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All right, let's take our Bibles and go to Second Corinthians, chapter 12 we're going to pick up in our study through the book of Second Corinthians. So if you don't have a Bible, I'm sure you can pull it up on your phone. I'm going to be reading from the new King James Version. It's kind of the softer King James Version. And this is going to be second Corinthians, chapter 12. I've entitled my message today the hope of heaven. The hope of heaven in 2 Corinthians 12. I'm going to read the first six verses, so follow along if you have your bibles open there. 2 Corinthians 12. 1. Paul writes, it is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. He says in verse two, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows such a one was caught up to the third heaven, verse three. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast. Yet of myself I will not boast except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth. But I refrain lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. So he's like, I don't want anybody to elevate me any more than I should be. But he shares this vision, this revelation here. Let's pray, and then we'll talk about what he's referring to. Lord, thank you for meeting us here today where two or more are gathered. You're in our midst, so we thank you, Lord, for being here. And we trust that you've been glorified through our worship. And now as we study the Bible, Lord, speak to us. And no matter what, someone brought in to church something heavy weighing on their heart, something discouraging, something concerning. Lord, we just pray that we would leave our burdens and our joys at your feet today. Just. Just wanting to worship you and asking you, God, speak to us now through the pages of this, your word. As Paul writes these things, Lord, may our hearts be filled with joyful expectation of what awaits us. To those who know Jesus as Lord, And Savior and I pray by the end of the Bible study that no one here will have any doubts about whether they're going to heaven or not. And so we just commit the Bible study to you. Lord, thank you for your grace, your love, your mercy, your forgiveness. We give you praise in Jesus, Jesus name. And everybody said Amen. Well, some in the Corinthian church here had doubted Paul's credentials. They weren't quite sure that he was qualified to really be an apostle of Jesus Christ as he professed to be. They actually believed that some other individuals were more qualified than Paul was. And so Paul reluctantly spends some time here giving them his pedigree, if you will. And most of that has to do with the hardships that he's been through for the sake of the gospel. This is the way chapter 11 ends. So if you just back up to chapter 11 in your Bibles, I want to read the way that chapter 11 ends because it flows into chapter 12. And I want you to understand the context behind what Paul writes. He is trying to defend himself, but he's doing it in a reluctant way. He doesn't want to boast. He, he doesn't want to come across arrogant or proud. He fears that they will think that he is bragging on himself. But in order to try to substantiate his credentials, he's going to let them know some things. And one of the things that he builds upon at the end of chapter 11 is the fact that he's been through so much hardship for the sake of the gospel that he's basically saying to them, does not the fact that my life has been on the line many times for the sake of the gospel prove something about my qualifications? Like, you know, somebody who's weak kneed doesn't go about sharing the gospel like this. My life has been in danger. And so he appeals to them first on this basis of just look what I've been through, for crying out loud. And so the end of chapter 11, I'm going to start in verse 22. And he asks the question, are they Hebrews? Now he's talking about the people that the Corinthian Church is elevating as super apostles. Like there are other people who seem to be more qualified than you, Paul. And so he says, well, are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. This is chapter 11 now, verse 23. He says, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more, he says, in labors More abundant in stripes above measure. And stripes meaning whippings that he's. That he's received in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. Like. Like I've been near death often. And he says, from the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes, minus one. Now, see, the Jews had this law that they could whip you 40 times, but they didn't want to be legalistic about it, so they would always back it down one, and so they'd only whip you 39 times. And so Paul's like, I got that five times, the 40, minus one thing, I got that five times. And he says, verse 25, he says, three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Some of you can say that too, back in the 90s. But this is. This is kind of a different kind than what you were doing. Three times I was shipwrecked a night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeys, often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness, often in hunger and thirst, in fastings, often in cold and nakedness. Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches. He says, who is weak and I am not weak. He says, do you not think that I'm exhausted? He says, who is made to stumble and I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I'm not lying. In Damascus, the governor under Aretas, the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands. That last part, by the way, he's talking about his conversion experience. Remember, Paul was a very zealous Jew to persecute Christians. He thought that Christianity was a heretical sect, that people, that Jews were following Jesus. He didn't believe that Jesus was Messiah. So he saw this Christianity thing rising, and he thought it best to be zealous, to murder them, to put an end to this false sect that was rising up. So he was on his way to Damascus, Syria, where he knew that there was a conclave of Christians that he wanted to eliminate and on the way to Damascus. The Lord Jesus appeared to him, and the Lord confronted Paul. And Paul fell to the ground in humility and was blinded for three days. And he was then at this place where he realized, this encounter with Jesus. He surrendered his life to Christ. God then touched his eyes through another man, Ananias, and he got his vision back. But more importantly, he could see things spiritually for the very first time. That in fact, Jesus is Messiah. He became a very zealous Jew to kill Christians, and he became a follower of Christ. And when he turned like that, some of his fellow Jews saw him as a complete traitor. And so he had to escape Damascus because now he was being hunted. He first was the hunter, and now he's being hunted. I remember years ago visiting a shop in the old city of Jerusalem where I usually take our tour groups when we go. It's a wonderful brother, their twin brothers who run the shop, Dov and Moishe. And one time. But they're not believers in Jesus. They're great guys, love God, but they don't believe that Jesus is Messiah. And one time I asked Dov, I said, dov, you know, what kind of, like, problem do you have with Jesus? And he said to me, oh, I don't have a problem with Jesus. I just don't believe he was Messiah. He did some great and wonderful things. He says, my problem was with Paul. My problem's with Paul, because Paul was the traitor to the Jews. See, when Paul got converted in Damascus, he was going there to hunt Christians. Then he became the hunted because now the fellow Jews saw him as a traitor. You're a sellout to Judaism. You've bought this whole lie about Jesus being Messiah. And Paul's like, no, I haven't sold out. I've just now surrendered my life to the true Messiah. And then Paul made it his mission to go around sharing the good news of Jesus wherever he went. But the people of Corinth, the church at Corinth, questioned whether he was really qualified. So he starts out here in chapter 11. He ends chapter 11 by saying, if nothing else, look at my street creds, okay? Because I've put my life on the line. I've been hungry for the sake of the gospel. I've gone naked for the sake of the gospel. I've been beaten and stoned and left for dead for the sake of the gospel. I've been in prison for the sake of the gospel. And on and on and on he goes, and he just says, if for nothing else, look at how I've put my Life on the line for this because I love you and I love Jesus and I want you to know Jesus well. He then moves into chapter 12. We have to remember in our Bibles, chapters and verses were added like the 12th and the 14th centuries to help us find things better. But they're not to be read as breaks. Because he moves from helping the people of Corinth to understand his qualifications based on all his hardships. Then into chapter, what we have is chapter 12. He's gonna say, and let me tell you something else that qualifies me. And he's gonna talk here about visions and revelations. He says, not only have I been through things that are super difficult and where I've, you know, nearly died for the sake of the Gospel, he says, let me tell you about some things supernaturally that have happened for me. And he talks about visions and revelations and. And he's going to tell them something here. A particular vision and revelation that he had 14 years ago. And he hasn't talked about it since it happened. So he mentions here 14 years. He says, this is. This is something that happened to me 14 years ago. I don't like to talk about it. I don't like to bring it up. And why? Because he doesn't want people to think that he's bragging. He doesn't want people to think that he's boasting. That's why he says here, I'd rather boast in my infirmities than in these visions and revelations. Because let me tell you something. You know what really marks a Christian? It's how well you stick with Jesus when life is hard. Anybody can stick close to Jesus when life is wonderful. You really want to know the real you as to how devoted you are to Christ. Go through hardships and then you'll know. And Paul says, I'd rather boast about my infirmities. Cause my infirmities testify better to my credentials that I'm a real serious, devoted follower of Jesus. He says, but just for those of you who need some other kind of proof, he says, let me talk to you about visions and revelations. Now, if you'll notice in your Bibles, here he is so concerned that people are gonna think that he's bragging about himself that he actually writes this part here in chapter 12 in the third person. He says, I know a guy. I know a guy who was caught up to the third heaven, all right? In the same way that you. And I might say, I have a friend who, you know, but it's really you. But you don't want people to really know it's you. So you're like, I have a friend and the friend has, you know, a drinking problem. Right. Okay, you need to get some help. Paul is saying here in the third person, he goes, I know a guy. And, and again, he's, he's, he doesn't want to come across boastful. Now how do we know that this is really his story? Well, because in verse seven, the pronoun changes to the first person. So in verse seven, he writes, and lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations. So he's like, okay, let me tell you how God has kept me humble because of these revelations. So we know he's really talking about himself. And then he says that a thorn in the flesh. This is still verse 7. A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. He says, so that I'm not proud about these visions and revelations. He goes, there's a thorn in my flesh. We find out later he's prayed three times for God to take away this thorn in the flesh. And God says to him, no, because my grace is sufficient for you. In your weakness, my power is made perfect. What exactly is the thorn in the flesh? Oh, you have to come back next week for that Bible study. Okay, we're going to talk about that and we're going to talk about infirmities and suffering through stuff, because Paul says that really testifies of my faith in Christ. But here he's basically saying to keep me humble for these revelations, there's a thorn in the flesh. I've had to deal with something so that my head doesn't get too puffed up about all this. But then he describes here either a vision of heaven or an actual out of body visitation of heaven. And he's not even sure himself which one it was. He says, I'm not really sure if it was a vision or if it was an actual visitation. That's why he says in verse two, whether in the body or out of the body, I don't even know. God knows. He repeats that phrase again in verse three. So he says, I can't even positively tell you whether I had this incredible vision from the Lord or whether I actually died and went to heaven for a brief moment and then came back to life. Now is, could he be referring to that? Yes, indeed. In fact, Bible scholars believe that Paul was referring to an incident that happened on his first missionary journey to a town Called Lystra. It's recorded in Acts chapter 14. I'll just summarize the events in Acts 14. It tells us that Paul, along with his traveling companion Barnabas, went to share the gospel in a city called Lystra. And while they were there, there was a man that they encountered who was crippled from birth. He had never walked in his life. And God used Paul to perform a miracle. Now, this was God's miracle. You know, sometimes we. We get it backwards. We think that somebody has power. No, they're just a vessel God works through. And Paul was a vessel that God worked through to bring healing to this man crippled from birth. And when that man stood to his feet and this miracle happened, the people of Lystra started to deify. Paul and Barnabas, the people of Lystra, remember, this is first century A.D. this is the Greek culture, the Roman culture. It infiltrated their hearts and minds. That's why Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra. They wanted the people to know the one true and living God, not a multiplicity of gods and goddesses that they worshiped in the Greek and Roman period. And so when the people of Lystra saw this miracle, they attributed it to their mythological gods. And the Bible says in Acts 14, they started calling Paul Hermes and Barnabas Zeus. They're like, you guys are like Hermes and Zeus. You guys are like the gods. The gods from heaven have come down and brought healing to our community for this guy. Well, Paul and Barnabas being the righteous guys that they are, they are, like, offended by this. And they rip their clothing, which is a sign of grief in that day. And I'm like, like, how dare you try to worship us? We are nobody. We are not gods. We want you to know the true and living God. We're just vessels. Paul said, God just used me to heal this guy, but worship him, not me. And the people of Leicester were like, well, wait a minute. If you guys are telling us that you're just men and you're not gods, but yet we see this miracle, then you must have evil powers. If you guys are doing something powerful, but you're saying to us, you're not gods, you must be doing something evil. Yeah, they're a bunch of evil guys. Let's drag them out of the city. They drag Paul out of the city. They go from worshiping these guys. They literally, in Acts 14, were bringing out the fatted calf to slaughter an animal to worship these guys. They go from that to, let's murder them like a bunch of lystromaniacs is what they were. There's a bipolar people in that town. So they're like, we, we, we're going to kill you guys because you must be evil. Then they drag Paul out of the city. It's interesting, it doesn't say they drag Barnabas out of the city and Barnabas doesn't seem to get injured. Now, Paul was the one God used to actually perform the miracle. But I just sometimes wonder, what was Barnabas doing? Like, I don't know this guy, just travel with him. I don't really know him. But anyway, he. He comes out unscathed. But Paul gets beaten so badly and he is stoned so badly that he is left for dead. I'll read just two verses from Acts 14. This is verse 19 and 20. The Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city of supposing him to be dead. They left him for dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. The implication here is that he may very well have been dead. But when the disciples, when followers of Christ gathered around him, the implication is they prayed for him and God raised him up because he goes right back into the city. So something miraculous happened there. And a lot of Bible scholars believe that indeed Paul may have been beaten and stoned to death and that God miraculously raised him up. But in that brief moment, his spirit had left his body and he was in heaven. And he writes now here in Second Corinthians 12, I know a guy. I don't want to say it's me, but I know a guy who was caught up to the third heaven. He says, I'm not sure if it was a vision. He doesn't know if. Was I beaten so badly that I was just, you know, God imparted a vision to me while I was unconscious, or did I actually go to heaven? God only knows, he says, but I saw some things and I heard some things that are unspeakable. And he actually doesn't tell us anything that he saw. It's very interesting. He doesn't tell us anything that he saw. And on top of that, he actually does say, I can't tell you what I heard either. It's verse four. He says, I heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. So he is silent about what he saw and what he heard. But he says, I can tell You. It was unspeakable, and it was things that are, that are. I can't even explain to you now. He leaves us kind of like whetting our appetite. Like we're. Wait a minute. Come on, Paul. You can't leave us hanging there. Like, you went to heaven and you're not telling us what you saw, and you say that you can't even tell us what you heard. Come on. Nope. All I can tell you is I was caught up to the third heaven. What is this whole thing about the third heaven? Some people think that it means there are layers to heaven. In fact, some of the ancient Jewish rabbis used to teach that, and perhaps some still do. But Paul is actually using language that is common in his day not to describe layers of heaven. All right, get that out of your head. There are not. Like, you don't graduate to certain levels of heaven. Or, you know, some of you think, I just want to make it to level one. Hope I make it to level one. Please, please, God, I just want to make it level one. It's not like, okay, you're better than someone else, so you're going to go to level three. Sorry, you all are just still on the lobby level. It's not like that. What he's describing as common language of the day. The first heaven was blue sky, Earth's atmosphere. The second heaven is starry sky. That's outer space. The third heaven is where God resides, beyond outer space. That's what he's saying here. Heaven doesn't have layers, but it's beyond outer space. And he doesn't tell us anything about what he saw or heard. But there are other things in the Bible that do let us in on a glimpse of what heaven is going to be like. I'm going to share seven things with you about the hope of heaven. And I hope by the end of this Bible study, if you don't know for sure that you're going there, that you will settle that before you leave this place. Or if you're watching online because you know the heart of God is that all should be saved. Now, not all will because God has given us a free will to accept him or deny him. But the Bible says that God wants none to perish, but all to come to repentance. To repent means. It's a Greek word, metanoeo. It means to change the mind. Like, we have to be intentional about. I'm going to leave my old life of sin and I'm going to turn to God. I'm going to surrender my life to the lordship of Jesus Christ so that my sins can be forgiven through faith in what he did on that cross. And that I'll go to heaven then when I die. Every single person here listening to this Bible study now or later can have the absolute assurance you are going to heaven. If you understand the way to get there, there should be no if, ands or buts about it. There should be no doubt about it. If you have doubts, I pray by the end of this Bible study your doubts will be gone. So that when you leave here, you'll know exactly where you're going. Whenever that day comes that you die, I want you to be certain that you're going to go to heaven. So Paul doesn't tell us some things, but other passages in the Bible do. Several years ago, Rolling Stone magazine did a survey of a cross section of Americans. What do you think are the top 100 songs of all time? The number one song according to this survey is Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone. I don't think it should have been number one, but anyway, I wasn't a part of the survey. Number two, Mick Jagger, I Can't get no Satisfaction. And number three, all time favorite song is Imagine by John Lennon. Now, he wrote that in 1971, and it has a really catchy tune, but it's a very depressing song if you really listen to the lyrics. Okay, imagine there's no heaven. Wow, isn't that a hopeful lyric? Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. Okay, third most popular song. It's depressing. It's about no eternity, no heaven, no hell. This is as good as it gets. In 2018, during the winter Olympics in South Korea, a stadium packed with thousands of people sang that song as part of the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics and millions more watching by television. Imagine there's no heaven and people are swaying. You know it's easy if you try. I don't want to give away my moves. Just listen. They're singing about no hope, no eternity. This life is as good as it gets. And you know something? If you don't know Christ, this life is as good as it gets. But if you know Jesus, this life is as bad as it gets. And our future and our hope is where he's taking us. That isn't here. That's heaven. The Bible does teach that heaven is real and that hell is real. And John Lennon knows that now. I didn't say which one. I just said, he knows. And I pray Yoko knows too, before she says, oh, no. And then that's a really. That dated me right there. Because some of you are like, who's Yoko? And it's Yoko Ono is her name anyway. Okay, Yoko. Oh, no. All right, I digress. Let's get back here. So let's talk about heaven. I'm going to take the advice of Charles Spurgeon in the few minutes we have left. He was a British preacher of the 19th century. He said to his students, quote, when you are talking about heaven, put a smile on your face. Let your face glow with enthusiasm. When you are talking about hell, your normal face will do. I'm going to be smiling through this. I got quick seven quick points. Points if you're taking notes, because I want everybody to go there. Number one, heaven is mentioned more than 275 times just in the New Testament. There are another more than 300 references in the Old Testament. You can read certain passages like Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Isaiah has this vision of heaven. He's caught up to heaven. John in Revelation 4 describes a very similar thing. In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah writes about how in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up and seated on the throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and above him were seraphs with six wings, two wings they flew, and two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they covered their faces, and they shouted one to another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And there's this beautiful scene that Isaiah describes there in Isaiah 6. And what John writes in Revelation 4 is very similar to Isaiah 6. God is seated on a throne in heaven, and God is in control. And God is powerful and majestic and mighty in all his ways. And heaven is repeated often throughout the entire Bible. Number two. Heaven is the habitation of God and the eternal home for those who trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I gave you several passages there. I'll just read a few. In Psalm 103, 19, it says, the Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. In Isaiah 66, one thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. And then in 2 Corinthians 5, to remind us that heaven is also our home who know Christ as Savior, Paul writes, so we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body in this present life, we are absent from the Lord because he's in heaven and we're here. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Number three, Heaven is located somewhere above the earth, beyond outer space. We already talked about this in 2nd Corinthians 12, but also Isaiah 55:9 says, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. And Psalm 103:11 for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. Number four Heaven has streets of gold, gates of pearl, walls of Jasper, foundations of precious stones, and a crystal clear river. This is spoken of in Revelation 21 and 22. Technically speaking, this is referring to the new heaven and new earth, but it gives us a glimpse of what heaven will be like. It's very colorful. It's unimaginable. In fact, you know, Paul would write in 1 Corinthians 2, 9, and I think this is a generic statement about the amazing greatness of God. But I think it applies also to heaven when he writes, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love him. We just can't even begin to imagine the beauty of heaven. But Revelation 21 talks a little bit about this future heaven. The construction of its wall was of Jasper and the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. The foundation of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass. And Revelation 22 talks about this river that runs through the beautiful city of heaven. Number five. It tells us in the Bible that heaven is illuminated solely by the presence of God and His glory. This is Revelation 21:23. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. So no need for the sun or for the moon to reflect the sun's light, because the Lord is the light of heaven, and his glory fills that place. No need for the sun, by the way. No nighttime either. No need for rest you don't need to take a nap. You're never going to be tired. Number six. Heaven is a place of no mores. No more death or mourning or crying or pain. No more sorrow or sin or sickness. Revelation 21:4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. No more pain, no more sorrow, no more difficulty, no more death, no more anguish. What a wonderful day that will be. Completely carefree, always peace, never a bad day. And then finally, number seven. Heaven is a place of reunions with loved ones and friends who knew Christ Savior. What a wonderful reunion it'll be to see your loved ones and friends who knew Christ, who have gone on before you, or if you precede them, for them to know. They'll see you later, you know. In Matthew, chapter 17, when Jesus was on the mount of Transfiguration, he took Peter, James and John up to this high mountain. The Bible says that appearing with Jesus was Moses and Elijah. Now, Moses and Elijah had been dead for centuries, but by their spirit, and perhaps in some kind of physical form, they appear there with Jesus. And Peter recognizes them even though he had never met them. Because you bear a resemblance to yourself when you're in heaven, your glorified body will be recognizable now. It'll be much better. So if you're like, I don't really like what I see in the mirror. Just, it'll be better. That's all I can tell you. It's going to be completely better and people still recognize you. Peter recognized them. He had never met them in John, chapter 21. In a similar way, after Jesus rose from the dead and he appeared to his disciples in his glorified body, they recognized him. So you will be recognizable and you will recognize your loved ones and your friends. And probably, like Peter recognized Moses and Elijah, though he had never met them. And you'll be able to recognize and know, oh, that's John the Baptist. Oh, that's. That's Paul. Like, we'll have revelation and understanding when we are there in ways that we don't have now. But the good news is you'll see your loved one again if. If he or she knows Christ. Do you like, that's the most important question I want you to answer before we close our Bible study. Do you know for sure that you're gonna go to heaven when you die? You can know. Do you know that there's a book that has the names listed? It's called the Lamb's Book of Life. And In Revelation, chapter 21, verse 27, it tells us, but there shall by no means enter heaven. Enter it. Anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie. In other words, nothing impure, nothing sinful is gonna get into heaven. And the rest of the verse, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You say, you say, Pastor Gary, how do I get my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? You trust Jesus by faith that he died on a cross for your sins. And then your name is written in that book because there's a book that will be opened and you will not be able to get entrance into heaven unless your name is found written in that book. But anyone can have his or her name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. If you would, by faith, surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ and say, jesus, I believe you died on a cross for my sins. Forgive me of my sins, come into my life. I'm gonna surrender to your lordship. I wanna repent. I wanna turn from how I've been living and I wanna turn to you. I confess I'm a sinner. I need you as my Savior. And he's the only savior, by the way. There are not multiple paths that lead to God. There is only one path and his name is Jesus. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father except by me. Do not believe the false narrative that just be a good person, follow your dreams. There are many paths that lead to heaven. It's all going to work out in the end. That's exactly what the devil wants you to believe so that you're comfortable in your sin and in your lostness. But what God wants from you is just surrender to what he has given as a free gift. Salvation is a free gift. None of us can earn it, none of us deserves it. We can't do a single thing to improve on what Christ did for us on that cross. He laid down his life. He took the penalty for our sins so that we don't have to suffer the consequences for our sins. And all he says to you is, come, come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If you want to find rest for your soul, if you want to know your sins are forgiven, if you want to be assured that you're going to go to heaven when you die, if you haven't accepted Christ as your savior, do it now. There's no Better time than now to receive Christ as your Savior. And I'm going to help you. If you would just bow your heads in a word of prayer. If you want to trust Christ as your savior, if you want to receive him today as your Lord, then just pray a simple prayer with me. It's a decision. A life devoted to Christ begins with a decision. I invite you to make that decision right now. Whoever you are, whatever you've done, Jesus loves you and he died for you, you say. It's hard for me to believe that Jesus loves me after the stuff I've done. He doesn't love the stuff we've done, but he loves us so much. He died for all the stuff we've done so that we can be forgiven and free. And if you would just by faith, trust him as Lord and Savior, you can have your sins forgiven immediately and know that you're going to heaven when you die. And so, right where you're seated, you can pray a simple prayer like this. And I just invite you, you can whisper this prayer to Jesus as I pray it. You can pray it. You can just say, lord, Lord Jesus, I'm so thankful that you love me so much. You died on a cross for my sins. Forgive me of my sins, Lord, Come into my life and change me. Make me a new person. I repent from the old person. And I turn to you and I ask you, Jesus, forgive me and come into my life. I surrender to you as Lord and Savior. I trust you as my Lord and Savior this day. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for forgiving me of my sins. And thank you for the assurance of heaven when I die. Because I trust you as my Lord and Savior. In your name I pray. And Lord, I thank you for those who prayed that prayer. And I thank you on behalf of all of us who look forward one day to that beautiful ultimate reward of heaven. Thank you for the hope of heaven, Lord, that you've opened wide to all who would believe and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. What a glorious reunion that will be. What a glorious day that will be. What a glorious eternity that will be. Thank you Lord, for your word today. In Jesus name, if you prayed that prayer with me a minute ago, I want to invite you to come up after the service. There'll be a pastor here to give you a Bible just so you can remember today's decision. We'll give you a free Bible. We'll mail you one online. If you prayed that prayer, just text the church. 703-844-9969. Just text the church. I have decided and we'll mail you a Bible around the world. Heaven is our hope. Everybody, God bless you. Have a great day.