An Unsettling Question

 I had just finished preaching my heart out. I was near the front pew taking the microphone off when a young girl approached me. She told me her name and then told me she was already saved. She asked a question I did not expect. "What happens to people who are not saved when they die?" She really did not know. 

I found out later from a teacher at the local school that many people in her blended family are not saved. Not only that, but they had also never heard the resurrection story. They did not know who Jesus was. This little girl was the only one from this blended family who attended church and professed a saving relationship with Jesus. She really had no idea what happened to lost people when they died. 

I characterized hell and what awaits people who are not saved. Her eyes widened in surprise. She asked me again, "That is really what happens to people who are not saved?" I affirmed it indeed was the truth and prayed with her to be a bold witness. 

She has step siblings who have never heard of Jesus. They had no idea about Jesus, the crucifixion, or the resurrection. That is in the state of Texas. In the Bible belt. With several churches in the area. We have much work left to do before Jesus comes. 

I still believe in a place called hell. The Bible describes it as a place of utter darkness, a bottomless pit, a burning lake of fire, and a place of eternal torment. Heaven is contrasted as a place where the glory of God is light, the streets are paved with gold, there is a crystal sea, where worship around the throne of God takes place. It is a place where tears will be wiped away, there will be no more death, and no more pain. 

People just do not know the truth these days. As hard as it is to believe, some are biblically ignorant, for they have not heard Bible truth. We still have much work to do.

Matthew 9:36-38 (NASB)

³⁶  Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
³⁷  Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

³⁸  "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."never heard. We have work to do. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.