Dinner with Jesus - Week 8
November 2, 2008
Jesus, What Will Happen To Me When I Die?
John 5:24-25

WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME WHEN I DIE? 

• We are living in uncertain times
• In just a few days, our nation will elect a new president –the outcome is uncertain – global tension, war in Iraq not certain, economic stress is uncertain – there are lots of things that are out of our control and that
• There is lots of uncertainty about what happens when we die.

Current view points, doubts, questions, confusion

• But the Bible says that while we are uncertain about so many things in this world, we don’t have to leave this life uncertain about where we are going after we die.
• God wants you to be sure that you know that you have eternal life.
• Several years ago I visited a man who attended my church, burden down with doubt. He had been in church for years, prayed the prayer to receive Jesus – but he had tremendous doubts – I talked with him for hours, but no matter what I said, he just continued to say, “I’m just so scared, I don’t know if I’m going to heaven.” Some people are just wrapped up in insecurity, uncertainty about where they will go after they die.
• Other people have a calm assurance. Just this week I have a friend that lives in Oklahoma City – JoAnne Williams, wonderful woman, diagnosed with cancer, in two weeks was in the hospital, unable to breath, she told her family and friends, “I know where I am going” –she had a peace that was amazing. How does she know? Where does she get that kind of certainty? I want to show you today.
• I Jn 5.13 – “these things are written so that you may know that you have eternal life”
• At the end of this message I’m going to give you a chance to make a decision that will give you the assurance you need.

WHERE YOU WON’T FIND CERTAINTY

You won’t find certainty in being good – being benevolent, nice, helpful

You won’t find certainty in being religious – walking aisle, fill out card, attending church

You won’t find certainty in being sincere

So where will you find certainty that you will go to heaven when you die?

You can know for sure that you are right with God.

You can know for sure that you have eternal life and that you will go to heaven when you die.

You can know for sure – with no uncertainty –where you will go when death comes knocking on your door.

Turn to John 5.11 – Jesus healing a man by the waters of Bethesda, took heat from the religious types – Jesus speaks to them. One of the greatest verses in the Bible about how to know for sure where you will spend eternity!

HOW TO KNOW FOR SURE

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” John 5.24-25

Twice Jesus uses the phrase “I tell you the truth” – it’s a statement meant to get our attention. It’s emphatic. It’s important. “Hey listen up, I’m saying something here that’s really important and you need to hear this.” What does Jesus want to be sure you and I understand? Look at verse 24.

“… whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life…” (v24)

Circle the phrase “hears my word”. Jesus is saying – “if you want to know for sure that you are going to heaven, you have to hear my message. You have to understand the message I communicating.” One Biblical scholar said, “Word…as often used in the New Testament, stands for the whole message of Jesus.” (Leon Morris) So you have to hear with your ears and understand with your mind the message Jesus is preaching.

So what is Jesus’ message?

That message is that God loves you and created you to live in a real, authentic, personal relationship with him! Last Sunday we looked at a great passage in the Bible. God is speaking and he says, “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29.11  The truth is – God has a plan for you. God created you to know him. More than that, God put a desire in your heart to know him. Deep inside of every one of us, there is a longing to know God –to be right with God –to know for sure that we are going to heaven when we die. There is a hunger for God that this world can’t satisfy. There is a desire for meaning that can only be filled with Jesus.

But Jesus also gave some bad news. Jesus’ message is that we are separated from God because of our sin. We have made choices that have lead us down a road that is far from God. Jesus said, that our world is a dark place and we have chosen to live in spiritual darkness. We have chosen to live our own life, go our own way, ignoring God and living to please ourselves. We lie, we act immorally, we take things that aren’t ours, we break God’s laws and commands. We have missed the mark of God’s best for our lives! The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3.23.

I remember when I was in middle school; I went with a group of teenagers to Hawaii. Man that was a big deal. And we went to the beach one afternoon. The waves were big, they were hitting the rocks and spraying the people. Two girls in our group were knocked down and fell into the water and as soon as they would come up for air, another wave was hit them, and the waves were dragging them out to sea. I jumped in to help them, and I noticed that no matter what I did, we were getting father and further away from the shore.

Now the Bible says that is what you and I are like spiritually. We have made bad decisions, bad choices, we have sinned against God and no matter how hard we try, we are separated from God. So of you are adrift today. You are far from God. You sense that separation. You know that if you died today, you would not go to heaven.

But there is good news. The good news is that Jesus came to fix that. Jesus came to this world to bring you back to God. While we were drifting far from that shoreline, lifeguards heard people yelling, and they dove into the waves and rescued us, pulled us back to shore. We were completely helpless. We couldn’t save ourselves. We needed someone who was able to pull us out. And that is what Jesus did for you! The Bible says Jesus dove into this world. He became a man. He lived a perfect life. He went to a cross. And he died for your sins and for mine! It’s an amazing thing. But God loved you so much that he put all of your sin, all your mistakes onto Jesus and Jesus died for them all! And now he offers you forgiveness and a new start in life! And Jesus did for you what you could not do for yourself – he has offered a way for you to be saved from the penalty of your sin by pay that penalty on the cross himself!

That is the message of Jesus. His message is simple to understand. God loves you. We have blown it. Jesus paid the price for our forgiveness. And for some of you – you have never heard the message of Jesus. I had people tell me, “I never heard that before!” People that went to church. People that were religious, but they were never open to hearing the message of Jesus. Maybe today you are hearing this message in a new way today. God is opening up your ears.  You see yourself in this message – you see yourself adrift – you understand that Jesus died for you. You understand that you need a someone to save you, and pull you back into a relationship with God. But listen - it’s not enough to just hear the message. You have to act on it.

Circle the phrase “believe in him who sent me”. It’s not enough to understand this message with your mind; you have to believe it with your heart. A lot of people will miss heaven because they have heard the message, but can’t or won’t believe it. Now when I say believe it – I’m not just meaning to believe that it is true. By believing in Jesus I mean placing your trust in Jesus and what he has done for you. I mean you have to say, “Jesus, I know what you have done for me, and right now, I trusting you to forgive me, make me new and lead my life right now.”

The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Roman 10.9

Have you ever done that? Have you come to a place in your life where you have asked Jesus to come into your life? Have you ever asked Jesus to forgive you? I’m going to give you an opportunity to do that today!

You see, Jesus is saying that you don’t get to heaven by being good. You don’t get to heaven by being religious. You don’t get to heaven by being sincere in your beliefs. The only way you can have certainty that you are going to heaven is by hearing the message of what Jesus did for you on the cross and by believing in Jesus by asking him to forgive you and to lead your life.

Now when you do that, look at what Jesus says will happen. That person “…has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”  Circle the word “has” –that is present tense. That means that eternal life starts now. It doesn’t start when you die, eternal life and a new relationship with God begins at the moment you bend your knee and ask Jesus to forgive you! It all starts now!

Circle the phrase, “crossed over from death to life” – I love that picture. I see a bridge. When the girls were little we would often drive to Georgia to visit family. We drove down I40 usually through Memphis, Tennessee. And when we would get close to Memphis we would wake the girls up (usually during the night) and say, “Girls look at the bridge!” It was a beautiful massive bridge that spanned the Mississippi river. And in the middle of the bridge there was a sign that read, “Welcome to Tennessee”. That bridge was the gateway to that state. Jesus said “When you come to me….I’m like a bridge. It’s a bridge that takes you from being away from God, to being close to God. It’s a bridge that takes you from being guilty to being forgiven. From being condemned by your sin to being free to live a new life. From death to life – Jesus said. And I picture on that bridge is a sign, “Welcome to heaven – welcome to peace with God – welcome to the new you!” And when you ask Christ into your life – you cross over!

Wouldn’t you like to cross over today? Wouldn’t you like to cross over and know when you leave today you are right with God? You can!

But the minute I say that, you are going to have a thought run through your mind – “Well, I don’t have to make that decision today! I can do it later! I can do it another time!” And so Jesus keeps speaking. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” (John 5.25)

Jesus looking into the future says, “There is coming a time when people who are far from me – who are dead spiritually – are going to hear this message –they are going to hear my voice – and when they respond, they are going to finally start living!” And listen, that time Jesus said, “has now come”! That moment Jesus said to respond is now. Not tomorrow. Not later. If you hear the voice of Jesus is to respond to him.

Richard is a friend of mine. And his story is a powerful one. He was adrift, far from God. And He came to know the power of God’s forgiveness in his life.

There are lots of things uncertain in this world. But you don’t have to be uncertain about your relationship to God. Some of you have never asked Jesus to forgive you –today is your day. Others of you have doubted – for years. Not sure, nagging doubts. It’s time to settle it once and for all.