STEPS TO HEAVEN
- How many of you want to go to Heaven after this life is over?
- How many of you know FOR SURE the way to Heaven?
STEP ONE
THE TRUTH ABOUT YOURSELF...
What is the truth about you? We’re all sinners! What is sin? It is lying, stealing. cheating, having bad thoughts, saying bad things, and doing bad things. Where did it come from? (Story of Adam & Eve in the garden)…so because of their sin, when their children were born, they born with a dirty heart (the ability to sin) and then their children had children and they were born with a dirty heart and this goes on for thousands of years and generations. This means when you were born in India/Ghana/Romania/Brazil and when I was born in America, we were all born with dirty hearts. It’s not our fault, but it’s our problem!
Why is it our problem? Because the Bible (Rev. 21:27) says that no one with a dirty heart can come into God’s clean heaven. So there’s the problem. We want to go to heaven and God wants us to come to heaven, but we are born with a problem that will keep us from going to heaven.
Review with them…
1) What kind of heart are we born with? (Dirty)
2) Can we go to heaven with a dirty heart? (No)…very good.
Remember the first step to heaven is to know that we have a problem and we can’t go on to the next step until we know this one!
Now that we know we have this problem we can take the first step to heaven. But now would you like to know the second step? Now God wants you to know…
STEP TWO
THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS...
Jesus is God’s solution to the sin problem. But why does Jesus have to be the ONLY solution to our problem? (Hold up bible) This book has 2 parts (OT & NT).
Throughout the whole bible, God says that without the shedding of pure innocent blood, we cannot be forgiven/cleansed of our sins. In other words, someone or something that is pure and clean has to die and take the place of the sinner.
1) In the OT, God said that the sinner could take a clean animal without spot or blemish to the temple and it could be offered in the place of the guilty sinner. The priest would shed the blood of the animal on the altar and when God saw the blood, only then the sinner could be forgiven and made clean. But first, the innocent had to die for the guilty.
2) Now we come to the NT…after 2,000 years, God said that he would not accept any more sacrifices of bulls, goats and lambs. He said that he would provide one final sacrifice for all the sins of the world that would ever be committed. So 2,000 years ago, He sent that final sacrifice, and just like the OT sacrifices that had to be perfect and clean, this one did too! But this time the sacrifice would be a man. JESUS!
a. Who was the mother of Jesus? (Mary) Who was the father? (Not Joseph, but God) When he was born, he did not have an earthly father like you and me (if he would have, he would have been born with a dirty heart). That’s why God put the seed into Mary’s womb, so when Jesus was born, he was born with a pure clean heart and because of that he could become the final sacrifice for our sins.
b. He was born without sin and the bible says that he lived for 33 years and never sinned, and then he was arrested and put on the cross. When they put the nails in his hands and feet and the spear into his side, the pure clean blood of the perfect sacrifice flowed down the cross and when God saw the blood of his son, he said now the price has been paid for all the sins of the world. He became God’s solution to our problem. But the story doesn’t end there.
C. The bible says that on the third day, he rose from the grave and just as he was victorious over the grave, when we die we have the promise that we will be too. Review again…
The first step told us of our problem (dirty heart). Can we go to heaven with a dirty heart? (No)
The second step says god has provided the solution for us and his name is (JESUS). Did he die on the cross for your sins and mine? (Yes)
Now we know the first two (2) steps to heaven, but it’s still not enough. You have to take the third step!! What is it?
God wants you to know
STEP THREE
THE TRUTH ABOUT ETERNITY...
After this life is over, you and I are going to spend eternity (forever) in one of two places. Either in hell with Satan or in heaven with God. You see, we have a choice! When we were born we didn’t have a choice, but we do have one about where we will spend eternity.
We have found out today that you cannot go to heaven with a dirty heart. Where do you go if you die with a dirty heart? (To hell) So the truth is that we don’t have to do anything in order to go to hell…we’re born with a problem that will send us to hell.
But the question remains, how do you receive a clean heart? The bible says that whoever calls on the name of Jesus to save them from their (sins) dirty heart will be saved. Saved from what? Hell!
How do you call on his name? You do it in prayer. In prayer, we confess to him…
Yes God, I know I am a sinner and “I’m sorry for my sins; yes, I believe that Jesus died and shed his pure innocent blood for my sins, and that He arose from the dead, 1 ask him to forgive me and take control of my life. Thank you for giving me a new clean heart and a home in heaven when this life is over.
Years ago, when I heard this, I wanted to call on his name in prayer, but I didn’t know what to pray or how to pray, but someone helped me. They prayed a simple prayer and I repeated it and received a new clean heart and today you can too!
In a moment, I want to help some of you like someone helped me. I want to lead you in a short prayer. I will pray out loud so you can hear me and if you want to pray with me, you can. It’s your choice. So in a minute, when I pray, you pray silently with me if you want to and we’ll take these three steps to heaven. The choice is yours.