You’ve probably heard. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang John Lennon’s “Imagine” at President Carter’s funeral service. “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try.” “Imagine there’s no country; it isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too.”
Lennon was said to have struggled with his religious beliefs. The famed Beatles’ front-man was in pursuit of removing guilt associated with his knowledge of Christianity. The song represented a liberal, secular, humanistic view of a perfect world where people were free to sin without feeling the emotion of guilt or shame. It was seen as a utopia of humanity without God or consequences of personal decisions. Lennon wasn’t the first, but he did spur on a generation of agnostics who submit the existence of God as unknown, unknowable, or illusive. Our universities and governments now reflect these same thoughts. Nothingness is the beginning and ending of every nation.
The plain of Shinar was its name. We call it Babel as God came to disperse them by confusing their language. Shinar was a place of ultimate humanism. Void of righteousness and godly worship, it was the makings of carnality; a godless society, froth with immoral permissiveness and debauchery.
The plain of Shinar has been the goal of all people seeking to remove God’s Word from their ears. Americans seem all too eager to build upon these same failed tenets. Lennon encapsulated the motive of our current society: imagine no such thing as sin; no absolute truth or moral law.
The truth is that there is a Heaven, and with it a Hell. Eternity lies just beyond our natural breath, ultimately waiting for the sound of the last Trumpet. The scripture describes Jesus coming in a twinkling of an eye, i.e., the blinking of the eyelid. He’s coming in a moment “that ye think not” – it will take the world by surprise.
People will be relaxed like in the days of Noah; eating and drinking; getting married and going about life. Here’s the next line, “until the day Noah entered the ark.” They never saw the end until the door was closed.
Mat 24:39 “…and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.”
How great is the work of the church? Believers, born again Christians, the Saved, will all be responsible for their silence. People must know. The world must know. Jude wrote that we should “…earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude submits that we grapple with it; defend it and propel the Gospel. It concerns me to hear preachers which are not soul-winners. It bothers me to think of long standing church members which have no converts. I wonder: Is baptism necessary to us? Is the Gospel our highest priority? Do we believe in Eternity, Heaven, Hell, the Rapture, an absolute truth?
There is life after this life! There is a Heaven with streets of gold and gates of pearl. It is the City where the Lamb is the Light. There is placed called Hell. It is a place of eternal judgment created for Satan and his angels; Mat 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
The belief in Eternity is pivotal to our lives. The removal of that single belief removes the Word of God and becomes the quintessential lie of the age. If we ignore the knowledge of God, we negate our need to be saved. 1 Th 1:10 “…even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Permissive immorality, suicides, and flagrant lifestyles are the result of the lie that there is no Heaven and Hell. The deeds, works, and lifestyles of the flesh are all sown into that same vain fabric.
If our burden is not met with our action, hope is lost. If our works do not match our belief, our city will never know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are consumed with ourselves; our own lives, there will be no revival to witness. We are the laborers in the field. We are a city set on a hill. We are the salt and light. We are responsible for at least 106,000 people in our area.
My plea is not just to fill up seats in a building. Chasing an image is fleeting and shallow. No, this is the Burden of our lives. It is the commission of Jesus Christ. It is the purpose of our church. We exist to reach the lost with baptisms and discipleship. This is the weight I feel every day; to find someone and lead them to Jesus. The reason is simple: Lennon was wrong. Judgement is coming and the door will be closed. Heaven has prepared by the Lord Himself and the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we shall be caught up together.
I imagine a revival of souls; people walking in truth and growing in their faith. I imagine the waters of baptisms stirred and the altars filled. I can only imagine.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole