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About Heaven
And Hell
Matthew 25:46 “And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life.”
Choice
To summarize the existence of mankind and all history,
one might say that what was before Christ was part and parcel, incomplete
without the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Since Christ’s
crucifixion, the gospel dispensation offers the choice of rewards or punishments. A choice must be made to
profess one’s faith in Christ and to follow and serve Him; or the negative, not
to profess faith in Christ, which is a decision to serve Satan. The good
will choose eternal happiness while the wicked will choose everlasting torment. Matthew 25:46 “And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life.”
Heaven Now
First it is my sincere hope that all who read this
booklet on Heaven and Hell are already in Heaven, as the bible says “He that
believeth on the Son h-a-t-h, hath
eternal life.” The scripture does not
say that he shall have eternal life but that he hath eternal life. It is in
the present tense not past tense.
Hopefully every reader is now on the road to Heaven? One woman told the preacher that the way to
Heaven was short, easy and simple; comprising only three steps-out of self,
into Christ, and into glory. A shorter
way is- out of self, into Christ and we are there.
Physical
Death
Physical death is the separation of the soul and body.
Spiritual death is described as the penalty of the first sin. Men are declared
to be “dead through trespasses and sins”.
(Ephesians 2: 1) The apostle Paul
condenses the teaching with the scripture “The sting of death is sin; but
thanks be to God who giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Physical death is a part of the penalty of sin.
The
penalty remains for those that do not share in Christ’s salvation.
Spiritual
Life
For
the Christian, physical death is the beginning of everlasting life with a
spiritual body. This state begins when
the last breath of our physical life is also the first breath in our spiritual
body. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. In 2 Corinthians 5:1
The apostle Paul declares that if the “earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved,
we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.” In Philippians 1 : 23 he says
he has a “desire to depart and be with Christ for it is far better.”
These
scriptures tell us that at death the Christian goes directly into the presence
of Christ and God. We are in a state of
consciousness. Romans 8: 38 Paul declares that nothing shall separate us
from the love of Christ. Our moral and spiritual
relationship to Christ is continuous.
A
young girl of fifteen was suffering, and was paralyzed on one side, and almost
blind. She heard the doctor say to her
parents that the poor child has seen her best day.
She
replied, “No, Doctor, my best days are yet to come when I shall see the King in
all His beauty”
Departed Loved Ones
Usually
we think of heaven when we think of departed loved ones. It is by thinking of loved ones that heaven
is all the sweeter, knowing that we shall be with them again. This time it will be forever relationship. We wonder if some of our loved ones will be
there and they very well may be. You can
easily imagine how wonderful it will be to see mother, father and your sisters
and brothers forever..
We
are anxious to know if we will be able to recognize our friends and loved ones
in Heaven. Matthew 8: 11 “And I say unto you, that many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob, in the
Christ
himself has a risen and glorified body and we shall have a body like his.
Christ’s body was not inhibited by time, distance or matter. Our body again
will be like unto His.
All
of the children will be there in Heaven because they have never been lost. The scripture says to “take heed that you
despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in Heaven, their
angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven.
Heaven is a Place
Heaven
is a place. John 14:1-2 “I go to prepare a place
for you.”
With
less certainty we may state that the earth itself will be the final home of the
redeemed. The scripture points in this
direction. Matthew 5:5 The meek “shall
inherit the earth”. It is thought by some learned theologians
that the universe as a whole will be our heritage.
The
outward abode of God’s children will be perfectly adapted to their perfected
characters.
Symbols used in scripture are set forth to
further define Heaven. Gold and precious
stones to suggest moral values; white robes to suggest purity; leaves for
healing; water to symbolize life; pillars in a temple to suggest stability of
character; crowns to symbolize victory; light to suggest God’s presence;
and a city to suggest an ideal social
order. Everything which is unclean is excluded.
Personalities in Heaven
Heaven
is also endless growth. Paul declares that we know in part, but then we shall
know as we are known. Corthians 13:12 He prays that Christians may be “strong
to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height,
and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth all knowledge.”
Heaven
is a relief from all the trying and hard conditions of the earthly life. All
sorrow and tears and mourning, all pain and suffering, all darkness and death,
have passed away.
Degrees
There
are number of scriptures that point out that Heaven is a reward. These rewards
are related to our works. All rewards
will not be the same as stated in Luke 19;12-27, Matthew 25:14-30 and Matthew 20:1-16.
There
are degrees in the rewards of the righteous and in the punishment of the
unrighteous. The Judge of all the earth
will do what is right in every instance. Let us have no misgivings as to this
point. The degree of light men posses;
the degree of fidelity to that light; the use of the opportunities and powers
with which they are blessed; the circumstances which condition their lives; in
a word, every fact which has any bearing upon human guilt and responsibility
will be considered. Not all the wicked
will suffer the same degree of punishment.
The doctrine of degrees in rewards and punishments is one of the most clearly revealed in Scripture. In Luke 12: 47-48 we read: “And that servant
who knew his Lord’s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes, but he that knew not, and did things worthy
of stripes, shall be beaten with few strips.
Matthew 11:21-24, Romans 4:15, Romans 2:15 and Romans 2: 12 also
addresses various degrees for the righteous and the unrighteous.
These
degrees are endless. In Mark 3:29 Jesus
declares that the sin “against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness.
It
is evident in scripture that a great many careless Christians will get into
Heaven. They will know that they are getting in by the skin of their teeth. For
these there will be no crown of rejoicing to the degree equal to the rejoicing
of those that have yielded fruits from their many years of service.
Losing
Heaven
“All my possessions for a moment of time”
cried Queen Elizabeth when dying.
“I have provided in the course of my life for
everything except death and now, alas! I am to die unprepared” were the last
words of Cardinal Borgia.
There will be a great many who will not
be there. Some of these are those that say they are going to be in the
Universal redemption would be like the governor of a
state issuing a pardon to every criminal in the penitentiaries and jails. He would do this because he is merciful and
could not bear to have men punished; I do not think that he would be governor
for very long. The scripture states:
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
If the unbeliever would only ask himself “What will it gain a man if he would gain the
whole world and lose his own soul”.Matthew 25:46: “And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life.”
Everyone
will repent, but sadly, they will only repent after this life, when they will
first see hell and repent when it is too late. It is a good thing to be warned
in time.
The Bible
In
this life, you cannot choose which scriptures you will believe and which
scriptures you will not believe. The
Bible is all God’s word. If you throw out one scripture you must throw them all
out. An unbeliever’s feeble reasoning to
read meaning into scripture in support of his unwillingness to believe and have
faith in Christ only evidences his dedication to worldly pursuits. Matthew 7:13,14 “Enter
by the narrow gate: for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to
destruction, and many are those who enter by it. “For the gate is small, and
the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those that find it.”
Philippians
3:18-19 “I tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,
whose end is destruction,” There are
four hundred and forty scriptures pertaining to hell in the Bible. They are from Genesis to Revelation. There are none that believe Annialationism, Restorationism,
or Universalism who will be in Heaven.
Eternal Happiness
I
exhort you to beg God to give you a true faith and the courage to be like
Christ all day, every day, all the way to heaven. To contemplate an eternity in heaven would
seem sufficient to entice one to believe in Christ. Eternal happiness is so agreeable to the
inclinations and desires of mankind, especially when one considers eternal
torment, unbearable pain, total darkness, and the lake of fire and brimstone. It is totally stupid to be other than a
Christian compared to a short life spent in worldly, sinfull pleasure. Matthew 22:13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘bind him
hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Gaining Salvation
Every
person is capable of salvation. There is not a single person alive who is not
capable of salvation. Christ died for
the rabble and those of the lowest and most depraved human existence. It was God’s design and Christ’s sacrifice
that each person have the ability to realize his love for Christ and accept the
mansion that is prepared for him in heaven.
The unforgivable sin
The
most wicked sin in one’s life is the unforgivable sin of not accepting Christ
as your savior. Gambling, lying,
fornication, murder, raping, stealing are all pale by comparison. You can imagine how much God loves His Son and
the agony he felt in offering Him up as recompense for our sins. God sent Him on a mission to be the propitiation
for your sins. Christ lived a sinless
life, which was necessary if He was to be a suitable substitute for our sinful
souls.
The worm that dieth not
Many
believe that “the worm that dieth not” is our memory. We forget things now and then, someone’s
name, where we left or placed something, someone’s birthday; but the time comes,
at the judgment when we shall remember everything and cannot forget anything. Our own conscience and memory will condemn us
at the bar of God if we are not a Christian.
We will condemn ourselves. Sons,
daughters, your memory will bring everything, every sin, every evil thing you
ever did in a long procession before the bar of God. For the Christian, all sins are washed away
by the blood of Christ. Judas will
always remember the kiss that marked out Christ to the soldiers. Herod will never forget ordering the
beheading of John the Baptist. You will remember
all the sins you ever committed. You
will remember malingering the decision for Christ. You will remember the last time you denied
Christ, or you can remember accepting Him as Savior this very hour. Heaven and hell are before you now, which will
you choose? You still have time; which
will you choose? Matthew 10:33 “But whosoever shall deny Me before men, I will deny him
before My Father who is in heaven.”
Remember
your sins now and be saved. Christ loves
you and will wash all your sins away with His blood if you will now confess
your sins and ask His forgiveness. Tell
Christ of your love for Him and your desire to follow Him.
Don’t
put off your repentance until it is too late.
He suffered indescribable torture and suffering, giving his life up for
your sins. You did not and do not
deserve salvation. You cannot earn it.
God is just.
You
must not think that since God is love and is merciful that He will save you in
spite of you disbelief and your sins. God
is a just God. He is just to Christians
and He is just to unbelievers. God did
not save those that drowned in the flood and let the righteous live to face the
deluge. Those wicked Sodomites were not
taken into the presence of God from the fire and the righteous left behind. There are no revivals in Hell. All hope is gone forever. God will say “cut them down, the day of mercy
has ended. Luke
13:3 “I tell you, no, but, unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
There
are those that want to enjoy the mental and physical pleasures just a little
while longer. They will put off just one
more time making the decision, then just one more time ad infinitum. They will give many reasons for delaying but they
do plan to accept Christ at a more reasonable time.
There
are no good reasons to delay even an hour.
There is a true story of one man who put off accepting Christ because
his friends would laugh at him. He would
continue to come to church and obviously he was under conviction but he would
never take the first step when the invitation was given. This continued until he was on his death bed
and could come to church no longer. His
wife asked the preacher to come to their home.
He learned upon arriving at the house that the dying husband did not
know that he was coming. The man stated
that his damnation was sealed and he deserved what he had coming. In a voice growing weaker, and weaker he
would utter again and again that “the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and
I am not saved.” Matthew 25:41 “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which
has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Let
your soul contemplate the harrow and endless torment of hell forever and ever and
evermore. When you’ve been there 10,000
years you’ve only just begun, in fire and brimstone you’ve no fewer days,
forever and ever and evermore. Time will be no more
Are
you almost persuaded to choose Christ and not spend eternity in hell? Take that
first step just now and accept Christ as your savior. Then upon your physical death your soul will immediately
take the form of a heavenly body like that of Christ after his resurrection. Philippians 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in
heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body
of His glory.
I
sat alone with my conscience,
In
a place where time was o’er.
And
we talked of my former living,
In
the land of the evermore.
And
I felt I should have to answer,
The
question it put to me,
And
to face the answer and question,
Throughout
an eternity.
The
ghosts of forgotten actions,
Came
floating before my sight.
And
things that I thought had perished,
Were
alive with a terrible might.
And
the vision of life’s dark record,
Was
an awful thing to face.
Alone
with my conscience sitting,
In
that solemnly silent place.
And
I thought of a far away warning,
Of
suffering that was to be mine.
In
a land that then was the future,
But
now is the present time.
And
I thought of my former thinking,
Of
judgment day to be.
But
sitting alone with my conscience,
Seemed
Judgment enough for me.
And
I wondered if there was a future,
To
this land beyond the grave.
But
no one gave me an answer,
And
no one came to save.
Then
I felt that the future was present,
And
the present would never go by.
For
it was but the thought of a future,
Become
an eternity.
Then
I woke from my timely dreaming,
And
the vision passed away.
And
I knew the far away warning,
Was
a warning of yesterday.
And
I pray that I may not forget it,
In
this land before the grave.
That
I may not suffer in the future,
And
no one come to save.
I
have learned a solemn lesson,
Which
I ought to have known before.
And
which though I learned it dreaming,
I
hope to forget no more.
In
a land where time will cease.
And
I know of the future judgment,
How
dreadful soe’er it be.
Following are a few scriptures of
statements by Christ!
Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.”
Matthew 13:48-50 “and they sat down, and gathered the good fish into
containers, but the bad they threw away.
“So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and
take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the
furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but
the righteous into eternal life.”
Mark 14:21 woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he
had not been born.”
Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no, but, unless you repent you will all
likewise perish.”
Matthew 10:33 “But whosoever shall deny Me before men, I will deny
him before My Father who is in heaven.”
If
you have never accepted Christ as your savior please realize that Romans 3:23. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God.” Romans 3:10 “It is written,
There is none righteous, no not one.”
To
avoid eternal punishment in hell, one should realize that, “It is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this is the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27. The bible
says in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Pray
and tell God that you know you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your
sins and that you understand what your punishment would be without Christ’s
crucifixion and saving grace.
Tell
God that you now love Christ and want to be saved from your sins. Tell God you truly will live for Christ and
serve him for the rest of your life.
If you sincerely prayed this prayer, your sin
debt has been paid and your eternal punishment in hell has been forgiven. “But God commended His love toward us, in
that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8. And in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world
that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him (Jesus)
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13, “As many as received Him (Christ) to them
gave he power to become the sons of God,”. John 1:12.
By Jerry Rogers
800-896-1759