Cool Things We Can Count On from God’s Word
#1 – The Guarantee of Heaven
1 John 5:11-13
Introduction
Recently I had to replace the windshield wipers on my car. So I went and got some that I had heard advertised on the radio that were guaranteed to last for the life of my car.
The only problem was, they didn’t last very long at all. It was shortly after I put them on that they started splitting and leaving streaks.
You would think that when Paul Harvey says they’re going to last, they’re going to last, right?
I would think that everybody in here likes guarantees, right?
But truth be told, we’re often let down, and we’re left wondering if there really is such a thing as a “sure thing any more.
God’s Word gives us some guarantees – things that we can all count on, no matter the circumstances, no matter what.
And my desire over the next few weeks is to look at five of these.
These are things that you can hang your hat on and simply not worry about them.
The Bible says that God does not lie, and that He doesn’t even change His mind.
Anyone in here ever been lied to, or have someone change the deal on you somewhere down the road? I’m guessing we all have.
Don’t raise your hand, but my guess is that most, if not everyone in here has been guilty of lying or changing the deal.
But God’s not like that.
God has given us some guarantees, some assurances that we can rest on and know that God won’t change the deal.
Today we’re going to look at one of the most basic of those, the guarantee of heaven.
I grew up never knowing for sure I would make it into heaven, even though I was active in a church that claimed to be the only real way to get there.
And so I did what most people try to do to get to heaven: try to be a good person.
But that didn’t work real well, so I went to confession on Saturday and Mass on Sunday, hoping God would overlook my failures and let me into heaven, in spite of everything I had done – that I could remember, that is.
Lots of people, in spite of the fact that they grew up in a church, don’t have the assurance that they’re going to heaven.
Others grew up with little or no exposure to Jesus.
And we can go through life, getting busy with the everyday grind of living, taking little time to ponder the most essential of all questions: where will I go when I die?
God’s Word tells us that there are those who can know for sure they’re going to heaven when they die.
I’ve got it printed in your note-taking guide, and I would ask that you read it aloud with me, okay?
1 John 5:11-13 –
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
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.
Here is the great truth of this passage, the great assurance that I want everyone here to have:
If you possess Christ, then you possess heaven.
Again, the basis for this assurance is the fact that God doesn’t lie.
He is absolutely, completely, 100% trustworthy in all things at all times in all circumstances.
And so when He says something, we can believe it.
Make sure you have the Son and rejoice in the promise of God for heaven.
Let’s be a people who don’t live in fear and trepidation that we’re constantly walking on the edge of damnation.
Let’s be a people who live in God-based assurance that we’re destined for heaven because we possess Christ.
Invitation:
Do you possess Christ?
