Eternal Heaven Can Be Yours!

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The Gospel in Video. Where do you stand?

For a greater understanding read a word from Pastor Mike concerning your soul and eternal life:

Can I Know I Will Spend Eternity With Christ?

By far, the number one symptomatic issue plaguing humanity is sin. Sin is simply wrongdoing by God’s standards which includes wrongs against Him and our fellow man. All of us are guilty where we stand Rom.3:23. But sin is only a symptom of a much worse problem which is death, Rom. 5:12. And death is the point of no return. Therefore the Bible teaches that it is death that is our number one enemy. Neither the greatest Doctor, the greatest Scientist nor the greatest Physicist has ever found a way to overcome that enemy. But there is one who has, Jesus.

Rest Assured there is Hope!

Often you will hear Christians speak of the

“Good News!” And to be honest we all would love to hear more of that! But the “Good News” we speak of is the solid fact that you do not have to bear your sin burden alone. Jesus asks us to come to Him with our burdens, Mt.11:28, and through prayer lay them at His feet. According to the Scripture “Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death,”

Rom. 8:2.

Consider the following simple passage:

Romans 5:19-21
For as by one man’s disobedience (Adams) many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience (Jesus) many will be made righteous.Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It teaches us that sin’s offense (the breaking of law or doing what is wrong) affects all lives for all have sinned, Rom. 3:23.

But it also teaches something very special, where sin abounded, Grace abounded more. So sin, any sin, can never ever out-rank Grace! So the answer to mankind’s “Sin” issue is “Grace!”

Grace Abounding through Christ Alone! Are You For real?

Many ask, “But how do I know this is for real?” They usually couple that with, “There are so many different ways people speak of for getting to heaven.” It’s very true that many people “believe that” and they “hear” it from others a lot. But the Bible is very explicit about why eternal life in heaven comes only through Christ.
John. 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'”
Eph. 2:18 – “For through Him [Jesus] we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”
John 11:25-26 – “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'”
Think about this
Doesn’t it all boil down to Creation? If God created the world and everything in it then He is is the one who ultimately rules over and has authority over it. Taking this a step farther, even human logic would teach that the Creator of humanity would have the final say about “who” and “how” one could have eternal life in
His
heaven. Why would I trust anyone else’s opinion?

Did you know the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Creator of the world:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus] was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-4, 14 (ESV)

There are other passages as well, but you can see the point. There are no other religions that can boast of a Creator (Isaiah 45:18) being such that

He would become like man showing to all His extreme love for His creation, Prov. 8:31. Only Christ did this—only He left the throne of Heaven to become a Man, therefore, identifying with us not only physically, but as One who also has felt the struggles and trials of the flesh (Heb. 2:17-18, Phil. 2:7-8) – the same struggles we face. He willingly experienced what it is like to be under the curse that was placed upon mankind because of disobedience

.

The Purpose of Sins Curse – Death

Some may say, “But why does there have to be a curse? Why do we have to live under it?” and “Why didn’t God just remove it?” These are good questions, and the answer is really simple if you will hear it. The curse God placed upon the serpent, mankind, and the creation in its purest form, was an act of Grace (undeserved favor showing God’s love). Now listen closely, since the purpose of God in creating mankind was to take care of His creation and to walk in perfect fellowship to Him, that is to be Holy even as He is Holy (1 Pet. 1:16), Adam’s disobedience became the blemish and wedge that separated us. God was still Holy but mankind was now tainted (unholy). Holy and unholy do not mesh. We lost our fellowship with God. So in effect, we have to live with the consequences of our sin (the curse). God could have just ended all things and been done with humanity at the moment Adam sinned knowing that one sin would just lead to another and be propagated through our children. But His extreme love would not let Him do that. He did not want to to leave us without hope.
The curse that sin has placed upon the earth is a reminder of our sinful and vulnerable position before God. The end result is death. And as stated previously death cannot be defeated by mankind. So with the reminder of sin all around us God bid’s us to seek Him for deliverance from death (the curse). Grace is giving us a chance to get right with God.
The Scripture declares:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation [which we are a part of] was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, Romans 8:18-21.

What the apostle Paul is telling us is that God uses the suffering we see around us, that which came about because of the curse of sin, as a springboard that has the ability to project us back toward God. Sins curse provides for us a
focus point.
It forces us to make a choice or come up with a worldview concerning God the Father and this decaying world.
There are two things we can do with this:
We can become angry
. Since the curse brings about difficulty and decay in our daily lives we can become angry and go on a crusade to persuade others that God does not exist; thereby thinking we have successfully eliminated the problem, or we can explore the problem and examine God’s solution to it.
The Apostle Paul obviously looked at the problem and decided that “Eternal Life”…with Christ…in Heaven, was much more important than the temporary suffering of this life.

Accepting Christ in Your Life (Being Saved)

Let’s get to the point. People know when they have sinned. We know when we have done bad things and hurt others. In one way or another we may even try to make reparation. And that is fine when it is against our fellow man. But as we said earlier,

sin in and of itself is what separates us from God. The Scripture is clear when it states, But your iniquities [transgressions] have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear, Isaiah 59:2.

Somehow mankind must break through the sin barrier that separates us; but how? Honestly, on our own we cannot. Here is an illustration:

Man has tried many ways to bridge the gap including good works and just being good, but God’s definition of “Good” and ours are two different things. God’s definition of good is something He inspires in us that we respond for His glory and not ours [we respond in His name]. During the first six days of His creation God said “It was good” on almost every day i.e., His work was good. But what about our works? When Jesus was approached by the rich young man about how to have eternal life, the man said he had kept all the commandments since his youth! Jesus said it was not good enough; he needed to sell all, give it to the poor and come follow Him, Mk. 10:21. Being a good person wasn’t good enough because it was a human work. And we know as humans, we also sin.

But there is one who was good enough, Jesus!! He gave Himself for our sins. The one thing we lack in order to gain eternal life is perfect righteousness and we will never attain that on our own. Listen to what James said: For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). Because of this problem someone else must pay the price for us, that is, be our substitute. Jesus did just that. He is the only righteous person that has ever lived without sin, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

the Bible speaks of the greatest love that one can have for another is to lay down ones life for them, John 15:13. And that is exactly what Jesus did for us. Again, He became the substitute for our sinfulness.

John 3:16 tells us that God gave Jesus in the place of our sin, 2 Cor. 5:21 tells us that it is His Righteousness that becomes our “Robe of Righteousness” for eternal life

(Isaiah 61:10). There is a way to receive forgiveness of sin. To do this we must  squarely agree that:

1) You have sinned (Rom. 3:23)

2) Your sin has offended and separated you from God (Isa. 59:2)

3) You must then confess this to God (Prov. 28:13)

4) You must Believe in Jesus and that He paid your sin debt, (Rom.5:8)

The Scripture says,

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES ON HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME” Rom. 10:9-11

It also says that, “

without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6). So you must believe by faith that Jesus is the Lord and our Savior, agreeing with Him that we have all sinned Rom.3:23, and then confess this to Him in prayer

.
Don’t wait!! Ask for His grace and forgiveness and if you are sincere He will write your name into the Lamb’s [Jesus’] Book of Life. Forever your name will exist there because nothing can snatch from His hand (John 10:28-29)!!! What’s more, at the very moment you believe

He will fill and baptize you with the Holy Spirit who will then be your guide for life

!! (1 Cor. 12;13; 2 Cor. 1:22).

So if you have prayed and accepted Christ PRAISE GOD!! Please email me

using the “contact form” on this site or pastormike@springfieldfirstbaptist.org. I would like to mail you something special! And of course “To God Be the Glory!!”

Because of Christ,

Pastor Mike

What’s Next?

Now That You Are A Born Again Christian

Now that you have this new found faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, there are some steps that you should take to grow in your Christian life:

1) Begin by reading your Bible
Its not how much you read but by reading and applying the precious Word of God to your life on a daily basis.


How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalms 119:103)
as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby (1 Peter 2:2)
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

(Psalms 119:105)
2) Talk to God in Prayer

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving (Col. 4:2)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6)
praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; (Eph. 6:18)
Pray without ceasing

(I Timothy 2:8)
3) Get Baptized by Immersion, begin fellowshipping with other believers and always hold the Bible as the final authority

a. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

(Matthew 28:19)

b. …not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

(Hebrews 10:25)

c. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

(2 Timothy 3:16)
4
Tell Others About Christ

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

 (Romans 1:16)
Now that your life has been transformed (Rom. 12:1-2), with the peace that comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior! Tell someone else today! Don’t keep the

Greatest Gift To Mankind

to yourself. Tell everyone you know how Jesus has changed your life and that they too can come to know this wonderful Lord and Savior.


Peace, the Saints Greatest Asset

It was Charles Spurgeon who said, “Saints know that a grain of heart’s-ease is of more value than a ton of gold.”

The true saint of God knows that a day cannot pass, rather, must not pass, without giving thanks to the Father above and seeking Him for the orders of the day. For what can a saint really do that could carry an eternal weight of glory except it be done in obedience to the One who holds the day firmly in His grasp? Just as a river finds its source from the high mountains that feed the underwater springs so true peace can only flow through the channels of the heart if it is birthed from the high and lofty throne of heaven. Jesus said He came to bring an eternal peace but it was not a peace such as the world flaunts, but a peace which comes from above — from the true and eternal fountain of peace (see John 14:27). The peace of the world is a counterfeit that leads the errant astray in all of its bling, yet it holds no eternal weight in the sight of God.

This is a point of truth that will never be understood by those who live in separation to God. For to taste the eternal peace from God one must be willing to forfeit themselves into His hands. One must be desirous of the things above. One must pursue them even as Jacob when he wrestled for the favor of God one dark night long ago (see Gen. 32:24-28). How long has it been since you rested your troubled soul in His peace? Have you strayed into the alluring pastures of emptiness and pleasure with hope that you may find rest in their promising entrapment’s? Have you found what Jesus said to be true? “In the world you will have tribulation”? (John 16:33b). God’s grace and His patient forbearance are qualities that He cannot deny because they are of His nature who He is.  Every day that I think of these qualities a whispered prayer of thanksgiving leaves my lips to find it’s home on His throne above. It He who sustains my heart, grants mercy, and bids me to continue on in faith. In doing so my heart is encompassed in the warmth of His love. Though the gales of darkness blow their hardest and the dearth that comes of depression choke me into amnesia and passivity I know that my Lord has never left me. His love is more encompassing than the air that ceaselessly touches every part of our body.

The peace that comes from the Lord above is an eternal peace that has been dispensed from everlasting. The prophet Micah penned the following as God breathed it through his obedient heart, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting (Micah 5:2).  As we enter into this season of grace, a season which takes hold of the eye of the saint only to fix it’s gaze upon the holy manger of the incarnate Lord from heaven, let us continually remember that it is His peace and His peace alone that can induce our hearts to eternal joy. And it is this joy of heart that gives us strength to face the coming days.

Only a saint with a firm grasp upon the throne of grace can find peace in a world of war and strife, be it spiritual or physical. Spurgeon went on to say, “God’s smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart; His frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.”

Pastor Mike
* – Spurgeon quotes from – Morning and Evening.