By David Brenneman
Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, and I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” As He said these things, many came to believe in Him. John 8:21-28 NASB
Many in this world just do not take sin seriously. They do not fear retribution for sin because they do not want to acknowledge their deeds as sinful. They indeed accumulate teachers who do tell them what they want to hear, as the Scriptures say.
There was a moment in King David's life when he saw the Angel of the Lord with His sword drawn, about to wipe out Jerusalem on account of the sin of what he had done. It terrified him so much he stayed away from the Ark of God. That visual you would think, would have stirred up the King toward greater obedience. He wasn't wrong in what he said to the Lord of it being his sin that caused people to die.
In our day we see people lifted up after someone dies and put on a pedestal who were in all reality worthless people. They were just as evil as much of the rest of the world. I won't debate in this blog who is worthy or not. The truth of God boils down to 1 thing. If you die without Christ your name, your reputation, your status on Facebook, your subscribers on YouTube, means nothing when you die without Christ.
Sadly part of what Jesus was saying to those in the Temple that day had to do with them dying in their sin. Where He was going they could not come. They would not come because they would die in their own sins. He would be going to that side of Sheol called Paradise. Where those whom had died and were awaiting His coming were. Many of these there that day wouldn't be there when He arrived, nor would they be joining Him in Heaven after the Resurrection. They would die in their sins.
You must choose to look past the lies, the glitter, the glory, the world's accolades, to the stark reality that if you die without putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for Salvation, you will be like them. You will not go where He is. You will join the billions in Hell who are in torment until the end of time when they will stand before Christ and be judged worthy of death in the Lake of fire.
I was asked an interesting question yesterday. It says in the Bible that when 1 person turns to Jesus to be saved that the Angels in Heaven celebrate. The question was does Satan celebrate when someone dies in their sin and goes to Hell? Satan is a power hungry Father of lies. He wants the glory due only to God alone. He cares not on whom he has to use or step on in order to gain anything against God. He has never seen Hell. Reaf that again. Satan, the Devil, has NEVER SEEN HELL. He knows it's a very real place, he knows that those who are there are there because they rejected Salvation in Christ. He knows exactly what it is and wants no part of it. It is a sentence from God concerning sin. There are demons of his who are in torment there. Condemned by Jesus and whom cannot leave due to the authority of Jesus Christ.
If you do not take the Word of God seriously you will die in your own sin. You will find yourself in horrible torment in Hell after you die. It does not matter how well people speak of you after you die. It doesn't matter if the world declares a holiday after you. If you died without Christ you die in your sin and wake up in Hell. That's the unbridled truth.
You must choose life over death. You must come to Christ on your own behalf. You must ask Him to save you and forgive you of your sin. You must ask Him to be Lord and Savior of your life. Choosing to live for Jesus who has saved you. You cannot be the most well liked, well loved, most whatever this world holds dear person and escape the sentence of death for your sin.
If you die without Christ you will die in your sin. In Romans it says that the wages of sin is death. True death is a permanent separation from God. It isn't when you stop breathing. It's when you are cast from His sight. Jesus sees every single person in that place called Hell. He knows. He sees what Satan cannot. He knows every single thing about every single person who is in Hell and what put them there. Their rejection of Jesus Christ as their Savior.
You too my friend, if you haven't chosen Jesus for Salvation, face that question right here and right now. While you are breathing you have that choice. Why do people die what appears to be senseless death? Was that opportunity taken from them? No. It wasn't. The Bible says that Jesus is the only one who searches the hearts and minds of all. He knows every thought you will ever have. Every decision you will ever make. He knows who will and who won't receive Salvation. Every single person alive, whether saved or not, plays a role in someone else's being saved or not. At that moment they won't make a contribution towards them being saved and where it won't help anyone else, their time is likely up. The Salvation question is the only important question in the lives of everyone on this planet. Not who is going to win a football game or what movie is going to be the next big thing. Not that new car you want or that whatever you want in life that's driving you.
If you die in your sin you will not go where Christ is. You die without Christ you die in your sin. You are lying to yourself if anything else is more important to you about living life or who you are living for.
Remember those in Hell are weeping and gnashing their teeth. Weeping because they know that what Jesus said really was the truth. Gnashing their teeth because they are still filled with rage at the truth of God against them. It's much worse than the Hotel California. It's not just that once you check in that you can never leave. It's to spend eternity paying for your sin. It's you paying that price yourself. In that time Jesus was on this Earth in His ministry, He spoke of what happened to people who owed money but could not repay. Many faced many a grim painful torturous process to pay back that money. Beatings, whips, stockade, chained to a wall off the ground, stretched out on that wall. Punishment for a wrongful act of failing to pay what was owed. How much more worse it IS in Hell for those who die in their own sins.
You can come to Christ right now and be forever forgiven of your sin. You can go to be with Jesus forever, as He promised. You can die and leave this world to enter Heaven's gates upon leaving this world. But only....
...only...
if you come to Christ.
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