If you are a believer who has experienced the merciful saving power and grace of Almighty God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, then your heart just naturally bleds for all lost sinners. Perhaps, like me, your heart bleds even more profusely for those young, foolish souls who leave this earth without any indication that they have ever called upon the name of Jesus. It is far worse if they perish having committed gross sins against the laws of man, or the commandments of God. That piercing of the heart is even more searing if such a foolish one happens to be particularly close to you--an acquaintance, a friend or a dear beloved one.
Shortly after moving back to my hometown the Lord permitted satan to "sift" me like wheat. I experienced a time of "walking through that valley of the shadow of death." Many of you will know what I mean by that phrase. The Lord used satan's plans against me to "refine" me. As some may know, the refining process is quite often by fire, and believe me, fire burns! I know I have mentioned this before I know, but, beloved, fire can also heal and cleanse. Yes, the Lord gave His permission for me to pass through this valley of fire, but praise God, He did not leave me there. And, yes, He was there with me--always!
It was during that two year period I came face to face with the reality of sin's consequences in a way I would have never otherwise understood. God gave me the bitter, but at the same time praiseworthy "grace gift" of a tasting of the horrors hell holds for the lost.
Shortly after this experience, a young man in our area died while trying to escape the police. He tried to hide out in a pond behind the jewelry store he and a friend or friends had attempted to rob. He was later found by the police but, unfortunately, he perished in that pond.
I did not know this young man, but I can tell you his untimely death has haunted me. He was barely 16. That may sound like a responsible age to some of you, but when I look back at my own children at that age, I can remember full well how at times they were very foolish. No, they never did anything as drastic or desperate as robbery, thank God, but yes, kids do stupid things. I did, and so did you.
This tragic event brought to mind a close friend and neighbor who perished at the age of 17-18 many long years ago. His was probably the first person I knew who died at such a young age. Then, a year later, almost to the date, the girl he was with (who had been hospitalized for months as the result of that accident that killed this young boy) was later killed in an automobile accident of the same nature (drinking and driving) almost in the exact place the first accident had taken place!
Another such tragedy was that of a lovely young woman who died of breast cancer in her late twenties or early thirties. I was told that she cursed God on her death bed. Oh, I grieved because I loved her. No, we weren't close, she was a bit older, but, yes, I loved her and I knew she and her family very well. I know her last words must have wounded them to the very core.
Did God see my grief and pain? Does God see yours? Yes, Yes, Yes!
I just have to tell you about the loving mercy of our God. A couple of days ago, I was listening to Real Family Life with Dennis Rainey (October 15, 16?). He and his guest were speaking on the brain development of a child to that of a full grown adult. His guest stated that doctors have now found that a person's brain does not reach full development until their early to mid twenties.
I can personally attest to this truth. I clearly remember hitting age 21-22 and suddenly getting it! My parents weren't complete morons! True, it was around that time that I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, but I definitely think this brain development thing had something to do with it, too!
As I pondered this new information I remembered God's commands regarding offerings and those who could enter into the Promised Land. These passages can be found in Exodus 30:11-14:
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord."
Exodus 38:22-26:"And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses. And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen. All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men."
and Numbers 14, especially verses 27-32:
"And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah."
Again, just this past Wednesday night in church our pastor spoke of a time long ago when he, by mere chance, (As if there were such a thing!) visited a Christian family who was so deeply grieved, believing their aged Christian relative was going straight to hell because on her death bed she was cursing like a sailor. Oh, God is so good, because just a few days prior to visiting this family my pastor had just finished reading an article in a Christian magazine that explained that many cancers and the resulting chemotherapies (especially those that were first used years ago) somehow effected a part of the brain that caused cursing, even if that person had never uttered a curse who before. My dear pastor went back to his room and brought that magazine and article to that grieving family. He was also able to share with them that God does not retract His free gift of salvation! Every sin--past, present and future that dear woman had ever committed or would commit until she drew her last breath had been nailed with Jesus Christ on that cross! Glory!
I rejoice that God was so precious in letting me hear these truths through very reliable sources. I rejoice, not because I know that my young friends will be in heaven or, in hell for that matter, but because I know God is good, full of compassion and mercy. I can rest and know the peace the surpasseth all understanding because I trust that He Who judges--judges justly and fairly, always taking every single detail in account!
Oh, I pray you will call on Him and trust Him with all your cares. He is so Faithful!
Jesus Christ Revealed Through the Study of God's Word!
