As a young believer, the Holy Spirit told me something that shattered me. He said heaven is not for me. “There is no food in heaven. There is no sex in heaven. None of the material possessions you crave is in heaven. What would you want to do in such a boring place?” He asked.
The truth of the matter is that Christians are not interested in heaven. The earth is where all our treasures are in.
Jesus asked a man sick for 38 years if he would like to be made whole. Would you believe the man did not even answer “Yes?” So, I ask a similar question to anyone reading this. Do you want to go to heaven? Or would you rather go to Dubai or Paris?
If you say yes to heaven, then you might need to provide the evidence to confirm you are telling the truth and not merely grandstanding.
Where salvation is concerned, we all answer “No” by our actions and inactions. Paul confesses: “I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (Romans 7:14-15).
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” (Romans 7:18-19).
Nobody answers yes to salvation. That is why it is a gift of God to a select few. If even only one man had answered yes, it would not have been necessary to send Jesus. Everybody answers “No” to salvation.
Left to man, there would be no salvation. With man, salvation is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. That is why salvation is entirely by grace. Man cannot meet its requirements. Man does not even want it. We do not desire it.
We want lands, we want houses, we want money, we want fame, but we don’t want salvation. Had it not been for the Lord, who is full of compassion and lovingkindness, we would all be condemned.
Isaiah confesses this to God: “You welcome those who cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways. But we are not godly; we are constant sinners and have been all our lives. Therefore, your wrath is heavy on us. How can such as we be saved? We are all infected and impure with sin.” (Isaiah 64:5-6).
Listen to me, if you are not offended by Jesus you will learn a lot from Him. Jesus asked a sick man if he would like to be healed because He knew the man does not desire healing. When a man desires healing, you will know.
When a man is determined to go to heaven, you will know. He will not make excuses for his sins. You will not have to harass him to come to church. You will not have to station a policeman in his bedroom to make him read his Bible.
John warns: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:8-10).
The man who wants to go to heaven sets his face as a flint. When you slap him, he won’t slap you back. When you abuse him, he won’t respond. When you cheat him, he won’t retaliate. It is not even so much that he is a good man as that he would not want anything to jeopardise his salvation.
Just think about it. How can you allow your eternity to be determined by one temporal sexual act of 30 minutes duration? David nearly lost his kingdom because of a sexual transgression. How can you allow eternity to be determined by one foolish act of unrighteousness?
God is the thief in the night, and He has put a gun to your head. He says: “If I hear one sound from you, I will shoot you dead.” Will you make a sound?
“Don’t worry,” says the devil. “He’s just threatening you. I can assure you that He won’t shoot.” “Are you sure?” “I tell you He won’t shoot. Make a sound and see.”
Whatever it takes
We must be determined to do whatever it takes for the sake of salvation.
Paul says: “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8).
What things were gain to you that you have counted loss for Christ? What things are gain to you that you are prepared to count as loss for Christ?
A lady phoned me from the United States to ask: “Doctor, since you gave your life to Christ, what have you gained?” I told her she does not understand kingdom dynamics. She was operating in the psychology of the world.
What she needed to ask was: “Since you gave your life to Christ, what have you lost?” Then I would have been able to show her my CV of losses. Many things that were gain to me I have counted them loss for Christ. If I had not, I would not be able to write this.
Those who want to go to heaven are unshaken in their determination. They don’t entertain distractions. Blind Bartimaeus wanted to be healed. Some people told him to keep quiet, but he did not listen to them. Bartimaeus cried out even more until he got Jesus’ attention.
Jesus called the Syro-Phoenician woman who sought healing for her daughter a dog. She did not care. “You can call me a dog, a monkey or even a cow. It does not matter so long as my daughter gets healed.”
Friends of a paralytic removed the roof of a building to get to Jesus. They did not care that they damaged a man’s house. They would do anything to get healing for their friend.
What about you? What price are you prepared to pay for salvation? How valuable is salvation to you?
Salvation is free. Freely have you received. But please don’t get carried away with the freedom, or shall I say the free-ness. Although it is freely given and freely received, you still must work it out.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12).
The salvation of the soul is perfected: “in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Corinthians 11:27).
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; www.femiaribisala.com
