The Unthinkable Destination |
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| Message Series - God So Loved | |
| Written by Dan Walker | |
| April 20, 2008 | |
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Currently, we're in a message series called "God So Loved." We're looking at the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. Today, my message is entitled "The Unthinkable Destination." Why do I call hell the unthinkable destination? Most people believe in heaven and hell, yet only one-half of one percent of people in America believe that they are going to hell. In other words, 99.5% of people don't think they are going to hell. Hell is the unthinkable destination. Whatever anyone thinks about hell, nobody wants to go there. Most people think that hell is reserved for the most wicked people imaginable, certainly not for them. What does Jesus say? It may surprise you to discover that Jesus spoke about hell quite a bit. In fact 13% of Jesus' teaching refer to eternal judgment and hell. Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Hell is the place of ultimate destruction and many people will go to that destination, according to Jesus. The road to life, the road to heaven is narrow and only a few find it. So let's put this together. The Bible says most people are going to hell, yet most people think they are going to heaven. Therefore, there are going to be a lot of very surprised people at the end of their lives, who end up at the opposite destination they thought they were going to. That's exactly what Jesus says is going to happen. Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Here people who had done all kinds of things they thought were for God, were shocked to learn they were going to hell. Max Lucado tells a story of a woman who lived life in antagonism to God and His Word. On her death bed, her last words as she addressed someone visible only to her were "You don't know me? You don't know me?" Did she hear Christ's words "I never knew you" as she slipped into hell? Today, we're going to look at just some of what Jesus taught about the afterlife in a story that he told in Luke 16. An understanding of what hell is like will better help us in living our lives here and now the way that pleases God. Message Audio |
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It's the greatest promise in the Bible. John 3:16 (NIV) 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. This Sunday, we come to the phrase "shall not perish." To perish is the opposite of having eternal life. To perish is to live life without God and to spend eternity without God in the unthinkable destination, a place the Bible calls hell.
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