Lesson 2

     Christ, who is all knowing, tells us that many people are going to be lost, but only few are going to be saved.  In Matthew 7:13-14 He says, "Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it".  Now this gets my attention.  According to the Bible the majority of people will be lost.  Sadly the majority of people still walk the wide road of sin into eternal damnation.  We must take this warning from God at face value.  Only a few people will be saved.

     How few is few?  In 1 Peter 3:20 (KJV) we read, "When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water."  The conservative estimate of the number of people on the face of the earth in the days of Noah is two hundred million (200,000,000) people.  But only eight (8) out of the estimated two hundred million (200,000,000) were saved.  Not very good odds.  Even though the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is "not willing that any should perish", Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14 concerning eternal life in Heaven that "there are few who find it".  The vast majority of people will spend forever and ever in the eternal fires of Hell that will never be extinguished.  Why?  The vast majority of people are not really interested in going to Heaven, but you are or you wouldn't be studying this course concerning your eternal salvation.  

     There are only two roads to eternity and we are on one or the other.  According to what the Lord says, only few will make it to Heaven, but the vast majority will be lost in eternal punishment.  This is both frightening and sad.  I don’t consider myself selfish, but I certainly want to be among the few who are saved, don’t you?  We make the choice ourselves as to where we will spend eternity.  We are free moral agents.  This is how we differ from the animals.  We have been made in the image of God. Genesis 1:26 says, "Then God said let Us make man in Our image".  Also in Genesis 2:7 we read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul".  Yes, we posses a soul that will live forever and ever in either Heaven or Hell.

     God does not want anyone to be lost, but the choice is ours.  In 2 Peter 3:9 we read, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance".  God does not want us to go into eternal punishment.  He is not going to force us to serve him, otherwise we would be mere robots.  1 Timothy 2:4 says concerning God, "Who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth".  It is God’s will that all be saved, but we know that is not going to happen.  We have already seen that only few are going to be saved in Heaven and the majority are going to be lost in Hell.

     What is your eternal destiny?  If you miss Heaven, you will be thrown into the eternal fires of Hell.  One of the saddest things about going to Hell is the fact that it could have been avoided.  The majority of people will be lost in spite of what the Lord has done.  A person who goes to Hell is his own worst enemy.  Hell is not what God does to us, but Hell is what we do to ourselves.  If one ends up in Hell, he only has himself to blame.

     Also, as the verse says, before we can be saved, we must "come to the knowledge of the truth."  Jesus says in John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  What is the truth that will make us free?  In John 17:17 Jesus says, "Sanctify them by your truth.  Your word is truth."  So the word of God is the truth that will make us free so that we can go to heaven.

         Many

         Few

         Everyone

2)    The majority of people will go into eternal punishment.

3)  (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is not willing that

         Any should perish.

         Any should be saved.

         Any should repent.

4)    God does not want anyone to be lost.

5)  (1 Timothy 2:4) God desires that

         All men have a good time.

         All men be saved.

         No one be saved.

6)    God will force us to be saved.

7)  (John 8:32) What will make us free?

         Ourselves

         Money

         Truth

8)    Before we can be saved we must know the truth.

9)  (John 17:17) What is truth?

         What we think.

         God's word.

         What our preacher says.

10)   The word of God is the only truth that will make us free.