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>> ALVIN: So if you don't all know my name, I'm Alvin
I will be giving your lesson today
So before we get started, this is my bathroom policy
If you go to the bathroom, please do not put any paper into toilet, you will see disaster!
Isn't it so annoying when you go into the bathroom and there is just paper all over the toilets?
So today's topic is this [How to have eternal life] nothing too exciting...
I'm preaching about this today because I feel that this could benefit everybody
If you're uncertain about whether or not you are going to heaven, then pay attention, this is for you
Even if you are [certain that you are saved] this will let you thoroughly understand the topic
So you can know [that you are going to heaven] instead of going "Oh well I feel like I'm going to heaven"!
Because that was the same trap I fell into, and that was a mess
I felt saved, but then something goes wrong in my life and I don't feel saved anymore
Another thing is that there is a lot of deception about how to get to heaven
The Catholics say "Faith plus works equals heaven"
The Lutherans say "Faith plus baptism equals heaven"
The Calvinists say "Faith plus predestination equals heaven"
The Baptists say "Faith plus nothing equals heaven"
The Muslims say "Faith plus suicide bombing equals heaven"
The Buddhists say "Faith plus... who knows what they say... Faith plus vegetarianism!"
Ok so who do we listen to? The catholics? Who are we supposed to listen to?
Well, I'll show you, the bible says:
"Search the Scriptures, for in them, ye think ye have eternal life"
See, we get our assurance of eternal life from the scriptures
Not from the pope or the grand high pontiff or the patriarch (Byzantine Church)
Ok, so the Bible says:
"But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ"
"Pervert" is an old way of saying corrupt, not the other kind of pervert
So, without further adue let us begin,
Ok, so why am I even telling you how to get to heaven? Why can't we just automatically go to heaven when we die?
I mean, God loves us right? So then can't we automatically go to heaven?
Well, I'll show you why, the Bible says:
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
Now I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but...
What [exactly] is sin? Can someone tell me what sin is? Nobody?
Now if you go to a random person on the street and ask "What's sin?" he'll either say:
"What language are you speaking in?" Or he'll say,
"[Sin is] something that is bad"
I don't know if you've noticed this before or not, but "moral" and "immoral" are all very relative terms
What I think is right is different from what other people think is right
And people [these days] have their own crazy ideas about what's right and wrong
For example, my English teacher says it's wrong to use plastic water bottles, it wastes plastic and is bad for the environment
But you know what he also says? He says that abortion is ok. You all know what abortion is?
It's when you take a pregnant woman, get a vacuum thing, suck out the unborn child, and cut it up
Yup, plastic water bottles are evil but abortion is ok
Because after all, it's the woman's "right" right? Who cares about the rights of the unborn baby, the woman decides everything!
Ok so, is the definition of sin, what is wrong, what is right determined by Mr. Goldner (English teacher)? Is it? No, that would make no sense!
In America, it's illegal to kill an eagle, but it's ok to kill babies. As long it's in the womb it's "ok" right?
So [we've established] that people have crazy ideas about what is right and wrong
Let's go back to the Garden of Eden and see [exactly] what sin is
[The Bible says] "And the LORD God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die"
Ok, personally, I don't see what is wrong about eating a fruit off of a tree? Do you? I mean, fruit are healthy right?
And look at what Eve said, [the Bible says]:
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food..." Oh, it's healthy! Antioxidants, vitamins
"And that it was pleasant to the eyes..." Oh, it looks very pretty! You know, that's why people eat chocolate. It kills them from the inside out, but hey! It looks nice right?
"And a tree to be desired, to make one wise..." Oh, if I eat, I'll be smarter, maybe I'll pass the SAT more easily if I eat it
"And she took the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat" So why did Adam eat it?
He probably thought, "Oh my wife ate it, and she's fine, and this fruit does look darn good! So that's what Eve [and Adam] thought of the situation
Eve said, "Ok, God said not to eat it, but you know what? I'm going to eat it anyway because I'm cool and can do whatever I want"
So what Eve is trying to do is justify her sin
But, your opinion about right and wrong are irrelevant! If God said don't eat it, then I do't care how healthy it is, don't eat it!
And that's why we're in the mess we are today...
So, let's look at the last part [of the verse], "thou shalt surely die" Ok, did Eve die [physically] after she ate the fruit?
Did she go "Accckkkk" after she ate it? And then did Adam eat the fruit and go "Accckkk!"? Did that happen? No, it didn't
Ok, let's go to the next verse, "For the wages of sin is death..." How many of you have sinned before? Ok, are you all dead? Nope!
Alright, let's go to the next verse, "For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead"
Ok, do you talk to dead people? Do you do anything with dead people? They're dead! you talk to them, you preach to them, they don't respond
So let's look at all this, "thou shalt surely die" "The wages of sin is death" "them that are dead"
So do you think that these verses are talking about physical death?
No, so let's go to the next point called "the second death" or "spiritual death" depending on who you talk to
So the Bible says, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death"
Now a lot of churches and christians these days don't like to think about hell, they just block it out of their minds. I don't like to think about hell either. It's not good.
Now what they also do is change what hell is. How many of you have ever heard this before? "Oh, hell is just 'separation' from God" How many of you heard that one before?
But is hell just separation from God? I don't know [the verse] does say "lake of fire"
Now people like Billy Graham will tell you that when the Bible says "fire" it just means a "burning desire to be back with God"
Alright, let's give him that. Here's the next verse:
"But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerors and idolators and all liars shall have part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death"
How does Billy Graham explain "brimstone"? ... Brimstone is an old word for sulfur. So would brimstone be explained as your "smelly desire to be back with God"?
Because if fire is your "burning desire to get back with God" What would brimstone be? If Brimstone can be taken literally, can't fire also be taken literally?
Now people don't like to think of a burning hell, but I'm telling you right now that the Bible clearly teaches about one. And that is where sinners go.
[The Bible says] "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God"
Now I believe that the reason people are going away from [the doctrine] of a burning hell is... you all saw this coming... but I think the reason is the NIV
Someone find Psalm 9:17 in the NIV and read it... you got it? Ok, stand up and read it
You hear that? "The wicked return to the grave?" I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but everybody goes to the grave! Jesus went to the grave. Everybody goes to the grave, but not everybody goes to hell. And you'll find in the old testament of the NIV that every reference to hell is replaced with either "death" or "grave". Everybody dies though, not just the wicked.
So we know that we are all sinners and that sinners go to hell, so let's get to the next point
Now you say, "Alvin, this is getting really depressing, I don't want to think of an eternal burning hell this early in the morning"
Don't worry, it gets more depressing
[The Bible says] "For we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we all do fade away as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away"
So what does this mean? In other words, we cannot save ourselves from hell because all the good things we do don't really matter. We can't just counteract our sins with good works because all our righteousnesses are "as filthy rags" 0:11:02.000,0:11:23:500 Now I want you to try something, find some filthy rags in your house, bring them to Walmart and try to trade them for anything in the store. Say, "look at all these filthy rags I brought! Now give me some M&M's" Try trading those filthy rags for anything
If you can't even get M&M's for filthy rags, how are you going to pay for eternal life with filthy rags?
And just for reinforcement, [The Bible says] "I will declare thy righteousnesses and thy works for they shall not profit thee" Amen?
Ok, but the topic of this message is called, "How to have eternal life", not "how to know you are going to hell and there's nothing you can do about it"
Ok, so let's discuss hell, who was hell made for? Why is there a hell? Anybody know? Hell was not made for humans. God never intended for a single human to go to hell. And I can prove it to you.
Matthew 25:41 [says] "Then shall he say to those on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"
Hell was made for the devil and his angels, so when man fell, God said, "Uh oh, I need to send him to hell, but wait, I don't want to send him to hell, hell is for the devil and his angels" So God did something about it
[The Bible says] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" So you all know that right? How the Son of God came down to earth.
You all know the next bit, [The Bible says] "For God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
But I don't know if you've thought of this or not, but... Jesus died for three days, what do you think happened to him during those three days? Does anybody know what happened?
Jesus actually went to hell for three days and three nights, [The Bible says] "For as Jonas [Jonah] was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"
Now some people say that the heart of the earth is just Jesus being buried underground, now most people are buried 6 feet under
Now I want you to try something, take a shovel, dig a six foot hole, go to some random person on the street, and say "hey look! I dug a hole to the heart of the earth!" He'll say "really? that's amazing!" Bring him to your 6 foot hole and he's going to laugh at you
The heart of the earth is the center of the earth, and if you know anything about earth science, you would know that the center of the earth is the perfect spot for hell. There's fire, there's darkness, what else could you want? And how else could you interpret this verse? Other than saying that a 6 foot hole is the heart of the earth
Ok, so Jesus died and went to hell... is that enough? There is one more important thing, and that is the blood of Jesus. Now a lot of people tend to ignore that