Last Orders Please
Last orders, please!....
Have you ever heard that called out whilst in a pub? If you have, you are there late in the evening and just before the pub closes. It is the call to inform customers that closing time is approaching and that if any further drinks are required, customers should make their minds up and act immediately or they will run out of time.
Do you know that there is a similar call coming, for people all over the world, to make up their minds and to act before it is too late?
Too late for what? you may ask.
In the very last book of the bible – Revelation, we are led through the last stages of history. God shows us clearly how the last days will pan out and the important choice that faces each one of us. He has told us in that book what is going to happen before it happens.
And the events at the end of days are not pleasant and so God is giving us a warning – a ‘Last Orders’, call so that we can make our minds up and act on it.
You see, God has appointed a day, one not far from this day when the opportunity to respond to His call, to repent of our sin, and to trust His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour will have passed. After that day time will have run out.
Right now, heaven’s door is open to all – to anyone who will come this way. And there is no other way. There are no alternative ways to get to heaven – either when we die or before when this appointed day arrives. Jesus made that very clear when He was speaking to His disciples about the promise of heaven in John Chapter 14 verses 1-6:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
All who have the capability to understand this and are capable of choosing are called to choose life. All who choose not to accept Christ or who choose to do nothing, and ‘sit on the fence’ will be left behind and will by their own choice face the judgment that is to come upon the whole world.
At the final judgment, all will be weighed against one thing only. It will not be, as many imagine or hope, a judgement of all the good they did against the bad. No, because if that were the judgement, none would get to heaven. The Bible is clear on that point and says "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)
In fact, all will be judged against this one question. What have we done with God's offer of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus? This is accepted by repentance of sin and trust in the atoning death of God's beloved Son Jesus Christ"
The Bible says that every life is recorded and that at the end of life the books will be opened. All who have repented of their sin and accepted God's offer of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ will enter heaven and stand before the Bema seat (the reward seat of Christ.)
All who have rejected God's offer of salvation, through Jesus, will not. These must face eternal separation in the place prepared, not for man, but for the devil and his angels. We know that place as hell.
With every passing day, we see this world grow colder towards Jesus and more selfish and rebellious toward the warning in God’s word, the Bible.
Our choice in this matter is really important. Our eternal future hangs in the balance. Will it be heaven or will it be hell?
I have heard people actually say, ”Well if it is hell for me, at least I will be with all my mates.” How sad it is to believe that lie - the lie of the devil. Each one in hell will be alone and totally separated from everything and everyone else. The Bible calls the devil the father of lies, and it is his plan to see as many people as possible end up in that dreadful place. And it is a dreadful, lonely, and dark place. There will be no others to bring comfort in that place. Anyone who chooses that place will be totally and eternally, alone.
There is a disused coal mine in Wales, which I have visited, known as Big Pit, where tourists can take a tour through the old mine, with the guide explaining how awful the working conditions down there were. At one point we were asked to switch off, just for half a minute, the lamps attached to our safety helmets. I have never seen such darkness. It was literally impossible to see my own hand, held right in front of my face, touching my nose. Utter darkness!
The thickness of the darkness of hell will be even worse, and it won't be for thirty seconds - it will be forever. Jesus is calling ‘last orders’ now. Do not put it off until tomorrow - tomorrow could be too late.
Jesus loves you and the Bible says in 2 Peter Chapter 3 and verse 9:
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.
He is not willing that any should perish, but we have to make that choice. He will not force us to accept Him.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Do not treat this warning lightly, but respond to it now, to the saving of your eternal soul.
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
(2 Corinthians 6:2)
Last orders ….please!