October 1, 2026
Visiting cemeteries is always sad to me. As I look at someone’s grave, I always have to wonder if the person interred was saved. I always hope he was, but I realize many of the deceased died without Christ as their Savior. And I think, “How very tragic!” It is tragic because each person has an immortal soul that never dies. That soul must live on forever in either heaven or hell.
And all souls that died without trusting Christ are now in hell and destined for the Lake of Fire. I have to think about how each doomed soul must remember with deep regret all the opportunities he had to be in heaven by merely trusting Christ. Perhaps he was offered the opportunity at a church invitation. Or maybe a friend tried to persuade him through witnessing for the Lord. I can well imagine that soul lamenting, “Oh, if only I had listened and believed the preacher!” But it’s now forever too late. Physical death ends all opportunity to be saved. And there is no such place as purgatory or any use of praying for the dead. It’s all over now.
It is frightful to contemplate how many people live reckless lives and reject the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves them all, and He never sends anyone to hell. They send themselves there because God is not only a loving God but also a just God. And His just nature demands that every single sin be paid for. Each person can choose to trust Christ as Savior and let Him pay the price, or he can reject Him and pay for every sin himself. But the payment is high and never ends. It is eternal torment in the Lake of Fire.
It may well be that you do not believe this. If so, your soul is the very one I am lamenting. For you, too, will one day soon have all of eternity to regret and despair and suffer punishment for all your sins. Why does this happen so often? Satan has most people deceived so as not to believe the truth. He has these people in his grip and will see them all in hell one day. Satan has our modern society believing that all this talk about the Gospel and salvation is all a lot of myth and outmoded beliefs of ignorant, narrow-minded bigots. Sadly, each unbeliever will know the truth too late and only too soon. Jesus told us the truth when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6).
So that is the reason my walks through cemeteries are always a little sad and depressing. I feel great pity for all the lost souls that could so easily have gone on to heaven and enjoy an eternity of bliss and happiness. Instead, they must forever suffer agony and torment in payment for the sins they committed while on earth. Oh, dear friends, stop believing the world! Start believing what God has told us in His Word, the Holy Bible. And, by all means, do the most important thing you can ever do: trust Christ. And do it while you still have the chance. Death ends all chance to be saved and ever see heaven. Make my walk through the cemetery a little less sad. Be saved today.
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Ralph Fudge is the pastor of Big Ochlocknee Baptist Church in Coolidge, Ga., and has a Master’s degree in theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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