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The Lie That Is Filling Hell

We have a crisis in the Church. Not a crisis of attendance. Not a crisis of music or programs or budgets. We have a crisis of truth — and it is sending people to hell with a smile on their face.

The crisis is this: somewhere along the way, the Body of Christ agreed, without a vote and without a scripture, that everyone goes to heaven when they die. The drug dealer and the deacon. The unrepentant and the redeemed. In the theology of the comfortable church, death itself has become the great equalizer.

It is a lie. And Jesus said so.

Matthew 7:21 — KJV
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 7:22-23 — KJV
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Word “Many” Is Not a Typo

Do not read past that word. Many. Not a few confused people on the fringes. A significant number of people who were so convinced they were right with God that they stood before Him on the day of judgment and argued their case. They had works. They had activity. They had the religious vocabulary. They called Him Lord. And He said He never knew them.

ginosko (Strong’s #G1097): The Greek word for “knew” — means intimate, relational, experiential knowledge. Not awareness. Not recognition. Covenant relationship. Jesus was not saying He had never heard of them. He was saying: we were never in genuine relationship. You called My name but never surrendered your heart.
“You can be religious your entire life and be a stranger to the God you claim to serve.”

The Wide Gate That Is Full of Churchgoers

Matthew 7:13-14 — KJV
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Jesus describes two roads. Two gates. Two destinations. And He is unsparing about the numbers: the broad road — the one leading to destruction — is crowded. The narrow road — the one leading to life — is traveled by few.

thlibo (Strong’s #G2346): To press, afflict, squeeze narrow. The way to life is compressed — it cannot be walked without genuine surrender and daily commitment.

The assumption of universal salvation has quietly moved people from the narrow road to the broad one — while telling them they are still on the right path. That is not grace. That is spiritual malpractice. And it is filling hell with people who died fully expecting heaven.

The Funeral That Lit This Fire

We have stood at gravesides and watched a pastor look out over a congregation of grieving people — people desperate for comfort, people who needed truth — and heard him say words that were not in the Bible. “He is in a better place.” “She is finally at peace.” “Heaven got another angel.”

But here is what that silence costs: the living people in those pews walked away with the confirmed belief that death is a door everyone walks through into glory. They walked away with less urgency, not more.

“Every false comfort spoken over a casket is a stumbling block placed in the path of every living person who heard it.”
Ephesians 4:15 — KJV
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.

Not everyone goes to heaven. Jesus said so. And if you are reading this and you have never genuinely surrendered your life to Him — not just acknowledged Him, not just attended church, not just said a prayer once at a youth camp — then this chapter is written for you. Not to condemn you. To tell you the truth. Because the truth, received today, can change everything.

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