How To Get To Hell

"Don't you mean, how to get to heaven??" came the puzzled question this past week after I made suggestions of how to get to hell. Perhaps you are scratching your head after seeing the title of this blog and wondering what 'HOW TO GET TO HELL' implies. So often we talk about what one must do to get to heaven but we neglect the steps that can take us to hell. There is an interesting story in the book of Zephaniah the prophet. He actually taught people how to get to hell. Well, sort of. Let's look at it. Zephaniah lived during the reign of Josiah the king. Josiah was one of the few kings that truly turned to the Lord. And in so doing, he instituted sweeping, nation-wide religious reform. He cast down idols and destroyed the high places where people worshipped false gods. And although his "reforms" were well-intentioned and fervent, they did not bring about lasting change, nor did they affect the morality of the people. As it goes, Zephaniah was sent by God to the nation of Judah to encourage the people to repent. The direction to heaven or hell can be found in Zephaniah's words: "Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God." His message is not only simple, but it's also clear. Zephaniah 1:8- 2:15, "Notice what is about to happen to Nineveh and the other great nations. Watch God's judgment in action and take note as to why it is happening." Clear words that we can apply today to our nation.

In chapter 3:2, Zephaniah lists four things that would lead to Jerusalem and Judah's downfall. Today even you, like the people of Jerusalem, if completing the four following steps can have your place reserved - for all eternity in "the lake of fire which burns with fire and brimstone ..." (Revelation 21:8). Curious? Here they are straight from the mouth of the prophet. And I quote:
1. "Obey not the voice." Ignore the commandments of God. Don't read or study His Word. Skip worshipping Him in any fashion. No thankfulness. Be lazy.
2. "Receive Not Correction." Develop a prideful attitude. Don't let others tell you that you are wrong. Get mad when they try to correct you with God's reminders. Tell them: "That's just your interpretation." Or, stick your fingers in your ears and yell "Nah, Nah, Nah, No No No. No way!"
3. "Trust Not In The Lord." Develop a lack of faith and trust in God. Doubt His Word. Rely on other things outside of Him for answers.
4. "Draw Not Near To God." Place no value in an intimate relationship with the Lord. Nurture your resistance to fellowship with Him. In fact, run as far from Him as you can. Be an atheist. Be an agnostic. Become apathetic.

Interestingly, Zephaniah's four steps work both directions. We can take the HOW TO GET TO HELL and apply them in reverse! This will determine the four steps that will have your name written for all eternity in the Book of Life "He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels" (Revelation 3:5).
1. "Obey the Voice." Obey God and His Son Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5: 8-9 "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him ..." We learn to obey God as we learn His Word. 2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
2. "Receive Correction." As we read, study and understand God's Word we come to know what obedience to God's Word requires. The Word teaches us what we are to obey. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Solomon had this to say with regards to receiving correction, Proverbs 3: 11-12 "despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction: For whom the LORD loves, He corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."
3. "Trust in God." We cannot trust in ourselves or we will fall. The prophet said in Jeremiah 10:23, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps." Solomon said in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way which seems right to man, but the end thereof is the way of death." When we hear AND HEED God's Word, and we receive and apply His correction, we demonstrate our trust in Him!
4. "Draw Near To God." When we place our complete trust in God and submit ourselves to His Will, we draw ourselves near to Him and He to us. James 4: 7-8, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded ..."

Unfortunately, Judah succumbed to the same fate as those other nations. Our nation is following the same pattern and even more surprising, people who claim to be Christians. God's warning through the prophet is clear, "This is a nation that obeys not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receives correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth" (Jeremiah 7:28). God has been patient through the centuries for men to come unto Him, "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you" (Jeremiah 7:23). Our nation is falling away from the foundational Christian faith upon which it was founded. The fruit of our disobedience has ripened before God's eyes. As I have said before, there two ways before you, broad and narrow (Matthew 7:13-14)... The narrow way symbolizes a life of righteousness through Christ, holiness- (being set-apart) in devotion to God, love for God and man, and the desire to please God. The "broad" way symbolizes a life of sin, recklessness, rebellion against God, love of self, a desire to please self, and rejection of God. Will you do as God commanded Israel ... to obey His voice, receive His correction, trust in and draw near to Him? Or will you follow your own way, the broad way ... the steps that lead to everlasting hell? You have two choices before you. You've always had two choices before you. God does not send anyone to hell! In fact, according to 2 Peter 3:9 God is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. WE make that choice! WE DO. Because God has shown us How To Get To Heaven, how is it His fault when WE choose, of our own free will, How WE Get To Hell?
Until next time,
-Pat-