I would like to talk with you for a moment about eternity. My question for you is actually quite simple. Do you know what will happen to you when you die? You’ll notice that I didn’t say “if you die” but “when you die.” It is a fact that you and I will die one day. The point is, you will spend eternity somewhere – but where? Well, I have some good news for you! You can know for sure you’ll go to heaven when you die – not hope so , or maybe so , but know so. You might be saying right about now, “Yeah, right! No one can possibly know for sure in this life that they’re going to heaven, can they?” The answer is an unequivocal YES! But to know this , it has to be God’s way and not ours. Interested? Please read on.

When God created man, He created him sinless or without blemish. God gave man a simple command that he was not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and that if he did, he would surely die (die spirtually). Satan came and tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. She ate and gave to Adam, who also ate of the fruit. The result was that sin had been commited. Sin is the transgression of the law of God. The LORD detailed his law in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments reflect the righteousness of God, Who is absolute perfection. He has never sinned and He cannot sin. However, His righteousness demands that sin be judged and paid for. God createdhell for the Devil and his angels, but when Adam sinned, all of mankind fell under the curse of sin and the penalty of eternal damnation – a place called Hell.

With mankind in cerain etenal peril, God set into motion His master plan to save a lost mankind. No angel or ordinary man could do what must be done. A remedy for mans’ situation must be found as man was/is eternally doomed.

So God, Himself, provided a remedy. He sent His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ to come to this earth and take on the flesh of man so that He could take mans’ sins upon Himself and be judged for sin in mans’ place. He shed his blood and died, then rose from the dead, thereby having complete and total victory over sin. “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.” (John 3:16) Because Christ did in fact offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, God the Father accepted the LORD’s sacrifice, and the Lord Jesus rose from the dead!

Now, all who repent ( changing their mind and heart about sin, and asking Christ to be their LORD and personal Saviour) have eternal life. (Romans 10:13)

This is the greatest news anyone anywhere, will ever read or hear. If you would like to be sure you will go to heaven when you die, send us an email and we will respond promptly. I pray that if you’re not saved, you will turn to Christ before it is eternally too late.

But for the grace of God, His servant and yours,

Pastor Robert A. Sorensen

The word happiness is defined as being “favored by luck or fortune.” In other words, happiness is understood as being dependent upon circumstances or happenings. We all enjoy and appreciate itn when circumstances are favorable and things are happening which are in our favor. It is easy to be happy when we have our health, our needs are met, and things seem to be going our way. However, Habakkuk speaks of a place of joy that is not the result of these things. He speaks of trees failing to blossom, vines being barren, fields yeilding no fruit, flocks being lost, and yet being able to rejoice. I think we all long for a place of constant joy that is not affected by every problem of life. There is no question about this; God wants our lives to be filled with joy. However, our rejoicing must be in something that is constant, not constantly changing. For instance, if we can only rejoice when the sun is shining, what shall we do on rainy days? If we can only find joy when we are feeling well, what are we to do when we are in pain? Circumstances will change, but some things never change. Our rejoicing can be consistent if we are finding joy in things that remain the same. Habakkuk says, “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” We can always rejoice in the Lord because He never changes. His character and attributes never change. God’s love for us is constant. His promises to us are unchanging. Notice also that the prophet speaks of rejoicing in the “God of my salvation.” We can always rejoice in our salvation because this is always something that does not change. We can be joyful because our sins are forgiven and Heaven is our future home. Nothing can alter that. We can rejoice every day that God is our Father and Jesus is our Lord. The kind of rejoicing that we find in our text is not based on feelings or fortune, but it is the result of Bible faith. By faith, we can rejoice because of the blessings that are ours in Jesus Christ. Even when the way becomes difficult, through faith we are able to find reasons to rejoice.

Pastor Robert A. Sorensen
Bethany Baptist Church