The Parachute
Vas a aqui para esta pagina in Español
Condensed from www.detailshere.com/bible.htm
I am also making this into a tract booklet.
Contact berry@detailshere.com
52-333-772-4027 in San Miguel Cuyutlan, Jalisco, Mexico
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catch, get info here.
Espanol Leciones de Biblia CD - 700megs de Leciones
- Spanish lesson version.
English Bible lesson CD, also 700megs, also available free.
Why concern
yourself with this Bible stuff? Because we are out of time!
click on the timeline graph at the left for a BIG picture and find the
"you are here" point on the graph. We can't show it any plainer than
that. Jesus is coming soon, like possibly within the next ten years. There's
things you need to know. If you still get a small image you can't read
well then put your mouse arrow in the lower right hand part of the picture and
an orange blowup button with arrows in all 4 corners will appear. Click on the
orange button to get the readable big picture that takes up a third of your
screen. Then scroll at the bottom all the way across to be able to see the whole
graph from start to finish.
What
you need to know about getting to heaven and staying out of hell
This page is the result of thousands of hours of research and study to
determine the important things we need to know about our life here on earth as
well as our life in the hereafter. Our life on earth is very short, but
our life in the hereafter is infinitely long. There are things we need to
know in order to make that transition successfully, ensuring we end up in
the right place; heaven, and not hell. It
is not an issue to be taken lightly nor one to be ignored. This information is
strictly non denominational.
I
used to start out with
how we know God exists
and how do we know the Bible
is truly God's word.
But there are lessons on my website and Bible lesson
CD’s that discuss that and as time is short and the world becomes more twisted
by the day I have to change focus to the parachute; why you need it, how you get
it, and how you keep it. The Bible does not preach a gospel of prosperity
and good times. It preaches the good news of hoped - for redemption. We
want to address the redemption issue as that determines our fate at death;
whether we end up in heaven or in hell.
Do
all good people go to heaven?
Can you get to heaven on your own good deeds and by being a good person? Did
you ever wonder just how good you would have to be to make it to heaven without
Jesus as your Savior? Well, God has told us how well we would have to do to get
into heaven. He has revealed the passing grade in His class of life. Do you know
what it is? Jesus said: "Be
perfect, therefore as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect" (Matthew
5: 48). There it stands! That's the
passing grade! The amazing thing is that God doesn't grade on a curve. God says,
"Be perfect"! Is
that possible? Well, no; in fact it
is absolutely impossible. But God
HAS provided an “out” for us sinners, through His son Jesus, Yahshua the
Messiah.
The
“out” – another way to get heaven without having to be “perfect”.
If you willingly accept Jesus as your savior (one who does for you what you
cannot do for yourself), His righteousness is substituted for your sinfulness in
the eyes of the Father. This is called grace, a free gift that can’t be earned
and isn’t deserved. But you DO
have to accept this gift and show your belief in that acceptance by your changed
thoughts, words, actions, and deeds regarding your behavior.
Grace is not a license to freely sin and there is a difference between
knowing Jesus and knowing ABOUT Jesus. But putting your faith in Jesus is the
pathway to heaven.
What
does it mean to "put your faith in Jesus Christ?"
It means to personally trust in Jesus the
same way you’d trust in a parachute if you had to jump 25,000 feet out of an
airplane; the parachute being the only support device that would allow a safe
landing. You wouldn’t just
"believe" in the parachute; you would put it on and keep it on until
you reached your destination on the ground! In the same way, the Bible says,
"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ..." and you will be saved. There are
millions of people who "believe" Jesus exists . . . but they have not
put on the Savior; there’s a BIG difference. And the difference will be
obvious when you “jump” through the door of death. That's our focus now; the
parachute. Little else is important except the parachute and learning why you
need it, how you obtain it, and how you keep it.
What is the parachute?
The parachute is Jesus of course, the substitution of His righteousness for
our sinfulness in the eyes of the Father. If you don’t accept Jesus as your
Savior and show that belief by your changed behavior; your thoughts, actions,
words, and deeds; then you will go to hell and either stay there or be burned up
and annihilated in the lake of fire at the end of the millennium – the only
two recourses. Being a good old boy doesn’t get you to heaven because you are
not perfect; God’s only passing grade. Only having the parachute on gets you
to heaven and keeps you out of hell. Less than 10% of the people who obtain the
parachute, keep it on. That means 90% of all those who make the altar call to
accept Jesus as their savior take their parachute off at some point in time
afterwards and backslide into sin. That's sad.
I will give you the punchline here, why that is, on this page, as most will never make it past this page
into the study guides on my website links or Bible lesson CD’s and will
therefore pass through the door of death without their parachute on and land
smack dab into the middle of the jaws of hell. Once in hell, there is no escape.
From those who have been there and have come back to tell about it; hell is a
hot, dark, place of burning and torment by demons of all sizes and
disfigurations with an unbearable stench. It's a one way ticket only, no
recourse, no changing travel plans. You either have your parachute strapped on
before death on earth, or you lose everything. Depending
upon interpretation of Rev 20:14 you will either stay in hell until you are
terminated in the lake of fire at the great white throne judgment at the end of
the millenium; or you will suffer “everlasting punishment”; Mathew 25:46.
The play on words is; does that mean everlasting punishing or annihilation in
the lake of fire that is permanent extinction and final? No one knows for sure.
Can you afford to find out?
Forget about religion, forget about which affiliation teaches what, forget about praying to your angel or the saints or the Pope (you are only supposed to pray to Jesus or God the Father anyway), or buying crosses and necklaces and pictures and figurines to show your allegiance (the second commandment forbids that also), or learning everything there is to know about the Bible. That is only nice to know information. And learning about the Bible may help you to keep the parachute on after you get it, but it doesn’t get you saved. Getting to heaven and staying out of hell is simple. Just understand what is on this one page. It is all that matters when all is said and done. Learn the parachute and teach the parachute to others. Especially stay away from religious arguments regarding interpretations that can poison you with doubt and tempt you to remove your parachute. Focus on what gets you saved and keeps you saved. That’s what this page is all about.
Heaven
or Hell?
Please know, Heaven is real and Hell is also
real. These are not mythological places. Both realms exist today. Purgatory is
a mythological place, invented by Rome to extract more money from people. Great
concept, but it doesn’t exist. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the word
purgatory or even the concept of purgatory as a stopping off place to be
purified in before going to heaven. Even Catholic priests today admit there is
no such thing as purgatory. You will not go to some middle ground prison in
purgatory to work your sins off; you will go to either heaven or hell upon
death, period.
We are comprised of spirit as well as flesh
and blood. One minute after you die on this earth, your spirit will arrive at
one of those two destinations, heaven or hell, and there is no changing travel
plans once you arrive at the wrong destination.
There is strong evidence to believe our spirit goes to
heaven or hell when we die even though we do not have immortality at
that point in time. Our
immortal resurrection body is not part of the package at the time of death if
our death is prior to the first resurrection. Only God Himself has immortality
at this point in time (1Timothy 6:16). 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 tells us when
immortality is given to us; at the second coming, not at the end of physical
life, unless the end of physical life occurs also at the second coming when we
are “changed in the twinkle of an eye”.
Others preach that body and spirit (soul) remain in the ground
unseparated, knowing nothing until the second coming. I now seriously doubt
that. My research into near death experiences has shown me otherwise. Although
you will NOT have a resurrection body at the time of death when your spirit
departs, you will have all five senses. You will be able to see, smell,
hear, speak, touch and feel pain if you end up at the wrong destination. Your
free will, your acceptance and belief in grace and salvation, and how you handle
your life now and show that belief, especially regarding keeping the ten
commandments and forgiving others and your treatment of others, determines your
travel destination right here; right now, on earth, before death.
It is just as important to not get the ticket to hell as it is to
get the ticket to heaven. Eternity is a long time. I am going to tell you
outright how to make sure your journey at death takes you to the correct
destination.
Journeys of others to heaven and hell
At www.spiritlessons.com and www.bibleprobe.com/nde.htm
and in the folder “Libros de Cielo Y Infierno” on my Spanish Bible
lesson CD and Heaven and Hell books
on my English CD are many documentations of near death experiences which lend
strong evidence to a Hell that exists today, deep within our own earth, has
souls being tormented, tortured and burned there today, is receiving new
occupants daily and is expanding everyday. In fact, just as the Bible states,
MOST of the people that die on this earth every day go to hell.
Why? Because these people did not accept or believe in Yahshua (Jesus) as
their Savior. They may have known
ABOUT Jesus, but they did not believe that Jesus IS God, that He came to earth
in human form and died for our sins on a wooden cross, and was resurrected on
the third day after death as was prophesied, and ascended back into heaven.
These people are not covered by His shed blood. Their sins are not substituted
by His righteousness. They do not understand the concept of what a savior does.
And because they are not perfect and flunked God’s Class of Life, Satan gets
them by default. Contrary to popular opinion, there are not multiple paths to
the Father and His Kingdom. There
is only one; via Yahshua (Jesus). False
religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, New Age Spiritism and false deities
only take you via the wide road to hell. Read about a Buddhist’s near death
experience at www.bibleprobe.com/nde.htm
entitled "Back from the Dead" where he met Jesus in the afterlife, not
Buddha.
The
whole message
of the good news of the Gospel is that we have a pathway to God’s Kingdom
through Jesus. Each one of us has
broken every one of God's ten commandments; His law. You say, but I haven’t
murdered anyone; but the Bible says to have anger and hatred is akin to murder.
Ever been through a divorce or child support issue? You say I haven’t
committed adultery; but the Bible says to look at a person with lust is the same
as the act. Have you not ever wished for something your neighbor had that you
lacked? Have you not ever told a lie, no matter how small?
Have you ever not minded your parents? Have you not ever, even as a
child, taken something, no matter how small that was not yours? Have you never
cussed? The Bible says that if we break just one commandment it is the same as
breaking them all. We cannot get to the kingdom on our own deeds.
We are simply not perfect, God’s only passing grade. God is a just
judge. He is not a corrupt judge. He will not let sin go without just
punishment. Thinking that your God will let you in with sin on your soul because
you were basically a good old boy is worshipping a false God. The real Yahweh
won’t do that. Someone has to pay for those sins; whether it be you; or
someone who paid that price for you. No other alternatives. That's why we need a
savior. That’s why we need to accept Jesus as our savior. Jesus paid the price
for our sins for us with His own death on the cross, because we simply cannot
keep God’s laws, all of them, no matter how hard we try. His righteousness is
substituted for our sins in the eyes of the Father. That’s what a savior does.
He does for you what you cannot do for yourself. He paid for our ticket with His
death on the cross. We just have to accept it, and show that we have accepted it
by changed behavior reflected by our thoughts, actions, words and deeds
reflecting the Holy Spirit working inside of us.
Grace
versus works – which is it; it can’t be both, right?
Our works, no matter how much we try to do good on our own, will never get
us to heaven; grace is the only thing that gets us to heaven. Grace is the gift
of God, undeserved and unmerited by us because of our sinful nature.
As a gift it is unearned. But grace is not a ticket to freely sin. It is
NOT a free ride. “Grace only” churches today are preparing people to go to
hell. Backsliders after being initially saved still end up in hell. Accepting
grace comes with responsibilities; repenting of our past sins, and being careful
about committing new ones. We show our belief in God’s grace and our
acceptance of the salvation of Jesus as our savior by our works; allowing the
Holy Spirit to work within us. If the Holy Spirit is truly in us, our behavior
changes. If no works or fruits of the Holy Spirit are evident, it means we do
not really have the belief. We have not really accepted the offer of grace; and
no belief, no salvation. Head knowledge doesn’t cut it. Only knowing Jesus,
allowing Him to be our Savior and to work within us and help us follow the
narrow path leads us to heaven. And there’s more to it than just repenting our
past sins, forgiving others and accepting grace.
Full immersion baptism to be born again and witnessing our faith to
others so they might also be saved is part of the package if you want to do it
right
Beware
of “grace only – once saved, always saved”
churches who preach that the new testament covenant doesn’t depend on
promises or obedience from us. A covenant is a contract involving two parties,
not just one. God is one side of this contract; we are the other. These people
teach that Jesus “fulfilled” the law with His death and nothing is required
of us in this contract. A careful analysis of that word “fulfill” from Greek
using a concordance shows that word should have been more accurately translated
“establish”. These people are claiming Jesus did away with the law by
“fulfilling” it. The truth is, He came to “establish” the law, the ten
commandments; He didn’t do away with them. In fact He clarified the law even
further by stating that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto
us; which is in essence what the last six commandments require of us in relating
to our fellow human beings. In the
new covenant God’s blessings are ours when we place our trust in Jesus. True.
But the teaching that our own behavior and performance are not involved in our
acceptance into the new covenant is a dangerous erroneous teaching. Jesus IS our
salvation; our ONLY pathway to the Father. But again, if our changed behavior
doesn’t reflect that belief, it means we have head knowledge only. We know
ABOUT Jesus, but we don’t really KNOW Jesus and we have not really accepted
the offer of grace in order to be saved.
Accepting Jesus means you have a lot of freedom. It is not expected that you will lead a sinless life. It is expected that you will sin a lot less than before though and that you will resist sin and temptation much more so than before. It lets you focus on getting others their parachute without worrying about your own salvation any more. When you slip and fall, Jesus makes up the difference, picks you back up and you continue on. Say you’re sorry and you’ll try not to do that again and move on. When your own salvation is secured, you are better able to focus on helping others get saved also.
Again,
it is more important that you know Jesus than to know facts about Him!
If you believe that Jesus is
coming again, you will watch for His coming. If you earnestly watch for His
coming you will purify yourself before Him by being obedient to His
commandments, loving your neighbor, and witnessing your faith to others so that
they might be saved also. You will commit some of your time and financial
resources to that end also. You WANT
to be part of the bride He is coming for. The door the five wise virgins who
carried extra oil for their lamps entered through is a symbol of the rapture on
the last day; at the second coming. Remember five of the ten didn't get to
enter. They weren't ready. The wedding banquet is the wedding feast of the Son
of God and His Bride. Not all Christians get to go to this feast, therefore,
not all Christians are part of the Bride of Christ. Only those that have taken
the time to get to know Jesus will be allowed in. That is why he said, "I
do not know you." These Christians will be left to be refined as gold
during the great tribulation that is about to unfold instead of being protected
by Yahweh by having His seal or mark during this time period. Yahweh states that He knows those who belong to Him to seal
because they keep His commandments and keep His Sabbaths (plural) ; the weekly
– Saturday, the 7th day of the forth commandment, as well as the 7
annual holy feastdays. Some
Christians obey God; and some do all the things the world does, even the evil
things. Those who obey now will be rewarded. The rest will discover that they
should have. If you are not praying, giving, and working in the "Harvest
Fields" for Christ, YOU DON'T BELIEVE HE IS COMING, no matter what your
Church doctrine teaches! If you believe there is a literal Hell, where men and
women go that do not know the forgiveness of sins, and you are not making
some attempt to warn them, YOU don't believe He is coming back.
Many
people know little about Jesus,
correctly named Yahshua, which means “Yahweh saves”.
Yahweh is God’s proper name. Yahshua is Jesus’ proper name. J
didn’t even enter the English language until around the 15th
century. Who is this man Yahshua, translated as Immanuel, and presently known as
Jesus? Why is He so important? Why is He the most written about
person in the history of mankind? If He died here on earth 2000 years ago why
will He affect where we end up after we die? If you don’t know the story
about Jesus, I strongly suggest you go to http://www.jesusfilm.org/languages/index.html
and watch a 2 hour video of his life. It is available there in hundreds
of different languages and many speed options from a slow dial-up connection to
T1 speeds. You need to know the story of Jesus to understand His importance as
your Savior to you. If you do not have a computer or internet access, contact me
and I will copy you a VHS movie of the Life of Jesus. Free.
The
near death experience documentations found in
the Heaven and Hell Books at www.spiritlessons.com,
at www.bibleprobe.com/nde.htm,
and in the folder “Libros de Cielo Y Infierno” my Spanish CD, and in the
Heaven and Hell Books folder on the English CD support the concept that hell is
a very real place; a place we don’t ever want to go to. It also supports the
glorious life that awaits us in heaven. One
of the most intriguing realities to come out of studying the Near Death
Experience cases is just how
important our ability to forgive becomes in pleading our case. Preachers, men of
God, who were dying and repenting of their sins as they were dying, did not have
their prayers listened to because they harbored unresolved forgiveness issues.
You HAVE to forgive if you want to be forgiven. Once saved, always saved does
not work. It takes a daily walk
with Jesus to stay on the narrow path to the kingdom.
I want to teach you the daily walk, either by blatantly showing you the
realities of hell, or by showing you the incredible life that awaits us in
heaven.
Modern medicine
has reached a point where some people who are pronounced clinically dead; no
heartbeat, no brain activity; can be brought back to life in a 4 to 6 minute
period after true death. And others
have come back to life after even longer than that. The stories of where these
people went and what they experienced show a different scenario of what happens
to our souls at death than the soul sleep version being preached by churches who
don’t want you to step out of your comfort zone today.
I have to hold the distinct possibility that one minute after we die our
souls or spirit will enter heaven or hell and once there, there is no changing
travel plans.
One
of the strongest reasons for a Christian
to believe in hell is that Jesus Himself believed in it, and taught about it
strongly, clearly, and frequently. Jesus Himself talks about Hell over 70 of the
162 times it is mentioned in the New Testament. Free will is one of the most
convincing reasons for the existence of hell. Jesus Himself, in Mathew 25:46,
tells us, in the same sentence, that the righteous will have life eternal
and if you don’t choose that door your other option is everlasting punishment;
“ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into
life eternal.” The question becomes: will hell be a permanent annihilation as
some interpret Rev 20:14 to say or will it really be everlasting torment for
eternity???? Do you want to wait
until you die to find out?
According to Sam Bacchiocchi, a respected Adventist theologian (see his whole chapter on
“ Hell - as
eternal torment” in the Hell folder) : The
"eternal punishment" of Matthew 25:46 is eternal because its
results are permanent. It is a punishment that results in their eternal
destruction or annihilation. The
only way the punishment of the wicked could be inflicted eternally is if God
resurrected them with immortal life so that they would be indestructible.
But according to the Scripture, only God possesses immortality in Himself (1 Tim
1:17; 6:16). He gives immortality as the gift of the Gospel (2 Tim 1:10
& 1Corrinthians 15:50-54) to the righteous at the second coming, not to the
wicked. In the best known text of
the Bible, we are told that those who do not "believe in him" will
"perish [apoletai]," instead of receiving "eternal
life" (John 3:16). The ultimate fate of the lost is destruction by eternal
fire and not punishment by eternal torment. But even with this version, mortal
souls will suffer torment in hell from when they die until the Great White
Throne judgment at the end of the thousand years.
However,
according to Erwin Lutzer, in his book “One Minute after you
Die”, the fire does not annihilate the wicked but torments them. There will be
no periods of rest during which the wicked are unconscious of torment.
The beast and the false prophet were thrown in the lake of fire BEFORE
the millennium at the second coming. But Satan, who was chained in the abyss
during that time period was also thrown in the lake of fire to join them AFTER
the millenium. Notice the beast and the false prophet were NOT annihilated in
hell during that thousand years. Eternal conscious torment is clearly taught;
there is no other honest interpretation of these passages.
Hell
may not be a politically correct topic
these days, as many churches sweep the issue under the rug, but many people
enter hell everyday. Out of the 150,000 people that die on earth everyday, most
end up in hell. Hell is a real place despite the fact that people laugh and say
that they want to go there. They simply don't understand how terrible hell is.
Just because you've never seen hell doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If you only
have time for one book, read Katherine Baxter’s “Divine Revelation of
Hell” in the “Libros de Cielo Y Infierno” folder. Yahshua took her to hell
30 different times to make sure she got it right and that she explained it right
for you. Hell is intricately described there in very blatant graphic detail.
Did
you know that
if you do not belong to Jesus Christ you belong to Satan, by default? You don't
have to be a card carrying Satanist to serve Satan. You don't have to be a
murderer, drunkard or drug addict, either. He
will punish all the rapists, murderers, and thieves...But he won't stop there.
He will also punish all liars, the lustful, adulterers, fornicators, idolaters,
and blasphemers. You’ve
already broken all of God’s ten commandments and all you have to do is ignore
Jesus Christ; or fail to have a relationship with Him and call upon Him to be
your savior. He isn’t big on lip
service. If you don't have Jesus in
your life and in your heart today, you are deceived and hell bound--you are a
child of hell, a child of the devil. And hell is the place where you are
punished if you fail to have your parachute on when you die.
How
many times have we heard
someone say, "A loving God wouldn't put His creatures in hell." Well,
God doesn't put anyone in hell--their sins put them there. God is a just judge
and sins require sentence. The Bible tells us all have sinned. ALL! Not ONE of
us can get to heaven by our own accord. Satan gets you by default if you don’t
have a savior. Know ye not that
hell was not created for man? Hell was created for the devil and his
angels—but it is also home to unrepentant sinners who have not called upon the
shed blood of Jesus to save them. That’s what we need to teach you; that not
having Jesus as your savior to keep you out of hell at death is simply not an
option unless you want to toast and roast.
Savior
– Why do we need one?
Savior
– derived from salvare – to save
Refers to a person who
is a redeemer, deliverer, rescuer, who saves someone else from danger, harm,
loss, peril, or destruction. A savior is someone who can do for you what you
cannot do for yourself. Jesus, as
our savior, allows us to achieve salvation, which we cannot achieve on our own.
Salvation gets us into the kingdom and keeps us out of hell.
Salvation is the act of being saved from the fires and torments of hell.
Salvation buys us the ticket to pass through the pearly gates
into heaven. And yes those huge gates, all twelve of them, are each made
of one huge pearl.
Example:
In the United States from the 1640’s until 1865 when laborers were needed to
plant, nurture, weed and harvest the cotton, sugar, and peanut plantations of
the deep south, Negro slaves who had been purchased or shanghaied from Africa
against their will were shipped across the Atlantic to the South to provide the
large workforce to do this. These people were bought and sold just as we handle
cattle, pigs or chickens today. The internal slave trade became the largest
enterprise in the South outside of the plantation itself.
A Negro slave at that time
had virtually no money of his own and was essentially bought and paid for by the
plantation owner. He was considered property. He was in servitude to that
plantation owner until he died or could buy his way out of slavery. For most,
that was never a possibility. But for some fortunate slaves, someone else came
to their rescue; a savior - a relative, a friend, a person who didn’t believe
in slavery, and paid the plantation owner whatever sum it took to buy their
freedom so they were no longer slaves, but could become free men. The vast majority of black slaveholders were free men who purchased members of
their families or who acted out of benevolence to free their compatriots.
They were the saviors of that era.
They did for the slaves what the slaves could not do for themselves. If you will remember history, the civil war was essentially fought over
the issue of slavery and human rights and ended with the Emancipation
Proclamation which freed all the slaves. But the point is; without a savior, the
slave could never escape slavery.
We are in the same boat as those black
slaves.
Different set of circumstances, same need
for a savior if we want to be emancipated from our sins in the eyes of Father
Yahweh. We CAN’T get there on our own accord. We do not achieve His passing
grade of being “perfect”. We have broken every one of His laws; sometimes
unknowingly, sometimes accidently, sometimes in anger, sometimes in rebellion,
sometimes in sorrow and oftentimes in remorse; but we have done so.
We need someone to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We need to
exchange our sinfulness for our Savior’s righteousness in the eyes of the
Father or we simply aren’t allowed into His kingdom. If we don’t get into
the kingdom, our sins send us to hell. No alternative.
Please take this seriously, your afterlife depends upon it. "You
shall not steal." "You
shall not lie." "You
shall not make for yourself any idol."
"You shall not take the name of God in vain." "Honor
your father and your mother." "You
shall not murder." The Bible
says, "He who hates his brother is a murderer," (1 John 3:15).
We can violate His Law by attitude and intent. "You shall not covet."
"You shall have no other gods before Me."
Have you ever failed to put Him first in your life? How many of us can honestly
state we put God before our spouse? Another
tough one. "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it
holy." "You shall not commit adultery."
I say to you that whoever looks at a woman with lust for her has already
committed adultery with her in his heart. The
Bible says that adulterers (having sex with someone other than your spouse) and
fornicators (those who have sex outside of being married) will not enter the
kingdom of heaven.
Who
can say that they are not guilty of breaking these Commandments?
All of us have broken ALL of them at one time
or another no matter how hard we’ve tried not to.
The Bible tells us that everyone has sinned.
There is nobody that is without sin.
This is what the Bible means when it says, "All have sinned and fall
short of the Glory of God."
Can
you see our predicament?
You are guilty of sinning against God
Himself, and, because you have a conscience, (con-with, science-knowledge) you
have sinned "with knowledge." Isn't it true that every time you lied,
stole, or lusted, etc., you knew it was wrong?
Does the fact that you have sinned
against God scare you?
It should. You have actually angered Him by your sin. The Bible says His
wrath abides on you, that you are an "enemy of God in your mind through
wicked works." Perhaps you
think God is good and because of his goodness He will overlook your sins?
But if you knew of a human judge who turned a blind eye to the crimes of
a guilty murderer or rapist... would you describe him as a "good"
judge? No.......... That would be a "corrupt" judge. God could never
be a corrupt judge. He will punish
all the rapists, murderers, and thieves. But
he won't stop there. He will also punish all liars, the lustful, adulterers,
fornicators,idolaters, and blasphemers.
The place of eternal punishment is Hell.
God
does not want you to perish.
He is rich in mercy and compassion, and has provided a way for you to be
forgiven. He has invited you to come to Him for a full pardon and receive the
free gift of Eternal Life. You cannot earn it, and you do not deserve it, but
God is offering it to you as proof of His love for you. Imagine
you are standing in front of a judge, guilty of multiple serious crimes. All the
evidence has been presented and there is no doubt about your guilt. Your
apologies and good works cannot erase your crimes; therefore you must be
punished. The fine for your crime is $500,000 or imprisonment, but you don’t
have two pennies to rub together. The judge is about to pass sentence when
someone you don't even know steps in and pays your fine for you! The court
accepts the money and declares that you are free to go. The law has been
satisfied, your debt has been paid in full, and the stranger’s sacrifice was a
demonstration of his love for you. That’s what God did for you 2000 years ago.
The
Bible says that the God of the Universe became a man (Jesus Christ), and
suffered and died on the cross for your sins and mine so that we could be set
free. It's as simple as this.... we broke the Law, and Jesus paid our fine.
"God demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) "Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us."
(Galatians 3:13)
Do you see God’s great love for you?
Do you see your need for His forgiveness? Do what He commands and
“Repent…that your sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing may come
from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19) You
must turn away from sin and turn to God. Desire to have NOTHING to do with sin,
and surrender your life to the One who can save you. Jesus died to set you free,
and then he rose from death to be your Lord. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the
Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you
will confess and forsake your sins (repent) and trust in Jesus Christ as your
Savior and Lord, God will forgive you and you’ll pass from death to life. If
you are not sure how to pray, read Psalm 51 and make it your prayer.
You can pray something like this
Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am a sinner
and do not deserve eternal life. But I believe you died on the cross for my sins
and arose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me. Lord Jesus, come
into my life and take control of my life. Forgive me my sins as I forgive others
who have sinned against me and save me. I repent of my sins, and I will turn
away from sin, and I will place my trust in you for my salvation. Please forgive
me, and grant me your gift of everlasting life.
In Jesus’ name, amen
There
is nothing magic about these words
It is the attitude of your heart that God cares about. God
will transform you from the inside out. You will think and feel differently as
you learn to trust and obey Him. God will give you new strength to live right
and love Him above all else. Read your Bible daily and obey His Word. You can
trust God—He loves you and will always be faithful. If you've decided to reject the gift of forgiveness and you
die in your sins, there is no hope for you. There is no purgatory. The wrath of
God abides on you and you will spend eternity in Hell. Please take the time to
read the Heaven and Hell Books in the “Libros de Cielo Y Infierno” folder,
translated into Spanish there so you know what to look forward to in hell.
What does the Bible say about Hell?
Hell is a place of eternal damnation for those who rejected the Gospel
of Christ. It is described as a horrifying place. Matthew 18:8-9 describes the
eternal fire of Hell. Matthew 3:12
speaks of unquenchable fire. Revelation 20 describes the lake of burning sulfur
and place of perpetual torment. Mary Baxter describes Hell’s burning pit in
her visitations to hell. Hell is
a place of constant agony, unbearable heat, great stench, darkness, and ugly
grotesque demons of all shapes and sizes whose job it is to torment the
occupants. Hell is set aside for all of those who reject Jesus Christ. No person
on earth would willingly walk into hell. But so many people are doing just that.
Despite warnings, people continue to live in denial and are walking straight
into Hell at death. If this is you,
please consider heeding the warnings of Scripture and answering the call of the
Holy Spirit by accepting Jesus as your personal Savior. 1 John 1:9 promises, "If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."
Why would a God of love send someone to
Hell?
Many people waver whether or not to become a follower of Jesus because
of this question. How can a God of mercy allow people to go to Hell?
Each and everyone of us is born with a sinful nature. The sad thing is we
are destined for Hell. The Bible says “For all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God" But.....
What if God has provided the way of escape?
Wouldn't that display mercy? It
is God's desire that no person would suffer an eternity in Hell. The Bible says,
"He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come
to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). God
could not allow sin to go unpunished. But being merciful, God sent His very own
Son to be the final payment for the sins of those who believe. It only takes
faith. God gave so much but required so little. That is the epitome of a God of
love.
Will the person who goes to hell cease to
exist?
The body of the person who is lost or refused to accept Christ as Savior
will be resurrected from the grave at the second resurrection after the thousand
years. Some say this body is barely put back together enough to be tossed into
the lake of fire, and the lake of fire will be permanent annihilation, that body
and spirit will then cease to exist forever and ever.
But others say that this body will be supernatural and indestructible. It
will join with the person's soul for eternity in “everlasting punishment”.
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and
the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged
every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake
of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:12-15). It is a state
of dying eternally, but death will never be achieved. Jesus warned about those
headed for eternity apart from God and the second death.
Is Hell eternal?
We are brought into this earthly world as eternal beings. Our life here
is simply a stop in God's plan. We can't even
begin to get a glimmer of what Heaven and Hell are really like. The only thing
that we can comprehend is that each and every single one was created by God the
Father. God wishes that "none of us should perish."
Because of God's great love for us, his
children, He gives us free will. We
are given the choice to either accept or reject Him.
Just as we want our children to come to us willingly and lovingly, God
wants us to come to him that same way, and as much as we love our children God
loves us, plus more. The choices are either Heaven or Hell, accepting what His
son Jesus did for us on the cross or not. It is that simple and each is
"forever".
God doesn't send anyone to hell,
we choose our final home. Hell has to be forever because Heaven is forever. What
would be the reason for anyone to choose Heaven if we knew we would eventually
"get out" of Hell? Hell is a consequence of a choice we make. The Bible refers to
the fate of the unsaved with such fearful words as the following: “Shame
and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2)
“Everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46) “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:51)
“Fire unquenchable” (Luke 3:17)
“Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” (Romans 2:8,9)
“Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians
1:9) “Eternal fire...the
blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 7,13)
Revelation 14:10,11 tells us the final, eternal destiny of the sinner:
“He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone...the smoke of their torment
ascended up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night."
Honestly, I don’t know today
whether hell will be annihilated in the lake of fire at the end of the
millennium as some interpret Rev 20:14 to say, or if it will go on forever and
ever somewhere. Both views are a
matter of interpretation using the same scriptures. It makes sense to me that a
loving God wouldn’t punish people forever for their short time of disobedience
here on earth. But then purgatory makes sense also except that it simply
doesn’t exist. What makes sense to us is not always how it is. The point is,
can you afford to gamble and find out the hard way when it is so simple to just
get your parachute, keep it on, and ensure your salvation today and everyday?
Are
you beginning to get the jist of this salvation thing?
Wow – we inherit this sinful nature from
the first humans, Adam and Eve, who first sinned in the garden of Eden, so it is
our nature to sin even if we don’t want to. God gives us His law to obey if we
want to be considered righteous but as simple as these ten little rules are, we
just can’t seem to follow them. We end up breaking all of them at one time or
another during our lives. We know that if we are not righteous we will not enter
the kingdom of heaven when we die. If
we don’t go to heaven, we know we will go to hell.
We know that hell is real and a very, very bad place to end up at, a
place of everlasting punishment. There is no purgatory in the Bible where we can
work our sins off. What a dilemma!
The Problem and the Solution
Let’s go over this one more time to make sure you get it right!
If you want to get to heaven on your own good deeds without the Jesus
parachute, you have to be perfect, God’s only passing score. That’s not a
possibility for any of us as we have broken ALL of God’s ten commandments; ALL
of them. Every one of us. Romans 3:23 “For ALL have sinned and come short of the
glory of God.” Sin is
transgressing God’s law, and includes such things as lying, lust, cheating,
deceit, anger, evil thoughts, immoral behavior, and more; essentially breaking
His ten commandments. And
because of this man cannot save himself. If
you wanted to save yourself by good deeds, you have to be as perfect as God
Himself? Mathew 5:48 “Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” With such a high
standard, no one can save himself. However,
in spite of our sin…
There’s ONE solution.
No other options. That solution is the Jesus parachute. You put on Jesus and you
keep Him on until you jump through death’s door. The Bible tells us how we can
know for sure that we will have eternal life and will be with God in heaven.
1John 5:13 “These things I have
written unto you…that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
Romans 6:23 “…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” And because heaven is a gift, like any other genuine gift,
it is not earned or deserved. No
amount of personal effort, good works or religious deeds can earn a place in
heaven for you. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For
by grace are ye saved by faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” sin…
God is merciful
And therefore doesn’t want to punish us, and He says….Jeremiah 31:3
“I have loved thee with an everlasting love”.
But the same Bible that tells us
God loves us also tells us that God is just and must punish sin. He says: Exodus
34:7 “…(I) will by no means clear the guilty”
Ezekiel 18:4 “ … the soul that sinneth, it shall die”.
We have a problem.
God loves us and doesn’t want to punish us.
But He is just and must punish sin.
God solved this problem in the person of
Jesus Christ; Yahshua our Messiah.
Who is he? The Bible tells us clearly He is the infinite God-Man, God
the Son. John 1: 1,14
“In the beginning was the word (Jesus), … and the word (Jesus) WAS
God. And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”.
Jesus came to earth and lived a sinless life, but while on earth he died
on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and arose from the grave to
purchase a place for us in heaven. Isaiah
53:6 “All we, like sheep, have
gone astray; we have turned, every one of us, to his own way; and the Lord hath
laid on him (Jesus), the iniquity (sin) of us all.”
Jesus Christ bore our sin in His
body on the cross and now offers you eternal life (heaven) as a FREE gift.
This gift is received by FAITH, saving
faith.
Faith
is the key that opens the door to heaven.
Many people mistake two things for saving faith.
a.
Saving faith is not mere intellectual knowledge, like believing certain
historical facts. The Bible says that even the devil believes there is only one
God, so believing that there is one God is not saving faith.
b. Saving faith is not mere temporal faith, that is, trusting God for a temporary crisis, such as family, financial or physical needs. These are good and you should trust Christ for these, but they are not saving faith.
Saving Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ
alone for salvation and eternal life.
It means resting on Christ alone for what He has done rather than in
what you or I have done to get us to heaven.
Acts 16:31 “Believe
(trust) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”.
You have just read the greatest
story ever told, about the greatest offer ever made, by the greatest person who
ever lived; Jesus Christ.
The question that God is asking
you now is: Would you like to
receive the gift of eternal life?
Because this is such an important matter, let’s clarify exactly what
this involves. It
means that you need to:
1.
Transfer your trust from what YOU have been doing to what Christ has done
FOR YOU on the cross.
2.
Accept Christ as your savior. Open the door to your heart and invite him
in. Rev 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice, and
opens the door I will come in to him…”.
3.
Receive Jesus Christ as Lord; give Him the “driver’s seat” and
“controls” of your life, not the “backseat”.
4. Repent of your sins. Be willing to turn from ANYTHING that is not pleasing to Him. He will reveal His will to you as you grow in your relationship to Him.
You can go to God in prayer, right here,
right now, right where you are.
You can receive God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ right
now. Romans 10:10,13
“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.” If
you want to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, then call on
Him, asking Him for this gift right now.
Here’s a suggested prayer.
Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am a sinner
and do not deserve eternal life. But I believe you died on the cross for my sins
and arose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me. Lord Jesus, come
into my life and take control of my life. Forgive me my sins as I forgive others
who have sinned against me and save me. I repent of my sins, and I will turn
away from sin, and I will place my trust in you for my salvation. Please forgive
me, and grant me your gift of everlasting life.
In Jesus’ name, amen
If this prayer is the sincere desire of your
heart, look at what Jesus promises to those who trust and believe in Him. John 6:47 “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Welcome to God’s Family!
Today is your spiritual birthday; a day you
will want to remember. The Bible speaks of those who receive eternal life in
these words. John 1:13 “Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God”.
Are
we done??? Is that all there is to
it??? Well, no. It isn’t.
Consider the term
“Backsliding”.
Out of every 200,000 people that make the
altar call and ask God to save them and give them eternal life, only about
15,000 to 18,000 keep the parachute on and stay with Jesus and remain saved. That’s less than 10%. The rest backslide back into their
sinful ways and forget all about Jesus; some thinking that grace is a free
license to sin now and others because they just become caught back up with the
materialistic world we live in and the sinful influences Satan has provided to
steal their salvation. I personally
believe a large reason for this is that the people were never taught from the
git-go the truth about the torments and fires of hell or the truth about how
being good does not get them to heaven. They
never went through the presentation you have been shown above.
The evangelists that brought them to that altar call preached about the
glory of God, how good God is, how loving God is, how God would not send them to
hell; but they didn’t talk at all about how God is a just judge and the
punishment for sin is hell. They didn’t tell us just trying to be good doesn’t work.
They preached nice instead of necessity. They didn’t properly explain what the
term savior means and exactly why Jesus as our savior is absolutely necessary to
our salvation. No savior, no parachute, no heaven, we go to hell; no
alternatives. Keep a daily walk with Jesus and don’t be a backslide statistic.
Grace
is not a license to freely sin.
It is not easy to explain to someone that
although our works will not get us to heaven; if we do not show good works by
our thoughts, actions, words, and deeds; it simply proves we lack the belief
that we have been saved. James 2:17
says "In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action; is
dead". Mathew 7:21 is pretty explicit ," Not everyone who says
to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will
of My Father in heaven." Whoever has the faith can't help but show it
by his/her actions. Logically,
eternal salvation is provided for man solely by God's grace through the
substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Man is saved through faith alone in
Christ alone, independant of his works, but good works are a necessary result of
true faith; like doing the rest and worship thing on Sabbath, keeping
the ten commandments as well as you can, treating your fellow man with respect
and forgiving his faults against you, witnessing your faith to others, and being
baptized by full immersion are all part of being born again.
Slipping into sin occasionally
like a white lie here or a slip of the tongue there, staring too long at a low
cut blouse, wishing that yellow corvette across the street was yours, or getting
angry with your kids but realizing it and reconciling soon thereafter; these
things are expected. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect like He is. We are
covered by Jesus’ righteousness as long as we continue to wear the parachute
and we pick ourselves back up, quickly repent, and try not to do it again. We
keep His commandments as best we can. We
forgive our fellow man when he trespasses against us. We treat our fellow man as
we would want to be treated. This
is MOST important in retaining your status of saved. We put our relationship
with Jesus above all else. We pray daily. We open our Bibles and study some
daily. We don’t just ask Jesus to grant us grace and then put Him on the
shelf.
Baptism
If not already, you need to be baptised; full immersion Baptism to be specific.
Full immersion means going completely under the water, just as you see John the
Baptist doing at the river Jordan in the Jesus movies, not sprinkling. See the
document “Baptism” for a full explanation of why this is also a
necessary requirement to get into heaven. Christ
emphasized, baptism is necessary! It's in the Bible. (See John 3:5).
" I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one
can enter the Kingdom of Heaven without being born of water and the
spirit".
Baptism demonstrates true repentance.
Such repentance is a turning to believe, follow, and obey Jesus Christ, and is
the only kind of repentance that will save us. True repentance must lead a
person to the waters of baptism. In baptism we identify ourselves with the
death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Jesus died, bearing our sins and
paying the penalty for them in Himself. He was buried, taking our old life into
the tomb with Him. He was raised from the dead, that He might give to us by the
power of God, His new life, a supernatural resurrected life of peace, joy and
victory over all that previously bound us.
Are there any prerequisites for it?
Among the prerequisites for baptism noted in the Scriptures are belief in Jesus
Christ as the Son of God (Acts 8:36,37) and repentance (Acts 2:37,38), and being
of sufficient age (usually ten or older) to know what Baptism is really all
about. Baptism isn’t about being dunked in a pool of water. It is about taking
off the old self, getting rid of all sin, and starting anew; giving your life
over to Jesus, letting Him have the helm. It’s about letting God’s Holy
Spirit come upon you and show you what to do.
It’s a serious step in your life. Being baptized lets you show that you
understand what the parachute is all about and you have made the decision to put
it on and wear it. God’s Holy
Spirit working within me allowed me to cast out demons in a possessed woman in
Jesus’ name; a day in my life I can never forget.
Witnessing
to others
Are you ashamed of your new status of being
saved? Do you want to keep it a secret? Do you think your friends will laugh at
you if you tell them you asked God to give you eternal life so your spirit
doesn’t go to hell when you die? God
never promised easy. In fact He says you will be mocked and scourned because of
Him. Don't keep it a secret because
people might think you are a little strange talking about God and what's right
and what's wrong. When he tells us to share the good news; he means just that.
I get angered at the people who badmouth the Jehovah's witnesses or Mormons for
their house to house tactics. I certainly don't agree with
everything these people had to say to me over the years, in fact both groups
have serious flaws in their doctrine and belief system, but I have to give them
an A for effort in trying to share the "good news"; because many
people are just downright mean to them and slam doors in their faces; or issue
profane words at them for bothering them, or call them kooks and cultists; it
takes a lot of guts and fortitude to continue witnessing under those demeaning
circumstances. With that, why would you want to witness about the salvation
of Jesus to others? Maybe a better
question is; knowing what you now know about hell; why wouldn’t you want to
keep others from going there?
If you are not praying, giving, and
working
in the "Harvest Fields" for Christ, YOU DON'T BELIEVE JESUS IS COMING,
no matter what your Church doctrine teaches!
If you believe there is a literal Hell, where men and
women go that do not know about eternal life as a FREE gift and the
forgiveness of sins, and you are not making some attempt to warn them and teach
them about salvation, YOU don't believe He is coming back. Witnessing your faith
to others is all a part of knowing Jesus. See tracts
at http://www.detailshere.com/tracts.htm
for more about witnessing along with sources of witnessing tracts to hand out.
In fact, in the book The Divine Revelation of Heaven by Mary Baxter,
which you can read in the “Libros de Cielo Y Infierno” folder on the Spanish
Bible lessonCD, she was shown that angels are actually keeping track of who and
how many each of us bring to Jesus through our witnessing efforts.
Witnessing to others may not only affect getting into heaven but may well affect
what your reward is once there.
Entering
into the Kingdom of Heaven is by grace only,
but the test of that faith in the salvation of Jesus, manifests itself in
obedience to the will of God. "Not
everyone who says to me, Lord Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but
he who does the will of my Father in heaven." "Be doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves," James 1:22
The kingdom of God is a Spiritual realm, attained by walking in the Spirit, and producing the fruit of the Spirit; which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
We need to study the love walk
and how we're to walk in love as if our Kingdom citizenship depended on it,
because it does. Why does citizenship depend upon love? Because if we don't
learn how to forgive and love, we can't claim to know Him. Pay particular
attention to the word documents on this cd
or on this website “Saved – How do I know” and “Saved – grace
or grace plus works”. It’s a touchy but important subject. You must learn
that works cannot save you, only faith in salvation can save you; but if works
are not manifested in your life, it also then shows you don’t have true faith
but only head knowledge.
Ber
berry@detailshere.com
www.detailshere.com/bible.htm