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WHY NO ONE GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Those are the words of Jesus from Matthew 7:13-14. He basically said that the highway to heaven is a very straight highway, but that the highway to hell is very broad with many lanes. You, my friend, are on one of these highways. Either you are on the straight and narrow highway to heaven as a born again child of God, or you are on the crooked and broad way that leads to a burning hell. Suppose you are on the highway to hell. Did you know that God will not allow you to go straight to hell? That’s right. NO ONE GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL! It’s impossible. There are at least five very definite turns that you must make before ending up in hell forever . . . THE WORK OF THE CHURCH God’s established churches are doing their work of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ all over this world, and they have been doing so for nearly 2,000 years. There is no way—no chance at all—that you haven’t seen this for yourself. Although some churches are apostate and amount to nothing more than community social clubs, you know very well that there are other churches that truly care about your soul and are faithful in preaching the gospel. These are the old fashioned “tell it like it is” churches that your path has crossed numerous times, yet, to this day, many still have not responded to the gospel call and received the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to go to hell, you must TURN and deliberately avoid responding to the gospel call being sent out by such Bible-believing churches. Like a road block in the middle of a highway, God has placed his church in your path, trying to stop you from going to hell. If you end up in hell, it will be because you conveniently bypassed this roadblock. THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE If you end up in hell, it will also be because you bypassed the words of the Bible. Even though you might not be a true Christian or even a church member, you probably know (or at least have heard) that the Bible is God’s word and that you should read and obey it. If you are not doing so, then you are willingly bypassing God’s word as you make your way onward to hell. You’ve seen God’s word displayed on billboards, church signs, t-shirts, license plates, gospel tracts, and you’ve probably even seen “John 3:16” displayed on national television during professional football games. Friend, this is America, and you have definitely been given the living word of God. You are not going straight to hell, because no one can, but you might very well be moving closer to hell each day as you duck and dodge God’s inspired words that show you a better way of life in the Lord Jesus Christ. THE WITNESS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS You’ve also received the Christian witness of family members, friends, or both. Perhaps there is someone in your family, or maybe a friend, whom you’ve written off as being “very religious” or maybe even a “fanatic” because this person has talked to you about your need to repent (turn from) your sins and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. You didn’t want to hear such talk, so you have distanced yourself from this person. Friend, God sent this person to you for the sake of giving you the gospel. If they said something out of place and came across to you in an offensive way, you should have overlooked it and focused on the clear fact that you are a sinner and you do need to repent and receive Jesus as your Saviour. If you continue in your sins, you will end up in hell one day, and it will not be because no one ever tried to warn you. It will be because you bypassed their warnings and continued on down the highway to hell. THE WRESTLING OF GOD’S SPIRIT In addition to swerving back and forth in your efforts to dodge the church, the Bible, and the witness of others, you must also run from the convicting power of God’s Spirit. Genesis 6:3 tells us that God’s Spirit strives, or wrestles, with men. Your will is to live as you please and not suffer any consequences for doing so, but God’s Spirit often reminds you that this is sin and you will one day give account for it. It is also sin to reject Jesus Christ. If you are not born again (John 3:3), God’s Spirit has told you many times that you need to be saved, that you need to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Possibly, even now the Holy Spirit is telling you this very thing. Yet, you probably will reject Christ and go on about your business down the highway to hell. If you do arrive in hell one day, just remember that the Holy Spirit spoke to your heart and told you to repent, but you refused. You bypassed the Holy Spirit. THE WHISPERS OF NATURE If you’ll take the time to read Romans 1:18-20, you will see that nature tells us a lot about God. Even if you never read the Bible or listen to a sermon, you can learn much about God by simply observing His creation. Nature itself testifies to the fact that God does and will allow a person to go to hell and suffer. Friend, look around! There are people who suffer greatly every day! Go visit a nursing home, a hospital, or a cancer ward. Go talk to some men who have been prisoners of war. Then go watch some documentaries on the Holocaust! God allows people to suffer, and God SAYS that He will allow people to suffer in hell (Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 22:15; Mat. 25:41). If you end up in hell one day, it won’t be because God didn’t try to stop you. Only by dodging these roadblocks can you go to hell. If you go to hell, it will be because you spent your life swerving left and right to avoid Jesus Christ. Please don’t make that tragic mistake. Why not give up on yourself and on this wicked world and receive Jesus today? Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. You can be justified by the blood of Jesus Christ! All of your sins can be washed away, and you can start a whole new life! Revelation 1:5 says, “. . . Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Consider the powerful words of Hebrews 9:14: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” It says through the eternal spirit. If God’s Spirit is speaking to your heart about salvation, then the blood of Jesus Christ is present and available to you right now. There is no other way to become a child of God and escape the damnation of hell. You must be born again (John 3:3) by God’s Spirit, and this can only be done by being washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Why not confess to God right now that you are a sinner, and trust him to wash all your sins away? Claim his word and trust him today.