Passage of Scripture (KJV): Luke 16:22-23
Luke 16:22: And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luke 16:23: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
It was TOO LATE for a Soul to be SAVED!
It was December 14, 2006 (Thursday) when I visited my hometown Calamba (now a city), province of Laguna during my five-day stop over in the Philippines, on the way back to the USA from Seoul, South Korea on business trips. Early that morning, I took the public bus at Quezon City which arrived at Calamba City before eleven o’clock that same morning. At a bus stop in Barrio Real (where I was born), a young man named Manuel picked me up with his car. We then drove to his parents’ house, which is not far from my parents’ old house. As we got there, my childhood friend, who is a young Christian, was also there—he was excited to see me after many years. He lives about a block away from the house I was at. After a few handshakes with all the people in the house, I asked this young Christian how his father (whom I called Tio or Uncle Juan) was doing, as I knew he had been sick for a few years suffering from an acute lung disease. His reply was that, “he is at home, still sick, but quite okay”—as if not too big of a deal for him because his father is going to be a-okay.
I wanted to see Tio Juan real bad as I knew I had to minister to him with great sense of urgency in my heart, but it was already lunch time and the food, which the owner of the house prepared for me was already on the table warm and waiting for me to dive in. As much as I wanted to see the sick uncle right away, I had no choice but to let my fleshly appetite fall into the temptation of good-smelling aroma from the native Filipino food, which I had been craving for many years while in America. I munched like a hungry goat in the prairie and did not stop until I was bloated to my throat.
As soon as I finished munching, I slowly eased up to the front door intending to go and see my sick uncle in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, another delay came along the way: three mentally handicapped men in the Barrio heard of my coming and they came to give me a big welcome salute. Feeling like a celebrity in the house, I had no choice but to stay for a little bit longer to accept the honor of their hospitality – not to mention the fact that (like them) I was ecstatic and joyful to see all of them.
It was during that joyful and meaningful event when Tio Juan’s younger daughter walked in with sorrowful facial expression and started crying while saying that her father has just passed away a couple of minutes ago. Oh, what a timing! It was like a huge brick that smacked my chest, in spite of my happy time full of joy and laughter with old friends and families. Immediately thereafter, we ran to the house (a block away) where the dead uncle was at. As I got in to his small shanty-looking house, I was brokenhearted (deep down inside) when I saw his dead body lying down on a piece of plywood right on a dirt floor, with a dirty pillow and a dirty blanket. As I reached down on my knees on his side, I touched his chest gently and checked his pulse and every thing. Surely, he was dead. Not much I could do at that point to share to him the Gospel of Christ, and to help him confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, that he may believe in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead – for him to go to Heaven. It was too late! He died unsaved, and was already on his way to hell like the rich man in Luke 16:22-23.
How about you? If you die TODAY -- where are you going to spend your eternity – Heaven or Hell? Are you going to be like the beggar in our text (who went to Heaven), or like a rich man (who went to Hell)?
NOW is the time to CONFESS Jesus in your heart as the Bible teaches in Romans 10:9-10,13 and start having a PERSONAL relationship with HIM. Please find the page titled “Salvation 101 - Simple Prayer of Surrender” in this blogspot and recite the prayer with your mouth, and with sincerity in your heart. Otherwise, it will be TOO LATE!
If you get saved through this page, please let me know your testimony of Salvation so I can pray for you. You can email me at mhmoe@bellsouth.net.
