OF
GETTING TO
HEAVEN?
|
|
1.
Believing in God
2. Being a good person
3. Giving money to the church
4.
Keeping the Ten Commandments
5. Having Christian parents
6. Living for God
7. Doing your best
8. Being a church member
9. Obeying the church
10. Getting baptized as a baby
11. Praying to God
12. Dying for God and country
13. Loving your neighbour
14. Going to the confessional
15. Helping the poor
16.
Taking Holy Communion
17. Doing good works
18.
Having the last rites at death
19. Going to church regularly
20.
Being devoted to Mary
21. Doing many penances
22. NONE
OF THE ABOVE
Read
every word carefully –
It’s
a matter of YOUR eternal life
....or
eternal torment.
The
correct answer is 22.
Dear Friend, the others may
make you “feel good” or even “spiritual” but they can’t get you
into heaven.
Please read on:
LET’S
START AT THE BEGINNING:
HAVE YOU
EVER:
1.
Told a lie?
2.
Taken something that
wasn’t yours?
3.
Had sexual thoughts about
someone else? (not your spouse)
If
you have, the Bible says that
you’re a LYING, THIEVING ADULTERER!
You
may be thinking – “I can’t be that bad! There’s
a lot worse than me – I’m no axe-murderer!”
At
each end of the scale you’d have Hitler &
Mother Teresa and you’d be somewhere in between, right? And maybe
you’re just
crossing your fingers - somehow hoping that God will let you into
heaven with a
50% pass mark, right?
Now,
we rarely think of ourselves as being bad,
because “Every way of a man is
right in
his own eyes:” (Proverbs 21:2). In fact, most criminals in
jail
think they’ve been unjustly sentenced.
As we
can see, our standards vary and the Bible
says we are not wise to compare & measure ourselves against each
other (2 Corinthians 10:12).
In
fact, “For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans
3:23).
HOW
FAR SHORT?
God’s
standards are so high, He says even the GOOD
THINGS we do are like FILTHY RAGS in His eyes - not the bad things but
the good
things! (Isaiah 64:6)
WHAT
ABOUT
LITTLE SINS?
Has
the thought entered your mind
that a loving God should overlook your sins and only punish the serious
criminals like murderers, child-molesters and rapists? The Bible says,
quote:
“For whosoever shall keep the
whole law,
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James
2:10).
There are no big or little sins in God’s eyes. If you’ve done one –
you’re
guilty of the whole lot. Just one poison will kill you.
BUT
WAIT ... THERE’S MORE!
When
God created Adam, He made him the
representative of the entire human race. When he disobeyed God, his sin
was put
onto everyone’s individual account - just as if we’d sinned!(Rom 5:12)
As a
result, our nature got changed from “pure to sewer” and from then on,
all were
born with a sinful nature. No-one needs to be taught to sin - we take
to it
like “ducks to water”. We sin because we’re sinners!
WILL
GOD
JUDGE SIN?
The
Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto
men once to die, BUT AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT.” (Hebrews 9:27) and
“...he hath
appointed a day, in the which HE WILL JUDGE THE WORLD IN
RIGHTEOUSNESS BY
THAT MAN (Jesus) whom he hath ordained...”(Acts 17:31)
This
means that your righteousness must match that
of Jesus Christ. Jesus committed no sin and was perfect. Unless you
have a 100%
record, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. God’s standard is 100%
perfection.
WHAT
IS GOD’S PENALTY FOR
SINNERS? “...fornicators ADULTERERS, homosexuals, drunkards, THIEVES
& swearers SHALL NOT INHERIT
THE KINGDOM
OF GOD...those who reject Jesus, murderers, fornicators
(pre-marital sex), idolaters
(a love replacing God e.g. sports, careers), users of magical arts (e.g.
astrologers ) and All LIARS shall HAVE THEIR PART IN
THE LAKE WHICH BURNS WITH FIRE.
(Revelation 21:8; I Cor 6:9)
SO
WHAT’S HELL LIKE?
It’s
not a place where you can “party-on” with
friends. Jesus spoke more about Hell than Heaven and with good reason -
He
didn’t want anyone to go there!
It’s
a place of damnation, bondage, darkness,
weeping & torment... EVERLASTING burnings ...the
FLAMES never
go out & wailing, their WORM NEVER DIES... &
gnashing
of teeth... with NO
TRANSFER OUT!
(Luke
16:26; Matthew 22:13, Matthew 13:41-42; Mark 9:44; Isaiah 33:14)
YOU
WON’T
BE ALLOWED TO KILL YOURSELF TO END THE PAIN. THE TORMENT WILL BE
SO BAD!
When you die, you will find yourself in heaven or hell for eternity.
PURGATORY is a lie made up to give relatives false hope in order to get
more
money from them through fear. Your family can’t pray for you in
purgatory. WHY?
You won’t be there! IT DOESN’T EXIST! There
is no purgatory in the King James Bible. There’s no re-incarnation (Heb
9: 27) or `6 foot under’ either (Matt 25:46;)
WON’T
THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS GET ME INTO HEAVEN?
No my
friend, the Ten Commandments only show us how
far short we come compared to God and His perfect standards. They’ll
keep you
out of heaven unless you can show that you’ve kept them all.
CAN
I EARN MY WAY TO
HEAVEN?
The
Bible says, “NOT
BY WORKS
of
righteousness which we have
done, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY he saved us.” (Titus 3:5). If we
could earn
our way to heaven then Jesus didn’t need to die for us.
Dear
friend, you can’t get right with God by
leading a good life, church membership, sacraments, baptism or anything
else.
If you try to earn it or do something for it, it’s called “SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS”.
FAITH
IN JESUS CHRIST IS
THE ONLY WAY TO GET INTO HEAVEN
Faith
is complete trust and dependency upon someone. The
Bible says that Jesus shed
His blood to pay for your sins and purchase your right standing with
God. You
can’t earn it, buy it or work for it but you must “put your complete
faith in
Christ” to receive it.
The
Bible says, “But TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT, but
BELIEVETH ON HIM that justifieth the ungodly, HIS FAITH IS COUNTED FOR
RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Romans 4:5).
You
won’t fear Judgment Day because you will, “Be
found in him, NOT HAVING MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS ...but THAT WHICH IS
THROUGH
THE FAITH OF CHRIST, the RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF GOD BY FAITH.”
(Philippians
3:9)
IF
GOD IS LOVE, WOULD HE SEND
ME TO HELL?
HE
HAS NO CHOICE! You’ve sinned
and owe a debt you cannot pay .... but Jesus paid your debt He didn’t
owe! If
you reject Jesus -what else can God do for you? 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.” (John 3:16)
“He
that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life: and HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT THE SON SHALL NOT SEE
LIFE;
BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM” (John 3:36)
DOES
SATAN
RULE & REIGN IN HELL?
NO!
Hell
was made to cast Satan
& his angels into for eternal torment - along with the unsaved
(Matthew
25:41; Revelation 20:10,15) You’re not handed over to Satan for
punishment for
sins – he was defeated at the cross.
No
my friend, HELL IS GOD’S
EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE WHO REJECT JESUS.
YOU
HAVE A CHOICE!
Very
simple indeed - which will
you choose?
GOD’S
LOVE
–“Jesus died for my sins” OR
GOD’S
WRATH
–“I reject the sacrifice of Jesus” No choice is a choice and not
choosing won’t
make it go away. Every minute you delay is a minute closer to your
eternity in
hell.
Instead
of
coming to God and promising Him you’ll “clean up your act,” He’s
waiting for
you to say:
“I’m
a
sinner! I can’t measure up to your high standards! All I deserve is
eternal
hell fire. But I believe that Jesus paid my debt in full & by faith
alone I
trust in His sacrifice to save me.”
WILL
EVERYONE GET TO HEAVEN?
God
says He is “...not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”(2Peter
3:9).
But the Bible also says, “...broad is the way that leadeth to DESTRUCTION,
AND MANY
there
be which go in ... and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto LIFE,
AND
FEW
there
be that find it.”
(Matt7:13-14).
WHICH
GROUP WILL YOU BE IN –
THE FEW OR THE MANY?
WHAT
WILL STOP YOU?
Your
love of sin, pride, unbelief, delay, your
plans or fear of friends will stop you trusting Jesus as
Saviour.
THIS
IS YOUR ONLY HOPE.
Even
doing all those 21 things on the front of the brochure to
get saved, will still see you in Hell for all your trouble, i.e.
baptism,
confessionals, sacraments, good works, penances, being good, church
membership,
religion, last rites, Saturday worship or church rules CANNOT
SAVE YOU.
Will
you stop
trusting in your “self-righteousness” & put your trust in Jesus
Christ
alone and “His righteousness”?
ETERNAL
LIFE IS A FREE GIFT! YOU
CAN’T EARN IT, WORK FOR IT
OR BUY IT!
The
Bible says, “...the GIFT
of
God is
eternal life THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” (Rom6:23).
The Bible says
“...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ...” (1 Timothy 1:15)
and
it also
says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord SHALL
BE
SAVED.” (Romans
10:13)
Eternity
is forever and hell is real, but if you want to be saved, trust
alone in Jesus and pray from your heart: “DEAR
GOD, I’m a sinner &
deserve Your everlasting wrath in hell. I believe Jesus died for all my
sins,
and His shed blood was payment. I completely trust Him alone to save
me. Thank
you for forgiving me of all my sins.
AMEN.”
WE
BELIEVE:
1.The
TRINITY
of the Godhead
2.The
Virgin
BIRTH & DEITY of the LORD JESUS CHRIST; His Substitutionary death
&
blood atonement; His resurrection
3.The
personality of the Holy Spirit
4.The
creation
and the fall of man
5.The
supernatural, verbally inspired, plenary authority & inerrancy of
the KING JAMES
BIBLE
6.SALVATION
BY
FAITH ALONE
7.The
necessity
of the new birth for salvation
8.The
SECOND
COMING of CHRIST - His RAPTURE of His church at the end of
this
age & His coming to the earth at the end of the
tribulation - His coming is Imminent, Personal, Pre-Tribulational &
Pre-Millennial
9.The
everlasting existence of the spirit and soul of man
10.
The
resurrection of the body
11.
Eternal
life for believers in a Literal Heaven
12.
The
reality & personality of Satan.
13.
Eternal
punishment of the impenitent in the
literal Lake of Fire.
14. The need of humanity to be saved from a Literal Hell, by trusting The Lord Jesus Christ’s Substitutionary death.
BY CHRIST ALONE! BY GRACE ALONE! BY FAITH
ALONE!
BY
THE SCRIPTURES ALONE! TO
GOD BE THE GLORY!
By
Harley Hitchcock
