Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Are Heaven and Hell real places? And what are they like? Today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren, we continue his series called Eternal Realities: Heaven and Hell. In these lessons, Rick shares what the Bible says about Heaven and Hell and how you can be absolutely certain you'll go to Heaven. And now let's continue with the final part of the message called The Reality of Hell.

Rick Warren: Now, what is Hell like? Well, think about this. If it's total separation from God, then it's the exact opposite of everything God is. We know, for instance, that God is love. That is His nature. God is love. What would it be to live without God completely? It means no love.

The Bible says there is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. The opposite of love is fear. You know what it means to live without love in your life? It means you are scared to death all the time. That's Hell. It means you're lonely all the time. That's Hell.

One of the big myths about Hell is that it's just going to be a big party for all the people who like to party. Friends, you're not going to see anyone else in Hell. It's total separation from God and everybody else. There are no relationships in Hell. There are no friends in Hell.

It's total aloneness. I think of that movie where the guy is on a spacewalk and somebody snips the thing and he floats off into eternity by himself. That would be Hell. To spend the rest of eternity all alone and all afraid because there's no love. There's no friendship. You won't see anybody in Hell.

By the way, there's another myth that Satan is going to be in charge of Hell. Wrong. By the way, Satan's not in Hell right now. You may not know that. The Bible says he's on Earth. Satan's not in Hell yet. He's going to be sent there. And when he's there, he's not going to be in charge of it like another kingdom. He's going to be punished, and nobody else is going to see him. He's not going to see anybody else.

Now, God is love, so it's no love there. God is light, so Hell is complete darkness. God is good, so there's absolutely nothing good in Hell. God is life, so that means it'll be eternal death. God is gracious, that means there's no place of grace there. Friends, you don't want to choose Hell.

I hope after today you will never again say to anybody, "Go to Hell." I don't want anybody to go to Hell, no matter how much they hurt me. And I hope you'll never again tell a joke on Hell because it's no joke. I beg you to accept the Good News.

So, how do I avoid Hell? Is there a way for me to absolutely know for certain I'm going to Heaven? Here's the Good News. You can absolutely, confidently know that you're going to Heaven. The Bible tells us how to do it. Now, notice the next verse. How do I settle my destiny?

John says this in 1 John 5:13: "I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know—not guess, not wonder, not hope—so that you may know with settled and absolute knowledge that you already have life, yes, eternal life." Circle the word "know." God says, "I don't want you guessing."

If you go out to the mall today and you ask somebody, "Hey, where are you going when you die?" they're going to say, "Well, I hope I'm going to Heaven." Friends, hope's not enough. It's too important to not know for certain. You see, only a fool would go all through life unprepared for what we know is inevitable: death.

Do you know a recent statistic? This is amazing. The recent statistic shows that the mortality rate in the world is 100%. You're going to die. So am I. Someday. I don't know when. I hope it's a long time from now. But you're going to die. And it's 100%. Only a fool would go all the way through life going, "Yeah, I know I need to decide this, but I'll put it off."

Friend, you don't know if you're going to drop dead tomorrow. I could walk out of here and have a heart attack in the next hour before the evening services. I'm not guaranteed next week, next month, next year, much less next hour. Why would you put off something you know is inevitable and could come at any time? You need to settle this today.

When we finish today, we're going to pray a prayer that I want everybody to pray so that everybody here knows for sure you're going to Heaven because God has paid for everything possible for your ticket. It's already been paid for by Jesus Christ. So He says, "I want you to trust Me and I want you to know that you can know absolutely certain you have eternal life."

How do I settle it? Your ticket to Heaven is in Jesus Christ. Look on the back of your outline. 1 John 5:11 and 12. Let's read it aloud together: "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." That's about as clear as you can get.

Now, friends, this is why Christmas and Easter are so important. If Jesus hadn't come at Christmas and He hadn't died on the cross and then come back to life three days later on Easter, we wouldn't be having this discussion. We would all be hopeless. There would be no hope for us. Heaven's perfect, and we're not.

But God came up with a plan. And it was a plan that somebody would die for all my sins and all your sins. And He would do it Himself so that we, by His grace, could go to Heaven. And that's why Christmas and Easter are so important. Look at this next verse. The cross is the answer to our problem.

It says in Colossians 1:21 and 22: "At one time you were separated from God and you were His enemies in your minds and the evil things you did were against God." In other words, "God, I'm going to run my life. Nobody has a right to tell me what's right or wrong. Nobody has a right to tell me what to do. I'm going to make my own choices."

He says, "You rebelled just like Satan did. But now God has made you His friends again. And He did this through Christ's death in the body when He died on the cross so that He might bring you into God's presence." What's God's presence? Heaven.

And when He brings you in, how are you going to be? It says, "As people who are holy, with no wrong, and of which God can nothing of which God can judge you." He said, "I'm going to wipe the slate clean." This is the Etch A Sketch verse of the Bible. You make all the mess, you turn it upside down, you shake it, and it comes out clean and pure again. He says, "That's what I'm going to do in your life."

Now, the most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16. And you know each week here at Saddleback we memorize a verse. So John 3:16 is going to be our memory verse. Since it's a little bit longer, many of you have already got this one down, but we're going to take two weeks on this one because this one is a little bit longer than some of the ones we've been doing.

But let's read it together. Remember you say the address at the beginning and at the end. So let's read it aloud: "John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16. Chapter three, verse 16." Now, this is the verse that you see the guy with colored hair standing in the end zone holding up at all the ball games.

John 3:16. It's the most important verse in the Bible. If you only get one verse, you want to get this one, because this one is your ticket to Heaven. Now notice it says again, let's read it again: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Now notice I've underlined six words: God's, only, son, perish, eternal, life. And the first letter of that: G-O-S-P-E-L. That's the Gospel. Now, what is Gospel? Gospel is the Old English word for Good News. That's all it means. The Gospel is Good News.

When you hear about Gospel music, that means music that's about what Jesus did for us. When you hear about Gospel preaching, it means somebody's teaching what Jesus Christ did for us. That God's only Son came and gave His life for us so that we would not perish but have everlasting life.

We're going to memorize this verse together over the next two weeks. Let me summarize what that verse teaches in four words: A, B, C, D. And again, listen as if your life depends on it, because it does. This is how you walk through the door named Jesus to get into Heaven.

A is Admit. The first thing I do is I admit I need a Savior to get to Heaven. Now, that means I admit I'm not perfect. Heaven's perfect, and I'm not. I admit I've blown it. I've made mistakes. I'm flawed. I've sinned. And we just admit it. We own up to it.

Now, this is a hard one for some guys because of pride. There's one thing that will keep you out of Heaven: your ego, your pride, your unwillingness to say, "I need God in my life." People say, "Well, I'm a self-made man." I've noticed that a self-made man tends to worship his maker. That's deep, you guys, that's really deep.

In order for you to get to Heaven, you have to humble yourself. You have to admit God is God and I'm not. And I need a Savior. I can't earn my way to Heaven, I can't pay my way to Heaven, I can't be good enough to get to Heaven. I need a Savior.

Believe me, if you didn't need a Savior, God wouldn't have wasted the time sending Jesus to die on the cross. If there was any other way for you to get to Heaven, don't you think He would have done a less painful way than come Himself and die on the cross for you? There was no other way for you to get into Heaven. And so first I admit that I need a Savior.

Second, the B is: I believe that Jesus died for me. I believe that Jesus died for me. And believe means more than head knowledge. It means I trust in, I rely on, I surrender to, I commit myself to. It's more than head knowledge. Look at this verse up here on the screen.

Romans 10:9 says this: "If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead," that's what Easter's all about, "you will be saved." Now, what does it mean to confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord? I mean, we don't have lords and ladies today. We don't have kings and queens and vassals and counts. We don't have a feudal system. We're a democracy.

So what does it mean Jesus is Lord? Lord is just the Old English word for boss, master, the guy in control. It means to say, "Jesus, You're the chairman of the board of my life. Jesus, You're the CEO. You're the boss. You call the shots. I'm putting on a sign over me that says: Under New Management." That's what it means to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Saying, "I'm under new management. I'm no longer calling the shots in my life. Jesus Christ, You are the manager, the Lord of my life."

So I admit I need a Savior to get to Heaven, I believe that Jesus died for me, I confess Him as Lord, and C: I commit myself completely to Him. I commit myself completely to Him. Say, "Lord, I want to do Your plan for my life. I want to do the purpose You put me here on earth to do, not my purpose. I'm going to go not my way anymore. I'm going to go Jesus' way. I'm going to go God's way."

"I'm going to go the way that God created me to go. And I commit myself to You." Now, that commitment, you need to do it publicly. You need to make a public commitment to Jesus Christ. I mean, how about if I said to my wife, "Honey, I'm committed to you, so let's get married, but let's not tell anybody about it."

What kind of commitment would that be? She goes, "Buster, are you ashamed of me? You won't tell anybody about me? If you won't tell anybody about me, then you're not really committed to me." A private commitment is no commitment at all. You've got to make it public. So I stood up one day in public and I said, "I do" in front of a bunch of people.

I wear a ring everywhere I go. And this says, "Ladies, don't even think about it." And I'm sure so many ladies do think about it. What fantasy world am I living in? But the point is I wear this because I'm proud of my wife and I love her and I am committed to my wife until death do us part.

Now, what is the wedding ring of the Christian life? Well, there are two ways: baptism and joining a church. Now, being baptized, joining a church doesn't make you a believer. It shows that you are. It's a wedding ring. This ring doesn't make me married; it just shows that I am. Jesus said this, look up here on the screen.

He said, "If anyone acknowledges Me publicly here on earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before My Father which is in heaven. But if anyone denies Me here on earth, I will deny that person before My Father in heaven." Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ? Does anybody know you're a believer?

Does anybody know you stepped across the line? Have you been baptized? If you haven't been baptized, what are you waiting on? We baptize after every single service here at Saddleback Church. We've baptized over 20,000 believers in the last 10 years who publicly say, "I'm not ashamed to say I'm a believer in Christ." It's my coming-out party.

Now, in a lot of churches, they have come-forward invitation, altar call, Billy Graham style, where they invite people to publicly come forward. Here at this church for 28 years, we've used this little card. And every week we invite people on the back of the card to check: "I'm committing my life to Christ" or "I'm recommitting my life to Christ" or "I want to be baptized" or "I want to join the church."

And this is a way of doing it. It's a way of making it public. Jesus said, "If you're ashamed of Me, then I'll be ashamed of you in Heaven. But He said if you stand up in front of Me publicly, I'll stand up for you in Heaven." Another way you can stand up publicly is join a church.

Now, friends, it doesn't matter which church you join as long as it's a good Bible-teaching church. I could give you a hundred really good churches I could recommend within 25 minutes of Saddleback. We're not in competition with any church. We're all on the same team. These guys who pastor these other churches, they're my good friends. I'm actually in a small group with a bunch of them.

So we're not in competition, just find a church. If not Saddleback, you need to choose one and just say, "I'm not going to attend there, I'm going to join it." What does joining a church mean? To saying, "I'm not ashamed to say I'm a part of the body of Christ."

One day you're going to stand before God. You're going to stand before Jesus Christ, your Savior, who died on the cross for you and there'll be nail prints in His hands. And He's going to say, "Now, what did you do with your life?" He's not going to be interested in hearing, "Well, I joined a country club. Yeah. Well, I joined the PTA. Yeah. Well, I joined a sewing group. Yeah. Well, I joined Save the Whales. Yeah."

He's going to want to say, "Did you join My family? Did you join the body of Christ, My body? Did you join My church which I died for? Wait a minute. You joined everything else and you didn't join My body, My family that I'm going to take with Me forever? What were you thinking?"

I admit, I believe, I commit. My public expression of that commitment is baptism and being a part of church. That doesn't save you; it just shows that you are. It's not the root; it's the fruit. And then D: I depend on God's promise. I depend on God's promise.

And when I depend on God's promise, what is the promise? That "whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Now, in order to remember that promise, God gave us two symbols: baptism and communion. And He said, "I want you to remember this, what I've done for you, what it cost for Me to get you into Heaven."

You couldn't get to Heaven on your own. So I came to earth and died on the cross, and if you'll put your trust in Me, you walk out through this door named Jesus immediately into the presence of God, into Heaven. And you're going to celebrate. And by the way, you do not want to miss next week because next week we're going to cover all what Heaven's all about and it's a whole lot more interesting than you think it is.

Heaven is not boring. Not at all. You think about the greatest things we've ever done here on earth and you think about a billion times better than that. And that's what Heaven's going to be. Let's bow our heads.

If you've never opened your life to Jesus Christ, you do this this moment. I'm going to lead you in a prayer and I'm going to ask everyone here to pray it in their heart. Just say this: "Dear God, You are God and I'm not. And I admit it. And I'm humbling myself. And I'm letting go of my pride."

"And I'm saying I realize, I admit that I need a Savior to get into Heaven. I know that I could never be good enough. I know that I've done wrong. I'm flawed. I've sinned. And I need a Savior to get me into Heaven. Thank You, God, that You so loved the world that You gave Your Son, Jesus, for me."

"That if I would believe in You, I could receive eternal life. So Jesus Christ, I believe that You died for me. And today I commit myself to You. I want to change. I want to repent. I want to be what You want me to be, not what I want to be. And I commit myself completely to You to follow You, to trust You, to serve You, to know You, to love You."

"And I'm going to depend on Your promise that You said whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I want that assurance so that there's no doubt in my mind that I've committed myself to You and I've trusted You for my salvation. Thank You for dying and for loving me. I pray this in Your name, Jesus. Amen."

Guest (Male): Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept Jesus into your life, Rick would love to hear from you. Just email Rick at pastorrick.com. We'll send you free tools to help start your relationship with Jesus.

Rick Warren: You know, when I started Saddleback Church over 40 years ago with just a handful of people in our living room, I also began writing a simple devotional just for the people in our church to help them start each day with hope and with truth and with peace that comes from Jesus Christ. Well, that little devotional grew and grew, and today Daily Hope is one of the largest email devotions in the whole world.

Each day people all around the globe are reconnecting with God's promises and finding fresh strength in His Word to face whatever comes their way. Here's the best part. It's absolutely free. We don't have any charge for this. Every day you'll get a quick devotional read and a podcast that you can listen to on the go.

In a world that's more distracted and uncertain than ever, I want to help you start your day centered on what never changes. And what never changes is a God's love, His unconditional love for you, and His promises to you. You know, if you'll just spend just a few minutes a day in the morning with the Lord, it can bring so much more clarity, more purpose, more peace to everything that happens in your day.

Psychologists have said that what you do with the first five minutes of your day pretty much sets the tone. So friend, you were never meant to go through life alone. I want to personally invite you to just sign up for the Daily Hope devotional. Do it today. I think it's going to bring fresh encouragement to your walk in God.

Guest (Male): If you'd like to sign up for the daily devotional, it's easy. Just go to pastorrick.com. That's pastorrick.com. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's Word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.