Doesn't Everyone Go To Heaven?

I mentioned last Sunday that the world tries to convince people that there is more than one way to get to heaven. God showed us in Scripture that His Son Jesus told us very plainly that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one gets to the father unless they go through Jesus.

But still our world today will try to convince people that ultimately everyone goes to heaven. God makes it very clear that is not the truth. We sing the song, “When We All Get to Heaven” what a wonderful day that will be. We need to know that that song is referring to those that know Christ in a personal way. When all of us Christians get to heaven, what a wonderful day that will be.

When I was growing up, as it was with most of you, when teams were competing in sports, it was expected that one team would win and the other team would lose. Today, many kids’ sports are played with no winners or losers. No matter what, everyone gets a participation trophy, and no one gets cut from the team. That may be the easiest route, but it's not necessarily the best. There are winners and losers in the game, and not everybody will make the cut.

In much the same way, society seems to have become convinced that no matter how a person lives, they will be given a golden ticket that allows them to go to heaven automatically. This belief does not line up with what the Bible teaches. In this case, the easy path is most definitely not the best.

Let's begin with prayer and allow God to show us the truth. Prayer.

Most Christians are familiar with the teachings that Jesus taught in His sermon on the mount. In Matthew 7, Jesus spoke of a choice people must make. Every one of us must make one of these two choices. We must go through a gate that is small, and down a road that is narrow, which is the more difficult way. OR, the other way is to go through a gate that is wide, and down a road that is broad, which is the easier way.

Matthew 7:13 – 14 – “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.”

So Jesus compares the way to heaven, or eternal life with God, to an entrance through a gate. He must have used this illustration of gates because people in those days would have entered the ancient cities through gates. Some of those gates were wide and many people entered through them. But there were also private gates that were smaller and allowed for fewer people.

When Jesus speaks of the narrow gate, He is using it to symbolize the exclusive nature of Christ's kingdom. Entrance through this gate requires the disciple to do the will of the Father. We will get to that in a moment. The difficult road is talking about the hardship and persecution that we as disciples will face in life. Jewish literature often uses the symbol of the road to represent a moral path, and because the law was at times portrayed as a narrow road that a person should not deviate from, the narrow road that Jesus mentions probably represents how we should live morally.

Jesus also uses the symbol of the wide gate which is speaking of the fact that hell has an unrestricted entrance and that many will enter through that gate. The broad road allows travelers to pretty much do what they want to do when it comes to their worldly desires. The wide gate is the one through which many will go because it's easy. And in doing so, they reject the teaching of Jesus. The broad gate may be the most popular, it may be the easiest, but it's not the road anyone should choose. Far too many people want to take the easy road in life. They do pretty much what and when they want to do.

Jesus told us that the narrow road is the road we want to choose. Yes, it's more difficult, and not many people will choose it, but it's the right road. It's the only road that leads to heaven. So, to get to heaven, you have to search out the narrow gate and be willing to give up your worldly ways to follow Jesus and accept the salvation He offers in exchange. As I said before, every one of us has a choice to make.

Matthew 7:15 – 16 – “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. 16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?”