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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for March 9, 2010
“A Message From Beyond the Grave”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
How would you like to receive a message from beyond the grave?
My grandma died a few years ago. My cousin was a real sinner at the time, and that night he walked out of a bar and guess who was standing by his pickup.
Grandma.
She had returned from the dead with a message for him. Get right with God.
Yes, this story is pure malarkey, but stay with me.
You’d think that would turn my cousin’s life around. You’d think Grandma appearing from the dead would have done the trick, but it didn’t. Oh, it shook him up alright, but you know what? He ended up right back on the same path.
Now that whole thing about Grandma is pure fiction, but it’s similar to a story in the Bible.
In Luke 16 Jesus shared the story of the rich man and Lazarus. He said the rich man died and went to hell, where he was in torment. The rich man said he was in agony in the flames. He was being tormented in the fires of hell.
He was a rich man on earth, living a life of luxury; but in hell he was reduced to a beggar – begging for just a simple drop of water to be placed on his tongue. Even a drop of water would have provided relief – that’s how bad his situation was in hell.
Other interesting points about his situation - he was not destroyed, but continued to suffer in the flames. He understood his situation, but apparently couldn’t do anything about it. He was trapped, a captive in hell.
Then he looked up and, far away he saw Father Abraham and Lazarus.
The rich man was familiar with Lazarus because Lazarus had been a beggar who was laid at the rich man’s gate. When Lazarus died, Jesus said he was carried away by angels.
So anyway, the rich man looks up from his place of torment in hell. He sees Lazarus and Abraham, far away, and he begs Abraham to send Lazarus with even a drop of water for his tongue.
Abraham said there was a great chasm between them, and no one could cross over.
Now listen to what the rich man said to Abraham, “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”
That sounds like a beautiful request, doesn’t it? The rich man, burning in hell, thinking of his brothers who are still alive. He wanted Lazarus to go warn them.
Can you imagine what that would have looked like? Maybe he would have appeared to each of the five, one by one, in their bedrooms, or as they walked home from a night of carousing. Lazarus would have arrived and said, “Recognize me? I am Lazarus. I was the beggar you saw at your brother’s gate.”
He probably would have had to convince them that he was indeed the beggar, back from the dead.
And then he delivers the message from their brother. “This is your warning. There is life after death. Your brother is being tormented right now in the fires of hell, and you are bound for hell yourself. This is your warning. I have returned from the afterlife to warn you at your brother’s request, so consider yourself warned.”
And then he leaves. He rejoins Abraham in the afterlife.
So what happens to the brothers? Do they repent? Do they get right with God and turn from their wicked ways?
Abraham didn’t think so. Listen to what he said. “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
So even though the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers, Abraham refused.
So was Abraham denying all hope for the rich man’s brothers?
No. The brothers still had great hope, if they chose to pay attention to it.
And what was that great hope?
The Scriptures.
Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.”
He basically said that if they won’t listen to the Scriptures, then a dead man coming back to life won’t convince them anyway.
So what about you? Wouldn’t you love to have a sign from God? Wouldn’t you love to receive a supernatural message, to receive a messenger from beyond?
Yes, it could happen, but Father Abraham made a strong point in this story, and it boils down to this.
You don’t need a message from beyond the grave. You don’t need your dead grandmother to show up and tell you what’s on the other side.
You have the Scriptures.
And that is enough.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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