You are listening to:
"I'll Lead You Home" (M.W.Smith)
IF YOU DIED TONIGHT, DO YOU KNOW WHERE
YOU WOULD SPEND ETERNITY?
You wouldn’t be the first one to think that you have
lots of time to make the most important decision of your life. We have a
friend who says she knows who Jesus is, but she’ll make a commitment
to Him when she gets old and before she dies. What if she never makes it
to old age? What if she dies next week?
We have another friend that died very suddenly at the age
of 21. Another person died in a head-on car crash yesterday.......he was
only 36.......
and other people were very sure the flight they were on
would land safely at the airport. ...................................297
were dead the next day.
1. No one knows when their time will be finished here on earth.
Your body will die, but your spirit and soul will live for eternity. Jesus
said: “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone
who believes in Me, even though he dies, he shall live again. He is given
eternal life for believing in Me and shall never perish”
2. The Bible (the perfect true Word of God) says: “ it
is destined that men die only once, and after that comes judgment”.
That means the body you are in has a limited time here
on this earth. Since we are body, soul and spirit, where will YOUR soul and
spirit go after your body dies?
God has written that His spirit will not always strive
with man. There comes a time that God shuts doors that no man can open! You
can cross a line where He says “no more”. We are fast approaching
a time of deception when man will think he can get it all together on his
own. But we are warned that if we play around too long, it might be too
late.
THAT IS THE TERROR.
3. Your Heavenly Father LOVES you and wants you to spend eternity
with Him. “He is not willing that any should perish.”
4. After all, He created you. The Bible says He knew you before
you were born! “I knew you before you were formed in your mother’s
womb”.
His heart burst with pride when you entered this world.
As a Father, He held His hands out to you and watched you take your first
steps and venture out and grow. He loved you so much that rather than
demand that you love Him in return, He gave
you a choice.
He wanted the decision to love Him in return to be your
CHOICE. (I’ll bet your family and friends feel the same way).
................ So God is wooing you. He’s placed the beautiful sun
to rise every morning to smile on you, grow crops, bring you
food..................... ......... He brought fresh rain to water your grass
and gardens. He keeps your heart beating and your lungs
expanding................You could not take another breath, your heart could
not beat one more time, if He didn’t allow it! Every cell of your body
is held together by His Word- - His command. ......Oh I could go on and on
about at all the ways He’s tried to show His love for us. ..... A famous
writer once said God would have your picture on His refrigerator- - - your
photo would be the one he’d proudly show in His
wallet.........
But wait -- you also have an enemy. The snake that separated
Adam and Eve from their Father in the beginning. Adam and Eve made the wrong
choice and listened to the devil. Their choice resulted in Man being spiritually
separated from God. They broke God’s heart. (You probably know what
it’s like to have your heart broken). ............. But it was their
choice. ......and yet He still loved them, forgave them, nurtured them, fed
them, clothed them, gave them GRACE.......................and then......
He made a Plan. His Plan was to send His beloved son Jesus.
Yes that’s it!
5. .....Jesus would make a way for Man to spiritually be
able to return to the bosom of their Father. And so at the appointed time,
God’s angels trumpeted from Heaven the arrival of the Son of God in
a lowly manger. There weren’t many who knew their Messiah had
come............... He spent His first 30 years in quiet growth, but when
the time came, John the Baptist knew Jesus and baptized Him. “God sent
John the Baptist as a witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the true
light”.
6. The next 3.5 years of Jesus’ life here on earth were
demonstrated in miracles, thousands being healed and showing the love of
the Father here on earth. But then His life ended when He was only 33 1/2
years old!. It wasn’t an accident; no, it was preordained. It was done
on purpose. It was done to fulfill God’s promise to Man “to find
a way back”. Jesus - An innocent and guilt-free man gave up His life,
and suffered a horrible death ------------- for you. Jesus was the perfect
sacrifice - the “bridge” from carnal man to your Heavenly Father.
It was in those moments of death that Jesus took upon himself every sin in
the world......... ---Your sin, my sin, all our sins. He bore them all.
“For God took the sinless Christ and poured unto Him our sins. Then,
in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us!”.
He was separated from His Father.....(My God, My God why
have you forsaken me?)......... ............the agony......the agony........you
and I will never know, never even to be able to imagine. But He did it for
us! Does anyone on this earth have a friend that would send his son to the
death chamber to set you free? Do you have a friend or relative that would
go to court with you when you have been stamped “guilty” and step
forward and ask the judge to lay the sentence on him? I don’t think
so. But Jesus did. He loves you THAT much!
7.
.............. Jesus went to hell and back taking the keys
from the devil once and for all. “Tombs were opened, and many godly
men and women who had died came back to life again. After Jesus’
resurrection, these risen dead left the cemetery and went into Jerusalem,
and appeared to many people there”.
Jesus then spent 40 days on earth in His glorified body,
visiting and proving His resurrection. Showing people the nail scars on His
hands and feet, He appeared to over 500 people.
Before He left to rejoin his Father, He gave to His disciples
the Great Commission to go and tell the world. The disciples begged Him to
stay, but He knew that as one man He could only comfort one person at a time.
He explained that when He left He would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit
that could reside in every human being when they ask.
8.
While here Jesus had said “If any man believe in Me,
He will I love. I am the way the truth and the life. No one can get to the
Father except by means of Me”.
You can be assured that your Heavenly Father loved you
so, .............that He sent His only Son to die for you, that you might
have eternal life with Him.
9. Now you can know that when you die, if it be tonight or
next year - -- the angels will sing, meet you and take you to be with Jesus.
By faith you can renounce your sins. “Works” won’t get you
anywhere. “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags”
10.
“even the best moral life falls short of what God
requires. Sin must be dealt with and removed”.
11.
Accepting the atoning death of Jesus Christ is your way
to eternal life with Him. With Jesus in your heart, the two of you can do
anything. He will be with you all day to fellowship with, to talk to, to
cry with, to laugh with, to share everything. He’ll hold you up, embrace
you and when you stumble, His strong hands will reach out and lift you again.
Let Him help you find a really great, spirit filled church and grow in the
knowledge that a bible believing church can help teach you. ...........Physically
join a church, for now you are a member of the “family of God”
and a brother or sister to millions of other born-again Christians.
“Everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”.
12. ......................Read your Bible as much as you can.
If you are struggling and can’t hear His voice, His words are found
between the covers of that Bible and it is filled with His love letters to
you and his sage, good advice. He departs this wisdom to you. ”If you
obey my instructions, you will be given wisdom and good sense”.
13. Even the thief on the cross beside Jesus went to Heaven.
Did you know that? He was a murderer and a thief, and yet because he believed
in Jesus at the last moment, he is right now in Paradise. There are many
murderers on death row that will be in Heaven, ......and yet there are many
people whom you think “good” that may not be there. There are many
good citizens, good people, whose works won’t cut it. “Before every
man there lies a wide and pleasant road that seems right, but ends in
death.”
God made it clear that works were not the pathway to His
presence; only the heart...........the heart that had asked the living Christ
into it.
Your new life won’t be perfect. In fact you’ll
continue to sin because man in his flesh has a really hard time with that.
But each day is new and each day of steps “in Christ” are steps
in the right direction. No matter what happens on this earth, our time here
...........is less than a grain of sand on all the beaches of the world.
Eternity stretches beyond our wildest imaginations. Your brief life here
will be followed by eternal life with other believers and best of all, seeing
your Lord face to face.
God’s hope for you first of all, is to have that personal,
close relationship with Him as a dear friend, confidant and Father. His second
desire is that you do His Will. Share the Good News. The Good News is Jesus
Christ. You are His mouth now......... His hands. Tell
others.................before it’s too late.
If you want to be assured of eternal
life, say this simple prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need
your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from
my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust
and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name.
Amen
14. “You are now a brand new person inside. A new life
has begun!”.
15. “And I suppose that if all the other events in
Jesus’ life were written, the whole world could hardly contain the
books!”.
Send us your address and we’ll
mail you a free cassette tape.
If you have a Prayer Request Please
feel free to e-mail it to us
and we will be happy to pray in agreement with you!
HonorGR@aol.com
 This page is
dedicated to Patrick Sparre - beloved son of Alison and
Peter Sparre who went home to his Lord at the age of 21.
"I'll Lead You Home" By
Michael W. Smith was his favorite song.
Christian
Links:
Liberty
Savard Ministeries, Inc.
Billy Graham
Ministries
Focus On The
Family
Christian Broadcasting
Network
Charles Stanley In
Touch Ministries
Koinonia
House
McAlvany
God Cares
Christianity
Online
Jesus
References:
(1) John 11:25 -
(2) Hebrews 9:27 -
(3) 2 Peter 3:9
(4) Matthew 10:28 -
(5) John 1:6 - (6)
2 Corinthians 5:21
(7) Matthew 27:52-53 -
(8) John 14:6 - (9)
Isaiah 64:6
(10) Romans 2:2 -
(11) Philippians 3:8 -
(12) Proverbs 2:1,2
(13) Proverbs 14:12 -
(14) 2 Corinthians 5:17 -
(15) John 21:25
"There's
no place like HOME"
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