Is There a Key To Heaven?

Have you ever lost your keys? Imagine being outside your own house and not being able to get in because you do not have the key.
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What if you do not have a key to heaven? Can you simply slide the locks on the pearly gates? How about just climbing over the gates? It is not that simple. Without Christ, you cannot even get close to heaven. Consider the account from Luke 16, where Jesus tells of two men who died. "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'” (Luke 16:23-26 NKJV)
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In this parable Jesus tells us that there is a great gulf between the place of torments and the place of comfort. Even if you think of hell simply as the grave, Jesus shows us in Luke 16 that the place of the departed dead has a place of comfort and a place of torments and that there is no way to get from the one place to the other. Notice as well that the place of torments had flames.
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As bad as this place of torments is, things will get even worse. “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14-15 NKJV)
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Right before this we are told of the dead standing before God. This is referred to as the Great White Throne Judgment. Those who are not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire along with the place called Hades/Hell.
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Some are not worried about this place because they figure that they can just hold out until the fire burns out. Christ makes it clear in the Gospel of Matthew that this is a foolish idea when He says, "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:41 NKJV) Notice that the fire is everlasting. Still some suggest that even if the fire is everlasting that those being punished will soon be burned up. This too is false for Jesus says, "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:46 NKJV) Notice that the punishment is everlasting. Remember the man in Luke 16 who was in the place of torments. That torment will not end. God is a merciful God but He is also a just God who must punish sin. We are all sinners and deserving of the lake of fire (see Romans 3:23 and 6:23)
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There is some good news. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Though sin must be punished, God loved us enough to send His son Jesus Christ to take the punishment for us when He died on the cross. If we confess our sinfulness and trust in Jesus alone as we believe in Him, then we are given eternal life and written in the book of life. That means we do not have to keep track of a key to heaven. Jesus will let us in. He promised, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37) It also means if we do not believe on Him that we will face eternal damnation.

Is the Bible Too Hard?

Our oldest son just turned 8.  We were excited when he finished his math worksheet and said, "Tomorrow I want to do more like this. I like them."  That wasn't always his response to schoolwork.  In fact, when he first started school he struggled with grasping concepts and did not like it very well.  Now that he "gets it," his schoolwork has become fun.  
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I did fairly well in school- except for gym class.  I later found out that when most people look at a moving ball, they literally see where it is going to be in a few seconds, allowing them to catch it easier.  When I look at a moving ball, I actually see where it is really at, thus making it much more difficult for me to catch it.  The gym teacher kept telling me to keep my eye on the ball, but had he known my condition, he should have told me to keep my eye in front of the ball.  I was well into adulthood before I actually figured that out.  Although I am still not that good at sports, they are much more enjoyable now that I understand the challenges and have the tools to help overcome them.
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Although it can be fun and exhilarating to face a challenge, it is not as much fun if there is little to no hope of success.  I recently heard a New Year's challenge to read the Bible. The pastor making the challenge to his congregation recognized that there were parts of the Bible that were more difficult to read than others.
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Too many people get discouraged and give up too soon. Please don't give up. It may appear that the Bible is too hard to read, but it is kind of like math homework.  If you get a few basic concepts down, the rest of it will make much more sense.  
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First, we must recognize that the Bible is a compilation of 66 different books that are divided into two sections- the Old and New Testaments.  The Old Testament was written before Jesus was born, died on the cross and rose from the dead.  The New Testament was written after these significant events.  With that in mind, we must realize that God's expectations for the Hebrew people before the cross were laid out in the law of Moses.  Old Testament books like Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy record these laws in detail.  
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These laws were important in showing man that he could not do all that God expected.  The Apostle Paul called them a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.  Galatians 3:24-25 says, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."  Christians therefore are not under the law of Moses, because of their faith is in Jesus Christ.  That is why Christians do not have to obey all the rules laid out in the Old Testament.
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This does not mean that the Old Testament isn't still important.  By studying it we are able to learn a lot about God and His interactions with man.  In addition to the law, the Old Testament has beautiful poetry, history, as well as prophecy.  Much of the prophecy concerns the coming of Jesus Christ.  
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The New Testament is made up of 27 books. These books can be divided into the Gospels (they tell of the life and ministry of Jesus), early church history (the book of Acts), letters to churches and individuals, and prophecy.
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The individual books of the Bible are divided into chapter and verse simply to make them easier to study.  These were not part of the original Bible. Realizing that the Bible can be kind of intimidating, I like to start out with a Bible study just in the book of John. This allows the “student” to get used to the chapter and verse divisions without having to find a number of different books. If you are interested in a 4 lesson study in the Gospel of John, please contact me at jdpastor@yahoo.com.