John 1:11-12
The Saddest Truth
For the last few weeks, we have looked at the greatest of all truths.
Jesus came. He came from heaven to earth. He came from infinity to
finite. He came from glory to corruption. He came from life to
death. He came.
Today, I want to consider the saddest of all truths. It is the
saddest truth in all of the world. It is the saddest truth throughout
all of time. It is the fact that most people will reject Jesus. These
people will never be saved. They will not be forgiven of their sins.
They will never fellowship with God. They will not go to heaven—ever.
They will burn in an awful hell—forever.
Jesus Himself challenged us all:
Matt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which
go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it.
Most people are on the broad road, entering at the wide gate. These
verses and others explain what man is and where he is going, but they
do not answer the one question that needs to be answered. Why?
1. Why does man continue his walk on the broad road?
2. Why do so many enter at the wide gate and not turn to enter
at the narrow one?
For a few moments, let us consider why people reject Jesus. These
people can be divided into two categories. but I will describe them
in three points.
I. Deniers
A. These are those who do not belief.
1. I believe this will be the largest group of people in
hell, the unbelievers.
2. However, all unbelievers are certainly not alike. We can
and should divide this group into more parts.
B. Sub categories:
1. There are the "Don’t knows", the ignorant, those who have
never heard.
a. I think this will be the largest of all groups in
hell.
b. That is so sad, but I believe most unbelievers will
have never been plainly told who Jesus is.
c. How many are there? It is hard to say but mission’s
groups have been trying to estimate it.
(1) They classify 6,700 ethnic groups as been
unreached by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(2) That is 40% of all the people groups on the
planet.
(3) That is 1.5 billion people or one in five people
in the world.
(4) As bad as that number is, it is really worse when
we consider what the criteria to be a "reached"
group is. There are two possibilities.
(a) To be counted as a reached group, only 2% of
that group have to be considered true
followers of Jesus Christ. That means 98%
could still be lost but the people group
would be considered "reached" for Jesus
Christ.
(b) Or 5% could belong to any kind of religion
that associates itself with being
Christian. (Mormonism, Catholicism, JW)
That means 100% of them could be lost.
https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/has_everyone_heard
d. That may shock some of you, but it is what the Bible
teaches.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:36 …he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on
him.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye
shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not
that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
1Jo 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he
that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
e. Some would blame God as being cruel or unjust for this
but this is not God’s doing. It is ours.
(1) God made certain all knew He was in the Garden.
(2) He called a people to be His kingdom of priests,
the Jews.
(3) They did not work out so well so He called
another group of people to replace them, the
church.
(4) He gave the church…
(a) The command to tell everyone.
(b) The Holy Ghost to give them power and
understanding in telling everyone.
(c) The written and preserved Message so that
they would have the pure message to tell
everyone.
(d) The body of believers to train, encourage,
and challenge the church to tell everyone.
(e) And an average lifespan of several
generations so that they would have time
to tell everyone.
f. Next week is our Faith Promise Sunday, when we commit
and recommit to giving to professionals whose sole
ministry is to travel the world and tell people about
Jesus.
(1) Every person here will have another opportunity
to decide what their part will be in helping to
get the message of Jesus Christ to those who
have never heard.
(2) If we do nothing, it will not be God’s fault that
people who have never heard go to hell. It will
be ours.
Eze 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt
surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor
speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way,
to save his life; the same wicked man shall die
in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at
thine hand.
(3) Friend, we need to both give and go.
2. Rejecters - Don’t believe
a. This is who we most often think of as the unbelievers.
b. These are those who have heard who Jesus is but did
not accept Him.
(1) This is who John meant in our text, the Jews in
Jesus’ lifetime and many since then.
(2) The Jews in Jesus’ day—and many Gentiles—were
confronted with the message of who Jesus was and
most simply did not believe it.
c. This is a right that God has given to every human
being.
(1) It appears that God, in His sovereignty, had
given to every human being enough will and wit
that they are both capable and free to make
their own choice in this matter.
(2) Why?
(a) I would say that God only wants those who
want Him.
(b) God can create beings that serve Him but
when He made humans, He did so to create
being that would choose to serve Him.
(3) I have seen many in my years reject Jesus.
(a) Some do not think there is a God, therefore
they reject Jesus. The number of these
has grown, I think, in my lifetime. Sadly,
I find most of them have never thought out
the impossibility of their own beliefs, but
it is their choice to reject Christ.
(b) Some think some other thing or being is a
god. This is where many false religions
fit in such as Buddha, Hinduism, the occult,
even Satanism. Again, it is their choice
to reject Christ.
(c) Some actually believe our God is God but
choose to reject Christ. I will talk more
about this is a group to themselves; but
for me, this in itself is also very sad.
Yet is their choice to reject Christ.
d. Do we have any part in helping the rejecters?
(1) YES!
(2) Our job is try to convince them to stop rejecting
Jesus as God.
(3) There are a variety of ways we can do that.
(a) We can persuade them that God, our God, is
real. There are both logical and
Scriptural arguments for our God, His Son,
and salvation. If you care about people,
you can equip yourselves to challenge any
false belief that another is using to
excuse believing and accepting Jesus as
Savior. This "internet thing" can be used
for more than entertainment. Use it to
LEARN and to help eternal souls.
(b) We can proof God’s existence by a changed
life. Nothing says God is alive more than
the change that He makes in the life of a
sinner.
(c) He can keep reminding people that as long as
they are alive, it is not too late.
II. Deceived
A. The second largest group in hell will be the deceived, those
who thought they were saved but were not.
1. This group is so large that Jesus Himself gave them
special mention.
Matt 7:22 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?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
2. These are the deceived.
B. I have empathy for this group of people for like the
rejecters, I was belonged to them.
1. Had it not been for continued exposure to the Word of God,
I might be on my way to hell or already there.
2. There are many things that a person can be deceived about.
3. You may think you are thinner or plumper, prettier or
uglier, smarter or dumber, more talented or less
talented, blessed or less blessed than you are; but
do not allow yourself to be deceived about salvation.
C. There are two true marks which expose the deceived.
1. They lack true godly desires.
2. Their lives have not been changed.
D. The truth:
1. Jesus Christ is the only Way to heaven.
2. You are not and never will deserve salvation.
3. You must come as you are.
4. You must trust what Jesus did for you on the cross and
that alone for salvation.
5. You must repent of your sins and intend to surrender all
to Him.
6. Once saved, your desire and behavior will be changed.
E. These are truths and if you do not agree with them or did not
believe them before I mentioned them, you have likely been
deceived.
III. Delayers
A. These are part of the first group, the deniers and rejecters.
B. The problem is that most of them really don’t man to reject
Jesus. Many of them really think they will get around to
trusting Jesus one day.
1. One day after they have sowed their oaks.
2. One day after they have made their fortune.
3. One day after they had their fill of fun and pleasure.
C. The only thing is their "one day" never comes. (Last week was
Easter and many "delayers" go to church on Easter (and
Christmas). They make their semi-annual pilgrimage to church
to prove to themselves and others that one day they will get
right with God. I hope they do but it is looking less and
less likely, is it not?
D. Some of you remember 9/11 and the many churches that were
filled after that attack? Who were all of those people who
filled the churches? It was the delayers. Some of them
came as close as they ever will to making a decision for
Christ but after a few weeks, you see what they decided.
E. Delayers are talker, wishers, dreamers who have deluded
themselves into thinking they will get saved "later," but in
the end, they are deniers of Jesus Christ just like the
atheists and they will spend eternity in the same hell as
them.
I probably do not know which road you are on or what gate you enter,
but you will travel one of only two, the broad road with the wide
gate or the narrow road with the straight gate. Which will it be?
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