GAMBLING ON GOD

CAN WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS TRULY THE WORD OF GOD TO MANKIND?

There are more than 4,000 recognized religions in the world today. They all have their say as to whether there is a heaven or a hell, and if there is, how do we get there. The question that needs to be answered is "Which one holds the truth?" They can't be all true because they contradict each other.

Christians claim that the Bible is God's Word to mankind, teaching us right from wrong, that there is a heaven and a hell, and how to gain the one and avoid the other. What evidence do they have to back up their claims? The Bible is the best-selling book of all time according to Guinness World Records. But does that make it true? Who or what is the Bible about? It's all about Jesus Christ. As somebody has said, "It's His-story (history). You can find multiple lists trying to answer the question, "Who is the most important person in history?" and Jesus Christ is always on those lists. This same Jesus said there is only one way to heaven and it's through Him. If the Bible was truly given to us by the God of all creation, then to not live by it is the worst decision you can make in your life. It doesn't matter what we believe though if the Bible doesn't back up its claim.

“About 27% of the Bible is prophecy, meaning it predicts the future, and it is amazingly accurate. Professor and theologian J. Barton Payne lists 1,817 prophecies in the Bible. At least one half of all Biblical predictions have already been fulfilled precisely as God had declared.” (www.gotquestions.org) Those that haven't been fulfilled are prophecies concerning future events. That begs the question, "Were there any prophecies concerning Jesus Christ?

“There are over 300 prophecies in the Old and New Testaments concerning the first and second coming of Christ, some yet to be fulfilled, written hundreds of years before His birth. All of the prophecies concerning His first coming were fulfilled. The odds of all of those prophecies concerning His first coming, coming true in one person, are astronomical. In other words, it was impossible in the natural for that to happen, but they did. That should give you confidence that the prophecies concerning His second coming will all be accurate as well. Prophecies are very important to God because this is how He proves He is God. Jesus told His disciples, "And now I have told you [this] before it occurs, so that when it does take place you may believe and have faith in and rely on Me" (John 14:29, AMPC).

CAN WE KNOW THAT JESUS CHRIST IS TRULY THE SON OF GOD?

The Bible that so accurately predicted Christ’ first coming declared Him to be the Son of God. “And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.” (1 John 5:20, NLT)

Jesus Himself declared He was the Son of God. Even the enemies of Jesus knew He claimed to be God. They picked up stones to try and kill Him “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33, NLT)

The greatest proof that Jesus Christ was God was His resurrection from the dead. “Professor Thomas Arnold, appointed to the chair of Modern History at Oxford University, was certainly a man well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. He said, ‘I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead’” (Evidence That Demands A Verdict).

IS THERE ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN?

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6, NASB). “There is no one else who has the power to save us, for there is only one name to whom God has given authority by which we must experience salvation: the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:12, TPT).

IS THERE A REAL HEAVEN PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO ACCEPT HIM AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR AND DO WE LIVE FOREVER?

Jesus talked about heaven a lot. “There are 192 verses in the Gospels in which Jesus references Heaven, eternal life, or His coming kingdom” (Ed Elliott, medium.com) Right before His crucifixion, at the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 142-3, ESV). Heaven is not a fictional place.

Jesus referred to Himself in John, chapter 10, as the good shepherd and those who believed on Him as His sheep. He said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…” (John 10:28, NIV).

A description of the new Jerusalem coming out of heaven is given in Revelation 21. This is the place that Jesus said He has gone to prepare for us. Its beauty and size are without compare. Speaking of the size it says, “And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, 1500 miles; its length and width and height are equal” (Revelation 21:16, NAS).

“Do you know that the New Jerusalem would have 396,000 stories, each one-half the size of the United States? Each story 20 feet high…1500 miles by 1500 miles…” (Erwin Lutzer).

IS THERE A REAL HELL PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO REJECT CHRIST?

“Much of what we know about hell comes from the mouth of Jesus. In fact, Jesus said more about hell than did any other biblical figure. Our understanding of hell ultimately derives from Him…Jesus spoke of hell as ‘eternal fire’ (Matthew 25:41) and ‘eternal punishment’ (Matthew 25:46). The same word – eternal – is used to describe eternal life for the righteous and the eternal punishment of hell for the unrighteous. According to Jesus, hell will be eternal” (www.goexplorethebible.com).

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36, NKJV).

Many have asked the question “How can a loving God send people to an eternal hell?” I love Billy Graham’s answer to this question. “God doesn’t send anyone to Hell. The Bible declares that hell was never intended for man but for the devil and his demons (Matthew 25:41 Those who reject Christ choose to follow Satan, and they will follow him right into his ultimate destiny, in spite of all that God has done to save them from the fiery abyss.

“God has reached out in a dramatic way to show us the way to Heaven. He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for mankind by shedding His blood to cover man’s sin. He has sent His Holy Spirit as a warning, and the Bible calls out: ‘Prepare to meet your God’ (Amos 4:12, NKJV). What more can a loving God do than to give His perfect Son to pay man’s penalty for breaking His law, disobeying Him, and rejecting the Savior” (Chicago Tribune, October 22, 2019)?

How true, as well as solemn, are the words of Christ, "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

“All the tears that have ever been or ever will be shed on the face of the earth, all the groans that ever have been or ever will be uttered, all the anguish that ever has been or ever will be endured by all the inhabitants of the world, through all the ages of time, do not make up an equal amount of misery to that which is included in the loss of one human soul” (The Anxious Inquirer, J. A. James).

How can J. A. James say that? Because that one soul will suffer for eternity. There are some who teach annihilation, that sinners are cast into hell and are annihilated. That is not Biblical. The Bible states that we have an eternal soul. Also, your priest or family cannot pray or buy your way out of hell. It’s not in the Word of God. Neither is re-incarnation.

In Dante’s Divine Comedy there is the famous quote “abandon hope all ye who enter here.” Hope that things will get better gives us strength to endure during difficult times. Businesspeople hope that they will recover after a huge loss/setback. People who have lost loved ones have hope that one day the pain in their hearts will ease. Others who have gone through divorce have hope that someday they will meet someone else they can share life with. Those who have incurable diseases hold onto hope that a cure will be discovered. Some who are reading this now are holding on to the slim thread of hope. You’ve heard the old saying, “Hope springs eternal.” As long as we are alive, we have hope.

There is one problem with that statement. It's not true. The number one cause of suicide is depressive thoughts that typically accompany suffering and feelings of hopelessness. People have lost all hope. This may be one of the greatest tortures of hell. There will be no hope in hell. For all eternity, those who are interred there will have lost all hope that their circumstances will ever change. The Bible says, “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement” (Hebrews 9:27). There are no do-overs. Once you die you will spend eternity in only one of two places – heaven or hell.

YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE

What you decide here while on earth about Jesus Christ determines your eternal destiny. What you think/believe doesn’t matter if it doesn't line up with the Word of God. Just because you call yourself a Christian doesn’t make it so.

The Bible is the inerrant, infallible, Word of God. There are many, many, people who would say we are fools for believing such nonsense. They say the Bible is too exclusive; that there are many ways to get to heaven. The Bible says there is only one way, one Savior, Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12) Others say that they are good, even better than most, so surely God wouldn’t send them to hell. The Bible says that our “righteousness is as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6, KJV). Then there are those who say that when we die that’s it. There’s neither heaven nor hell. Jesus told the thief on the cross next to Him, “I promise you – this very day you will enter paradise with me.” (Luke 23:43) “Every human being is appointed to die once, and then to face God’s judgement.” (Hebrews 9:27) There are no do-overs. Once you die you will spend eternity in only one of two places – heaven or hell. What you decide here while on earth about Jesus Christ determines your eternal destiny.

Many have known John 3:16 since childhood, “whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Many of those same people will tell you that they believe Jesus is the Son of God. What they don’t realize is just believing is not enough. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.” In the story of the demon possessed man living in the tombs in Matthew 8 we read, “What do you want with us, Son of God?’ they shouted. Have you come to torture us before the appointed time?’” They believed He was the Son of God. Are demons going to be saved? Never! All Scriptures about salvation speak only to humanity and not fallen angels or demons. Jesus came to Redeem mankind. There is no redeemer for angels. Secondly, they know that Jesus is God, but they refused Him as their Lord.

Satan and his demons don’t care if people believe that Jesus is God. But when people accept Him as their Lord, they know that changes everything. What does it mean to “confess Jesus as Lord?” It means you surrender all your rights to Jesus. You give up the right to run your own life. Many have accepted Jesus as Savior but have never made Him Lord of their lives. They still live their lives the way they want to and fail to walk in obedience to Him. As someone has once said, “If Jesus is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all.” “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

“Going to church won’t make you a Christian any more than sleeping in a garage makes you a car – or going to a donut shop makes you a cop. Christianity is not about religion, it’s about a life changing relationship with the Son of God. We are saved by living faith in the Son of God – not by outward religious observance. The way to Jesus is ‘only Jesus and Jesus only’” (Keep Believing Ministries).

You may have heard of the famous philosopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal argues that "a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God, If God does not exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas if God does exist, he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (an eternity in hell)."

There are risks everywhere. There is a risk in driving to the grocery store. There are risks in sports of sustaining injuries. Evel Knievel took great risks during his life for the thrill and adrenalin rush as well as the monetary benefits. People risk losing their livelihoods by gambling on the chance of gaining a huge windfall. Are you willing to risk your eternity on what you think, or what you feel, or what you can gain here on earth?

Some of you are gambling on where you spend eternity. That is the most extreme risk that you can take, and a foolish one. You are living your life as if there is no God that you will have to answer too. The Bible says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).

For those of you who are reading this that haven’t believed in Christ and made Him Lord of your life – I plead with you – accept His offer of eternal life with Him.

Please feel free to send suggestions and comments to my email address at the top of this page.