Do You Really Want To Go To Heaven? Part 1

How would you answer these questions?

1) "Do you want to go to heaven?"

2) "Do you believe that you are going to heaven?"

3) "If you believe that you are going to heaven, what are you basing that on?"

If I ask these questions to our congregation, I hear many people say "yes" to the first two questions but if I ask this to people outside the church, I hear "yes" to the first question but not always "yes" to the second question. Today, I want you to see the weight of the first two questions.

If you really want to go to heaven, then ask yourself why? Is it because you love Jesus or because you just want to avoid hell? Is it because you want to be in the loving presence of God or do you just want to avoid the everlasting punishment of hell? If you really want to go to heaven, are you gathering with your church family on a regular basis? If you say that you do not go to church because that is not for you, then what do you expect to experience if you were able to go to heaven? If you don't want to be around God's people here, why would you want to be around them there?

If you want to go to heaven but you don't believe that you are going to heaven, what attitude or emotion does that give you? Are you concerned about it or is it just an empty wish like "I wish I was out of debt" but you didn't take any necessary steps to accomplish that? If you really want to go to heaven, you need to be going to a church that faithfully preaches the gospel each week and before I go any further, hear me closely on this statement. I am not suggesting that the act of going to church will automatically save you. What I am telling you is the fact that you need to be hearing God's Word faithfully preached and it is through God's Word and the work of the Holy Spirit that you can be saved from your sin and begin your journey to heaven. Romans 10:17 (ESV) — 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Just wanting to go to heaven isn't enough. As we conclude this post, go back to the top and ask yourself those first two questions again and then ask yourself if you really want to go to heaven after all. If you do, then ask yourself why you want to go and what are you doing about it.