“Better To Be Sure Than Sorry”
Who in this room wants to go to heaven?
Heaven is our hope and our goal for the Christian life and obviously everyone wants to go to heaven and I realize with this message I am going to be preaching to the choir.
But a reminder of what God expects can be good for the soul.
According to Jesus who will enter into the kingdom? I want everyone to get a Bible.
Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evil-doers!
Jesus says only those who do the will of God will enter the gates of heaven. The only ones!
In other words Christians! Now that presents a problem in itself because I believe the word Christian is used far too loosely in today’s society.
I think far too many people are using it to temporarily kill their pain, to temporarily help take away their problems, or use it as a temporary fix.
Christianity is not a temporary fix, for the true Christian it is a way of life.
I asked a person one time if they were a Christian and they responded, “I would like to think I am.” Wrong answer! If you don’t know for sure then you better be doing something about it because it is better to be sure than sorry.
Maybe that is where the problem is. Maybe those who call themselves Christians don’t really know Christ. Maybe those who call themselves Christians don’t have a personal relationship with God. Maybe those who call themselves Christians aren’t really Christians at all. Maybe they are just almost Christians or pretty close Christians or partial Christians.
But there is no such thing. You are either a Christian or you are not.
Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with me is against me.”
It is all or nothing. You can’t be a little bit pregnant and you can’t be a little bit Christian. You may at times appear to be a Christian but an occasional appearance doesn’t make us Christian.
People have all sorts of different views and ideas and most of them base their reasoning on two things. 1) God is a God of love 2) I am a good person
Did you ever have anyone make the statement that God is a God of love and He wouldn’t send someone to hell? First of all God is not going to send anyone to hell. They are going by their choice and the way they were during this life. And secondly we are given every opportunity to do what He wants and every warning of what will happen if we don’t and just being a good person is not enough.
People think they are in because they are not murderers or thieves like the hardened criminals. They consider themselves good people and God will accept that but look at what Jesus says.
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many may enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
That pretty much tells me that the nuber of people who make it to heaven will be very small in comparison to those who don’t.
We can’t set the rules God does and they are not negotiable.
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Again you better be sure because if you’re not you will be sorry.
Is living a part time Christian life worth losing eternal life with God in heaven?
We can’t do it on our own we must follow Jesus.
John 14:6 “Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Jesus makes it very clear that it is impossible to get it to heaven on your own. It cannot be done without accepting Him.
Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
If we are told by Jesus himself that He is the only way then we must be what the word Christian means and that is Christ like.
So what is Christ like? He was perfect, so can we be perfect? No but we can strive to do the things He wants us to do and refrain from the sinful things.
Now I am not suggesting that we are running around doing sinful things but are we doing what we can to do the things Jesus did.
Loving our enemies, forgiving those who offend us, helping those who need help, sharing the word with others.
See we can be good in the fact we don’t break the thou shall not commandments but remember some of the commandments were thou shall.
Putting God first, using His name properly, honoring your parents.
As Christians we need to put as much emphasis on the do’s as we do on the don’ts because if we don’t it can also lead us astray and cause us to change who we serve.
Jesus warns us of that also in Matthew.
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
These things Jesus teaches are ways that a true Christian lives their life.
Is that the way you are living? If not you need to make a change because it is better to be sure than to be sorry!
Invitation
