Do All Faiths/Religions Lead to God
Luke 23: 32 - 42
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” 38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
I want you to think of a hypothetical situation and how you would handle it. Suppose one day you can over to the church and I was the only Pastor on hand. I ask you to help me out by answering the phones since I have to speak with another person. As you reluctantly agreed the phone rings and the caller wants to ask a question. The person wants to know in their present form of religion which is not Christian will they still face God. In other words they want to know if all paths of Religions or Faiths lead to God. Now I am willing to take a guess that you might say to the person on the other line that you are just answering the phone and that you will take their phone number down and have a Pastor call them right back. However, the person on the other end does not want to wait so he asks you if you are a Christian? You tell him that you are. So, He says then that he wants to hear your opinion on his question. How would you respond? I will go over with you the answer shortly however let us prepare this answer through God’s Word.
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.
It would seem that along with Jesus were being led in a similar way two criminals who were also due to die. Luke wants us all to identify ourselves with them.
33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
And finally they reached a place, aptly named ‘The Skull’ or ‘Golgotha’. Why was it called this name? Many people have taught that it was called this because the mount looked like a ‘skull’. Where does it say this? I have something else for you to consider. Let us turn way back to the book of 1 Samuel. Remember, when Daniel slew the giant Goliath? Look at this unique verse in chapter 17, “And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.”
Jerusalem way back during Abraham’s time was known as something significantly spiritual. Remember when Abraham came upon Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God of Salem or Jerusalem? Now we see David taking the head of Goliath to Jerusalem which at this time was not under the control of the Israelites but was under the control of the Jebusites which we read about in chapter 5 of 2 Samuel. So, what’s my point?
David took the head of Goliath and buried it on the highest hill in Jerusalem, which by the way is Calvary. Therefore, the people knew the spot and had given it the name – The Skull. Since the giants were the offspring of fallen angels with humans, they in effect are the seed of their leader, Satan. So now the scripture in Genesis chapter 3 now makes sense, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
Our Great Lord and Savior Was crucified over the seed of the serpent. Think about that?
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.
At any time our Holy Precious Wonderful Lord could have said enough is enough and besought the Father to send legions of angels to deal with us awful human beings. But what does He do? He recognizes that these people are acting blindly rather than deliberately. And it is for this reason that He can seek forgiveness for them.
35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
Before His very eyes, almost at the foot of His cross, they divided up His clothing, which was the right by Roman custom of the execution squad, and cast lots for what could not be divided. He was stripped there of all that He possessed, and hung naked before God. He Who had previously had nowhere to lay His head, now had nothing with which to cover Himself. In His death the world would allow Him nothing but total humiliation. This underlines the callousness of mankind, and its willingness to rob God.
Significance also lies behind this action. By doing this they left Him naked, so that naked He hung on the cross. The moment the first man and woman sinned they ‘knew that they were naked’ as we find in the book of Genesis chapter 3 verse 7. Nakedness was ever therefore the symbol of man in his sin. By the Jews to be naked was ever considered to be shameful. It was also therefore necessary for the One Who died for them to be stripped naked so that He might hang there on display in their place. He was stripped naked that we might not be stripped naked before God. He was there as the son of Adam as well as being there as the Son of God, naked in our place, so that if we believe in Him we ourselves may not be found naked. We read in the book of 2 Corinthians 5, “For we know that if our earthly house, [this] tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.”
The religious rulers scoffed at Him. They jeered at our Precious Lord Jesus and congratulated themselves on the fact that in spite of His bold words at His trials He was unable to do anything to help Himself. They clearly felt that it vindicated them. He had ‘saved others’. Even they had at this time had to admit to the reality of His healings and exorcisms. But He could not save Himself. Surely if He really were the Messiah of God He would now be able to save Himself? Why then did He not do so? Peter could have given them the answer as he commented in his first letter, ‘He suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous that He might bring us to God’. Paul could have informed them as he made mention in his second letter to the Corinthians, ‘He was made sin for us, He Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him’.
Our Great Master prays that this sin, the greatest ever committed on earth because of Whom it concerned, might be forgiven. Had He not done so, and looking at it from a human point of view, perhaps the earth would have been consumed at that moment. Without such forgiveness on the part of God it undoubtedly would have been, because of the heinousness of the crime. Angels but awaited His word. But the forgiveness was on the basis that it was not a deliberate sin committed by some who knew precisely what they were doing, a sin with a high hand, but a sin resulting from ignorance.
The people and rulers mocked Him, and now the soldiers also mocked Him. Shortly it would be one of the evildoers who would mock Him. The threefold mocking is intended to indicate that the whole world mocked, Jews, Gentiles and the riffraff of society. In the case of the soldiers it was emphasized by their giving to him of their coarse wine, as though to a king. By this they sought unknowingly to make Him Who had promised that He would drink no more of the fruit of the vine, do so in contravention of His purpose. They knew not what they did. And as they did so they jeered saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” They did not, of course believe it for a moment. They were merely aping what others had said. It just seemed to them too good jest for them not to be involved.
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
In stark contrast to all that they were doing we are told of the proclamation above His cross. Written on a placard above His head were the words THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ But this was not in jest. We learn from the Gospel of John chapter 19 verses 19-22 that Pilate had done it deliberately in order to annoy the Jewish leaders, and when they objected had declared, Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews.‘what I have written I have written’. While he did not acknowledge Jesus, he at least acknowledged why He was there. The placing of such an accusation above the head of a condemned man was a regular practice, but never was one more important or more revealing than this.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
The mockery and anger continued. Now it was one of the evildoers who had been crucified alongside Him, who turned his pain-wracked attention to him, and muttered at Him through His parched lips. His words were no doubt spoken in the bitter irony of despair, for he clearly did not really believe what he said. The Messiah was what he had been waiting for. And he had never come. So if this fellow claimed to be the Messiah why did he not get down from the cross and save him too? But it was said in bitter irony and misery. He had no expectation that He would, nor that He could, do him any good. He was just expressing the bitterness in his soul. And the sad thing was that had he but said it in another frame of mind and from another outlook he would have been saved.
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Meanwhile something had been happening in the heart of the other evildoer. He too had railed at our Lord Jesus to begin with as we read in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 27 verse 44, “Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.”
But then something about our Lord Jesus had come home to him. Perhaps when our Lord prayed to the Father to forgive all that had done all this to Him. We cannot fully know what it was. What does speak to a man at a time like this? But we can surmise, for we know that Jesus was like no other. Humanly speaking it was probably because there was something about this unusual man who prayed for His enemies, and who bore His death so calmly, that struck a chord in his heart, so that he could not bear to hear Him run down. Probably he had recognized that He was the prophet Who had stirred the people, and he may even have heard Him preach. And he knew an innocent man when he saw one, and yet One who bore His fate without recrimination. So turning to the other evildoer, whom he no doubt knew from better days of being a comrade in insurrection, he rebuked him and suggested that this was no time for mockery when soon they would meet the Judge of all men.
Here we have two men who know that shortly they will die. As you and I know one would go into his eternity forgiven and the other to damnation.
I want to point out two significant scriptures;
Hebrews 9: 27, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
2 Corinthians 5: 10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
When we die no matter if we are a Christian or not, we will face Jesus. So, the answer to the question – do all Faiths lead to God? – is ‘yes’
However, for those who have placed their hope in the shed blood of the perfect Lamb of God, the scripture reveals in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 3. These scriptures teach us that we will come before the Judge at His Bema seat. Like you see at the Olympics we will not be judged for our sins because our Lord Jesus paid that price for us. What we receive is the rewards. “
“5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
Now what about all the rest of humans. They will also be resurrected, which the bible says comes second. In the book of Revelation chapter 20, “11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The scariest verses I think come from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7. Let me share them with you. “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Stop and think about this - Rejected by our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing I consider more frightfully. There aren’t too many teachings out there that talk about hell so I want to make sure it is preached.
Hell is also call the Lake of Fire. It has not been opened yet. That might seem strange to you but when you look at the bible who is the first occupants? – The answer is the False Prophet and The Beast [Antichrist].In the book of Revelation chapter 20 verse 10 says,” The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
The awful doctrine of hell is fading as a warning from the pulpit. However, you and I know the reality of it as the Scripture proclaims in the Gospel of Luke chapter 16, “19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
Our Lord’s words on the subject are unnerving. In Luke 16, He tells us of a rich man who died and went to Hades the abode of the unsaved dead between death and final judgment. From that story and a few other revelatory facts, we can infer several characteristics of hell.
First, it’s a place of great physical pain. The rich man’s initial remark concludes with his most pressing concern: “I am in agony in this flame.” We do not understand how significant this point really is.
We all have experienced pain to some degree. We know it can make a mockery of all life’s goals and beauties. Yet we do not seem to know pain as a hint of hell, a searing foretaste of what will befall those who do not know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a grim reminder of what we will be spared from.
God does not leave us with simply the mute fact of hell’s physical pain. He tells us how real people will respond to that pain. Our Lord is simply telling us the truth.
There will be ‘weeping’. Weeping is not something we get a grip on; it is something that grips us. Recall how you were affected when you last heard someone weep. Remember how you were moved with compassion to want to protect and restore that person? The Lord wants us to know and consider what an upsetting experience it is for the person in hell.
Another response will be ‘wailing’. While weeping attracts our sympathy, wailing frightens and offends us. It is the pitiable bawl of a soul seeking escape, hurt beyond repair, eternally damaged. A wail is sound gone grotesque because of conclusions we cannot live with.
A third response will be ‘gnashing of teeth’ which is revealed in Luke chapter 13 verse 28.Why? Perhaps because of anger or frustration it may be a defense against crying out or an intense pause when one is too weary to cry any longer.
Hell has two other aspects, rarely considered, which are both curious and frightening. On earth we take for granted two physical properties that help keep us physically, mentally, and emotionally stable. The first is light; the second is solid, fixed surfaces. Oddly, these two dependable will not accommodate those in hell.
Hell is a place of darkness in which we see in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 8 verse 12. Imagine the person who has just entered hell – a neighbor, relative, co-worker, or friend. After a roar of physical pain blasts him, he spends his first moments wailing and gnashing his teeth. But after a season, he grows accustomed to the pain, not that it has become tolerable, but that his capacity for it has enlarged to comprehend it, yet not being consumed by it, though he instinctively looks about him. But as he looks, he sees only blackness.
In the past life he learned that if he looked long enough, a glow of light somewhere would yield definition to his surroundings. So he blinks and stains to focus his eyes but his efforts yield only blackness. He turns and strains his eyes in another direction. He waits. He sees nothing but unyielding black ink. It clings to him, smothering and oppressing him.
Realizing that the darkness is not going to give way, he nervously begins to feel for something solid to get his bearings. He reaches for walls or rocks or trees or chains; he stretches his legs to feel the ground and touches nothing.
Hell is a ‘bottomless pit’ as we get to know from the book of Revelation chapter 20 verse 12. However, the new occupant is slow to learn. In growing panic, he kicks his feet and waves his arms. He stretches and he lunges. But he finds nothing. After more feverish tries, he pauses from exhaustion, suspended in black. Suddenly, with a scream he kicks, twists, and lunges again until he is too exhausted to move.
He hangs there, alone with his pain. Unable to touch a solid object or see a solitary thing, he begins to weep.
His sobs choke through the darkness. They become weak, and then lost in hell’s roar.
As time passes, he begins to do what the rich man did – he again starts to think. His first thoughts are of hope. You see, he still thinks as he did on earth, where he kept himself alive with hope. When things got bad, he always found a way out. If he felt pain, he took medicine. If he were hungry, he ate food. If he lost love, there was more love to be found.
So he casts about in his mind for a plan to apply to the hope building in his chest.
Of course, he thinks, Jesus, the God of Love, can get me out of this.
He cries out with a surge, ‘Jesus! Jesus! You were right! Help me! Get me out of this!’
He waits, breathing hard with desperation. The sound of his voice slips into the darkness and is lost.
He tries again. ‘I believe, Jesus! I believe now! Save me from this! Again, the darkness smothers his words.
Our sinner is not unique. Everyone in hell believes.
When he wearies of appeals, he does next what anyone would do – assesses his situation and attempts to adapt. But then it hits him – this is forever.
Our Great King Lord Jesus made it very clear. He used the same words for ‘forever’ to describe both heaven and hell.
Forever, he thinks, and his mind labors through the darkness until he aches.
‘Forever’ he whispers in wonder. The idea deepens, widens, and towers over him.
The awful truth spreads before him like endless, overlapping slats: ‘When I put in ten thousand centuries of time here, I will not have accomplished one thing. I will not have one second less to spend here.
As the rich man pleaded for a drop of water, so, too, our new occupant entertains a similar ambition. In life he learned that even bad things could be tolerated if one could find temporary relief. Perhaps even hell, if one could rest from time to time, would be more tolerable.
He learns, though that ‘the smoke of his torment goes up forever and ever; and he has no rest day or night’ which is brought out in the book of Revelation chapter 14 verse 11.
Think of this point – no rest day or night.
Thought of this happening to people we know, people like us, are too terrifying to entertain for long. The idea of allowing someone to endure such torture for eternity violates the sensibilities of even the most brutal judge among us. We simply cannot bear it.
But our thought of hell will never be as unmanageable as its reality. We must take this doctrine of hell, therefore, and make sure we are practically affected by it.
A hard look at this truth should first change our view of sin. Most believers do not take sin as seriously as God does. We need to realize that in God’s eyes, and in His actual plan, sin deserves eternal punishment in hell.
We can actually learn by comparison, to hate sin as God hates it. As the reality of hell violates and offends us, for example, so sin violates and offends God. As we cannot bear to look upon the horrors of hell, so God cannot bear to look upon the horrors of sin. As hell revolts us to the point of hatred for it, so also God finds sin revolting. The comparison is not perfect, but it offers a start.
Second, the truth of hell should encourage our witness. Can we ever hear a sugh of weariness, see a moment of doubt, or feel pain without being reminded of that place? In all honesty, can we see any unbeliever, watch his petty human activities, realize what he has in store, and not be moved with compassion? It encourages us to witness in word and in our deeds.
That hideous doctrine may grip our souls in dark terror and make us weep, but let us be sure it also prompts us to holiness and compassion.
I will close with this poem which some of you might have read before. It really had an impact on me.
My friend,
I stand in Judgment now,
And feel that you’re to blame somehow.
You always had the words to say
Yet, never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together on the earth.
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned.
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true.
I called you ’friend’ and trusted you.
But I learn now that it’s too late.
You could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the Light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you ‘friend’ in life.
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And yet on coming to the end,
I cannot, now, call you ‘my friend’
