Our Lord Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me." (John 14:6).
Every true Christian believes this. Except for U2's lead singer Bono. When asked if he believed Jesus was the only way to salvation, he said: "I don't accept that. I don't accept that fundamental concept. I believe, what is it? The way is narrow as the eye of the needle, and all that. But I think that's just to keep the fundamentalists out." (Source)
Judgment Day is coming. It may be tomorrow. It may be in a thousand years. But our Lord Jesus will return one day. And he is coming back as judge. The Bible say:
"Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. And all the earth shall wail because of him." - Revelation 1:7
"And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.." - Luke 13:28
"And the kings of the earth, and great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." - Revelation 6:16
"In those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them." - Revelation 9:6
Yes, there will be much weeping by the lost on the Day of Judgement. But what about the Christians. What about those who have loved and served our Lord Jesus here below? The Bible says:
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow or crying. Neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." - Revelation 21:4
I've always believed this verse taught that as soon as a Christian dies, they will be brought into the presence of their Savior and Jesus will 'wipe all tears from their eyes' at that time. It may well mean just that, but I heard another explanation of Revelation 21:4 which I found interesting.
Revelation 21:4 comes right after that great passage in Revelation 20:11-15 which talks about The Great White Throne Judgment. The sermon I heard painted a picture of Judgement Day, in which all of the Christians were seated in a large stadium or gallery. And in the center of that gallery was the Great White Throne, with our Lord Jesus sitting on it.
And the Christians would be sitting in their seats in the stadium and watching as each person who has ever lived bowed down before our Lord Jesus as he read off their sins and said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!" (Matthew 25:41). And the pastor who preached this sermon said that we would not be just sitting in our seats clapping our hands as the Hitlers and Stalins and Neros were carried away to the torments of hell. We were going to be full of sadness - yes, even weeping.
And especially when people that we knew came to be judged by Jesus. We would watch our coworkers, neighbors, relatives - yes, even close relatives, moms and dads and sons and daughters kneel before Jesus and he pronounces doom on them.
And we will remember all of the times we talked to those people - talked about politics, the weather, sports, TV and movies - and yet never told them about Jesus. Never invited them to church. Never asked them to listen to a sermon tape or read a gospel tract. Never told them about great Christian websites like sermonaudio.com.
And we're going to feel like Peter felt after he denied Jesus three times, and we are going to weep bitterly. We're going to know beyond all shadow of a doubt that we are no better - and some of us are much much worse - than those who will spend eternity in hell. Truly, salvation is a free gift of grace to those who put their trust in our Lord Jesus.
The Bible says:
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." - Romans 10:9,10
and
"Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:13
"My friend I stand in Judgment now
And feel that your to blame somehow.
While on this earth I walked with you day by day
And never did you point the way.
"You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim,
You could have led me safe to him.
"Though we lived together here on earth
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention him.
"You taught me many things, that's true,
I called you friend, and trusted you.
But now I learned, now it's too late,
You could have kept me from this fate.
"We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light.
You let me live, love and die,
And all the while you knew I'd never live on high.
"Yes, I called you friend in life,
And trusted you in joy and strife.
Yet in coming to this end,
I see you really weren't my friend!"
-My Friend, by D.J. Higgins
Recommended sermons:
When Government Tries to Be God, by Dr. David Murray
Recommended gospel hymns:
Please Search the Book Again, Mckenzie George and Bruce Willey
How Deep the Father's Love for Us, by Joy Williams
