One Heartbeat Away

Copyright © 2010 by Gary Covington.

Cover design by A. Shull Design

Library of Congress Control Number:                          2010903253

ISBN:                    Hardcover                              978-1-4500-6008-0

                              Softcover                                978-1-4500-6007-3

                              Ebook                                    978-1-4500-6009-7

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Bible references in the main text are from the New American Standard Version.

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART 1

CHAPTER 1—A Probability of One

CHAPTER 2—Death & Judgment

CHAPTER 3—The Fear of God

CHAPTER 4—The Fires of Hell

CHAPTER 5—Is Hell Eternal?

CHAPTER 6—How Can a Loving God Send Men to Hell?

CHAPTER 7—The Cure

CHAPTER 8—The Celestial City

PART 2

CHAPTER 9—Why Should I Believe This?

CHAPTER 10—Old Testament Consistency

CHAPTER 11—New Testament Consistency

CHAPTER 12—Our Remarkable Bible

APPENDIX A—Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

APPENDIX B—What Do You Think?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Acknowledgements

I want to give special thanks to my wife Chris, for her love, patience, support and encouragement. To Mark Schwinge and Chuck Van Soye: Thank you for your expertise, time and labor editing this manuscript. Also, thanks to Mark Schwinge and Nedra Thomas for your persistent encouragement to press on to the completion of this project. Alice Shull’s cover design has insightfully captured the sense of this work. Thank you, Alice. Finally, I want to thank all of the participants in the survey presented in Appendix B. Your answers gave me a touch-point with the mood of our day.

Introduction

On the evening of September 10, 2001, I was attending a Gideon camp meeting. The Gideons are best known for placing Bibles in hotels, motels and many other places. However, their mission is even broader, with the objective of spreading the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. A large part of each meeting is devoted to assessing the progress of that ministry in terms of goals that have been set. Another part involves a program in which relevant material is presented. This particular evening a speaker showed a film in which the narrator told a story.

The story involved a minister who was entering an elevator. From his garb a young boy in the elevator could tell that he was a minister. Are you a minister? he said. Why, yes I am the minister replied. The boy then said, Do you mind if I ask you a question? To this the minister replied, No, not at all. What would you like to know? The boy looked up at the minister and asked, How far away is Heaven? After taking a few seconds to reflect on the question the minister responded, Heaven is one heartbeat away. The narrator of the film made the point that both Heaven and Hell are, one heartbeat away. That point was to remind us who are bound for the former destination of the urgency of sharing the Good News with those in this world heading for the latter.

The next morning at my workplace I listened incredulously to the reports of the terrorist activities of 9/11. With shock and disbelief I processed this information. As I watched the planes crash into the Twin Towers and the flames and explosions and the workers falling to their deaths, I was struck with a sickening reality that this horrendous, surrealistic scenario was real. From the crew and passengers on the planes to the office workers in the towers to the rescue workers who risked, and sometimes gave, their lives, the fragile line that divides life from death, for many that day, was crossed in an instant. Once the Rubicon was passed there was no turning back. As the days went by following the events of that day we all, as residents of this secure land we live in, came to a new appreciation of how fleeting, fragile and transient is our life on this earth. In the midst of it all, the words of the parable from the night before weighed on my mind. To paraphrase, "Eternity is one heartbeat away."

As tragic as these events were, the real tragedy is that many of those who perished crossed over into a Godless eternity. For a short period of time following 9/11 people seriously reflected on priorities and values. Church attendance grew, only to quickly recede to previous levels. Once the urgency was past, things returned to normal. This book was initially envisioned as a reminder, to myself and those who know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that there are serious consequences for those who ignore His message. It was, and is, the hope that this reminder would encourage us to be diligent in holding out the message of salvation from that fate; that some could be plucked from the flames of Hell before that last fatal heartbeat occurs.

As this is written, the twenty-first century church appears to have forgotten the basic nature of the Gospel it has been commissioned to promote. In our salvation message we hold forth promises of happiness, fulfillment, inner peace, security, and even prosperity and self-actualization in some cases. Certainly there are collateral results that occur in a life given to belief in Jesus Christ as Savior. The benefits of such commitment are not only to the individual, but also to the family unit, the community and society in general.

It has been said that a life lived by a non-Christian that follows biblical precepts will be more fulfilling than one lived by a Christian who fails to follow them. It is also arguably the case that a departure from biblical ethical and moral standards has been a significant contributor to the decline of our culture. God’s intentions surely include success in these collateral areas, as individuals and as a society. This is evident in much of God’s Word to us. But this is not the message of the Gospel.

The message of the Gospel, the Good News, is that Jesus came, . . . to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10). He did not give His life to save us from emotional discomfort, from financial difficulties, from an unfulfilled career, from sickness or disease, from physical or mental pain or suffering or hardships, from relational problems, from lack of self-actualization or from any number of life’s other challenges. He gave His life to pay the price that must be paid for our rebellion against the God who created us. The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ rests in eternity and in our eternal destiny. It is the departure from this emphasis that has characterized our age. It is the departure from this emphasis that has clouded our thinking with regard to the goals and mission of the individual Christian and the church in general.

The emphasis here on the judgment side of God’s dealings with men is in accord with our above-mentioned observations. A result of our culture’s temporal emphasis is that the judgment side of God’s dealings is the side that we seem to have ignored. We have concentrated on the fact that God is Love; and this is indeed a fact. One of the most well-known verses in the Bible tells us that, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16). Yet, without understanding the egregious nature of sin and the consequences that accrue from this rebellion against God, men cannot truly appreciate the true nature of the love and salvation of God for men. And, things being what they are, it is often the avoidance of pain and suffering that motivates us more than does the anticipation of the good.

As this book developed, it struck me that I really didn’t know what most people think about the subject. So, I drew up a questionnaire to get a handle on this. This is presented in Appendix B, What Do You Think? In the course of administering the questionnaire I have met and talked with numerous people with varying views on the subject. It occurred to me that they too could benefit from the information found here.

So, whether you are currently a child of God in Jesus Christ, or do not live in that relationship, I hope you will read this book with an open mind. I hope you consider the validity of the claims made here. And I hope you will honestly consider the implications for your own priorities. If you are a Christian concerned with the eternal fate of those you know, please prayerfully reflect on the implications of these biblical truths. If you do not believe in God, or are somewhere in between, please read this book honestly. Do not summarily dismiss the claims. Realize that the decision you make with regard to them could be the most important decision of your life.

Part 1

Chapter 1

A Probability of One

In the depths of the Indian Ocean the earth moved. The subluxation, or shifting, of tectonic plates created an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the 10 point Richter scale. An enormous wave immediately began to radiate outward through the surrounding ocean at a speed of approximately 500 miles per hour. Within hours over 150,000 lives were taken by the ensuing tsunami as it washed ashore in Indonesia, India and other countries rimming the Indian Ocean. One minute people were lining the beaches in Southeast Asian resort areas, or going about their business in their homes, shops, the streets of town or wherever they were. One minute everything seemed business as usual. The next minute men, women and children by the thousands were running for their lives in a futile attempt to escape the raging surf as it rushed ashore, destroying everything in its path.

In response to an emergency 911 call, Reggie White, a noted retired defensive end for the Green Bay Packers and for the Philadelphia Eagles, was rushed to the hospital, and shortly passed away at the age of 43. His death came as a complete surprise to many.

What started as a normal Saturday in the region in and around Muzaffarrabad, Pakistan precipitously changed complexion. The earth began to tremble and shake as the area was struck by an earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale. Houses collapsed around and on top of people. High-rise buildings crumbled in heaps. Within minutes total devastation ensued. Cities were in rubble, and tens of thousands of the residents were casualties of this great shaking of the earth.

The common denominator for the people victimized in all of these disasters was that they succumbed to the ultimate fate of all of us. They died. Their passings were notable because of the circumstances or because of their stature. For most of us our passings will not be known beyond a few family and friends. There will be no headlines, no radio or television news flashes. We will simply leave this life, largely unnoticed. Whether we are young or old or rich or poor or unknown or famous, powerful or weak, we will all breathe our final breath. Our heart will beat its last and we will depart from the land of the living. Our brief stay on this planet will be ended. After a short span of a few score years, for those who are blessed to live that long, or a much shorter period for those not so blessed, life will cease. For some it may come suddenly and unexpectedly. For others it may be a lingering battle with disease or injury to which they ultimately succumb. For most of us it is a certainty we choose to ignore. It is an eventuality we really don’t see happening to us personally.

John had just begun his freshman year at a major university. His midterm exams seemed a long way off and his final exams and requisite papers were due in what seemed like the distant future. John began to sample and enjoy collegiate life. He enjoyed the cultural events and the sporting events, not to mention the dances and the parties. Then there were always the weekend excursions with his friends. There were always so many exciting things happening today, so many choices to be made, so many things to grab his attention. Of course John attended his classes. He took notes and even did a little reading. He had plenty of time to buckle down before mid term exams arrived and even more time before he sat for final exams and had to turn in his term papers.

Day after day slipped by, then week after week, then month after month. John just skinned by his mid term exams. But this gave him a greater lack of concern, an emboldened complacency. He devoted even less of his focus on his final course requirements. He knew that they were coming but somehow was unable to grasp the gravity of these events. There would be plenty of time in the days ahead to prepare and to obsess about the work that was due. While he certainly would never admit to ignoring studies and class work, his activities and investments suggested that he was doing just that. As you might guess John miserably failed his freshman year. He was dropped from the program and had to leave the university. Now for John there are secondary routes he can take to achieve his education. Some of them, if pursued diligently, may even lead to his re-enrollment in the university.

For many, death looms like the exams and papers did for John. Life offers so many diversions, so many possibilities, so many opportunities. Death will certainly come, but in the distant future, we suppose. Certainly death is something we will think about when we are old, whenever that is. Certainly it is inevitable. But since there is little I can do about, it I won’t spend much time worrying about it. Besides, it is a morbid subject, a real downer.

Since the attack by Al Qaida on the World Trade Center, the awareness of Americans concerning our vulnerability has heightened. In Iraq we have seen atrocities carried out against Americans and others rebuilding that country. We have seen grisly beheadings and executions of infidels. Viewing these horrible scenes touches close to home, and we’re forced to come to grips with the ugliness of our fellow man. The realities of lives snuffed out before their time have plagued our consciousness in many