For the
Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10
I have a friend whose father died and never had a
relationship with God. As a matter of fact, my friend wasn't a believer at that
time, either. But my friend told me how he went to visit his father in his
hospital room and noticed that one day, not long before he passed, there was a
copy of the Bible there in his father's room. It was apparent that his father
had requested it, knowing the end was near.
So I told my friend, "Look, if your father was really seeking God, then God would have more than met him halfway, because God wants us to know Him more than we could ever imagine."
When a loved one who has not made a profession of faith in Christ passes away, don't necessarily assume that he or she is not in heaven, because you never know what prayers go through the heart of a man or a woman when they are entering into eternity. Even if someone cried out to the Lord in the last final seconds of life, you can be certain that God would save them.
Jesus extended mercy to the criminal who was being crucified next to Him on the cross. Those who were crucified at that time typically were murderers or insurrectionists or had rebelled against Rome. Yet God forgave such a person in the last moments of his life, simply because he had said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). And Jesus replied in vs 43 “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
I am not trying to give false hope, but neither do I want to give false condemnation. Let's leave it in the hands of God and remember that God loves us, and God loves everyone. And we need to care about them and love them as well.
So I told my friend, "Look, if your father was really seeking God, then God would have more than met him halfway, because God wants us to know Him more than we could ever imagine."
When a loved one who has not made a profession of faith in Christ passes away, don't necessarily assume that he or she is not in heaven, because you never know what prayers go through the heart of a man or a woman when they are entering into eternity. Even if someone cried out to the Lord in the last final seconds of life, you can be certain that God would save them.
Jesus extended mercy to the criminal who was being crucified next to Him on the cross. Those who were crucified at that time typically were murderers or insurrectionists or had rebelled against Rome. Yet God forgave such a person in the last moments of his life, simply because he had said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). And Jesus replied in vs 43 “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
I am not trying to give false hope, but neither do I want to give false condemnation. Let's leave it in the hands of God and remember that God loves us, and God loves everyone. And we need to care about them and love them as well.
