In Matthew 7:13-14, the message centers on the narrow way and living with heaven in view. Explore Matthew 7:13–14 and Jesus’ teaching on the narrow way, eternity, salvation, and why keeping heaven in view changes how we live now. Rather than treating the passage as abstract theology, the sermon traces what these truths reveal about God, the gospel, and the way followers of Jesus are called to live.
The teaching brings biblical truth into the places where faith becomes deeply personal: fear, uncertainty, suffering, desire, and the questions we carry about what comes next. It invites listeners to let Scripture shape their perspective instead of allowing circumstances, emotions, or cultural assumptions to have the final word. The emphasis is on a durable hope that changes how we think, pray, endure, and respond in the present.
Along the way, the message engages themes including Matthew 7:13-14, the narrow way and living with heaven in view, matthew 7, the narrow way. These ideas help place the primary passage within the larger story of Scripture and show how its theology speaks to real spiritual formation. At its heart, the sermon helps answer questions such as: What does Matthew 7:13-14 teach about the narrow way and living with heaven in view? It also considers how should the narrow way and living with heaven in view shape the way Christians live?
For someone studying this passage, exploring the Christian faith, or looking for practical biblical teaching, this sermon offers a clear path from the text to everyday discipleship. The invitation is to hear what Scripture says, receive it with humility, and take the next faithful step in following Jesus.
What does Matthew 7:13-14 teach about the narrow way and living with heaven in view? | How should the narrow way and living with heaven in view shape the way Christians live? | How can believers apply Matthew 7:13-14 in everyday life?
Matthew 7:13-14, the narrow way and living with heaven in view, matthew 7, the narrow way, living with heaven in view
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But, let me just say this. If you're taking notes today, this is probably one of the best days to take notes cuz I This is the deepest study I've ever done on hell in scripture. Um and I had a bunch of like hell jokes that I was going to make, but I'm not going to do them today, okay? Um I grew up in the '90s and early 2000s and for those of you that that are old enough to remember that time, we really didn't have YouTube yet. We really didn't have social media yet. Um and so, whenever I would watch, you know, go to youth group or I'd go to kids camp or whatever, they would put these videos out and for me, it was like the It was very impactful. I was We were very impressionable at the time because there wasn't a lot of like We weren't being bombarded with social media all the time, right? And so, it's it's There was I remember there was a video specifically that we saw at a camp. I don't know if it was a camp that my dad was leading or or some convention or whatever. But, there was this video of a girl and she was talking about every second someone is dying and going to hell. And there was this ticking sound in the background. I don't know if if you grew up in the Assemblies of God, you probably saw this this video, too. But, it was just this constant ticking and she was just speaking over and over again like my friends, my family, those that are far from God, those that are all around the world, every second someone is dying and going to hell. And again, as an as an impressionable teenager at the time, like my heart is just breaking for the lost. My heart is breaking at just having the whole entire world in view in this moment of just like, "This is a problem. This is an issue that people are dying and and going to hell." And and what's what's worse is like as as as I continue to watch this film and I continue to study, it's not some minority group of people that are going to hell. It is the majority. >> Yeah. And we need to do something about it. And And again, these aren't just the words of some video from the '90s. This is This is something Jesus said. In Matthew 7:13-14, it says, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. And many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few find it." The Greek word there for the word many means many. Means most. It means majority. There are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and it's hard and few people find it. Jesus discussed hell frequently in scripture. And he did not see it as a lack of compassion in bringing it up. He actually discusses it quite a bit. James C. Ryle, who's a great pastor in England in the 18th, 19th century, he said this, "Call it bad taste if you like to speak of hell. Call it love to make things pleasant and speak smoothly and soothe men with constant lullaby of peace. My notion of love is to warn men plainly of danger and to declare all the counsel of God. If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was profitable and should be looked upon as an accomplice to the devil. It is a real place, not figurative. There are many names given to hell in the Bible, Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and the lake of fire. Jesus actually mentions hell, he says Gehenna and Hades, 15 different times. And 40 different times he mentions judgment. It's often mischaracterized by preachers um that Jesus talks way more about hell than he does about heaven. And let me just say that's actually not true unless you're talking about the afterlife only. Because Jesus mentions the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God over 150 times. And we're going to talk about heaven next week. Y'all Y'all excited for that? Let me just get through Let me get through hell and then we'll get to heaven. All right? Let me get through this hell. Oh gosh. So, I want to read I want to read an account. This is going to be my main text today. Turn with me to Luke chapter 16 if you have your Bibles. And I'm going to take this verse by verse. I love to preach expository through scripture and I'm going to give you some fun facts along the way. I might break your brain a little bit, but we're all going to land in a good place at the end. Are we cool with that? All right. Luke 16:19-31. It says, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day." There's other translations that actually say this, "There was a certain rich man." And when I I I I didn't put that up there today, but I I when I read it, I thought it was very interesting that Jesus really never tells a parable about a certain person. This is very odd language. And then it says, "At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus who was covered with sores." And again, this is very interesting as well. This is the only parable where Jesus uses a name. Which begs the question, some scholars will actually say, "We don't know if this is a parable, a fictional story that that Jesus would use in teaching, or if this is an actual story." Because Jesus is God. So again, we have a beggar full of sores. He's laid at a wealthy man's gate. The rich man, it says he that he wore purple clothing, which back then meant he was extremely wealthy. Now, I I want to be very clear in this. There There's many that try to make this parable out to be like being rich is bad. The problem wasn't that the man was wealthy cuz Jesus ministered to wealthy people all the time like Zacchaeus and and all that. The problem was that this man had a beggar laid at his gate every single day and totally ignored him. And did nothing. Verse 21, this is Lazarus. And longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table, even the dogs came and licked his sores. This is really gross, right? Visually. But watch this. Verse 22, "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side." Another translation says, "Abraham's bosom." "The rich man also died and was buried." Notice that Lazarus wasn't buried. Very interesting. Also, too, this is the only time in scripture that Abraham's bosom or Abraham's side is mentioned. And yet it is a a massive teaching of Jewish rabbis that when if you are a righteous Jew, you will go to Abraham's bosom or Abraham's side as a holding place before the final judgment. We're going to talk a little bit more about this today. I'm giving you all the fun things about hell. It's going to be great. But this is the only time that Abraham's bosom is mentioned in scripture. And and and just to remind you all, Jesus was a Jewish man. He was a man Jewish man by ethnicity and a rabbi teacher by practice. Um And another phrase for for Abraham's bosom is actually Sheol. But here's what it says, "Angels carried Lazarus away." And I don't know about you, but I I've I've heard stories and we're going to share some stories and accounts here this morning um of angels coming to escort people in their last moments. We We probably see it in movies like, "Don't go NEAR THE WHITE LIGHT." YOU know You know what I'm saying? Like No. All right. Y'all got to wake up. You got to help me out. But I want us to show you this. "Angels came escorted him to Abraham's bosom." It says the rich man also died and he was buried. Again, remember this, if you were if you were wealthy or if if just being a in a Jewish person in general, if you lived by Jewish tradition and you were considered a righteous man to everyone around you, you were given a formal burial to be honored. If you live an honorable life, you're given an honorable discharge from the earth. Lazarus was not buried. But the rich man was. And it's actually really interesting when you go to the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, there's graves everywhere. And it it can cost you anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 to be buried on the Mount of Olives depending on how close you are to the Temple Mount. It's wild. But again, the rich man gets the honorable burial. Lazarus gets nothing. Verse 23, "In Hades" This is the rich man. He goes to Hades where he was in torment. Everybody say the word torment. Translations say torment is great pain, agony, or anguish. "In Hades where he was in torment, he looked up and he saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. I'm going to go really deep into this for a second. Can y'all just run with me? All right, this is going to be this is going to be really interesting. Again, he's by Abraham's side. They were and it says the scripture they would go there. It's a waiting place waiting for the Messiah to come. And I think it's actually really interesting. Sorry, I'm I went so deep into this. So, y'all just got to roll with me. There's a scripture in Matthew 27 verse 52, after Jesus was raised from the dead the tombs also were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep are raised. Y'all know the scripture? And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So, I'm just I'm not giving you doctrine here, but I think it's very interesting. Could it be that all of the righteous Jewish saints who were in Abraham's bosom prior to Jesus laying his life down, what if they were all waiting for that moment and what if every person who was righteous and worthy rose from the dead when Jesus rose from the dead in that moment? Think about it. Cuz it says they were all these people walking around that they'd never seen before wearing grave clothes. Sorry, this is a side note, fun fact. Because Jesus hadn't yet put his blood on the mercy seat, so all these people really had no place to go. Raised from the dead, nowhere to go. Again, it'll really mess with your theology a little bit on how how death is seen and and perceived for us. But verse 24, really quick. It says, "So, he called to him." This is the rich man. And he said, "Father Abraham, have pity on me." And watch this. "And send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire." This is really fascinating because it would appear that in the afterlife, it's not some weird soul state that we're in. But, it's very real. So real that we can recognize other people in the afterlife. People are very real in hell. Jesus said, "Body and soul are destroyed in hell." In Matthew 10:28, it says, "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." People are very much human beings in hell. If we're looking at the context of the scripture and other scriptures that we'll look at here in a moment, they still have their reasoning, they still have their emotions, they still have their wills, they still even have their physical features. They still have their senses. We we can see it here in this scripture. His finger, touch. His tongue, taste. His sight, he sees Father Abraham. And he can hear. In a moment, Father Abraham is speaking back to him. He feels the pain. He literally wants his tongue to be cooled. He's in agony. There's a There's a book called 23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese. And he said that he experienced hell and then Jesus pulled him out of it. And he said that while he was in hell, the first thing that he noticed, other than the horror, other than the terror and the screams of people, was that he was thirsty. He wanted something to drink, and yet there was no relief. He said it's like there's no air in hell. It's just hot and the smell is horrid. Verse 25, but Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad or evil things. But now he is comforted here and you are in agony and tormented." Verse 26 it says, "And besides all this, this is actually called a divine passive, which is really interesting. Jewish people would not say the name of God. They wouldn't say Yahweh. And so this is actually a statement that points to God in this moment. So besides all this, because of God between us and you is a great chasm that has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us." And he answered, "Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment." This is this is this is crazy. Notice in this moment that the nature of this rich man has not changed. How do How do we see that? He is asking Abraham to send Lazarus to help him. Why? Because he sees Lazarus as lesser still. Send Lazarus. He was the beggar OUTSIDE MY HOUSE. LOOK AT ME AND THE I'm I'm in this higher status. If you're prideful on earth, you're going to be prideful in hell. If you're a drunk on earth, you're going to be a drunk in hell. If you're an addict on earth, you're going to be an addict in hell. The rich man sees himself as better. He's ordering him around. He's asking Abraham, "Just send this guy. He's a nobody." His nature carried over into this place. The darkness in people's lives will continue right into hell if they do not have the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The problem is there's no relief. There's no relief for our sin in hell. Again, if if you're an addict, you can get high on earth and if you're a drunk, you can go hang out with Jack Daniels, right? But there's no relief. And yet your senses are heightened in the tormenting. The rich man, his nature hasn't changed and he's pleading for mercy. It would seem that it never really settles in for the rich man that he's never getting out. But he's hoping that there's an escape. When he And what's interesting too is he says, "Send Lazarus to my father's house." This is crazy. He remembers his father in hell. He remembers his brothers in hell. It could it be that he remembers his life that he remembers every single moment and every single sin that he committed? Could it be that people will remember when somebody shared the gospel with them and they denied it? Will they remember when the eternity that was within their heart cried out and said there is a God. Is there more to this life? Maybe they'll remember when heaven was in view in their life while heaven is in view while standing in hell. Because here we see the rich man can see heaven in view from hell. This has to be its own kind of torment. And it's heavy. Is everyone good? Do you still love me? All right. Verse 29, Abraham replied, speaking about his family and his brothers, he said, "They have Moses and the prophets." Again, we don't need to send Lazarus. They have Moses. They have the prophets. And then he says, "No, Father Abraham." He said, "But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent." He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." Y'all, this is wild. And it's a very powerful truth that's being communicated here by Abraham. It's the word of God that instills faith in our hearts, not miracles. Like supernatural mystical experiences are powerful. Like seeing signs and wonders and miracles and healings, like I've seen deaf ears open. I've seen cancer healed. I've seen cripples get up out of wheelchairs and begin to take off running. Like I've I've experienced these things in my life. I've heard stories of people being raised from the dead. It's amazing. But that's not what instills faith in our hearts. Because I I I can't tell you how many times I myself have been healed and I go, cool God, and I keep going on doing what I'm doing. You don't need a miracle to increase your faith. You just need the word of God. Abraham pointed right back to the word of God. And just on another thought here, cuz this is just so this is so much to chew on. Why would this rich man ask Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers? You would think that if there was companionship in hell, he would want his brothers to be there with him. But there is no companionship in hell. And I I've done a lot of research and searching and I've found these different stories of people who have died and gone to hell and then they paramedics bring them back and all the things and I think a lot of the stories are garbage. But there are some that align really well with scripture and I just want to share this with you. There was a pastor who as a child he he drowned in a deep ditch that was full of water. And he was declared dead for 30 minutes before being revived. He said, when I left my body, I went down at a very rapid rate, falling faster and faster and the darkness seemed to get darker and darker. It felt like I was wearing the darkness. Have you ever been in such a dark place you can't see your hand in front of your face? He said, then I started hearing the screams. And he said, there are screams that are eerie, but then there are screams that cause your blood to freeze in your veins. And I have this verse here, Isaiah 14:9, hell from beneath is moved at thy coming. When this boy arrived at the entrance, he said this being grabbed him and started pulling him in. And a voice spoke and said, "Let him go." Come on. Someone grateful for the let him go? And the being responded and said, "No, he's mine." And the voice said, "Let him go. He's mine." And he said, "I came up and he was outside of his body watching the emergency paramedics working on him. Shocking him back into life. And when all of a sudden I'm entering my body and I picked the guy's finger up who was there and entered back into my body. Church, there is a real hell to shun and a real heaven to gain. Amen? Now, I'm not trying to be confusing and and weird. You know, I I don't know what your Sunday school was like or if you even went to Sunday school. Growing up. But scripture is is very clear on this. The hell that is this dark place is only a temporary holding place before the judgment. It's not the permanent hell. Britney actually mentioned this this last week with Revelation 20:11. Then I saw a great white throne. The great white throne in the Bible refers to the judgment of the unbeliever, the person who has refused to give their life to Jesus. Says, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and the books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. Again, death, Hades, this holding place, gave up all these people to go and stand before the great white throne. So, the hell that we're faith that we would face today if we end up in hell is not the actual permanent hell. Just trying to build some theology here for you. The sea gave up the dead. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. The lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. It's permanent. But when you are gloriously saved by Jesus, there is no second death for you. And let me just address this because this is something my wife and I have had to deal with with a lot of people, especially here in this area. There are many people right now who are teaching a very false doctrine, that there is no hell, and that there is no second death, that there is no lake of fire. And I I've shared this before here. I have lost friends over this. I still love them, but they won't talk to me because I believe there is a hell. They think it's that it's some false teaching that's meant to scare or hurt people. And they say things like this, "Why would a God who is love send people to hell?" What a virtuous statement to make. Like God is the one who would send anyone to hell. If I can just be bold, how dare we make statements about the character of God like that? Because no one can show me in scripture and God's word where there's a doctrine absent of hell. A doctrine absent of punishment. It says in Matthew 25:46, "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Aren't you grateful for eternal life today, church? But again, Jesus himself calls it eternal punishment. Mark 9:48, this is gross. Where their worm does not die and the and the fire is not quenched. It's a place where flesh is being burned, regrowing back, and then the worms are eating you constantly. It's disgusting. It's horrific. And and I'm not going to lie, when I read verses like this, I am tempted to believe that there is no hell. Because I don't want to believe it. It can't be what's described in scripture. It can't be the Dante's Inferno imagery that we've seen in the past in grotesque detail. So, just for a moment, let's just ignore the scripture. I know, I'm a pastor, you can't say that, right? Just for a moment, just go with me here. Ignore the rated R version of how hell is described. Hell, at its core, is eternal separation from God. You don't got to believe in the Dante's Inferno. You don't You don't got to believe in I want you to believe in it cuz it's the word of God. But at the end of the day, hell is eternal separation from God. And when I share the gospel with people, I will say this. I say, "A life without Christ, a life without God, is not a life that I want to live." A life separated from God is a life of torment. It's lacking peace, and joy, and purpose, and meaning. It's lacking life. Can we just agree that if hell is eternal separation from God, it's not a place that we want to go? And it's not a place that we should wish for anyone else to go. Because our loving God didn't create hell for mankind. Matthew 25:41 says, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Hell was prepared for the devil. Why? Because he started out as this anointed angel, but he rebelled against God. And what's crazy is he rebelled against God without a tempter. And so God created hell for him and all of his fallen angels. 2 Peter 2:4 says, "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains." That's what hell was created for. However, when God created man and put him on the earth, the serpent he deceived Adam and Eve. They disobeyed God, and they turned themselves over to the hands of a merciless ruler, Lucifer, Satan. Because God gave the earth to man in the beginning. Man belonged to God, but when man disobeyed God, he gave himself over to the devil. That's why he's called the prince of this world, the prince of darkness. And let me just I I love how my wife said this so well last week, we serve a just God. He's He's full of justice and he's full of love. And so God refuses to taint himself with sin. So God would not come into the earth as God and deliver everyone. Because he's perfect and he's pure and he will not coexist with sin. So what did he do? God sends his son, Jesus, who was 100% man and still 100% God. And man turned him over to Satan. And Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for you and for me. The perfect spotless lamb to give us an escape from this hell and the grave. Again, I I hear these statements all the time, "If God is love, why would he make hell?" So many unbelievers and believers alike, they love to talk about God being love. But I've read my Bible and God is only called love twice in scripture, but he's called just and holy and righteous a whole lot more. Not to say we're weighing one against the other, but how about we talk about his justice and holiness before we go, "God is love." He's steadfast in love, yes. But as Britney shared last week, he's 100% love. He's 100% just and holy and righteous. He cannot be one without the other. And in our finite minds, it can be very hard to understand, but this is why Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every single created being. This gospel Again, why would Jesus need to come if there is no hell? WHY WOULD JESUS NEED TO COME IF THERE'S NO consequence for our sin? It doesn't make any sense. Because if Jesus just came to to give us some fun principles and ways to live our life better and be a good person, I'm sorry, you're not going to heaven because you're a good person. YOU'RE GOING TO HEAVEN BECAUSE YOU WERE SAVED BY THE BLOOD of Jesus. That's it. He came to save us. Save us from what? From hell. Why would Jesus even send us out into the world to preach this news? Again, it just doesn't make any sense without believing the fact that man is unworthy of heaven because of sin. Because of the choices that we make to choose sin and reject God, whether knowingly doing so or blindly following our fleshly passions. Because I I've also heard this argument. What about the people who have never heard this news, who have never heard this gospel? I was in Japan this last week. That's where I got this really dope shirt that I'm wearing today. Got that at a thrift store. It was awesome. I've lived overseas. We were missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand for a little while. Let me just say, it's not just happening here in the States, it's happening all around the world. People are having visions of Jesus. This man in white is walking into people's bedrooms in the middle of the night saying, "Come and follow me." It's happening. And it's powerful, and it's beautiful, and we're we're sending missionaries all around the world. I just heard this story uh a couple weeks ago about one of our missionaries we support that's in Mongolia who came across a man who was getting ready to kill himself. He would go out into this desert plain in the Gobi Desert with a gun and wait to hear from God. And then one day he showed up and he's like, "I have the God that you've been wanting to speak to." And this man gives his life to Christ. It's amazing and it's powerful. This story in this time that we're living in right now, the eternity that is written upon our hearts is beginning to cry out. Is there a God? Is there more to this life? Is there more? Who really is God? How did we get here? And let me just say, the knowledge of God has been put inside every human being. Scripture shows us also how we should handle different people who believe different things. This is a really great scripture. It's in Jude 1. It says, "And have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear. Hating even the garment stained by the flesh." Here's what's crazy. Some it says we need to show compassion. Like I'm all about reaching people with some love and compassion. But there's some people in your life right now that you need to put the fear of God into them. You need to let them know, "Hey, what's waiting for you at the end of this life is hell." But that's not loving. That's not very kind. Well, you can be kind and loving as you watch them walk to hell. For me as a young child growing up in the church with my dad traveling evangelizing, doing all these great things. When I really look back in my life, I recognize that it wasn't really a love for God that saved me. Like I didn't get loved into the kingdom of God. I got scared into the kingdom of God. I got the fear of God put into me. Whether it was the belt from my dad or No, I'm just kidding. >> [laughter] >> I love Jesus. Like don't get me wrong. But a healthy fear of a life without God is what got me saved. Some call it fear-mongering and manipulation from spiritual leaders and all these things. Like Again, I'm not here. I don't want your money. I want you to hang out with me in heaven. The scriptures where Jesus preached on hell lit a fire and a passion within me to get close to God and reach the lost. I experience the love of God every single day. But again, I didn't get loved and compassion into the kingdom. It was the teachings on hell from Jesus himself that brought me to my knees over and over again. And let me just say this. I don't think that we can truly experience all of the love of God without fearing him with reverence and trembling. Cuz I know and you know too many believers that love me some Jesus. But they're just choosing to live in whatever way they desire. Because there's no fear of hell. There's no fear of God. Again, the world has hijacked love. It means so many things to so many people. And we read scriptures like, you know, perfect love casts out all fear. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Again, we take it out of context. And we say, you know, perfect love casts out all fear. I can't I I don't have to be fearful with the Lord. This The scripture is not permission for us to stop fearing God. It's permission to stop fearing the punishment. Because we are sons and daughters. We are to have godly fear and reverence of the Lord. God's perfect love is a love with justice and righteousness and holiness. This is This is This is powerful here. I don't know if you guys know Jonathan Edwards. He wrote this sermon back in the 1700s in 1741 called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. He was preaching in Connecticut. And after he described hell in scripture in detail, he got to this line that said, "Oh, sinner, consider the fearful danger you are in." And the people started screaming and crying out to God for repentance. He actually didn't get to finish his entire message because revival began to break out in this moment. Like I I preach from a manuscript, and he preached from a manuscript. And so, they started copying his message and sending it out across America at the time. And it was said to be one of the causes of the first great awakening of revival in America. Because revival is not a worship night. Revival is a wave of people repenting and turning to God. It's not a revival unless the gates of heaven are opening up and people are flooding in. That's revival. God's original plan was not going to be failed because of Adam and Eve. God created Adam and Eve to live forever. And we as believers will live forever. This is This is a crazy scripture here, but the prophet Isaiah describes this for us with our new bodies in the new heavens and the new earth in Isaiah 66. It says, "For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me," says the Lord. "So shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, from the Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh again, fleshly bodies shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord. And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." So, if I'm understanding this correctly, hell is in view from heaven. In the new heavens and the new earth. Could it be the wisdom of God where God says, "I'm going to keep a healthy fear of this darkness, a fear of the hell that as you are on your way to worshipping the Lord, You can see the result of what rebellion against God looks like. Let me Let me just say this. If the big C church, if the church as a whole would start preaching on this more, I think that we would have a more serious and purpose-filled church. Let me say it again. If we would talk about hell a little bit more, if we would stop removing hell from the gospel, we would have a more purpose-filled church. Because now we have a reason to share the gospel. Cuz before we could just go, "Oh, you know, you like Jesus? Cool, me too. I love that worship song. Oh, that's so great. Yeah, it feels so good. Awesome." And not really live for him. And not really care about other people's souls. Because we have a generation of Christians who don't share the gospel of Jesus with anyone. And honestly, I THINK IT'S BECAUSE HELL is just a bedtime story that we might have learned as a child. Or we think it's like the boogeyman. Oh, watch out. You don't want to go to hell. Oh, I'm not going to hell. I love Jesus. Right? But so many of us when we go and even share the gospel, we don't talk about hell. We just say, "You should come to church with me." Let me just love you while you're living in sexual sin. Let me just love you while you're getting drunk every single weekend. Let me just love you while you're living this sinful lifestyle. Let me just love you. Let me just love you. Let me just love you. All the way to hell. I know this is heavy. But we got
