Everyone Goes to Heaven

Me

Conversations that you don’t look forward to having

Dentist, Puberty, Confrontation

Sermons don’t look forward to preaching

Money, Hell

Underlying belief that Everyone Goes to Heaven, because how could a loving God send anyone to Hell

Recap Series

Transition: I know I’m not alone in hearing this belief because statistics show it.

We

Recent Barna poll

74% of all people surveyed believe in some form of Heaven

40% of all people surveyed believe in some form of Hell

Why should we take notice of this?

If I were the enemy, one of the best tactics I could use would be to convince you that there is no place such as Hell

If there is no hell, then there is no consequence to rejecting Jesus

If there is no hell, then there is no motivation to share Jesus

Transition: Fortunately for us, we don’t have to guess about hell, because Jesus actually speaks a lot about it.

God

Matthew 13:24–30 NLT

24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. 27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “ ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. 29 “ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’ ”

Jesus had just spoke about the parable of the soils

These parables are both related because they both have to do with sowing

In some versions, instead of weeds you will see the word “tares” (bearded darnel)

A tare looks almost exactly like wheat and cannot be distinguished from it until it ripens.

Things that look very much like wheat but when they actually ripen… (fake Christianity)

Matthew 13:36–43 NLT

36 Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” 37 Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. 39 The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. 40 “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

Listen to the words Jesus uses here

burned, fiery furnace, weeping and gnashing of teeth

Contrast that with what happens to the good seed

This isn’t all that Jesus says about this place we call hell

Mark 9:43–48 NLT

43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’

Matthew 25:31–33 NLT

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

Matthew 25:41–46 NLT

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

It doesn’t take us long to see that Jesus clearly believed in a place of eternal torment and separation from God

But many of us have trouble reconciling how a good God could send anyone to hell

Transition: I believe that Jesus is trying to teach us some things that we all need to be reminded of.

You

We often have a hard time believing that our actions have consequences

This is how defense lawyers make a living

Sin has consequences

A holy God cannot continue to be holy in the presence of sin

Romans 6:23 NLT

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

We live in a generation that has trouble recognizing that our actions have consequences

Problem Cancel Culture

Sin

A willful transgression of a known law of God

“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.”

Sin has consequences and the wages of sin is death

Hell is not a place where God sends us…it is our default destination

Romans 3:23–26 NLT

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

God is not sending us to hell, he is providing an opportunity to save us from it.

And if the church could get this right, think of the hope it would bring to the world

The existence of Hell is a demonstration of the goodness of God’s character

What makes God good

The guarantee that all wrongs will be righted one day and that justice will be done

Revelation 20:10–15 NLT

10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

One day justice will be done

Transition: If you are here today and your a follower of Christ, then you have an awesome responsibility

We

Challenge (for Christians)

Who do you know and love that isn’t following Jesus Christ?

Do you see them as someone in danger of torment and eternal separation from God?

What steps are you taking to try to draw them closer to Jesus?

Challenge (for those not following Christ)

How different would your life look it you went beyond living day to day and lived your life with a true eternal perspective?