Flight Plan Flashcards
Do you know for sure…?
Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for sure (that if you were to die today) that you would go to heaven?
Can I share how I came to know…
Can I share with you how I came to know for sure and how you can know also? Before I do, could I ask you another question?
1 John 5:13
I write these things are written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life
What are the qualifications…
What would you say are the qualifications for getting into heaven?
Important
Doing those things is important, however, the Bible says that there is something even more important. This is what I would like to share with you
GIFT
Heaven is a free gift from God
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
Ephesians 2:8,9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Illustration: gift
If a friend gives you a gift there is no cost or payment. If they pay for the gift it is no longer a gift. God has given us eternal life as a gift, not something we earn with our good works, but through our faith in His work.
SIN
There is a problem: Everyone has sinned
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Illustration: Water bottle (polluted)
Our good works are like a water bottle of pure, clean water. Our bad works, are like adding drops of poison into the water. Thus our sins pollute and spoil our good works.
GOD
Sins have consequences in our relationship with God
A. Our sins separate us from God
B. Our sins earn punishment from God because He is just
Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear
Illustration: Water bottle (undrinkable)
Our poisoned water bottle of works is not drinkable by a holy God.
2 Thessalonians 1:8
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Illustration: Civil Law
In a court of law, if you are guilty the just result is that you are sentenced and punished for your transgressions. Similarly, God is the just judge and will punish us for the sins we have committed against Him and His laws.
JESUS
The Son of God that takes away the sins of the world
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Illustration: Record book of sins
If our sins were written in a book, these would be the charges against us that would deserve punishment. But Jesus took those charges on himself, so that we be free from the punishment that we deserved.
Illustration: Water bottle (cleansed)
If our water bottle of works contains poisoned water, Jesus drank it, suffering the consequences, and refilled it with pure water instead.
FAITH
We only benefit if we receive God’s gift of His Son through faith or belief in Him
John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Illustration: Chair
Faith is like exhibiting trust. Take for example chair. You look at the chair and acknowledge it exists and can hold you if you sit on it. This is not faith. Faith is actually sitting in the chair and trusting it to hold you.
Illustration: Life Preserver
If you are swimming in the vast and dangerous ocean and struggling to get to get to land and a boat comes by, sees you and throws you a life preserver, what good is it if you do not accept the life preserver thrown to you?
Invitation: Receive the gift
Revelation 3:20
Jesus says to each person, and to you today,
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Do you want to trust in the work of Jesus Christ as God’s gift of forgiveness for sins and eternal life in heaven?
Clarification: Personal
Receiving Jesus is a personal decision between you and God, and should not be done to please anyone else
Clarification: Spiritual
Receiving Christ is more than agreeing to statements - you are actually receiving Jesus’ Holy Spirit to live inside you
Clarification: Repentance
Acts 3:19
Receiving Christ involves repenting and turning from your sin.
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”
Clarification: Control
Luke 9:23
Receiving Christ means making Jesus the master of your life.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself.
I believe you are the Son of God who died for my sins and rose from the dead and we too can be raised to life again.
By faith, I gratefully receive your gift of salvation and eternal life.
Lord Jesus, help me turn from my sinful thoughts and actions, and instead commit to honoring and obeying you. Come into my heart as I submit my life to you, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Closing Questions
Where is Jesus Christ now?
Did you sense anything when you prayed?
Do you believe your sins are forgiven?
Do you know for 100% that if you died today that you would go to heaven?
What would you say are the qualifications to go to heaven?
