Safety is a perception.

I would be interested to know of any place where one can feel wholly secure and unthreatened by nature, unrest or any instability. Men carrying placards “Repent, for the End is Near” have been seen in every location, though strangely, I haven’t seen any lately. Perhaps because of the lethargy of modern society, who would merely smile and pass on. Every generation since Christ has had believers and scoffers. There have been wars and rumours of wars through the centuries, as also floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other disasters.

For days I have been playing with notes on Heaven and Hell, and have had long arguments with myself as to whether this is honouring the Lord or not. A minister shared with me about the parents of a child in his Sunday School class who had complained that he had mentioned Hell in a lesson. They felt that it was wrong to frighten a child with such a concept, so he had spent some time in convincing them of Satan’s existence and the possibility of Hell as a final destination. Afterwards he had congratulated himself on giving such a winning testimony until the Lord confronted his conscience. You did well to tell them about the enemy, but what about Me?

Well, my inclination is to speak about Heaven, because that is where I am going one day. Presumptuous of me, you may say, but true none-the-less because I repented of my sins, recognised that Jesus Christ paid a price for me so I could enjoy eternal life, and I accepted Him as Saviour and Lord of my life, where He reigns. I shall save what I know of Heaven for another day, though, because my concern is for those who have no idea where they will go, or what happens after death. So many live in hope, but it is only hope, not assurance. Assurance is needed in these dangerous days, when earthquakes and tsunamis have become an almost daily occurrence, and when “the real danger is wickedness in the city. Murder and robbery are everywhere; threats and cheating are rampant in the streets.” Psalm 55:10b &11 (TLB)

There are passages in the Bible that I would like to discard, for they are so scary, I do not like to consider them. Even less though, do I like to consider that people I love, or indeed even those I don’t know, are in danger of Hell, many simply because they do not want to consider for themselves the very same passages I speak of.

There was a man in the Bible who had a perception about his life that was set in concrete. If you had tried to convince him that things were not as they seemed, he would not have believed you. He had a beautiful home; all that he desired was available to him at a flick of his fingers and security was an assurance that needed no confirmation. If you had told him his safety was an illusion he would have laughed you off the planet. Then wake-up time happened! He woke up knowing who he was, but in a place of torment that he would have scoffed about in his earlier life. Life was going on, but not as he had known it, in comfort and affluence. He had died to his old life and woken to the start of the rest of eternity. He was in a place where there was no comfort, and he is still there, waiting for judgment!

There was hope, he thought, when his conscious mind, or spirit, recognised far off, someone he knew. There was the beggar who had always sat outside his gate, hoping to receive some of the left-overs from the sumptuously laden tables. Now he seemed to be well provided for, and he seemed to be with someone else who was recognisable, for somehow the man knew it was Father Abraham, The beggar’s name was Lazarus, and perhaps he would be able to cross the great chasm that separated them with a little cooling water. That was not to be.

Father Abraham’s response was not encouraging. In today’s idiom, he told the now poor rich man, “You made your bed, son, and now you must lie on it.” Not an atom of hope did he give, even refusing to send a message to the man’s brothers, “For”, he said, “all knowledge is available to them, from Moses and all the prophets. If they don’t learn from them, then they are unteachable. Even someone from the dead will not reach them.”

The rich man’s perception of life had drastically changed, but now it was too late for him to change.

You can read the story in Luke, chapter 16, verses 19 to 31, as it is related by Jesus Christ Himself.

We can listen to those who say that if you live a good life you should be OK. You can turn your ear to those who proclaim that this life is all there is, and you can give credence to the scoffers all around us. But is it worth the risk?

In the book of Revelation, many woes and troubles are prophesied for the future, but alongside many of the frightening warnings including “But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12) is the invitation from Jesus Christ.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him – to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen, Romans 16:25-27.