Sweet Family Ties-in Heaven and in Hell

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Luke 16:19-31

Sweet Family Ties—in Heaven and in Hell

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.  Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.  The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  And he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.”  But Abraham said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.”  And he said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”  But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.”’  And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”[1]

S

he was desperate for help?  She had come to me, asking that I do something—anything—to rescue her son.  He had, at age fourteen, left home to begin living openly in a homosexual relationship with a man who was nearly three times his age.  She was frantic, especially since her husband was not inclined to do anything.

I questioned her about the disciplinary standards she had employed in her home.  “Oh,” she gushed, “my boy is a good boy.”  Then, waxing poetic, she enthused, “I could never bring myself to say ‘No’ to him.  I believe that he is like a great tree standing in the winter snows.  As spring comes the branches will again bud and he will leaf out.”

There is a time for blunt talk, and it had arrived.  I was more than confused by a request to “do something” while simultaneously receiving a message that “everything is fine.”  When it was apparent that she was finished with her foolish fantasy of false faith, I said, “Madam, the heart of that tree is rotten.”

“Why, Pastor, whatever can you mean?” she queried.

“Madam,” I stated in firm tones, “your son is a sinner and you have done nothing to deter him.  In fact, you have abetted him in his perverted rush to doom.”

“But I love him too much to hurt him,” she protested.

“Lady,” I said evenly, “you hate your son and you have permitted him to come to the point of death.  His blood is on your hands.”

What I said to that woman, I fear I must say to some who worship in these services.  For all the protests of love for spouses, for children, for parents, for family members, for friends—the actions of too many fairly shout their lack of love.  All the while we are saying “Praise the Lord” our lack of concern is saying “Go to hell.”

I am guided in my ministry by some principles which are neglected in this day of laissez-faire religion.  I believe God is a God of love and mercy.  This is demonstrated in the fact that He delivered His own Son as a sacrifice of redemption for fallen mankind.  He calls us to life through repeated pleas issued throughout His Word, delivered through the call of Christian witness and trumpeted from pulpits throughout this benighted world.

I am equally convinced that God is a God of justice.  He is holy and righteous.  He cannot tolerate sin.  Had there been another way for us to please God, it would not have been necessary for Him to deliver His Son over to death on our behalf.  This means that there is a dark side to the love of God.  Those who reject the call to accept the sacrifice of Jesus as propitiation for their own sin position themselves under the wrath of God.  To be separate from God is to be eternally doomed.

I am convinced that in time, the greatest institution is also the first divine institution—the family.  God gave marriage as a gift to mankind.  Husbands and wives were to enjoy one another, and through their love provide pleasure, companionship and increase of the family.  Families are expected to be intimate, warm and accepting of one another.  Parents and grandparents are expected to provide guidance through sharing the wealth of wisdom accumulated throughout the years of their pilgrimage.  Children are to demonstrate respect and as they grow, prove a benediction to the hopes and aspirations of the elder members of the family.

To speak of family is to speak of that which is nearest and dearest to us, or at least that which should be nearest and dearest to us.  However, were you aware that family is temporary?  Those sweet family ties do not extend beyond this moment called now.  There is at the end of every life a grave.  The memories which make family life so rich now are destined to be ultimately forgotten.

Lynda invests hours interviewing the elder members of our respective families.  She spends additional hours researching ancient documents in multiplied states of our natal land and even seeking for records in Great Britain, Scotland and Germany.  She wants to know our heritage and understand what forces have united to make us the people we are.  One truth I am learning as I witness her tireless labours is that memories are soon forgotten.  Family is a gift of God for time, and not for eternity.

If there are to be sweet family ties throughout eternity, they must be ties which find their origin in the Living God and they must be forged through a common bond of eternal life in Christ the Lord.  There is a day coming when we shall each say our family farewells for the last time.  For each of us, the final words we speak to our beloved family members shall either be “good-bye,” or they shall be “good night.”

These are the considerations I wish to focus on this day.  It is likely that you share this service either as a member of this beloved congregation, or because some member of your family invited you to share the service.  Some of you may feel as though you are being ambushed.  We do not mean to be maudlin or outlandish, but we do mean to show our love for you by speaking the truth in love.  If you are offended, please be offended toward me.  Someone in your family loves you deeply, and though they may not be able to speak the words they wish, they were deeply concerned for your eternal welfare.

Some of us who call ourselves members of this congregation need to be shaken deeply from our false security.  They have convinced themselves that everything is “Okay,” and that there is no danger.  Their ignorance condemns their family members to hell, and one day they shall be condemned by their lost loved ones for their silence.

Jesus told a story.  Some have mistakenly considered it to be a parable, and thus to have less moral authority.  The text is not a parable.  It is not referred to as a parable, either by Jesus or by Luke who relates the account.  No parable gives the names of the participants.  Moreover, unlike a parable which compares incidents of everyday life in order to present a spiritual truth, this account draws back a veil from the unseen world to shock the hearer into weighing the consequences of choices now made.  At the very least, this is an example story with graphic detail designed to warn those who hear to carefully consider what they will do with the truths presented.[2]

Family Ties Bind Us on Earth — The text does not actually address the issue of family ties at this point.  We are introduced in time to two individuals.  The first individual is a rich man.  He is not given a name, though theologians commonly refer to this man as Dives, Latin for the Greek term plouvsio~ [rich].[3]  He wore expensive clothing—both his outer garments, which were dyed purple, and his underwear, which were made of fine linen.  Moreover, he feasted, eating far more than was necessary, day by day.

In contrast to this wealthy individual is Lazarus.  This is a Hebrew name [rz;[]l’] which is a contraction of rz;[;l]a, and means God helps.  The name is significant, for it tells us that this poor man was utterly dependent upon God.  He had no one who would be his advocate in this life.  He had no family to whom he could turn.  He owned nothing.  Take careful note of a precious truth, however.  Though no one in this life knew the name of this man, he was known to God.

There are people in this life whose name is on every lip.  They are considered the great and the mighty.  Others, perhaps the most of us, are known to but few people.  It matters not if my name is ever whispered in the halls of parliament, so long as the God of Glory knows my name.  It is of no consequence whatsoever if no senator or plutocrat knows my name; but it matters very much whether God knows who I am.

This poor man, Lazarus, had one basic desire—to eat.  He is willing to eat scraps if necessary.  He is hungry, and all he wants are the leftovers.  Have you seen them?  Have you witnessed the dumpster divers?  I have.  They wait until the fast food restaurants dump their garbage, and they can then eat what is thrown into the garbage.  I still remember the shock when I first witnessed such a person pawing through the trash in the Pike Place Market of Seattle.  Picking out the filth from the plates which were dumped from those who had eaten their fill at the food fair.  That is Lazarus.

To add insult, this poor man is compelled to endure wild dogs licking his sores—sores which both infect him and leave him ceremonially unclean.  A kuvwn is a wild, undomesticated dog.[4]  The reference to the dogs licking the sores of Lazarus recalls the fact that dogs in Egypt and Palestine were mainly scavengers which were not welcomed as household pets.[5]  There is not even a hint of mercy in this picture since the dogs were themselves unclean, their attention unwanted and only adding to his uncleanness.

It seems striking to me that Lazarus never speaks in this story.  He suffers alone and in silence.  I mention this because I have on occasion felt what it is to suffer alone and in silence, and I am convinced that I speak to some people even in this message who feel they suffer alone and in silence.  Take heart, you who are saints, God knows your name and He hears the silent cry of your heart.

Though Lazarus had no one, we know that the rich man had family.  We are confident that he had five brothers.  Though he failed to speak of them during the days of his earthly life, he became concerned following his death.  In fact, I might even draw the inference that his father was very much alive, which could suggest that his mother, also, could well have been yet alive.  This wealthy man seems to have been the first of his immediate family to have made the transition between the now and eternity.

The five brothers were apparently still in his father’s house.  Surely, they got together from time-to-time.  What did they talk about?  Perhaps they discussed the situation in the Middle East.  Would there be war?  Would the world’s sole super power plunge the entire region into a costly and needless war?  Did they discuss the state of their funds invested for retirement?  It was an agrarian society, so they perhaps discussed the weather.  Moisture content of the soil, changing weather patterns, crop rotations have all been a part of farm life since time immemorial.

Families being what they are, they no doubt teased each other.  Nothing delights a man more than to best a brother.  There is a certain something within us as men which drives us to compete, especially when we are competing against our own family members.  We laugh good-naturedly and poke fun at one another—in part, because we actually care about one another.  We don’t readily share laughter with those for whom we have no particular concern.

Perhaps these brothers discussed religion.  There is no indication that he was not a religious man.  Perhaps he was a synagogue leader.  What is evident is that he had no living relationship with the True and Living God.  It seems that the first verse every Canadian learns is Judge not, that you be not judged [Matthew 7:1].  I have found it necessary on occasion to remind people that the same One who cautioned against being judgmental also warned us to be discerning.  Fruit becomes the means of judging the tree [Matthew 7:16-20].  I am not a judge, but as a Christian, I am a fruit inspector.

I know that this rich man was not saved.  He did not have a relationship with the True and Living God.  Hey, there is a difference between saying prayers and praying.  There is a difference between doing one’s duty and worshipping.  There is a difference between going to church and being the church.  It is apparent that in all they years of sweet family ties, this family had not read, or at least they had not believed, the Word of God.  Perhaps you wonder how I know this about the family life of this man?

Notice Luke 16:27-31.  He said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”  But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.”’  And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”  He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.  By implication, the rich man had not believed the things written in Moses and the Prophets.  Moreover, he had apparently never urged his brothers to believe these things, nor had their father encouraged them to consider the consequences of a life without God.  In hell, this rich man knew that his five brothers needed to repent.

I do not doubt that those of you who are parents love your children.  I witness your concern for them as you enrol them in sports, in various cultural pursuits and as you encourage them in scholastic endeavours.  You work overtime to ensure that your children need not be ashamed at not having the right clothes and to ensure every advantage for success.  I know you love your children.

But do you pray with your children?  Do you read the Word of God with them?  Do you urge them to believe the warnings which God has placed in His Book?  You warn them against using drugs and you warn them of the evils of alcohol.  You no doubt warn them against promiscuous sex and the dangers of hanging out with the wrong crowd.  Have you warned them about Hell?  Have you wept over your children?

Too many church members are unconverted, and what is worse yet, they have been inoculated against the Faith because they believe words of faith are sufficient for transformation.  Saying you are a Christian will not make you a Christian.  Faith alone saves us, but the faith which saves is never alone!

Those whom I love I reprove.  These are not the words of a crackpot preacher, but rather they are the words of the Risen Son of God [Revelation 3:19].  Just as a mother will caution her child against wandering into the street because she fears the consequences, so the Christian will warn her loved ones against delaying faith in the Son of God because she knows the consequences.  Just as a father will warn his son against defying the law because he knows the consequences, so the Christian will warn his beloved family members against unbelief because he knows the consequences.

Family Ties Continue Beyond the Grave — What is shocking in this account which Jesus related is the discovery that death does not end it all.  The words are so startling.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.  The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  There is an utter reversal in the story which must have shocked those listening that day.  It shocks us to this day.  Death does not end it all!

Let me read this passage as it is translated in another contemporary translation.  One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.  The angels awaited the poor man who died in faith, and he was escorted into the presence of the blessed.  The rich man also died and was buried.  And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.[6]  How different is the other fate!

The rich man also died and was buried.  That is all that matters, isn’t it?  We live.  We die.  That is the end of it, isn’t it?  Jesus’ words introduce a sober warning—death does not end it all.  Notice the copulative conjunction—and being in torment in Hades.  There is no stop, no period, as Jesus speaks [καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις[7]].  The rich man died, he was buried, and in hell, lifting up his eyes even as he experienced torment!

I read those words, and terror seizes my heart.  How many people, hearing my voice today, will one day leave this life only to open their eyes in torment, being in hell?  How many scoff at judgement, thinking it but a figment of demented imaginations?

It did not take even a minute for the rich man to become a believer.  However, his new-found belief in the mercies of God was discovered to be too late.  There is a deadline beyond which we dare not pass, lest we discover that it is too late to return. 

When this rich man discovered that there was no opportunity either for relief or for a second chance, he suddenly became concerned for his family.  In part, his sudden concern for family members is the result of the fact that memory lasts for the lost individual throughout all eternity.  As he pleaded with Abraham, he received a chilling response, Child, remember [verse 25].

In hell, the lost remember every missed opportunity.  In hell, the damned recall every rejected overture.  In hell, the eternally condemned replay every forfeited invitation.  Whatever the torments of eternal separation may be, the knowledge that those in hell will remember leaves me astonished and devastated.

We see him beg, Father, then I beg you to send [Lazarus] to my father’s house—because I have five brothers—to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.[8]  Some hearing my voice this day, are unconcerned for loved ones now, but with a pastor’s heart, I warn you that there is coming a day when you will be concerned.  Seated among the parishioners of this congregation are men who have watched their sons drift away from serving God and from salvation without ever speaking a word of caution.  I know that your sons are “good” boys, but I know that if they are unsaved that there is an awful day when they will face the wrath of Holy God, and you shall bear part of their condemnation throughout your self-serving silence.

There are members of this congregation that have threatened leaving if they didn’t get their way on issues.  Others have complained because of sinners among the flock.  Yet others who worship among us have charged malfeasance and misconduct because of misinformation and deliberate ignorance.  As I prepared these words, sitting before my computer and reviewing those who fit those various categories, I was driven to weep for every one of them as I recalled their names.  In every single instance, they have created hurt for others and sought to injure the work of Christ, and in no small measure, it appears each of them has family members who give no evidence of life in Christ. 

Husbands, wives, sons and daughters are lost and their pride keeps them from brokenness and from asking the church for prayer that their loved one might be saved.  Can it be that their own arrogance has contributed to the damnation of their loved ones?  Can they have Christ in their heart and not seek life for those who walk their own way?  In every instance, they are good husbands, but they are lost.  In every instance, they are fine wives, but they are lost.  Their children are nice children, but they are lost.  Though you may never hear the words again, hear them this day.  In hell, your lost loved ones will remember your lack of love, for you condemned them through your failure to warn them and through your failure to fulfil the call of God through pleading with them.

Family Ties Impel Us to Plead for Life — What happens at death?  What happens when this flesh at last fails?  What comes next when this tent we call home is at last struck?  When human hands have tended to this body for the last time, when tender lips have kissed fevered brows for the final time, when the last prayer is uttered and the final words of farewell are uttered, what happens?  Where will we be?  Where will we go?

For the blessed, those who have received the forgiveness of sin and who are already accepted in Christ, the angels will form an escort into the presence of God.  How often have I comforted those of this glorious Faith who face that great crossing in the words God has provided.

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me.  Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two.  My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better [Philippians 1:19-23].

We know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.  For while we are still in this tent, we sigh, being burdened––not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage.  We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.  For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body [2 Corinthians 5:1-10]. 

I have put my faith in the Son of God, who took my sin in His own body, went down into the grave and raised in a show of glorious power that He is God and that He will keep the promise He makes to all who will receive Him.  This is the hope of the righteous.  Indeed, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works [Titus 2:11-14].

It is not so for those who have pretended righteousness.  For those who have played at church, and for those who have never placed their faith in the Living Son of God, it is otherwise.  What else can be the meaning of those awful words which warn us?  These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life [Matthew 25:46].  Throw them into the fiery furnace.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth [Matthew 13:42].

Some of you are rejecting what I am saying now.  “You’re just trying to scare us, preacher.”  Yes!  I am trying to frighten you.  I admit it.  Some of you imagine that the language of the Bible is only figurative.  Perhaps you are right, but if it is figurative, then the reality must be even more terrible to confront.  Though you have rejected the thought, I am convinced of the reality of hell, which is the insane asylum of the universe.

Listen to me as I explain where I am coming from.  As a sinner, I was a son of hell [Matthew 23:15], a child of the devil [John 8:44], and a son of wrath [Ephesians 2:3].  I belonged to what Jesus called the viper’s brood [Matthew 3:7].  As is true of you, I had no hope and [was] without God [Ephesians 2:12].  God’s wrath remained on me [John 3:36].  His face was against me [Psalm 34:16].  As an evildoer, He hated me [Psalm 5:5].  The curse of God was upon me [Galatians 3:10].

This was my condition.  Hell was my destiny.  There will be no comfort away from God and isolated in hell.  People joke about going to hell, saying that all their friends will be there.  There are no friendships in hell.  Some think that only Satan and his demons will be in hell, but they think wrong.  Hell was not forced on God by Satan.  Hell was His design and appointment for people like me.  God will one day speak to those who have rejected Him, saying, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels [Matthew 25:41].

This is why I weep.  I weep for you who have made a pact with death and imagine that you shall not pay for your foolish sin.  The holiness of God demands that He reject all sinners and demands that He thrust all wickedness far from Himself.  I was a sinner and I was utterly wicked and utterly without hope.

This is the wonder of mercy, instead of striking me aside much as a man might swat an irritating gnat or mosquito, God in mercy reached out to receive me.  Instead of casting me forever from His presence, He tenderly reached out to receive me and call me by His own Name.  “To whom can I return evil for evil as the Great Physician carries me from the crematorium of the universe into His intensive care room alive, alive, alive?  What disease will I be able to look on with scoffing?  Where is the lowest sinner over whom I could feel one millimetre of superiority?  Instead, I become a broken-hearted leaper for joy.  Tears for all my wickedness…  Yet, leaping with joy for the free and inexhaustible mercy of God.”[9]

Who am I to judge you for your sin, for I was a foul sinner suspended by my fingers over the pit of hell?  The body bag was being zipped for the last time when the Saviour touched my heart.  Never again can I think of your sin as so great that you are beyond redemption, for I stand before you as a great sinner redeemed by an even Greater Saviour.  Where there was death, He gave me life.  Where there was corruption, He restored me fully.  Where there was guilt, He pronounced me innocent.  Where there was slavery, He set me at liberty.  No sin is too great for my Saviour.

I remember so well a huge black man I encountered on one occasion.  The Spirit of God compelled me to approach him and speak to him.  Seated in a jail cell, all the other prisoners avoided him.  He had a reputation as a bad actor.

“Sir,” I asked, “may I sit and speak with you for a moment?”

Instead of a verbal answer, he glared at me.  The visage reflected hatred, bitterness, rage—it was as though I was looking into the very face of hell itself.

“I’m a preacher,” I began, “and I just want to speak to you of my Saviour.”

He held up two great hands, big as hams and looked me squarely in the eyes.  “Do you see these hands?  Do you see these hands?  These hands killed little babies.  These hands grabbed them little babies and killed them.  What can your God do about these hands, preacher?  What can your God do about these hands?”

I bowed me head, and I wept.  I honestly don’t remember all that he said, as the words gushed out in a torrent.  He had been in the Korean War, and at some point in the fog of war, he committed unspeakable atrocities.  Thought years had passed, he couldn’t forgive himself.  He lived as an outlaw and was a renegade to all that is respectable and good in society.  What answer would suffice for such a man who had suffered throughout years and punished himself and now faced an eternal hell?

I’m not really certain that I said much, but I do recall that I began to softly sing.

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe,

Sin had left a Crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

He bowed his head and wept and wept and Jesus delivered a soul from hell that night.  I have risked everything to be a preacher of the Gospel.  I have confronted my own children, pleading with them from infancy.  They cannot recall a time when Dad and Mom did not pray for them, asking that God would save them and use them to His glory.  My son has heard his dad warn him repeatedly that there lies a day of judgement at the end of a sinful life, and he has seen my tears on many occasions as I shamelessly pleaded with him to do what was right and to honour God.

Dear father, if you believed in hell as Jesus spoke of hell and if you have experienced the grace of the Master as He gives it, you will never again fail to permit sleep to close your eyes without pleading for the life of your child.  Beloved mother, your tender heart can only become more tender still if you know the awful fate of your unsaved son and if you have truly experienced the gracious mercies of our blessed Lord.  How is it that we can be so silent and stoic as those we love most move ever closer to eternity and a day when there shall be no more chance?

The cowboys of Texas were not atheists as some imagine.  They were men of faith in many instances.  Read the tombstones of those tough men and you will realise that they lived in hope of the resurrection.  Those men lived with danger and they knew the grace of God.

An old rancher lay dying in west Texas, and the children were summoned to the old homestead.  “If you will see your father alive in this life one last time, you must hurry,” was the word which went to each of the boys.

As they gathered at his bed, the old man spoke to each in turn.  “Tim, you were my firstborn.  You have done right and honoured God.  Take care of your Ma.  Goodnight, son.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

“John, you had a mighty rough time of it in life; but you came through.  You’ve proved true and you are saved.  You sure gave me a lot of joy.  Goodnight John.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

Calling the youngest to his bedside, the old man took his hand and said, “Mike, I’ve loved you more than you can know.  You’ve lived life your way and I suppose you always will.  You’re tough, and I pray that someday you’ll settle down.  Good-bye, son.”

The young man realised there was a difference in his parting and asked about it.  “Dad, you told Tim and John ‘goodnight,’ but you told me ‘good-bye.’  Why did you do that, Dad?”

“Son, Tim and John have each accepted Christ.  I’ll see them again in a better place.  Mike, you never did trust Christ, and I’ll see you no more.  Though I love you, I cannot say ‘goodnight.’  Son, when I die, it is ‘good-bye’ for you.”

That young man could never quite shake those closing words from his dying father.  There came a day when those words so haunted him that he sought out a preacher and asked how to be saved.

This is salvation.  If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For he says,

“In a favourable time I listened to you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation [2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2].

That is our prayer for you.  Turn from the guilt and slavery which now binds you and receive the pardon and freedom of Christ.  Turn from the death which hangs over you like a threatening storm and step into the life which shines down on all who will receive Christ.  To all who call themselves by the Name of the Son of God, determine that from this day you will cease playing church and begin to plead for the lives of those you love.

May God bless you each one and may angels attend your way as you find your way to the foot of the Cross of Calvary and discover the life which is offered through the sacrifice of Christ our Lord.  Amen.


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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] For further information on this subject, consult:  Darrell L. Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI 1996) 1363-4

[3] Bock, op. cit. 1360

[4] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Logos Research Systems, Inc., Oak Harbor, WA 1997)

[5] Colin Brown, Animals in the NT (art.) in Colin Brown (ed.), Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 1 (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 1975) 117

[6] Holman Christian Standard Bible (Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN 2000)

[7] Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren, Greek New Testament, 4th ed. (United Bible Societies, Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany: 1993, c1979)

[8] Holman Christian Standard Version, op. cit.

[9] John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals (Broadman & Holman, Nashville, TN 2002) 116

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