazarus, both of whom died.

I doubt that this is a parable since in other cases we clearly have this sort of “story” identified as a parable.

But in this case, it is different. Jesus tells this account and we must have an actual series of events and words.

At least, it is something that could have happened.

When we read this account, we learn that “poor” Lazarus was covered with sores and without sufficient food.

But this man died and on “the other side” he enjoyed “good things” and was “comforted” (verse 25).

On the other hand, the rich man also died and went to Hades (verse 23).

There he was in “torment” and in “agony” (verses 23, 24).

In this place, he received “bad things” when he was in a state of “agony” (verse 25).

There was a “great chasm” that was fixed which prevented anyone from going from the place of pleasure to the place of pain and anguish (verse 26).

Jesus describes this location as a “place of torment” (verse 28).

I think that this very brief description should help us to see the general aspects of these two places and what the experience of these two men was.

Both of them died. But their destiny were entirely different.

The one was in agony and torment. The other was in a place of comfort.

Perhaps we could say that there were two destinies — one was a place of unutterable pain, suffering, and anguish.

The other was a place of relief, comfort, and fulfillment.

While some would brush this account off as a fictitious story that has no bearing on us today, we should take it as absolute history or fact, or at least something that could happen.

Of course, it occurred before Jesus’ own death in Jerusalem and whether things are any different today (after His resurrection), we just don’t know.

But we doubt that things could be any better. Perhaps we would need to clarify one thing.

Today, when an unbeliever or sinner dies, he awaits the judgment after which he will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).

Further, when one dies in the grace of God with a cleansed heart and life, he goes to Paradise (Luke 23:43) awaiting the judgment after which he will partake of “a new heavens and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1-2).

Besides these bare facts, we know little more about the conditions after the resurrection of the body and the Great Judgment.

What we do know is that for the unbeliever who is yet in his sins, such a place will be unutterably horrific!

Language is unable to really adequately describe the horror of this place — whether it be between death and before the resurrection or whether it be after the resurrection and the judgment.

We need not go further into the Biblical description of this terrible place and state.

All we wish to present before you (and me) is that we seldom remember where a lost person — whether a man or a woman — is right now “on the other side” of death!

The question for us to ponder relates to this destiny of others.

Most (nearly all) people are lost, I believe that you will agree. Unless, that is, you are a pluralist or an inclusivist. 

As you know, this is a growing false teaching that seems to be attractive to many people in this liberal age that denies the absolute truth of Scripture and the absolute essentiality of Jesus Christ and His atonement.

We hope that you will be more inclined to accept the truth of God’s Word.

Since most (nearly all) are lost, this means that they are alienated from God.

Death will only perpetuate this terrible condition!

To continue, this dreadful condition is even now experienced by the vast majority of humankind.

This is why Jesus our Lord says that the “many” enter the wide gate and walk the wide way that “leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Do we believe Him?

If we believe Him to save us from eternal condemnation, we must believe Him when He tells us about the condition people experience in the afterlife.

These lost ones will be thrown into “the furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:50), will experience “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46), will experience “retribution” (2 Thessalonians 18), will “pay the penalty of eternal destruction” (verse 9), will experience “the wrath of God” (Revelation 14:10-11), and after the judgment will have their part “in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

This shows us that immediately at death, the lost person will be in “agony” (Luke 16:24, 25) in the “place of torment” (verse 28).

After the coming judgment, a whole range of descriptive terms are applicable to him or her.

How horrible! How unbelievable — if Jesus Himself had not told us this truth.

Since Jesus our Lord is on the “other side” of death (having been resurrected and gone back to God the Father in heaven), He is absolutely qualified to inform us about what will be experienced by the unbeliever, the person who is lost!

We can see why our Lord warned us in sobering words, that if we fail to place our faith in Him (with all that this means), “you will die in your sins” (John 8:24, cf. v. 21).

Now let’s return to where we began our few words to you.

When you think of those government figures, those teachers, those movie stars, and those musicians, do we only lament that we no longer see them in “the land of the living”?

Do we only recall how the deceased person was years ago?

If the person was a neighbor, a school friend, or a family member, do you merely recall what he or she was like in the past when the person was young and in health?

When we read of someone’s death (by newspaper, radio, or TV), do we only remember what you found significant about him or her years ago?

Do we only remember these past persons as ones who used to walk on the earth like us and fail to keep constantly aware of where they went at the moment of their death?

When you go to a funeral (which may happen 3, 4, 5, or even 7 days after death), and view the body of your loved one, what do you really think of when you see the corpse?

Do you merely notice how well the undertaker prepared the body?

Are you only concerned with what he or she is wearing and then what the speaker, preacher, minister, or priest says?

Or perhaps is your great concern that of consoling family members who are remaining?

Do we really bear in mind, not what the person was like five years, twenty years, or even seventy years ago, but where the person is presently?

As you can see, we are urging you (and me, as well) to look at things realistically.

If you happen to be an atheist, an agnostic, or the like, perhaps you can claim that the person just died and is gone.

Yet, deep down we know that you realize that God exists (Romans 1:18-23) and that eternity is real (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

If you are remembering someone who has died, you know in your heart, that that person actually will face God in judgment and presently is in a state of alienation from Him.

This friend of yours is in torment, anguish, and in agony (Luke 16).

As hard as this truth is to accept, we must really understand it and be willing to acknowledge it.

We now urge you, our reader, to consider where you are.

Not only be aware of the sad and eternal condition of your lost friend who has died, but be aware of your own lost condition and your desperate need of a Savior!

Jesus Christ has come into the world to “save sinners” — and this includes you and me (1 Timothy 1:15).

Let us remember our Lord’s hopeful words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believe in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26a).

Now is the time to come to Jesus and find true life — a life that will last forever in the blessed presence of God!

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