Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

Friday, September 28, 2007

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A moment ago, you were sailing along the Interstate. Now, as you inch along with hundreds of other cars, there's bumper-to-bumper traffic as far as the eye can see. You didn't have any plans, did you? I hope not. Maybe you should have paid attention to those semis getting off a couple of exits ago. Did they know something you didn't know? Oooo, quite possibly. See, they've got those CB radios, and they know how to use them. They radio ahead to drivers that are either farther down the road or coming from the other direction—folks who can tell you what you're headed for. Then you know where you should be going.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Inside Information on What's Ahead."

You know, it's good to have inside information of what's ahead, especially if it's inside information on what's ahead forever! If we only had some solid intelligence on what's on the other side of the day we die, we'd know what road to take and what road to avoid. Thankfully, God hasn’t left us in the dark about what's ahead.

In fact, Jesus Christ gave us a dramatic, sobering report from someone who ended up on the wrong road, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. It's a story about a beggar named Lazarus, who actually goes to heaven when he dies and a rich man who ends up in hell. Jesus never used a person's name in His parables, so we have reason to believe this is a true story. By the way, when someone says, "You mean you believe in hell?" All I can say is, "Well, Jesus did, and He knows a lot more about what's out there than you or I do." In fact, Jesus talks about hell more than He talked about heaven. Maybe because He knew we wouldn't want to believe it, and because He came to give His life so that we don't ever have to go there.

In this amazing eyewitness account from the other side in Luke 16, beginning with verse 23, the Bible says, "In hell, where the rich man was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'" Abraham answers from heaven: "Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us." Finally, the man in hell asks if Lazarus could be sent to tell his brothers what's ahead. And He says, "Warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment."

I guess we could all just try to guess about hell, or we can listen to Jesus and the one man who reported back from there. It's a destination that's final, where there's no company as if each person is alone there, no second chance, no relief. But God never meant for any of us to go there. Hell was prepared for Satan and his demons, but hell is the eternal death penalty for you and me defying God and running our own lives. He had every right to just leave us condemned. But instead, because of His awesome love for you, He sent His one and only Son to take that death penalty for you when He died on the cross. Jesus experienced your hell so you don't ever have to.

God will not send you to hell. The only way you'll end up there is if you send yourself by refusing to put your total trust in Jesus, the rescuer who died for you, or because you decided to trust in your own goodness or your religion to save you. It just doesn’t make any sense to delay even a day making things right with God. One day will be your last day, and it will be too late then. Please, tell Jesus, "I'm putting all my trust in You, Lord, and Your death in my place. I am Yours." When you do that, the Bible says, you "cross over from death to life" (John 5:24). If that’s what you want, I’d love to send you my booklet about beginning your relationship with Christ called Yours For Life. You can just call us for it at 877-741-1200. Or maybe better yet, go to our website. You’ll find that information there at yoursforlife.net.

If every living soul knew what every departing soul discovers, I believe they would run to Jesus. Don't risk another day without Him.