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PROBLEMS GOD FACES IN GETTING US TO HEAVEN

Introduction

The Bible makes it plain that God wants all men to come to Him and be saved. There is no discrimination with God.

God has done, is doing, and will do everything in His power–outside of burglarizing the human will–to keep folks out of Hell and to get them to Heaven. But God faces problems in getting folks to heaven. God is all powerful, but He cannot violate Himself!

I.            GOD FACES THE PROBLEM OF OUR DEPRAVED NATURE.

               The Bible teaches the total depravity of man.

Jeremiah 17:9–The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. . .”

By “total depravity” I’m not saying that every man is as wicked as he can be nor that he has committed every sin imaginable.

By “total depravity” I’m saying that every part of man’s being has been tainted by sin.

               1)         His body has been tainted by sin!

That’s why we have sickness and death! We’re sin cursed and vile!

               2)         His mind has been tainted by sin!

                            That’s why we have wrong thoughts!

               3)         His spirit has been tainted by sin!

                            In fact, with regard to God, man is spiritually dead. (Eph 2:1)

               4)         His soul has been tainted by sin!

                            So it is only worthy of death!

               Now don’t misunderstand. I don’t believe in the “Total Depravity” of

the Calvinist. I believe that God has given every man the ability to exercise faith in Christ. It is a gift from God! Ephesians 2:8–For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [faith] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. . .” Some exercise that faith and some do not.

There are two schools of thought regarding humanity and its present condition.

               A.         The First Comes From The Evolutionists who say that man evolved from nothing–step by step–to where he is today and that his sin is simply because he has not yet reached the ultimate progress. Sin to the evolutionist is only a stumble upward toward perfection.

               B.         The Second Is The Bible View, teaching that man was created in the “image of God,” placed in the paradise of the Garden of Eden and given only one prohibition. Man disobeyed God, partook of the forbidden fruit, so sin entered into the world and mankind. This sinful nature has dragged us downward. It has even warped man’s mind until he cannot understand spiritual things without help from God.

Romans 5:19–“For as by one man’s disobedience many were

                            made sinners. . .”

                            1.          The Old Testament Picture Of Man’s Sinful Condition Is Stated In Psalm 53:1

                            2.          The New Testament Picture Of Man’s Sinful Condition Is Stated In Romans 3:10-18

Here God lays man out on an examination table, gives him a complete spiritual examination and makes 14 observations against him.

                                         This is God’s verdict regarding humanity.

Can you imagine such a creature going into God’s perfect Heaven?

So in order to go to Heaven, we must have a brand new nature since the nature we came into this world with was totally depraved.

               GOD FACES THE PROBLEM OF OUR DEPRAVED NATURE.

II.           GOD FACES THE PROBLEM OF OUR PERSONAL GUILT.

               The Bible is very plain on this subject of the universal fact of sin.

               Isaiah 53:6–“All we like sheep have gone astray. . .”

Ecclesiastes 7:20–“For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

               Romans 3:23–“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

1 John 1:10–“If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Not every person has committed the same sins, but every person has sinned.

               You do not have to break every commandment to be guilty of sin.

James 2:10–“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

D.L. Moody illustrated this truth with a chain. A person hanging from a chain over a fire is in the same trouble if only one link is broken or if they all break.

Adam and Eve would not have been any more guilty if they had eaten every piece of fruit on the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

III.         GOD FACES THE PROBLEM OF HIS OWN PERFECT HOLINESS.

               The average Christian fails to understand God’s perfect righteousness.

God is so righteous and holy that the Bible says in Habbakuk 1:3 that he is “of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity.”

               Look at Isaiah 6:1-5

If God is so holy that heavenly creatures cover their face, then we know that man in his sinful state could not possibly stand in His presence!

               Compare with Exodus 33:18-20 and Revelation 1:10-17.

               How can such a holy God ever allow anyone into Heaven?

If we could transfer a man into Heaven without the new birth and without perfect righteousness, he could not live in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 15:50–“. . .flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”

Revelation 21:27–“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

               GOD FACES THE PROBLEM OF HIS OWN PERFECT HOLINESS.

IV.         GOD FACES THE PROBLEM OF HIS OWN PERFECT JUSTICE.        

               God is just, and a just God demands that sin be paid for.

God said to Adam in Genesis 2:17–“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

               God cannot lie and He cannot deny Himself!

               Ezekiel 18:4–“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

               Romans 6:23–“The wages of sin is death. . .”

We have already seen that all men are sinners. Since all men are sinners, the sentence of death has been passed upon all men.

John 3:18–“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already. . .”

               The penalty for sin is death, the second death which is the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:14–“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

God loves us and wants us to spend eternity in Heaven with Him, but God cannot sacrifice His justice on the altar of His love.

God simply cannot overlook sin! If He did then He would no longer be God. His perfect justice must be satisfied!

If we satisfy God’s justice, we must go to Hell and stay there for all eternity. That is the penalty a just God demands.

Perfect holiness cannot live with sin, and perfect justice cannot overlook sin.

               So, God faces four problems in getting us into heaven:

               1.          Our Depraved Nature.

               2.          Our Personal Guilt.

               3.          His Own Perfect Holiness.

               4.          His Own Perfect Justice.

V.           HOW CAN THESE PROBLEMS BE RESOLVED?

               A.         Man’s Solutions For God’s Problems Won’t Work!

                            1.          Turn Over A New Leaf And Start Living Right.

                                         But, we cannot undo what we’ve already done!

                            2.          Pray. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

                            3.          Get Baptized, Join A Church, etc., etc.

               B.         God’s Solution For God’s Problems That Does Work!

                            1.          Trusting Jesus Christ Solves The Problem Of Our Depraved Nature. (2 Peter 1:1-4)

When one is born again, he receives the very nature of God!

                            2.          Trusting Jesus Christ Solves The Problem Of Our Personal Guilt.

                                         1 John 5:2–“And He is the propitiation for our sins. . .”

Romans 5:1–“Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                            3.          Trusting Jesus Christ Solves The Problem Of God’s Personal Holiness.

2 Corinthians 5:21–“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him.

                                         Romans 3:21-23; 5:19

                            4.          Trusting Jesus Christ Solves The Problem Of God’s Perfect Justice. (Isaiah 53:6, 10, 11)

1 Peter 2:24–“Who His Own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.”

Romans 8:32–“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. . .”

Conclusion 

God has provided the basis to overcome these problems.

The only problem that He cannot overcome is your refusal to trust Christ as your Saviour!

Home Page   Contact Us    Service Times   Sermons   Are You Going To Heaven?

NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!