Testify While There Is Still Time!
“And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.”
(Luke 16: 26 NASB)
How far would one need to look if he were peering over a deep chasm?
Would he even be able to see the other side?
Or would the other side be too far away, keeping those who lived on both sides—separated?
This morning, as I was studying God’s Word, I found myself doing two things: Reading the narrative of the rich man doomed to Hades while the poor man named Lazarus was carried away to paradise & then reading a letter written to me in August 2020 during the heart of the Coronavirus. While this Bible narrative teaches us about the dangers of the love of money, something else struck deep within me this morning.
TRULY, THERE ARE ONLY TWO DESTINATIONS WHEN JESUS CALLS US INTO ETERNITY!
In reading this letter from someone I love, she reminded me of this distance that separates us, and then she wrote these words: “The virus does keep us from hugging each other. Our promise to each other might be broken, as the planes will not go overseas in the near future. Just know that it is not us breaking the promise, but something out of our league.”
“And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, . . .” —God created the heavens and the earth. We learn this in Genesis during the Creation narrative. In reading more of the Bible, we read about the fallen angel, Lucifer, who fell from heaven and was cast into a place created for him and his angels.
- CREATED BY GOD FOR LUCIFER & HIS ANGELS!
- NOT CREATED FOR MANKIND!
- NOT CREATED FOR HUMANITY!
- NOT CREATED FOR GOD’S CREATION—that began with the first man Adam and his God-created helper, Eve.
When God created mankind, God walked with mankind in fellowship within the Garden of Eden. Then, sin entered. Then Lucifer (Satan), the father of lies, the deceiver entered the scene and planted the “idea” that mankind did not need God, that mankind could be “god-like,” that Father God was the one lying to mankind.
FAR BE IT THAT WE WOULD EVER LISTEN TO THE DECEIVER WHEN WE CAN LISTEN TO GOD, THE FATHER OF TRUTH!
In returning to the Bible narrative of the rich man forever doomed in Hades, in Hell, the place God created for Satan and the angels who fell with him, we see how the rich man lived while he still had life & blood flowing in his veins. He had no regard for anyone but for himself. He had no time for God while he lived here on earth. Yet then he dies, and suddenly he finds the TRUTH revealed. He finds that the TRUTH he ran from his whole life is STILL THE TRUTH!
THERE REALLY IS A PLACE CALLED HEAVEN!
&
THERE REALLY IS A PLACE CALLED HELL!
In the torment of Hell where this man finds himself, he desires for the other man to dip just the tip of his finger in water and cool off his tongue. The man is forevermore in the agony of Hell and in the agony of the flames.
HELL IS A REAL PLACE!
Those of us who Believe, who are Christians, who are God’s children because of the Salvation Jesus Christ provided upon the cross—What are we doing while we walk through our lives if we are living “unconcerned” about those who walk in darkness, those who remain lost, & those who are headed to Hell when they die?
MAY WE . . . TESTIFY WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME!
“so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, . . .” —In the Bible narrative, in the words of Jesus Himself, our Savior tells us how Lazarus, the man in heaven, was unable (and will forever remain unable) to cross over the deep chasm that separates Heaven from Hell. Once we die, our decision is sealed!
That thought took me right back to the letter I received back in 2020, when the confines of the Coronavirus kept me from traveling, from hugging those beautiful daughters I love. What we were experiencing was out of our control, but we had plans—written within this letter—of doing what we promised to do once the virus passed away from this world.
- There is coming a day when we will no longer be able to TESTIFY of what JESUS did for us upon the cross.
- There is coming a day when we will die.
- There is coming a day when our decision, sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, will transport us home to heaven.
Until that day comes, what are we doing—IF WE ARE NOT WITNESSING DAILY about the LOVE of GOD & the SALVATION FOUND in JESUS’ WORK upon the CROSS of CALVARY!
If we say we love someone, then we must be willing to tell them about the LOVE of GOD!
If we say we love someone, then we must be willing to sacrifice losing them when we TESTIFY about what JESUS CHRIST accomplished upon the CROSS of CALVARY!
If we say we love someone, then we must be willing to WITNESS despite the cost!
“nor will any people cross over from there to us.” —In the Bible narrative, Jesus Christ, our Savior reminds us how no one will be able to cross over, to do anything once they reach the destination—HEAVEN or HELL—based upon their life decision. Truly, our eternity comes down to one single-most important question: WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THIS MAN NAMED JESUS?
- Let us who have accepted the salvation found in Jesus—Get Serious about our Witness, our Testimony, our mission God gave to us when we first believed!
- Let us who are now the children of Almighty God—Life our Lives, as a living sacrifice of the Salvation found only in Jehovah God!
- Let us who are “the saved” ones—Testify to others how Jesus died for each one of us!
There is coming a day when we will wish for more time, for another opportunity to tell those we love about Jesus, but one day, our time will run out here on earth. Even the lost man doomed to live his eternity in Hell realized this and wished to send Lazarus from the dead to speak with his five lost brothers, but there is no going back and forth—between HEAVEN & HELL—The chasm created by God is just too deep!
Let us Testify While There Is Still Time!