Greg Laurie: 'People send themselves to Hell, not God'

Chiqui Guyjoco Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Pastor Greg Laurie dispelled a widely shared belief when he said that it's not God but the people who send themselves to the fires of Hell.

The evangelical leader talked about the fires of Hell and made this revelation Saturday night to a crowd of 37,000 who attended the 27th annual SoCal Harvest at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Thousands also watched the event's webcast.

A screengrab from Harvest Christian Fellowship's Pastor Greg Laurie's talk on "Antichrist, America, and Armaggedon." | Youtube/Harvest: Greg Laurie

The 63-year-old senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California assured Christians that they will go to Heaven after their life on Earth. However, a different fate awaits those who refused to recognize Jesus Christ in their lives despite God's mercy.

The pastor clarified that even God with all His mercy and love for His people doesn't want this to happen.

"Listen to this," Pastor Laurie told the attendees. "Jesus Christ spoke more about Hell than all the other preachers of the Bible put together. He knows of its reality. Know this: the last thing God wants is for anyone to go to Hell."

Yet despite God's warnings and Jesus' offer of salvation, Pastor Laurie explained that many people refused to listen.

"Newsflash!" said the pastor. "God doesn't send people to Hell. You send yourself there. Hell is not made for people. Hell, according to Jesus, was made for the Devil and his angels. Listen, friend, if you end up in Hell one day, you will have to practically climb over Jesus to get there."

The author of more than 70 books continued his warnings about Hell even before he embarked on the three-night worship event that began Friday night.

Pastor Laurie told his social media followers through a Facebook video message on Aug. 17 that God would ultimately judge people based on what they know. This means He's not necessarily going to reject people just because they've never read or heard of the Gospel.

He continued to warn Christians and non-believers Friday night that one sin is already enough to keep one out of Heaven.

The event that aimed to reunite Christians to Jesus Christ saw 3,319 people surrendering their lives to Christ and say the Sinner's Prayer on the first night followed by more than 3,960 on the second night.