Hey, how's it going?
Good, thank you.
Hi, we're from Steadfast Baptist Church.
I want to invite you to our church.
Okay.
Do you go to church anywhere, ma'am?
Um, yeah.
Cool.
What church do you go to?
It's, um, a Catholic church.
Okay.
Well, more importantly than going to church, we're asking everyone, you know, God forbid,
if you were to pass away, are you 100% sure that you'd be going to heaven,
or do you think you might have some doubts about it?
If I'm 100%, no.
No?
Okay.
Appreciate the honest answer.
What do you think that someone has to do to go to heaven?
I don't know.
I just go in our church and our church is like doing all the sacraments and...
Doing good works.
Yeah, doing, like, doing good.
Yeah.
You know, of course, God desires us to do good works, but when it comes to getting
to heaven, the Bible specifically says it's not of works, lest any man should boast.
So salvation's actually a free gift.
It's very easy.
It's the most important thing you could ever know.
You had a couple minutes I could show you straight from the Bible, just right here.
That way you can know for sure you're going to heaven.
Would you want to see that real quick?
Okay, awesome.
Can I see that real quick?
Cool.
So there's a few things that you have to know in order to get to heaven, and the
first thing is right here.
It says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
No one's perfect, right?
Yeah.
Because we've all sinned, the Bible says that all of us have a punishment, unfortunately,
that we deserve from God.
It says here, for the wages of sin is death.
Now, when we die, there's one of two places we can go.
Heaven or where?
What's it called?
El Infierno.
Hell, yeah.
And then, do you believe that hell is real?
Uh, yeah.
How would you describe hell?
I don't know, like a place where a lot of bad things happen?
Yeah, it's basically a place of eternal punishment, eternal torment, people are on
fire forever and ever.
It's a really bad place, I don't want people to go there, but the Bible does give
us a list of the type of people that are going to go to hell someday.
Notice it says, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whore
mongers and sorcerers and idolaters.
It's a 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.
I know I've told a lie, have you ever told a lie before?
Everyone has, right?
And so what this verse is teaching us is that every single person deserves the punishment
of hell.
But, do you think that God wants us to go to hell?
No.
God doesn't want us to go to hell, God loves us.
The Bible says here, but God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So, God gave us his son Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary, and since
he was born of a virgin he had no earthly father, because his real father was God in
heaven, right?
So, he was 100% human being, just like us, he was 100% God in the flesh.
So, since Jesus Christ is God, he lived his entire life perfectly, never sinning
one single time.
And when he was 30 years old, he started his ministry, he did a lot of miracles,
he rose people from the dead, he walked on water, he fed the 5,000, right?
But most importantly was what he preached, you know, he preached the word of God,
he preached the truth.
Because of that, the Jews hated him, they lied about him, they put him on the cross,
and they tortured him, you know?
They put the nails through his hands and through his feet, pierced his side,
and killed him.
And when his body was buried, the Bible says that his soul went somewhere for
three days and three nights.
Do you think it was heaven or hell?
I think it was heaven.
So, he did eventually go to heaven, but I want to show you this real quick.
The Bible says, he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption.
Now, maybe you're thinking, well, why would Jesus have gone to hell
if he's God, he's perfect, he never sinned, he only did good, like you said.
But remember, where is it that we deserve to go for our sins?
Where do sinners deserve to go?
Remember, we looked in the Revelation, we saw that all liars shall have their part.
Right, exactly.
So, since that's what we deserve, Jesus loves us so much,
that he died on the cross, and he went to hell for three days and three nights
to pay the punishment that we deserve.
Isn't that great?
But, he didn't stay dead.
You know what happened to Jesus after he died?
After Jesus died, he rose again from the dead.
Right, you've heard that before?
And it was a physical resurrection, it wasn't just spiritual,
he actually did come back to life.
And, of course, that's miraculous.
It's just showing that he is God.
But just because Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again,
do you think that means now that just every single person automatically goes to heaven?
Does it mean that we automatically go to heaven?
No, there's only one thing that we have to do.
This is the one thing that we have to do to get to heaven,
it's in Acts chapter 16.
Right here, it says,
What must I do to be saved?
And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
Does that say,
Do the sacraments and you'll be saved?
Does that say,
Confess your sins to a priest and you'll be saved,
or live a good life and you'll be saved?
No, it just says,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, what does it mean to believe?
It doesn't mean that you just believe that he exists, right?
Because if there were some politicians back there,
and I said, hey, I believe those guys exist,
does that mean that I trust them?
Yeah, exactly, it's like trusting someone, right?
So when I say I believe in Jesus,
what I'm saying is that I trust
that everything he did on the cross
is what's going to take me to heaven,
not anything I do, right?
Because a lot of churches, they'll say,
well, you have to believe in Jesus,
and live a good life,
and repent of your sins,
and confess to the priest,
and do the sacraments.
But that's trusting part way in Jesus,
and part way in yourself.
So in Ephesians 2,
it says, for by grace.
Now, grace is something we don't deserve.
Are you saved through faith?
That's your trust in Jesus Christ.
And that not of yourselves.
So notice, salvation has nothing to do with you,
and nothing to do with me.
It is the gift of God, notice this,
not of works.
So that means not of going to church,
not of doing the sacraments,
lest any man should boast.
So what if I told you,
hey, I'm going to heaven
because I'm such a great guy,
and I always do what's right,
and I go to church.
Who am I trusting in?
Jesus or myself?
Myself.
Myself, right?
What if I told you,
hey, I'm a sinner,
I'm not that great of a guy,
but I believe Jesus Christ
died on the cross,
and paid for all of my sins,
and that's the only thing
I'm trusting in taking me to heaven.
Now who am I trusting in?
God.
Exactly.
So this is what we have to do to be saved.
Take the trust off of ourselves,
or off of our church,
or off of our good works,
and put it 100% in Jesus Christ.
That's it.
Isn't that great news?
You know, the Bible 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 you know, so far I've showed you
that we're all sinners,
we deserve hell,
but God loves us,
so He gave us His Son,
He died on the cross,
and all we have to do to be saved
is believe in Him,
but not only that,
the Bible says that this belief that we have
is called eternal life.
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 going to heaven
is like a gift,
and that gift is eternal life.
How long does eternal last for?
Forever.
Forever, exactly, right?
What if I said,
ma'am, I want to give you this Bible as a gift,
all you have to do is pay me $100.
Would that be a gift?
No.
Of course not, right?
Because I'm asking you to pay for it.
Or if I said,
hey, I want to give you this Bible as a free gift,
all you have to do is wash my car.
Would that be a gift?
No, right?
Same thing with going to heaven.
So God's not saying,
hey, this is a free gift for you,
going to heaven,
but you have to go to church,
you have to obey the Ten Commandments,
you have to repent of your sins.
That wouldn't be a gift at all, right?
So a gift is completely free,
and who paid for that?
Jesus Christ.
He paid for it by living a perfect life,
by dying on the cross,
by shedding his blood,
by going to hell,
and by coming back to life.
That's who paid for it.
All we have to do is receive it by faith,
and that gift is eternal life.
So let me ask you this question.
Let's say someone believes in Jesus Christ,
and then later on in life,
they commit a really bad sin.
Do you think that they would still be saved,
or do you think that they would lose their salvation
and go to hell?
I think they still should be saved.
Why is that?
Because, I mean, it's like,
if you do wrong,
then you, like,
ask God for forgiveness,
and, you know, keep the faith in him.
So you're right,
you would still be saved,
and this is why.
Did Jesus die only for our little sins,
or also for our big sins?
He died for everything, right?
Do you have to stop sinning to be saved,
or do you have to believe in Jesus Christ?
Right, so getting to heaven has nothing to do
with how good you are,
and it has nothing to do with how bad you are.
The only thing that matters
is where your faith is, right?
So Jesus actually said three times in one verse
that you can never lose your salvation,
no matter what.
So see this right here,
it says,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me,
notice this,
half everlasting life.
So if you believe in him,
right now, he says,
you have everlasting life.
How long does everlasting last for?
Forever, right?
So if I have everlasting life today,
will I have it tomorrow?
Will I have it in a hundred years from now?
I'll have it forever, right?
Now if I sin, will I still have it?
Yes, I will,
because it's everlasting life, right?
And he says, not only that,
he says, and shall not come into condemnation.
Condemnation means hell.
He says, if you believe in me,
you have everlasting life,
and you'll never go to hell,
and is passed from death unto life.
The moment you believe in Jesus Christ,
that moment you're passed from death unto life,
you're saved,
you're going to heaven,
no matter what you do.
Now here's the thing,
do you have children?
How many kids do you have?
Five.
Congratulations, that's awesome.
I've got four daughters,
and the Bible says that once we believe in Jesus Christ,
we become his children.
The Bible says, but as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name.
Now my children,
when they do something bad,
or when they disobey me,
I punish them.
But do you think I kick them out of my family?
No, right?
We love our children,
and when they sin,
when they do wrong,
when they do evil,
we punish them,
because we love them,
and we want them to get better, right?
But we don't kick them out of the house,
we certainly don't kill them,
or do something like that, right?
But it's the same thing with God,
once we're saved,
we become his children.
If I go out and commit a really big sin,
like adultery,
God can cause me to lose my money,
my house,
my job,
my health,
my wife,
my life.
I could lose everything, right?
But he'll never send me to hell.
Why?
What is it that we have to do to be saved?
And once we believe in him,
what does he give us?
It's a gift, remember what it's called?
It's called everlasting life, right?
So, the reason he'll never send me to hell,
is because I believe in him,
he's forgiven all of my sins,
past, present, and future.
Even the sins that I don't even know about,
that I'll commit in the next coming years,
he's already forgiven all of those, right?
The Bible says,
in hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie,
promised before the world began.
God can't lie to us, right?
He can't promise us eternal life,
and then take back his promise, right?
You know, we're human beings,
we could lie,
but God says if we believe in him,
we will go to heaven no matter what.
Isn't that great news?
Awesome.
So let me do a quick recap.
In the beginning,
I said we've all sinned,
and where do we deserve to go,
because of our sin?
To hell.
Right.
He didn't want us to go to hell,
so what did he do for us,
so that way we don't have to go to hell?
He died for us.
He died for us,
but he didn't stay dead,
what happened to him?
He died.
That's right.
And after he died,
and was buried and rose again,
what is it that we have to do to get to heaven?
Just believe.
Exactly.
Once we believe in him,
how long are we saved for?
Can you ever lose that?
Absolutely not.
So this whole time,
I've been telling you,
all we have to do to get to heaven
is believe, believe, believe.
The question is,
how do we believe?
This is how we believe,
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.
Then it says here,
for whosoever,
that's me and you, right?
For whosoever,
shall call upon the name of the Lord,
shall be saved.
You know, if you believe these things,
what I want to do is just pray with you,
and ask God to give you that gift of eternal life,
That way you can be a hundred percent sure
that you're going to heaven.
And now you're realizing that salvation,
it's not by going to the Catholic Church,
it's not by repenting of my sins,
it's not by confessing my sins to a priest,
it's by putting my faith in Jesus Christ, okay?
So would you just repeat after me?
Dear Jesus,
I know I'm a sinner.
I know I deserve help.
But I believe you died,
on the cross,
for my sins,
that you were buried,
and rose again.
I'm only trusting you,
and not myself.
Please save me now.
Amen.