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Bible Facts Hell

The Great Gulf Fixed

From the “Bible Facts” Newspaper Column, February 2013

"And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence" (Luke 16:26)

In Luke 16 Jesus pulled back the curtain to the next world and told of what awaited two men after death.  One poor man named Lazarus went to a place of comfort where Abraham also was.  

His rich neighbour died and went to the fire and torment of hell.  From there he begged Abraham to send Lazarus over and give him relief by a little water on his tongue.  There are some important  lessons in Abraham’s answer quoted above about a “great gulf fixed”.

1. Every man has one of two possible destinations after this life.

2. These places are worlds apart with absolutely no movement between them.

3. Our present state of wealth and well being is of little importance compared with these matters of eternity.  Lazarus was a beggar but prepared for the next life.  The rich man failed to.

4. The two men set forth the basic two-fold classification of human beings in this world.  There is a great gulf spiritually between people now, depending on their relationship to Jesus Christ.

5. Since all are sinners and equally lost to begin with, Lazarus must have experienced God’s salvation to become part of the family of God before he died.  The rich man did not.

6. The great gulf spiritually, then, can be crossed now.  It is only “fixed” after death.  Now is the time of opportunity.  Once in hell or in heaven, there will be no change in estate for all eternity.

7. Death comes to the saved and unsaved.  What matters is what comes after.

We today have no excuse.  God has warned us of the danger facing us all by way of these two examples.  He has also made a provision for us so we can be ready to die with confidence as to where we are going like Lazarus.

The way of salvation is simple.  God’s Son has paid the price for our sins by His death on the cross.  Those who turn from sin and receive the resurrected Lord and Saviour are made His children and promised a home in heaven.

Categories
Bible Facts Heaven

Heaven

From the “Bible Facts” Newspaper Column, By Ian Kurylyk, March 2013

"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 12:43).

The word Gospel means good news.  One of the things that makes the news good is the promise of God that those who believe in His Son can look forward to paradise in the next world.  We could roughly group the Bible’s teachings about heaven into three areas.

First, we learn that heaven is difficult for us to conceive of who are used to this present world under the curse of sin.  “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (I Corinthians 2:9).

Even the Apostle Paul confessed in I Corinthians 13:12 that we see through a glass darkly.  And Abraham and the Patriarchs, who had set their eyes upon heaven throughout their earthly pilgrimage, did not have a close-up vision of what awaited them.  “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

Second, we learn certain facts are discernible enough for anyone to realize the desirability of that destination.  “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).  “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Third, there are some insights into heaven that can only be experienced by those who have received Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour.  The Holy Spirit of God is called the “earnest” (which means down payment) of our inheritance in Christ.  Through Him the Christian gets foretastes of Heaven and its deepest blessings in his present spiritual life.  “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).