Commentary: They can't take it with them

Ralph Fudge

Every billionaire on earth will leave every single penny of his vast fortune behind the moment of his death.”

Jeff Bezos is a billionaire and has an interesting history. Reportedly, he worked at a McDonald’s at age 16. Obviously, he used his head when he started selling books online. He went on to make his company, Amazon, into an internet behemoth. His religious beliefs are not clear, though he has claimed to be a Christian who tolerates other religions. That attitude is suspect of name-only Christianity. However, I will refrain from judging him or anyone else.

But, the fact is that Bezos, Musk, Buffet, and all the other many billionaires can only enjoy their wealth for a few short years. Why? Old age comes (usually) and then physical death. Every billionaire on earth will leave every single penny of his vast fortune behind at the moment of his death. Then it will not matter that he was so wealthy on earth. Billionaires will probably have the tallest and largest monuments in the cemetery, but they will then be just as poor as the poorest beggar lying in an unmarked grave.

When billionaire hearts stop beating, their souls, like all souls, will immediately proceed to either heaven or hell. They may likely go to hell because of what Jesus said in Matthew 19:23. The Bible declares, “Then said the Lord to His disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man will hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Why did Christ make this statement, other than the fact of its being true? Well, the rich depend upon their wealth for happiness and security. Most of them seem to actually worship Mammon (wealth), but no one can worship God and anything else. My prayer is for everyone, rich or poor, to somehow see the truth and choose to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him as personal Savior. But this choice is made while one lives on earth. And the opportunity to be saved is limited to the few years one has on earth. The moment of death ends all opportunity to ever see heaven.

Oh, that men and women would only listen to the truth that God has so clearly revealed in His Word, the Holy Bible! But Satan works very hard to prevent this from ever happening by controlling the mind of man to not believe the truth, or even in God’s existence, in many cases. Satan also works hard to keep people from attending church, where they would hear the truth proclaimed in all Bible-preaching churches.

Hell is such a repulsive thought that most people choose not to believe that such a place exists. But not believing in something does not make it go away. The truth is this: Hell exists, God exists, heaven and hell are real places, and one’s time on earth is short and limited. God has put us here to prepare us for heaven. Most are refusing the preparation and will not be prepared when they die. Consequently, most will never see heaven. Instead, their poor souls will immediately proceed to hell the moment of death.

Those in hell will have all eternity to regret not listening to the truth of the Gospel. Most of them will hate the fact that they worshipped money instead of God. This is a very sad state of affairs for those who were so fabulously wealthy on earth and now must be poor, miserable, and tortured forever. They may even curse the money and materials they could not take with them.

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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.