Things That Save-1

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Things That Save-1

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May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

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The Scripture says, “God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” 1 Timothy 2:4.
We're so glad that you joined us today for our study on the wonderful subject of salvation. In this series we've been discussing things that brought salvation about the importance of it- why a man needs salvation.
Now we're going to think about-what does the Bible say plays a part and is essential in man's salvation?
As we think about these we want to see the practicality of them in our lives as well. What is it that the Bible says is essential to salvation?
We begin at the top of the list with the source and originator of salvation himself - God. The Bible teaches that God saves. God is the source of all salvation. I want you to notice with me the words of Romans 8:33 as Paul discusses salvation and how there is no condemnation in Christ. ‘It is God who justifies the word.’ Justify carries the idea of being free from sin. ‘Just as if I'd never sinned’ is the idea. Justify and salvation are terms that go hand in hand in this idea. Who is it that justifies? Friend, it is God who is the author of salvation. Hebrews 5:8-9 teaches us Jesus or God is the author of eternal salvation. It's God who in
the beginning put the plan in place. Genesis Chapter 3 when sin entered into the world, when Adam and Eve were lost because of their own sin, God at that point began to make a way of salvation. The seed of woman would bring a death blow, a crushing blow, to the head of Satan, Genesis 3:15. Throughout time with the patriarchs Abraham, to David, and through Solomon up to the point of Jesus God was working putting His plan into action to save mankind.
Without God, without a belief in God, without a conviction of God, without knowing that God is the true source of salvation- there is no hope for mankind. God is indeed essential to our salvation. Do we have that belief in God? Are we convicted that the Bible is indeed the word of God? Are we willing? Here's what's so practical and important about this- it doesn't matter what I think or you think or what somebody else says about salvation. Are we willing to go to God and His word? He is the source of salvation. If I don't factor in God, there is no salvation. I've got to be ready to listen to what God says on the matter.
Secondly, and this goes hand in hand with God, we also realize that Jesus Christ is essential to salvation. Without Christ there is no salvation. You're very well familiar with it probably if you've ever read or heard much about the Bible at all. John 3:16 says this, "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Without Jesus, there's no salvation. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me," John 14:6. When Jesus came into the world it was said, “You will call his name Emmanuel,” which is translated God with us. “You'll call his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their sins,” Matthew 1:19-21. Even back in time we see God's promises that through that seed of woman he was going to crush the head of Satan. It was made to the promised Abraham and Genesis 12, "That in your seed, all nations will be blessed.” That same promise was reiterated to Isaac, Genesis 22:17-18. Further down the line to David it was said that someone of his seed would sit on the throne of David and would reign forever. Who is that? This promise was made to Mary in Luke 1:32-33. “He'll be great. He'll be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he'll reign over the house of Israel forever and of his kingdom there will be no end." Who is that seed? Who is that one who's going to reign? It's Christ. Without Jesus there is no salvation. Galatians 3:15-19 Paul specifically says, "And to your seed who is Christ."
Friend, as we think about salvation and how that's possible, we've got to factor in the life the death the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Think about how His life made salvation possible. “He was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin,” Hebrews 4:15. When John the Immerser saw Jesus approaching he said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” His perfect life was a perfect sacrifice and offering for the sins of the world. “He himself bore our sins in His own body upon the tree,” 1 Peter 2:24. And so, we look at His life, His death, and look at what Jesus did so I could have salvation. “He was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. By His stripes we are healed,” Isaiah 53:3 - 5. Look at His burial. Jesus was buried in the ground. Death did not contain Him. He rose up out of the grave. He conquered death, and His resurrection based on the hope and the joy of Christianity as well. That's where we put our trust and our hope that although I may die and leave this life- because I am a Christian and I have obeyed the gospel, because of the blood of Jesus- I have the hope of overcoming death and the hope of the resurrection. Without Christ there is no salvation. How thankful to God we ought to be for the son of God.
Thirdly and again directly related to God and to Jesus, we also realize that the Holy Spirit played a vital part in man's salvation. He is attributed in part to the sanctification or salvation of man. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 6:11. The Bible records this talking to Christians in Corinth Paul says, "And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord God or the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God.” The Holy Spirit also played a part in man's salvation. The Spirit revealed God's message. That spirit worked through the prophets and the Apostles and the men in the first century in getting that plan, the revelation of that plan and the knowledge of it, to mankind. This is how the Holy Spirit is how we received the word of God. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it is this message. Without the message, I wouldn't know about salvation. The Holy Spirit is also important equally important in the sanctification and salvation of mankind.
How thankful I ought to be to God for being the author and originator of salvation and to Jesus Christ for making the ultimate sacrifice and offering for salvation and to the Holy Spirit revealing that message and that plan to mankind!
Now as we think about other areas other things that the Bible says are also important in man's salvation. We need to realize that the Bible says faith is an essential attribute that man must possess if he's going to be saved. Notice the words of Hebrews 11:6. The Bible says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." Can I be saved, can I please God, and can I live with God if I don't have faith? No. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
When we talk about faith we're talking about that conviction that we have based on the evidence of God in both creation and in the word of God. Hebrews 11:1 says “faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen.” Faith is based on substance and evidence. Where do we go to get that faith? Romans10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." If I don't have a conviction based off the evidence from the word of God and other evidence as well that there is a God that Jesus Christ is His son and that the Holy Spirit revealed that message to us in the Bible, there's no way I can be saved. I've got to trust in God if I'm going to be saved.
And friend, please understand when we talk about faith we talk about trusting in God. We're not just talking about ‘Ok I accept the fact or accept the idea’- that's not Bible faith. Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26 says that it is the ‘obedience of faith.’ John 6:29, "This is the work of God that you believe." That's the same word used for faith that you believe on Him who he sends. Faith is an action word. It requires us to respond properly to the evidence that we see in the Word of God. If I don't have the faith to trust God and to follow Him, I can't be saved. There's no way salvation can be possible without faith in Almighty God.
We also want to mention this idea to you. Without the Bible, the revelation of God's message, there can be no salvation. Notice James 1:21 the word of God says, "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word (notice now) which is able to save your soul." 1 Peter 1:22-25, "We are born again by the word of God which lives and abides forever." I understand as well as you that it is God who started salvation. Jesus made the offering and things like that and how essential we've already mentioned that is, but how would you know about that without the Bible? You cannot be saved without learning about God's plan of salvation that's found right
here in the word of God. How essential and important the Bible is to my salvation and yours! You see this is where I learn about God. The Bible tells us this is God's word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable." Psalm 119:160, ‘the entirety of God's word is truth.’ And you remember what Jesus said about that truth. ‘You've got to know the truth and then the truth will make you free,’ John 8:32. We want to factor in that the Bible teaches the Word of God is essential unto salvation. If there were a way to be saved, I'd have to know about it. Right? I'd have to know what God said. Well that's what the Bible is about telling us- God's plan of salvation. Men can't save us. “There is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is the way of death,” Proverbs 16:25. And yet in the long ago Jeremiah said, "Oh Lord I know the way of man is not of himself. It's not in man who walks to direct his own steps." God is the source of salvation. I've got to follow His word if I'm going to be saved.
Friend, this is why studying the Bible for yourself is so important. Don't just believe it because somebody says it. Don't just go somewhere on a Sunday and sit in a building and listen to somebody and say well that must be true. Romans 14:10-12, each of us shall give an account of himself to God. I'm accountable to study, 2 Timothy 2:15, and to prove all things, 1 Thessalonians 5:21. This is why I have a copy of the Bible. This is why God gave us the Bible, so we can make sure that we're right with Him. The word of God is also essential to salvation.
The Bible also says the proclamation, the telling, the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ, is an essential part of salvation as well. Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 1:21. Paul said, "For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, (Listen to this) it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." Is preaching the gospel essential to salvation? There are people who have never heard about God. There are people that don't know about the Bible. There are people who, don't take this wrong way, who just don't know and are ignorant of the message of salvation- meaning they've never heard that. When people take the Bible and go places and preach the Gospel to those who have never heard it, that's an essential element for without hearing it. Without hearing the gospel that there is a God that Jesus made a way of salvation that that's available to mankind-there can be no salvation. We need to preach the word, 2 Timothy 4:2. We need to speak as God speaks, 1 Peter 4:11. We need to teach sound doctrine, Titus 2:1. We always just want to put the emphasis on- "Is
there any word from the Lord?" "What does the scripture say?" Romans 4:3. It's not man's ideas. It's not funny stories or cute tales or things like that are going to get me into heaven. It's the preaching of the good news. It's telling others about Jesus, His salvation, His death, His burial, His resurrection, and what this book the Bible says man must do to be saved.
Another element that the Bible says is essential to salvation is listening to or hearing that message with the right attitude. If I'm not willing to listen to what God's word says or hear God's word, I can't be saved. I want to direct your attention to the Bible passage that teaches that Romans 10:17. The Bible says, "So then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Now we understand that verse and that verse just simply teaches that if I'm going to get faith, it comes by hearing reading, studying, listening to the Word of God and so we say what that says and we understand that. But I want you to back up in your mind just a minute to a verse that we mentioned earlier. How do we know hearing saves and is essential?
Do you remember Hebrews 11:6? “Without faith it's impossible to please God.” And so we recognize that if I don't have faith, I can't please God. I've got to have faith. That's essential right? Well if faith is essential, whatever process by which I get faith is also essential. Correct? Listen again to Romans 10:17. How do you get that faith which is essential? "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Friend, I cannot get faith, which is essential to please God, without hearing the word of God. Therefore I need, if I'm going to be saved, I need the attitude that I'm ready to listen.
I love the words of Isaiah 6 and the statement of Samuel in 1 Samuel 2 and 3. Both in essence were given messages by God and they, in essence, said “Speak Lord. Your servant hears.” I want to listen. Jesus said to every one of the seven congregations in Asia Minor Jesus said, "To him that has ears to hear let him hear." I've got to be very careful, very attentive, very open minded to what the Bible says. We want to go the right source. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the voice of God came down and said, "This my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him." I want to go to the right source. I want to realize Jesus has all authority, Matthew 28:18. If I don't have that attitude and that willingness- there's no way I can be saved. That's why that that is essential to salvation.
We also learn from the scripture that not only is hearing essential to salvation, hearing what the Bible says, but once I hear the message the Bible teaches that repentance is also essential to salvation. I can't be saved if I'm not willing to repent. Listen to the words of Luke 13:3. Jesus said, "I tell you no, but unless you repent, you'll all likewise perish." Listen to 2 Corinthians 7:10. Paul says, "For godly sorrow produces repentance (Notice now) leading to salvation not to be regretted but the sorrow of the world produces death." Godly sorrow produces repentance which leads one toward salvation. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. The Bible teaches that to be saved, I've got to change my ways. Acts 2:38 Peter preached, "Repent and be baptized for the remission of sin." Acts 3:19, "Repent and turn again or be converted that your sins may be blotted out."
When we say repent it means that I've got to change my way of thinking, and I've got to change my way of acting. When I hear the message of God, if there are things in my life that are not like they need to be- what does it mean to correctly hear God's word? I'm willing to change. I'm willing to address those issues in my life and willing to change that. I realize my thinking has not been the thinking of God on that issue and because of that my actions have not been what God would like for me to do either, and therefore I'm going to amend my ways. I'm going to think the right way and I'm going to act the right way. If a person is going to be saved that individual must be willing to repent and change their life to what God wants them to do.
Along with repentance we also realize from scripture that a person must acknowledge with his mouth that Jesus is the son of God to be saved. Did you know that the Bible says I've got to with my mouth confess Jesus is God's son to be saved. Look at Romans 10:10. "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation." We're not talking about somebody getting in a cubicle and another religious person across on the other side of the window and somebody is saying, "Father forgive me, I've sinned." You don't read that in the Bible. You don't find it. That's not what Jesus nor the Holy Spirit is talking about there. In fact we're told exactly what Jesus is talking about. Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said this: "If you won't confess me before men neither will I confess you before My Father who is in heaven. But if you will confess me before men and I'll also confess you before My Father who is in heaven." We see an example of it in the conversion of the Ethiopian
eunuch. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch are traveling down the road. He sees water asks the great question, "Here is water what does hinders me?" "If you believe with all your heart you may." And the man says this: "I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God." Friend, if I'm not willing to acknowledge the one I believe in, if I'm not willing to acknowledge the savior who died for me, if I won't orally have the courage to confess Him as Lord of my life and the master who I'm going to follow -there can be no salvation.
The Bible also teaches that baptism saves. Baptism is essential to salvation. There are a lot of folks who don't like that and a lot of people don't believe that. They say that's just not true. Well let's turn our attention to the Word of God. Does it matter what I think in all honesty as it relates to salvation? It doesn't matter what you think. What matters is- what does God's words say? Listen to the very clear words of 1 Peter 3:21. The Bible says, "There is also an anti-type (Listen to this) which now saves us - baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Now you can study the context and you can tell that's water baptism because its water that's dealing with Noah and it's that anti-type as well. That all applies to Christians in that context. But what does he say in context about water baptism there? "Baptism does ..." King James says it this way: "Baptism does now also save us."
Friend, may we ask it kindly to you in this way. If the Bible says and we just saw it in our own Bibles, if the Bible says baptism does now also save us- why in the world would anybody say baptism is not essential in salvation?
Today we ask you to think about these matters concerning salvation. Are they a part of your salvation? Have you put your trust in God and Christ and the Holy Spirit? Have you studied the Bible? Have you obeyed God's plan of salvation?
And if not, then friend, we urge you today to obey the Gospel become a Christian. Do what God says so you can be sure you can be sure that you have obeyed the gospel that you have God's salvation, and that one day you'll be in heaven forever.
Study Questions for:
“Salvation: Lesson 5”
1. According to 1 Timothy 2:4, what does God want?
2. According to Hebrews 5:8-9, who is author to eternal salvation?
3. According to John3:16, what did God give? Why?
4. According to John 14:6, how can we get to God?
5. What did Matthew 1:19-21 say Jesus would do?
6. How was Jesus tempted according to Hebrews 4:15?
7. According to 1 Peter 2:24, who bore our sins?
8. According to James 1:21, what does the word of God do?
9. What does 1 Peter 1:22-25 say about the Word of god?
10. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, where does scripture come from?

God's Eternal Plan

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

The Bible says “God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” 1 Timothy 2:4. We welcome you today to The Gospel of Christ program. In this series of lessons, we're going to be discussing the great subject of salvation. And friend, how good it is to know that the God of heaven wants all men to be saved! 2 Peter 3:9 the Bible says that ‘The Lord is not slow concerning His promises, as some men count slowness, but He's long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but all should come to a knowledge of the truth.’ God wants everybody to be saved. Jesus has delayed or is slow in His coming in that God wants to give all men time to repent. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Jesus is the Only Way

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me." John 14:6 We welcome you today to our study of Jesus as the way of salvation. You know, in the world we live in today there seem to be in a lot of peoples' minds a variety of different ways that you can be saved. Some would say that you can be saved under the Hindu religion or by being a Buddhist. Others would say that you could be saved by Allah or Muhammed under Islam. Whether it be Judaism, whether it be some kind of spiritual "-ism" today or something like that, there's just a whole host of different religions and people claim that all these and all the followers of and leaders of can save you. Well friend, is that true? (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

I Need Salvation

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

The word of God says, "It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment." 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may give an account for the things done in the body whether good or evil.’ One day all of us will leave this life, and one day we all stand before the almighty throne of God. In view of that, I need and you need salvation from God. Welcome to our study of the subject of salvation. Today we're going to be thinking about the fact that I need, that every individual needs salvation, and what it is we're saved to, and what it is we're saved from in eternity. The fact that heaven is going to be wonderful, and the fact that we're going to be saved to heaven, and the fact that hell is going to be horrible, and that we're saved from a sinner's hell. We welcome you today to our study of this wonderful subject relating to salvation. Let's then begin to think about our soul in view of eternity. Let's think about the fact that I need salvation from a sinner's hell and to the beautiful place we call heaven. I want you to think with me in this first part of our lesson about how that nobody would ever in their right mind want to be lost in hell. You know, when we think about hell, what's it going to be like? What is hell, what does the Bible teach about that subject of hell? You know, we don't hear much today on the subject of hell and probably in most places it's been a long time since we heard a sermon on what hell is going to be like-but friend there's a value to that. As I think about what is hell, and as I think about the subject of hell, this motivates and this challenges a person to be saved in view of that. I don't want to go to hell. I want to live in such a way that I'm right in the sight of God, and it is a preventative to make sure that I remain true to God's teaching. I want to invite you to open your Bible with me to Luke the 16th chapter, and let's think about a man who went to hell. Let's think about this man's journey through torment. Let's see just how horrible it was for this man and see what lessons we can learn that'll promote and prevent us from being lost for all eternity. Open your Bible if you would to Luke 16:19. The Bible says, "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which feel from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." Now notice this, "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom." Friend, as you think about this man's journey to torment, what is torment going to be like, what's hell going to be like? Friend, it's a place of horrible, horrible torment. If you can imagine being in such agony, being in such pain and torment that you would almost hope to die, you would beg to die-and you would live forever. You know, as you think about the idea of torment think about maybe when you felt sick in your life. Think about maybe when you felt really, really bad. You were so sick and you felt so bad that you'd probably say to yourself, death would almost be better than this. If you've ever been in that kind of torment, whether it is mental or whether it be emotional torment, you know how bad that is. Can you imagine living forever in a state where you would almost wish for death and yet living in that moment of time for all eternity, being in that kind of torment for the rest of your life. Can you imagine that? Well look a little further as you think about the rich man and what he had to face. We also learn that hell is a place of fire. Notice in your Bible in Luke 16:24. The scripture says, "Then 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.’" What's going to be so horrible, why do I need salvation from hell? For in hell it's going to be a place of unquenchable fire. Listen to the words of Jesus in Mark 9:44. Hell is a place, Jesus said, "where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." When you think about the rich man's words here, ‘have mercy on me, send Lazarus, I just need one drop of water, for I'm tormented in this flame.’ Have you ever had to deal with a burn? Everybody in their life at one point or another has maybe burned themselves. Maybe you were in the kitchen and you accidentally touched a hot pan and it burned you. Maybe you've played with fireworks and got burned, maybe in your work you somehow got burned, or maybe even worse, you were in some type of fire and you got burned by that fire. You know how bad a burn hurts and how it makes your skin boil up. When you pop it and touch it, it just hurts so much- the pain and the anguish. In fact I once heard a story of a preacher who went into a hospital and he was in the burn wing. He said you just cannot imagine how horrible that part of the hospital was. He said from the moment you walked through those double doors, the screams and the anguish and the pain of those people with those burns on their bodies as they're tending the wounds, as they're dressing them, as they're taking care of them- the agony and the pain that they're writhing in can't be rivaled with anything. Truly nothing hurts nearly as bad as a burn. Now why do we say those things, why do we make you think about that? Friend, the Bible describes hell as a place of fire. 'The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,’ Revelation 14:11 says. ‘It's a place of burning brimstone, of fire and brimstone,’ as described in Revelation chapter 20. Imagine now living in a place of eternal fire forever. Nobody'd want to do that. Let's say, would you do this, you think about this, if you had a cigarette lighter would you light that lighter and hold your finger over it and burn yourself? Well of course not. If you were at the house and your oven was cranked up to 500 degrees, would you stick your hand in there and hold it in for a good while? No. Why? It'd burn you. You'd do whatever you could to prevent being burned. You're not going to burn yourself. You're not going to stick your hand in a hot oven. You're not going to jump in a fire. Why not? I don't want to be burned. I'm going to do whatever it takes to prevent that. And yet now is the opportunity, now is the time, to prevent living forever in torment. Many people are living as though they have no fear of the eternal torment in the fire of hell. What else do we know about this man's journey to hell? This is probably the worst thing. It's not necessarily the physical torment. It's not necessarily the pain and the torture of the fire. Friend, probably one of the worst things about hell is that there's going to be mental recognition in hell. Listen to Luke 16:25. "But Abraham said," now listen to this, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented." What's going to be horrible about hell? Your memory will not be erased. You will remember in hell. God said to the rich man, ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember now you had it pretty good back on earth. You had all the fine things, all the luxuries; Lazarus not so.’ Now the roles are kind of reversed, aren't they? This man squandered his opportunity. He didn't use what he had to glorify God. He didn't help Lazarus. He wasn't a very good man, and he's going to remember that for all eternity. Friend, what's going to be horrible about hell is the fact that I will remember. Think about this for a moment- can you imagine sitting in the halls of hell thinking about what you should have done, thinking about the opportunities that you overlooked, thinking about the time that you almost changed your life and obeyed the gospel? You think about ‘I almost became a Christian. I almost gave up this sin,’ whatever it may be. ‘I almost.’ Almost is going to be one of those haunting words in hell. Don't let that be in your heart, and your life for all eternity. Instead of thinking ‘if I should have or would have or could have,’- make changes now because your memory and mind will not be erased in eternity. We will be able to remember some of those things. Then of course the Bible teaches another horrible thing about hell is that hell is a place of eternal separation. Listen to Luke 16:26. This man's journey then goes further when the Bible tells us "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us." What do we know about hell? It's a place of eternal separation. There is no crossing over. The rich man says ‘just send Abraham to get one drop of water to cool my tongue, I'm tormented in this flame.’ Son, remember you had it good on life. He's got it good now. He says ‘well let me go back and,’ no- no crossing over. There's a great gulf. The word gulf means a ‘wide, deep chasm that nobody could get across.’ You just can't get across it. No going back and forth. The idea is that of separation. There's no going back and forth. If one is lost, it's eternal. The separation will be eternal. Friend, hell is going to be horrible because if I don't live right and obey the gospel and become a Christian no- it's too late on the other side. You're not going to buy anybody out of there, that's not taught in the Bible. You can't do enough good works to get somebody out of, that's not taught in the scripture. Now is the opportunity. This is my one chance to get right with God or I'm going to be separated for all eternity. Think about that- I'm going to be separated from God. I'm going to be separated from Jesus Christ. I'm going to be separated from all good, righteous, and holy people. I am going to not only be separated from God and all that's good, I'm going to be with, without the possibility of getting away, I'm going to be with the devil and his angels, and evil ungodly immoral people without the possibility of ever being separated from them either. Think about how horrible that would be on the other side. When you think about this separation you also have to think about how good it's going to be to go to heaven. I need salvation not only because I don't want to go to hell and be lost for eternity, but I need salvation because I want to be saved and I want to go to heaven. I want you to think about the beauty and the splendor of that place called heaven. You know, Christians often sing the song “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be.” How true that is, we sing songs like the “Paradise Valley” and we think about how wonderful it's going to be. Friend, heaven really is a beautiful place of rest. I want you to look in the Bible in Hebrews chapter four, and I want you to notice, now let's think about some passages that relate to heaven. Hebrews 4:9 listen to what the word of God says about the beautiful rest of heaven. Scripture says, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Think about how beautiful heaven's going to be. Think about how wonderful that place called heaven is and don't you want to go there? It's a place of rest. You know, when you think about rest, imagine it this way. Let's say that you've gone out and you've worked harder than you have ever worked before. You have been involved in some type of strenuous manual labor from sunup to sundown, whatever that may be. You're tired, your body aches, and the one thing you want is rest for the old weary body. When you think about that, think about it in a spiritual sense. The soul and the spirit, which has fought with sin, which has struggled every day with the world, which has done battle against Satan, which is worn out and tired from all that- it's a place of rest for the spirit and the soul. There'll be no more sorrow, death, pain, or crying. All the sin, all those former things will have passed away. Don't you want to go to that beautiful place of rest where God himself is? I need salvation, and I want to go to heaven because evil is going to be absent in heaven. I want you to notice next Revelation 21:4.The Bible says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there'll be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." The things that bring us so much heartache in this life don't exist on the other side. There'll be no death. Won't it be wonderful that when you get to heaven you'll never hear the news, you'll never read the obituary in the paper, and you’ll never have somebody call you and say, did you hear so and so died? No more death. There'll be no more crying. I won't have to shed tears on the other side. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll be no more pain. You won't hurt. We won't have to deal with disease, sickness, cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. All those former things will have passed away. Isn't it a beautiful picture of God in Revelation 21:4? God is pictured as wiping away every tear from their eyes. When I think about this I think about an illustration. When I was a young kid sometimes we would stay at my grandmother's house, and I remember specifically we would play. We'd sometimes get rambunctious and as kids do sometime- you'd fall down and scrape your knee or sometime you'd hurt your elbow or you'd get hurt sometime. You go to your grandmother crying maybe. I remember every time, grandmother would take us up, and she'd take that apron that people in that day and age wore, and she'd take that apron, bring us up in her arms and she'd just wipe away every tear and before you knew it you didn't even know why you were crying. You didn't even know what was wrong. All you knew was that you were in that place of safety and grandma had wiped away every tear. Friend I want you to think about God like that. What's heaven going to be like? It's a place of safety. There isn't the heartache and the pain that we face now. God is going to bring us up and wipe away every tear from our eye. We won't feel the things that we feel in this life. Heaven's going to be wonderful because God is going to be there. When I was a young person and I used to hear things about heaven, and I used to read the Bible as it spoke about heaven, I would often think that the things that are going to make heaven great are the jewels and the diamonds and the pearly gate, and the river, all those physical touchable images that we think about. I don't really think now that's the main thing that's going to make heaven great. What is the number one thing that makes heaven great? I think Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 6:9. Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore pray Our Father who is in heaven." What makes heaven great? If God is in heaven that's what'll make heaven great-the God of love, I John 4:8, and the God of light, John 8:12. If Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice is there, that'll make heaven, heaven. Being in the presence of God for all eternity is Heaven. Living with the saints of old, being with loved ones who've passed on- that's heaven. That's what makes it wonderful! It's not necessarily the jewels or the pearly gates or the river- no, all those images are wonderful things, don't get me wrong, but if God's there, that's what makes heaven heaven. Don't you want to go to heaven? I'll assure you of this today, heaven, no matter what you face, no matter what you have to go through, no matter what things you have to give up… heaven will be worth it all. There's a final Bible passage that I want you to think about with me that really illustrates how heaven is worth whatever you've got to face and whatever you've got to give up to go there… heaven's worth it. Listen to what Paul said in Romans 8:18. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." What'd Paul say? Heaven's going to be worth it all. The sufferings you face now and the difficulties that you incur will all be worth it. People may laugh at you. People may mock you. You may have to face difficulties and challenges in this life. You may have to give up, and you may have to suffer to be a Christian. Heaven's going to be worth it. The glory that's one day going to be revealed in us- it doesn't even compare. Those things don't even compare to what heaven's going to be like. Paul could definitely say that, could he not? He'd done a lot of things that were not pleasing to God. When he changed his life he truly gave up, didn't he? He spent his life spreading the gospel. Paul was stoned at certain times in Lystra and other areas, Iconium, Acts 14. He was beaten. He was stranded out in the sea. He faced shipwreck. He was put in prison. All that, Paul said, isn't even worthy to be compared with what we'll one day receive. Friend, I hope today that you'll think seriously about why we need salvation. I hope that you'll think with a view toward eternity. Are you thinking seriously about your soul? Are you thinking about the judgment day? Remember, Hebrews 9:27 says, “It’s appointed to man once to die and then the judgment.” There are two things, only two that you can be sure of. We will all one day leave this life, no getting around that, and we'll all one day stand before the judgment seat of God. Now in view of that, we've got to think seriously about our soul. This life is not what's important. The things of this life, the stuff, the pleasures, the junk that often gets in the way of people putting God first-that's not what's important. What's important is my soul and yours. Are you really thinking about eternity? Have you really thought about how horrible hell's going to be? Can you imagine, just think seriously in your own mind, if I die outside of Christ, and I go to hell. Have I really thought about what that's going to be like? Friend, we're saying this because God doesn't want anybody to go there. We don't want anybody to go there. We love your eternal soul, and we want you to be saved. You've got to think seriously. The reality is, I will die, and I will be judged. The reality is, if I haven't obeyed the gospel and lived right, or I live and die in sin, I will be lost in hell. Hell is a place of torment, fire, and a place of mental recognition. It’s a place of separation and a place where you'll be with the devil and his angels for all eternity. Are you thinking seriously about your soul in view of heaven, a beautiful place of rest? Heaven is a place where God is, a place where evil and all the things of this life do not haunt us, and a place where you can spend eternity with loved ones who've gone on before you, who are also saved. Now friend, if you're thinking about these things seriously today, the question you need to be asking is, am I right with God? Have I obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ? Am I a Christian and have I obeyed God's will? Now here's what we'd ask you to consider. Some people think they are a Christian, think they've obeyed the gospel, and they've not really been taught the truth on salvation. What does the Bible say you've got to do to be saved? Friend, you must hear the word of God to be saved. “Faith comes be hearing, hearing by the word of God.” Are you willing to listen to what God and God alone says in the Bible? If you are, do you believe that Jesus is the savior of the world? Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will surely die in your sins,” John 8:24. Would you be willing to repent and turn to God? Luke 13:3 and 13:5, Jesus said, "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Are you willing to change your way of thinking and change your way of acting? Would you turn from sin and turn to God? Would you confess in the name of Jesus before men? Romans 10:10 says, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And friend would you, to have every sin washed away, to become a Christian, be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins? Here's what the Bible teaches. Jesus said in Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized will be saved." Peter said in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins.” Saul was told, "Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins," Acts 22:16. Baptism is that which puts us into Christ, Galatians 3:27. Peter so clearly said, “Baptism does now also save us.” More than anything we want you to be saved. We want people to go to heaven and to miss out on hell. We urge you today; we're begging you, if you've never obeyed the gospel, if you are not a Christian or you've got sin in your life, please make that right. More than anything we want to see you one day in heaven with all the saved. Study Questions for: “Salvation: Lesson 3” 1. According to 2 Corinthians 5:10, what will we all do? 2. In Luke 16:24, why did the rich man want relief? 3. What does Jesus say about hell in Mark 9:44? 4. What does Revelation 14 say about hell? 5. According to Luke 16:25, is there mental recognition in hell? 6. According to Luke 16:26, is there eternal separation in hell? 7. According to Hebrews 4:9, what will the people of Heaven receive? 8. According to Revelation 21:4, what will Heaven be like? 9. What will be absent in Heaven according to Revelation 21:4? 10. According to Hebrews 9:27, what will we all experience?