Today's Devotional
February 2, 2007
Subject: Who Goes To Hell?
Matthew 15:8 - "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."
Perhaps the phrase in the last verse, "rooted up" can't be taken as literally as defining those Pharisees who are going to hell, but there are some visible traits present that could lead one to believe that eternal damnation might be in their future. Lets look at them.
First, they were people who talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk; " with their lips they honoureth me; but their heart is far from me." Many people know all of the right things to say, but as we talked about earlier this week in a devotional, truth is not just something you know, but something you do.
Secondly, their worship is vain because they don't teach His doctrine, they teach their own. If you read the article about the man who claims to be Christ, you'll see an extreme example of this principle; however, it is often present in many "ordinary" churches today also. I once attended a church where one of the ministers said that it was a sin to listen to jazz music. Teacher's of man's doctrine are not concerned about Christ and their worship is empty.
Finally, it appears from the closing sentence in the passage above that some of the plants were not planted by God and these plants shall be rooted up. This verse would weigh heavily in the predestination/free will debate over whether or not some people were chosen for heaven and some for hell. I don't have room enough here to talk about that, but I would suffice it to say, that if we take care of the first two issues, (1) a heart right before God and (2) worshipping God in truth, according to His doctrine, then we will not have to worry about the final issue, i.e. being uprooted.
So who goes to hell? Those whose heart is far from Him and those who do not worship Him. That sounds easy enough, but then there is the life to live. As God's people, we should live it in spirit and in truth.
