Secrets from Beyond The Grave

"I once heard you teach about ‘ Four Seconds From Eternity,' in which you related a story of a man in a plane accident who had four seconds before the plane crashed. He survived and later told you what went through his mind before the accident. I have numerous unsaved brothers and sisters who were raised in church. This story gave me hope that the seed of God's Word planted in their spirits would not return void at the end of their lives. Even in the event of an accident they could have time to repent. Please relate this story again." Answer: Many years ago I preached each year in Deland, Florida, for a dear friend, Pastor Mike Coleman. One afternoon he was invited to fly with a friend who owned a two-seater show plane. As they took off from the runway and were several hundred feet in the air, the rudder became stuck, and the plane began to turn to one side. Mike had a headset on, and the pilot yelled, "We're going down." Mike said he had about four seconds before the plane hit the ground and everything went black. I asked him, "What went through your mind during those four seconds?" He said, "It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. It was like a computer hard drive filled with information was turned on. My mind went back to the time I was a child and called my dad a name. My thoughts recalled sermons I heard as a child. I instantly began to think about missing my daughter's graduation, the insurance I left my family, and a check on my desk in my office that I should have signed." I was amazed to hear this. Mike said, "I literally remembered things that I had long forgotten, including my many mistakes, words I had spoken, church services I had sat in--and it all hit in my mind and spirit within those four seconds!" I asked Mike a very important question that I knew many family members would have asked him had they had the opportunity. I said, "Mike, in those four seconds would you have had time to repent and ask for God's forgiveness?" He immediately replied, "There is no doubt. In fact, with all of that information flooding my mind and spirit, I was actually asking God to forgive me of anything in my life that may have been wrong!" This brought me great comfort in knowing that if a person has the seed of the Word of God planted in them and is about to pass into eternity and has only a few seconds of breath or life remaining in his or her body, that person is able to recall the loving warnings and messages and to call on the name of the Lord for forgiveness or mercy. Some would say that a person needs to say a long sinner's prayer in order to have true redemption. Well, this long prayer was not what the thief on the cross prayed. The fellow was bleeding to death and said to Christ, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Christ replied, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). The poor dying thief did not say, "Lord, I am a thief, and I have stolen from many people, and that's why I'm here. Let me confess all my sins." By the time he was finished confessing , Jesus could have passed, and he could have missed his opportunity for forgiveness. Perhaps this is why it is written, "Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" (Joel 2:32). Receiving salvation and forgiveness is not a complicated event that takes hours of travail. Christ has already provided the suffering, the travail, and the pain of purchasing our redemption. He is looking for faith in the heart of that person. I have taught my children and my closest friends the importance of keeping a repentant spirit, and I know that in the event of a sudden tragedy, they will have made their peace with