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● Ps 146:3-4 . . Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in
whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish.
Some people, Christians no less, honestly believe the passage above teaches
that people cease to exist when they pass away; but were their belief true,
then Christ would've ceased to exist when he passed away on the cross and
in order to restore the Lord's body back to life, it would've been necessary to
create him back to existence. No; I'm pretty sure it's saying something very
different.
Consider all those people who perished in the World Trade Center, in the
Japan and Indonesia tsunamis, in the Haiti earthquake, and the people
gunned down during an outdoor concert in Las Vegas not too long ago. None
of them woke that day planning on it being their last on earth. No, on the
contrary; they had people to see, places to go, and things to do: but in very
short order; whatever was on their minds lost its importance-- their
priorities went right out the window and became no more significant than
green cheese on the moon.
All their plans, their dreams, their schedules, their appointments, their
schemes, their problems, their aspirations, and their loves went right down
the tubes as they were suddenly confronted with a whole new reality to cope
with.
Sudden death can happen to anybody in the form of a stray bullet from a
drive-by, a force of nature, gas explosion, choking on a piece of meat,
electrocution, a drunk driver, a fall in the bath tub; bricks dropped from an
overpass, or any number of out-of-the-blue surprises like the big truck that
mowed down a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in France July 14,
2016
People need to start thinking about the afterlife now, while they have the
chance; rather then risk being caught off guard by sudden death where
there will be no time to think; and they find themselves suddenly thrust into
the afterlife a lot sooner than they ever expected when a car accident, train
wreck, plane crash, crime, heart attack, or stroke puts an abrupt end to
every plan they ever made.
"The rich man said: I beg you, father, that you send Lazarus to my father's
house-- for I have five brothers --that he may warn them, lest they also
come to this place of torment." (Luke 16:27-28)
I suspect very strongly that the rich man was only too aware that his
brothers were rational, intelligent men who saw no sensible reason to
believe in an afterlife; after all, even Solomon said so. (Ecc 9:5, Ecc 9:10)
But Abraham didn't recommend Solomon, rather, he recommended much
higher authorities.
"But Abraham said: They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear
them." (Luke 16:29)
The Bible says that Abraham himself was a prophet (Gen 20:7). Had the rich
man believed the book of Genesis he would've accepted Abraham's counsel
instead of rejecting it.
What do you suppose ever happened to the five brothers? Well; we know for
sure that they believed neither Moses nor the Prophets; so I think we are
safe to assume the worst: their fate was the same as the brother who went
before them.
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