Invitation From the Throne
After this I looked and, behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. (Revelation 4:1-2)
I want to talk about the predicament of man and a heavenly invitation. Man today is in an awful predicament. First of all, you are standing and beneath you is a fiery hell and so, consider the first problem.
Because we are born in sin, and because we are the offspring of Adam, because we ourselves have sinned and come short of the glory of God, we are all, without salvation, potential residents of hell. There are those who have not yet died who say that there is not hell. But there is one who did die and He went to hell and preached (1st Peter 3: 19). But He returned to earth and testified about it, and I’m willing to take His word for it, in finding out whether or not there is a hell.
Hell and heaven are not menu, like in a cafeteria, in which you can take a look at and decide whether you want this or that. Heaven and hell are true and real. You must be saved to escape hell and enter heaven. Hell is a place, a real place. It is logical that God who is a God of fairness would prepare a place for those who don’t wish to be with Him in heaven. Therefore He has made it so that anyone who willfully and knowingly, eternally wishes not to live with God will get to live apart from Him in hell. God, in His infinite fairness, has prepared this alternative.
AIN’T NO AIR CONDITIONING IN HELL!
I have had many people tell me that you can go to hell. But I wish I had the strength and power sufficient to convince every man and woman to consider the alternative as it is, not as the worshipers of hell and the devil glamorized. So don’t get carried away with all those barbershop and beauty shop discussions. Don’t get so loose with the Scriptures that you begin to say, “Well. I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
There are those of you who would not dare to live in a rooming house; you would think it awful if you only had money enough to rent a single room. There are those of you who have a master bedroom, and two or three more bedrooms for spares and nobody living in the house but you and you spouse. Many of you have a family room and den and all the other conveniences. If it would take all of that for you to be happy on this earth, you’d better not go the hell.
And now I want to remind you that you ought to consider going to hell as a bad alternative. There is no air-conditioning in hell. After the temperature has soared above 400 degrees for one thousand years there’ll still be no letup in sight. So if heat bothers you, you’d better not go the hell. Because the Bible says it’s a place of unthinkable heat. The heat there will never diminish.
I once took a trip to Jamaica; it was one hundred and three in the shade. At night it was still up around ninety. Heat bothers me, I can’t stand to get to hot. In Jamaica I was able to go into an air-conditioned lobby, to an air-conditioned room, to an air-conditioned car and an air-conditioned restaurant to eat. Therefore I was able to tolerate the heat outside. But in Hell, there are no air-conditioned facilities. It is a place of heat and unbearable misery.
Even if I thought I could tolerate the heat, I’d have to deal with this fact: Would I dare the risk of going to a place where God is not? I don’t wish to wake up any time or place without the presence of God. It is a place where there is no love of God. The love of God does not dwell in Hell.
God’s love is the explanation for my existence. God’s love is the explanation for my welfare. It’s the love of God that sustains me. So to be shut off not for one hour, not for one day, not for one year, but for eternity in a place where there is no grace of God would be intolerable. The thought that in hell there is no love of God, there is no such thing as God having mercy on me, is beyond understanding. Just the thought of it is more than I can bear. I don’t want to go there!
REAL SOULS IN A REAL PLACE:
Let me assure you that there are souls in Hell. There is a counterfeit doctrine going around that the grave is hell, and death itself brings to an end of all life, and when you die your dead. I would also say if you believe this you may as well get up and go your own way right now. But if you believe what the Bible says, then you should listen.
The scripture tells us when the rich man in Luke 16 died, in hell he lifted up his eyes. Now he could see the flames. He could remember when he was on earth. He saw Lazarus on Abraham’s bosom. He was so alive that he was praying in hell. But prayers prayed in hell are prayers prayed to late.
You may be where you are right now in comfort and convenience. Your job may be secure. Your payments may be under control. But I ask you right now, if death should strike you down, would you lift your eyes in hell? You might say, “I’m pretty good”; goodness is not what keeps one from hell. All of man’s goodness put together can’t keep anyone from hell. There’s only one thing that condemns a person to hell, and that is his or her failure to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The Bible reveals that an unbeliever may pray using any other name, but God does not hear or answer that prayer. “In Jesus name,” that’s the prayer of faith. If the Muslim asks God to save him and use’s Jesus name, God will save him. If a Shinto priest uses that name, God will save him. If a Jew wants to reach God, then Jesus name is the passport to God hearing his prayer.
But in a world of enlightenment, a world that’s got the Bible, if a man prays but denies Jesus is the Christ, even if he falls down on his knees and tries to get to the Father denying that Jesus is the Christ, God will not hear him. You who are slaying time around waiting for something special to happen, better get your act together, because, “There is no other name, under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved—that name is Jesus. He is the only way to get to heaven and keep out of hell.
Somebody would say, you mean all these other folks are lost? “I mean the Bible says that all these other folks are already lost.” “He that believeth not shall be condemned,” (Mark 16:16).
Somebody might ask, “what if they are sincere?” The prophets of Baal sincerely called upon their god. These prophets were devout prophets of Baal. They called on Baal all day long. But the fire didn’t fall.
When you pray it’s not ceremony, it’s not just mouthing pious words. When you pray you want something to fall. You want fire to fall. You want the goalpost to move. You wants the nets to get full. You want that blessed assurance that God has heard your prayer. That’s why you need to pray God’s appointed way. (In Jesus name).
Has He not declared that those who keep the commandment shall not go to hell? He hasn’t declared that those who are kind to strangers shall not go to hell. There’s only one condition, and that’s when you accept the name of Jesus as your key to entrance.
THE COMPANY IN HELL! ~~Man faces some very bad prospects.
It is impossible to stay where we are, because we’re surrounded by an unfriendly world.
This world that is running out of everything. They’re predicting that we will run out of gas, we’ll run out of oil, we’ll run out of pure-water, and we’ll run out of pure-air. There’re saying our great grandchildren will have to wear mask every day.
If muggers don’t get you, and robbers don’t get you, then sickness and sorrow will. This is an unfriendly world. If you don’t invite trouble, trouble will knock on you door. If all these other things don’t get you, then time itself will get you. Time will pluck out your teeth, time will dim you eyes, time will put a hump in your back, and time will put rheumatism in your legs. It’ll finally put you in you grave.
Our path needs to be turned around. Down is the wrong direction. To go down is to end in misery. When you go to hell, you are in the home of fallen angels. When you go to hell, your neighbors are demons. When you go to hell, sinners are you companions. When you go to hell there no such thing as excellence, but rather malice an envy and strife. Violence and misery is what you’ll experience. There’s no such thing as decency and righteousness in hell. Because God’s Son of righteousness does not dwell in hell.
THERE’S A BETTER DISTINATION!!
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away." (Psalm 39:4) I am here on earth for just a little while. (Psalm 119:9)
Listen close and hear these words, there’s a better destination than hell. It’s a place called heaven. There’s a gospel song called, “This World is Not My Home,” I’m choosing to make heaven my home. I’m going to a place that has no death, no sickness, and no sorrow. Heaven is my destination. Heaven is my aim. I aim to see my Savior face to face.
I want to talk about the predicament of man and a heavenly invitation. Man today is in an awful predicament. First of all, you are standing and beneath you is a fiery hell and so, consider the first problem.
Because we are born in sin, and because we are the offspring of Adam, because we ourselves have sinned and come short of the glory of God, we are all, without salvation, potential residents of hell. There are those who have not yet died who say that there is not hell. But there is one who did die and He went to hell and preached (1st Peter 3: 19). But He returned to earth and testified about it, and I’m willing to take His word for it, in finding out whether or not there is a hell.
Hell and heaven are not menu, like in a cafeteria, in which you can take a look at and decide whether you want this or that. Heaven and hell are true and real. You must be saved to escape hell and enter heaven. Hell is a place, a real place. It is logical that God who is a God of fairness would prepare a place for those who don’t wish to be with Him in heaven. Therefore He has made it so that anyone who willfully and knowingly, eternally wishes not to live with God will get to live apart from Him in hell. God, in His infinite fairness, has prepared this alternative.
AIN’T NO AIR CONDITIONING IN HELL!
I have had many people tell me that you can go to hell. But I wish I had the strength and power sufficient to convince every man and woman to consider the alternative as it is, not as the worshipers of hell and the devil glamorized. So don’t get carried away with all those barbershop and beauty shop discussions. Don’t get so loose with the Scriptures that you begin to say, “Well. I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
There are those of you who would not dare to live in a rooming house; you would think it awful if you only had money enough to rent a single room. There are those of you who have a master bedroom, and two or three more bedrooms for spares and nobody living in the house but you and you spouse. Many of you have a family room and den and all the other conveniences. If it would take all of that for you to be happy on this earth, you’d better not go the hell.
And now I want to remind you that you ought to consider going to hell as a bad alternative. There is no air-conditioning in hell. After the temperature has soared above 400 degrees for one thousand years there’ll still be no letup in sight. So if heat bothers you, you’d better not go the hell. Because the Bible says it’s a place of unthinkable heat. The heat there will never diminish.
I once took a trip to Jamaica; it was one hundred and three in the shade. At night it was still up around ninety. Heat bothers me, I can’t stand to get to hot. In Jamaica I was able to go into an air-conditioned lobby, to an air-conditioned room, to an air-conditioned car and an air-conditioned restaurant to eat. Therefore I was able to tolerate the heat outside. But in Hell, there are no air-conditioned facilities. It is a place of heat and unbearable misery.
Even if I thought I could tolerate the heat, I’d have to deal with this fact: Would I dare the risk of going to a place where God is not? I don’t wish to wake up any time or place without the presence of God. It is a place where there is no love of God. The love of God does not dwell in Hell.
God’s love is the explanation for my existence. God’s love is the explanation for my welfare. It’s the love of God that sustains me. So to be shut off not for one hour, not for one day, not for one year, but for eternity in a place where there is no grace of God would be intolerable. The thought that in hell there is no love of God, there is no such thing as God having mercy on me, is beyond understanding. Just the thought of it is more than I can bear. I don’t want to go there!
REAL SOULS IN A REAL PLACE:
Let me assure you that there are souls in Hell. There is a counterfeit doctrine going around that the grave is hell, and death itself brings to an end of all life, and when you die your dead. I would also say if you believe this you may as well get up and go your own way right now. But if you believe what the Bible says, then you should listen.
The scripture tells us when the rich man in Luke 16 died, in hell he lifted up his eyes. Now he could see the flames. He could remember when he was on earth. He saw Lazarus on Abraham’s bosom. He was so alive that he was praying in hell. But prayers prayed in hell are prayers prayed to late.
You may be where you are right now in comfort and convenience. Your job may be secure. Your payments may be under control. But I ask you right now, if death should strike you down, would you lift your eyes in hell? You might say, “I’m pretty good”; goodness is not what keeps one from hell. All of man’s goodness put together can’t keep anyone from hell. There’s only one thing that condemns a person to hell, and that is his or her failure to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The Bible reveals that an unbeliever may pray using any other name, but God does not hear or answer that prayer. “In Jesus name,” that’s the prayer of faith. If the Muslim asks God to save him and use’s Jesus name, God will save him. If a Shinto priest uses that name, God will save him. If a Jew wants to reach God, then Jesus name is the passport to God hearing his prayer.
But in a world of enlightenment, a world that’s got the Bible, if a man prays but denies Jesus is the Christ, even if he falls down on his knees and tries to get to the Father denying that Jesus is the Christ, God will not hear him. You who are slaying time around waiting for something special to happen, better get your act together, because, “There is no other name, under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved—that name is Jesus. He is the only way to get to heaven and keep out of hell.
Somebody would say, you mean all these other folks are lost? “I mean the Bible says that all these other folks are already lost.” “He that believeth not shall be condemned,” (Mark 16:16).
Somebody might ask, “what if they are sincere?” The prophets of Baal sincerely called upon their god. These prophets were devout prophets of Baal. They called on Baal all day long. But the fire didn’t fall.
When you pray it’s not ceremony, it’s not just mouthing pious words. When you pray you want something to fall. You want fire to fall. You want the goalpost to move. You wants the nets to get full. You want that blessed assurance that God has heard your prayer. That’s why you need to pray God’s appointed way. (In Jesus name).
Has He not declared that those who keep the commandment shall not go to hell? He hasn’t declared that those who are kind to strangers shall not go to hell. There’s only one condition, and that’s when you accept the name of Jesus as your key to entrance.
THE COMPANY IN HELL! ~~Man faces some very bad prospects.
It is impossible to stay where we are, because we’re surrounded by an unfriendly world.
This world that is running out of everything. They’re predicting that we will run out of gas, we’ll run out of oil, we’ll run out of pure-water, and we’ll run out of pure-air. There’re saying our great grandchildren will have to wear mask every day.
If muggers don’t get you, and robbers don’t get you, then sickness and sorrow will. This is an unfriendly world. If you don’t invite trouble, trouble will knock on you door. If all these other things don’t get you, then time itself will get you. Time will pluck out your teeth, time will dim you eyes, time will put a hump in your back, and time will put rheumatism in your legs. It’ll finally put you in you grave.
Our path needs to be turned around. Down is the wrong direction. To go down is to end in misery. When you go to hell, you are in the home of fallen angels. When you go to hell, your neighbors are demons. When you go to hell, sinners are you companions. When you go to hell there no such thing as excellence, but rather malice an envy and strife. Violence and misery is what you’ll experience. There’s no such thing as decency and righteousness in hell. Because God’s Son of righteousness does not dwell in hell.
THERE’S A BETTER DISTINATION!!
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away." (Psalm 39:4) I am here on earth for just a little while. (Psalm 119:9)
Listen close and hear these words, there’s a better destination than hell. It’s a place called heaven. There’s a gospel song called, “This World is Not My Home,” I’m choosing to make heaven my home. I’m going to a place that has no death, no sickness, and no sorrow. Heaven is my destination. Heaven is my aim. I aim to see my Savior face to face.
Every sinner on earth will face God in angry judgment. Every backslider will have to face God by himself. For it’s in God’s accounting book: Every sin, every dirty deed, every transgression, and everything you should have done but didn’t, it’s all in the book.
If you stand before Him by yourself, God will throw the book at you. He’ll say, “Depart from me, ye cursed, I know you not’ (Matt: 25: 41)
John said…”I looked and, behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show thee things which must be here after;” (Revelation 4:1)
So there it is, true followers, there it is –an open door and I hear Jesus saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I hear Jesus say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.:
Through that open door I hear my Savior say, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
From His open door He promises that His Father will hear prayers prayed in His name.
From that open door I shall receive mercy, I shall receive grace, I shall receive forgiveness, and finally I shall receive eternal life all courtesy of my beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Thank you Father. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit who is my teacher and I praise the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord of Lord and King of Kings, amen.
If you stand before Him by yourself, God will throw the book at you. He’ll say, “Depart from me, ye cursed, I know you not’ (Matt: 25: 41)
John said…”I looked and, behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show thee things which must be here after;” (Revelation 4:1)
So there it is, true followers, there it is –an open door and I hear Jesus saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I hear Jesus say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.:
Through that open door I hear my Savior say, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."
From His open door He promises that His Father will hear prayers prayed in His name.
From that open door I shall receive mercy, I shall receive grace, I shall receive forgiveness, and finally I shall receive eternal life all courtesy of my beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Thank you Father. Thank you for Your Holy Spirit who is my teacher and I praise the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord of Lord and King of Kings, amen.
posted by Fisherman For Christ at 9/04/2006 09:37:00 PM
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