Monday, November 12, 2007

A Letter From Hell

What you are about to see and hear is disturbing. Once you've watched the video, please take the time to read what follows.




If you are a Christian, realize this. Zack, the Christian "friend" in the video, might be a false convert. Charles Spurgeon said, "Have you no desire for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself, you can be sure of that." If you profess faith in Jesus Christ, yet you are not actively engaged in verbally proclaiming the gospel to your lost friends, family members, co-workers, and the strangers you meet each day, or at least putting the gospel into people's hands by way of well-written, biblical gospel tracts or other printed material, then it is reasonable for you to question the authenticity of your salvation.

If you are a Christian, then your purpose in life is to glorify God in every thought, word, and deed; to love lost people enough to warn them that they are children of wrath who are waiting to be sentenced to eternity in hell for breaking God's Law; and to love lost people enough to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ--that their only hope for avoiding God's wrath is to repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Your purpose in life is to obey the two greatest commandments, and to fulfill the great commission.

If you profess to be a Christian and this video and the ensuing commentary is offensive to you, then you might be like Zack. You might be a false convert. Now, before you wag a judgmental finger at me and accuse me of being judgmental, please hear me out.

Obviously, I have no way of knowing with certainty your real spiritual condition; and it certainly isn't up to me to determine the authenticity of your faith in Christ.

However, if you are not actively engaged in sharing your faith with lost people; if the video you just watched doesn't move you on some level; if you can't be bothered with evangelism and you are masking your indifference with excuses such as fear, inability, or lack of opportunity; or if you have bought the lies of modern evangelicalism that have told you that evangelism is only for those with the gift of evangelism, or that simply living the "Christian life" in front of unbelievers is the entirety of your evangelistic responsibility; then you must do one thing and come to one of two conclusions.

The one thing you must do is look in the mirror with honesty and sincerity of heart and ask God if the above is true about you. If it is true about you, then you must come to one of two conclusions. Either you are a false convert who has never truly repented and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or you are a genuine follower of Christ who must confess before your Lord and Savior that you have sinned against Him, through your disobedience to His Word, as seen in your failure to share the gospel with lost and dying people. Either way, you must repent.

If you are not a Christian and you have stumbled onto this site, or you are one of the handful of unbelievers who read this blog and heckle me from time to time with your written comments, I hope the video has served as a wake-up call. Heaven is a real place. And hell is a real place. It matters not if you believe it. Truth is not determined by your beliefs. What matters is whether or not what you believe is true.

I am once again reminded of what God said to the prophet Ezekiel, when he commanded him to call the people of Israel to repentance. "When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand" (Eze. 3:18).

Friend, your blood will not be on my hands. For I am here to warn you, with love and concern in my heart for you. I do not want you to perish and spend eternity in hell.

In God's eyes, you are a lawbreaker. Don't believe it? See for yourself. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen anything, regardless of the value or how long ago you committed the act? (Time does not forgive sin.) Have you ever taken God's name in vain--used His holy name carelessly, flippantly, or as a curse word to express excitement, fear, or disgust? Then, by your own admission, you are a lying, thieving, blasphemer at heart; and you are going to face God on Judgment Day.

God will judge you according to the perfect and holy standard of His Law (The Ten Commandments). He will find you guilty. Since He is good--since He is holy, righteous, and just--since He is loving and kind--He will sentence you to eternity in hell as the just punishment for your sins against Him. Yes, you will end up just like Josh, in the video.

But there is good news. The loving, kind, holy, righteous, and just Creator of the Universe--God--has provided the Only Way of escape from His just, awesome, and terrible wrath. He provided Himself.

God came to earth. He took the form of a man, in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was fully God while, at the same time, fully Man. He lived a perfect, sinless life. He suffered and died a horrible and bloody death on the cross, taking upon Himself the just punishment you deserve for breaking God's Law. He was crushed under the weight and fury of God's holy wrath--the Just making the perfect sacrifice and payment for the unjust. Three days later, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, forever defeating death. He is alive! He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

And this is what God requires of you. You must repent. You must turn away from your sins. You must throw yourself upon the mercy of God and beg to receive the mercy and forgiveness you do not deserve. You must, by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then, and only then, will your sins be forgiven. Then, and only then, will you receive the free gift of eternal life that only He can give.

There is nothing you can do to save yourself. You are dead in your trespasses and sins. Your good works cannot save you. Your good feelings about yourself will never negate your crimes against God. And what you see as your good deeds will never outweigh the sinfulness of your sins against Him. Your own perceived goodness will never satisfy the debt you owe God for the sins you have committed against Him.

Please. I beg of you. Turn away from your sins, today, while you still have time. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, today, while you still have time. I don't want you to end up like the fictitious character, Josh. I don't want you to end up in hell.

And Christian, please don't be like the fictitious character, Zack, whose hands are stained with the blood of his friend, Josh--the friend he did not love enough to share the Law and the Gospel.

Who will hear the Law and the Gospel proceed from your lips, today?

2 comments:

Leon Brown said...

Wow!!!!!

Leon

Anonymous said...

I heard this on WOTMR (podcast) from Mondays show. Wow is right!!!! It made me want to get out and tell as many people as I can. Having 5 children it's hard to tell with my mouth. But the least I can do is put the good news in their hands when I am out with my kiddos. My kiddos like to help with handing them out. Thanks for sharing!!
Renee