Where Do You Want to Go, Eternally?
By Hugh and Melissa Morgan
Published by eaglesnesthome.com, Smashwords Edition
Copyright Hugh and Melissa Morgan 2010
License Notes: This free e-book may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration, and the reader is not charged to access it.
Cover Design by Lorianna Morgan
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Where Do You Want to Go, Eternally?
Table of Contents
Part One - What Is the Truth about Eternity?
Part Two - I’ve Broken the Commandments!
Part Three - Taste and See
Part Four - Who Was Jesus, Anyway?--Good Man, Crazy Man, Son of God?
Part Five - The Real Jesus Claimed to be God and Performed Miracles
Part Six - Jesus Fulfilled Prophesy and Rose from the Dead
Part Seven - Jesus Is God
Bonus - Resources for Further Study
About the Authors and Illustrator
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Part One
What Is the Truth about Eternity?
Some people want to go to oblivion. They want to die, and that is the end. Others want to go to heaven. They hope to be good enough, through their own efforts.
Logically, it doesn't really matter what we want. The only thing that matters is what is true.
What if heaven and hell exist? Can you be good enough to go to heaven? Here's a quick self-quiz to find out where you're going, eternally:
Have you ever:
Told a lie?
Disobeyed your parents?
Stolen, even something small?
Have you lusted?
Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you are guilty of adultery!
Read out loud, Exodus XX.
"Then God spoke all these words, saying,
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."--Exodus 20:1-17 (New American Standard Bible)
Read the Ten Commandments in more translations and languages, visit the 10 Commandments Project: http://www.eaglesnesthome.com/10comm.htm
Download free Ten Commandments Wallpaper at http://www.christian-wallpaper.com/ten-commandments/.
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Part Two
What if you (like me) have sinned--broken God's guidelines in the 10 Commandments? First, here’s the bad news.
The Bible says that those who are guilty of breaking any of the Ten Commandments--even one time--will die. This scripture does not refer to physical death, which every person will experience. "Death" here is spiritual death, or eternal separation from God.
Faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
Read the following verses from the Bible out loud:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
A holy, righteous God cannot allow sin into heaven. If He did, heaven would be corrupted. God did not prepare hell for people, but for Satan and his evil followers. However, if we die separated from God we have nowhere to go except to hell.
Hell is a real place. There is fire, smoke, flesh-eating parasites and eternal torment. Read Mark 9:43-48.
If we can't be good enough, how can we be saved? Read the Good News:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Jesus said to him, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
The name of Jesus Christ...nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:8-12
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12
"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Acts 16:31
It's your choice--Heaven or hell.
Pray this prayer or a similar one, and mean it with your whole heart:
Father God, I am sorry for my sin. (Confess any wrongs done against God or other people.) I am especially sorry for being in rebellion against You. I want You to be the Lord of my life. Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross to forgive me and cleanse me from my sin. Please help my faith, give me wisdom, and keep me from evil. I love You and praise You--In Jesus name, Amen.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9
The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
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Part Three
I prayed a prayer, and I meant what I said. I’m saved, not by being good or anything that I have done, but through Christ Jesus. What now?
If you truly repent of your sins and trust in Jesus, you’ll want to:
Read the Bible and pray (talk) to God daily.
Get close to Him, so He will get close to you!
Seek to obey God—He is the Good Shepherd, and He only wants what’s best for you.
Find a church that teaches this message of salvation and be baptized (immersed) in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Who cares what other people think! Get to know Jesus. Taste, and see, the Lord is good!
There’s an old story about a Divinity School which hosted a day when the public is invited to the school because they want the dollars to keep coming in. On this day each visitor is to bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area. The school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center. One year the speaker spoke for two and one-half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions.
After about 30 seconds, an elderly preacher stood up in the back of the auditorium. "Docta, I got one question," he said as all eyes turned toward him. He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it.
"Docta..." CRUNCH, MUNCH..."My question is a simple question, "CRUNCH, MUNCH... "Now I ain't never read them books you read..."CRUNCH,MUNCH..."and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek..."CRUNCH, MUNCH..." I don't know nothin' about Niebur and Heidegger..."CRUNCH , MUNCH...finished the apple. "All I wanna know is : This apple I just ate-was it bitter or sweet?"
The speaker paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: " I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple."
The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up, and said calmly, "Neither have you tasted my Jesus."
The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The audience erupted with applause and cheers. The chagrined speaker thanked his audience and promptly left the platform.
Have YOU tasted Jesus?
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Part Four
Who Was Jesus, Anyway?--Good Man, Crazy Man, Son of God?
Critics charge that Jesus never claimed to be God, and was just a good man. However, Jesus did claim to be God—in fact, He’s the only leader of a major world religion to claim to be the one true God—and the written testimony of eyewitnesses prove His claim.
Although neo-pagan religions lay claim to multiple gods and goddesses, these are only legends, stories. None of these have contemporary eyewitness accounts of resurrection from the dead. New Testament accounts were original within the lifetime of the witnesses, and corroborated by outside, enemy testimonies. In addition, who else but Christ testifies to His own Godhood, offering proof through fulfilled prophesies, miracles performed, and a perfect, sinless life? Who else but Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice in our place, to pay the price for our sins? The answer is obvious—no legendary deity or historical figure even comes close to the life of Christ.
Lee Strobel, in his book, The Case for the Real Jesus, refutes the following challenge to the claims that Jesus is God: “Christianity’s Beliefs About Jesus Were Copied from Pagan Religions.”
Strobel summarized evidence from author Ronald Nash, to demonstrate the uniqueness of Christianity. Nash explains that apparently uncritical readers of internet sites and books such as The DaVinci Code and The Jesus Mysteries think that there is historical evidence to back up the flimsy claims to “similarities between the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels and mythological gods like Mithras, Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus…Writers cite beliefs and practices that postdate the first century in an attempt to argue that they influenced the first-century formation of Christianity. Just because a cult had a belief or practice in the third or fourth century A.D. doesn’t mean it had the same belief or practice in the first century…unlike mystery religions, Christianity is grounded in actual historical events.”
Strobel notes that “The accounts about Jesus in the pages of the New Testament weren’t distilled from fanciful stories about mythological deities. Peter wasn’t reporting rumors or speculation, and he certainly wasn’t trusting his future to the likes of Zeus or Osiris. He was only interested in the real Jesus.”
“We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he declared, “but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16)
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Part Five
The Real Jesus Claimed to be God and Performed Miracles
New Testament writers report that Jesus claimed to be God on multiple occasions. For instance, in John 8:58 Jesus said “…before Abraham was born, I AM. Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple. “
I AM is a clear reference to God’s name, given to Moses in Exodus. Jesus also said, in John 10:30, “I and the Father are One.” The Jews clearly understood that Jesus was claiming to be God; that is the only reason that they picked up stones to stone Him, and ultimately, crucified Him.
Furthermore, Jesus claimed to be omnipresent—clearly a divine trait--in Matt. 18:20
(For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”)
He also claimed to have existed for eternity. He claimed to have the power to forgive sins, resurrect from the dead, and give eternal life.