This is a serious article for a serious time. If you read your Bible you know that pretty much all prophecy has been fulfilled regarding the end times. We are getting close to the rapture of the church, when Christ will call the church to come with Him to our eternal home.
I have heard celebrities boast of living the way they do and saying they are going to break down the gates of hell. Why, would anyone in their right mind say this? From what I can see, they apparently are not in a right mind.
What, actually is hell? From descriptions in the Bible, it is a place of eternal darkness, eternal fire, eternal pain. So celebrities, why would you choose to go there? Why would anyone choose this? I target celebrities because masses of people tend to worship at their feet and follow their rotten examples.
In Luke 16, verses 19-31, there is an account of a wealthy man, who had everything he ever wanted on the earth and Lazarus, a poor beggar who sat at the rich man’s gate and begged for just a crust of bread. Both men died, and the rich man went to hell, but the beggar went to heaven:
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:”
“And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate, full of sores.”
“And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried.”
“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
“And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame.”
“And Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou are tormented.”
“And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot: neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
“Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:”
“For I have five brethren: that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”
“Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”
“And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.”
“And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, tough one rose from the dead.”
There are a lot of facts and morals that we can derive from this account. The first one is – this is not an allegorical story. Jesus was telling of an actual account of two people, one in hell, and one in heaven.
Why was the rich man in hell, and Lazarus in heaven? Get this – Lazarus believed in Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection, and the rich man did not. If someone tells you that in this life, if you become a Christian that you will have wealth and prosperity here – run! The person telling you this wants your money.
Firstly, let’s look at Lazarus. We can see that he had a very rough earthly life. In heaven, though, he is greeted by the angels and immediately is borne into a comfortable place, where he stays, unaware of the state of the rich man.
Second, look at the rich man. He is in such torment that he doesn’t know how to deal with it. He has had a lifetime of high living – of everything he could want or need. All of a sudden, upon death he is immediately in flames of fire, but he cannot see the flames (we are told, in other scriptures that hell is a place of complete darkness). He is in complete agony, so much so that he doesn’t know what to do. There is one thing that he can see in hell, though, even with total darkness surrounding him – he can see that Lazarus is in heaven and that he is in a state of total comfort. He has the audacity to ask for Lazarus to leave that comfort and come give to him a drop of water. Not only does he see Lazarus, but he can remember his family that are also unsaved and asks if Lazarus could raise from the dead and go tell his family to accept Christ to avoid the torments that he is in. So, the rich man is not only in physical agony, he is in mental and spiritual agony as well, wishing that someone could warn his family before they wind up here also.
This needs to be something posed to everyone. Look at the lives of the rich man and of Lazarus. You on this earth make all sorts of choices. You choose to do this, you choose to do that. Are they good choices? Are they choices of eternal importance? You are only here on the earth for a short time, but for all eternity you will wind up either like Lazarus, the beggar, or like the wealthy man, who had everything on this earth.
A short lifetime or all eternity. What should your choice be? Which one makes the most sense?
AE
Voice of the Introverts 