Pastor
Cornelius R. Stam
We have all heard the statement: “Misery loves company.” It is
true that when one is sick or in trouble he does not feel quite so sorry for
himself when he realizes that others are as unfortunate, and perhaps more so,
than he.
However, some have used this phrase: “Misery loves company,” in
speaking lightly of hell. Perhaps you have heard someone say: “Well, if I go to
hell, at least I’ll have lots of company.” This is true, but the company the
lost will have when cast out of God’s presence will hardly afford them comfort.
The Bible story of the rich man and Lazarus brings this fact out
with great force. The rich man, you will remember, “fared sumptuously every
day,” while Lazarus “was laid at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed
with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.”
In the process of time both died, and the rich man, having felt no
need of salvation, suddenly was made to experience God’s wrath upon sin, for
the sacred record says: “In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke
16:23). From his place of torment the rich man saw Lazarus with Abraham “afar
off,” but this surely afforded little comfort, while we do read that “Lazarus
was comforted.” The rich man, then, still with haughty superiority, asked
Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his five brothers, “lest they
come into this place of torment.” He did not wish his brothers to join him in
hell. “Misery” among those cast out of God’s presence, then, does not “love
company.”
The story is brought to a close as Abraham refuses the rich man’s
request, explaining that if his brothers would not hear the Word of God
“neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
The way to avoid the lot of the rich man, then, is to believe the
Word of God, particularly that part of the Word which tells how Christ died for
our sins that we might be justified by grace through faith. Don’t be deceived
by the old adage: “Misery loves company.” Receive Christ as your Savior today.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Les - Paul, Our Apostle (Click Here)
King James Bible
The Preserved and Living Word of God
(A 10 Mnute Video)
E-mail this BIBLE
UDY to all your friends
No comments:
Post a Comment