“Why pose a question with such an obvious answer?” you ask. “Doesn’t everyone want to go to heaven when he dies?” Yes, if he is honest; but an occasional thought about going to some unknown place at some unknown time in the distant future is not the same as seeking salvation of one’s Maker. The true nature of this holy pursuit may be likened in some aspects to God’s selection of an army for His servant Gideon to lead into battle against the mighty hosts of the Midianites who were oppressing His people Israel. At Gideon’s call, thirty-two thousand Israelite men enlisted in his army which, even at that, was but a handful when compared to the number of the foe. But God had other thoughts than a human war lord would have, “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” (Judges 7:2). The men who were fearful and afraid were then given opportunity to return to their homes, after which Gideon was left with ten thousand men. “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.” (v. 4). The test proposed was to see how many men, to quench their thirst before the ensuing battle, would lay aside their weapons and get down on their hands and knees to drink their fill, as opposed to the number who would lap up some water with one hand while holding their weapon in the other. Only three hundred men showed the watchfulness of the latter category, and with Gideon went into the battle in which Jehovah gave victory to Israel.
So today, when a general census is taken in our nation, asking, “Who professes to be a Christian and to be following Jesus Christ to heaven?” thousands will subscribe their names. But if to the prospect of heaven is joined the corollary, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (II Tim. 3:12), the number quickly diminishes. Then if Jesus’ words, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Lk. 14:33), be pressed upon their consciences, many more will respond, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (Jn. 6:60).
But can anything appear too hard when one soberly contemplates the words of the Saviour Who spoke with perfect knowledge of the world to come, and in a most amazing comparison assessed the worth of one immortal soul to be more than the entire created universe appointed for destruction by fire in the last great day: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mk. 8:36,37)? In a similar comparison between physical and eternal death, Jesus taught, “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Lk. 12:4,5).
It is not, therefore, foolishness or fancy for one to earnestly seek to escape hell and to gain heaven. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psa. 14:1). The God Who hates sin and sinners, and Who will punish them with an everlasting destruction, also declares, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near; Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isa. 55:6,7). To this is added the gospel proclamation, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (I Pet. 3:18). Repentance and faith are God’s gifts which He ordinarily bestows through the preaching of His Word. As the following pages are contemplated, may He be pleased to impart His saving grace where it is needed and sought.