I have heard more than one pastor in my life say these words, and at one time, for a short time in my life, I believed them. “The only thing you can take to heaven with you is your loved ones.” This is a lie, and it was started by the same people that have brought you the “feel good about yourself” theology.
“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) You came here with nothing, you will leave here with nothing, if those you love do not profess Jesus Christ as Lord, they will die in their sins and go to hell. If they have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, or if you choose, have been predestined by the Almighty before the foundation of the world, they will also leave alone, their salvation is from Christ, not you.
This short little opening statement would not go over well in most churches today, it is not polite to say, and it infers that there is no other way to the Father but by Jesus, it takes away any hope outside of Him, and that is the path that many of them have been on for quite some time now, a “secondary salvation,” one that makes us part of the equation, one where good people go to heaven. I have one treasure on this earth, my beautiful wife, we will be together in the kingdom as the husband and wife that we are now, even if you have decided to misinterpret Matthew 22:30, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Kind of leaves out the already married in the eyes of the Lord, doesn’t it. We will be husband and wife because the Scriptures say that “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:21) Because “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
To those of you who would attempt to refute these words, I would ask you to open your Bible and turn to 2nd Samuel 12:23, what does David say there about his child, where is he going to be with him, and whose child is he going to be? It is also a most excellent verse to bring up to a women who are planning to have an abortion, or to anyone for that matter that does not think of children as blessings from the Lord.
You my friend cannot even take you to heaven, your faith is a gift, grace is a gift, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) Leaves us and our decision to be born-again completely out of the equation, no matter how it is viewed, but I can guarantee you one thing, not one person who is saved is complaining about it.
We are messengers, we are ambassadors, our main purpose in life is to glorify the Lord, and the very best way we can do that is to tell them about the grace, the unmerited favor, that is from God through Jesus Christ. In a sense it is like the old shell game, we do not know, and we cannot tell just by looking at someone if they are saved or not, so we speak to all we can, and why? Because we know what hell is like, or better yet, we know the truth of what awaits those who will not be in heaven. To accomplish our task we must speak with them, we must hold a conversation with them based on the Scriptures. Grace, sin, repentance, the resurrection, and when we have expounded everything that we can to them about the truths of the Word of God, we wait to see if they are prepared to acknowledge the Lord God as Sovereign, Jesus Christ as Savior, and the moment that those rare few do, you have just laid up treasure in heaven.
That is as close as you will ever get to taking anything to heaven with you, and if you understand anything that has been written here, then you will understand why all of our treasures and crowns will be cast at the feet of Jesus on that day. “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” (Rev. 5:2)