Articles
Where You Don't Want To Go
“…Their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”(Rev. 21:8)
Hell is real. That is not a popular thing to say or talk about; however, it is a reality and many will sadly end up there one day (cf. Matt. 25:41ff). Many may think, “But I am a good person” or “God surely would not send me there”. Some argue that God cannot be real, because He would never send people to a place like hell. The problem that we run into with this line of thinking is that we are viewing things from a human perspective. Consider this: 1) By whose standard are we determining our goodness?; 2) Is it possible that our own decisions determine our final destination?
Far too often, we probably get caught up in our own thoughts of how good we are in comparison to others who have made poor choices or have acted immorally. Actually, God’s standard is much different than human’s, because all have fallen at some point in their lives and transgressed against the Lord (cf. Rom. 3:23). There are people that proclaim that they know in their hearts that they are right with the Lord, but all should heed God’s word, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9) Only God has the ability to know the heart (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Jer. 17:10).
Additionally, people have a hard time with the concept of a loving God that would sentence someone to eternal punishment. Those that hold such thinking need to study the Scriptures. That may seem vague or a copout, but an initial response to such a statement should be to ask: What does the Bible say? Repeatedly in Scripture, God is described as holy and just (cf. Deut. 32:4; 1 Sam. 2:2; Isa. 6:3). Those that choose to follow the Lord must be like Him (cf. 1 Pet. 1:15f). God does not tolerate sin (cf. Psa. 5:4), and believe it or not, this should comfort all people. Furthermore, God will handle everything that has gone wrong and will set it right according to His will (cf. Rom. 12:17ff).
When the time comes for everyone to appear before the Lord on the Day of Judgment, there will be no excuse (cf. Matt. 12:36f; 2 Cor. 5:10). Sufficient warnings have been given. Jesus stressed the necessity of doing what you needed to do to escape the everlasting fires of hell (cf. Mk. 9:43ff). Also, He understood that there would be those that would take offense and even harm His followers (cf. Matt. 10:24ff). Christ wanted to make sure that none of us perish, but unfortunately most will choose to take the path that leads toward destruction (cf. Matt. 7:13f).
Let’s make sure we understand something. God does not find joy or want to send anyone to hell. His word tells us that He finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked and desires everyone to repent of their sins (cf. Ezek. 33:11; 2 Pet. 3:9). It is our responsibility to take the necessary actions to avoid eternal punishment. One must follow the solution that God has laid out in His word: 1) Hear His Gospel (Rom. 10:17); 2) Believe (Jn. 8:24); 3) Repent (Acts 2:38); 4) Confess (Matt. 10:32); 5) Be Baptized (Gal. 3:26f); and 6) Live a Faithful Life (Rev. 2:10).
Whenever a discussion of this nature takes place, then it is expected that there will be potential dissension. An overused phrase, “Don’t judge me!”, may be shot in our direction. We must not allow this to deter us from sharing the truth in love, because we are not the judge. The Lord is the only Judge (cf. Jas. 4:12), but it is the believer's task to point others to Him for salvation. People will disagree with God’s word and think that we are condemning them, but we are merely pointing out that their disagreement is with God.
The choice is ours to make. It is important to remember that anyone that chooses NOT to follow the commands of God, will result in a separation from Him (cf. Isa. 59:1f). We choose to leave Him by our actions. Who can honestly say that they want to spend an eternity in a fiery place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth? I don’t and I hope you don't either. DO NOT make the wrong choice!
