This is a very difficult subject to discuss, for in a way it involves at least one person each of us knows personally, for not all of those that we are acquainted with have been saved by grace through faith. Please be assured that it is not my intent to offend anyone with this particular subject matter, one of the main purposes of these letters to you has always been to encourage and convict, and only the Holy Spirit of God can convict. To even contemplate this subject over the years has never been easy, but it is one that I feel led to broach, and it is a very sad subject indeed.
There are people, perhaps millions and millions of living souls that are going to die in their sins, there is no denying the Word of God in this area. These individuals, these poor lost human beings, will open their eyes moments after they leave their mortal shells, and will know despair, they will begin to realize the truth of hopelessness, they will be in Hell. All of these individuals will remain in this place for approximately one-thousand years, (Rev. 20:2) and when the millennial period described in the Scriptures comes to an end, (Rev. 20:5) these are they whose names were not found written in the Lambs Book of Life and they will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer eternal punishment. (Rev. 20:15) These are the facts, my friends, these are the truths of the Word of God.
One of God’s attributes is love, and His perfect love is balanced perfectly with His perfect justice, a life of unrighteousness is a life of sin and rebellion against a Holy God, this demands justice, and the justice, the punishment for an unrepentant sinner, is eternal separation from the Lord our God. “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,” (Eze. 33:11) Their end is destruction, (Phil. 3:19) and as much as we sorrow to know the pain of eternal fire that these will suffer, the greatest punishment one can ever imagine is knowing that God is never going to hear their prayers, that they are cut off completely for all eternity from His love and presence. If there are tears flowing down your face as you read this, then you have a heart that Christ can use to reach people, but I am sorry to say, not the ones whom we are speaking of here. This is not to say anyone’s fate is sealed, for I do not know the mind of God in this matter. The best I can say is speak, speak as much as you can to all that you meet about the wonderful love that he has for everyone.
So why are they here, why are those who will never accept the precious Gift of God in our Lord Jesus Christ on this earth, what is their purpose?
One answer in the Scriptures is found in Romans 9:22-24, and although we will not be discussing what is called ‘The Doctrine of election’ here, we must search the Word of God and our own hearts to know the truth about these “vessels of wrath,” these people that are fitted for destruction. All things serve the will of God, my friends, everything and everyone created serves the will of God. We are told in the Scriptures that the angels that left their first estate (Jude 1:6) have no hope whatsoever of returning to enjoy the presence of God and the Lamb, we know for a fact that Christ died for us “While we were yet sinners” (Rom. 5:8) and all that accept Him as Lord and savior will enjoy pleasures and the love of God for all eternity. (Psalm 16:11) We can also be quite sure that the lost who die in their sins will not experience this unspeakable joy.
I have been employed by several different men over the course of my life with whom “there was no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:18) These men lived completely and totally for the things of this world, the temporal. (1st John 2:16) I mentioned to more than one of them that if they would apply only five percent of their efforts to the eternal, God could use them mightily. But as the rich man did in the account of Lazarus, they sought nothing but the pleasures of this life and gave no thought to where their souls would go when they left this world. “I’ll figure it out when I get there” was the usual reply that I received, and still do to this day.
If you think on it though, Lazarus was a rich man, that means that unless all of his money, power and position was inherited, he worked diligently to acquire what he had. Perhaps over time he had several different business ventures and employed many people, and maybe some of those that worked for him were believers, as I was while employed by the individuals I spoke of earlier. Perhaps one of the ways the Lord uses the lost is to provide for His children, the money to buy the things we need, to joyously place in the offering plate our small gifts, to give us opportunities to witness. How many times can you recall in the Scriptures the times that God used righteous men to bless the unrighteous? Perhaps this is one of the reasons they are here, for if you had a choice, would you rather get up and go to work everyday to accomplish tasks that will ultimately be destroyed, for they are temporal, or would you rather be employed in the Lords work continually, arriving each day to a place where the name of Jesus is glorified, and not used as a curse word, where all that you do is for the eternal. Until we get home, my friends, those job responsibilities do not exist, for even the most righteous man alive must attend to the temporal things of this life in some manner.
For quite some time I struggled with Luke 16:9 because I could not understand, and I admit that I still do not to a degree, with why our Lord would tell us to be friends, as it were, or at least on civil speaking terms, with unrighteous men, men with ‘disposable incomes’, notwithstanding of course our responsibility to witness to them. I have tried to think of it in terms of a bank or other lending institution, but the Scriptures are quite clear that “the borrower is slave to the lender,” (Prov. 22:7) so that did not fit too well with the passage in Luke. The best that I have been able to envision is that when we have either a personal financial need, or perhaps a Christ-centered organization is desiring funds, that through our prayers and supplications to our Heavenly Father, the lost are prompted, for whatever reason, to supply that financial need. They would have worldly reasons of their own of course, the ability to write off some taxes, to speak highly of themselves to others, but it is because we had been acquainted with them that they assisted in the Lords work. Perhaps this is one of the reasons the lost are here.
I can say in all honesty that all things serve the will of God, that many, many people are going to die in their sins, and that our Lord loves His obedient servants greatly, and so in so many ways that we cannot comprehend or understand, the lost are here to serve the saved.
I know that some of you are having extreme difficulty with what is written here, and again, I beg your forgiveness for bringing up the topic, but the truth of the Word of God is like a two-edged sword, (Heb. 4:12) it can heal, but it can also hurt so badly. “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matt. 7:13) “Narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matt. 7:14) “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) Every single person that has ever been born, everyone, has had an opportunity, (Rom. 1:20) all who diligently seek for Him will find Him, (Jer. 29:13) and on every single door of every man or woman hearts that has ever been born, he has knocked.
I have had individuals who have become vehemently angry with me for words similar to what you have read here, for they say, “You can’t tell what might happen in a man’s heart right before he dies.” And they are correct, only God can. But allow me to use the analogy of the thief on the cross beside our Lord on that day when He took your sins, who in the last moments of his life believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but in the four thousand year recorded history of the Bible, he was the only one that we are told this happened to. Does this mean that it was the only occurrence of this type in the entire history of man, of course not, but the word ‘rare’ does not justify the amount of times this has happened. Rare is the word for those who are truly the children of the Most High God, for few are chosen. I cannot say who is going to be saved, and neither can you or anyone else, so here is what we have been commanded to do.
Speak to everyone you meet about our Lord, be an example continuously for His Glory. If you meet another brother or sister in Christ while doing so, rejoice! If the person is still living in rebellion and sin against God, love them, tell them of His truths, His love for them, the incredible joy that they also could experience in Christ. Pray for them.
I can’t tell you perfectly what the purpose of the lost is, for I am just a simple man, but I can inform you what one of the purpose’s of the saved is, to reach the lost, to plant the seeds that the Lord has given you, every day possible, right up until that day that you are welcomed home.
