Plan of Salvation-2

The Gospel of Christ - TGOC

FREE Media Support Us App

Plan of Salvation-2

SALV-8

May 24, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

Give

The walls began to shake. The door to the prison flew open. Right then a prison guard awoke, he realized his own fate, and he started to kill himself. But before he did, he heard these encouraging words. "Sir, do yourself no harm, for we are all here." and upon the heels of that encouraging statement, the greatest question that's ever been asked comes. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30-31.
We welcome you today to our second part, in answering the question ‘What must I do to be saved?’ I hope that you've got your Bible with you and that you'll be planning on following along with us as we search the scriptures on this wonderful and such an important topic today.
In our last lesson, as we discussed what must I do to be saved, we noted that a person needed to realize that he was lost in sin. Romans 3:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” A person needs to realize that he cannot, no matter how hard he tries, save himself. “There's a way that seems right to a man, but in thereof is the way of death,” Proverbs 14:12. Only by the gospel, the good news of Jesus, Romans 1:16, and obedience to God's commands, can one be right with God.
We asked our listeners last time, just as we ask you, in view of the gravity and the seriousness of our subject today, would you stop for just a moment and consider your own salvation before we proceed any further? We ask you to think about, where were you when you were saved? Were
you in a church building? Were you at Christian camp maybe? Were you at home? How old were you? Were you a baby and somebody told you you were saved? Were you 10 or 12 or was it later in life? And then, just in your own mind, refresh the idea, what did I do by which I knew I was saved? Did somebody tell me to put my hand on the television and I did that? Did I make an altar call? Did I say the sinner's prayer? Just make it clear in your mind exactly where you were and how old you were and what you did when you were saved.
As we open the scripture, we ask you to take what you did, examine that, by the word of God, and if the two match, then friend that's wonderful. If they don't, we urge you to make changes where they're necessary today.
In the continuation of the question, “What must I do to be saved?” last time we noted that the first step in God's plan of salvation is that one must hear the word of God. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Now, what has that got to say about hearing being essential? Remember, faith is essential. Hebrews 11:6 says, ‘Without faith, it's impossible to please God.’ No faith, no pleasing God, right? Well, if I can't please God without faith, then whatever way I get faith is also essential, correct? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Hearing is essential to be saved, because I can't get faith without hearing God's word. We mentioned in our last lesson that hearing the word of God means more than just okay, I've heard that, and automatically accept it. It means I recognize the authority of Jesus and the New Testament. It means I realize I have got to search. I've got to seek, and I've got to prove, for myself, from the Bible, that what I'm being told is true to the will of God. It means I've got to listen with an ear toward eternity and all seriousness of heart.
Now, today we talk about our second step in God's plan of salvation, and that is, the Bible teaches we must believe in Jesus as the son of God. If a person is not willing to believe in Christ, that person cannot be saved. I want you to notice with me the words of Jesus, in John 8:24. Jesus, as he taught about belief, in John 8:24, said these words, “Unless you believe that I am he, you will surely die in your sins.”
If a person doesn't believe Christ, and believe in Christ, can he be saved? Absolutely not. “He is the way, the truth and the life, you cannot come to the Father without him,” John 14:6. An example is given in Acts chapter 8 of the Ethiopian eunuch. Here Phillip's been talking to this man about the good news of the gospel from Isaiah 53. He teaches about Christ. Evidently he teaches him what to do. In the distance this man sees water, and he says, ‘Here's water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Listen to what Phillip said was the condition first. ‘If you believe with all you heart, you may.’ There's no denying the fact that one absolutely must believe in Jesus to be saved.
Although belief is essential, the Bible never says belief or faith only is what saves. Now there are millions of people who have the idea in their head that all you've got to do to be saved is believe in Jesus and you're saved by faith alone. Friend, can I ask you to consider something with me for just a moment? Did you know that the only time in scripture the words faith only or faith alone are used, the Bible says the exact opposite of what millions are taught? That's right, the only times faith only or faith alone occurs, the Bible says it's not faith alone that saves. Now, don't take my word for it. Let's look at the scripture together ourselves. James 2:24 notice these words, “We see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” Justified means that we're just as if I never sinned. Are we saying we earn our salvation? Of course not, there are works in the Bible that are just simply commands of God.
Did you know belief is a work? John 6:29, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he sent. A work from God for us is to believe. Does that mean I've earned my salvation? No, but it is a conditional work that God set forth. Now listen to that verse again, “We see that a man is justified by works,” here it is, only time it occurs in the Bible, “and not by faith only or faith alone.” Friend the Bible mentions the words faith only or faith alone one time in the New Testament and God says you're not saved by faith alone. Along with that idea, there's another false doctrine about salvation that's not found in the Bible either and that is the sinner's prayer.
Multiplied millions of people are told to be saved; you need to say the sinner's prayer. You need to say something like, ‘Dear lord Jesus, I recognize you as lord and savior, and I now ask you to come into my heart and save me.’ Friend did you know that's not found in the Bible either? Did you know that you can look from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, and you will not find a sinner's prayer anywhere in the Bible? It's just not there. Millions of people have been told that, and you don't find it in scripture.
Now I remember one time I was preaching in a meeting and I said this exact thing, that you cannot find the sinner's prayer anywhere in the Bible. And after the lesson, a lady came up to me, she said, ‘I heard what you said about the sinner's prayer.’ She was intrigued by that but she said, ‘You know, I'm going to have to go home and ask my preacher, if that's correct.’ I said, ‘Well that would be good. You go home and you ask your pastor, or preacher, to show you in the Bible where the sinner's prayer is, and if he gives you any verses, Bible verses, you bring those back tomorrow night and we'll talk about them.’ Well, tomorrow night came. She came in the door. She came right up to me. She said, ‘Preacher I went home and I asked my preacher about where the sinner's prayer was at in the Bible, about some verses about it, and he said it wasn't in there.’ She said, ‘and I told him he's a liar.’
Friend I just want you to think about that a moment. How many people have been lied to about the sinner's prayer and told to say that for salvation, and it's not even in the Bible? You can't even find a sinner's prayer like they're telling you to say anywhere in scripture? Friend there's no doubt that belief is essential. There's no doubt that we've got to do what God says, but the Bible never teaches belief alone is all that you need to do to be saved. We need to do all the things God wants us to be right with him.
First of all we've got to hear the word of God. ‘Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God.’ Secondly, to be saved, what must I do to be saved? I must believe in Jesus. “Unless you believe that I'm he,” Jesus said, “you'll surely die in your sins,” John 8:24. Then, the Bible teaches that a person must be willing to repent of sin in their life. In Luke
13:1-5 certain people come to Jesus. It's almost like they want to condemn others and elevate themselves as better. They've got these examples for Jesus. They say, ‘Jesus what about these people who had their blood mingle with their sacrifice, what about these people that Pilate killed at the time of the sacrifice? Didn't that happen because they were worse sinners than everybody else, wasn't that God's vengeance? What about these 18 people who were just walking down the road and out of nowhere, a tower came and fell on them? Wasn't that the vengeance of God, and wasn't that proof they're worse sinners than everybody else?’ You know how Jesus answered those two questions? In Luke 13:3 and in Luke 13:5, Jesus said, to those people who brought the questions, “I tell you no, but unless you repent, you'll all likewise perish.” What did Jesus teach us about salvation there? That if you won't repent, you're going to be lost. Acts 2:38, Peter told those on the day of Pentecost who cried out “Men and brethren what shall we do?” “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins,” Acts 3:19. One chapter later, Peter preached in Solomon's portico, ‘Repent and turn, or repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.’ I have got to repent if I'm going to be right with God.
When you think about repentance, repentance may require sorrow, sorrow may be a part of repentance, but sorrow alone is not repentance. Just being sorry and crying a few tears are not in and of itself repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow produces repentance.” Not Godly sorrow is repentance, Godly sorrow produces repentance. Well what then is repentance? In the scriptures, repentance is a changed will that leads to a changed way. It's a changed way of thinking that leads to a changed way of acting. How do we know that? Matthew 21:28-30, Jesus told this story about people who really were doing the will of God, versus those who weren't. He said a father had two sons. The father said to his first son, ‘son go work in my vineyard today.’ He said he would, but he never did. And then he said to the second son, ‘son go work in my vineyard today.’ He said he wouldn't, he changed his mind, and went back and worked in the father's vineyard. Which one did the will of the father? The one who said he would and never did, or the one who said he wouldn't, changed his way of thinking, and changed his way of acting? True repentance is changing your
way of thinking and changing your life. Luke chapter 3:8, John said to certain people who came out to be baptized by him, just because it was popular and everybody was doing it, John said, “You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” And then he said these words, “Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.” True repentance has a fruit. What's that mean? It has a visible attribute from which you can tell someone has changed their life. You can see their life's not like it used to be. They don't talk, they don't act, they don't do, the things they're a part of, they're not, if they're contrary to the will of God, they no longer do those, you can look at their life and tell they have truly repented. Once I've heard the word of God, and I've believed in Jesus, I must also repent.
The Bible also teaches to be saved; I must confess with my mouth that Jesus is the son of God. Where's that found at in the Bible? Notice in scripture, this scripture with me, Romans 10:10. The Bible says, “For with the heart one believes in the righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” What type of confession are we talking about? Well we're given an example of that in Acts chapter 8. The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. Phillip tells him, if you believe with all your heart you may be baptized, and he says right then and there, with his mouth, ‘I believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God,’ Acts 8:34-37. Jesus told us that's what we need to do. Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus said “If you won't confess me before men, neither will I confess you before the father who is in heaven. But if you will confess me before men, I'll also confess you before my father who is in heaven.” I need to make the good confession just as Timothy did in 1 Timothy 6. Just as the Ethiopian eunuch did in Acts chapter 8, I've got to orally acknowledge that I believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.
Having done that, friend the Bible teaches that I must be immersed in water, baptized, for the remission of my sins, and to be saved. I know there's a lot of confusion in the world about this. I know there are a lot of people who will say, you need to believe in Jesus, yes, you probably need to repent, but they'll also say baptism's not essential. Good to do, something you should do probably, but not essential to salvation. Friend, the Bible teaches that just like believing, baptism is essential to salvation.
Now, let's first ask the question, what exactly is baptism? If you open up Webster's dictionary today and you look up the word baptism, it might say something like sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. It may mention all three of those, and it very likely does. Well, is baptism sprinkling or pouring in the Bible? How does the Bible define the word baptism? Friend, there are four passages in the New Testament which clearly teach that Bible baptism was only by full body immersion. Now don't take my word for it, here are the passages we put before you today to consider.
Mark 1:9-10, “And coming up out of the water, the spirit descended upon him like a dove.” That's at the baptism of Jesus. Now, consider this. To come up, a lot of people ask the question, what would Jesus do? Okay, what would Jesus do, concerning the mode of baptism? Question. To come up from, or literally out of the water, what must you first do? You've got to go down into the water. Jesus wasn't sprinkled, and Jesus didn't have a little water poured on him. He came up out of, from within, is the idea, Jesus was immersed in water.
Second passage, John 3:23, what's the mode of baptism? The Bible says “John was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.” How much water does it take to sprinkle a baby? Not much. How much water does it take to pour water on somebody's head? Not much. How much water does it take to plunge, to submerge, an adult? Much water. John was baptizing where there was much water, because the Biblical mode and definition of baptism is immerse, submerge, or plunge underwater.
Another example, Acts 8:37-40. You remember Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch are traveling down the road, they come to water, ‘Here's water, what hinders me?’ ‘If you believe with all your heart you may.’ They stop the chariot. Now watch this, ‘They stop the chariot, both Phillip and the eunuch get down out of the chariot, they both go down into the water. He baptizes him, and they come up out of the water.’ Why'd they both have to get out of the chariot? Why'd they both have to go down into the water, why'd they both come out of it? There's again an example and a picture of immersion.
Here's the clearest verse of all. Romans 6:1-4. Paul likens baptism to a burial in water. Alright, let's think about it now. I want you to think about the last time that you went to a funeral at a grave site or to a burial. What'd they do with that body? Did they take a shovel full of dirt and sprinkle it on top of it? Did they pour a few shovelfuls on it? No, what happens at a burial? They dig a hole in the ground. They place that body completely down in the hole. That body's covered on the bottom, it's covered on every side, and then they completely submerge it in the earth. Friend, that's the illustration Paul chose, the Holy Spirit chose, to show us, that baptism is a burial, a burial in water, with Christ.
Every example we see is that baptism is not by sprinkling or pouring, in the New Testament it was by immersion.
Now, let's then talk about the purpose of baptism. What is baptism all about? Why should someone be baptized? Is it just, is it essential? Is it something you have to do? Or is it just something good that you ought to do to follow the example of Jesus but not necessary for salvation?
Well again, let's not put man's ideas and thoughts into it. Let's just look to the Bible and see. Would you open your Bible to Acts 2:38 with me? The Bible teaches that baptism is for the remission of sins. They asked Peter in Acts 2:37, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter responded this way, Peter responded by saying “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Now remember- sin separates a man from God, Isaiah 59:1-2. Whenever sins are removed, I know I'm back in harmony with God and saved.
If baptism removes sin, and if sin separates me from God, then friend baptism is for the forgiveness of sins, and essential. Think about Saul of Tarsus for a minute. Acts 9:4-6 Jesus says to Saul, ‘you go in the city and be told you what you must do.’ Later, Ananias comes to him, and Paul recounts this in Acts 22:16. Ananias comes and says, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you waiting? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ When are sins washed away? On a baptism when
they're forgiven. Friend let's also realize this, not only is baptism for the forgiveness of sins, baptism is for salvation, meaning, baptism, the Bible says, baptism is not just something good to do, not something you ought to do after you're saved, baptism is something you do to be saved.
Listen to Mark 16:16. Jesus said, “He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that does not believe shall be condemned.” If I don't believe am I a candidate to be baptized? Well of course not. Now watch this though. Jesus said, “He that believes,” watch the conjoining word, “and is baptized, will be saved.” Does the Bible say you must believe and be baptized to be saved? It absolutely does in Mark 16:16. 1 Peter 3:21 “Baptism does now also save us.” Friend think about that for a moment. If the Bible says ‘baptism does now also save us,’ why in the world would anybody ever say baptism's not essential to salvation?
Did you know that the Bible also teaches baptism is how we get into God's kingdom? John 3:5, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Do you want to be a part of God's kingdom? Do you one day want to go home with God where the kingdom is going? How do I get in the kingdom? “Unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Baptism is also how we get into Christ.
Let me illustrate the importance of that for you. In Ephesians 1:3, the Bible says “All spiritual blessings are the Christians in Christ.” According to 2 Timothy 2:11-12, salvation is in Christ, and so, if all spiritual blessings are in Christ, and if salvation's in Christ- friend I really want to know, how does the Bible teach that one gets into Christ?
The Bible says in Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have clothed ourselves with Christ.” Wait a minute now, how do I get into Christ? “As many of us as were baptized into Christ.” I can't get into Christ without being baptized. “In Christ are all spiritual blessings and salvation,” therefore it's essential that I get into Christ. Baptism's how I get into God's church. 1 Corinthians 12:13, “By one spirit,
we're baptized into one body.” Baptism is how I call on the name of the Lord. “Arise to be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord,” Acts 22:16.
Baptism is how I contact the blood and the death and the sacrifice of Jesus. The Bible says in Romans 6:1-4 that we're buried with Christ in baptism. ‘We died of sin, we're buried with Christ in baptism, and we rise out of the watery grave of baptism to walk in newness of life.’ Where do I contact the death of Jesus? I'm buried with Christ in baptism. That's where I contact his death.
And so friend, here's what we ask you to consider again. We asked you at the outset of this lesson to make fresh in your mind what you did, how old were you, where were you at, what steps did you take by which you knew you were saved. And then we just asked you to examine that according to the verses we've seen.
Does what you did match up with God's plan of salvation that we saw today? If it does, that's wonderful. You can know that you're saved. You can know that you're right with God.
But if it doesn't, then friend we urge you today, and we beg you today, to make the changes that are necessary.
God in heaven loves you and wants you to be saved. We love you and we want you to be saved. If there's something you haven't done that you need to do to get right with God, friend don't you want to do that before it's too late?
Won't you obey the gospel? We hope and pray that you will, and that you'll continue to study the gospel with us next time.
Study Questions for:
“Salvation: Lesson 8”
1. What does John 14:6 say of Jesus?
2. According to James 2:24, can you be saved by faith alone?
3. According to John 8:24, what must we do?
4. What does 2 Corinthians 7:10 say about repentance?
5. In Matthew 21:28-30, which son showed true repentance?
6. According to Matthew 10:32-33, what must we do?
7. According to John 3:23, why were they baptizing in Aenon?
8. In Romans 6:1-4, what is baptism compared?
9. According to Acts 2:38, what were they being baptized for?
10. According to Mark 16:16 say we must do to be saved?

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?