Bridge Over Hell

BRIDGE OVER HELL

Acts 24:15; 1 Tim. 2:5-6 LNT

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Some people are in a hurry for people to leave this world.

a. A little five-year-old girl brought a plastic bucket to her grandpa and asked him to kick it. "Why do you want me to do that?" He asked?

b. "Because, mommy said, ‘When Grandpa kicks the bucket we're going to go to Disney World.’"

2. Then there are those who don't want to go anywhere.

a. Mary Scott of Ben Wheeler Texas, tells about her mother who is 93, and is always worried about the state of her finances.

b. Her son-in-law tried to ease her mind by telling her, "I've calculated that, given your expenses, you have enough money to last at least the next 16 years." (by then she’d be 109 years old).

c. "That's fine," mom replied, "but how will I manage after that?"

3. I think all of us would like to live forever; that's why Easter is so important. Easter tells us about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are profound implications to the fact of His resurrection.

B. TEXT & THESIS

1. Paul referred to this in Acts 24:15, “…and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”

2. Why does Paul refer to the Resurrection as a Hope? Because... It reveals the:

a. Doom of Man,

b. The Love of God,

c. And the Glorious Future that awaits us!

3. The title of this message is “Bridge Over Hell.”

I. IT REVEALS THE DOOM OF MAN

A. BRIDGE OUT

1. Why is the Resurrection a thing of hope? Because without it we don’t have hope. Why?

2. STORY.

a. On May 26, 2002, 2 barges were going north on the Arkansas River. One of the barges hit a pylon under a 1,988 foot bridge, 100 miles east of Oklahoma City, on Interstate 40.

b. A 600 foot span of the bridge collapsed into the water. 20,000 cars were speeding toward that bridge. At least 12 cars plunged into the river.

c. If you had been in your car heading for that bridge, how serious would you think the situation to be?

B. THE BRIDGE TO HEAVEN

1. Similarly, the whole world is on the Highway of Life. This Highway ends in eternity.

2. Mt. 7:13-14 says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 1But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

3. But the problem is, the Bridge to Heaven was knocked out by sin.

4. We think of some people as "bad" and others as "good." But the Bible tells us that "Everyone has sinned" (Romans 3:23).

5. The Bible also tells us; But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his

face from you, so that he will not hear Isa. 59:2). Because of sin, we can’t go to heaven.

6. The result is, mankind is doomed to death and eternity without God, in the lake of fire.

7. But there's Good News! Jesus Christ, by his death on the Cross, paid for all your and my sins. He builds a bridge over Hell!

8. "With three nails and two pieces of wood, Jesus made a bridge over Hell."

9. 1 Tim. 2:5 New Living Translation. "That God is on one side and all the people on the other side and Christ Jesus, Himself man, is between them to bring them together by giving his life for all mankind."

10. So Christ's resurrection is the positive side of our salvation; it gives us hope of a second chance -- for all!

II. IT REVEALS THE LOVE OF GOD

A. GOD’S PERSONAL LOVE FOR US

1. You are important to God!

2. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” Mt. 10:29-31.

3. God knows the intimate details of our lives (Ps. 139:1-4), the bad and the good, and he loves us!

4. God says, “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’” Jer. 31:3. From all eternity, before we were born, God loved us.

B. HIS DEMONSTRATION OF THIS LOVE

1. Rom. 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He loves you more than your own mother, spouse, or children.