Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear people.

Phooey! I had let the little kittens outside along with Taffy, the mommy. Now one is missing. Vanished. I’m confident that Hondo dog is not the culprit this time. My best hunch is a red-tailed hawk. A little white kitty would be a perfect snatch. He would only need to sit up there on a tree, with eyes like a hawk, and watch for the opportune moment.

My list isn’t getting any shorter. May the Lord assist you with doing yours. Let’s roll!

Love, Dad/Ray.

A lot of people don’t believe in HELL. But Jesus does. Otherwise this story He tells about Lazarus and the rich man is utterly absurd. Oh, yes, there are facets in this revelation of heaven and HELL that are hard to understand while we’re confined to this earthly dimension. But let’s take some time to list a few points from this account that we can grasp. I hope you will take time to read the passage again for yourself.

1. EVERYONE DIES. Wealth, fame, poverty, education, success, etc., make no difference. Every human being possesses a physical body that is headed for death.
2. DEATH DOES NOT END EXISTENCE. Physical death is clearly the doorway to a very real conscious eternity.
3. ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S WORD AND REPENTANCE IN THIS LIFE DETERMINE ONE’S DESTINY IN THE NEXT. This story clearly underscores this as the highest priority of life. To do so means eternal luxury. To fail to do so means eternal poverty. Notice that the beggar becomes a rich man and the rich man becomes a beggar.
4. HEAVEN IS HEAVENLY AND HELL IS HOT. Jesus describes heaven for the Jews as being a wonderful place with “Father Abraham.” Hell, on the other hand, is a place of fire, torment, and agony.
5. THERE IS NO PASSAGE BETWEEN THE TWO REALMS. Death finalizes destiny. There is no adjustment of that destiny. There is no purgatory or movement from one place to the other. Jesus refers to it as a “great chasm.” It is that irreversible gap that separates this life, heaven, and HELL.
6. PEOPLE IN HELL CAN SEE INTO HEAVEN. But those in heaven don’t see into hell. I suppose that such a view would actually mess up heaven. This idea is also indicated in the words of Jesus back in Luke 13:28: “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.”
7. PEOPLE IN HELL ARE HAMMERED WITH REGRET. I have a hunch that one of the most hellish features of hell will be the vivid playback of memory that forces one to recall and see clearly all the unnecessary dumb choices made in life. It would make for endless self-condemnation. “Why was I so stupid? Why was I so blind? Why was I so persistent in rebelling? Why didn’t I seek God? Why didn’t I pay attention to what was so clear and inevitable? Why was I so arrogant?” Man!—that would have to be hell!
8. PEOPLE IN HELL CAN HAVE A GREAT EVANGELISTIC BURDEN THAT THEY NEVER HAD IN THIS LIFE. Notice the rich man’s concern for the eternal welfare of his family once he experiences the reality of HELL. Without trying to be profane, he wanted Lazarus to be miraculously raised back to life and go to his family to scare the HELL out of them.
9. MIRACULOUS SIGNS ARE NOT NECESSARILY EFFECTIVE TOOLS OF EVANGELISM. No amount of supernatural phenomena is going to generate the true conversion and salvation of a person who does not have a hunger for God and His Word—who regards A HEART AFTER GOD as repugnant.

   Suffice it to say—HELL IS BAD NEWS! THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS!

   “One thing that makes the Good News so goodis knowing that the bad news is so bad.”