“… flee from the wrath to come”
– Luke 3:7

Part One

There are undoubtedly countless religious members attending Christian churches who are still unredeemed because they lack having a saving relationship with Christ. They remain spiritually powerless because of that reality. Many others who actually do know the Lord (see Ephesians 2:8-9) are spiritually immature – because they have never been personally discipled.

Spiritual lukewarmness can easily be the result of failing to trust in the authority of God’s Word. It is designed to be our daily bread. We are therefore to read the Scriptures as a lifestyle in order to grow. In that pursuit, beware of simply reading a few favorite selected books while neglecting the rest of the Bible. Why? Because all Scripture is “…God breathed…” (2 Timothy 3:16) Pause to quietly think… is there Scripture that you are ignoring because it is too convicting for you to enjoyably read?

Consider this passage, John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water, but the One coming after me, is more powerful than I…He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16) In this context, every Bible student knows that – part of his prophesy was fulfilled in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. However, in John’s very next verse he spoke about the future. He explained that the Lord’s “… winnowing fork was in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn…” Then he prophesied that, “…the chaff will be burned up with a fire that never goes out.” (Luke 3:17) Pause to consider the highly convicting truth that he was teaching us!

Part Two

Those who are religious and openly profess to believe in God but still have no redeeming relationship with Jesus Christ are sadly living in denial about their unforgiven state. They blindly place themselves at cross purposes with spiritual reality. Instead, they should humbly consider what Scripture teaches and take salvation seriously. Speaking about unbelievers, the Bible uses the word chaff and warns, “…the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17)

The spiritual fire described by John the Baptist in Luke 3:16 – (“John answered, saying to all, ‘I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire'”- Luke 3:16) – was vividly seen at Pentecost… 

The Bible says, “When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.” (Acts 2:1-4)  Now consider that Luke 3:17 seen in the paragraph above is equally inspired. Thus, the eternal fire which exists in Hades is just as real. You cannot believe in one, but not the other.

Part Three

On this subject, the Lord Jesus taught us saying, “One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. ‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’ ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.’” (Luke 16:22-25) For these strong reasons, unforgiven sin should be greatly feared!

We must live in the constant awareness that our Savior’s crucifixion was His Father’s loving response to mankind’s sin!  Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself on our behalf to remove the deserved consequences of our guilt. This is why Christians have been empowered and called to explain salvation’s reality. As believers, we all live on an urgent rescue mission because heaven is real, but so is hell!

– Billie Hanks Jr.