OPEN: An extremely nervous patient came to his dentist for root canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient’s tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold. When the dentist returned, the patient was standing next to a tray of dental equipment.
“What are you doing by the surgical instruments?" asked the surprised dentist.
Focused on his task, the patient replied, "I’m taking out the ones I don’t like."
APPLY: When it comes to the teachings in the Bible, there are people who like to pick and choose the parts they can keep and the parts they can throw away.
For example, there are lots of folks who love the idea of Heaven.
A recent Gallup poll (2007) showed that 86% of Americans believe in Heaven.
And most of them thought they were going to be going there.
And why shouldn’t they believe in heaven?
Heaven’s going to be a great place to be.
The Bible describes it as a place filled with all the excitement and satisfaction of a great banquet. It will be as overwhelming as a visiting a majestic city filled with awe-inspiring structures. It’s going to be as beautiful as a royal wedding… where you and I get to be the guests of honor.
In addition, Revelation 21:3-5 tells about a new heaven and earth… and God declares:
"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
Considering the alternatives… who wouldn’t want to go to heaven?
ILLUS: A few years back USA Today surveyed the Richest People in America and asked them what they would pay the most for? You would think the #1 choice for these wealthy Americans would’ve been things like beauty, intellect, power or even love.
BUT the #1 desire for these rich people – was to have a place in heaven.
(The article said the rich would pay on the average $640,000 for the assurance of place in heaven)
Oftentimes – at funerals – people will comfort one another with words like these:
· “They’ve gone to a better place”
· “He’s gone over to the other side”
· She’s “gone home”
Statements like that reflect a hope for a future where we’ll see our loved ones after death. It’s comforting to believe in a future where we’ll live for ever, because - in our heart of hearts -everybody knows Death isn’t natural.
Our loved ones shouldn’t have died.
WE don’t want to die.
But we’re all going to.
And so there’s great comfort in Jesus words:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3 (KJV)
Heaven is one of THE great promises of Jesus because Heaven is the cure for all of our fears. In Heaven there will not be any more death, or sorrow, or tears, or pain. It will be a place of ETERNAL life and pleasure.
And Jesus promised us that this place is real… and when He comes back, that’s where He’s taking us.
Matthew 25:46 says “… the righteous (will go) into life eternal.”
Heaven is the cure for all our fears… and Jesus is the ONE who brought that cure to us. Hebrews tells us “Since the children have flesh and blood, (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death— that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15
So, just about everybody in favor of heaven.
But not everyone is all that excited about Hell.
In that Gallup Poll we mentioned earlier 86% believed in Heaven, and most of them thought they were going to go there. But in that same poll only 69% of those interviewed believed in Hell. And just one-half of 1% of Americans expected to go to Hell upon their death. (Barna poll in 2009)
Hell’s not a popular idea.
Now granted… there are people we’d like to see in hell.
There’s folks like Osamma Bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein. Or folks closer to home: terrorists, rapists, and child molesters.
Brutal, sadistic people deserve to burn in hell for all eternity.
And most every culture has some understanding of that.
· Buddhists believe in 7 "hot hells" which await the evildoers - each flanked by 4 torture chambers that include a fiery pit and a quagmire.
· Tibetan Buddhists also speak of eight cold hells and certain "Frontier" hells for those guilty of lesser sins.
· Hindus believe in 21 hells – which are temporary abodes where their bad karma (the evil one commits during a lifetime) is burned away.
· Jainism (an offshoot of Hinduism) believes in 8.4 million hells where humans are punished for their sins. Those guilty of unpardonable sins are kept in a bottomless abyss forever. (U.S. News & World Report 3/25/91 p. 64)
Most everyone believes at least SOMEBODY ought to go to hell - as long as it’s not them
But there are others who don’t like the concept of an eternal punishment… at all.
ILLUS: There’s a preacher named Rob Bell that created a stir when he wrote a book rejecting hell
In a video promoting his book Bell asked,
· "Will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell?
· And if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? ...
· What kind of God is that, that we would need to be rescued from this God?
· How could that God ever be good? How could that ever be good news?"
And the book description on the publisher’s web page reads,
"Rob Bell ... argu(es) that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering."
Rob Bell is a very convincing speaker, but I’ve seen enough of his teaching to know that he starts with his feelings: what HE thinks is right, what HE thinks ought to be, what HE thinks is reasonable… and THEN he tends to force Scripture to bow before his wisdom.
Good preachers don’t do that.
Good preachers don’t start with what THEY think is true, they start with what the Bible SAYS is true.
Good preachers believe the Scriptures are God’s Word and that God doesn’t have to bow before them. God doesn’t even have to explain Himself to them.
He’s God… they’re not… and that’s the way it’s going to be all day long.
A good preacher knows that and bows before God and His Word.
But Rob Bell has never really been a “good preacher”.
Let’s take for example is accusation:
How could that God (who condemns people to eternal punishment) ever be good?
How could that ever be good news?"
ILLUS: Well, let’s ask the question a different way:
Let’s say a man has been convicted of rape, child molestation, and murder.
He’s a cold-blooded killer… an evil man who took pleasure in the pain he inflicted.
Now enters the judge.
He has the ability to lock this animal up for all eternity.
But he doesn’t do that… Instead, he fines him and sets him free.
Would you call such a judge “good?”
Would you ever call such a decree “good news?”
Psalm 7:11 declares “God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.”
In fact, Jesus taught that one of the Spirit’s jobs was to confront people with God’s judgment
“When (the Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” John 16:8
There’s a judgment coming.
And it’s not a judgment you want to be on the wrong side of.
Jesus said: “I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment… anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matthew 5:22
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:29-30
And “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
Hell is not going to be a pleasant place.
Mark Twain once said: “I’ll take Heaven for the climate and Hell for society.”
Well, that would be nice, but Hell’s not going to be a place for “society”.
Your “Friends” may be there, but they won’t have any time for you.
At least 5 times in Jesus’ ministry He talked about Hell being a place of “Weeping and Gnashing of teeth.”
For example, in Matthew 13, Jesus said “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:41-42
Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Over and over again, Jesus stresses the fact – hell will not be a picnic.
It will quite literally be (pause) hell.
And you don’t want to go there.
You don’t even want to joke about it.
But why would God send anyone to hell?
Well, let’s start with the basics.
#1 – neither you nor I deserve to go to heaven.
Romans tells us "There is no-one righteous, not even one” Romans 3:10
I’m not righteous enough to impress God.
The Elders aren’t righteous enough to impress God.
Your Sunday School teachers aren’t
And you aren’t.
And “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
And the Psalmist agrees: “Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.” Psalm 143:2
So (pause) since none of us deserve to go to heaven…
(pause) By default, there’s only one other place to go.
And God doesn’t want any of us to end up there.
“He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
God so much didn’t want to have anyone spend eternity in hell that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever should not perish but have everlasting life.
ILLUS: One person said it this way.
Insurance companies cancel auto insurance.
Schools expel children.
Banks deny credit.
WHY?
Because we make choices and then we experience the consequences.
These entities don’t exist to cancel ... expel ... refuse credit!
They exist to offer services: protection, education and resources.
But when people reject their services or treat them lightly, there are consequences.
ILLUS: Have you ever heard of “Life lock”? There a company that – for a small monthly fee - guarantees they’ll be able to protect you against “identity theft”. Now, I’ve never signed up for “Life lock”… and I doubt that I’m going to. But if someone ever does steal my identity, I know it will be devastating. And I also know I’ll probably wish I’d signed up for “life lock”… but by then it will be too late. My life will have been destroyed.
There are consequences to rejecting their offer.
In the same way – there are consequences to rejecting God’s offer of heaven. The only reason anybody will ever go to hell is because they chose NOT to go to heaven.
But in order to get to heaven I have to do it God’s way.
I need to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God.
I need to accept the fact that I’m a sinner and I need to repent and change my life.
I need to be willing to allow Jesus to own my life and control my decisions.
I need to be willing to “sign the contract” by being buried in the waters of baptism and rise to walk in newness of life.
And I need to be willing to live my life for Jesus from that day on.
In order to enter heaven, I have to do it God’s way.
I can’t force God to let me in the front door.
I can’t force Him to accept me because of my own self-righteousness.
I can’t presume that I can do so much good that God couldn’t keep me out if I wanted to.
Getting into heaven will happen only because I sign up for that destination.
And the way to sign up is to belong to Jesus.
Jesus said:
“I am the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” John 8:12
“I am the gate. Whoever enters through me shall be saved.” John 10:9
“I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
“I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me - though he were dead, shall live.” John 11:25
“I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes unto the Father but by me.” John 14:6
BUT “If you don’t believe that ‘I am He’ you will die in your sins.” John 8:24
The only way to go to hell… is to go past Jesus and reject His offer.
CLOSE: Adrian Rogers once recalled hearing about a nightclub called “The Gates of Hades”. The story goes that a newcomer to the city was looking for this nightclub and he stopped a policeman to ask directions.
It just so happened that there was a church on that same street called “Calvary Church” and when the man asked the policeman for directions, the cop replied:
“If you want to get to the Gates of Hades, you’ll have to go past Calvary.”
(Rogers was the preaching minister at the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee until his death in 2005)
Invitation.
