For all the people who have done you wrong...
Dare 2 Share - Once there was a preacher who had succeeded in putting an elderly man to sleep by his long-winded sermon. He happened to notice the old gentleman snoozing away, so right in the middle of his sermon he shouted, "All those who want to go to Hell, stand up now!"
The only part that the drowsy old man heard was "stand up", so he quickly jumped out of the pew.
He looked around and saw no one else standing. He turned to the Pastor, and with a puzzled look on his face said, "Preacher, I don't know what we were voting on, but it looks like you and I are the only ones for it."
There is a question that sometimes enters my mind. It probably should never be asked, but I just can’t help but think that it should be thrown out there for consideration.
The question is this: are you in favor of hell?
To put it another way: is there something deep inside you that finds just a little comfort and joy in the fact that there is a place of suffering where perhaps billions of people will end up one day?
If that’s the case, I guess you are in favor of hell.
Not for yourself, of course. You don’t deserve to go there. But for all the people who have done you wrong, hurt your feelings, shattered your pride, turned you down, stabbed you in the back, left you in the dust…
How comforting to think that one day they’ll get what’s comin’ to them!
Then there are others who find more than a little reassurance in the existence of the Lake of Fire. I read the other day about a pastor who claims to praise God every time he reads about homosexuals who have died of aids.
Did you get that? Pastor. Leader of a congregation. Shepherd to a flock of believers.
The really ironic thing is that Satan would dearly love us to be just a little happy about hell. When we are, compassion for the lost goes right out the window. We also forget that we deserve eternal punishment just as much as anyone who has ever lived. Most of all we then stop thinking about the fact that God’s heart breaks for those who die apart from a saving knowledge of Christ.
Want examples?
As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. (Ezekiel 33:11)
He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn't know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
You may or may not be sleeping through sermons lately, but please don’t miss this one. God has called all believers to be compassionate, patient, and loving to unbelievers- period. They really don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
Care to recast your vote?
Questions:
1) What three words describe how you feel about hell?
2) How can you develop a deeper compassion for the lost?
3) Do your unsaved friends and family know that you care? Why or why not?
