PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM! AND! FOR AMERICA!
Dear reader,
I am Tom Sweeny, your host on the SignPost web site. and I want to thank you for taking the time to read and consider the things I will share with you here.
It is the purpose of this SIGN POST to give you an invitation to follow the path that leads to life eternal.
Shortly before Jesus was to die on the cross at Calvary, and pass on to eternal life; His apostle Thomas asked Him this question, in:
John, Chapter 14: Verses 5-6:
"LORD, we do not know where you are going; and how can we
know the way? Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
me."
Jesus was pointing Thomas towards the path or road that leads to eternal life, and away from the road that leads us to destruction. Jesus said in:
Matthew, Chapter 7: Verses 13-14:
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life, and only a few find it."
Before you continue along your road of life, the LORD invites you to turn in at the narrow gate and follow this narrow road that leads to life.
Jesus is the narrow gate way that leads to the path of eternal life! And He offers us that eternal life with Him in heaven as a gift.
Most of my life, I believed that I had to be good enough and do enough good things to deserve and earn my way in to heaven, because I was told that: "maybe if you are good enough, and do enough good things, you will go to heaven." Well, I knew for sure, that if I had to do enough good things or be good enough in God's sight, to earn the right to go to heaven, that I was definitely going to hell. And then a friend shared with me the good news that heaven is a free gift, it is not earned nor deserved.
The Bible says in: Ephesians, Chapter 2: Verses 8-9:
"That by grace you're saved through faith, and that not of
your selves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any
one should boast."
I believe this can be seen more clearly, when we see what the Bible says about man: Man is a sinner, and can not save him self.
We read in: Romans, Chapter 3: Verse 23:
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
So, if we try to earn the right to enter in to heaven our selves, then we must do it according to God's standard.
Jesus said, in: Matthew, Chapter 5: Verse 48:
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is
perfect."
which means we have to be perfect and with out sin in God's eyes.
we saw above in the scripture: Romans, Chapter 3: Verse 23
"That all have sinned". so we know, even as I did at the
age of twelve, that we aren't and can't be perfect.
Let me give you an illustration... Suppose I only did three things wrong in God's sight in a day. Some one might think I was a reasonably decent person by our standards. And suppose for instance, I didn't forgive some one for some thing they did to me, I used profane or vulgar language and lied to some one, for what ever reason. In a years time that adds up to one thousand ninety five sins in one year. And over an average life time of seventy years it adds up to seventy six thousand six hundred fifty sins. You can easily see that if God's standard for me to get in to heaven on my own, is to live a perfect life, that there is no way I can offer my life up to God and expect Him to except it.
Let me put it a different way... Lets Suppose my wife and I invited you over for breakfast. And we were preparing omelets as one of the dishes we were going to serve for breakfast. And after getting all the other ingredients ready, my wife began breaking the eggs in to the pan with the previously prepared ingredients and the second egg she broke in to the pan turned out to be rotten. No matter how many good ingredients were in the pan, we could in no way offer that to you! And in the same way, we can not offer our very imperfect lives up to God with sin in them. How ever, even though we do sin, the living God still loves us more than words can clearly express!
God says, In: Jeremiah, Chapter 31: Verse 3:
"Yea, I have loved you with an ever lasting love."
When we look at what the Bible has to say about God, we see that God is merciful, and therefore does not want to punish us. But, God is also just, and must punish our sins.
Psalm 89:32:
"I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with
flogging".
Now this creates a problem. On the one hand, God, is very
merciful, and says in: Jeremiah, Chapter 31: Verse 3:
"Yea, I have loved you with an ever lasting love."
And on the other hand, being a just God, He says:
Psalm 89:32:
I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with
flogging;"
and also: Ezekiel 18:4-B
"the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
God solved this problem, by His mercy and grace, through Jesus Christ His Son, who gave His life on the cross at Calvary, to pay for all of our sins. Yes, He paid for all my sins and yours! That is an awesome thing for God and His Son to do! And a very hard thing to understand.
Let me explain it this way... Suppose you were driving from your home to another city, that was a long way off, to see some family members. And you had been on the road for many hours, and were in a big hurry to get there and rest. And so were speeding well over the speed limit as you approached your final destination. A police man pulls you over and gives you a very costly speeding ticket. And at the appointed time, as you are walking in to traffic court, you are wondering where you are going to find the money in your already severely stretched budget to pay this ticket. Then, you look up and see the judge in his black robes, sitting on the bench, waiting to confront you on this matter. And amazed, you realize that the judge sitting on the bench, is your uncle, who loves you and is a very merciful man. But there is no way he can just let you off. In fact, when the police man finishes giving his evidence, the judge has no choice but to charge you the maximum amount of the ticket. How ever, after the judgment is handed down, the judge comes down from the bench, and takes off his black robes and pays your fine for you.
This is what Jesus has done for us! He gave up all that He had in heaven, and came to the Earth as a little baby. Jesus grew up and preached the good news of the gospel and then gave His life on the cross to pay for my sins and yours. Not just the things we have done wrong up until today; but for every wrong thing we will do from the day of our conception, to the day of our death.
Remember the verse from the Bible we saw above? It said in:
Ephesians, Chapter 2: Verses 8-9:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any
man should boast."
So, we can't ever be good enough to deserve to get in to heaven, but, Jesus Christ is the infinite God man. He died to pay for our sins, and to purchase a place in heaven for us, which He offers as a free gift. This gift is received by faith.
Faith is very much like a three legged stool. The first leg of the stool is believing that God is and is a rewarder of those who do good. He created all of the heavens and the earth, and you and I. He created our eyes and ears, and so can certainly hear and see all that goes on in all the earth and universe.
The second leg of the stool is understanding that God is not way off in outer space, sitting up in Heaven, uncaring about what goes on, on the earth. The Bible says, in:
2 Chronicles, Chapter 16: Verse 9:
"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of
them whose heart is perfect toward him."
God is definitely watching over us! There is no where you can go that He isn't there with you, and He is there no matter what trials and problems you are having. The LORD wants us to trust in Him and call on Him when things are going bad, and when they are going well also.
And the third leg of our three legged stool is concerning our soul, and whether we are going to spend eternity in a very real Hell, or in an equally real Heaven. This leg of our stool of Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation.
So, our three legged stool of faith consists of:
Jesus said this, in John, Chapter 3: Verses 16 through 18:
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son
of God."
Now because of what Jesus has done for us, by paying for our sins on the cross, since we could not in any way do it our selves. We need to put our trust in His finished work on our behalf at Calvary, and, the LORD being our helper, turn from our sins in repentance, confessing them to Him when we fail. And ask for His forgiveness, which He is very willing to do!
The LORD said in 1 John, Chapter 1: Verse 9:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
And Jesus gives you this personal invitation to invite Him in to your heart as your LORD and savior.
He says in the book of Revelation, Chapter 3: Verse 20:
"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
him, and he with me."
I encourage you to open the door of your heart, and ask Jesus to come in and be LORD of your life, and put your trust in Him as your savior now. If you do, you will have eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD, who is the narrow gate that we must enter into heaven through. And just so you will know that these promises are not from me, but are straight from the Bible. And so you will know that having put your trust in Jesus, that you have eternal life. Here is what Jesus and the Bible its self says:
Jesus said, in John, Chapter 6: Verse 47:
"Truly Truly I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life."
And we read in 1 John, Chapter 5: Verse 13:
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of
the Son of God."
If you have invited Jesus in to your heart, as LORD of your life and trusted in Him as the savior of your soul; I want to welcome you as a member of the body of Christ, and as a member of His church!
If you are still considering doing so, I ask you to reach out to God in prayer, and ask the living God what you should do. And then, act on the answer you receive. The LORD is worthy of your complete trust!
The bible says in Proverbs 30:5:
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that
put their trust in him.
I do not have all the answers, but if you have questions, I will try to answer them my self. or else, try to find an answer for you.
Please send any questions you have, in English only. And the answers will also need to be sent back in English.
You can Send questions or comments to:
Tom Sweeny, WebMaster@TheSignPost.org
Trust in the LORD with all your heart!
Tom Sweeny, your host