Yesterday, Today, and Forever (15 page)

Chapter 23

“Begone, Satan!”

The best preparation for a discussion of hell is a meditation on heaven. Hell is the complete absence, and also forever and ever, of everything heaven is. Our Lord said, “I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29), and “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). This gentle Lord — after whom the multitudes were flocking because of His endless mercy and kindness — mentions hell 37 times in the Gospels. John the Evangelist says at the end of his gospel that if he were to tell all he remembers, the world could not contain all the books. That gives us the right to take what
is
written down as only a kind of “table of contents,” and multiply it to our hearts’ content. Therefore, He may have talked very much more often about this most serious subject, the place “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48) and where “men will weep and gnash their teeth” (Matt.8:12).

Hell is a mystery. It is the answer to the
mysterium iniquitatis,
whereby man, with an act of his free will in cool consideration, chooses to do without God. To this, the only logical consequence is hell. Time and again one hears people object to the fact of eternal hell as being unworthy of the kind of Heavenly Father who could not possibly torture His children in this way forever. This is merely sentimental, and only shows that these people have not yet comprehended what it means that we are created with a free will. In complete freedom, we choose hell. We are not pushed into it.

It has been said of heaven that it has not “entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9; also see Isa. 64:4). We have no idea of the wonders God has in store for us. The same thing could be said of hell. It has not entered into human hearts, what is prepared for those who hate Him. Only once did our Lord lift the veil a little bit when He told the story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:20–31). This rich man was not a criminal in our sense. He was not a murderer or a thief. He didn’t do anything especially wrong worth mentioning. But he didn’t have charity. Lazarus, at his doorstep, was starving, and he didn’t help him. He falls under the following condemnation: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…. Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me” (Matt. 25:41–45).

What a terrific warning. One can go to hell not only for what one has done, but also for what one has not done. The next thing we learn is that the rich man can look over into paradise, where Lazarus dwells in Abraham’s bosom. How amazing that the damned can perceive the blessed with the unending reproach to themselves: “There I could be now, too.” Then the rich man tried to make connections and was told, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.” When the rich man pleaded that Lazarus should be allowed to bring a message to his rich brethren, he was told, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:19–29). Right there we meet this
mysterium iniquitatis
again: One day our Lord will rise from the dead, and so many throughout the centuries will have chosen not to believe.

Hell was started before the creation of man with that group of angels who did not want to obey. In their infernal hatred and jealousy, they envy every human soul the joys of heaven, which they have voluntarily forsaken. Therefore, they are our archenemies. “Be sober, be watchful,” says Peter. “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). In ancient and medieval times, Satan and hell were realities. Everybody knew about them, talked about them, and watched against them. More and more, however, Satan and his evil spirits have succeeded in our “age of enlightenment” in vanishing into a realm of myths. What grownup, or as far as that goes, what high school student believes in a personal devil in our days? This incognito has become his strongest weapon. Behind this spiritual smoke screen he is doing untold harm, and he gets away with it unnoticed.

Our Lord himself, when He allowed Satan to tempt Him, gave us an example of how to deal with our greatest enemy and remain victorious: “Begone, Satan!” (Matt. 4:10).

Chapter 24

“No Eye Has Seen”

What began with the harmless question of a little boy, “Can Martina see us now?” became a never ending pondering of the whole family on life after death. Our initial questions were answered. Yes, Martina can see us if the rich man could see Lazarus. She does remember us and her life among us — if the rich man remembered his brothers and their way of living.

As God is omnipresent — everywhere — and the souls of the blessed are in Him, isn’t it very likely that they surround their beloved ones on earth, loving them more than ever before? That is why the funeral service of the church is so consoling and uplifting: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55; KJV).

Also we read, “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). These will be the words addressed on the last day to those who will enjoy the beatific vision from then on, forever and ever. The kingdom of Heaven! That was one of our Lord’s favorite topics, and He tried so hard to make us understand what it is like. One day, God willing, we shall find out for ourselves. Meanwhile, we have to believe Paul, who says, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

Even if we are warned that it hasn’t entered any human heart, we can always begin to try to imagine it. We shall be united with the One “whom our soul loves,” and this union will be more intense and more tender than any union between the most loving couple here on earth. Many times we have found out that we cannot love what we do not know. We shall know God as He is. Therefore, we shall love Him to an extent inconceivable to us now. We shall be at rest. We shall be happy. Oh — for the poverty of words! We shall be together with the man of Nazareth, who will recognize us as His disciples if we now patiently bear our daily cross.

“My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), we shall keep on repeating. “Rabboni! I love thee!” If in Galilee five thousand people could follow Him into the desert forgetting time and hunger because they were so fascinated by His personality, what will be in store for us when we shall see Him in His risen glory, the fairest of men, the best of friends, the most humble of all masters, He the changeless one!

We shall be united also with His mother and all His friends in a most intimate friendship. We shall be able to converse with Peter, John, Moses, and other greats of Christianity. We shall find those millions and millions of saints, each mirroring the eternal God in another way. Then there will be the myriad of angels, and our own guardian angel!

And all our friends and relatives, husbands, children, and wives will all be together — together in God! We shall remain the individuals we have been here on earth, but the possibilities which were created into us shall now find fulfillment. And nothing will any more disturb our complete oneness with God. In Him we shall know all other things. In Him we shall meet His other children. Nothing will ever draw our attention away from Him. And all this, forever and ever. “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8).

Yes, truly, as we read these Holy Scriptures we who know Jesus as our Savior should praise Him and leap for joy at the thought of such a glorious forever. John saw in his vision the glory of heaven and recorded it:

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 22:1–5).

Isn’t there something to it? Doesn’t it change our perspective? Measured on these giant truths, don’t our petty daily troubles shrink into mere insignificance? Let us never forget that we owe it all to Him who became partaker of our humanity that we might “become partakers of [His] divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4), our changeless friend, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and yes, forever.