Good, thank you. Okay, you have a bulletin. I'd like for you to get your pencil or pen out, and I would like for you to look at the scripture text, those two verses, and this is just a small part of a very long sermon. The sermon is called Sermon on the Mount. Okay, so we're looking at just this small section from this sermon that Jesus preached. Now, when we read it, it says, enter ye in at the, what's the next word? Straight, okay, that's Old English. What does it mean to you? restricted. So circle the word straight and draw a little line up and put restricted. Okay, so enter ye in at this restricted gate. Now don't think of your yard gate here. Okay. This simply means an entrance. Write the word entrance. But then it says for wide is the gate or wide is the entrance and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in there at. So we know that there are two, the word used is gates, but we know there are two entrances. Okay. Verse 14, because again, straight is the gate or again, restricted is this entrance and narrow is the way. And when we think of way, think of a roadway. which leadeth unto life and what? Few there be that find it. So we know that there's two entrances and we know there's two roadways. The entrance of one of the narrow road is restricted. The wide road is unrestricted. Jesus is giving throughout this sermon a comparison between what the Bible says and what this compromised religion was saying. And so Jesus was, and by the way, very kindly, very nicely, he was confronting this false teaching. And the people were shocked. The people heard what Jesus was saying and they were shocked at the clarity of what he was saying, the authority of how he was saying it, and how practical it was. And I want to look at some very simple thoughts of heaven and hell. But before we even get started, let me ask you, once we've kind of thought through these two verses 13 and 14, is Christ clear? Is this a clear understanding for us? Yes or no? Yes, okay. Then the other question is, do we agree with him? Okay. Let me give you some thoughts about heaven and hell. Number one, Christ is very serious and clear about both heaven and hell. It is very clear in scripture, by the way. Heaven and hell are not like the comic strips. or some of the funny stories of golfers or attorneys. And we have heard about golfers and attorneys and even pastors and some little joke about heaven. Sadly, that's not what, or hell. And sadly, that's not a biblical concept to make light of this very serious subject. The term hell is often used in curses. along with some other words. And that indicates because we use such a sober subject in a curse, it indicates we've allowed the reality of hell to be dulled in our thinking. It doesn't have the meaning that Christ is talking about here. Without being literal about heaven or hell, we waste a biblical, logical reality and the description that God requires of both places. So when Christ is teaching and as we look at God's word, it's very serious about this subject and I'll say subjects of both heaven and hell. Number two. Heaven and hell must live or fall together in reality. You cannot have one without the other. They are both real places. They are theologically connected through some very specific verbiage. They are extreme opposites, and yet they cannot be compared, just as God cannot be compared to Satan. It is too much of a warp to even do the comparison. A possible reason that there is more mention of hell in the Bible than heaven is that it is more understandable. Now I think most of us would think there'd be more about heaven in the Bible than hell, but that's not true. We understand torment. We, some of us have had it, whether it's been some sickness or accident or some kind of relationship that's broken. Someone maybe about, I don't know, three o'clock this morning, four o'clock, whenever it was, text and said they're having a very difficult night. Right? You've had one of those. We understand a little bit of that kind of pain. We don't understand well what it's like to be sinless. We have never met anybody who is sinless. We are not even close to it. And even sometimes we say, well, I can't be used by God because I'm so full of sin. God knows that by the way. And he still loves you and wants to use you. We do not understand that. Those in hell will have no hope for any relief. Now that begins to go to the edge of what we can imagine. It's hopeless. I don't think hell is full of angry, screaming people. I don't think people are, get their fists up. I don't think they're cursing. In fact, in the Bible, sometimes the word wailing is used. That's not screaming. That wailing in the Bible is weeping with groans. And maybe you have seen some of it on television when there's been a bombing or something and the women come out and they're wailing and, you know, that type of thing. with just heavy, heavy grief because a husband or child has been killed. Certainly there will not be friendships as we think of friendships in hell. It's not even a joke. It says there's going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's the kind of pain here. It's very haunting to hear somebody grinding their teeth in pain. They're not angry. I think when the Bible says every knee shall bow, even those in hell are bowing. And I don't think they're blaming God. I don't think they're pointing their finger back at Christ and saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think they're like this, guilty. They admit it. They fall down to the king of kings. There's significant evidence that those in hell submit to the justice of their deserved fate. Those in heaven are rejoicing to the amazing grace of their undeserved eternal condition. Now, if we are on our way to this undeserved eternal condition, we should have some of that enjoyment now, don't you think? Yeah, sure. And we should see and recognize more of his grace and mercy than what we do see. Someone here in the church was talking to me this past week about God's grace. Absolutely. We don't even see half of it. We have no idea what God has prevented from coming our way or what he has not given us that we deserve. It's a wonderful life that we have headed for this eternal life of grace with God at his compound, I'll say. It's a real place. It lives and falls together. If there's a hell, there's a heaven. If there's a heaven, there's a hell. It is so connected in scripture, even in this particular text. So God is very serious and very clear about what he says in these two subjects. Number three, hell is heaven's dreadful alternative. Hell is only for those who have not received Christ. Let me be more direct. Biblically, hell is for those who have rejected God. God's single, exclusive plan for eternal forgiveness. When that is rejected, you don't go to heaven. That's God's plan. We are all in the same sinful boat. Only those who are forgiven God's way realize heaven. To say, you know what, I'm gonna get to heaven my way. I'm gonna get to heaven some other way. You know what that's saying about God? God's a liar. He said there's one way. He says there's one way to get to heaven, but I don't believe him. I'm gonna go my way. I think it's a big pile of stuff where you have more good works than you have bad works, and if you have the biggest pile, you go to heaven. Listen, that's not true. Imagine a person going into a court of law like that. Oh, judge, I know I killed. Judge, I know I've done this, but let me tell you, I was a Boy Scout. Listen to what even 1 John 5, 1 John is a wonderful book. It gives us a variety of, I'll say proofs about our salvation. In 1 John 5, 10, he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him, that's God, a liar. I don't believe what God says about this, whoa. Because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his son. Imagine, imagine, there's a lot of religious people in hell. And they remember. They remember the opportunities to be saved. and they'll remember their crummy excuse. The rich man in hell in Luke 16, he remembered, his memory came back. By the way, that's a real story. Parables don't have names in the storyline. Imagine remembering all of that. No wonder he was in excessive torment. He just wanted a drop of water for his tongue. He was concerned, yeah, to have his drop of water, but he was concerned about his brothers who were going to that place. Do you know there's a statistical chance that someone here this morning is not really saved? I can't tell. But statistically, I'll have to say this morning, there is possibly someone here who will wail in hell. And it's not that they didn't know. They just said later, I'll do it my way. And they keep putting it off. That is biblically rejecting God. And there's a real good chance that we know several family members in that very condition. And when we get old, we think of our brothers and sisters and our parents, and we think of our children and grandchildren that have yet to accept Christ as their savior. Heaven and hell are real places. God is seriously clear about what he says concerning these two places. Hell is heaven's dreadful alternative. Number four, heaven was not created, excuse me, hell was not created for us, heaven was. Earth is just a shadow of heaven and hell's reality. It is ludicrous that anyone would reject God's plan for forgiveness. Why would we not accept God's plan? This is God's place, heaven. It is his plan to get us there. Why would we think we had a better alternative than Almighty God? It makes no sense to delay being saved. We have no assurance of tomorrow. It is all through what Jesus did on the cross and the resurrection. As if there's another option? Well, why would Jesus go through all that if there was another way to get to heaven? If there was another way to get all of our sins forgiven? Why would it even happen? I want you to imagine a scene at an emergency room. There's a patient that has come in and has been told that his aneurysm is bleeding. And they need emergency surgery in less than 15 minutes. Any delay would be fatal because they cannot replace the fluids that are being bled out. But the patient says, and he's conscious, he says, but I want to put this post on Facebook. And I'm having a problem getting on the internet. He's only half listening to the doctor. The doctor said he had what? 15 minutes. He's more interested in a selfie with a pretty nurse. He knows he's sick, but he's not responding to the medical expertise. You say, what is wrong with that guy? He's dying. Listen, he's a dying man. That makes no sense. What's the parallel? People who are without Christ make no sense, but they don't know it. Why would we delay being eternally forgiven of all of our sin penalties by Christ? There is no alternative. Think of the reality. If where we are living is just a sample, and it says that in Hebrews 8.5, by the way. Talks about the word example or shadow. We looking around and we can see buildings, and we can see streets, and trees, and plants, and horses, and people with really good relationships, and activities, places to go, and people to see. There'll be enjoyable travel and music. That's in heaven. We just get a little sample, a little tiny taste of that now, and we say, you know what? I want more. God says, you know, I've got so much more, it would take an eternity to see it. And it's without sin. And there is no need. And there is no fear. There is no corruption. Boy, would that change things. There's no fraud. People's not going to cheat you. That's heaven. And God says, I want you there. I've paid all the price of your sin. I want you to live with me in perfection for eternity. I want you to live at my house. I want you to make yourself at home. I want you to really enjoy it. Christ paid for that. But you know, no one can enjoy eternity without Christ. I couldn't go to heaven if I wanted to because my body cannot breathe heavenly air. Number five. A biblical study of heaven and hell should consume our thinking. Because that's reality, this isn't. For 2,000 years, those who have seriously studied the subjects of heaven and hell have been personally transformed. They have often said or written such things as, and I'll just give you one illustration, if someone could just hold on to a single strand of a spider's web, imagine that. Hold on to a single strand of a spider's web. If it was possible, and fly through heaven for 90 seconds, they would never be the same. Or hold on to the spider's web and fly through hell for 90 seconds. You'd never be the same. because the temporary would be very faint compared to the reality of eternity. Jonathan Edwards was born north of Hartford, Connecticut. He preached a sermon about hell in the 1740s. The first time he preached it was in Enfield, Connecticut. The underlying point of the message was that God has given humanity a chance to rectify their sins through Christ. Edwards said that it is only God's loving restraint that gives us a chance to be saved from a well-deserved hell. We deserve hell because we've chosen sin repeatedly. He said, we get to choose our sin, but we do not get to choose the consequences. By the way, Edwards was pastor of a church in North Hampton, a congregational church up there. And because of this kind of preaching about heaven and hell, they dismissed him as pastor and he moved out to Stockbridge to work with the Indians. This is not a real pleasant subject. And if you are here without Christ, let me tell you, there should be some fear and trembling. And if you know of a grandchild or a child that is without Christ, there should be some rather sober concern. Proverbs 29.1 says, he that being often reproved, listen to this, often reproved, hardeneth his neck, and shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." What that is saying is that God has pleasure when we choose Christ, death on the cross, for our forgiveness. That's why He sent Christ, so that we can be saved. Christ is God's gift. It is His only plan for forgiveness. Anything else insults God and it doesn't work. So even though it's not working and even though it's insulting God, when we say, no, I'll do it later. No, I'll do it my way. When we call God a liar and it's insulting to him, the more we say it, the more we think it, the harder our neck gets. The harder our conscience gets. If Christ is the Son of God and the Messiah and the Savior of the world, then we have a serious problem if there is no heaven or hell. Because Christ said there were both. And if Christ said there were both and there wasn't, then he's a liar and a fraud and a deceiver and obviously not a Savior. Number six. People are often optimistic about the reality of heaven, but only a few believe in the reality of hell. Do you know that more people believe they're going to heaven than hell? And by survey, it's 120 to one. What did we just read? Wide is the way, to destruction, hell, narrow, restricted is the entrance, and the narrow is the way that's going to life and heaven. What's God say? God says there's more people going to hell than there is heaven. But that's not by survey. Survey on earth says, huh, everybody's going to heaven. So how did we come to the place that we only believe in the reality of heaven and not hell? Why is it that so many people think they're going to heaven somehow? Isn't that optimistically shallow? They're not considering what Jesus said and we just read it. When we go to funerals, what do we hear? So here's a person that dies, and more times than not, things will be said that gives us the implication that this person is in heaven, maybe even looking down at us, which I wonder. But we have probably gone to more funerals where people were not in heaven than we've gone to funerals with people that are in heaven. And you say, well, that's pretty outrageous. Yeah, it is. Why would not people get saved when they get, more people get saved when they get older? Wouldn't you think they'd be smarter? Wouldn't you think they were saying, hey, you know what? I don't have much time left. I better deal with this. Why is it that old people don't get saved much? And they don't. Do you not, a percentage of all the people that ever get saved, when you're over 65, it's only one in a million ever find Christ as their savior. More people get saved before the age of 20 than every age afterwards. Well, let me ask you why during the flood, when there were billions of people on earth, why were there not more people in the ark? Because the ark was really restrictive, wasn't it? Every Bible reader knows that from Genesis three onward, it is our sin that has deceived us and separated us from God. And once we accept, it's the hardening of the neck, Once we accept this lying self-talk that I'll do it later, I'll get around to this when my kids get older, when it's convenient. When we start believing that's true, we're lying to ourselves and we go farther into deception. Isaiah 59 says, your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Sin always does that. Sin doesn't draw us closer to God. You would think we'd get really scared with our sin and draw closer to him. God, I need you. But we don't. We let our sin deceive us and we think, you know what? I did it and nothing happened. Somebody else did it. Nothing happened to them either. In fact, they got richer. They got more money in the bank now. I don't see any consequences. And so instead of seeing the graciousness and mercy of God, they're saying, you know what, I'll deal with it maybe even after I die. Number seven, heaven is not the default destination at death. It's not the default destination of heaven. Heaven is not the default. But here, heaven is not the default destination at death. Think of it this way, and this is just my thinking. Imagine this elevator in a huge, beautiful lobby. And there's all kinds of people milling around the lobby. And there's teenagers, and there's older people, and there's Middle age, there's all kinds of people milling around the lobby, and there's all kinds of things to do. It's a huge, huge lobby, but there's this bank of elevators. And somebody says, go stand by the elevator. Person goes over by the elevator, the door opens, and they're in. They're gone. Now the elevator goes up or down, right? but there's no little dial where you can see, no numbers where to go. Unless our condemnation for our sin is resolved, you can be sure we're going to hell. It's not gonna be based on age, and it's not gonna be based on rituals, religion, it's not based on baptism, it's not based on any of that, not even based on good friendships. It's not even based on how much Bible we know. Because there are several people in the Bible that knew about the Bible and knew Jesus and even did the miracles and you know what? They went to hell. Ask Judas. The resolve of sin is not a religious thing, it's not a good work thing, it's not the number of prayers, even the number of prayers after we die. By the way, it doesn't make any sense to trust people who forget you to pray for your soul to get your foot into the door of heaven. When we die, we are quickly forgotten. And how would you like to trust your soul to somebody that's going to go around and light candles and do little prayers for you to get you up in one foot into heaven? It's not going to happen. It's not some sort of magic formula. It's not magical words. It's not abracadabra, you know, and so I'm going to say this little prayer and I'll get into this Disney world of heaven. It's not that. Many will say in that day, also in the Sermon on the Mount, Lord, Lord. And he says, I never knew you. You never were part of the family. You never were saved. Depart from me. It's not even the resolve of a sin. Okay, I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit my sin. You know, I've enjoyed it all these years, but man, I'm going to quit it. That doesn't get you into heaven. I'm going to figure it out after I die. When I have time, when I die, then I'll figure it all out. And maybe I'll be somewhere for a few years or maybe, you know, for a decade or so, and then I'll get out and I'll go to heaven. No. The decision to respond to Christ must be made before death on earth, or the rapture on earth. Because immediately when we die, we're by the elevators, we go in, and we're gone. One of two places. It may seem like there's no hurry. Yeah, life goes on. And that the decision can come along when we have a convenient time, but that's neither true. Telling God no, and it comes easier to say no. I'm gonna tell you about a guy named Raymond. The first church I pastored, 1970. It was a part-time church, very small church. And the pews on that church, it didn't have solid pews. They had little strips of wood, except that whoever built them put the strips of wood too close together on the bottom. And when you move around, you get pinched. And we had a wood stove. In fact, we had two wood stoves. We advanced one of them to electric heat. And then that got too expensive, so then we went propane. So we had a nice auditorium. But if you ever got it too hot, the wasp would come out of the attic and come down and dive bomb the people in the church building. But it was a sweet group of people. And one of the guys always sat on this side. His name was Raymond. He was a farmer. He worked at the gravel pit for a long, long time. And then he got into farming as a side job. So he was working two jobs. And then farming became very lucrative. And he became a full-time farmer. He came to church. He had a daughter that played the piano at church. And his wife was a Sunday school teacher. And Raymond was not saved. Was he a nice guy? And so, I talked to him one night. He invited Trina and I over for a meal. He'd sit in church, and when the last song was played before we dismissed, he'd be holding onto the pew in front of him, just almost shaking the pew. Because he needed to get saved and he knew it. Within a couple years, he didn't shake the pew anymore. He excused it. I'm going to do that someday, preacher. At some convenient time. I know, Raymond, you are. Your daughter plays the piano. Your wife teaches Sunday school. You're here every week. You even mow the grass now and then. Raymond, wow. You're a great guy, but you're not saved. Yeah, I know, I know. I'll get to it. He didn't. Is there a Raymond here? Sometimes we don't even realize we're giving little excuses, do we? I need to get right with God, but you know, yeah, yeah, I'll do that later. Let me give you number eight. The decision or rejection for salvation in heaven is really quite simple. No is a no, it's pretty simple. And salvation is pretty simple. Now it's hard, but it's simple. Because it's hard if you're trusting in your own goodness. Like Raymond. Humanity has always exhibited some desire to have a part in eternity. And so, sometimes the rich would build the boats And so they'd have a boat in their pyramid or boat in their wherever they're buried so that they could sail away in the next life. You have to have a boat. Some would have tombs with provisions and sometimes there would be food and sometimes there'd be servants and all kinds of other very expensive things. There's always been this burial and religious sacrifices and whatnot. Listen, being saved and going to heaven is not some kind of a deal. It's not a compromise. It's not just some of God's way and then our way, whatever we think. A forgiveness plan has already been approved and orchestrated from the one who has offered it. Listen, this is his gift, not ours. We do it his way, at his time. We would not think this possible in any other circumstance. It just shows how base and illogical our view of God can be. This is his plan. We can't alter it. late in the ministry of Christ, a rich young ruler approached Jesus. He asked how he might enter heaven. And it appears in scripture, even by Christ's own comments, that he was a very good young man, but he was spiritually dead and on his way to hell because he was trusting his good life, not God. He thought he was good and needed just a little help from God, when in reality he was like everybody else, he needed total help from God. Because eternal life and forgiveness of sins is God's gift, it is God's plan, it is God's way. If earth is the middle ground, where is the elevator of death gonna take you? Let's be personal. And if you say, well, I think... Do you have the witness in yourself, as we just read in 1 John 5? That you've done it God's way. Because when we die, we are in the immediate presence of either heaven or hell. Is it really Christ alone? If it is Christ alone, where was it when you got saved? When was it? Because it's an event. Do we think much about this? Oh, we think about the groceries and we think about the gas prices, what's going on with them. We think about what's going on politically and maybe a project here and a project there and we think about our health and oh, the doctor said this and the dentist said that and we think about this and that and the other. We thought about heaven. What is our reality? Is it the temporary? Or do we have these thoughts of eternal? When we think about other people, do we see them as what they're wearing or what they're saying or what they're doing? Is that how we see them? Or do we think, oh, they have a soul. Where are they going? Does our life exhibit a belief in scriptural eternality? I mean, does our life, I mean, not our words, does our life exhibit where we're going? I mean, can people tell in the lobby of this awesome place, oh man, I know where they're going. Listen, it's not just a narrow entrance, it is a narrow road. And if we're not on the narrow road, then what gate did we use? Tonight I want to look at Hebrews 13, 14. I want you to think about heaven and hell this afternoon. Are you a real Christian? Are your children, are your grandchildren, are your parents, It was a serious subject to Jesus. Should be to us. I'll just say this and then I want us to stand and sing just one stanza of the song. We're all getting old. And we used to say three score and 10, right? We're getting kind of close, some of us. And amazingly, some of us are over that. Woe be unto us if we don't think soberly like Christ did about eternal life. Because it is so close. And that's not even concerning the prophecy that's out there. When you can see Turkey and Iran and Russia all getting together, it's knocking at the door. Let's pray. Heavenly Father. You've been so patient with us. You have given us so many opportunities to be saved and to act like it. And we ourselves need to work through where are we? Have we done this? Is it doing what you have said? Or how about our children? Or how about our friends? There's a bunch of need out there. And I pray that we'll exhibit a person on their way to heaven. And if there's somebody here that's not, I pray they'll take a fresh look at it and stop the lying self-talk. I thank you for your burden and passing it on to us. In Jesus name, amen. Let's all stand. I'm gonna ask Kelly to lead us in one stanza. It is for Christians, no matter what's going on in the temporal, we know what the eternity is. And so if you'll turn to 609, you probably know it. Let's look from beyond the temporary to the eternal and let's make it our goal this week to look at the reality.