## How To Know

## Revelation 21:1-4

Elaborate on this portion of Scripture. Tears will be wiped away. No more death. No sorrow. No crying. No more pain. These are all physical feelings that mankind is faced with everyday.

Oh! what a blessed time it will be when we all get to heaven. There are those who approach the subject of going to heaven as "If". I want you to know that it is certain.

I do not need to prove to you that there is a heaven. I do not need to prove to you that some day you will die. Probably every person in this auditorium believes in heaven as soundly and as surely as I do; yet I find many who do not know if they will go to heaven when they die. How dreadful. How sad.

How can one be so sure of heaven? How can a person be so assured that there are no anxieties with them concerning this matter of going to heaven?

Going to heaven is more than just having a hope or a desire to go.

God will not open the doors of heaven and welcome us in just because we have a certain last name.

If we go to heaven it will not be because we were members of a certain church somewhere.

Going to heaven will not happen to a person because they attained a certain level of importance or wealth.

Going to heaven is a very definite and pre-determined action that we must take.

I know that I am going to heaven, so because of that fact and the assurance that I have, let me share with you some reasons why I know I am going to heaven.

I. Because of the Pages of the Scripture.

A. Many Bible Passages Teach And Tell Us About Going To Heaven.

1. The central theme of the entire Bible is Jesus Christ.

2. His sole purpose for coming to the earth was to bring redemption to mankind.

3. Therefore every page of the Bible is in some way connected with going to heaven.

4. Every verse is interrelated in some way with the theme of heaven.

B. It is in the Scriptures that we are introduced to the Savior.

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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." (1 John 5:12-13)

1. "that hath the Son hath life."

a. What kind of life is this talking about?

b. Terminal life?

c. Short life?

d. This life on earth?

e. No! it is talking about eternal life.

2. "that ye may know".

a. That's positive.

b. I can know, and you can know.

c. All of God's children can know.

d. To doubt any longer means that you don't believe that Scripture.

e. To hang on to the teaching that man cannot know is to disbelieve this Scripture.

3. "that ye have eternal life".

a. That verse tells us that every Christian is going to live forever somewhere, doesn't it?

b. Where do you suppose a Christian will live forever?

c. It is very clear that a child of God will live forever in heaven.

C. We can know that we are going to heaven because the Bible tells us, that if we have Christ we have eternal life.

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)

II. Because of the Promise of God.

The Sovereignty Of God is a theological term which refers to the unlimited power of God, who has sovereign control over the affairs of nature and history.

With His control, He has already worked out the entire plan of redemption for mankind. · He promises us that this has been done.

A. Note: Adam and Eve

1. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, God immediately told him about His promise to send a Saviour.

2. He told Adam there was no need to attempt to cover his own sin, that He, the Sovereign, had already promised to send His Son.

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" (Eph 1:4)

3. You see, before there was a sinner, there was the Saviour.

4. God had already made the promise to all of heaven and the universe that there would come a Saviour to save man from his sins.

5. Adam had not even been created yet, but the promise was already made.

6. The need was not yet, but the solution was already.

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isa 7:14)

B. "The Lord Himself..."

1. It is God that was sinned against.

2. It is God that must be appeased of sin.

3. It is God that demands the payment.

4. It is God that pronounces the penalty of sin.

5. It is God that must deal with sin.

6. Therefore God made the promise to take care of man's sins even before there was a man.

C. Humanistic thinking attempts to place man in the place of God, thus declaring what his own justification must be, but God is Sovereign.

1. Nothing can be more sure than the promise of the Sovereign God.

2. If God says it, He will perform it.

3. We can know that we are going to heaven because of the pages of the Scripture and the promise of the Sovereign God.

III. Because of the Provision of the Savior.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" (Rom 3:25)

"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left." (Luke 23:33)

A. "...There they crucified Him.."

1. That was the provision for our sin.

2. That was necessary because of our sin.

3. Had He not gone to Calvary, there would be no provision for our sin.

B. Why?

Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Naught of good that I have done, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

1. We can know that we are going to heaven because of the provision of the Savior.

2. He took my place.

3. I should have been crucified. I should have been crucified; I should have suffered and died, I should have hung on the cross in disgrace, But Jesus, God's Son, took my place.

4. We can know whether you will go to heaven or not, because of the pages of the Scripture, the promise of the Sovereign God, and the provision of the Blessed Saviour.

IV. How Can You Prepare for Heaven?

A. Believe the Scriptures.

B. Trust in the Sovereign God.

C. Accept the provision of the Savior.