HOW CAN A SINFUL MAN GO TO HEAVEN?
_______________________________________________________________________
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I
am chief.
Many are deceived to believe that they are good. They compare with one another and see that they are not as bad as the drug addict on the street, or a murderer. You may say, I don’t steal, I don’t lie, I don’t cheat I may sin a little bit here and there but God sees my heart as I am very loving, caring and I help people and I know when I die, God will consider all the good things I have done and I believe that I will go to heaven.
Objection.
If you believe that God will consider your goodness or your good works into consideration, then why did Jesus have to come upon this earth and was crucified to a cross? Jesus just wasted his time; your good works could have taken you to heaven. Therefore, if righteousness can be gained by your good works then Christ died for nothing!
If you are good why Isaiah the prophet say, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips (Isa 6:5)
Why did Peter tell Jesus, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Paul said, Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (1
WE
ARE EXEEDINGLY SINFUL IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
King David said in Psalm 25:11, O Lord, pardon my iniquity; for is great. He did not say, Pardon my sins but I have done much good work to counter balance my sins. He did not say, Pardon my sins they are small. On the contrary, sin is great against God. The need for pardon was because of sin against God.
1 John 3:4. "Sin is the transgression of the law."
1 John 5:17. "All unrighteousness is sin."
WE HAVE VIOLATED GODS LAW
God is the supreme ruler of the universe. All creatures are subject to him. He governs the sun; moon, stars and we are all dependent on him. The Lawgiver is God, the Creator and Preserver of all things. He is above the local magistrate, he is above the police officer on the road, and he is above the President. He is the majestic and the exalted One, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He gives life to man and preserves his being. He has the authority to issue laws without our vote. We are all subject to him in existence and to the obedience of his law. Summary of the moral law is found in the 10 Commandments. Apostle Paul said, I had not known sin, but by the law. (Romans 7:7) In the light of the 10 commandments, we have broken Gods law. We become conscious of sin by the Law. In reality, we have sinned against God in thought, by our speech, and by actions. Jesus exposed the law and the inability of man to keep the law when he said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery, But I say to you whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Mat.5: 27) Man sees the result of sin but God sees the cause for sin. The Law condemned us and showed us to be guilty before the Lord.
IN THE SIGHT OF
GOD WE ARE ALL SINNERS
Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had
six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet,
and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of
hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the
house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have
seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
When Isaiah saw the awesome majesty of Gods holiness, he said, "Woe
to me!"
This is the prophet of God, a good man and a righteous man, the servant of God,
but when he saw the holiness of God, he saw his sinful nature, and instead of
saying blessed unto me as I have seen the glory of God, he put a curse upon himself
and said, woe unto me. The word "woe" is mentioned as a curse
in the Bible. Isaiah saw that he was not good in Gods presence. The word of God
says, there is no one righteous. no one good. (Romans 3:10-12)
Then Isaiah said, "I am ruined!" The Hebrew root word means, I am lost. It took only one glimpse of the holiness of God and Isaiah was brought to zero, as he saw how wretched he was in the presence of Gods holiness. Yes, God is infinitely holy and we are infinitely un-holy. Peter too when he realized who Jesus was, he said, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
WE ARE ALL
SINNERS WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTIONS
1 John 1:8. If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:10. If we say that
we have not sinned we make him a liar, and the truth is not in us.
Ro 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Ro 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Jeremiah 17:9. The heart of man is deceitful above things and
desperately wicked.
You do not have to teach a child to sin, instead of saying, Yes in
obedience they say, No. in disobedience. Why? Because the sin nature is already
in us. We are born with sin.
Romans 5:12 ~ Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death
spread to all men, because all sinned.
Ps 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and
in sin did my mother conceive me.
THERE IS A DAY OF JUDGEMENT FOR EVERYONE
Ac 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
Mt 12:36 But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Ro 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
1Pe 4:5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick
and the dead.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his
sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do.
God is going to judge our actions and conduct according to the Law of
God. Every evil thought, every hidden sin, all the pet sins, all the bad
motives and all what we have done in secret will be brought to open light. Why
is it Christ appointed to judge the world instead of the Father or the Holy
Spirit? The great theologian Jonathan Edwards answers this question by saying,
because he is the one who clothed human nature, he became a man. He who is in
the human nature should be the Judge of those who are of the human
nature.
Christ Jesus was mocked, spitted upon and condemned to be crucified.
The High priest, Pilot, Herod and the entire crowd condemned the Lord to the
cross. The crowd kept on shouting, Crucify him! Crucify him! Now he will be the
one who will judge humanity with his righteousness.
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute
judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
He is the judge of the Universe and a good judge will punish the guilty
party, a good judge will not compromise with the lawbreakers.
"The Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished." (Nahum
1:2-3)
ALL SINNERS WILL BE PUNISHED WITH AN EVERLASTING
PUNISHMENT.
2Th
1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Everlasting means without end.
Mt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal.
Once a person is in hell, there is no escape. Christ has the key of
hell; "he shuts and no man opens."
The torment of hell is extreme. There are no soda fountains or even a
drop of water to cool the tongue. For they will be tormented with fire and
brimstone; and will have no rest day nor night forever and ever. Imagine
yourself to be fall into a fiery great furnace. Imagine also that your body
were to lie there for a few minutes, what horror would you feel in the fiery
furnace! And how long would that few minutes seem to you! Moreover, after you
had endured it for few minutes someone comes and rescues you! What a relief! As
you are rushed to the hospital. However, there is no one to rescue in hell, it
is not a few minutes but for eternity, day and night forever and ever. If there
was an evil judge, he will compromise with sin and there will be less
punishment for the wicked. However, God is infinitely righteous and the
punishment will be infinite.
Many are living a careless life. They hear the dangers of sin but go on sinning. They are cold to the word of God. Young and old both live looking for the pleasures of this life. They spend most of the leisure time on TV, Movies, sports, shopping, traveling, parties, with friends and relatives but they have no time to study the word of God and to have fellowship with God. They spend a lot of money for their food, clothes, makeup, and vitamins but take little care about their salvation. My friend, there is no TV in hell nor any sports or shopping. Remember the rich man in hell begged of Abraham to send Lazarus to his brethren to warn them of hell, that they might take care for their salvation, and escape that place of torment. But Abraham said, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:31) we have the truth, the Bible Gods testimony much surer than a man rising from the dead.
The Psalmist
said, Indeed you have made my days as handbreadths. And my age is nothing
before You. Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely, every
man walks about like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. (Psalm
39:5-6) We need to remember the life on earth is very short. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth for ever. (Ecc 1:4)
Death will come unexpectedly. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee. (Lu 12:20) After death comes the
judgment. Many in hell in their roasted bodies will remember the sermons of the
preacher, and they will be screaming with agony but it is too late! Heb 2:3
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
HOW TO ESCAPE THE ETERNAL FIRE
You can effectually escape the eternal torments of fire by embracing
the Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul said:
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1Ti 1:15)
You have to realize, like apostle Paul, you are a sinner, like King
David who said, O LORD, pardon my iniquity for it is great. (Ps 25:11)
Realize you are exposed to eternal punishment as you have violated the
law of God and sinned against God. But God being merciful have provided a
Savior, who is able and offers to save you from hell. Christ Jesus came into
the world and fulfilled the law where you have broken. We were indebted to God
in our sins; Christ paid the full price to God by offering himself as a
sacrifice for our sins. The justice of God was poured upon Jesus. If you truly
believe in him, commit your souls to him to be saved by him, in him you shall
be saved from the eternal torments of hell. He satisfied the anger of God toward the sinners and
found peace between God and men. Oh! The grand discovery of the gospel, the
good news is that you can be saved from hell. Oh! My friend, the justice of
God, which was the great barrier to the salvation of sinners, does not stand as
a barrier anymore. Now the sinner can be pardoned, justified through the blood
of Jesus Christ! Jesus
can reconcile you to God.
IN CHRIST SINNERS CAN BE MADE RIGHTEOUS.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
"Oh, hear that piercing cry! What can it is meaning be? 'My God!
My God! oh! Why hast thou in wrath forsaken me?' "Oh 'twas because our
sins on him by God were laid; He who himself had never sinned, for sinners, sin
was made." Our hearts should tremble, when, they spit on his face. It was
the cruelest thing to do upon the most holy person. Oh! The love of Christ to the
believer, that we might be made the righteousness of God. Our sins were charged
to Christ and his righteousness was charged to us.
REPENTANCE IS TO LEAVE THE SINS YOU LOVED, AND TO
HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
Many acknowledge of hell but they keep do not take the word of God
seriously. They say, I believe in Jesus, and I believe in God. I have a Bible,
I go to church sometimes. The demons also believe in God and they tremble, but
they are not saved.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one
God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
The demons believe God, but there is no repentance. In the same way
there are so many people who believe God, know the Bible, go to church but
there is no repentance. This is what is called the demonic faith.
Repentance is changing one's mind. There must be sorrow for sin and hatred for sin in true repentance. The definition of repentance is found in a childrens hymn:
"Repentance is to leave
the sins we loved before,
and show that we in earnest grieve,
by doing so no more."
It is like the tax collector who went to the temple to pray, will beat his chest and will not even look up to the heavens and said, God be merciful to me, I am a sinner. There is not only sorrow of sin and hatred for sin, now in there is a love for God in repentance. In repentance, you will see you are a new person in Christ.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Do not say, I will repent tomorrow. That is what is telling you. There is an old poem.
I will do it to-morrow, that I will, I will be sure to do it;'
To-morrow comes, to-morrow goes, And you have not done it,
Thus, then, repentance is deferred from one day to another,
Until the day of death is one, And judgment is the other."
Once you hear the gospel the good news how you can escape from the fires of hell, do not say, later. You will never know at time your life will end and most of the people who postponed their repentance are in hell.
Obey this divine message and you shall have eternal life. Gods word said, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4) but if you refuse the gospel message and refuse to repent, you will be tormented in hell forever and ever!
___________________________________________________________________________
You are free to make copies and distribute this message, please do not
change the content of the message. We would love to hear from you, please write
to:
Pastor Nick Bibile
Agape Chapel Ministries
P.O Box 59084
Norwalk, CA 90652
USA