heaven, will you be there?

This past Sunday night we went to our church for their evening worship service. We don't generally get back in the evening, but this Sunday was special - my brother and sister-in-law were dedicating their little Reagan to the Lord. What that means is that they were promising in front of God and our church that they would teach her about the Lord!

Anyways, John MacArthur, our pastor, was preaching on "Which way to Heaven?" from Matthew 7:21-29

21Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

I can think of no decision more important than that of your eternity!!! Where will you spend your eternity? The scriptures are very clear - either Heaven or Hell!!! They are both very real places!! I think what is most shocking about this passage is that there are so many in the world today who think they know God and yet there will come a day when they will meet Him and He will say depart from me, I never knew you! There is nothing worse than that! Our society is so easy lulled into a false sense of God. There is only ONE way to heaven - that road is narrow and it is ONLY through the Lord, Jesus Christ. We can try to create our own beliefs and standards and be "good" people, but the fact of the matter is that we do not have to live by the world's standard of righteousness, rather we must surrender the standard that has been set forth by the Creator, God!

I am blessed beyond belief to attend such an amazing church, where the scriptures are proclaimed consistently and yet, I was so convicted of how I do not share as often as I should with those around me. Not all will enter the gates of Heaven, but I pray that those I love and those around me most certainly will!! I know that this is a little off my normal sharing of what cute things my girls have been up to (and they have been doing some cute things . . . another post for that), but I feel so passionate about my eternity that I would be remiss if I didn't share my heart, and afterall, this is my blog, so I can share my heart! :o)

I could never do justice to John's message, but if you are interested in hearing it I think you can download it and if not you can buy a copy from Grace to You. Just as I say that I am having trouble finding it, but it may take a few days for them to get it up on the site . . . not totally sure how it works over there.

The long and the short of it is - there is one way to Heaven!!! We tend, in America, to want to be accepting of all, but really that is NOT what the Bible teaches. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6) - there is but one way and it is only through Jesus Christ. There is no amount of "good" works that we can do which will get us into heaven - Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

I will come down from my soap box, but only because it is late and I want to get to bed. My heart is heavy - as you can surely tell.

I will end with this - there were 6 points that John made regarding what lulls people into deception:

1. A superficial understanding of the Gospel - people have a false understanding because they don't understand the Gospel.
2. A false sense of assurance
3. A failure at self-examination
4. A fixation on religious activity
5. A fair exchange - people will say - I'm not that bad - today I haven't committed a crime therefore I am basically a "good" person.
6. A familiarity with Biblical morality. Just because they are moral doesn't mean that they are obedient to God's law.

Pardon me for not having more details on his points, but I was walking Lily around outside so I was thankful to get the major points down.

I am now off to bed. I pray that this finds you healthy and, if you haven't already done so, searching your heart to see if Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life! I pray that He is!!
Love, Me