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SERMON TOPIC: Are you prepared for eternity

Speaker: Gavin Paynter

Language: ENGLISH

Date: 28 July 2011

Topic Groups: HELL, DEATH

Sermon synopsis: The story is told of a poor man who happened to find Aladdin's magic lamp. On rubbing the lamp, a genie appeared and granted him one wish. So he asked for a newspaper exactly a year into the future. Upon receiving the newspaper, he turned to the section listing stock prices. His plan was to buy stocks that would gain value and thereby become a millionaire. Browsing through the paper, he was very pleased about his sudden turn of luck. However, he was soon shocked to find his name in the newspaper's obituary. Suddenly he was no longer interested in the share prices.
People make so many plans, while being unaware of their approaching death date.
Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and
make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a
little while and then vanishes. (James 4:13-14)
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I am standing on the seashore. A ship spreads her white sails to the morning breeze & starts for the ocean. I stand watching her until she fades on the horizon, & someone at my side says, "She is gone." Gone where? The loss of sight is in me, not in her. Just at the moment when someone says, "She is gone," there are others who are watching her coming. Other voices take up the glad shout, "Here she comes," & that is dying.--Henry Scott Holland.

Dr. Werner von Braun, well-known for his part in the U.S. space program, says he has "essentially scientific" reasons for believing in life after death. He explained: "Science has found that nothing can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. If God applies the fundamental principle to the most minute and insignificant parts of the universe, doesn't it make sense to assume that He applies it to the masterpiece of His creation--the human soul? I think it does."

So live that when the preacher has ended his remarks over your grave, those present will not think they have attended the wrong funeral.

When we die we leave behind us all that we have & take with us all that we are.

So live that when death comes the mourners will outnumber the cheering section.

He whose head is in Heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave.

When Benjamin Franklin was about to die, he asked that a picture of Christ on the Cross should be so placed in his bedroom that he could look, as he said, "upon the form of the Silent Sufferer."

He wrote in advance the epitaph to be on his gravestone: "The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here...Yet the Work itself shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author."

An elderly Christian was in much distress as he lay dying. "Oh, Pastor," he said, "for years I have relied upon the promises of God, but now in the hour of death I can't remember a single one to comfort me." Knowing that Satan was disturbing him, the preacher said, "My brother, do you think that GOD will forget any of His promises?" A smile came over the face of the dying believer as he exclaimed joyfully, "No, no! He won't! Praise the Lord, now I can fall asleep in Jesus and trust Him to remember them all and bring me safely to Heaven." Peace flooded his soul, and a short time later he was ushered by the angels into the light of God's eternal day.

For those who have to repeat the dying words of a noted infidel: "I'm taking a leap in the dark.“ Now for the contrast. A lad lay dying. Said his mother tenderly: "Is Jesus with you in the dark valley?“ "Dark valley!" he whispered, "it's not dark, it's getting brighter and brighter, Mother. Oh," he murmured, "it's so bright now, that I have to shut my eyes!“ And so he passed away to be with Jesus, who said, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

In ancient Rome a guard felt sorry for a Christian prisoner, who was soon to die because of his faith in Christ. He secretly allowed his daughter to visit him. After she was gone the guard stared at his prisoner. "Why do you gaze at me? "he asked. "Because you do not seem worried," was the answer. "You are to die tomorrow. Tonight you saw your daughter for the last time." "Oh, but you are wrong," exclaimed the prisoner. "I shall see her again. My daughter is a Christian, too. She will soon follow me. Christians never see one another for the last time. They meet in heaven, there to live forever. Now do you understand why I am happy and why I am ready to die for my Christian faith?"

My happiest moment will be when God puts His hand on my heart & stops it beating.

Death for the Christian is an honourable discharge from the battles of life.

Death is but a physical incident in an immortal career.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.

When death becomes the property of the believer it receives a new name & is called sleep.

The following is a quotation from the words of Dr. W. B. Hinson, speaking from the pulpit a year after the commencement of the illness from which he ultimately died: "I remember a year ago when a doctor in this city said, 'You are going to die, Walt.'

" I walked out to where I live, five miles out of this city, and I looked across at that mountain that I love, and I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God's own poetry to my soul.

"Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting his lamps, and I said: 'I may not see you many more times, but, Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and, River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and, Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down-pulling of the material universe!"' This is the confidence of one who knew the Saviour. Is it yours?

Be sure to celebrate my funeral scripturally & send "Hallelujahs" all around. It is a better day than one's wedding day.--C.T. Studd

A dying man is a balloon throwing down its ballast.

Death is the funeral of all our sorrows.

We are not here to stay; we are here to go.

When death strikes the Christian down, he falls into Heaven.

Death to a saint is nothing but the taking of a sweet flower out of this wilderness, & planting of it in the garden of paradise.

A believer's last day is his best day.

Dying saints my be justly envied, while living sinners are justly pitied.

Death is the foreshadowing of life. We die that we may die no more.

Death is not so much something which happens to the Christian as something God works for him.

It is no credit to your Heavenly Father for you to be loath to go Home.

It's a lot easier to die than it is to live in case you don't know it, if you're a Christian! Death is the easy way out! That's your graduation, your work is done & the Lord has released you & relieved you of your responsibility & you've gone home to your reward. But there's often this question that comes up as you face death, "I wonder have I done my best for Jesus?"

As we face the prospect of our ministry & life's work coming to an end we kind of evaluate what we've accomplished. We look over the books. We keep books, we look backward & we wonder if we've accomplished what we were supposed to accomplish & if we have left anything undone, if there's anything yet that we ought to do, & if we're going home prematurely not having accomplished all that the Lord wants us to accomplish & being called home prematurely because of failure or disobedience or stubborness or refusal to do all that God wants us to do.

After all, if we are no longer a faithful servant or we refuse to do what He wants us to do, we become a pretty useless servant & either we're tossed in the scrap pile as Saul was eventually, or we are completely taken out of this life, relieved of our commission, relieved of our duties, & sometimes given a somewhat dishonourable discharge. All these things we think about & we wonder if we have accomplished all that we were supposed to accomplish.--David Brand Berg

Two old sisters came up to Dr. Moody & asked him after the church service one night. They said, "Dr. Moody, do you have dying grace?" He said, "No, dear sisters, I don't." And they looked shocked! "Why, Dr. Moody! You don't have dying grace?" He said, "No, I'm not dying yet!"

Death mingles sceptres with spades.

Satan may chase him to the gates of death, but he cannot pursue the Christian THROUGH the gates.

If men are prepared to die they are ready for anything.

There is nothing more certain than death, nothing more uncertain than the time of dying. I will therefore be prepared at all times for that which may come at any time.

It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.

Death is but a passage out of a prison into a palace.

The belief that we shall never die is the foundation of our dying well.

Death & what is beyond it will show who is wise & who is a fool.

Were it not for sin, death had never had a beginning, & were it not for death, sin would never have had an ending.

Death is not part of the natural process, but is the judgement of God on sin.

"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away." (Song of Solomon 2:17)

The fear of doom is part of the judgements of God on the guilty & those who deserve it, "who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Heb.2:15)

And yet they have an evil fascination for death! That's why they ride these motorcycles at breakneck speed & love these fast car races & dangerous sports, anything that dares death, defies death, these stunt men doing death-defying stunts, dangerous mountain climbs & dangerous feats of all kinds. It's like they have an evil fascination for death! It reminds me again of that Scripture: "Them that love death!" (Pro.8:36) They are fascinated by death! They act like they really want to die, like they're daring the Devil to kill them! But when it comes right down to it, then they don't want to!--David Brandt Berg

My Mother was with lots of dying sinners & some doctors have had to go through it. It's a horrible traumatic experience! One doctor said, "No matter how many times I've been through it, to have to sit through the death of a patient is still a terrific traumatic experience for me." Some of them scream, some of them writhe in agony, some of them act like they're already in the torments of Hell, & some of them cry out about flames & demons & Hell, sinners who die. You don't hear many stories like that. They hush that stuff up because they don't want to scare you!--David Brandt Berg

On the tomb of a Christian astronomer were these words (by his partner); "We have gazed too long at the stars together to be afraid of the night."

Where you die, when you die, or by what means, is scarcely worth a thought, if you do but die in Christ.

How many Christians live their lives packed up & ready to go?

Live so that when death comes you may embrace like friends, not encounter like enemies.

Take care of your life & the Lord will take care of your death.

No Christian has ever been known to recant on his deathbed.

Charles Dillingham and Florenz Ziegfeld, both eminent producers and both now deceased, were pall-bearers at the funeral of the great escape artist, Houdini. As they lifted the beautiful and heavy casket to their shoulders, Dillingham whispered to Ziegfeld, "Suppose he isn't here."

"Earth recedes, Heaven opens!--This is my Coronation Day!" is the famous quote. It's what my Grandmother said the day she died. As she was dying she pulled the rings off her fingers & put them in my Grandfather's hand. Then she raised both arms to Heaven & said, "I hear singing, the angels are singing!"--David Brandt Berg.

"Houdini nearly lost his life under the ice when he lost the hole & couldn't find it. But he heard his mother's voice calling him & he swam in the direction of her voice & there was the hole. When he got home to his hotel there was a telegram saying that his mother just passed away a few minutes before he was trying to find that hole. The Lord took her just in time to save his life. Don't tell me they don't work for us on the Other Side!--David Brandt Berg

Those who have welcomed Christ may welcome death.

How pleasantly does the good man speak of dying; as if it were only undressing & going to bed!

Death is never sudden to a saint; no guest comes unawares to him who keeps a constant table.

The wheels of death's chariot may rattle & make a noise, but they are to carry a believer to Christ.

He that would not die when he must, & he that would die when he must not are both of them cowards alike.

Death stung himself to death when he stung Christ.

No man must let the tenant out of the tenement till God the landlord calls for it.

We must cast the World out of our hearts, not cast ourselves out of the World.

For there is no death. No. Not for the Christian!

There is only an honourable discharge from the battles of life,

A promotion to Heavenly officership,

That glorious moment to step forward

And hear the Great Commander-in-Chief say,

"Well done, good and faithful soldier!

Come, enter into your Eternal reward"!

There is no death. Not for the Christian.

Only the soul's blessed release from dark prison.

Only a passage out of that prison into a palace.

Only a golden key that unlocks the treasures of Eternity.

No, my friend, you are not dead.

You will be alive when the mountains are gone.

--Alive when the rivers cease their running toward the sea!

You have gone higher, that is all.

Out of this old mud shack, into a house that is immortal,

A body that no enemy can attack!

"Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return"

Was not spoken of the spirit.

You don't really die, you just keep on living,

And go straight into the presence of the Lord!

I weep, dear friend, because I miss you.

If I were unselfish I would be rejoicing with you,

Thanking God that you are with Him!

Thanking God that your troubles are over!

No more crying, no more pain, no more sorrow,

Nothing but eternal happiness in Heaven forever!

Yes, we are so selfish about death,

We count our grief far more than your joy!

We go to the grave of a friend, saying, "A man is dead".

But angels throng about him saying, "A man is born!"

So for now, farewell, my friend!

We shall meet again!

READING YOUR OBITUARY

Are you

PREPARED

for

ETERNITY?

The story is told of a poor man who happened to find Aladdin’s magic lamp. On rubbing the lamp, a genie appeared and granted him one wish. So he asked for a newspaper exactly a year into the future. Upon receiving the newspaper, he turned to the section listing stock prices. His plan was to buy stocks that would gain value and thereby become a millionaire. Browsing through the paper, he was very pleased about his sudden turn of luck.

However, he was soon shocked to find his name in the newspaper’s obituary. Suddenly he was no longer interested in the share prices.

People make so many plans, while being unaware of their approaching death date.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:13-14)

READING YOUR OBITUARY

Toward the end of the 19th century, there was an obituary in a newspaper for the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel: “Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.”

There was only one problem, Alfred Nobel had not died! 1

1 www.churchchrist.net/ Sermons/ Death.htm

READING YOUR OBITUARY

Alfred Nobel (1801-1872)

Actually, it was his older brother who had died, but a newspaper reporter had somehow gotten it wrong. And so Alfred Nobel was one of the few people who got to read his own obituary. This incident had a profound effect on him and he decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process. So he initiated the Nobel Peace Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace. Nobel said, “Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.” 1 1 Ibid

READING YOUR OBITUARY

So while funerals aren’t something we look forward to, they do give us a chance to reflect on what is really important in life.

I’ve seen many a hearse, but never one with a trailer behind it.

Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.” (Job 1:21)

1 Tim 6:7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box. (Italian Proverb)

WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT

Men generally don’t like to think about death, so funerals also give us a chance to reflect on our own mortality.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) penned the now famous words, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” 1

Now while some might have managed to evade the taxman, statistically one out of every one of us dies.

1 In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789, which was re-printed in The Works of Benjamin Franklin, 1817

THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH

Every day over 146,000 people will take their final breath and slip into eternity, either into heaven or into hell. Although most of their lives may never have made headlines, the reality of death happens every day.

Current death rate in the world:

8 deaths per 1,000 population per year

53.4 million people die each year

146,357 people die each day

6098 people die each hour

102 people die each minute

almost 2 people die each second 1

1 wholesomewords.org/ missions/ greatc.html

THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH

Inscribed on a tombstone in a cemetery in England were the words: “REMEMBER MAN, AS YOU WALK BY AS YOU ARE NOW, SO ONCE WAS I, AS I AM NOW, SO SHALL YOU BE, REMEMBER THIS AND FOLLOW ME.”

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone: “TO FOLLOW YOU I’LL NOT CONSENT, UNTIL I KNOW WHICH WAY YOU WENT.” 1 1 www.churchchrist.net

THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Gen 3:19)

Heb 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once…

THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH

The Bible speaks of our body as being a tent

2 Cor 5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Cor 5:1 see also 2 Pet 1:13-14)

Now a tent is just a temporary living place – not a permanent home!

OUR BODY IS A ‘TENT’

Not only is death a certainty, but so is God’s judgment:

Heb 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.

John 5:28-29 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT

People make all sorts of preparations when they go on a journey.

But there is a final journey we are all destined to take and many people fail to prepare for that journey.

Matt 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (NASB)

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Jesus spoke of a PREPARED PLACE for a PREPARED PEOPLE:

John 14:1-2 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

But Jesus also spoke of a PREPARED PLACE for an UNPREPARED PEOPLE:

Matt 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Cesare Borgia was the illegitimate son of the notorious Pope Alexander VI and his mistress. He is believed by some to have murdered his brother Giovanni. He was feared by his own father and murdered those who stood in his way.

His dying words were: “I have taken care of everything in the course of my life, only not for death, and now I have to die completely unprepared.” 1

1 www.thewordteaches.com

Cesare Borgia (1476-1507)

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Adoniram Judson grew up in a conservative Congregational pastor’s home but went to Brown University where he made friends with Jacob Eames, a persuasive Deist, 1 leading to his own rejection of Christianity. He broke his parents hearts when he told them that he had no faith and that he intended to go to New York and learn to write for the theatre. He did not, however, find his expected fame or fortune there. 2

1 Deists believe in the existence of a god without any reliance on revealed religion, religious authority or holy books. 2 SOURCES: www.nationalministries.org, www.wholesomewords.org, www.desiringgod.org

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Eventually he headed West and one night he stayed in a small village inn where he’d never been before. The innkeeper apologized that his sleep might be interrupted because of a man critically ill in the next room. Adoniram was tired but rest did not come. Throughout the night, he heard sounds in the next room - low voices, people moving about on the creaking floor, groans and gasps, but most of all agonizing cries of despair and desperation, coming from the dying man. 1

1 Ibid

ARE YOU PREPARED?

It bothered him to think that the man may not be prepared to die. All night long He wondered about himself and had terrible thoughts of his own death. How would he face this enemy that his own father would welcome as the doorway to God? His philosophy offered no answers beyond this earthly life. But then he felt ashamed of himself - what would his deist friend, Jacob Eames, think of his silly thoughts of God?

Upon leaving the next morning he asked if the man was better. “He is dead,” said the innkeeper. Struck with the finality he asked, “Do you know who he was?” “Oh yes.” came the reply, “Young man from the college in Providence. Name was Eames, Jacob Eames.” 1 1 SOURCES: “The Life Of Adoniram Judson” by Courtney Anderson, www.nationalministries.org, www.wholesomewords.org, www.desiringgod.org

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Adoniram Judson (1788-1850)

That reality sent Adoniram’s mind reeling and he wondered about the eternal destiny for such a man. Suddenly, he realized that his father’s God was true: The beliefs of Jacob Eames were empty and had failed him at his greatest hour. Adoniram was converted and later went to Burma as a missionary. 1

Shortly before Adoniram Judson died he said: “I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from his school.” 2

1 Ibid 2 Florence Huntington Jensen – www.wholesomewords.org

ARE YOU PREPARED?

The Bible speaks of death as being an enemy:

1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

And it says that death has a sting – but the sting is only for those who die in their sin:

1 Cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin…

For the child of God death loses it’s sting:

1 Cor 15:54-55 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

Death is not something for the child of God to fear:

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

A child of God doesn’t have to fear death – because they don’t have to fear God’s judgment:

1 John 4:16-18 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

D.L. Moody said, “Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal - a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.” 1

1 Source: www.wholesomewords.org

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

Eyewitnesses recorded of Moody’s death:

God was magnified again in his marvelous triumph over death, but what we call death had absolutely no terrors for him. He calmly looked death in the face and said, “Earth is receding. Heaven is opening. God is calling me. Is this death? It isn’t bad at all. It is sweet. No pain. No valley. I have been within the gates! It is beautiful. It is glorious. Do not call me back. God is calling me.” 1

For four hours Mr. Moody faced death without a tremor. Nay, he rejoiced in it and welcomed it… Later he said, “This is glorious. This is my coronation day, I have long looked forward to it.” 2

1 “The life & work of Dwight Lyman Moody” by the J. Wilbur Chapman 2 Source: www.archive.org/ stream/ lessonsfromlifed

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

King David wrote these beautiful words in his Shepherd’s Psalm that have been a comfort to many a Christian as death approached, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Psalm 23:4)

The famous London preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “There is an essential difference between the decease of the godly and the death of the ungodly. Death comes to the ungodly man as a penal infliction, but to the righteous as a summons to his Father’s palace. To the sinner it is an execution, to the saint an undressing from his sins and infirmities. Death to the wicked is the King of terrors. Death to the saint is the end of terrors, the commencement of glory.” 1

1 spurgeon.org

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

The apostle Paul said of death:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil 1:21)

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Tim 4:6-8)

So death has no sting for the child of God, but is everyone a child of God?

WHERE IS YOUR STING?

John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

IS EVERYONE A CHILD OF GOD?

I never knew:

Rom 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

COMMON PITFALLS

I’ve lived a good life

Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

I have my own religion:

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

COMMON PITFALLS

I was baptized as a baby

God only has children – he has no grandchildren. You have to have your own experience with God; you cannot rely on your parents experience.

I believe in God:

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.

COMMON PITFALLS

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Rom 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

“Believing” doesn’t simply mean accepting God’s existence (remember even the demons do that) – it’s putting our faith and trust in Jesus.

HOW ARE WE SAVED?

We need to admit that we have sinned.

1 John 1:8-9 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Repentance is not just being sorry for your sin, but it is turning your back on your sin.

HOW ARE WE SAVED?

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:36)

LIFE OR DEATH: YOUR CHOICE

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