Do We Really Believe People are Lost?

A Three part series by Keith Kiper

It seems live in a day and time when everything around us is relative. Things that were once considered to be settled black and white issues have blended into areas of gray. Even certain mainline church denominations endorse lifestyles that are contrary to what the Bible teaches about sin and sinful living.
Much of today’s generation could be considered Biblically illiterate, especially when it comes to the matter of a literal heaven and a literal hell. We hear a lot about heaven in our popular culture. After all dogs do go there, don’t they? Most people would tell us they want to go there, even if not right now. It seems we don’t hear much about hell anymore. Sometimes we will hear someone tell another person they should go there. Most would believe that someone like Adolf Hitler should be there. My biggest concern today is that I am afraid that we as the church have neglected what the Bible says about the matter. Scripture doesn’t leave any doubts about who will someday be there.

The subjects of Heaven and hell are often referred to as “last things.” Our Wesleyan Discipline lists these under Basic Principles...
” Heaven with its eternal glory and the blessedness of Christ’s presence is the final abode of those who choose the salvation which God provides through Christ Jesus. Hell with its everlasting misery and separation from God is the final abode of those who neglect this great salvation.” Discipline 2000/ Section 250

Let us look at what the Bible says about heaven and hell. Many theologians will often use these various methods to examine something to consider whether or not it is true. These would include reason, history, experience, and of course Scripture. This is often referred to as The Wesleyan Quadrilateral. I would like to use some of these as we take a look at heaven and hell today. We have different church denominations and political parties today. This is because people have certain beliefs and ideas which they consider important. Many times they believe there is no other way but their way. Sometimes this is true when placed under the light of the Bible. Sometimes we can be wrong, even when we are so sure we are right. Listen to what happened recently in Sarasota Florida.

"An elderly Florida lady did her shopping, and upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun. She screamed at the top of her lungs, I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!” The four men didn’t wait for a second threat. They got out and ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into her car. She got into her car and was so shaken she couldn’t get her keys to work. Suddenly she realized why her keys wouldn’t work. It was the same reason she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee and two twelve packs of beer on the front seat. A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station to report her mistake. The police sergeant couldn’t stop laughing when he heard her story. He then pointed to the end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a short elderly woman, with glasses and white curly hair. She was also carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed. Moral of the story? If you are going to have a senior moment…make it worthwhile."

That says it all, doesn't it? The Barna Research Group recently compiled some recent numbers.

• Eight out of ten Americans (81%) believe in an afterlife of some sort. Ten percent believe there is no form of life after death.
• 79%, a large majority of Americans agreed with the statement "Every person has a soul that will live forever, either in God's presence or absence."
• Only one half of one percent expect to go to hell upon their death.

Interesting numbers when compared with what the Bible has to say about the matter aren't they? Much of this can be attributed to the absence of sound Biblically based preaching and the rise of entertaining "Sermonettes" in our churches today. Rev. Dr. Jack Van Impe recently said, "Sermonettes make Christianettes!" When the entire Bible is not taken literally, it only takes a generation or two to see the results. Next time in Part Two, we will be looking at what scripture says and some of the first hand experiences of others. I'll leave you with this verse:

"The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have been lying so well and for so long that they've lost their capacity to tell the truth." 1 Titus 4:1-2 The Message