One Man, One Way, One Chance -- 11/16/08

Sunday, November 16, 2008

ONE MAN, ONE WAY, ONE OPPORTUNITY
Genesis 6-8

Of all the books ever written, there is one that stands out from them all. Of all the books ever produced, it has sold by far more than any other. And what book is that? Yes, it is the Bible. But of all the books every written, there is one that is hated more than any other. There is one book that has met with more opposition than any other. What book is that? Yes, it is the Bible. Everyone that hates the Bible does not tear it up or burn it. It has been opposed in many ways. You can go to a major university and take a class called, “The Bible as Literature.” Isn’t that exciting that secular colleges would have a class about the Bible? Not when you find out what they teach about the Bible. They oppose the Bible and demonstrate their hatred for it by doing all they can to make students believe that it is just a book, a book that is no different from any other book. (Actually, many will teach that it is lesser than many other books). Most professors of such classes will not treat kindly a student who believes the Bible is the authoritative Word of God.

Why is the Bible hated and opposed in our world? We could give many reasons, but one of the major reasons is this: The Bible is absolute. In His Word, God makes black and white statements that cannot be misinterpreted by the honest inquirer. For example, the Bible says there is one true God and that all the gods of the nations are idols. The Bible says that all have sinned. There are no exceptions. The Bible condemns adultery, homosexuality, idolatry, and covetousness. We could give many more examples which demonstrate that the one Lord and God is absolute and He expresses Himself absolutely in the Bible.

So what is so inflammatory about absolutes? That view does not fit well into a culture that worships the god of tolerance. I am not talking about the old tolerance, which said, “I may not agree with you, but I believe you have a right to believe what you believe. I will still respect you.” That is not the tolerance that is promoted today. Today’s tolerance says: “I have my beliefs, and you have your beliefs. I cannot say that my belief is better than yours or that yours is better than mine. I cannot claim that one way is right. And I will oppose anyone who claims to know absolute truth.” We could go on and on, but that is the gist of what is called “tolerance” in our modern world. There is only one attitude that is not tolerated, and that is the attitude that claims to have absolute answers for life. Religion will be tolerated, as long as it doesn’t stand for anything. But let a man say there is only one way to the one God, and he will bring upon himself the wrath of those who claim to be tolerant.

This morning we are going to see that even in the early chapters of Genesis God has always been absolute. As we look at the story of Noah, we are going to see one man, one way, and one opportunity. The idea of “one” is not a friend to a society of extreme pluralism and tolerance, but it is God’s way.

Let’s begin by reading Genesis 6-8…

I. One Man – Against a Background of Extreme Wickedness

If we want to see what the world was like in Noah’s day, we can find a very graphic picture in Gen. 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” What a picture. There was great corruption, but that wasn’t even half the story. The outward corruption came from the thoughts of evil hearts. The outward wickedness was only the tip of the iceberg, and that’s the way it always is. Listen again to the words of Jesus in Mark 7:20-23…
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Things were so bad that the heart of God was grieved. We’re talking about the God who created everything, and man was the great climax. Throughout the creation story in Genesis 1, we read the statement, “And God saw that it was good.” Six times God created something and then we are told, “And God saw that it was good.” But after the creation of man, what did God say? “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). But now, after God has seen the corruption that was pouring out of the evil imaginations of man’s heart, He was deeply grieved.

Can anyone blame God for saying, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them”? If we have any question about God’s plan of destruction, it would be this: “But God, why will you destroy the animals, when it is man that has become so wicked?” We may have questions about the destruction of the rest of the living creatures, but we cannot blame God for wiping out the human race. Who can begin to conceive of such ingratitude? How could they not be thankful to the God who made them?

BUT NOAH FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD. Noah is like an oasis in the desert, like a breath of fresh air. Of all the people in the world (and there may have been billions), only Noah is singled out as a righteous man. In the middle of a world where the thoughts of men’s heart were only evil continually, there was one man who walked with God. It was to this man that God revealed His plan. As a result, Mr. Noah became a shipbuilder and a preacher of righteousness. He obeyed God and He proclaimed that God was righteous even in the judgment He was bringing.

One man found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Here’s a question for you: What if there hadn’t been this one man who found favor in God’s eyes? We can be thankful for Noah, through whom the human race was preserved. Not only are we all related to Adam, but we are all related to Noah as well. Because Noah obeyed God and built that ark, our lives were preserved. Praise God for the one man through whom He worked to carry out His plan. This one man Noah stands out, especially when seen against the background of such corruption and wickedness.

Now let’s read about another man who was as unique as Noah. We read about him in Romans 5:12-19. In these eight verses, we will find the word “one” no less than 12 times. As you will see, the contrast is between the one man Adam and the one man Jesus. Read Rom. 5:12-19…
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

I realize that some of that is hard to get hold of, and we won’t try to deal with all of it this morning. For now, focus on verse 19, for that verse summarizes the concept of this entire passage. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Who is the one man who disobeyed? Yes, it was Adam. And because of his disobedience, we were made sinners. But that isn’t the end of the story, for “by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” And who is this one who obeyed God? Yes, it was Jesus. We are told in verse 14 that Adam was a figure (or type) of Jesus. How so? As Adam came into this world with the freedom to obey or disobey God, so Jesus had that same choice. No one else did. We all came into this world as absolute slaves to sin, but not Jesus. And whereas Adam disobeyed, Jesus obeyed His Father in all things.

Can you see a certain parallel between Noah and Jesus? Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord and obeyed his Lord. We can say the same of Jesus, who humbled himself and became obedient even to the point of death (Phil. 2:8). But the parallel goes even deeper than that. Noah was the only man who found favor in the Lord’s eyes and who carried out God’s plan. Noah stands out because of the great wickedness of the world around him. How much more can we say that about Jesus! Consider the billions of people who have lived in this world, from the time of Adam until now. All have been sinners, rebels, the enemies of God… except one, and that one is Jesus.

Think of great heroes of the past. Consider Abraham Lincoln. Americans would recognize him as a great man. But what could Abraham Lincoln do for mankind in light of eternity? Or even go to the Bible. Think of Abraham and Moses, two of the great men of the Old Testament. Abraham was the father of the faithful, the father of many nations. Moses was the great lawgiver, who delivered God’s people from Egypt. But could they do anything to make us right with God? Nothing. Jesus is unique among all men. He and He alone fulfilled the law, living a life that was totally pleasing to God the Father. And He obeyed His Father in all things.

What if there had been no Jesus, no Son of God who came into this world and lived a life of perfect righteousness? What if Jesus had gone the way of other men? We will see the answer to that question more clearly, as we consider the one way…

II. One Way – Against a Background of Coming Judgment

So how did God use Noah? Everyone knows the answer to that question. Nothing could be clearer. God was able to give Noah a plan to preserve mankind and the other creatures He had created. And because Noah was a man who walked with God, God could trust him to carry out the plan. Though it took 120 years to accomplish, Noah was faithful to what the Lord told him to do. With no help, except presumably from his three sons, this man of faith built a boat that was 450 long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

The tendency in our day is to look at the work of Noah as a great engineering feat. That it was. As we mentioned last week, not only did he have little help, but he probably had no power tools. Add to that the fact that he could not devote his full time to building the ark, because he still had to make a living for his family. But the key to understanding Noah is not in what he did, but in why he did it. Noah didn’t build that huge ark to impress people with his ability; he did it because God told him to do it. And God didn’t instruct him to build the ark so that He could show off Noah’s ability. God told Noah to build the ark because He had a specific purpose in mind. And what was that purpose? Yes, so that those inside would not be drowned by the flood.

Had there been no coming judgment, there would have been no ark. It’s that simple. Had there been no ark, we wouldn’t know nearly as much about Noah. The life of Noah stands out brightly not only because he was the one man who found favor in the eyes of the Lord, but also because he provided the one way to escape coming judgment. This is why the ark wasn’t built like a speed boat. It didn’t need to go anywhere, except up with the waves. It had only one purpose, and that was to preserve life in the midst of a once-in-the-history-of-the-world flood. The ark was the one way for people to escape the judgment of God. There was no other way. There was no tree high enough to keep a person out of the flood. There was no mountain which would not be covered with the coming flood waters. There was no secret door through which people could sneak into the ark. No, there was only one door. The ark was the one and only way to escape judgment.

Was the ark successful? Did it do what it was built to do? Indeed, it did. So who escaped the flood? Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives, and representatives of all the other creatures. Of course, there was no problem housing eight people on the ark. On the other hand, many skeptics have questioned the idea of the ark being big enough to house two of each kind of animal. The biggest problem for us is that we have trouble visualizing how big the ark was. Remember, it was 450 x 75 x 45. If it was a box structure with square angles, we could multiply those numbers together and get the number of cubic feet. Perhaps the angles weren’t perfectly square and some space was lost, probably not that much. Let’s suppose he lost 18,000 cubic feet, he would have still had over one and a half million cubic feet to work with. And remember that the Lord told him to make three stories in the ark. Someone has estimated that 522 box cars could have fit inside the ark. God’s plan was perfect, and the ark accomplished exactly what the Lord intended.

Now let’s move down through the centuries to the present day. As Noah was one man who trusted and obeyed God in his day and as Jesus was the one man who has fully obeyed God, does the ark have a parallel as well. Noah built the ark for the saving of his house (Heb. 11:7) and saved the animals as well. He was used of God to preserve his family and ultimately us as well. The instrument was the ark. But remember, as Noah is seen best against a wicked generation, Jesus is seen best against the wickedness of all mankind. In the same way, the ark is seen most clearly when it is viewed in light of the coming judgment. Greater vessels have been built, but none has ever accomplished what the ark accomplished.

Now let me ask you a question: Is there another judgment coming? Will the Lord flood the world again? No, He will not. However, last week we closed our study with the reading of II Peter 3. Is there a coming judgment? How will God judge the world? By fire. Many scoff at the idea, just as the people of Noah’s day must have laughed while Noah built the ark. Nevertheless, the judgment is coming. Is there “an ark of safety” in light of the judgment to come? If so, what is it? The only safety is in Jesus. Jesus is the one man who is fully righteous before God, and Jesus is the one way by which we must escape the coming judgment.

In our day of extreme tolerance, there is no statement so offensive as Jesus’ words in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” And the more “enlightened” the crowd that hears those words, the more violent will be reaction. And mark my words, it is not going to get any better. It is possible that some of us may have to die because we cling to that truth and proclaim it to a world that is under the wrath of God. There are some things we believe about which we are not absolutely sure. There are some things we must be willing to die for, and this is one of them. No one will ever come to the Father, no one will ever escape the judgment, no one will ever find real life except through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way; Jesus is the only way.

However, it is not enough to say that in our day. We have to be much more specific than that. Why? Because Jesus is not seen against the background of coming judgment. Let me explain briefly what I mean. Jerry says that he believes in Jesus. He believes he is all right and that some day he will be in heaven. But then you ask him, “So what do you believe about Jesus?” “He’s the greatest man who ever lived.” “That’s absolutely correct. And what makes him so great?” “We all know that. Look at His great teachings. And look at the miracles He did. There was no one like Jesus.” “Jerry, do you have a relationship with Jesus?” “Well, yes, I would say that I do. I pray to Him every day.” “And how did you come into this relationship with Jesus?” “I just love Him with all my heart. I believe in Him. I try to learn everything I can about Him.”

So does Jerry have a relationship with Jesus? No, he does not, and let me tell you why. Jerry likes the teaching and miracle-working power of Jesus, but he does not see Jesus against the background of coming judgment. Though Jerry says he loves Jesus, he is not desperate for Jesus. You see, Jerry doesn’t believe that he himself is that bad. Of course, he will admit that he has done many things wrong, but he isn’t as bad as some people. He wouldn’t go so far as to say that all his deeds are like filthy rags and that he was dead in his sins, under the wrath of God. Jerry doesn’t want any part of that philosophy. And because he hasn’t seen his sin and the judgment of God, he isn’t much concerned with Jesus taking upon Himself the wrath of God when He went to the cross. He would just as soon avoid that kind of talk.

That is why we have to be specific, when we talk about Jesus being the only way. Jesus is the one man, and His crucifixion and resurrection is the one way. It isn’t just any Jesus who is the only way to the Father. It is only the Jesus of the Bible, the Christ who “also hath once suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,” (I Pet. 3:18), the One whom the Father was pleased to crush (Is. 53:10), the One whom the Father sent “to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10). Any other Jesus is powerless to save us from the wrath of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son -- Jesus Christ of Nazareth, “who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (I Pet. 2:24), whose body was broken and whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:26-28), who was rich but became poor for our sakes, that through His poverty we might be rich (II Cor. 8:9)… That is the Son God gave that whosoever believes might not perish, but have everlasting life. There is no life in any other Jesus. And if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than this, let him be accursed from God.

There is only way, and that way is through the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ. To the Jews He is a stumblingblock; to the pagans His death and resurrection is foolishness; but to us who are called He is Christ the wisdom of God and the power of God (I Cor. 1:23-24). Because He is the crucified Lord who died and rose to save us from the wrath of God and the bondage of our sins, we respond to Him in repentance and faith. We gladly acknowledge that we have nothing good in ourselves whereby we may claim God’s mercy and grace. We forsake ourselves and throw ourselves on Jesus and Jesus alone. Even if God kills us, we will trust Him (Job 13:15).

As there was one door into the ark, so there is only one door into the kingdom of God, and that door is none other than Jesus and Him crucified. Jesus Himself said in John 10:7-9… “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." Praise God for Jesus, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, the open door into the presence of God.

This is strong medicine. True, but it is the only cure for sinners who are corrupt to the core, who are dead in their trespasses and sins. A Jesus placebo can do nothing for anyone. It has to be the real thing, the real Jesus. No one will ever know that Jesus until his eyes are opened to why Jesus died. If righteousness can come in other way than through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then our Lord died in vain (Gal. 2:21).

III. One Opportunity – Against a Background of “Life as Usual”

Now let me ask you a question. What do you think of God wiping out millions and likely even billions of people in the flood? Isn’t that a picture of a cruel God? Shouldn’t that make us mad and defiant against Him? Why not? Because He gave the people a chance. They had opportunity to respond to the one man who provided the one way, prescribed by the one God who created them. There was plenty of room on the ark for those who could have responded. God opened the door and God closed the door, but not before Noah, his family, and all the animals came in. The elephants and kangaroos would have let any number of repentant sinners take cuts in the line.

This is where we have to remember that the building of the ark required lots of time, even 120 years. We talked about this last week. They didn’t have to wonder why Noah was building that huge boat. All they had to do was ask him, and the man who walked with God would have explained how God was going to send a flood of judgment and how He was perfectly right in doing so. I imagine many asked and many were blessed with that message of truth. But the record demonstrates clearly that not a single person outside Noah’s own family responded in repentance and faith. Praise God that Noah was able to take his own family into the ark! That is no small thing.

Think of it for just a minute. Noah walked with God. Where did he walk? Where did he live? He lived among the people, as he walked with God. If he wasn’t well known before the age of 480, he was well known from the time he was 500 to the time he was 600. By then the ark was beginning to grow and could not be hidden, even if he had wanted to hide it. He walked with God and preached the righteousness of God. I am simply emphasizing that the world had ample opportunity to know the truth and to respond to it. God didn’t destroy a world of innocent people; He destroyed a world of God-defiant rebels.

They had plenty of opportunity, but it was only one opportunity. Once the door was shut, the window of opportunity was gone. It was a long window of opportunity, spanning 120 years, but it had an end. Once the door was shut, it did no good to beat on the side of the ark. When the flood waters began to rise, no cry was desperate enough to cause Noah to open the door. There was only one opportunity, and it ended when God closed the door.

Jesus is the one man who is righteous and provides righteousness for sinners. Jesus is the one and only way into the presence of the Father, saving all those who come to Him in repentance and faith. What an opportunity for one and all. But we must understand that it is only one opportunity, and it will end very soon. The opportunity for man in Noah’s day ended with God shutting the door. How will the opportunity end in our day? In exactly the same way. When God shuts the door of opportunity, no one will be able to open it again.

So how will God close the door of opportunity to come to Jesus in repentance and faith? In one of two ways. For many, the door will be closed by death. As long as there is life in a person, we can hold out hope, but the scripture says that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). There will be no second chance after you die. The person who has not responded in repentance to the one man Jesus, who is the only way into the Father’s presence, will hear Jesus say, “I never knew you; depart from me, ye who work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). Just as there were no exceptions in Noah’s day, so there will be no exceptions for those who die today. Death slams the door on the opportunity to come to the cross of Jesus Christ.

There is another way God will close the door. Jesus is coming again. We often talk about how this truth is our great hope. “Our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20), “Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:13-14). And then we have that wonderful passage in I Thes. 4:13-17…
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Did you catch that? We who are alive and remaining in this world will be caught up together with those saints who have died to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Praise God! Paul even says in the next verse, “Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.” Let’s suppose that I die next week. God did not shut the door of opportunity for me; I responded to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. But I died. Don’t despair. When the Lord comes to get His own, I will be one of those who rise first. Take comfort in that truth.

However, that isn’t the end of the story. Listen to Rev. 1:7, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Understand that when Jesus comes back to this earth, everyone is not going to be glad to see Him. Many who don’t truly know Christ think they will be glad when Jesus comes, but they won’t. It was the same in the days of the prophets. Listen to Amos 5:17-20…
And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Many of the people desired the day of the Lord, but Amos told them the day of the Lord would not be light for them, but darkness. In the same way, many think they are ready to meet Jesus. Remember that many will say to Him in that day, “Lord, Lord,” but Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from me.”

Surely people will understand that the time is short, that Jesus could come back or they could die any day. Because the stakes are so high, everyone should be eager to get right with God. That only makes sense. This is where the Word of God reveals something we need to learn. Let’s read this truth in Luke 17:26-27… (also Mt. 24:37-38)
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

I find this very interesting. We have already read in Genesis 6 about how wicked the people were, about how even their hearts were full of evil imaginations continually. But when we read the account here, there is nothing about such wickedness. Rather, the emphasis is upon the tasks of daily life. They ate, drank, and got married unto the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. So why were they destroyed? Was it because they were wicked? Yes, and no. Their greatest wickedness lies in the fact that they refused to turn from their sin in repentance and trust God enough to enter the ark. No matter what they had done, they could still come into the ark, but not if they continued with their daily routines, as if judgment would never come.

What a powerful message for our day. The key isn’t how bad a person is, for every person born into this world is so wicked that he is dead in his sins, and even his best deeds are like filthy rags. A person’s condemnation is not in how bad his sin is, but in his unwillingness to turn to the light. He will throw away his opportunity because he will not forsake the routine things of life long enough to seek God with all his heart.

Isn’t that what we see today? Many moral people will go to hell because they are so wrapped up in the things of this life that they are blinded to eternal truth. They are eating, drinking, buying a house, getting married, raising their children, and ignoring the coming judgment and God’s remedy. People live like they will continue to live in a world that will go on forever.

We stopped reading in verse 27, but now let’s go ahead and read Luke 17:28-30…
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

It was the same with Lot. Lot lived in the notoriously wicked city of Sodom. Even the world knows the name Sodom and how it is associated with unspeakable evil. Nevertheless, Jesus says nothing about its great corruption. Rather, He tells how they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. And what happened to them? God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. As bad as their sin was, it wasn’t beyond God’s forgiveness. But once the opportunity was gone, there was no remedy. They lived as if the door of opportunity would be open forever, but it was slammed shut quickly and finally.

There is only one opportunity, and that opportunity must be seen against the danger of living “life as usual.” Surely it is time to look not on those things which we can see, for they are temporary, but rather on the things which we cannot see, for they are eternal (II Cor. 4:18).

Conclusion

I know that we have spoken a great deal about judgment this morning. There is a reason. You cannot honestly look at the story of Noah and not emphasize judgment. That is the background of the whole story. Judgment was real in Noah’s day, and it is just as real today. Jesus said, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). Jesus is not talking about Satan, but about God Himself, who will assign lost people to the hell which He made for the devil and his angels. It is popular in our day to decide hell is not real or that hell is nothing more than annihilation, but don’t be deceived. Hell is as bad as heaven is good.

Here is the good news – no one has to go there. Jesus came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10). Jesus died and rose that we might share in the glory of the God who created this universe. He is the way, the sure way, the way that will never fail. To know Him is life eternal; to miss Him is everlasting torment.

My purpose is not to scare anyone into heaven. I don’t believe that is possible. Fear of hell is a good motivator to start with, but in and of itself, it is not enough. But when we turn to Jesus, who took hell upon Himself, then we discover what real life is. As God draws us, we begin to see that there is life in Jesus that we know nothing about, that we have rebelled against the God who deserves the devotion of all our being.

Let’s close with this…

ONLY ONE WAY

The ark was a rockin’
And the people were knockin’
And the waters were risin’ high;
But they couldn’t come in
Because of their sin…
The people were about to die.

Except that one man
Who certainly can
Enter the ark by God designed;
Yes, Noah will live
And new life will give
To the eight by the ark confined.

So a picture we find
Of God’s mercy so kind
In the ark which had but one door;
Yes, Jesus alone
For sin did atone
Man’s fallen soul to restore.

I am the way,
Jesus did say,
The truth and the life divine;
By no other name
A sinner e’er came
God’s gracious salvation to find.

You must enter the door
And do it before
God’s mercy has come to an end;
For nothing is worse
Than the sting of the curse
For those who die in their sin.

Abruptly it ends,
But a message it sends,
This short little poem of mine;
Just as a life
Will end up in strife,
Unless the Savior it find.

We have a great fear
That you will not hear
And turn from the bondage of sin;
So lend us your ear,
Draw ever so near,
And we’ll gladly tell it again… (Repeat through “Unless the Savior it find.”)