How Far Away Is Heaven
Mark 12:34
34 – And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the Kingdom of Heaven, and no man after that durst ask him any questions.
Joel 3:14
14 –Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
In the next 20 minutes as I stand and bring this message, unknown amount of people will have that last chance to make that decision as to where they will spend eternity.
I want you to think where you will be in twenty minutes.
Oh preacher, all this is, is just another scare tactic sermon.
What is so scary about this sermon is in these next 20 minutes people are going to Hell, it’s not a scare tactic but reality ,the truth that people die, people that have not accepted Jesus as the Lord.
I’m not going to sugar coat this matter and tell you that you have days, week’s months or even years. God has chosen your appointed time and I have no idea when that may be, but it will come, that I do know.
There were two thieves that were hanging on a cross next to Jesus. One asks Christ to remember him when he entered into the Paradise. The other one decided to hang and die without asking for remembrance. Two men made a decision on that hill called Calvary.
A rich young ruler comes running after Jesus, asking him, “master” what shall I do to inherit eternal life” Jesus answered and told him to sell everything and take up the cross and follow him. A decision was made by that ruler and that was to keep his earthly belongings and go back to his old ways. We never read about this ruler again, we never know if he ever had another chance to make that decision to follow Jesus.
There are multitudes of events where a decision was before people in the Bible but let me switch to today for the next few moments.
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A man was in the hospital to have a few of his arteries cleaned out. The doctor informed him that this may take from three to five hours. It really depended on how much blockage they find when they got in there.
His wife had asked her pastor to come and sit with her and to talk with her husband before the surgery. The pastor ask this man where he stood with the Lord. The reply was all too common for this pastor, “I’m not what you might call a Christian but I know my wife prays for me. Just haven’t felt a need to buy into a Christian way of life yet.
A young lady in her twenties on a Friday night was invited by her mom to a revival meeting at this church service to hear about God. Maybe she would hear of his mercy, His grace, his love and His forgiveness of sin. If she just could accept God’s Son and believe on him.
Her mother a God-fearing lady had been praying for her. Maybe, just maybe this was going to be the night that she could accept Jesus and live for him.
This girl’s life up to this time had been of nightclubs, drinking, drugs, and going about living her life as tomorrow it might end. She had to get everything she could because she was heading downward each and every day. Her life was miserable, she felt cold and unhappy even dirty and used.
That Friday night she sat there during the service and listened to what God has done in other people’s lives.
That evening the evangelist preached on Heaven and all its glory. He preached salvation, this girl sat there and listen to him preach.
The evangelist had an alter call and this girl heart her soul was being tugged on by the Holy Spirit. She just held tighter to the back of the pew. I have seen it myself. I have seen some people hold onto that pew in front of them until their knuckles are white. Their head is down, and I can feel it, I can’t really say how, but I can, I can feel the Holy Spirit dealing with that person.
When the service was finally over this young lady walked down to that evangelist, she went to talk to him. Here words were slow in coming out, but they were coming out. Was this her time to finally accept Christ and live for Him?
All of a sudden, she stopped talking and turned away, maybe she thought that God could not forgive her for all of her sins.
Maybe it was her love of this world, and she was not ready to give it up. Not just yet, maybe next week, after a night on the town. She felt who really knows but this young lady made a decision that night and walked out of that church.
A trucker is heading south on Interstate I-75 out of Chattanooga Tenn. He is turning the dials on his radio. When he hears this preacher ask, “Please just this time, listen to what God needs you to hear”
He could have kept turning that dial, but he stopped and leans back in his seat behind the big rig he was driving and going to hear what this preacher had to say.
The preacher spoke of God’s only begotten son, His love for this world and His son’s redemption for those that would believe on him.
This trucker has driven close to a million miles all over this country. The blacktop was a site he looked at most of the year with him driving all over this country hauling goods from one place to another.
He was heading home this day to Valdosta Ga.; He had not seen his wife and little girl in three weeks. Home was on his mind.
About the same time this preacher starts to talk about a home for eternity in Heaven, this trucker’s mind went to full attention to this radio preacher. He was preaching on the same thought he too was thinking about …. home.
Home he thought, how I miss home. Then that preacher mentioned to those that were listening, will you miss home in Heaven? That trucker was amazed that his every thought was what this preacher was preaching on.
Just before he left on this trip his wife had ask him to go to church with her and their little girl. He really didn’t want to go, knowing this was going to be his last day at home before he hit the road, he wanted to rest up some.
His little girl grabbed her dad’s hand and told him, Daddy if you go to church with me you will hear about Jesus, he loves you as much as he loves mommy and me.
He looked down at his little girl and took her little hand and told her he must love you an awful lot because I love you more than anything in this world.
That preacher kept preaching about a home called heaven and this trucker kept listening. Was this God’s way of letting him know he needs to accept His son and let Jesus prepare him a home in heaven?
As Paul Harvey use to say, NOW THE REST OF THE STORY.
THE MAN IN THE HOSPITAL
During the operation, an artery was so hard that the probe punctured it, before the doctors could do anything he was dead on the table.
This man’s life was over, he never knew as he talked to the preacher and his wife this was God’s last attempt to have him accept Jesus. God knew what was going to happen, his clock was set for twenty minutes, and his time ran out before He soften his heart and accepted Christ.
Hebrews 9:27
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
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THE YOUNG LADY
Two days later this girl was riding a 4 – wheeler, just hanging out with her friends. Having a good time riding on a beautiful Sunday. One more lap for her and she was going to get off and start having fun with her friends doing something else. The 4-wheeler hit a curb and flipped over and she flipped over the handlebars. Her head hit the pavement and destroyed this young girls face, her skull was crushed beyond repair. She wasn’t wearing an helmet this times around.
This time around was her last time around with her friends. Her twenty minutes were up, God had set her appointed time. God had already allowed her to hear the gospel one last time, and she walked away.
2Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
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THE TRUCK DRIVER
As he rolled on down the interstate that preacher preached grace and he listened. Tears were filling up his eyes and he now understood that he needed Jesus in his life. He pulled the big rig over into the next rest stop and bowed his head and ask Jesus into his life, he wanted to live for Christ now.
He wanted to go to church the next Sunday with his wife and little girl and learn more about Jesus.
He went inside the rest area and used the phone there and called his wife. He told her he had just accepted Jesus as his Saviour. He told her how all of this just happened by chance, maybe even luck.
I am saved, I am a child of God now, and I am going to Heaven!
He told her that he was about 20 miles south of Atlanta and he was heading home. About 25 miles north of Macon Ga. His front tire blew out and he lost control of his big rig and it jack knife into a steep embankment, it crushed the cab of that truck.
When the fire and rescue got to the scene of the wreck they found him still in his seat, buckle up but he was dead from the impact of the windshield coming in on him.
Twenty minutes ago he told his wife that Jesus had taken control of his life and he felt at ease with what the world had to offer. What he didn’t know is that god knew he was on the clock. His twenty minutes was ticking away.
He sent that preacher over the air waves to preach salvation to this trucker knowing that he would never make it home to Valdosta, but God sure made sure he made it to his heavenly home.
2 Timothy 4:18
18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
CLOSING
Today as this message was ticking away, just wonder how many people are on their last twenty minutes?
I was visiting a sick person in the hospital.
As I was leaving I got on the elevator and a young man stepped in with me. The young man notice the that I had a Bible in my hand and the young man turned to me and ask, Sir, can I ask you a question, I really do not have an answer for.
I looked over toward him and said, I will try my best.
I have always wonder just how far Heaven and Hell is away from all of us. I just have always wanted to know this.
I looked at him and told this young man to place his hand on his chest. The young man did and the I ask him, what do you feel.
The young man said, I feel my heartbeat.
That’s when I said, that is how far Heaven or Hell is for all of us, just one heartbeat away.
I want you to think about that, just one heartbeat away from eternity in heaven or Hell.
God will make that last call for you.
Then the clock begins to click down.
Do not leave here today knowing you do not know God, you have not accept Jesus. I plead with each and every one of you here, God did not send me this message to scare anyone, he did not give me this message to say they are about to die.
The Profit Daniel wrote these words
Daniel 12:2
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
God gave me this message and to tell you that everyone has that appointed time and some will only have twenty minutes left of it.
