How to Go To Hell With A Smile

How to Go To Hell…

With a Smile on your Face!

Intro

A Message of warning tonight for everyone from the visitor to those in leadership…listen up!  As I have said in the past my job is to give you the Word of God; not to entertain, or make you feel good, and that is what I plan to do tonight. 

Bicycle Bob… Proper Authorities

The reality of Hell

Overconfidence

Luke 13:23-29 (The Message) "A bystander said, “Master, will only a few be saved?” He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’ “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me.’ “That’s when you’ll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You’ll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God’s kingdom. You’ll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God’s kingdom. And all the time you’ll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened."

Luke 13:23-29 (NKJV) "Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God."

“Ate and drank in your presence…”  Whole bunch of people like to hang around the cross, and the things of God cuz they enjoy the company.  Nice people, good friendships, makes you feel good about yourself… BUT IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU! 

“Narrow gate”  all paths do not lead to God.  There is one way, and it is narrow, no shortcuts,  no detours, no rest stops!  One way!

Matthew 7:18-23 (NLT) "A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced. “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.’"

Who is that describing?  We prophesied, we cast out demons…all signs of what we would say are radically saved Christians.

Here were people who knew the truth.  They were expecting to go to Heaven, but instead were cast into Hell forever. 

Messing around with withcraft, horoscopes, disfiguring your temples, these are not the things that reflect God in you.

A healthy dose of fear

Close your eyes imagine as you arrive expecting reward and paradise…

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NLT) "But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you…”"

Short circuited life

My intention tonight is not to make those that are saved begin to question it, but simply to Wake you up!  Some are messing around with sin that will overtake you.

Some are living in continued rebellion against what they know is God’s will.

Some are just sleeping giants waiting for an invitation from the Lord to live their calling, and it will never come!  Wake Up!  Start fighting back or you risk disqualification!

A sign that something may be wrong…

Your prayers are going unanswered.

You are constantly depressed

You are sick all the time.

Your sin keeps overtaking you, and you can’t break free.

James 4:3-10 (NLT) "And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful? He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor."

Altar/Summary

Those who think they are ok…

1 Corinthians 10:12 (NKJV) "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

Matthew 21:28-31 (NKJV) "“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you."

Romans 8:14 (NLT) "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."

The sin of presumption upon God’s grace.

What has the Lord gifted you with?  Called you to?

What has the Lord called you out of?