Virgil and Faye Starnes
When I was a kid, I loved to stay at my grandpa and grandma’s house way out in the country. My grandmother was a great cook. She’d cook the old-fashioned greasy food that I still love, but my wife won’t cook for me. I’d spend the night and wake up the next morning to the smell of eggs and bacon or homemade biscuits and gravy. It makes me hungry just thinking about it. But the icing on the cake was that they’d let me drink a Mountain Dew with breakfast! I could never get away with drinking soda at breakfast at home, so that was a real treat for me.
Let me tell you, my grandpa loved professional wrestling. No matter what the discussion was, he’d transition it to professional wrestling. He’d say did you see what Macho Man did to Hulk Hogan the other night? I never watched professional wrestling so I’d have to be honest and say, “No grandpa, I didn’t see it.” Then he’d tell me that I had to watch it and since he’d taped every wrestling match that he could, I’d have to watch it. Some guy would “bash” another guy across the face with a folding chair and the victim would start bleeding. My grandpa would say, “Can you believe that?” Even as a youngster I’d have to laugh and say, “No grandpa, I can’t believe it.”
As much as my grandpa loved wrestling, he actually loved fishing even more. My grandpa loved to fish! He could catch them too. We’d go to the river and he’d catch a whole mess of fish and I’d be lucky if I caught one. I never was very good at fishing, but I loved spending time with my grandpa. He loved fishing so much, his nickname was Catfish. One time he caught a catfish that weighed around 100 lbs (no, I’m not telling a “big” fish story, to the best of my recollection the catfish really weighed 100 lbs). My grandpa lived to be 85 years old and he fished so much that by the end of his life, he didn’t like to eat fish anymore. He’d eaten too many over the years!
Jesus told a fish story too – in Matthew 13:47-50. Back in those days, instead of fishing with a pole, fishermen would go out in two boats. One boat would remain stationary and the second boat would move around the first boat, making a semi-circle and they would drag a large net in between them. Then they would drag the net to the shore and sort the fish out there. Jesus told this parable about how once they get the net to shore, they sort out the bad fish from the good fish.
He then explained that at the end of the world, He will send forth His angels and they will gather the wicked from the just and that the wicked will be cast into Hell. Jesus described Hell in verse 50 as a place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Hell is real and it is not a pleasant place. Hell is a place of eternal torment. The pain and torture never stops. It goes on and on forever. I wouldn’t wish for anyone to die in their sins and go to that horrible place.
We all understand the word wicked. A wicked person is someone who is evil or bad. Surely none of us are wicked…are we? You are not a bad person are you? Would your friends call you a wicked or evil person? So just who are these wicked or evil people that will end up in Hell? The answer may shock you, because the Bible says that there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10) and it also says that there is none that does good, no not one (Romans 3:12).
Uh-oh, it sounds like there may be more wicked people than what you thought. If the Bible says that there is none righteous, not even one, then that means that we are all wicked! Each and every one of us! In Isaiah 64:6, it says that our good works, our very best that we can do is as filthy rags to God. Romans 3:23 states For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Revelation 21:8 says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone. So is it utterly hopeless? Are we all destined to go to Hell after we die?
There is hope for us, but our only hope is in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfect, sinless One. He lived a perfect life, died a horrendous death and rose victoriously from the grave three days later. He defeated sin, death and Hell. God offers eternal life to each and every person that turns away from their sins and who puts their trust in Jesus (Acts 20:21). Remember in Matthew 13:50, Jesus talked about separating the wicked from the just. Every human being is wicked. We are all wretched sinners and there is no goodness in us, of our own. So none of us are just.
So how can we become just or justified before our Holy God? Through Jesus alone. Jesus is the just one (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus bore our sins on the cross when He hung there under the weight of the sins of the world and under the wrath of God (Romans 3:24-25). We can only be seen as just or justified to God through Jesus, the perfect, sinless One. Salvation is a free gift from God, but you must receive this free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). You receive this magnificent gift by recognizing your sinfulness – your wickedness and Jesus’ Holiness – His righteousness. Then you can cry out to God to have mercy on you a sinner. Then you need to repent and put your faith in Jesus.
Jesus dying on the cross for guilty sinners like you and me, is the great exchange. Jesus who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf to take the punishment for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The punishment that we rightly deserve. Then when you repent and believe the Gospel, when you are truly saved, when you have been born again, God now sees you through the righteousness of Jesus. You are now seen as being righteous or holy through the righteousness of Jesus. His righteousness is credited to your account.
Don’t foolishly continue down the broad road to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). Please turn away from your sins and surrender your life to Jesus. Get right with God today. Repent and believe the Gospel. Submit to the Lordship of Jesus. Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior today and God will grant you everlasting life. When you are truly saved, then God starts working on you about the sin in your life. You will try to keep the 10 Commandments after this, not out of fear of God, but out of your love for God. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Take hold of the free gift of salvation today. Stop being a servant to sin and serve Jesus Christ our Lord. Repent and trust Jesus. Only Jesus saves.