Are You Prepared For Eternity?

Are You Prepared For Eternity?

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

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Earlier this week I was in the local Cable One (Cable T.V provider). The lady in front of me was attempting to set up an account and have her cable hooked up at her new home. The attendant who worked for the cable company went down a list of things that were required before service could begin. The lady looked at the attendant and said “I am sorry; I didn’t come prepared because I didn’t know I was coming”

I want you to consider that statement for a moment - “I didn’t come prepared because I didn’t know I was coming”.....I wonder how many people stepped out into eternity this week in that same situation… They didn’t go prepared because they didn’t know they were going”

Sadly, there were some people who died this week who had every intention of making things right with the Lord…ONE DAY!

They knew the plan of salvation

They believed that Jesus was the only way to Heaven.

They thought that they would have a little more time to make things right

They had planned to surrender to Him but now it is too late!

Chances are pretty good that someone here today has that same mindset:you know that you should turn to Jesus but you procrastinate, You turn away and ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit week after week.

What is to say that your name will not be in the obituaries this week?

We live in a world filled with uncertainty, There are not many things that we can be 100% certain of but friend, there are 3 things that you can take to the bank:

1) You Will Die! (Barring the rapture) -We go to great lengths to put that off as long as we can but one day it is going to happen.

2) You Will Face Judgment! - Saved or lost you will stand before God at either the Judgment Seat of Christ or The Great White Throne

3) You Will Confess That Jesus Is Lord! - Some have already done so in this life, but even the atheist will one day confess that Jesus is Lord.

There is nothing we can do to change any of these 3 things. Today I want to look at some constants… some things that we can be certain of. I want to consider:

i. Life & Death

ii. Saved & Lost

iii. Heaven & Hell

As we look at these subjects I would like for you to answer the question… “Are You Prepared For Eternity?”

Let’s begin with:

I. Life & Death - “It is appointed unto man once to die”

(If you are alive say amen?? I was beginning to wonder about some of you!)

God Himself created life - Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Regardless of what the evolutionists say... You can trace life all the way back to God almighty. It started with Adam & Eve and has worked its way down to you and me.

Life is somewhat hard to sum up, but Richard Needham has categorized life into 7 stages that he calls “The 7 ages of man” :

1) Spills

2) Drills

3) Thrills

4) Bills

5) Ills

6) Pills

7) Wills

Source- (Sermonillustrations.com)

Job said that - “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1)

James said that {Life} is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)

There is a common theme throughout the Old & New Testaments… LIFE IS SHORT AND DEATH IS CERTAIN! When you read the obituaries there are names from those who were 1 day old to those who were over 100 and everywhere in between. You are not exempt! You will die! “It is appointed unto man once to die”

I think we all agree that “Life & Death” are certain but if you will look with me I want to see also”

II. Saved & Lost “and then the judgment”

Everyone here is alive; at least that is what you told me earlier! But everyone that is alive fits into one of these 2 categories.

• You are either saved or lost

• You are a believer or a non-believer

• You are either a saint or you are a sinner

Though everyone proclaimed to be alive earlier, that is not necessarily the case. Physically yes, spiritually maybe not! You see there are some of you who are born again and you have ETERNAL LIFE, but some of you (though physically alive) are dead in your trespasses and sins.