“Mother, Father, where are you?” Angela hurriedly rushed through the crowd at the gate.
“Hi Angela!” said Susan. Without speaking, Angela waved quickly and dashed past her friend from school. Susan saw a worried look on Angela’s face.
As Angela pushed through more people, she hollered with excitement, “Mother! Mother!” Mother saw Angela coming towards her and Mother pushed back the people to reach Angela. Quickly, Angela ran into her arms. The warmth of Mother’s hug was so comforting. Tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped one from her chin and looked into Mother’s worried eyes, “Where is Father?” She quietly asked.
Mother sadly replied, “Angela, I don’t think he is here.” Angela sobbed like never before. She ached all over, she wanted to curl up in a corner and imagine this was all make-believe; but she could not. She knew this was real and she knew Mother was probably right. Father had never wanted anything to do with being saved. Now the Lord had returned and taken all who were saved with him to heaven, but Father was not there. This sadness was something deeper than she had ever known before. How would this hurt ever go away?
Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
When it is all said and done, God shall wipe away our tears. Praise the Lord for his comfort. There will be no death, no sorrow, no crying, and no more pain. We will live for all eternity in our glorified bodies and with our Heavenly Father. What a marvelous thought!
Now let’s think about the people we need to reach. I’ve heard of churches that put-on Easter plays and the whole congregation ends up in tears, because the drama is so vividly real. These performances show many people standing on the church platform with one group on one side at the pearly gate and a group of people on the other side at the gates of hell. People at the gates of hell are yelling to those at the pearly gate, “Why didn’t you tell me? You worked with me each day. You saw me in the grocery store each week. You lived next door to me. Why didn’t you tell me?” The people at the pearly gate are in a deepest despair like they have never been before. Their crying is outpouring and uncontrollable. The people at the pearly gate are literally seeing – through this drama – their loved ones, friends and neighbors screaming as they are cast into hell.
There is no sugar coating it and there is no getting around it. We can try and not think about it and we can stay busy in our daily lives; but hell is a reality. God is true and everything in his Word is true. Hell exists. This truly is the saddest thing, I believe, a Christian can think about; but we must think about it. We must think about vivid dramas churches present on their platforms. There is a real, literal hell that unsaved people will go to when they die.
Churches put-on these performances for a reason. They do it so we can get a mental picture of our friends engulfed in flames. If we have this mental picture of our friends and family engulfed in flames and dropping into hell, we are more likely to reach them for the Lord.
Matthew 25:41 “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
However, there exists a couple problems. First, we have the problem of just not telling people about our Saviour. Second, I believe we have become callused and hardhearted. We give out our tracts, maybe quote a verse or two, invite someone to church and when the person turns it all down, we turn and walk away. I have heard Christians say to other Christians, “Oh well, I’ve warned them. If they don’t get saved, it is not my fault.” Then they departed on their merry way to live their lives as normal and forget about the person whose fate is eternal doom and torment.
With current events in the world today, I believe a Christian would truly say, “Surely the Lord could come today.” With that thought in mind, we cannot be callused in winning souls. We need to get out there while the Lord tarries one more day.
John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
There is good news to all this. The Lord has not returned and we still have time to reach the lost. Now, what are we doing about it? If today where the last day we had on earth, who would we reach for Christ? Who would we take a tract to? Who would we read a Bible verse to? Who would we grab at the pants leg and beg for them to listen and accept Christ as their Saviour? Those are the souls we need to be working with. Not ignoring them because maybe they have received the gospel 50 times and ignored it; but giving it to them again, and again, and again.
Years ago, I remember a lady who prayed 40 years for her husband to be saved. He finally got saved after 40 years of prayer. What if she stopped praying in her 39th year? Let’s not give up on people, let’s not stop giving out tracts. Let’s keep telling people about Christ. Let’s imagine them engulfed in flames and desperately tell them of their need of a Saviour.
God came to save “whosoever.” So:
- Let’s not be too busy to win the lost.
- Let’s not be hard-hearted and callused.
- Let’s get out there and give out the gospel and see souls saved for the Lord.
Jesus died for anyone and for “whosoever.” Let’s tell anyone and “whosever” about our Saviour.
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”