Main Idea: No matter how good you are, you cannot make it to heaven through your own effort.
Verse: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV).
Illustration: Once, two men had a jumping contest. One was an Olympic champion of the long jump who was in perfect shape. The other was a fat man who huffed and puffed just walking. They decided to have a contest to determine who could jump across the Grand Canyon. The obese man could barely run. He waddled up to the edge of the cliff, leaned forward, and managed to jump two feet. He fell to his death at the bottom of the canyon. Next, the champion long jumper warmed up and ran as fast as he could at the gaping canyon. He jumped over thirty feet, but, unfortunately, he ended up at the same place as the first man: the bottom of the canyon. No matter how good we are, it is impossible for us to make it to heaven through our own works or our own effort. The world’s most religious man and the world’s worst sinner both end up in the pits of hell without accepting Christ’s help.