Telephone Answering Machine Message recorded on:
February 3, 2002 - (902) 436-6245
by Pastor Ian C. Kurylyk
Earth, Heaven and Hell
Deuteronomy 11:18-21
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign
upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware
unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
Often great spiritual matters can be reduced down to an explanation in the simplest of terms. We get a good overview of the most important issues of our spiritual lives by considering three places, spoken of in the Bible: Earth, Heaven, and Hell. All are real places and key to understanding God's program for God's eternal welfare.
The workings of Satan caused sin to enter the Earth
The first place, Earth is one we all know of. Anyone listening to these words is on Earth right now. This is the stage of events for has great spiritual and eternal significance for man however. Very important events have already happened, and you need to read your Bible to become aware of them. The Earth itself was once a paradise when God first created it, and man lived in the garden of Eden. However the first man Adam; and the head of the human race, sinned and a curse fell over the world as God saw man's now sinful condition and the working of Satan as a dark overlord. God also promised and provided a saviour who came to this Earth to pay the price of sin by a sacrificial death.
The Earth has become a spiritual opportunity. A time in which every person born carries out a brief pilgrimage during which time God challenges him to repent of his sin and trust his son Jesus Christ, the risen Saviour for personal salvation. One day he is coming back. There are many great events that have happened upon the Earth but none as greater than you and I on that they when we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Hell - Fiery Torment for the unbeliever
The second real place, repeatedly warned of in scripture is Hell; A real place of fiery torment. Every man must one day come to the end of his brief pilgrimage here on the Earth and go to one of two places. This place is warned of by God in the most soberest terms. A place where the unrepented believing sinners suffer the firery wrath of God forever. Many like to avoid this issue by spouting popular sayings like: Hell is right here on Earth. There is a certain truth here because of the curse on the Earth, because man sinned and that God allows sin to bear fruit in the present age; yet is only a faint foretaste. They are just shades of the sorrow of Hell and the misery of the pit reaching back to touch even this world. But it does not mean that there is no Hell. The Bible warns us and speaks of Hell as a very real place, and God is just giving us a taste in this present world of the things that are coming if we reject Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Hell is the real thing and we need to avoid it.
Thankfully there is an option for a real home; that is much better than Hell. A place where God is preparing a place for lost sinners who trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. A place called Heaven. God's saving power also prepares a man for a place and he cleanses us of our sins and gives us a new heard; makes us a new man in Jesus Christ.
In Colossians 1:12-14 the apostle Paul says the following:
Colossians 1:12-14
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of
his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Heaven - Unimaginable Glory for the believer
Heaven is a place of the most unimaginable glory; a place of great happiness, peace, joy, and eternal delights which, you can only go there, God's way through His only begotten son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The blessings of Heaven can also reach back into this world like the sorrows of Hell. They give the believer of Jesus Christ a little foretaste of to expect when he gets to heaven. The passage in Deuteronomy 11:21 which reads as follows:
Deuteronomy 11:21
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware
unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
speaks of this possibility of the days of Heaven, right here on the Earth. First of all the days of Heaven are eternal, and if you trust Jesus Christ as your saviour, you have eternal life right now. You also have the promise of peace, joy, the blessings of Godliness, divine blessings, right here and now. The question is Have you received it? You can. You can call upon the Lord right now. The Bible says:
Romans 10:13
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If we can help you with this or any other problem we would be glad to. Remember you can leave a message by 1 and speaking into your phone. We'll be glad to get back to you. Thank-you.
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