The following is not a story but an illustration by Christ of a real person in a real place the Rich Man… is still there today, 2,000 years later. There are two things that would hurt me deeply as a person. One is to be purposely ignored and the other is to be forgotten. I have said before that I currently am the repository of all the memories of my mother and father.

When I die and go to be with the Lord, there will be no one left to remember him or her. If they knew Christ as their Savior and Lord (which they do not), then there would be a reunion in heaven between us. But I do not have that to look forward to and neither do they. When I go to be with the Lord He promises to wipe away every tear from my eyes regarding this journey of life here on this veil of tears we call earth.

He will somehow give me peace and I believe forgetfulness of all those whom I loved and cherished while here, but will never see again.

So in a true sense I will have forgotten them, never to be remembered again. Unlike them (my parents) who will be in another place, not together, but alone with all their memories of the life they lived.

Memories that will be remembered by each of them and reviewed forever.

Who do you know and love more than your own life that does not know Jesus Christ as Savior? Look around you at. …Your wife, your husband, your brother, your sister, your child (son or daughter), your grandchildren, your relatives, your best friends…the list can go on and on for most of us. By keeping your mouth closed about your faith do you understand that you are helping them condemn themselves?

That’s not what God wants and that should not be what you want. If you claim faith in Christ and His written words then you cannot argue that the following account is both literal and real.

Luke 16: 19 – 31

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus  at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, 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.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'”

Note that the Rich Man is very much aware of his surroundings. He remembers his five brothers and wants to warn them, so they do not end up where he is.
Someone DID RISE from the DEAD .  HIS NAME IS JESUS.