How
Do You Get Into Heaven?
I John 5: 13
Steve Sjogren
was the pastor of a megachurch called Vinyard in Cincinnati Ohio with an
average attendance over 6,000 each weekend. In his book: The Day I Died he
tells the story of when he checked into the hospital for a routine gall
bladder surgery that turned out to be anything but routine. As the physician
prepared to make a 1 inch incision in his abdomen either through mechanical or
human error, the machine ripped a four inch gash through his stomach and
intestines slicing his aorta and nicking his spine. Almost immediately his
blood pressure dropped to 50/30 and his heart stopped for 7 minutes.
Over the next few days, he would linger between life and death until
finally recovering completely.
As the
medical personnel frantically tried to save his life, Steve found himself
leaving his body and staring down at himself. He always considered people who
said that had heard God speak to be kooks but he heard God say that day say:
“Don’t be afraid – it’s going to be OK.”
A peace
enveloped him. Steve said: We
didn’t communicate with just words but with memories and images. I had a
perfect sense of acceptance and love.
About a week
later still vacillating between life and death; Steve had another out of body
experience. He saw four people standing at the foot of his bed holding hands
and praying for him. He had never
met any of them but somehow he knew them.
He knew their age, how they had died and the day that each had died in
the same hospital. After his
recovery he confirmed this information with the nurses and was correct on each
individual.
For a brief
moment in time, God had opened the windows of heaven to give Steve a glimpse
of the future. His visions
confirmed many of the things the scriptures tell us.
Peace, joy we
know people people praying for us
As I have
painted some word pictures for you the past three weeks about this future
environment called heaven, hopefully you have been inspired to say; that’s
where I want to go. I want to see
Jesus; have my relationships restored, my body and mind enhanced and my joy
overflowing. That is where I want
to spend eternity. Your details may be different than mine but our desire is
the same – to be in this place called heaven in the presence of the Lord.
We need to
stop acting as if heaven is a myth; a relentless dull meeting; or a bodyless
existence in a far off land. Heaven
isn’t a fairy tale. Heaven is a place where we will live in resurrected
bodies with a resurrected mind and resurrected friendships with a resurrected
Jesus.
Luke
6:23 says: “rejoice in that day and leap for joy because great is your
reward in heaven.”
So how do I
get there? What do I have to do?
Bad news is that first you have to die and since none of us are anxious
for that to happen; how should we prepare for death even if we want to
postpone it as long as possible.
Can we even
know for certain that we will go to heaven when we die?
Read
I John 5: 13 “I
write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that
you may know that you have eternal life.”
In something
as important as this, we don’t want
to guess; we don’t want to hope, think, we want to know.
I.
Recognize mankind’s position
We have all
sinned and are in need of forgiveness.
Whenever we
start talking about this, people immediately get very defensive.
I’m OK – you’re OK is the political correct answer.
But is it true? It
usually leads to a comparison between ourselves and the dregs of society.
I’m not so bad; at least I haven’t killed anyone or robbed a bank.
I’m kind to my neighbors – at least those I like – don’t hurt
anybody – blah blah blah
those are good things but none of that has anything to do with getting
into heaven.
Illustration
of
Here’s what
the Bible says: Eph. 2:3
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings
of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were all by nature objects of wrath.”
Rom. 6:23
says: “the wages of sin is
death” we all deserve death
because we have all sinned. Sin
is an uncomfortable topic to discuss but there is a reason it is mentioned so
often in the Bible. Our position is not that we are all good people who just
need a little brushing up by Jesus so we can be better.
Our position is we have all sinned against God and are deserving of
death. None of us are good enough
to get into heaven on our own merits.
This
is not meant to put you down, but to help you recognize that all of us are in
need of forgiveness.
Jesus
didn’t become a man, be rejected by society, suffer insults and indignities
and die a horrible painful death on the cross to make us feel better about
ourselves; he did so to forgive us of our sins and reverse the curse.
For us to
understand our need for Jesus, we have to understand the meaning of the fall.
Seven Realities of the Fall
1.
alienation Adam
where are you? Estrangement
between God and man – we don’t need God, we can do this thing called life
on our own
2.
brokenness life
isn’t fair cain kills abel
at some point we have a broken relationship – disappointment –
heartache emotional and physical pain this
isn’t the way its suppose to be
3.
guilt hid
themselves knew they had done
wrong
know I shouldn’t do it but I did it anyway after its over, we don’t feel good, we feel guilty
4.
addiction often
times we use alcohol as an example of addiction but there are many addictions
in this world because sin catches us in the web and leads to more sin.
Addiction is simply anything you do that is harmful and you want to stop but
you find yourself entrapped by it. Drugs, alcohol are the whipping boys but
what about gossip, approval addiction, pride, greed, selfishness – less
obvious but according to the Bible they are ungodly attributes. The desire to
sin is in our dna. Only the method is variable.
5.
darkness blind
ourselves to our condition – I just need to try a little harder I’m not so bad
6.
hopelessness caught
in the web of sin, feel guilty about it; feel the effects of injustice and
alienation from God – we say there’s no hope for me
7.
death having
experienced spiritual death, we eventually have a physical death which we fear
not just Adam
but all individuals who have matured enough to understand their world around
them begin to be trapped in this death spiral as a result of the fall.
We need a
miracle to overcome all of this. Paul
says: “what a wretched man I
am; who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Romans 7:24
Can’t be
saved until you realize your lost; you can’t be forgiven until you realize
your guilty; you can’t find the answer until you realize you have a problem.
II.
Recognize that not everyone gets into heaven
In a survey
done by the Los Angeles Times, for every individual who thought they were
going to hell; 120 thought they would go to heaven. 99+% of people think they
are going to heaven.
Our
default destination is not heaven.
That is a popular theory because it makes everyone feel good.
Everybody wins – let’s give a trophy to everyone. Just do the best
you can. You can understand the popularity of that view in that it offends no
one; requires no commitment, and it eases our guilt.
Is that
Biblical?
Matt. 7:
21-23 not everyone who says to me
Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Rev. 21: 8 he
lists a group of people who will not be in heaven. Why would people think that? One author in a book dealing
with universalism explains it this way:
I
Tim. 2:4 says: “God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of
the truth.”
It is God’s desire to offer his grace, mercy, and forgiveness to all
people. And since God always gets
what he wants, all people will be saved.
Does God
always get what he wants? Does
God want marriages to be healthy, wholesome, and honorable? Does it always happen? Does
God want there to be child abuse, murder, thievery, and dishonesty in people?
Does it happen? Because we
have free will, God doesn’t always get what he wants but he goes out of his
way to provide us with resources so that if we choose properly, He can help us
navigate through this life and be prepared for the next one.
If all people
are going to heaven regardless, why would God send his son to endure such a
horrible sacrificial death? Why does he command us to repent?
Why does he asks us to confess our sins so we can be forgiven?
So if heaven
is not the default location of those who have died, how can we know for sure
that we will be included in heaven when we die?
for that answer, we must go to the scriptures which tell about God, who
He is, and what he desires of us.
III.
We must recognize Jesus as our personal Savior
Several times
in different ways he gives us this message. This is what you need to do to
enter heaven.
Rom. 10:9-10
says to us: “for it is with your heart that you believe
and it is with your mouth you confess and are saved. Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”
Hebrews 11:6
puts the message in these words: “Without
faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
What does it
mean to have faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior? If we recognize that we need forgiveness and that no amount
of good works will ever qualify us to enter into heaven; then we ask God for
forgiveness of our sins and accept his sacrifice on the cross as penalty for
our sins.
To
have faith is not just a decision, it is a commitment.
Faith doesn’t exist without an object of that faith.
To have faith
means I am depending on His work not mine to get me into heaven.
To have faith
means that I not only recognize that he existed but I believe the story of his
crucifixion, death and resurrection.
To have faith
is to recognize that by believing in Him, he will reverse the curse.
Now I am no
longer alienated from God but His presence is with me all the time. I am
relieved of the penalty of death for my sins and given eternal life.
God can begin to restore the brokenness of my
life in relationships as The spirit of Christ comes to live within me to lead
and guide me through life.