I once was told of a piece of paper by a man many years ago. He told of a man standing on a corner with this piece of paper. A man came to him and asked what it was. The man with the paper told him it was a ticket to heaven. The man asked if he could have a piece of the ticket since it was so large. A piece was cut off, and the man went his way. Another man approached the gentleman with the ticket, and also asked for a piece of the ticket. He also left with a portion of the ticket.
Strangely enough all three men arrived at heaven's gate at the same time. The angel at the gate asked for their tickets. The angel opened the first two men's tickets, and laid them out to see what they spelled. When the angel saw that the tickets spelled hell, he sadly told the men that they did not have the right tickets. The angel opened the third man's ticket and seeing it was a cross, told him that his was the right ticket.
The first two men had the ticket to hell. Many today reject the thought of a literal hell, but God's Word, the Bible, is very clear there is a place of fiery torment for those that reject God's message of salvation. Revelation 21:8 mentions the final abode of those that reject God: ". . .the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 20:11-15 tells of the final judgment of those that have rejected God.)
The book of Romans states that everyone has sinned ("For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Rom. 3:23). Romans also states that sin brings with it the wages of death. "For the wages of sin is death;" (Romans 6:23) When we work for a living we are given a wage or salary. When we sin, and all of us do, God delares the wage is death. This is the spiritual death that you read about in the book of Revelation.
The GOOD NEWS, or the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is that God has provided a free gift of salvation. Romans 6:23 goes on to say, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." By believing on Christ, any person can accept this free gift that Christ provided. Jesus died in our place and paid for our sins. We need only accept His death on our behalf, and we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. The rejection of that message will leave you before God with the incorrect ticket. The only ticket to heaven is acceptance of Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament, the person that had sinned was required to bring a living sacrifice to the altar to be offered to cover his sin. The person was to lay his hand on the head of the sacrifice as the priest killed the sacrifice. This signified that the person bringing the sacrifice knew the sacrifice died instead of the person because the person had sinned.
Since all men are sinners, you need to recognize that Christ was God and that He came to die on the cross because of your sin. Accepting Christ's work on the cross for yourself will assure your eternal home in heaven with the resurrected Christ.
The choice is yours. You have been given the GOOD NEWS, and now you must decide. Will you accept Christ as your Savior, or will you reject God and spend eternity in the lake of fire?
Perhaps the personal comments from a man that was in eternal torment would be of interest to you. In the book of Luke, Christ related the account of two men that had died and gone to the place of the departed. One was in comfort and the other was in torment. The words of Christ concerning the man in torment: "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:23-24)
I trust that you will give serious consideration to the decision that is before you. If you believe the message you have just read and want to accept Christ as your Savior, God is always listening. All you need to do is pray, and tell God that you realize that you are a sinner, and that because of your sin Christ died on the cross. Tell God that you believe that Christ died that you might have eternal life with Him, and as John states, you will become a child of God. ("But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12)
If you have accepted Christ
please email me or look in the yellow pages in your area. Look for Baptist
churches and select one from the General Association of Regular Baptists,
Conservative Baptist churches, or the Southern Baptists. Give one a visit.
Updated 2-1-2016