Topic: Worship
Have you wonder where you would do after you die? Many people believe that after facing the death bed, they are sure that they will go to Heaven. Few of them said that they will go to the other side of the eternal place, Hell. Does the place called, Heaven, is for everybody? If the person would decide to take alcohol and tobacco for the rest of his life, would God take him to Heaven? Just think moment as if you are in his shoe.
The Bible says that on one final day of earth, there will be a court session that we must face before we would enter in one of two eternal gates. One of two gates will lead us to life and another leads us into destruction.
Let’s read Matthew 7:13-14:
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
In this text, Jesus gave us glimpse of how many would enter the Heaven. As we see, there will not many of them able to make to the eternal rest. Some people might say, “We thought a wide gate will lead us to Heaven, but not narrow. Narrow gate is for wimps.” No! Let me explain why the narrow gate is the key to Heaven.
Before we would detour Heaven and Hell, let’s go to the courtroom and understand why we need go through this place.
Before we would enter our eternal home, there will be a court session with God. Unlike the other courts, Jesus will become our defensive attorney or offensive. He will judge us according to our gifts of salvation that He gave us. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus explains who will enter the kingdom of Heaven:
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Often, many of us believe that God will give us blessing if we would tithe every Sunday. Although this is the biblical principle, He doesn’t care how much of money we give every Sunday to get access Heaven. He only cares what you are willing to do after you receive the gift of salvation from Heavenly Father. Being a millionaire will not have enough.
As we read in Matthew 25, if we would do anything with the gift that God gave us and keep it to ourselves, we would become trash that He can throw us in a waste ban. This is why we need to take action and use the gift that He gave us.
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus told a story to His disciples about the rich man and poor man, Lazarus. The rich man spent his life on earth with fame, wealth, and power. He didn’t takes care other people, like Lazarus, rather than himself. And Lazarus, this homeless man, tried to beg some help from the rich man. He tried to find some crumbs on the floor under the rich man’s table to fill his stomach. He tried everything to survive, but the rich man did not do anything to save Lazarus from dying.
When the both men died, they ended up two separate places. Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom and the rich man ended up in Hades.
Let’s study about Abraham’s bosom. Abraham bosom is used as Heaven or Paradise. Before the dead person in the Old Testament went to Heaven, the angel took him Abraham’s bosom, because Jesus Christ did not die and resurrect yet. So, the believer stopped and rested in bosom before God took him Heaven. But, now, after Jesus died and resurrected from the dead 2000 years ago, believers have direct access to Heaven when they would die. More than that, we have direct access to God in this moment. Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through Him [Jesus Christ] we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” We don’t need to go to pastor to repent our sins or to communicate with Him, because God gave us free access to Him through Jesus Christ.
What would be Heaven place like? Although we hardly to get full picture of Heaven, God gave us little taste of this awesome place in His Written Word, the Bible. John, in Revelation 21:1-4, says, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
No more pains, no more hard labor. Can you picture if God would be here today to rapture His Church into Kingdom of Heaven. The old things will pass away and the new things will come arise. We will have a great celebration with Jesus Christ in Heaven. If you would like to in-depth study on Heaven, you may compare Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22. These passages of Genesis will give us some pictures of our new home in Revelation 21-22.
Now, let’s shift to on the other side of eternality, Hell. A place is called Hell is for no one, except those who decide to walk away from Jesus Christ. God created Hell, but He didn’t create it for anyone. Why? The Bible tells us God doesn’t like loose any of us for eternality, because He loves us so much by demonstrating us His love through facing the death penalty for our sins. But why He created Hell on the first place?
God didn’t make Hell for any human. But He created it for those who reject Jesus Christ, because He cannot allow any unrepentant person from his sin in Heaven.
The Hell is an unpleasant place. It is a place with of fire:
The man in Luke 16:24 cries: "….I am tormented in this FLAME."
In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE…"
Revelation 20:15 says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE."
If our souls go there, we will have a lot of groaning, weeping, pain forever, because our souls cannot die. It’s opposite of happiness and opposite of Heaven. Once we would go Hell, we never cannot be released from the lake of fire.
Read what happened to the rich man in Luke 16, after he lived in a worldly rich life and died. He ended up at Hades or Hell, where he experienced a painful life. When he begged Abraham to take him out from furnace, 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 (Luke 16:25).”
The Hell is also a place to remember of all the sins that the person ever had done during his earthly lifetime. Like the rich man, the person will remember all the good things that he ever done to himself and had less care for others. He also would remember the painful moments of his life.
Are you like a rich man, who only care about yourself, or a rich man, who is poor in physical appearance and rich in the spiritual world? God will not judge us according to how much money we made or how much money that we gave to the church. He will judge us according to what we did with our gift of salvation that He gave us. Jesus gave us two questions in Mark 8:36-37,: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul.” We can win for $1 million sweepstake challenge to Hawaii, but it will only last for a season.
If you like to know where is Hell? If you study Earth Science about the formation of Earth, it is in the center of the earth. It approved by both the biblically and scientifically (see The Truth about Hell. by Terry Watkins).
What if you are between Hell and Heaven today and God brings your case out before all the people behind you, what would your verdict be? Would God judge you innocent or guilty? You can be sure if you already accepted Jesus Christ and do according to His will. Or you are not sure about your future home and would like to know more about Heaven. You can be sure today if you are going to Heaven by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
The Bible says, the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ (cf. John 10:9). There is no other ways to Heaven.
Are you saved? Are your love ones and friends saved in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? The purpose of this study is to help you to become closer relationship with Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3.)
If you are lukewarm in your relationship with Jesus Christ and want to know Him as your personal Savior and Lord of your life, please consider asking Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life. Paul says, "That if you confess with your mouth, `Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believed and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:9-10.) If you have done in your private room or workplace, then you need to tell to your friends or love ones about what you have done, so they may rejoice with you and want to have that relationship with Christ in their own life. There are many occults in the world, which do not know the love of God and His great plan for those who believe in Him. As it is written in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
