Hey how are you doing? I'm doing good, how are you? Doing well, what's your name?
Jeremiah. Jeremiah, Matt, nice to meet you. Welcome to Genesis Baptist.
Do you go to church anywhere? Yes, I go to the Pentecostal Holiness Center down the street.
Right on, well I'm glad you're here. Let me ask you an important question that I ask
everybody that stops in here and that's that if you were to die today
are you 100% sure that you'd go to heaven? I mean yeah, I'm pretty sure.
I'm a good person. Well here's the thing, I think that it's good to be a good person
and the Bible tells us that we should be good people, but the Bible also says
there's one thing that we must do to be saved and if you've got just a few
minutes I can show you what the Bible says on how to go to heaven. Yeah, go ahead.
So there's a few things that you have to understand in order to be able to
receive salvation. The Bible says here in Romans 3 23 it says for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God and so all of us are sinners, all of us have
done wrong in our lives and the Bible says over here in Romans 6 23 for the
wages of sin is death. So the entire reason that we die is because we've
committed sin. I mean have you ever told a lie before? Yeah, I mean hasn't
everyone? Right, I mean I've lied before, everybody's lied before and if you say
that you haven't lied you're lying to yourself, right? So here's the thing, the
Bible says here in Revelation 21 8 but the fearful and unbelieving and the
abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters
and notice this it says in all liars shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire brimstone which is the second death. So here's the thing, like I
said we have all committed sin, we have all lied and the Bible says all liars shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire brimstone which is the
second death and so because we're sinners that's what we deserve is
eternal punishment. Now do you think God wants anybody to go to hell? Of course
not. Right, I mean he sent his son Jesus Christ as you know to this earth, the
Bible says that he was God manifest in the flesh, the Bible says that he was
basically God with skin on and Jesus went around doing many miracles, he
raised people from the dead, he healed the sick and Jesus would always tell
the truth and that's the reason why they actually nailed him to the cross is
because Jesus spoke the truth so powerfully and so completely that they
just hated him so much for it. Have you ever noticed in the world today if you
tell the truth to anybody sometimes they get really offended? All the time. All the
time. So when they nailed Jesus to the cross it wasn't because Jesus was some
hate monger, it's because he told the truth and sometimes the truth is
considered hate to those who hate the truth and that's why they crucified our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now when Jesus died they took his body down and then what
happened three days later? He rose again. Right, he rose again from the dead and
the Bible says that when he was on the cross who his own self bear our sins in
his own body on the tree. So every sin I've ever done, every sin you've ever
done, it was as if Jesus had done it. You know he's being punished in our place
for our sins and so like I said he's a substitute lamb, he was the one who came
and took our sins upon his own shoulders on that cross and bear them in his own
body as the Bible says.
So in order to be saved the only thing that you have to do is simply receive
the gift of eternal life. The Bible says and brought them out and said, sirs, what
must I do to be saved? So this guy is asking, what do I need to do to go to
heaven? And they responded with, they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. But don't you have to turn over a new leaf or works? Well
here's the thing the Bible says but to him that worketh not but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness. The
Bible says right here it says for by grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God not of works. Look it's a gift. If I
said Jeremiah I want you to have this Bible as a free gift but you've got to
clean my house. All of a sudden it's no longer a free gift right? You're right.
Because you worked for it. What if I said I'm willing to give you this Bible free
gift from me to you however you got to come back to church here every Sunday
morning. Is that a free gift? No it wouldn't be. Right it wouldn't be. It
would be a work at that point. You'd be earning this. The Bible says that
salvation is by faith and faith alone trusting Christ and what he did on the
cross. Should we turn over a new leaf? Absolutely. I think that we should do
good works but the Bible says that in order to be saved you simply have to
trust Christ. That is it. That is the simplicity of salvation and if you're
trusting your works half your works half of what Jesus did on the cross or even
99% Christ and 1% you you're being a co-savior with Christ and that's pride.
It's it's pride to say that our goodness has something to do with getting us to
heaven when the Bible tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags. The
Bible says there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth
not. There are many people in the Bible that committed terrible sins yet they
went to heaven. How? Because they were so good? No it's because they believed on
the Lord Jesus Christ their sins were forgiven. So wait a minute you're saying
that I could be this horrible evil person and I could commit suicide and
still be saved and go to heaven? Well here's the thing on the Pentecostal
Church's website they state that if you die in suicide or die in sin that you're
gonna lose your salvation. But here's the thing Saul in the Bible committed
suicide. The Bible says the Holy Spirit departed from him God became his enemy
the kingdom was delivered to David. Yet the Bible tells us that King Saul is in
heaven right now. The Bible also says that Samson who also committed suicide
is in heaven right now. It's not because he was a good person it's because the
blood of Christ covers all sin when somebody receives the gift of salvation.
Once you're saved if you do commit sin let's say you are a horrible person God
is gonna punish you on this earth it's not a license to get away with sin. Once
you're saved you cannot get away with sin because God is gonna constantly be
punishing you he's gonna constantly be chasing you but he will never cast you
out because whosoever liveth and believeth in Christ shall never die. And
so that's one of the things that you have to believe in order to be saved is
that salvation is an eternal gift of God. Look at what Jesus said here in John 5
24 he says verily verily I see into you he that heareth my word and believeth on
him that sent me hath what everlasting life. Now what is everlasting life? Life
that goes forever right? Yeah. So here's the thing if you have everlasting life
right now and then you lose that gift of eternal life was it ever eternal to
begin with? I'd have to say no. Right because you lost it. Eternal life
never-ending life everlasting life by definition goes forever. So if Jesus said
the moment that you trust him as your Savior you receive the gift of God you
have eternal life no matter what you cannot lose that because it is by
definition eternal. Jesus when he died he said it is finished. The Bible says that
if it be of grace then it is no more work otherwise grace is no more grace
and if it be of work then it is no more grace otherwise work is no more work.
Salvation is either by faith or works and the only way to go to heaven is by
eliminating all of your pride and all of your self-trust and relying only on what
Jesus did on the cross. If you trust him Jesus says right here who so cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. He also says I am the bread of life he that
cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
So you see how salvation is a one-time thing you come to Jesus Christ you eat
of the bread of life which he gives you you receive that free gift the Bible
says thou shalt be saved. The Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth check this out the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved not thou might be saved thou shalt
be saved. The Bible says a few verses later for whosoever that's you and I shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved not might be saved shall be saved.
So in order to be saved you need to reject what the Pentecostal Church
taught you and receive the free gift of eternal life. Some people will say that
you've got to turn over a new leaf and do all these wonderful works but they're
trusting in themselves they're not trusting in Jesus. God said in the Old
Testament look unto me ye ends of the earth and be ye saved for I am God and
there is none else. All you have to do is look look and live my brother live. I
mean I think of the serpent in the wilderness Moses lifted up the serpent
all the people had to do was look and they lived it was that simple it's as
simple as drinking a glass of water eating a piece of bread or even opening
a door and walking through it. Jesus himself said that I am the door if any
man enter in by me he shall be saved. The most famous verse in the entire Bible
says that for God is so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So it's
everlasting life all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust
him as your Savior and once you do that you receive the gift of eternal life
you'll never die. So Jeremiah do you believe everything that I just shared
with you from the Bible today? I do. Well amen. Well if you'd like to you could
simply receive that gift right now simply by calling upon the name of the
Lord and asking him to give you eternal life. Would you like to do that right now?
Yes.