GO TO HELL

A man sat in a restaurant, quietly reading his Bible.  Two men at a nearby table were beginning to argue.  One, obviously very upset with the other man, abruptly got up to leave and loudly said to the other man at his table, "Go to Hell!"  The man who had been reading his Bible, turned to the man still sitting at the table, lifted his Bible so the man could see what he was reading and said "Hey...for what it's worth...I've been reading the manual and you don't HAVE to go if you don't want to."

Hell.  People can use it all day as a word of profanity out in the world.  Odd thing is, not many in the church want to talk about Hell today.  It's almost as if, if we don't speak of it, it's not real. 

I think many preachers are afraid to talk of Hell today.  They are afraid of being labelled one of those "hell fire and brimstone" preachers, and Heaven knows, no one wants to be one of THOSE! 

Yet Hell is just as real as Heaven.  People can talk all day long about Heaven, because after all EVERYONE is going there, right?  I mean have you ever been to a funeral where it was said of the deceased "Well, we know where he is and no matter what he was suffering here, it is no comparison to what he's suffering now"?  No.  Even if the person never gave a hoot about God, never professed Him as Lord, never darkened a church door, people will say all sorts of things about him being in a better place, no more suffering, we'll see him again one day, etc.   Why?  Because no one wants to admit that someone is actually in Hell.

I heard a preacher this morning on TV preaching a sermon on Hell.  He made some very good points. 

He said "No one goes to Hell because they are bad.  No one is in Hell because he was a murderer, a child molester, a rapist or a scoundrel."  I bet that statement shocked a lot of people!  But it is a true statement.

Does that shock YOU?

You see people go to Hell for one reason.  They chose to. 

Bet that shocks you too!!

But it is true.  Because the only reason anyone ever goes to Hell is because they CHOSE to reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 

Every person must choose what they will do with Jesus. (Romans 3:23)  He died to pay for our sin and He freely offers us the gift of eternal life.(John 3:16, Romans 6:23).  But we must CHOOSE to follow Him, to accept that free gift of salvation.(Romans 10:13)  God is a gentleman and He does not force that gift down our throat. (Rev. 3:20) It is our choice.  We can choose Jesus and Heaven or we can choose do live life on our terms and choose Hell. 

So which do you choose?  Heaven or Hell??