November 28th, 2021
Call on the Name of Jesus and You Will Be Saved
If you are reading this, know that I have no intention of abandoning you.
I recently lost loved ones in a car accident. We had gone to trivia together as we had nearly every Tuesday night for a couple of years. We said good-bye, not knowing that it would be our last. Their car was struck by a drunk driver taking a left out of the parking lot and they were killed. I was stuck in the traffic caused by the accident, but I didn’t know it was them. The emergency response was already on the scene, and I didn’t get out of the vehicle. Only God knows what their status was with Him. Less than ten minutes after that final good-bye, they were gone.
I can appreciate why the selling of indulgences for lost loved ones was profitable (and this makes me feel the evil of it at a visceral level). This is the worst kind of grief.
Jesus Christ is building his church and the gates of hell will not stand against it. I am going to ram at those gates even harder and unless the risen Lord Jesus Christ himself tells me to, I won’t stop until every last soul is plundered and redeemed, even Judas himself.
It’s personal; and I’m stubborn. I want Satan to lose EVERYTHING.
But this is all speculation. None of us truly knows what it will be like after death. I’d like to hope that every last soul will eventually be plundered and redeemed, but the revealed word of God isn’t clear about it. We only have a couple of pieces of the puzzle. Jesus might tell his saints to stand down and that the judgment is final. You aren’t guaranteed tomorrow or even ten minutes from now. Your life is a vapor. Vanity of vanities.
I can tell you what I can guarantee though:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9 (ESV)
This is surer than the sunrise. Turn to Jesus and you will be saved.
I think John Chrysostom experienced this type of grief and the hope of his Easter sermon is my hope:
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
The Easter sermon of John Chrysostom (circa 400 AD, excerpted)
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
“You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!
My hope and prayer is that you will turn to Jesus now if you don’t already know him. Don’t presume upon some hypothetical opportunity to turn to him in the future; you might not get another chance.
