The Bible teaches that, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Hebrews 9:27. We’ve all had appointments in our lives, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, hair appointments, and so on. Some appointments are good, others we may dread – but we’ve all had appointments. Most are scheduled, and we put them on the calendar, and at the appointed time, we are where we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing. They’re planned, expected.
The Bible teaches us that all of us have an appointment with death; the thing is we don’t know when that appointed time is. It will be a surprise to most of us – but, after we have the appointment with death, we will stand before God in judgement. That judgement will be where God either allows us into Heaven, or choses to cast us into Hell for all of eternity.
I’d say that’s a pretty serious appointment! When you have an appointment with the tax man, you take that seriously, and have all of your details – the receipts and statements – all in order for that meeting. It is more important that you have your facts in order for your meeting with God, otherwise, the price is so great.
And please understand, God wants you to know that your eternity is settled with Him. The Bible says in 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
The word know there in that verse, in the Greek, it means to certainly know, or know for certain. Its implications are so strong and permanent that it is like carving it in stone. Just like you know your name, just like you know your age, just like you know your address – God says you can know that you have eternal life!
He spells it out for us in a few simple to understand steps:
The Bible says in Romans 3:10, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one:” Just in case we needed clarification, he adds in verse 22-23, “for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Sin is rebellion against God. We all know what the ten commandments are – and most realize there are many other commands in the Bible. Anything that God tells us to do, that we don’t do is rebellion against God. And when He tells us not to do something, and we do it anyways, that is rebellion against God.
Paul, one of the greatest Christians to ever live said this, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me… O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:15-17, 24)
What Paul was saying is that we all are sinners, and even though we may want to do what is good and right, we often doing the exact opposite. And even though we may try to live a clean life, because we are defiled, or made dirty by our sins, God cannot even consider the good that we do as very good. The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
God says that all of our righteousnesses, the very best that we have to offer, is like a pile of filthy rags. So, lets go on a little trip, we’ll go over to the local hospital, and get all of the blood stained, puss filled rags from surgery and put those in a big pile. Then we’ll go over to the local nursery, and get all of the dirty diapers from all of the babies they’ve cared for – and we’ll put those into the pile. Lastly, we’ll go to the local mechanic shop and get all of the greasy rags that they’ve used to clean up their messes, and to wipe the sweat from their faces, and we’ll put those into the pile. Now let’s mix it up really well…and the Bible says that the very best that we have to offer, in God’s site, is like that pile of filthy rags.
But our sin…Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Our sin has separated us from God. Romans 3:23 clarifies that when it says, “and come short of the glory of God;”
God’s glory is the light of Heaven. There’s no need for the sun or the moon, He is the light! Revelation 21:23, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” So, when we fall short of the glory of God, the Bible is literally saying that we fall short of Heaven because of our sin.
Our sin, no matter how small we see it, is enough to ensure that we cannot go to Heaven.
This is not a fact that I like – but God, in His perfect justice, has to punish sin…the rebellion against His Word. The Bible says in Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death;” A wage is a paycheck for what has been done. I go to work, and I do the work that is expected of me – and on payday, I have the right to expect my paycheck. That is the wage for the work that I have done.
The Bible here is saying that we have earned a wage for the sin that we have done. Now allow me to get a little deep here, but I will explain this and make sense of it. We have all heard that we are body, soul and spirit – that is what makes up who you are…but most people have no clue what this means. Allow me to explain.
Your body is that part of you that takes in food, air and water – to keep your body alive. It needs those elements along with medicine at times, and exercise to keep it healthy and alive. Your soul is the thinking part of you. It is the seat of your logic and emotions. It is also the part of you that communicates with other people. It feeds on knowledge, information, emotions, and communication for its sustenance. Then there is your spirit – the part of you that communicates with God. God speaks to you and you speak to Him through Bible reading and prayer.
Because of sin, there is a penalty of death that has passed upon all of you. Your body will necessarily die someday. It will be cut off from food, air, and water. It will have no use for these things any longer. Your soul must die. Your logic, emotions, feelings, communication, and all that your sould is will be done. And most tragically, your spirit must be cut off from its life source, from God.
The Bible is clear what happens when a person dies and is separated from God:
Luke 16:22-25, says, “…the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”
Hell is a place of fire - In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,..." Revelation 20:15 says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE."
Hell is a place of torment - Jesus says of the man in Luke 16:23 "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in TORMENTS. . . " 24 ". . . for I am TORMENTED in this FLAME." 28 ". . .PLACE OF TORMENT." The Bible describes it as weeping (Matt 8:12), wailing (Matt 13:42), gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:50), darkness (Matt 25:30), flames (Luke 16:24), burning (Isa 33:14), torments (Luke 16:23), everlasting punishment! Jesus Christ says in Matthew 25:41, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels." In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Hell is forever - All who enter hell — abandon all hope! The horror of hell — for even one second is unbearable — but FOREVER! Jesus says in Matthew 25:41: "...Depart from me, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING fire,…” Rev. 14:11: "The smoke of their TORMENT ascendeth up for EVER AND EVER: and they have NO REST DAY NOR NIGHT."
Just look how the Bible warns of the eternity and permanence of hell!
My friend, I have searched my Bible, from cover to cover. . . I have studied every occurrence of hell in my Bible — and I can not find one verse, not one word of HOPE for someone in hell! NOT ONE WORD! The rich man in hell in Luke 16 never even asks to get out — He knew there was no way out! OH MY FRIEND – HELL IS FOREVER AND EVER! What could possibly be worth eternity in hell? No wonder Jesus Christ warned so much about hell! No wonder Jesus said in Mark 8:36, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and LOSE HIS OWN SOUL?"
The third thing you must know is this - God would have been justified in closing the Bible here, saying that you chose to sin, now you have to go to Hell to pay the price for your sin…but He didn’t – because of His great love for you, because of His love for the whole world – He made a way of escape!
The Bible says in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
God loves you, and He never wanted you or anyone else to ever see, or feel, or experience the fires of Hell. He says in 1 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God wants everybody everywhere to hear the message of His love and the be saved from the damnation of the fires of Hell. He says this in Romans 5:8-9, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
What that verse is saying is that God proved or showed His love to us, while we were sinners and undeserving of His love, Christ died for us! And the next part is amazing – it says that we can be justified by His blood, by the blood of Jesus – and be saved from God’s wrath (Hell) through Him, or because of the payment that Jesus made.
When I hear the word saved, I think of a public pool. Sitting every fifteen to twenty feet apart up on the tall chairs looking at the water are the lifeguards. Their job is to save people who are in trouble…people who are drowning. You can’t go to the pool, walk in and tell them that you are going to be their newest life guard. It doesn’t work that way. You’re going to have to prove some things – things like, you’re going to have to prove that you know how to swim, that you know CPR and other life saving techniques, you’ll have to prove that you are physically fit enough to handle the job. Once you’ve passed all of the tests, you have proven that you are qualified and are now certified to save lives.
Jesus Christ wanted to be our eternal lifeguard. He wanted to save us from the fires of Hell. So He had to prove that He was capable of saving us. That is why He was born of a virgin – he was born the way no one else was ever born, proving that He was and is the Son of God, that He is God. He grew up a perfect life – never sinned. The Bible says that He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15b) We learn that Jesus went around doing good, performing miracles – proving that He was and is God. He raised the dead, made blind eyes see, healed people.
Then at the end of His life, as Jesus was alone praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of His disciples, a man named Judas, betrayed Him, and a group of Roman guards came and took Jesus up in the middle of the night. It was against the law to try Him in the night, but they did it anyways. They made accusation against Jesus, and the judge himself even said that he found not fault in Jesus. But he let them do as they wanted to.
They took Jesus out and the got a cat-of-nine-tails, a whip with 9 lashes on it – and in those lashes they would have embedded bone, and metal, glass, and stones. They beat the back of Jesus 39 times, and as the whip hit his back, it sank into His skin – and when they would pull it free, it ripped His skin to shreds. They ripped the beard from His face and spat on Him. They put a crown of razor-sharp thorns on his head.
After all of this, they put a cross on His back and made Him march through the streets toward Mount Calvary. His body was so broken that He fell under the weight of the cross and another man had to help Him carry His cross the rest of the way.
Keep in mind that all this time, He was still the Son of God…He was still God. He could have looked into Heaven and called the angels and said that we weren’t worth this kind of suffering and pain, He could have told them to destroy the world and to send us all to Hell to pay for our sins…but He didn’t. Jesus looked through time, and He saw you, and knew your name and said that if you could be saved, then this was worth it all – and He placed His hand up on the cross and allowed them to drive the nail into His hand. He saw me, and said that if I could be saved, this was worth it all and He placed His hand up on the cross and allowed them to drive the nail into His other hand. He saw everyone who has ever lived and everyone who will ever live and said that if they could have a chance to be saved this is worth it all, and He let them drive the nail into His feet.
They hung Jesus on the cross, and there, God placed the sins of the entire world on Him. He who knew no sin, became sin for us. God, who could not look upon sin as Isaiah says, turned His back on Jesus at this point. All alone, Jesus died for your sin, and mine…the sins of the world.
Praise the Lord, the story doesn’t end there! Three days later, He arose from the grave and took the blood that He had shed and put it on the Mercy Seat in Heaven.
After all of this, He had proven that He could be our eternal lifeguard, our Saviour who could rescue us from Hell! But here’s the thing: a lifeguard cannot save you if you are fighting and trusting yourself. When you are drowning, you must give up hope in saving yourself, and completely trust the lifeguard for your salvation.
You cannot go to church enough times, that’s fighting the lifeguard. You cannot give enough money, that’s fighting the lifeguard. You cannot be good enough, that’s fighting the lifeguard. You cannot be baptized just right, that’s fighting the lifeguard. You must give up all hope in doing anything on your own, and trust in the lifeguard. I understand that giving up all hope is a scary thing, as soon as you do, you will begin to sink. But it is that moment that the lifeguard wraps His arms around you and pulls you to safety.
Jesus wants to save you, but the only way He can is when you abandon all hope in yourself, and put all of your faith in Him! Hebrews 11:6, says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” You must come to Him and receive His free pardon of sin by faith alone.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “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.”
The last thing I want to show you is this - Jesus can save you if you’ll put your trust in Him! The Bible says in Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
The Bible says to confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart in order to be saved. So I want to ask you a few questions, and I simply want you to tell me with your mouth what you actually believe in your heart.
1) Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is God?
2) Do you believe that you are a sinner?
3) Do you believe that your sin will send you to Hell?
4) Do you believe that Jesus wants to save you?
5) Do you believe that He can and will?
Then, according to the Bible, you have everything that you need to be saved, you just have to ask Him. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” If you ask Him, and by faith, place your trust in Him, the Bible says there, you will be saved. Not because of your promises, or because of mine – but your salvation will rest in Him.
If you would like to be saved, I want to give you an opportunity to ask Him, and by faith receive Him as your Saviour. It’s not a magic set of words or a special prayer that saves you, it is you, by faith asking Jesus to save you, and He will.
If you want to be saved, pray this prayer, or prayer similar to this calling on Jesus:
“Dear Lord Jesus, I need you. I admit that I am a sinner, and my sin will send me to Hell. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I believe that you raised from the dead so that I might have eternal life. I am placing my faith and my hope in your shed blood to take me to Heaven when I die. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen."
Let me share some encouraging information with you. 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
The Bible also says in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
John 10:28 says, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Jude 24 says, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”
Not only does God offer us salvation, but once we trust in Him, he keeps our salvation. We cannot lose it. Just as we had to trust in Him for our salvation, and it was not of ourselves. He is the one who keeps it, meaning, God is not ok if we continue in sin – and correction and punishment may come. But you can never and will never go to Hell because Jesus has saved you.
Salvation is so much more than just praying a prayer. While you can do nothing to earn or buy God’s gift of salvation, there is much you will do after Christ has saved you. In fact, Paul even said in Philippians 2:12: “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Meaning, you are saved, you must now maintain that salvation.
But don’t let that make you afraid of losing your salvation, because in the very next verse, Paul said this, “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
He means this: You don’t have to do this alone! God has already given you His grace – the ability to do what you don’t have the power to do by yourself. God is coming alongside of you to help you live this Christian life.
God’s grace is this: It is His power to enable an ordinary man to do an extraordinary task.
And the good news is that His grace is available to you each day in direct proportion to your need. Grace never, ever, ever runs out! Ever!
So, now that you are saved, here are 5 things you need to start doing.
1. READ THE BIBLE – God gave us the Bible as a way to get to know Him and as a way to know how we should live this new life. The Bible dictates for us our lifestyle and our world view. It is the final word for the Christian.
2. PRAY – Prayer is how we speak to God. It is how we communicate with Him. It is also how we open up our hearts for Him to change us and to keep our hearts and minds focused on Him.
I believe a lot of people complicate the act of prayer, but there are three things you need to know about prayer:
Prayer is not reading other people’s prayers. Just like your husband wouldn’t want you to recite Hallmark card greetings as a way to express your feelings to him, so God doesn’t want us to just read other people’s prayers. It’s not wrong to allow prayers such as the Serenity Prayer to inspire us to pray, but written prayers are not a replacement for us expressing our heart to God.
We can pray wherever we are. In your bed, in your shower, in your car…you can pray anywhere and at anytime. Just like a parent is always ready to listen to whatever their child has to say, so God is eager to hear our prayers! You don’t have to be in a church to pray, and no one has to do the praying for you. God wants to hear your heart! Just start talking to Him as you would your best friend.
God cares about the small things. You will never annoy God with your prayers and nothing is too small for God to care about. In fact, He cares about the small things in our lives as much as the big things. Are you thinking about buying a new car? Pray about it! Are you considering putting your children in a new school? Pray about it!
In fact, James tells us that if we need wisdom for anything in life, all we need to do is ask God. He will give it to us. In fact, James says that God doesn’t prefer certain people over others. He won’t say to you, “Uh, your not Billy Graham, so forget it!” No, God doesn’t play favorites. The only condition to this is that when you ask God for wisdom, believe that He will actually give it to you. And He will.
3. GO TO CHURCH – I know some people believe that this is optional, but it really isn’t.
The Bible says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:24-25
While you may argue that the church is full of hypocrites, the fact is that there are hypocrites wherever you go. This argument often makes me laugh because you wouldn’t say, “I’m quitting my job because it’s full of hypocrites.”
The truth is that the church is full of humans, and these humans are all on various levels of maturity – emotional and spiritual maturity. Each of these humans have come to Christ with baggage, and some of them have come with a lot of baggage.
And just because we come to Christ doesn’t mean that baggage just miraculously falls off. Instead, He takes us on a journey to resolving our past, step by step, and with each step we learn more about who Christ is and who we are in Him.
4. GET BAPTIZED – While some may believe that baptism is an unnecessary ritual, throughout the New Testament we see multiple commands, by both Jesus and the Apostles, for baptism. As a matter of fact, baptism always immediately followed salvation. In every instance.
But what is baptism?
First of all, we need to understand that baptism does not save us. Baptism doesn’t not wash away our sins.
Baptism is a symbolic act that reflects what we read in Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
When the pastor lowers us down into the water, it symbolizes our old life being dead and buried – just as Jesus died and was buried in a tomb. When he lifts us out of the water, it symbolizes Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and that through Him, we have new life, too!
Never underestimate the power of this symbolic act in your life as a new Christian!
5. TELL OTHERS – There is just something very powerful about sharing your faith with others. Telling other people about Jesus can feel scary and intimidating, but taking that first step to tell someone about your new faith in Christ is so powerful!
In fact, in Revelation 12:11 it says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb (this is Jesus and His sacrifice) and by the word of their testimony (this is you telling your friend about Jesus), and they did not love their lives to the death.”
If you are interested in taking the next steps in growth in your brand new life as a Christian, Maranatha Baptist Church would be glad to help. Every Sunday at 10:00 am, our Sunday School Classes meets to discuss the next steps of growth as a Christian. This will help you to get rooted in the truth from God’s Word - giving you a foundation to build your life on.
We would be honored to have you visit with us this Sunday! For more details or any other questions that you may have, we are here to serve you. You can reach us by phone at (304) 425-8554, or via email at mbcwva@suddenlinkmail.com.