Hey, good morning. Hey, we're from Steadfast Baptist Church. I just want to give you an invite to our church.
You got a church to go to anywhere, sir?
Okay, are you a Christian at all, or...?
Okay, gotcha. Well, more importantly than going to church, we're asking everybody,
you know, God forbid if you were to pass away today, are you 100% sure that you'd be going to heaven?
Or do you think you might have some doubts about it?
Okay, so what is it that you think you have to do to get to heaven, in your view?
Okay, you know, of course, God does care how we live our life, He wants you to follow what He says,
but the truth is that when it comes to getting to heaven, the Bible says it's actually a free gift,
it's not based on how you live, it's actually based on what you're putting your faith in.
If you had a couple minutes, could I just show you that real quick from the Bible, that way you can know for sure?
Okay, what's your name?
Cameron.
Cameron, I'm Dylan, nice to meet you now.
Nice to meet you.
Okay, so first what we have to know in order to go to heaven, the Bible says right here,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
No one's perfect, right? We've all broken God's rules.
The Bible says that since we've all broken God's rules,
we have a punishment that we deserve from God.
Right here it says, for the wages of sin is death.
So when you die, there's one of two places that you can go.
Heaven or where?
Yeah.
Yeah, do you believe hell is real?
No, you don't think so?
So let me show you this from the Bible, because the Bible actually does teach that hell is a real place
that people will go if they're unsaved when they die,
and I don't want anyone to go there.
So the Bible describes the people that are in hell,
it says that he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb,
and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever,
and they have no rest day nor night.
That sounds terrible, right?
I mean, the people that are in hell, they're burning, they're being tortured,
they're in darkness, they're just there for forever,
so it's a really bad place, but the Bible actually does give us a list
of the type of people that will be going to hell someday.
In Revelation 21, it says right here,
but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable
and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters,
it's a really bad list, right?
But notice this, it says,
and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death.
You know, I know I've told a lie before, have you ever told a lie before?
Everyone has, right?
So what this is teaching us is that all of us deserve to go to hell.
But my question for you, Cameron, do you think that God wants us to go to hell?
No, because He loves us, right?
The Bible explains how He loves us.
It says, but God commendeth His love toward us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So the way that God showed His love for us
was that He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary.
So since Jesus was born of a virgin, He had no earthly father
because His real father was God in heaven.
So the reason that made Him special is because when Jesus was born,
He was 100% man, just like me and you, but He was also 100% God in the flesh.
Do you believe Jesus is God?
Awesome.
Yeah, you know the Bible teaches the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Yeah, and since Jesus is God, He lived His entire life perfectly without sin.
So you and I, we probably sin every single day.
We're not perfect, right?
But Jesus lived His entire life never sinning one single time.
It's amazing, right?
And when He was about 30 years old,
He started His ministry, and He did a lot of miracles.
He rose people from the dead, walked on water, fed the 5,000, did a lot of great things,
and of course He preached the Word of God.
And because of His preaching, the Jews hated Him,
they lied about Him, they had a false trial,
and they ended up putting Him on the cross, torturing Him,
putting the nails through His hands, through His feet,
piercing His side, whipping Him, spitting on Him, torturing Him, right?
And eventually killing Him on the cross.
And do you know why it is that Jesus had to die on the cross?
To forgive us for our sins.
Exactly. He died for all of our sins, for the whole world, past, present, and future.
He had all the sins of mankind in His own body.
He died and He was buried.
And when He was buried, the Bible says His soul went somewhere for three days and three nights.
Do you think it was heaven or hell?
I think it was heaven.
He did eventually go to heaven, but I want you to see this real quick.
It says, He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that His soul was not left in, you see that? Hell.
Neither His flesh did seek corruption.
So maybe you're thinking, well why would Jesus have gone to hell
if He's God and if He's perfect?
He didn't deserve to go there.
But remember, where is it that you and I deserve to go?
Because of our sin.
To hell, right?
So since that's where we deserve to go, Jesus loves us so much
that He lived a perfect life that you and I couldn't live.
He died on the cross for all of our sins, which you and I couldn't do.
And then He paid the punishment of our sins
in hell for us so that we don't have to go there.
That's pretty amazing that He would love us so much to do that, right?
And the good news is that He didn't stay dead.
Do you know what happened to Jesus after He died?
He resurrected.
He resurrected, exactly.
He came back to life and He showed His disciples
the holes in His hands and in His feet
to show that He actually physically rose again from the dead.
It wasn't like they were just seeing a spirit or something like that.
But here's my question for you, Cameron.
Just because Jesus died and was buried and rose again,
do you think now that just automatically
everyone goes to heaven no matter what?
No.
There's only one thing that we have to do to get to heaven.
This is it right here.
This question is asked.
It said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, notice, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
Now does that say go to church and you'll be saved?
Does that say repent of all your sins and you'll be saved?
No, it says to believe, right?
Now here's what it means to believe.
It doesn't just mean that you believe He exists, right?
Because let's say that there were some politicians down there
and I said, hey, I believe those politicians exist.
Does that mean that I trust them?
No, right?
So in order to get to heaven, of course you have to believe Jesus is real.
But really what you're saying, how's it going, buddy?
Really what you're saying is that you're trusting
that what He did for you on the cross
is the only thing that's going to take you to heaven,
not the things that you do, right?
So that's why I said at the beginning
that what matters in determining whether or not we go to heaven
is not our lifestyle, it's actually where our faith is.
Now here's the sad truth,
is that many people are trusting in themselves to get to heaven.
They think, well, I have to live a good life,
I have to do all these things to get to heaven.
But notice how the Bible said, how do we get to heaven?
You got it, by believing in God, and of course that's Jesus Christ, right?
I'm going to show you a few more verses on that.
So in Ephesians 2 it says this, it says,
for by grace, now grace is something we don't deserve, right?
So it says, for by grace are ye saved through faith,
that's your belief and trust in Jesus Christ, notice,
and that not of yourselves, so it's nothing you can do to get to heaven,
it is the gift of God, notice, not of works, lest any man should boast.
So the Bible's saying that you can't go to heaven by the things that you do,
otherwise you'd be able to boast or brag, right?
What if I said, hey Cameron, I'm going to heaven because I'm such a good guy,
I live a good life, I go to church, I save cats out of trees,
I give money to the homeless, who am I trusting in?
Jesus or myself? Myself, right?
What if I said, hey Cameron, I'm a sinner, I'm not that great of a guy,
but I believe Jesus died on the cross for all my sins,
that He lived a perfect life, that He was buried,
He went to hell, and He rose again from the dead,
and I'm only trusting in that to save me.
Now who am I trusting in? In God, in Jesus, right?
And so this is what we have to do, Cameron, to be saved.
We have to stop trusting in ourself, stop trusting in our religion,
stop trusting in anything else, and put it 100% in Jesus Christ,
and then you're saved, okay?
I'm going to show you a couple more really great verses on that.
I'll show you the most famous verse in the whole Bible.
It tells us how we're saved.
It says, 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.
So notice once again, what does it take to get to heaven?
Believing in Jesus Christ, right?
Look at this right here.
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.
So notice, what does it take to get to heaven?
Believe, believe, believe.
That's all it takes, exactly.
So, you know, so far I've told you that we're all sinners,
and because of that we deserve to go to hell,
but God doesn't want us to go to hell,
so He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ.
What we have to do to get to heaven is believe in Him,
but when we believe in Him, the Bible says that we receive something from God.
Right here it says, For the wages of sin is death,
that's the bad news, that we deserve hell,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So the Bible says that God wants to give us a gift.
That gift is called eternal life,
and you can only get it through one person, Jesus Christ, right?
So, the Bible says salvation is like a gift.
So Cameron, if I said, Hey, I want to give you this Bible as a gift,
all you have to do is pay me $100. Would that be a gift?
Why?
Because you're paying.
Exactly. Yeah, it doesn't make sense, right?
Or if I said, Cameron, I want to give you this Bible as a gift,
all you have to do is wash my car. Would that be a gift?
No, because you're working for it, right?
Gifts are totally free, you don't have to do anything to earn it.
So think about it, it's the same thing with salvation.
God's not saying, Hey Cameron, here's eternal life, here's going to heaven,
it's totally free, all you have to do is go to church,
repent of all your sins, follow all the commandments, live a good life.
That wouldn't be a gift, right?
A gift is totally free.
And the Bible says that this gift is called eternal life.
How long does eternal last for?
Forever.
Forever, exactly.
So let me ask you this question.
Let's say someone believes in Jesus Christ,
but then they commit a really big sin.
What's an example of a really big sin?
Let's just think about a really common one.
How about adultery? Do you know what that is?
So let's say someone believes in Jesus Christ,
and they commit a big sin, they cheat on their spouse,
they commit adultery.
Do you think that that person would then lose their salvation and go to hell,
or do you think that they would still be saved?
They should then lose their salvation.
Okay, why is that?
Because they commit a really bad, horrible, stuff like that.
But maybe if they try to repent, they might go to hell and stay on that.
Okay, so let's think about it for a minute.
When Jesus died for all of our sins,
do you think that He died for just our little sins,
or for our big sins too?
He died for all sins, right?
And does the Bible say that we have to stop sinning to get to heaven,
or does it say we have to believe in Jesus Christ?
Exactly, so here's the thing.
How good of a person you are has nothing to do with getting to heaven,
and how bad of a person you are has nothing to do with getting to heaven.
The only thing that determines whether or not you go to heaven is what?
Do you remember?
Believing.
Believing in Jesus Christ.
So if a really bad sinner believes in Jesus Christ,
where is he going to go when he dies?
To heaven, exactly.
Now, Jesus actually said three times in one verse
that you could never lose your salvation no matter what.
Let me show you this in John 5.
It says,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me,
notice, half everlasting life.
How long does everlasting last for?
Forever.
Forever, right?
So if I have everlasting life today, will I have it tomorrow?
Will I have it a hundred years from now?
I'll always have it, right?
So back to the question, if someone believes in Christ,
but then they commit a really big sin,
well, they have everlasting life, not temporary life.
So even if they sin, they still have everlasting life,
because everlasting means that it goes on for forever, right?
But he says, not only do you have everlasting life,
when you believe in him, it says that you shall not come into condemnation.
That means you won't go to hell.
So no matter what, if you believe in Jesus Christ,
you have everlasting life, and you'll never go to hell,
not only that, he says, but is passed from death unto life.
So the very moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ,
the Bible says, you're passed from death unto life.
He doesn't say, someday, if you live a good enough life,
you'll pass from death unto life.
No, it says in that moment, you're passed from death unto life.
Why is that?
Well, the reason why is because salvation is not a lifelong process.
It's not a lifestyle.
It's one moment in time, putting your faith in Jesus Christ,
and then you're saved for forever, for all of eternity.
Isn't that great news?
Now, here's the thing.
Obviously, if we sin, God's still going to punish us for our actions.
Okay, let me show you this in John chapter number 1, verse 12.
The Bible says, but as many as received him,
so whoever receives Christ, to them gave he power to,
notice, become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name.
So when we believe in Christ, we become the sons of God, right?
So I have children, and when my children do wrong, I punish them.
I correct them, right?
And do you think I do that because I love them or because I hate them?
Because I love them, right?
When my kids do wrong, I want to correct them
so that they know how to be better,
and so they can avoid the consequences of bad actions, right?
So the Bible says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
So once we believe in Jesus Christ, and we become his sons,
if we go out and sin, God's going to punish us on this earth for our sin.
But he's never going to take away our salvation.
Just like I'll punish my children, but I wouldn't kick them out of my house.
Or just like how I'd punish my children,
but I'll always love them no matter what they do, right?
So for example, going back to the example of adultery,
if someone believes on Jesus Christ and then they cheated on their spouse,
they committed that really bad sin,
God could cause them to lose their health, their money, their house, their family.
A lot of bad things can happen to them,
but they'll never go to hell. Why?
Because they believe in Jesus Christ.
Exactly, because they believe in Jesus Christ.
And once they believe in Jesus Christ, how long are they saved for?
For eternity.
For eternity, exactly, exactly.
So let me do a quick recap here just to make sure we covered everything.
You know, in the beginning I said that we've all sinned,
and because we've all sinned, where do we deserve to go?
To hell, right?
But obviously God doesn't want us to go there,
so what did God do for us so that way we don't have to go to hell?
He died for us.
Jesus died for our sins, he was buried and he didn't stay dead.
What happened to him?
He came back from the dead.
Yup, he came back from the dead, physically and spiritually.
Now, once, now that he's done that, what is it that we have to do to get to heaven?
Believe in him.
Believe in him, exactly, and that means trust, right?
Put our faith in him.
And once we've believed in him, how long are we saved for?
Eternity.
Eternity, and can you ever lose that?
What happens if you sin?
You still get to go to heaven.
God will punish you for your sin, right?
But he won't send you to hell.
Alright, awesome.
So this whole time I've been telling you that all we have to do to get to heaven
is believe, believe, believe.
Here's the question, though.
How do we believe?
How do we put our faith in Jesus Christ?
This is how we do it right here.
It says,
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.
Sorry, we're distracted there.
I'm going to read that one more time just so we can both see it, alright?
It says,
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.
Notice this.
For whosoever, that's me and you, right?
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,
shall be saved.
So the way you put your faith in Jesus Christ is simply by praying and asking him to save you.
So Cameron, if you believe the things I've shown you today,
I'd like to just lead you in a quick prayer.
That way you could ask Jesus for the gift of eternal life.
Will you do that with me real quick?
Awesome.
Repeat after me, okay?
Dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner.
I know I deserve hell.
But I believe you died on the cross for my sins,
that you were buried and rose again from the dead.
I'm only trusting in you and not in myself.
Please save me now.
Amen.
Thanks, Cameron.
Thank you so much for your time.