IF YOU DIED TONIGHT, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU WOULD SPEND ETERNITY?
You wouldn’t be the first one to think that you have lots of time to make the
most important decision of your life. We have a friend who says she knows who
Jesus is, but she’ll make a commitment to Him when she gets old and before she
dies. What if she never makes it to old age? What if she dies next week?
We have another friend that died very suddenly at the age of
21. Another person died in a head-on car crash yesterday.......he was only
36.......
and other people were very sure the flight they were on would
land safely at the airport. ...................................297 were dead
the next day.
No one knows when their time will be finished here on earth. Your
body will die, but your spirit and soul will live for eternity. Jesus said:
“I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who
believes in me, even though he dies, he shall live again. He is given eternal
life for believing in me and shall never perish” 1.
The Bible (the perfect true Word of God) says: “ it is destined that men die only once, and
after that comes judgment”. 2.
That means the body you are in has a limited time here on this earth.
Since we are body, soul and spirit, where will YOUR soul and spirit go after
your body dies?
God has written that His spirit will not always strive with man. There
comes a time that God shuts doors that no man can open! You can cross a line
where He says “no more”. We are fast approaching a time of deception when man
will think he can get it all together on his own. But we are warned that if
we play around too long, it might be too late.
THAT IS THE TERROR.
Your heavenly Father LOVES you and wants you to
spend eternity with Him. “He is not willing that any should perish.” 3.
After all, He created you. The bible says He knew you before you were
born! “I knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb”. 4.
His heart burst with pride when you entered this world. As a Father, He held
His hands out to you and watched you take your first steps and venture out and
grow. He loved you so much that rather than demand that you love Him in
return, He gave you a choice.
He wanted the decision to love Him in return to be your CHOICE. (I’ll
bet your family and friends feel the same way).
................ So God is wooing you. He’s placed the beautiful sun to
rise every morning to smile on you, grow crops, bring you
food.....................
......... He brought fresh rain to water your grass and gardens.
He keeps your heart beating and your lungs expanding................You could
not take another breath, your heart could not beat one more time, if He didn’t
allow it! Every cell of your body is held together by His Word- - His
command.
......Oh I could go on and on about at all the ways He’s tried to show His
love for us.
..... A famous writer once said God would have your picture on His
refrigerator- - - your photo would be the one he’d proudly show in His
wallet.........
But wait -- you also have an enemy. The snake that separated
Adam and Eve from their Father in the beginning. Adam and Eve made the wrong
choice and listened to the devil. Their choice resulted in Man being
spiritually separated from God. They broke God’s heart. (You probably know
what it’s like to have your heart broken).
............. But it was their choice.
......and yet He still Loved them, forgave them, nurtured them,
fed them, clothed them, gave them GRACE.......................and then......
He made a Plan. His Plan was to send His beloved son Jesus.
Yes that’s it!
......Jesus would make a way for Man to spiritually be able to return to
the bosom of their Father. And so at the appointed time, God’s angels
trumpeted from Heaven the arrival of the Son of God in a lowly manager. There
weren’t many who knew their Messiah had come............... He spent His first 30 years in quiet growth, but when the time
came, John the Baptist knew Jesus and baptized Him. “God sent John the Baptist
as a witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the true light”. 5.
The next 3.5 years of Jesus’ life here on earth were
demonstrated in miracles, thousands being healed and showing the love of the
Father here on earth. But then His life ended when He was only 33 1/2
years old!. It wasn’t an accident; no, it was preordained. It was done on purpose. It was done to
fulfill God’s promise to Man “to find a way back”. Jesus - An innocent and
guilt-free man gave up His life, and suffered a horrible death
------------- for you. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice - the “bridge” from
carnal man to your Heavenly Father. It was in those moments of death that
Jesus took upon himself every sin in the world.........
---Your sin, my sin, all our sins. He bore them all. “For God took the
sinless Christ and poured unto Him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured
God’s goodness into us!”. 6.
He was separated from His Father.....(My God,
My God why have you forsaken me?).........
............the agony......the agony........you and I will never know, never
even to be able to imagine. But He did it for us! Does anyone on this earth
have a friend that would send his son to the death chamber to set you free?
Do you have a friend or relative that would go to court with you when you have
been stamped “guilty” and step forward and ask the judge to lay the sentence
on him? I don’t think so. But Jesus did. He loves you THAT much!
.............. Jesus went to hell and back taking the keys from the devil
once and for all. “Tombs were opened, and many godly men and women who had
died came back to life again. After Jesus’ resurrection, these risen dead
left the cemetery and went into Jerusalem, and appeared to many people there”. 7.
Jesus then spent 40 days on earth in his glorified body, visiting and
proving His resurrection. Showing people the nail scars on his hands and feet,
He appeared to over 500 people.
Before He left to rejoin his Father, He gave to His disciples the
Great Commission to go and tell the world. The disciples begged Him to stay,
but He knew that as one man He could only comfort one person at a time. He
explained that when he left He would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit that
could reside in every human being when they ask.
While here Jesus had said “If any man believe on Me, He will I love. I am
the way the truth and the life. No one can get to the Father except by means
of me”. 8.
You can be assured that your Heavenly Father loved you so,
.............that He sent His only son to die for you, that you might have
eternal life with Him.
Now you can know that when you die, if it be tonight or next year - -- the angels will sing, meet you
and take you to be with Jesus. By faith you can renounce your sins.
“Works” won’t get you anywhere. “All our righteous acts are like
filthy rags” 9.
“even the best moral life falls short of what God requires. Sin must be
dealt with and removed”. 10.
Accepting the atoning death of Jesus Christ is your way to eternal life
with Him. With Jesus in your heart, the two of you can do anything. He will
be with you all day to fellowship with, to talk to, to cry with, to laugh
with, to share everything. He’ll hold you up, embrace you and when you
stumble, His strong hands will reach out and lift you again. Let Him help
you find a really great, spirit filled church and grow in the knowledge that a
bible believing church can help teach you. ...........Physically join a
church, for now you are a member of the “family of God” and a brother or
sister to millions of other born-again Christians. “Everything else is
worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord”. 11.
......................Read your bible as much as you can. If
you are struggling and can’t hear His voice, His words are found between the
covers of that bible and it is filled with His love letters to you and his
sage, good advice. He departs this wisdom to you. ”If you obey my
instructions, you will be given wisdom and good sense”. 12.
Even the thief on the cross beside Jesus went to Heaven. Did you know that? He was a
murderer and a thief, and yet because he believed in Jesus at the last moment,
he is right now in Paradise. There are many murderers on death row that will
be in Heaven, ......and yet there are many people whom you think “good” that may not be
there. There are many good citizens, good people, whose works won’t cut it.
“Before every man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right, but
ends in death.” 13.
God made it clear that works were not the pathway to His
presence; only the heart...........the heart that had asked the living Christ
into it.
Your new life won’t be perfect. In fact you’ll continue to sin
because man in his flesh has a really hard time with that. But each day is
new and each day of steps “in Christ” are steps in the right direction. No
matter what happens on this earth, our time here
...........is less than a grain of sand on all the beaches of the world.
Eternity stretches beyond our wildest imaginations. Your brief life here will
be followed by eternal life with other believers and best of all, seeing your
Lord face to face.
God’s hope for you first of all, is to have that personal, close
relationship with Him as a dear friend, confident and Father. His second
desire is that you do His Will. Share the Good News.
The Good News is Jesus Christ. You are His mouth now......... His hands.
Tell others.................before it’s too late.
If you want to be assured of eternal life, say this simple prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You
died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into
my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior.
In Jesus’ name. Amen
“You are now a brand new person inside. A new life has begun!”. 14.
“And I suppose that if all the other events in Jesus’ life were written, the
whole world could hardly contain the books!”. 15.
Send us your address and we’ll mail you a free cassette tape.
If you have a Prayer Request Please feel free to e-mail it to us
and we will be happy to pray in agreement with you!
HonorGR@aol.com
Christian Links:
Billy Graham Ministries
Focus On The Family
Christian Broadcasting Network
Joyce Meyer Ministries
Benny Hinn Ministries
Charles Stanley In Touch Ministries
Koinonia House
McAlvany
God Cares
Christianity Online
Jesus
References:
(1) John 11:25 - (2) Hebrews 9:27 - (3) 2 Peter 3:9
(4) Matthew 10:28 - (5) John 1:6 - (6) 2 Corinthians 5:21
(7) Matthew 27:52-53 - (8) John 14:6 - (9)
Isaiah 64:6
(10) Romans 2:2 - (11) Philippians 3:8 - (12) Proverbs 2:1,2
(13) Proverbs 14:12 - (14) 2 Corinthians 5:17 -
(15) John 21:25
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