“22 And it came to pass, that the beggar (Lazarus) died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 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.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from there.
27 Then he said, I pray you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:22-31
Our eternity is a conscious eternity. The rich man is still in hell begging for water because he is tormented in that flame. Whether his brothers joined him, we do not know. Whether or not his brothers listened to the prophets, we are not told. Once the gates of hell close behind a lost soul, there are no 2nd chances.
We never know the day nor the hour the Lord is going to demand of us our soul. We will all given an account for how we handled the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Did we hear and believe? Did we accept Jesus as Lord?
Perhaps because we had the intellectual knowledge of the Gospel, we thought we were Saved. Not necessarily.
Maybe we actually recited a prayer. Are we Saved? Not necessarily.
Were we “confirmed” by a denomination at a certain age? Are we Saved? Nope, not necessarily.
Were we Saved at an early age and have since turned away from the Lord? Are we no longer following in His precepts and seeking His Ways? Are we Saved? No, not necessarily.
What must we do to be Saved?
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be Born Again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:5-7
What must I do to be Born Again?
“5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be Born Again.” John 3:5-7
Hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified does not constitute Salvation (being Born Again) but by accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we give the Holy Spirit latitude to come live inside our heart and we are in an instant “Born Again”; we are born of the Spirit and made spiritually alive unto Christ Jesus. This revelation of the Lord is what the Church is built upon. HE is our cornerstone because of HIS Sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross. It is Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for fallen man’s sin and it is Jesus Chris who broke the power of sin.
All of this is made possible by what Jesus Christ did on Calvary’s Cross. At our Born Again experience we are buried with Him, baptized into HIS Death…there where the penalty of sin was paid and the power of sin broken and we are raised up a new creature in Christ Jesus; a new creature who is now spiritually alive unto God because we have accepted His Way unto Salvation. To be sure, HIS Way is the ONLY Way that man can be Saved. To be sure, sadly there are many a man is a devil’s hell today who now know this fact. All who are in hell today still seek for someone to return from death and tell their loved ones the truth about God’s Way of Salvation but such cannot be. The Lord has given us His Word, His Holy Spirit and the 5 Fold ministry to declare His Way of Salvation, if we choose not to believe we will have a conscious eternity to replay every Salvation message we rejected.
God doesn’t send people to a devil’s hell. Jesus Christ came to die on Calvary’s Cross to save us from eternal damnation. Today is the day of Salvation. Have you believed?
“16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be Saved.” John 3:16
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 