BEWARE--ONLY ONE NARROW GATE LEADS TO HEAVEN

let's open our Bibles to the last book to the book of the revelation in a few moments we're actually going to back up in chapter 22 and look at verses though going from the very last verse that describes salvation onward so just be there and be prepared but allowing revelation to impact our lives today we are actually in the second time looking at this because there are four elements and we can't cram them all into one but we saw last time that only the Bible has the authoritative last word actual eyewitness account of heaven all others are either speculation or they're not true because only God reveals what is going on in heaven and by the way the Scriptures clearly say that those who have gone to heaven and come back never had the kind of the cavalier attitude we see in these books today where they just endlessly speculate the second thing we saw last time is that not only does God describe heaven he describes hell so God says there's an eternal heaven and hell and one is to be sought the others to be avoided at all costs but this morning God's voice from heaven in Revelation 4 and 5 demands one way of salvation and let me share that with you this morning there's only one road that leads to heaven and you say I know that's why we're here we that's why we have our Bible that's why we believe the truth of the Bible yes but across our country and around the world there's a growing chorus of voices saying you can't be exclusive you can't say that and and we have not yet fully understood what it means now that that the world is so connected events are starting to happen globally and we know the Bible says there's going to come a global event where everybody in the world is going to hate those who follow Jesus Christ and it used to be there are pockets of hatred but now that the worlds connected it's going to be universal and to me a very difficult time but there's only one road to heaven and what the Bible tells us is that we should be beware of the wrong pathway to heaven today religions all across America and around the world have have come to a place where they're presenting a gospel that is incorrect and let me show you what I mean by that the wrong pathway to heaven first of all is the religions that offer a bloodless path now you say what do you mean bloodless well every time the hymn books especially it came about and the the kind of national denominations when they redid the hymn books one of the things they did is they started slowly changing the wording so that blood wasn't in there because it's offensive to people to talk about Jesus shedding his blood they like to say he gave his life but they don't want that term blood so beware of a bloodless path to heaven secondly this path allows people a comfortable journey to heaven something about the new way to heaven is it's very comfortable it's kind of like first-class I mean it's air-conditioned soft seats no pain no struggle no coming to the point of of utter unworthiness before the Lord in fact that's gone out of the hymns to remember for such a worm has I as it used to say in the great old hymns no no we aren't worms you know we're we're great they walk upright and unbowed they go with their own speed and their own strength and most of all they get to follow their own path to heaven that is the wrong pathway to heaven too self-styled in my own strength the way I want to do it at my own speed you know I'm gonna do this and work it out is wrong some try to head to heaven by way of mystical religious experience boy that sells well people love to be doing something to go to heaven and so if they can go to a mystical place or if they can have a mystical experience or if they can hear something no one else has ever heard before by the way if you hear something especially it's taught from the Bible that you've never heard before if nobody in the history of Bible study interpretation has ever ever ever come up with that idea it would be something to really look closely at every time someone says they just found out the most recent you know manuscript that that some piece of paper they found in some part of the desert said something about Jesus had a wife and the I mean the news won't report major events and scandals but if they find one shred of something that is shocking about the Bible or Christianity it's on every newscast people always want some mystical or some rigorous ascetic denial people love to to earn their way to heaven another wrong pathway is some follow the road to heaven designed by their church and what's interesting those churches often say you know you don't have to worry about the Bible just do what we tell you to do and there are both Catholics and Protestants and others by their synagogues the Jews and and they they carefully follow what their religious leaders tell them rather than as Martin Luther said unless I can be convinced by the plain reading of the scripture see that hallmark is what the Lord has said that we must personally receive the engrafted word that's the right road to heaven others by their temples the Mormons the Buddhists the Hindus the Shintoist others by their prophet the Muslims the Scientologists the cultists all of them have a pathway that the church synagogue or temple tells him about that they have never personally discerned by a personal direct communion with the infinite god of the universe who has revealed himself in his word others go on a road to somewhere they designed it themselves they're not sure even where it's going and they're the secularists and the atheists and the evolutionists but any road that anyone travels it doesn't match the road we see in Revelation which is a culmination of all of the Scriptures it's the last book for a reason and and if we don't see the characteristics that God reveals in the orchestration of the worship of the redeemed in heaven then they're on the wrong road now now think about this what's so unique about the book of Revelation is the book of Revelation we get to see who makes it to heaven chapter 22 where we're gonna read in a moment if if those in chapter 22 don't look like the road that you're on then you're on the wrong road because those you see in chapter 22 of Revelation are the ones that are there forever see that's that's the value of this book and the study and the blessing of it because any road that anyone travels that doesn't match the road we see in Revelation is not a road that goes to heaven because those are the people that are in heaven well there are two completely different destinations any other way than the way of God's Word is the way that heads straight to hell by the way the first stop through the door of the grave called Hades and we've we've talked about that at length the grave is where dark terrors you know we're heading toward you know this is a month that that everybody spends it's become what the second or third largest holiday in in terms of billions of dollars spent in America and primarily the overtone of it is horror death grave and a cultic background and and it's amazing that people kind of enjoy that as a holiday but the grave is where dark terrors greet each new arrival awaiting their turn to stand before the great white throne judge and we know who's going to sit on the great white throne because John five tells us already that the one sitting on the throne is nother than Jesus Christ the Lord the son of the Almighty God and everybody that dies awakens apart from those in Christ in this terror of having to face the one that they either neglected or rejected and that's that's the true destination of those who don't come the way of the Word of God this morning we're going to note the contrast between the joyous delights of the Church of the firstborn by the way that's what the people in heaven are called they're called the Church of the firstborn in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews and it says that there's an innumerable company infest Oh celebration like a giant festival like a huge wonderful banquet celebration and what a contrast between that and the horrible plight of all the others only God gives the last word on this destination and on the roads out of this life and the only way to have it now that's why there are a lot of things we can know in life you know we can be an expert on all kinds of stuff I've met people that are experts and the most amazing things this past spring when I bought my hive or nook of Michigan bees I've always I'm a beekeeper I used to have only Georgia bees because you get them through the mail you know if it's on Amazon it's good but I never realized they died every year because they weren't Michigan bees and so I bought some Michigan bees and I had no idea that the person I bought him from was the professor the doctor a woman over all the bee studies at University of Michigan I got a lot more than bees I mean she just started explaining every everything about the bees and I thought there and she was a a bee disease expert she knew every kind of bees from the Amazon to the Himalayas and what diseases they had and how to treat him and and I didn't think I wasn't getting my bees in the trunk I mean because there were so many things I was learning about bees did you know you can spend it's wonderful I'm glad because she's helping many countries not have their bees die but did you know there's a lot of things you can spend your life learning but make sure you learn that last point the only way to heaven has explained once and for all by God in his word the Bible don't trust what anybody else says check it yourself I mean it's so interesting people when when when they go the ATM they check to make sure that the ATM didn't cheat them and when people get changed they check and when people you know buy something they examine it but people will blindly head toward the the afterlife and have personally check if they have reservations see that's what revelation challenges us to know the God who tells us about the end well there's only one completely clear pathway to heaven and by the way that I checked and I read the stats here according to to those who who regulate all this that the average person now will live seven the eight point three years and so we have inside of us now that's the average person that's blending everybody in America together and of course your your health habits and your sex and your genetic makeup are all going to factor into that but the average person will live seventy eight point three years so all that to say each of us in our body has an internal mortality clock that's counting down to death it's kind of like if you have a wireless mouse you go up there bluetooth you look at it and tells you have 18 percent battery left did you know that there is an exact countdown and the Lord says we each have an appointment with death and it's counting down just like your battery indicator just like whatever else your balance it's counting down this internal mortality clock counting down to death of how many breaths of how many heartbeats and of how many moments are left for us to live so no matter what we do God has programmed us all to inescapably face death of our bodies and that's what the vast majority the vast vast vast majority of every human being that will ever live now to have not died you know Enoch and Elijah other than those two everybody else has this countdown in this clock running other than a very few that will be alive when Jesus comes to take his church out of this world but other than that this clock is counting down inescapably toward death all humans will go to the grave except for those whom God has promised whoever lives and believes in me that's Jesus Christ he'll never die for us he comes or calls for us who believe that promise he comes either in the clouds or he calls for us to walk us personally through the valley of the shadow of death but that's the one completely clear pathway to heaven so the most crucial question everyone should be asking is how do I escape death how do I escape that waiting room how do I escape the horrors of the grave awaiting facing the judge either neglected or rejected and you'd think that that would just be headline news instead of you know Fox comes riots and China that might slow up the iPhone production did you know they're making iPhones faster than people are being born into the world you want to know one thing that's exceeding the the birth rate iPhone production there are more of those made every day than people born and it's just it's just unbelievable oh that's a great thing to know but do you know when your clock time runs out where you're going you'd think people would worry or wonder well the final word on who makes it heaven now we're going to get to Revelation 20 to attach to the picture that we have in Revelation of the beauty of heaven attached to the picture our instructions instructions the instructions are all about who and how to get there who gets there and how they got there and that's the most important information it's the most fascinating information to me I could think of so the final word on who makes it to heaven look look at revelation 22:17 I'm just there's too many of these and I don't I don't want you to miss them so don't stand up just follow along in your Bible okay and by the way did you know this is the most precious possession there could be in the world if there's anything that is that is the most precious thing you could ever own or purchase or have it's your very own direct recording of God telling you everything that is vital for for life and godliness to understand life and to understand how to be in heaven godliness look at verse 17 the first one those in heaven drank the water of life which Jesus explained was the Spirit of God this is what it says and the Spirit of the bride say come and let him who hears say come and let him who thirsts come whoever desires let him take the water of life freely you know what the ending of Revelation says that the people that get to heaven are the people who personally drink of the water of life those who personally as Jesus said have that fountain that becomes a river flowing out of their life and he said I'm referring John 7:38 39 to the Holy Spirit you see everybody that's in heaven it's because the Holy Spirit has from the inside regenerated them they have drank you know it's interesting you have to drink for yourself it's wonderful to watch everybody around you drinking it doesn't do you any good effect it harms you a little bit you want some and and that's the personal nature Jesus called salvation like eating and like drinking so number one the final word on who makes it to heaven is those in heaven those that we see are going to be in heaven are those that have drunk of the water of life look at the verse before it we're backing up look at verse 16 it says in verse 16 I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches remember this whole book is written for the church for us who are alive right now in these last days it's look if he recalls it that the last days have started from the cross of Christ and they go until the end of days for this earth but the last days are while we're here in the church and you know what Jesus said to us he says verse 16 I Jesus have sent my angel to testify these things in the churches I want these things in the churches testified I want the book of Revelation sadly it hasn't been testified very much over the centuries but I want them to know that I am the root and the offspring of David I am the bright and Morning Star those in heaven believed that Jesus was who he said he was by the way Jesus to be saved we must believe Jesus is who he said he was now who we make him out to be now who we and reinterpret him to be not who we you know disregard the the factual account - to make him into something else you know who he is he's the root the root of David David lived a thousand years before Christ chronologically but Jesus is his root that means David came from Christ what does that mean how could that be Jesus is the creator he's when it created David and everybody else he is the creator of this universe he is the one that allows and grant conception and life he's also the offspring of David that means Jesus is the promised seed he's the Messiah through Abraham Isaac and David's line not through Ishmael or anybody else you know there's people they say well the you know the Moslems believe in the same God we do no they don't because their God didn't proclaim that a promised seed would come through Abraham Isaac Jacob and his descended and through him the Messiah and Jesus said that's who I am I am the root and the offspring of David here's another one just to look at in verse 15 if you back up to the next verse but outside are dogs and sorcerers that's interesting word source or pharmakeia those who are controlled their their their will their their bodies their minds are controlled by drugs that open them to the occult you know what's so interesting and I you know don't advocate too much of this but if you ever want to read something that's amazing read about the accounts of what these LSD takers see and how horrible it is because what happens with mind-altering drugs it opens up to see more of the spiritual world than most of us are used to seeing and those people when they open to the occult and to witchcraft into pharmakeia and to sorcery as this word sorcerers those who who use drugs for this occultic purposes they're outside they're not in heaven and sexually immoral you know what sexually immoral means any sexuality outside the the boundaries of a covenant marriage between a man and a woman everything else including living together and trying it out and only doing it once and you know tax reasons and I don't have an apartment or whatever and we got to live together everything else is sexual immorality and they who never repent of that are outside they're not in heaven it's interesting those in heaven repented of their sins and were set free from these six or seven enslaving sins that are listed in verse 15 the immoral the murderers the idolaters that's anybody who places anything higher than God whoa you don't have to go to Mecca and bow down at the black cube to be an idolatry you don't have to go to the Great Buddha standing pagoda Buddha over in the Orient you can just think your job your money your sports your looks your career is more important than God in its idolatry that's why the last verse of first John says little children he's talking to the church he's talking to Christians first John 5:21 keep yourselves from idols what's idols it's a covetous desire for something greater than God a lot of idolatry going on in fact the latest little political cartoon I saw it was very fascinating it said this this is what in 30 years the rest homes are going to be filled with and it was a whole bunch of people all like this and their hands were like this and what it's saying is that everyone for so long it's going to be hunched / and and you know doing there they're keying their texting and everything else that they're all gonna be like this in the with their hands you know over texted in their bodies over bent but you know what there's an idle yummy people will be online almost all day long and they can't remember the last time they listen to the voice of God that means online is more important than God that's called idolatry and if you never repent of that the scriptures say that your outside if if God is always less than everything else then you can't claim that you're one of his redeemed ones because his redeem ones overcome the sirens of the world that draw us away from him well not to stay too long in verse fifteen verse 14 says those in heaven were doers they weren't just hearers of God's Word look what it says in 14 blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the Tree of Life they may enter through the gates into the city do you know who's in heaven not the ones that heard it not the ones that thought it was great to hear it not the ones that knew all about it those that didn't just hear it but did it that's why Jesus said in in Matthew 7 effect Lord willing next week we're going to come back to the final point the final point is the book of Revelation reveals to us how to know in this life who is really part of God's family and what we're going to do is we're going to see the gospel presentations in Revelation and show them how clearly they really line up with what Jesus Christ Himself said but those who are doers finally if you want to go to right at the beginning of the 22nd chapter look at verse 3 those in heaven the people we see in heaven the final word on who makes it to heaven the people that are there are those who serve God in the lamb during their lives on earth and they just keep on doing it into heaven look what it says and there should be no more curse but the throne of God and the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve Him do you know who's in heaven people who were serving God in the land those who are here is bondservants and that's what they're called in this life too and that's how they behave as servants belonging to God well the foundational truths that guide us through this life last time we saw God's voice from heaven describes the real heaven we also saw God's voice from heaven declares there's an eternal heaven in hell this week we see that God demands one way of salvation the only way to heaven is through having imputed to you by faith and that's what all of revelation 4 and 5 is about this this faith in the redemptive blood soaks substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross which were celebrating a communion which is described in the Word of God now the only way to heaven is faith in that substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus and the truth we each need to settle our minds and hold tightly to in the days ahead is this beware of other ways of salvation that bypass Jesus God's voice from heaven says the only way to heaven is that way the substitute way you say why do you bring that up well beware of other ways that bypassed heaven there's a nice-looking guy in that picture I mean it looks a little bit like mr. Rogers you know if you ever watched children's television and this guy is an esteemed Boston College theologian Boston College's of Catholic University and he is a Roman Catholic scholar and he is revered by those that read those kind of books and just one of his books ecumenical jihad accumulative or he wrote during the time when I was doing my doctoral work at Dallas and so I remember picking up that book right there ecumenical jihad and I picked it up and I started reading it and basically it's a story he says that during Hurricane Felix or something I'd never heard of that one violent when it was but he was walking down the shore and a massive wave generated by the hurricane out in the ocean knocked him down and caused him Peter Kreeft to fall on the beach his head hit Iraq the wave buried him and yeah it's one of those books going to heaven and and that's what this is about it's his account of going to heaven and he says when he got to heaven he's just wiping away the seawater and he looked up and the smiling beaming oriental man reached down and lifted him up and says welcome to heaven and he said who are you and he says I am Confucius he said you're here Confucius said yes and you have much to learn and he took him along and they bumped into another oriental guy it was Buddha himself Mahatma and he said you're here too Peter Kreeft asked him Buddha says yes you have much to learn Peter they were walking toward more into the realm of heaven and they bumped into a middle-eastern guy guess who was there yeah Mohammed and then finally they saw Jew well glad one made it you know Moses was there too and this whole book believe it or not is his out-of-body story about how actually all religions are kind of going the same way and if you will just set aside and jettison your your your antagonistic holding to controversial things you'll find that all the religions say the same thing you know that's what ecumenical things are about accumulated rhop doctrinal differences to advance the good that's what it's all about well I thought that books terrible and so I put it down and and as soon as I put it down I started setting it on the desk and I looked at the back cover and there were two of the most well known Christians in the world on the back cover of that book it's amazing crease whole book was about dropping the offense of the cross taking the heart of the gospel away and and as I shut the book and put it down on the back cover were these recommendations well who were they well number one the first was by J I Packer and it wasn't so I mean there's nothing wrong with reviewing a book review any book you want be careful what you say you know what J I Packer said he said Catholics Protestants northa doxa light need to ponder Peter crease vision of things preferably in discussion now look at though what if he's right creeped right confucius in heaven do you think confucius fits in that picture do you think that Mohammed fits in a picture or Buddha all the self-help work Eastern religion do it on your own earn your way to heaven what what if he's right Wow how about Chuck Colson he was the other one on there you know and he said Peter Kreeft is one of the premier apologists in America today apologists for what now I'm not saying anything about ji or or Chuck Colson's Souls but you say that's hard to believe well you know what you can do just what I did I checked it out yesterday once again just go to google and type the words Amazon Creeft ecumenical in Jihad that's Amazon the author and the title of the book and you will get the the look inside link you know that's when Amazon let you read inside of any book hoping you'll buy it and just turn to the link this is back cover and you'll see right in the midst of Confucius Muhammad and Buddha being in heaven with Moses J I Packer say and what if he's right and Colson saying he's premier well there's only one way to get to heaven and that's faith in the substitute substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus beware of any way of salvation that bypasses Christ any and anybody that says that is dangerous and Paul said if anybody brings to you any other gospel than the gospel I have shared with you then let them be an anthem a curse from the presence of God God is serious about salvation revelation five and four six and I looked and behold in the midst of the throne the four living creatures in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain we come to communion to worship the one who said he gave himself for each of us individually that's the Christ who became sin who became our substitute who allowed God to treat him like he committed every one of our sins that's the gospel in fact when Charles Wesley at age 31 understood salvation he wrote these words and can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood die deep for me I'm the one who caused his pain for me I'm going to put him to death see that's the words of a safe person they don't talk in generalities about the world and about sin they go me kind of like when the Pharisee in the publican went to the temple and the Pharisee said man I'm glad I'm not as bad as all these people around me and the publican couldn't even lift up his face he said God be merciful to me the sinner you know what he said I'm the worst sinner I know in the world in the universe I am and I don't I don't merit even your attention but if you want to be merciful to me that was Wesley's testimony amazing love how can it be that thou my god should die for me and then he ended and said no condemnation now I dread Jesus and all in him is mine alive in him my living had clothed in his righteousness divine that's how we get to heaven not by following oh by the way I didn't tell you about what Crieff said that Muhammad Confucius and Buddha all agreed to they all agree he found out because he's been studying this his whole life that Buddhism Shintoism Confucianism and Islam and Hinduism all Revere Mary net amazing that's the unifying element that's going to in revelation 17 unite world religions is Mary and isn't it funny that all these out-of-body people that go to heaven see her right next to Jesus interceding well no condemnation I'd read because Jesus is mine and I can approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ and His amazing love how can it be that thou my god should sty for me at communion we remember the price at Christ paid let's bow for word of prayer as we bow invite the elders and deacons to go and prepare to serve us and I invite you with head bowed to prepare for communion make sure your hands are clean and your heart is pure only Jesus can cleanse both and he has said that though once of rawley's forgiven us we have to be confessing our sins and agreeing with him and asking him to make us so that we don't partake in an unworthy way of this table and so our job right now is to say I repent I asked for your cleansing from all the ways that I have failed and disobeyed you and I thank you that you already once and for all have forgiven me but I want you to cleanse me let's do that so with pure hearts and clean hands we can worship Him this morning Father we bow before you we thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ your son that cleanses us not from some not from many but from all unrighteousness and we are those who have gathered to celebrate that you gave yourself for us we asked for your cleansing now by the grace that causes your sacrifice to atone once and for all but to cleanse us moment by moment because as we walk through life our lives do get get dirty like feet walking in the dust and we have to have those feet cleanse though our whole body has already been purified by your sacrifice we have to have that cleansing for fellowship and I pray that we'd be able to fellowship with you through this celebration of communion and that this will be a rich offering to you on this fellowship Sunday thank you for the bread your body portrayed given for us we thank you in the precious name of Jesus amen you

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Keywords: Bible, God, Jesus, Christian, teaching, biblical, teach, sermon, trinity, church, lesson, traditional, truth, true, divine, theology, freedom, guilt, testament, pure, interpret, spirit, holy, John, Barnett, christ, father, heaven, hell, doctrine, doctrinal, sinful, forgive, forgiveness, history, teachings, chapters, verses, discover, the book, ministries, dtbm, Dr. Barnett, controversial, repent, helpful, sin, the, book, dr, john, doctor, barnett, training, videos, series, resources, savior, god, jesus

Id: CfhV3uXq6Hw

Length: 36min 14sec (2174 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2020