To cheer you up, lets start with a funny story:
Week after week, a man came to his pastor with a big problem. He said “When I go to bed, I can’t sleep because I’m afraid of monsters under the bed. I know it’s silly, but I can’t help it.” The pastor said that is easy. Just pray every day, read the bible and maybe sing some hymns and keep the lights on. Weeks went by but nothing worked. Then one day the man came to church looking happy and well rested. Seeing the Pastor, he said I got the answer from my carpenter friend. What was that, the Pastor asked. Oh very simple “He told me just to cut the legs off the bed!” I never had a problem after that!
In our gospel reading for this morning, Jesus says something similar. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out because it is better to get to heaven without them than allow them to take you down the tubes to hell where the fire is never quenched.
So my question to you this morning and the title to this message is “Is it worth losing everything just for heaven?”
The truth is majority of the people just don’t care. God’s word tells us very clearly that there are eternal consequences to our actions and this life is all that we have to get it right. I am not perfect and I am preaching to myself too! Every day is a fight to get it right but it is the good fight. In the good fight you are never alone because our precious Savior is always with us and the battle is not ours but his! By his stripes we are healed and by his blood we are redeemed and saved – let us never forget that.
When we first moved down to South Carolina we started a restaurant in Murrells Inlet. At the end of each night I had to close the accounts for the day which meant servers handed over all their cash to the Manager and the Manager would then turn it over to me with the receipts. However, every single night there would be couple hundred short. Obviously I was being robbed and when I told the Manager it was not acceptable, he said “I know only one man who walked on water and that isn’t me.” I did not tell him then but the one who walked on water is telling us today that if our hand causes us to sin, it is better to cut it off than having two hands and going to hell.
Friends, we may get away with a lot of stuff here on earth but a day of reckoning awaits all of us. The Bible warns us of two eternities. One is heaven and the other is hell. Talking to his disciples one day, Jesus said wide is the gate that leads to eternal destruction and narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life.
Travelling through the wide gate is not only easy it is also enticing and fulfills most people’s desires. Sadly, most people are headed that way. That includes some Church folk who come for the fellowship but never really repent and turn their lives over to the Savior. In the book of 2nd timothy ch 3 it explains it this way:
Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men and women will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving]unforgiving, slanderers, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Where we are today is what we have chosen to become. We cannot blame anyone for our circumstances but the good news is today is the day of salvation and there is still hope. We need to get off that wide gate and broad road of ashes and failure and hop on to that narrow way. It is the difficult one but it is the road that leads to God’s eternal home. The greatest miracle of all is salvation where a sinner instantly becomes a saint. You and I can be in that miracle when we make Jesus our Lord.
Like we just read, instead of hanging out in the cul-de-sac of always learning and never coming to the truth we need to step out in faith, turn our backs on sin and completely surrender to the authority of God. We cannot fight a full time devil if we are only part time Christians. No matter how far we have gone there is always hope in Jesus because he loves us with an everlasting love. We are washed in his blood and cleansed by his Spirit – thanks to the cross and Calvary because that fight is over and the victory is ours.
Our Christian faith tells us that death marks the final separation between the saved and the lost. Jesus says “Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my Father.” I have to emphasize that no one will get to hell by mistake. If someone ends up there, it will be because of the choices they made. On judgment day every sin will be met with divine justice. No one will be condemned without a fair trial but at the same time every unrepentant sinner will not escape the wrath of God. Eternal death is a very serious matter – I wonder if you have given that much thought?
I don’t know about you, but the moment I leave this earth I want to be in heaven. No earthly possession, relationship or value is more important to me than being in my Father’s house forever. It is not that I am better than others but I made the choice to honor God and live for him. What about you my friends? Have you decided where you want to be when this life is over? This life and the one to come is God’s gift to us – embrace it my friends!
We are here only for a time and a season which is soon fading away and coming to an end. Jesus has promised to come like a thief in the night. If you use your spiritual eyes you will see that the sun has already set and darkness has set it paving the way for his coming. We may not know the day or the hour but why should that matter if we are longing to see his face. He won’t be a minute early nor a minute late. Just as he promised he will come. So don’t get too comfortable here because this life is not all that there is. We are created with a soul that lives forever but where we will live after this earthly life is our choice and ours only.
There is a story in bible about a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was a beggar named Lazarus who was covered with sores and longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs licked the sores of Lazarus but the rich man could care less. One day Lazarus died and went to heaven and then the rich man died too but ended up in hell. From hell he cried out to Abraham to have pity on him and if only Lazarus could dip his finger in water and cool his tongue. Unfortunately it was too late. This will be the fate of all those who are too busy with this world and care less for their soul.
Let us talk about Abraham for a moment. When God called Abraham He could have blessed him right away but instead he was asked to leave his home and his family and walk by faith in obedience to God. He left everything and followed his master and it was only then that the promised blessings became a reality to him. Likewise my friends, don’t be afraid to turn your back on everything that lures you into a life of sin. You may not see it with your physical eyes but your blessing is waiting for you too and It is worth losing everything for heaven!
Let us not waste our days on earth with things that will wither away like the grass. Instead let us be wise and cling on to the things that last forever storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.
I am not suggesting that you run away from your family or travel to a strange land like Abraham but I am asking that you turn away from sin and return to Christ. Live each day with eternity in mind. Eternal life is not just a hope; it's a promise from our loving Creator. I am sure you remember these words
"In my Father's house are many mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you and if I prepare a place for you I promise to come back and take you to our home so that we can live together forever!
I have said this many times before but I will say it again. Our Lord has done everything necessary for us to enter eternal life. The door is always open and the choice is yours. Friends, hear the Lord's words once more:
“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
Loved ones, it is worth losing everything for heaven and I hope you do. I want to see every single one of you there. I want to see you free from sickness and sorrow where Jesus will wipe away every tear and where there will be no more death or pain and we will be with him forever in new Jerusalem with all the hosts of heaven and our loved ones who have gone on before. So get ready and put on your wedding garment and prepare for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Blessed are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. God has done his part, the rest is entirely up to you. Amen.
