Communion Message
(Heaven is a free gift)
October 2-3, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

If there's one fear, one deep concern that often fills my mind and my heart is the possibility that someone who has been a part of our church or at least who has at least visited and worshiped with us on several occasions, should they arrive at the judgment bar of God and not to have known the way of salvation. Because ours is a teaching church in the sense that we go from passage to passage, and oft times the subject of that passage has to do with our Christian character or our Christian walk, there can be occasions when we may have a service where clarity as to the Gospel, we may have failed. That bothers me. 

Maybe you're here today and you're searching for God. You don't know what it is. You just know that there is something deep within you that keeps reaching out, and you're here today and you're interested in the things of God. We had a man in one of our services who works with a gentleman down in South San Francisco and Friday he said to him, you know I really, I really do need God. I don't know how to find Him, and the man of our church said, come to church on Sunday you'll find Him, and we read the tract, the Gospel, that all of us are going to do today. We're just going to believe that that man went home a different man. And I've asked the ushers to make sure that everyone present has this little tract. Do you have it with you? Because the reason for this, sometimes in the reading of something as well as hearing it, it stamps its truth indelibly so much clearer in our minds, and so I ask you to read it along with me, just follow it. We have plenty for everyone, and then for you that know Christ put this in your purse or tuck it in your pocket and someone this week, some day this week, pass this tract to someone else. Would you do that? If you're here and you want to know what it means to be saved, you're looking for God, listen. 

Do you know for sure that you're going to be with God in heaven? If God were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My heaven?" what would you say? You don't know? Well this little booklet has the best news you could ever hear! The few minutes it will take us to read these pages may be the most important moments we will ever spend! Do you know that the Bible tells how you can know for sure that you have eternal life and that you will go to be with God in heaven? John says, "These things I have written unto you... that ye may know that ye have eternal life..." (1 John 5:13) And here's how: The Bible says there are 5 things you need to know about eternal life: Number one: Heaven, that is eternal life, is a free gift! The Bible says, "...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) And because heaven is a gift, like any other genuine gift, it is not earned or deserved. No amount of personal effort, good works, or religious deeds can earn a place in heaven for anyone of us. The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9) Why is it that no man can earn his way to heaven? Because man is a sinner. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Sin is transgressing God's law and includes such things as lying, lust, cheating, deceit, anger, evil thoughts, immoral behavior, and just general rebellion against God. And because of this man cannot save himself. If you wanted to save yourself by good deeds, do you know how good you would have to be? Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) With such high standards, no one can save himself. However, in spite of our sin God is merciful and therefore does not want to punish us. This is because "...God is love." (1John 4:8) And He says, "...I have loved thee with an everlasting love..." (Jeremiah 31:3) But the same Bible which tells us that God loves us, also tells us that God is just and therefore He must punish sin. He says, "...(I) will by no means clear the guilty..." (Exodus 34:7) "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4) So you and I have a problem. God loves us and doesn't want to punish us, but He is just and He must punish the sin that's in us. So God solved this problem for us in the Person of Jesus Christ. Who is He? The Bible tells us clearly that He is the infinite God-Man. John says, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus)...and the Word (Jesus) was God. And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1,14) Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life, but while on earth what did He do? He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and He rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in heaven. Old Isaiah says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way. That's our rebellious life away from God. But the Lord hath laid on Jesus your sins and my sins. He died for us all. Jesus bore our sin in His body on the cross, and He now offers you eternal life (heaven) as a free gift. This gift is received by faith. Faith is the key that opens the door to heaven. Now most people misunderstand certain aspects of faith: Saving faith is not mere intellectual assent. That is like believing certain historical facts. The Bible says that the devil believes that there is a God. So believing that there is one God doesn't save us. And saving faith is not mere temporal faith, that is, trusting God for temporary crises, such as financial, or family, or physical needs. That's good, but it won't save you. What is a faith that saves us and takes us to heaven? It's this. It's trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. It means resting upon Christ alone and what He has done rather than on what you and I have done to try to get into heaven. The Bible makes it very clear. "...Believe (trust) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31) So you have just read the greatest story ever told about the greatest offer ever made by the greatest person who ever lived, His name is Jesus. The question that God is asking you now, would you like to receive this gift of eternal life? Let's read on. Because this is such an important matter, let's clarify just exactly what it involves. First of all, it means transferring your trust from what you have been doing to what Christ has done for you on the cross. Stop trying to work your way into heaven. Secondly, accept Christ as Savior. Open the door to your heart. Just say, Jesus I want You today to be my Savior. Look at, He says: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him..." (Revelation 3:20) You must receive Jesus Christ and make Him the Lord of our lives. Put Him in the "driver's seat" and we must repent, that is, it's important that we're willing to turn from anything that's in our life that does not please God. And He will reveal that to us. He will make it very sensitive to us. We must be willing to say, God, with Your help and with Your strength, I'll turn from this sin because I want to serve You dear Jesus. Now if that's what you really want to do we can go to God in prayer. Look at Romans 10:10 and 13, For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now if you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ came out of that tomb 2000 years ago, and that He died on the cross there for you, if you confess that with your mouth and believe it in your heart Paul says you shall be saved. So if you want to receive the gift of eternal life through Christ then let's pray. Let's all pray this prayer together. We'll all blend our voice, and if you're here, you're searching for God, just say this prayer as sincerely as you know how. Let's read it together, shall we? Lord Jesus Christ, I know I am a sinner and I do not deserve eternal life. But, I believe You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in heaven for me. Lord Jesus, come into my life; take control of my life; forgive my sins and save me. I repent of my sins and now place my trust in You for my salvation. I accept the gift of eternal life. Now we're all going to kneel, and if this is your prayer why don't you just on your knees in quiet say it all over to God again and mean it with the very depths of your heart.

Let's kneel together, shall we? Lord Jesus thank you for coming to this world 2000 years ago, taking upon yourself the form of a human being, taking our sin and becoming our substitute and dying in our stead, because we should have died. We're the ones that sinned. You didn't sin Jesus. We're the sinners. We've failed You. We've transgressed Your laws. We've lived life in rebellion against You and done our own thing, but we're empty today. We're searching. We're hungry, so we open our heart dear Jesus. Would You forgive us? Would You come by Your precious Holy Spirit and live within us. We want to turn from our sin, but we'll need Your help dear God. We'll need Your strength. We want to be a Christian today. We want to know that we have this gift of eternal life, so Jesus we just believe Your word and we trust You for it. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. Let's all say this together, shall we? Lord Jesus Christ, I love You, and I thank you for loving me. Amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?