Many people believe the
witness of family and friends that have gone before them. They continue in the
traditions of religion without questioning whether they be true or not. When
these people are confronted with the truth of the gospel, they begin to see not
only how this affects them but also the ramifications it has on those gone
before them. They reason, “if this is true, then many of my religious and moral
family members and friends are in hell.” Without a doubt this is a sad but true
fact. But what would those same individuals have to say to the living if they
could now speak to them from the place of torment? In Luke 16 we have the record
of the message that one man there would have sent to his family. It is the words
that the rich man spoke to Abraham concerning his brothers still living on
earth: “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him
(Lazarus) to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify
unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” Did he now want his
brothers to continue in his error? No! Their following him to this torment would
only add to his torment! What he wanted then was for a messenger to be sent to
them, warning them not to come! He wanted a messenger to tell them the truth.
Abraham responded to him by saying, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them
hear them.” He thought a messenger from the dead would convince them to repent.
The truth is that they were just as spiritually blind and unbelieving as he was.
Abraham replied, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” In other words, the only way any are
kept from hell is through hearing and believing the truth. What did Moses and
the prophets speak of? Christ said, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have
believed me: for he wrote of me.” In his sermon on the day of Pentecost Peter
said, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every
soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the
people.” Christ alone is the witness come back from death, hell and the grave.
If we will not hear Him, eternal torment is our sure end. What does He say, “No
man comes to the Father but by me…” Only by His death for our sin, His
righteousness imputed to us and the Holy Spirit bringing us to believe on Him
are we saved from the wrath of God. A witness from hell would say “Repent,
believe God’s gospel, trust Christ the truth alone, forsake your tradition of
error and do not follow me to this place of torment!”