No Chance In Hell

While there is life, there is hope. --Publius Terentius Afer

This morning while I was getting ready for work, my wife asked me to make her a cup of coffee.  Not fully awake, I stumbled to the kitchen and filled the reservoir with water.  I placed the pod into the  slot, and waited the 90 seconds for the coffee to brew.  At the very last second, as the Keurig machine began to sound like a steam locomotive, I realized that I had not placed a cup below the spout.

Now, it would not have made any difference how good or how bad the coffee was if there had been no cup there to catch it.  Without a receptacle in place, all I would have made would have been a mess.  Fortunately, I was able to grab a cup and place it under the spout in time for the hot java to be received and enjoyed.

Throughout the day I thought of this incident, and the Lord brought to mind the passage in Luke chapter 11 where Jesus used a cup as a metaphor for people.

When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.  But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.  You foolish ones, did not He who make the outside make the inside also? --Luke 11:38-40

I don't want to get into ceremonial cleansing versus actual washing here.  The point is that Jesus likened the Pharisee to a cup, and the place where he dwelt to a platter.  I want to expand the point a bit here, and point out that there could be an entire cupboard full of sparkling clean cups, but if they are not brought out to be used, what good are they?

If we think of the coffee as God's blessing (and my wife would certainly attest to that!), what happens when we pray, "Fill me up, Lord.  Father, fill my cup."?  I believe God prepares His blessing to be poured into us.  But what if we are not in place when the blessing is ready?  What if we have backslidden, or taken up an argument with someone, or placed ourselves on top of the Fountain of Blessing?  "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me." (Psalm 66:18).  I'm not talking here about saying magic words, like if we chant the Lord's Prayer enough times, we somehow unlock the treasure chest of heaven.  What I am saying is that God knows the heart, and He will reward those who diligently seek Him.

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10). He certainly cannot pour into us if we are not still.  We may receive only half of what He intends for us if we keep running around mindlessly, forgetting where we left Him.  For all of our good intentions, we may miss all of what He has in store for us.  But as long as we live, as long as we serve Him, we can come back to him again and again.  The good news is that if we come to ourselves, if we repent, He is willing and able to refill us, to allow His blessing to flow into us.  Chances are good that when we are again attuned to His will, He will reach out to us and bless us again.

If you have not trusted your heart to Christ, if you have not made Him Lord, you have that chance today.  There is a 100% chance that He will be your Savior if you sincerely ask Him.  If you harden your heart toward him, the chances diminish.  Tomorrow there may be another chance.  Or maybe there won't be.

You could die tomorrow.  James 4:14 says, "For what is your life? It is even a mist, that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."  I believe that Jesus is coming for His Church, sooner than we think.  If you are left behind, the chances are slim that you will change your mind about Him.  You may be caught up in the chaos, trying merely to survive when all of the mountains are laid low, and the seas turn to blood, and a third of every living thing on earth dies, and everything that lives in the sea dies.  Read the book of Revelation--it's gonna happen!  And the Book also says that those "Tribulation Saints", those who come to Christ after the Rapture of the Church, they will be martyred.  The Antichrist will try to exercise so much control that he will try to wipe out all who believe.

After death come judgment.

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus told a story about two men, one rich and one poor.

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.  Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried hi to Abraham's side.  The rich man also died and was buried.  In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, "Father Abraham, have ipty on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire."  But Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm is fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."  --Luke 16:19-26

Jesus was making the point that when you die, you cannot change your mind.  There is zero chance of changing your heart after life ends.  There is no chance to gain heaven when you reside in hell.

Friend, don't wait until it is too late.  Christian brothers and sisters, the Day of the Lord is at hand.  Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers into the field.  Be a fellow-worker with the harvesters, for Jesus said the fields are white unto harvest.  You might be the last chance for a dying soul.