“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” —1st John 2:15
Please understand that I don't condemn anyone, for the Bible condemns all of
us as guilty, dirty, rotten, hell-deserving sinners. My salvation solely
rests in Christ's righteousness, because of the precious blood that He gave
for our sins. My intention is not to be unkind; but rather, to address the
issue of salvation.
On March 9th, 2007 I was saddened to hear about the suicide of Boston lead singer Brad Delp, who was only 55. What many fans of Boston don't know is that all vocals on the first three albums were sang by Brad Delp exclusively. That's quite amazing from a musician's perspective. Tom Scholz, the bands leader, has often been referred to as a musical genius.
Boston's debut album, Boston (1976), sold over 17,000,000 copies!
Photos Left and Right: Brad Delp in 1970, and then in 2006.
Tragically,
Brad Delp committed suicide on March 9th by placing two charcoal grills in his
bathtub in New Hampshire.
He died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Mr. Delp had been a vegetarian for 37 years, and took care of his health. Brad certainly wasn't your typical drug-addict, wild-partying Rocker. Brad was known to break out the apple juice after his concerts instead of booze.
Sadly, and tragically, I fear that Brad Delp is suffering in Hell this moment. Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Jesus plainly taught in John 3:3, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Being a nice guy like Brad, who raised lots of money for various charities, and was a decent person, just isn't enough to merit Heaven. I know this upsets many people to hear, but you'd better obey the Bible. The Scriptures tell us frankly that Heaven cannot be merited in any way (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5; Romans 10:3-4). The only people who get mad at me are the people who don't believe the Bible. If you believe that the Bible is God's inspired Words, then you will agree with my Biblical preaching concerning the necessity of being born again.
All I am saying is that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. I do not know where Brad Delp went, but he is either in Heaven or Hell. I don't know if he died IN THE LORD (Revelation 14:13) or IN HIS SINS (John 8:24). Jesus said that except a man be born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5). We are all living on borrowed time my friend. Brad's high vocal range on Boston's debut song, More Than A Feeling, took the world by surprise, unsurpassed by none. Delp's suicide is tragic. Before long, all of us will join Brad Delp in eternity. That is the focus of my article. Where will you spend eternity?
Led Zeppelin's hit song Stairway to Heaven, contains the lyrics, “And she's buying the stairway to heaven.” May I say, it's not for sale friend. You can't buy your way into Heaven. You need Jesus' righteousness! Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay. The only way into Heaven is through Christ's righteousness, which is by faith alone.
A lot of wonderful people
will be burning in Hell one day, sorry to say, because they saw themselves
as being good; however, if we all
compare ourselves to the holy Word of God, then we all fall short of the
glory of God and will see our desperate need for the Savior (Romans 3:10-23).
I cannot say for certain if Brad Delp went to Hell, but I've found no profession of faith in his life, nor any reason to believe he was a born-again Christian. I wish it were so. The question is, again, where will you spend eternity?
The Bible, God's Word, warns us in 1st John 2:17 that this world WILL PASS AWAY... "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." In a little over 100 years from now, if the Lord tarries His return, all 6,800,000,000 people living upon the earth today will be dead and gone into eternity. Think about that. Life is too short to risk going to Hell forever.
The Bible tells us exactly what God expects from us. Praise God, eternal life is a free gift, paid for by Jesus' precious blood. All you need to do is acknowledge that you are a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God, and believe the Good News (aka, “the Gospel”) of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the Gospel? I'm glad you asked friend. The “Gospel” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 is that Christ died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. And then miraculously by God's power, Jesus bodily resurrected three days later. This is the Gospel. Christ DIED, was BURIED and is RISEN! If you place your faith in this Good News, you are immediately and forever saved. It's that simple to be saved. This is NOT religion; but rather, genuine Christianity. We are woeful SINNERS and Jesus is the redeeming SAVIOR. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.
Brad Delp was admired by millions of people around the world, but where is he now? Do you believe that the Bible is God's Word? Romans 1:20 declares that mankind is WITHOUT EXCUSE... “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
We are all warned in 2nd Thessalonians 1:8, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Those are frightening words! I believe the Bible is God's Word, do you? I thank God I am a born again Christian, and my sins have been cleansed away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1st Peter 1:18,19). Nothing else matters if you die in your sins without Jesus Christ. Life is short, too short (Proverb 27:1). Before we know it, this life will be over, and others will follow after us... AND THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY!
Of course, if you're a rock star your life-expectancy is MUCH lower. Take a look at Rock's Death List.
No one ever goes to Hell but those who CHOOSE to go there. John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Notice that Jesus didn't say CANNOT, He said WILL NOT. The choice is yours.
Brad's
family members gave a statement to the press on March 14, 2007... “He
gave as long as he could, as best he could, and he was very tired. We take
comfort in knowing that he is now, at last, at peace.”
I wish with all my heart I could believe that Brad Delp is AT PEACE, but John 3:3 states, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
This world will soon pass away. All of the things which seem so important to most people today won't matter one bit 10,000 years from now! All that will matter then is whether you died in your sins (John 8:24), or in the Lord (Revelation 14:13).
I have no doubt that Brad Delp was a good man, as far as sinners go; however, he was still a sinner, as I am. Although there is good and bad in all people, we are all still sinners under the condemnation of God's Law (Romans 3:19-23), and deserving of Hellfire (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15). We all need God's salvation, which is obtained only through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Do you know for sure if you died today that you would go to Heaven? You can know for sure, by coming as a sinner and BELIEVING THE GOSPEL. Jesus doesn't forgive sins. That is correct! Jesus has already paid for our sins, so it is a free gift that may simply be taken.
If you'll simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins, believing that He raised up from the dead 72 hours later, you will be immediately, eternally and irrevocably born-again by the Holy Spirit of God. John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?” The apostle Paul wrote to the church at
Galatia. Paul had just one question... How did you get saved? That is, how
did you become indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God? Was it by doing the works
of the law? Or was it by the hearing of faith? I love that last part... THE
HEARING OF FAITH. Paul was making sure that they were saved.
In other words, if you believe the Gospel when you hear it preached, you are saved. It is that simple! 1st Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Eternal life is a gift. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We are saved by completely resting in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ. It's not what we can do for God that gets us to Heaven, but what He has done for us by His grace.
I simply wrote this article to address the matter of eternal life. Brad Delp was well loved, famous, a gifted singer and a great guy, but where is he in eternity? The Bible says that those who do not obey the Gospel go to Hell forever (2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9). I can only hope that Mr. Delp was a Christian.
1st John 2:15-17 tells us that this life will soon PASS AWAY, and all that will matter then is whether one obeyed the Gospel or not.
