Dear friend, I desire to warn you with love. You and I cannot escape death. It is an appointment we will keep . . . regardless. Are you prepared to die?
Sincerely, —Joel R. Beeke
Dear Reader,
You and I may not know each other; possibly we shall never see one another. Yet, I desire to write a personal letter to you.
I write to you because you and I have more in common than you may realize. Though we may never meet each other in this world, we shall one day be in each other’s presence because we both possess a never-dying soul. With this soul both of us must appear before God, your and my Creator, in the great judgment day. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27).
You may do all in your power to put the thought of death away from you. Yet you cannot escape the fact that you must die. You know that you must die and face God. Perhaps you are reluctant to think about death because you also know judgment follows death as surely as night follows day. In all seriousness, therefore, could I possibly press upon you a more significant question than this: What is going to happen to you when you die?
The Bible, conscience, and common sense, all declare to you that there is an eternity you must face. Therefore, don’t avoid this question for your own sake: Am I prepared to die and face God as Judge?
I am sorry to have to tell you that millions today think they are prepared to meet God who shall end in hell following the great day of judgment. This is what God tells us in His Holy Word: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat 7:22-23).
Did you ever consider what a terrible awakening it will be for those who are traveling on in this life, thinking all is well with them, to hear in that day as they stand before the Most High God, “I never knew you”? Words cannot describe the anguish of soul as this sentence will be passed upon them: “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Shall you and I also be among these disappointed “many” that Christ speaks of in Matthew 7?
Dear reader, please give me five minutes of your time to try to show you who will end in hell and who will end in heaven.
The Broad Road to Eternal Destruction
First, I must honestly tell you the Bible informs us in Matthew 7 that the vast majority of people will be going to hell. “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.” Perhaps this sounds cruel to you, but this sad fact is true not because God is cruel; rather, we are cruel to ourselves. We willfully defy our Creator and despise His love, while trampling upon His commandments, given for our true well-being. Due to such rebellion and wickedness, we have all earned death and hell. These are the only two things we have deserved, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23), and the “wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).
What kinds of people are included in this vast multitude which is hellbound?…
