I mean, just from the things that I've read, you know, the things that I've been growing up and been told is just misery, agony, you know, the worst thing that you can imagine, you know, so...
Yeah, that's correct.
In some cases, they say we aren't living hell.
So basically, the Bible describes that hell is a real place. It's a physical place.
And if someone goes there, that they're there for forever, they're in torments, they're in flames, and they're there for forever. It's a terrible place.
But, you know, I don't want anyone to go there. That's why I'm here at your door.
But the Bible actually does give us a list of the type of people that will go there someday.
It says,
But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters...
It's a bad list, right?
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?
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Everyone has, right?
Yeah.
So what this is teaching us is that, since we've all sinned, what we all deserve as our punishment for our sin is hell.
But, do you think that God wants us to go to hell?
No.
No. It is what we deserve. It is the punishment that we've earned, but God doesn't want us to go there.
The reason why is, the Bible says here,
But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So God loved us and He showed His love by giving us His Son, Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary.
Since He had no earthly father, His real father was God in heaven.
So when Jesus was born, He was 100% man, just like us, but He's also 100% God in the flesh.
Now that's important because, unlike me and you, who we sin probably every single day,
Jesus lived His entire life without ever sinning a single time. He's completely perfect.
And when He was about 30, 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.
You've heard of those things before, I'm sure.
But most importantly is that He preached the truth, He preached the Word of God, and because of that, the Jews hated Him, and they wanted to kill Him.
So they lied about Him, they had a fake trial, and they ended up putting Him on the cross,
they put the nails through His hands and through His feet, they tortured Him, they spit in His face,
they punched Him in the face, they pierced His side, and they killed Him.
And Jesus died on that cross.
And do you know why it is that Jesus had to die on the cross?
No, I'm not sure.
He died for all of our sins.
Oh, yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
So, past, present, and future.
Right.
All nations of the world, all people, Jesus put all of their sins in His own body,
and He died on the cross for all of our sins.
And then after He died, His body was buried, and 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 you to see this, this is pretty interesting.
It 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.
So you might be thinking, well, why would Jesus have gone to hell if He's God, if He's perfect, He's never sinned?
That wouldn't make sense, right?
But here's why.
Where is it that we deserve to go for our sins?
Hell.
Hell, right?
That's our punishment.
So Jesus loved us so much that not only did He live a perfect life, which you and I can't live,
not only did He die on the cross for our sins, which we can't do,
but He also paid the punishment for our sins in hell.
That way we don't have to go there.
It's pretty amazing, right?
Right.
Thankfully, Jesus didn't stay dead.
Do you know what happened to Jesus three days after He died?
He was resurrected.
That's right, exactly.
He rose again physically from the dead.
He showed His disciples the holes in His hands and His side.
He ate a meal with them to prove that He actually did rise again from the dead.
But here's my question.
Just because Jesus died and was buried and rose again,
do you think that that means everybody just automatically goes to heaven?
This is the question.
We obviously know that Jesus died on the cross and He rose again.
Do you think that means that now everybody automatically goes to heaven no matter what?
Is the whole world going to heaven now or do you think that that's not true?
I think you have to repent for your sins, you know?
Okay.
I don't think everybody, you know, we're not entitled to go to heaven now.
Okay.
So you're right.
Not everybody's going to heaven.
But according to the Bible, there's only one way you can get into heaven.
There's many roads that lead to hell, but there's actually only one way that gets you saved.
And it's right here in Acts chapter 16.
This question is asked.
They said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
They're saying, how do I get saved from going to hell?
This is the answer.
And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
Notice, did that say go to church and you'll be saved?
Repent of your sins and you'll be saved.
Live a good life.
Help old ladies cross the street.
Feed the homeless.
No.
It just says believe.
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 police officers over there.
And I said, hey, I believe those police officers exist.
Does that mean that I necessarily trust them?
Not necessarily, right?
So same thing with Jesus.
Of course, to go to heaven, you have to believe that Jesus exists.
But what it means to believe in Him is that you're trusting that what He did for you on the cross is 100% sufficient to take you to heaven.
Not the things that you do.
So you're not trusting in going to church.
You're not trusting in asking for forgiveness.
You're not trusting in confessing to a priest.
You're not trusting in repenting of your sins.
To get to heaven, you have to trust that Jesus paid for all your sins and that you're only saved by faith in Him.
Let me show you another interesting passage here in Ephesians.
It says right here, for by grace.
Now grace is something we don't deserve, right?
Are ye saved through faith?
So once again, how are we saved? How do we go to heaven?
By faith, by believing in Jesus Christ.
Notice here it says, and that not of yourselves.
So getting to heaven is nothing that you can do.
It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
So the Bible is saying you can't get to heaven by the deeds that you do.
You can't pray enough to get to heaven.
You can't go to church enough to get to heaven.
You can't be a good enough person to get to heaven.
Because you're still a sinner at the end of the day.
The only way you can get to heaven is by putting all your faith in Jesus Christ.
That's what it takes to be saved, is just changing where you're putting your trust.
You know, for example, what if I said,
Hey sir, I'm going to heaven because I'm a really good person,
I go to church, I live a good life, I read my Bible, and I pray.
Who am I trusting in, Jesus or myself?
At that point, I think you're trusting...
Exactly. No, you're exactly right.
Because I'm saying, I do this, I do that, I go here, I do this.
But what if I said to you, sir, I'm not that great of a person, I'm a sinner,
but I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins,
that he was buried and rose again,
and I'm only trusting in him to get me to heaven.
Now who am I trusting in? Myself or in Jesus?
Exactly. So that's all we have to do to be saved, is change where our trust is.
The most famous verse in 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 shown you that we're all sinners,
and because of that we all deserve hell, but God doesn't want us to go there.
Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, rose again.
All we have to do to get to heaven is believe in him.
But not only that, the Bible actually describes this salvation as a free gift.
Alright, right here it says,
For the wages of sin is death, 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,
and that this gift is called eternal life,
but you can only get it through one person, Jesus Christ.
What if I said, hey sir, I want to give you this Bible as a free gift,
all you have to do is pay me a hundred dollars.
Would that be a gift?
No, I mean, you're actually buying it.
Exactly, you're paying for it, right?
Or if I said, hey sir, 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.
I still haven't worked for it.
Exactly, so now let's apply this to salvation,
because the Bible says salvation is a gift.
If God said, hey, I have a free gift for you, it's called eternal life,
all you have to do is go to church, repent of all your sins,
live a good life, follow the commandments, pray, repent of your sins,
that wouldn't be a gift, right?
Because you're having to work for it.
A free gift, you simply just receive, and the giver pays for it.
How do we receive this gift? By believing in Jesus Christ.
Once we believe in him, the Bible says we have eternal life.
How long does eternal last for?
Forever.
Forever, exactly. So let me ask you this, all right?
Let's say someone believes on Jesus Christ, they have eternal life,
and then later they commit a pretty big sin,
let's say they do something terrible, like they cheat on their wife,
they commit adultery.
Do you think that person would still be saved,
or do you think that they would lose their salvation?
I mean, they'd still be saved if they asked for forgiveness.
Okay, let's think about this.
When Jesus died on the cross, did he die only for our little sins,
or also for our big sins?
For every sin, right?
Do I have to repent of my sins to get saved,
or do I have to believe on Jesus Christ?
Good question.
Well, I mean, you've got to believe in Jesus Christ.
Exactly.
Now, it's not by repenting of your sins.
You want to know why?
Because remember the Bible says that salvation is not of works.
Now, it's a lot of work to repent of your sins, right?
Let's say you've been a smoker for 20 years,
and you tried to stop that.
That would take a lot of work, right?
That would be very hard to do.
So, salvation's not of works,
meaning it's not by repenting of your sins.
So, we talked about that.
He died for all of our sins,
our little ones and our big ones.
We have to believe in him to be saved.
We don't have to change our life to be saved.
And did he give us temporary life or eternal life?
Eternal life, right?
So, if I have eternal life today,
will I have it tomorrow?
What about 100 years from now?
What about a million years from now?
I'll always have it, right?
So, here's the thing.
You can never lose your salvation,
no matter what you do.
Because, you know,
you can never lose your salvation,
no matter what you do.
Because, it's a free gift.
There's no strings attached.
And, it's eternal,
so God can't take it away from you.
Okay?
I want to show you this really cool verse in John.
Jesus said,
Verily, verily,
I say unto you,
He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me,
notice this,
hath everlasting life.
So, he says,
if you believe,
right now, present tense,
you have everlasting life.
How long does everlasting last for again?
Forever.
So, it's that simple.
You believe in him,
boom, you're saved.
You have everlasting life.
And, shall not come into condemnation.
Condemnation just means hell.
So, he says,
if you believe in me,
not only do you have everlasting life,
but you will never go to hell,
it says here,
but is passed from death unto life.
The very moment you believe in Jesus Christ,
you are passed from death unto life.
Why?
Because it's not a lifelong process
of doing good or cleaning up your life.
Getting saved is one moment in time
where you decide to put all your trust in Jesus Christ.
And, from that point forward,
you are eternally saved
and you can never lose your salvation no matter what.
But, here's the thing.
Of course, if we sin,
God will still punish us.
You know, for example,
do you have children?
I do.
Awesome.
How many kids you got?
I got four kids.
Sweet. Same here.
So, check this out.
In John,
the Bible says,
but as many as received him,
so, whoever believes in Jesus,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name.
So, once we believe in Jesus Christ,
we become his children.
Now, I know for me,
when my children do bad,
I correct them.
And, do you think I do that
because I love them or hate them?
Because you love them.
Exactly.
Because I love them and I want them to do better
and I don't want them to have to
suffer the consequences of their sin.
So, here's the thing.
Once we're saved,
we're always saved,
we can never lose it,
but if we sin,
God will punish us on this earth for our sins, right?
So, just like your kids do wrong,
you punish them,
but you still love them.
Your kids do wrong,
but they're still your children forever,
no matter what they do.
Your children do wrong,
but you're not going to kick them out of the house.
You love them, right?
Right.
So, it's the same thing with Christians.
Once you believe in them,
you can never lose your salvation,
but if you commit a really big sin,
God will punish you on this earth.
Let me do a quick review
and I only want to show you one more thing,
if that's alright.
So, in the beginning,
I said that we've all sinned
and because we've all sinned,
where do we deserve to go?
Well, we deserve to go to hell.
Exactly.
But, God doesn't want us to go there,
so what did He do for us,
so that way we don't have to go to hell?
He sent His only sin to die on the cross,
for our sins.
Amen.
Thankfully, He didn't stay dead, right?
What happened to Him after that?
He resurrected.
That's awesome, absolutely.
Now, what is it that we have to do
to get to heaven?
We have to have faith in Jesus Christ.
Exactly.
Do you have to repent of your sins
or is it by faith alone?
By faith.
Exactly, exactly.
Now, of course, I want you to live a good life, right?
I want you to,
but what I'm trying to make sure you understand
is that salvation is only by faith, right?
Now, once we believe in Him,
how long are we saved for?
Two.
Right.
What if someone commits a really big sin,
but they're saved?
What's going to happen to them?
Let's say someone believes in Jesus Christ,
but they commit a really big sin.
Are they going to lose their salvation
or will they still be saved?
They'll still be saved.
Right.
God will punish them, of course.
He'll spank them on this earth,
but He'll still be saved, okay?
Jason, you got anything, Dad?
Just real quick,
what if one of those really big sins
would be the murder or suicide
after somebody believed,
would they still have their salvation
or would God take it away?
They'll still have their salvation.
Yep, exactly.
Now, of course,
God doesn't want anyone to do that,
but if they did,
He still loves them.
He still died for all their sins.
He still wants them to go to heaven,
but of course,
He'll punish them on this earth, okay?
So this whole time,
I've been telling you that
all we have to do to get to heaven
is believe, believe, believe,
but the question is,
how do we believe?
This is how 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.
Notice here it says,
for whosoever,
that's me and you, right?
Right.
For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
All you have to do
to put your faith in Jesus Christ
is simply call out to Him in prayer
and ask Him to save you.
So what I want to do is
if you believe this message
that I've showed you,
I'd like to just lead you in a prayer
and ask Him for that gift of salvation.
Would you just repeat after me?
Absolutely.
Awesome. Just repeat after me.
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 You,
not myself.
Please save me now.
Amen.