MISCONCEPTION OF A “GOOD PERSON”

It is not enough to be what we term “a good person.” We must have an intimate, on-going relationship with the Lord Jesus.

   This is brought out in the testimony of another Colombian youth taken by the Lord into hell (recorded by the international ministry, Light for the Nations):

    We continued with Jesus, holding His hand even tighter. We came to a section that really made an impression on me. We saw a young man, 23 years old, suspended waist-high in the middle of a fire. We couldn’t see exactly what his torment was, but the number 666 was engraved on him. He also had a metal plate on his chest that read, “I am here for being normal.” When he saw Jesus, he extended his hand towards Jesus begging for mercy. The Word of God says in Prov. 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way of death.” When we read the plate that said, “I am here for being normal,” we asked the Lord, “Lord, how come? Is this possible that a person can come to this place for this reason?” So Jesus asked him, “Andrew, why are you here in this place?” He answered, “Jesus, when I was on earth, I thought that just killing and stealing were sins, and that is why I never tried to get close to you.” In Psalm 9:17 it says, “The wicked shall be turned into Hell, all the nations that forget God.”

   In hell, as we have seen, there are all kinds of people. There are philanthropists who think that they will change the world by good works. There was a Filipino doctor, who was kind, compassionate, and competent. He loved his profession and his patients, but was unable to believe in life after death. Then the time came for him to on his own deathbed. An uncertainty came over his soul, and he became troubled. What if his Christian friends were right, and he was totally unprepared for eternity? He sank lower and lower, and eventually slipped away, surrounded by loving friends and relatives. Then suddenly he came back, and he revived. A look of terror distorted his face and he said, “ I have been to hell and I don’t want to go.”  He then proceeded to describe some of the terrible agonies and sufferings of those in that place of doom. Loving friends led him to accept Christ as his Saviour and Friend. After a time, he was able to give them the assurance that he was truly saved, and that he had that joy and peace of Jesus in his heart. With a face enlightened by heaven’s glory, he then went to be forever with the Lord. Being a kind, compassionate, and loving doctor was not the door to heaven. It was his acceptance of Christ as his Saviour that was his assurance.

  

Another unbelieving doctor was attending to a patient who was in the throes of death. The patient kept fading in and out of consciousness. But every time he was resuscitated, his face contorted with terror and he would scream, “Get me out! I am in hell. Help me! Get me out!” The doctor could not save his life, but his patient left such a great impression upon him that he went to find friends who could lead him to accept Christ as his own personal Saviour. He remarked that no one would had witnessed the screams of his patient could be left in doubt in hell, and its horrendous torments very, very real.

  In a November 1995 interview on PBS with David Frost, Bill Gates (one of the richest men in the world) was asked if he believed in the Sermon on the Mount. “I’m not somebody who goes to church on a regular basis,” he said. “The specific elements of Christianity are not something I’m a huge believer in. There’s a lot of merit in the moral aspects of religion. I think it can have a very, very positive impact…In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I don’t know if there’s a god or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid.”

  In a cover story for the January 13, 1996 issue of Time magazine with Bill Gates:  Gates was asked if there isn’t something divine about the human soul. He replied tonelessly, “I don’t have any evidence on that…I don’t have any evidence of that.” He later added, “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”

   So the wealthiest man in the world (at the time of going to press) has no witness of eternity. This supports the words of Christ in Luke 18:24-25, “…How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eyes, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

(excerpt from Heaven's Glories and The Untold Horrors of Hell by Dr. Brian Bailey). 

ARMANDO P. MARIANO