Out of Place
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:12 pmI worry about some people who say they're going to Heaven. They don't care for the Lord, and even use His name as profanity. They scoff at the people of God and rarely darken the door of His house. They don't pray or worship or sing to God. They don't serve God, and have not "laid up treasure in Heaven," as Jesus advised. I wonder why they would want to go to Heaven in the first place. They'd be miserable there, and completely out of place.
It turns out that idea is scriptural.
Jesus told of a future day when the nations of the world would stand before Him at judgment. He saw Himself speaking to the faithful, those who served God in their lifetimes. "Come, you blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (This is found in Matthew 25.)
Did you get that? The faithful will receive a kingdom prepared just for them from the very beginning. Whatever that means, it surely indicates that as they enter their eternal abode, believers will find themselves more at home than they've ever been in their earthly lifetimes.
Then, Jesus said He would turn to the other group, the unfaithful, those who served only themselves throughout their lives. "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, into a place prepared for the devil and his angels." And He called it "eternal fire."
Whatever hell is--and no one knows the full scope of it--Jesus identified it as a place not made for people, but prepared with the devil and his gang of cutthroats in mind.
Anyone who goes to hell will be forever out of place.
Taken from Here We Have No Continuing City by Joe McKeever
It turns out that idea is scriptural.
Jesus told of a future day when the nations of the world would stand before Him at judgment. He saw Himself speaking to the faithful, those who served God in their lifetimes. "Come, you blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (This is found in Matthew 25.)
Did you get that? The faithful will receive a kingdom prepared just for them from the very beginning. Whatever that means, it surely indicates that as they enter their eternal abode, believers will find themselves more at home than they've ever been in their earthly lifetimes.
Then, Jesus said He would turn to the other group, the unfaithful, those who served only themselves throughout their lives. "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, into a place prepared for the devil and his angels." And He called it "eternal fire."
Whatever hell is--and no one knows the full scope of it--Jesus identified it as a place not made for people, but prepared with the devil and his gang of cutthroats in mind.
Anyone who goes to hell will be forever out of place.
Taken from Here We Have No Continuing City by Joe McKeever
