We have all had the experience of missing something. If you miss an appointment, you make another one. If you miss a phone call they can call again. If you miss a meal, you can eat later.
Some misses are not so easy to correct! If you miss your plane you’re stuck for hours at the airport trying to find another. If you miss a payment deadline you will pay the companies penalty.
There are spiritual implications in these thoughts as well. What if you miss Heaven? It’s a horrible thought isn’t it!
The Bible says some will miss Heaven.
Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
John 8:23-24 (NKJV)
23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Many will find their selves cut off:
John 15:4-8 (NKJV)
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
In relation to the world’s population living and dead few will be saved and if millions upon millions are saved that will still be too few in relation to all who have ever lived! The world needs Jesus, it needs the message of the cross, the message of the Gospel, God’s plan for salvation.
These verses bring to our minds that many will perish that expect to be saved and among these many will be religious people. How tragic it will be to think you are saved only to be lost. We must make our call and election as sure as we can!
2 Peter 1:5-10 (NKJV)
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
Some will miss Heaven because they do not seek Jesus!
Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Being a Christian in today’s world is one of the toughest things you will do, and many start with great intentions but fall victim to the devil’s schemes! Sin separates you from God!
Years ago Bonnie Chamberlain wrote a story in the Saturday Review that told of an artist who was once commissioned to paint in a Sicilian cathedral a mural depicting the life of Jesus. The painter accepted this task and made it his life’s work. He began by searching for people to be his models for the huge mural and one of the first he discovered was a twelve-year-old boy whose innocent radiance made him a perfect model for Christ-child. Over the years the mural developed till it reached the events of Holy Week. One by one the key figures were completed till only the person of Judas remained undone. One afternoon a man whose face was seamed with corruption lurched drunkenly into the tavern where the artist was sitting. At once the artist saw that this man was a perfect model for the remaining figure so he led the man to the cathedral. Pointing to the bare space on the wall, asked him to pose for Judas. To his astonishment, the wino burst out crying, hid his face in his hands, and said, “Don’t you remember me, Maestro?” Pointing to the Christ Child, he said, “Fifty years ago I was your model for Him!”
SIN IS PROGRESSIVE. No sinful act is just a simple sin. Unless we repent and ask God’s forgiveness it becomes a STEPPING STONE that leads us deeper into rebellion against our Lord. (From “Judas Iscariot: Betrayer or Betrayed?” by Mark Adams, Rockville, Maryland)
Some will miss Heaven because they are not Christians and some Christians will miss Heaven because of the sin in their lives. Either you are bought with the blood of Christ or you are unredeemed. If we are bought with Christs blood then we are not our own and this involves our responsibility to Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
If you miss Heaven you must consider that you rejected God’s promise, , His plan for salvation, or you have fallen away from the truth!
John 3:16-18 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
If you miss Heaven that means you’re going to Hell!
Matthew 13:42-43 (NIV) -The Parable of the Weeds Explained (good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one)
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Matthew 25:41-46 (NIV)- The Sheep and the Goats
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
If you Miss Heaven and go to Hell It’s too late to change it’s over, there is no way for correction, there is no hope all you can do is suffer punishment for eternity!
The good news is that you don’t have to Miss Heaven. No one has the assurance of tomorrow. Today is the day for salvation, and God is clear on Salvation!
What Does Jesus say?
Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV)
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Belief, Baptism, Saved) (Gospel= Death Burial and Resurrection)
Acts 22:16 (NKJV)
16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
Do not reject the invitation to accept Christ.
