Genesis 39,40,41; Luke 16
When You Are In Hell … It Will Be Too Late… There Is Urgency To The Gospel!
Scripture
Luke 16
19 Jesus said, “There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes. He was so rich that he was able to enjoy all the best things every day. 20 There was also a very poor man named Lazarus. Lazarus’ body was covered with sores. He was often put by the rich man’s gate. 21 Lazarus wanted only to eat the scraps of food left on the floor under the rich man’s table. And the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “Later, Lazarus died. The angels took him and placed him in the arms of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 He was sent to the place of death and was in great pain. He saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his arms. 24 He called, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to me so that he can dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am suffering in this fire!’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember when you lived? You had all the good things in life. But Lazarus had nothing but problems. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. 26 Also, there is a big pit between you and us. No one can cross over to help you, and no one can come here from there.’
27 “The rich man said, ‘Then please, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house on earth. 28 I have five brothers. He could warn my brothers so that they will not come to this place of pain.’
29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets to read; let them learn from that.’
30 “The rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone came to them from the dead, then they would decide to change their lives.’
31 “But Abraham said to him, ‘If your brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen to someone who comes back from the dead.’”
Observation
This story tells us quite a bit about the place called Hell. First we can be sure from the story that Hell is a real place. It is a place of torment. There is fire in Hell. The person can get no relief from the fire. The rich man desired to have just a drop of water to cool his tongue.
This story about the rich man and Lazarus also lets us know that Hell will be a place of regret. Here we find the rich man in hell and all of a sudden he thinks of his five brothers. He desperately wants to warn them so they don’t find themselves in the same place but it is too late.
Who in your family still needs to be saved?
Have you turned from your sins and surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. Now is the time because one day it will be too late. Now is the time to share with your family members because one day it will be too late.
Lazarus in a way experienced a little of “Hell” on earth, but the big difference between his situation and the rich man is this, Lazarus only suffered while he was on earth, but the rich man has to suffer forever and ever and ever.
This story also stresses the urgency of the Gospel. We never know when we will die. Once we die then it is too late to share the Gospel. Once we die it is be too late to give our lives to the Lord. We need to share with those around us now. We need to get right with God now. Don’t put it off!
Application
I will order devotional magazines from LifeWay for each one of my nine grandchildren this week. I want them to grow up knowing all about Jesus. I want them to be able to put their faith and trust in Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me be the witness I need to be for my family, for my children, for my grandchildren, and for my extended family. Let them see Jesus in me. And help me to verbally share my faith with them. I don’t want any of them to go to Hell.
No comments:
Post a Comment