IF YOU DIE IN THE NEXT 5 MINUTES

(Before reading this booklet, would you please take just a moment, with an open mind, to ask God to give you understanding and wisdom in what you are about to read?)

In this age of controversies, ideologies and philosophies, it is necessary for each of us to have a firm foundation of belief on which to build our lives. It is necessary because we need to live harmoniously and lovingly with our spouse, parents, relatives and, as best we can, with our neighbors. We need to raise our children to have moral values, and we need to have integrity and honesty in the workplace. But above all that, we need to have a clear conscience before a holy and righteous God.

Death, more often than not, comes suddenly and without warning to most of us. Therefore, we need to be ready. Are you?

You spend hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars each year on house insurance, car insurance, health insurance and life insurance. This is the responsible thing to do in this life.

Most of these policies will be profitable to YOU if your property should be damaged, or you or your family should become injured or sick. However, your life insurance policy can only profit your family in the event you should die, and it won’t profit YOU at all.

So what about that life insurance? What about your ETERNAL life insurance? Have you made preparations for that? Do you know whether you’ll go to heaven or hell when you take your last breath? Everyone will live for eternity. The question is not IF, but rather WHERE. Did you know it’s your decision? TOTALLY your decision?

Have the churches you’ve attended taught you ALL of what the Bible says? Have they taught you that you can KNOW, FOR SURE, where you’ll go before you die as God says, or just the parts where it speaks of God’s love for humanity and the wonderful miracles that Jesus performed? These are questions you need to ask yourself?

Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Let us see what the Bible has to say about itself.

The word “bible” derives from “biblion” which means “roll” or “book”. In 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17, it states that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Romans 3:2 speaks of the “oracles of God’, and both 1 Timothy 4:5 and Matthew 15:6 describe the Bible as the “Word of God”. (For further study, refer to 1 Timothy 2:13 and Hebrews 4:12 & 11:3.)

Now you may say, “That’s just your interpretation”. The Bible also speaks for itself concerning this statement. Look in 2 Peter 1:20 & 21 to learn the answer:
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Also Read in 1 Corinthians 2:14; “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God now?

These are all truths that you may have already thought about. There are a few more biblical truths, however, that you probably haven’t thought about, and some of those you may not even know about.

For example, are you aware that God tells us in His Word that we can know BEFORE we die where we will go after death? Please, be honest, both with yourself and God. Are you doubting the validity of what you just read? If so ... Good! Then you won’t be afraid to look in YOUR Bible and see for yourself.

Turn to 1 John 5:13 to learn what God Himself says: “These things I have written to you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may KNOW that you HAVE eternal life.”

Now really look at this verse. The word “believe”, (which means to TRUST or RELY ON TOTALLY), is the prerequisite to having eternal life. God says, “...you may know...”. Know what? Know that you HAVE eternal life. God doesn’t say ‘could have’ or ‘should have’ or ‘would have’. He says “HAVE”, right now, eternal life? So what do you have to do to KNOW you have eternal life?

Read this verse again. According to this verse, if you HAVE eternal life, will you know it? Does that mean then, that if you don’t know if you’ll be in heaven for sure, that you won’t be? That’s Right! According to God, if you’re going to heaven when you die, you will KNOW it for sure BEFORE you die. That doesn’t mean ‘you hope so’. That means that there is no doubt in your mind whatsoever, that if you die within the next 60 seconds, you know for a fact that you will be in the presence of God the Father, in heaven a moment later.

You see, you and I, and anyone who has ever lived throughout time, has sinned. EVERYONE! In Romans 3:23, it says, “for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Do you see that? For ALL! That means you, too. In fact, do you know what God thinks of all the good things you’ve done to get into heaven?

Look in Isaiah 64:6. It says, For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like (WHAT?).” That's right! Filthy Rags! And you thought you were doing such a wonderful job pleasing God with your church attendance, prayers, giving money to the telethons or the needy, helping the elderly, leading youth groups, following religious rituals like baptism or communion, and generally just living a good life. Well, Surprise!

God thinks of all of those things as "filthy rags" to be thrown away with the garbage. He says doing those things to get INTO heaven is not good enough. It pleases YOU...not Him.

So, are there any righteous people?
According to Romans 3:10, as it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one."

Are there ANY people who do "good"?

According to verse 12, "All have turned aside, together they have become useless."

Then why are so many people trying to work their way into heaven by being good or doing good things? If we could enter heaven by doing any of that, then WHY DID JESUS CHRIST DIE? Wasn’t His suffering and death all for nothing?

Look at Ephesians 2:8 & 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

Look at the words "not of yourselves" and "not by works". Heaven is a GIFT of God. It's FREE!

What is the payment that we have earned for sin? Romans 6:23, says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Does God desire ALL men (humans) to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth? According to 1 Timothy 2:4, "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Now look at the following verse. Who is the mediator between God and men? 1 Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

In John 5:24, there are two things that man has to do to have eternal life. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." What two things do you see in that verse?

According to that same verse, what else happens to you when you believe? Read that verse to complete this sentence: You do not come into (what) but have passed out of (what) into life.

Jesus tells us in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these (the Scriptures) that bear witness of Me.”. According to verse 40, the very next verse, it says, “and you are (what) to come to Me, that you may have life.” Jesus said they were “unwilling”.

Now think. Remember back in 1 Timothy 2:4? God desires "all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth"; but according to John 5:40, these people are unwilling.

According to John 4:16, (Jesus is doing the speaking here), He says, “...no one comes to the Father, but through (whom).”

In John 6:47, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who (what) has (what).”

There are many religions in the world today; many denominations and many beliefs, all claiming to be right. Yet according to the Scriptures, we see Jesus speaking in John 10:1 where Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a (what and what) .”

Now read on in verse 7 of chapter 10. "Jesus therefore said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep."

Who does Jesus say the door is?

Again in verse 9, Jesus says, “...if anyone enters through Me; he shall be saved...”.

Then are you saved through Mary? Are you saved through your good behavior or the good things you do?

According to the Bible, Jesus said HE is the way. You see, if you could save yourself, or earn your own ticket into heaven, Jesus would not have had to come and die for you. The trouble is, you cannot save yourself. That’s why you need a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord, to save you from the penalty of your sins that you’ve committed against God, the Father.

According to 1 Peter 2:24, "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by His wounds you were healed."

In that verse, what did Jesus do on the cross?

Then according to 1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;"

So, Christ died for what? How many times? For how many people?

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9, "For God has destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ". So, has God destined you for wrath? So what has He destined for you then? Through whom?

What did He do in verse 10? 1 Thessalonians 5:10 "who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him."

In Colossians 2:13 it says, "And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions”. So how many of your sins does it say He’s forgiven?

Then in verse 14, "having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." What does it say He did with the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against you; and which was hostile to you?

According to Romans 3:24, "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;" it says you’re justified as a (what) by His grace as a redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

Then according to Romans 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." So, what do you have to do to have your faith reckoned as righteousness? WORK or BELIEVE?

Read Romans 5:1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". what are you justified by?

It says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners.” In the very next verse it says, "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." So according to verse 9, you are justified by what? Also in verse 9, what were you saved from? Who saved you?

Now continue with verse 10 which says, “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through (what).” And “having been reconciled, we shall be (what).”

Look in 1 Corinthians 1:17 it says, “Christ did not send me to (do what) but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.”

‘Gospel’ means ‘good news’, and the good news is that Jesus, with His blood and death on the cross, took your punishment and PAID for your ticket to heaven, IN FULL. Yes, God does want you to live righteously and do good to all men, but NOT for salvation; NOT to try to earn your way into heaven. You can’t do that because anything you do will not be good enough for God.

Heaven is the FREE GIFT Jesus bought for you with His blood on the cross, and something that’s FREE can’t be worked for because it is given as a gift. It’s His present to you, given freely.

Go back to Romans 6:23. It says, “...but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life (living forever in heaven) in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

By insisting you can work your way into His heaven, you are refusing the FREE GIFT He offers to you. Why would you be so foolish as to work for something that is already given freely, no strings attached?

If you planned to visit a place you’ve never been before, wouldn’t it be helpful to send for a brochure that would tell you some things about that place? It would help you to plan much better for what you might do, and it would explain the requirements you’d need to meet in order to make reservations.

Did you know that the Bible is a brochure of sorts? It tells you what both heaven and hell are like, and what you would do there should you decide to choose to go to that place. However, keep in mind, by not choosing heaven, you are choosing hell. Unlike a visit, however, you will not be leaving to go back home when you’ve completed your stay. The place you choose today will become your home...FOREVER!

In Revelation 21:12 - 22:5, God tells what the city in heaven looks like with its high, jeweled walls, golden streets, gates of pearls, and the brilliance of God so bright that there won’t be any need for the sun or moon to provide day or night.

If you go to Luke 16:19-31, God also describes hell. He tells about a rich man who is experiencing the torment of the relentless flames. He is not dead but he is isolated from others that are there. He is very much alive and feeling every bit of pain and torment in that fiery place with no hope of ever leaving.

So, now that you know what the choices are, what will you decide? The decision is truly yours. By choosing to delay it, however, you’re actually making your choice. This very moment may be the very last opportunity you have to make that choice. By not choosing to trust Jesus Christ and His death ONLY as FULL payment for your sins...YOU’RE CHOOSING HELL! It's that simple.

If after reading this Bible Study, looking up the verses in your own Bible and answering these simple questions, you now understand and BELIEVE that the suffering and death of Jesus was the TOTAL and COMPLETE payment that God required for you to have eternal life, please thank Him. No sin is too great.

Jesus Christ loves you so very much that He willingly took your place on that cross. He gave His life as a sacrifice for you. He hung there in your place. The last words He spoke while nailed to the cross were, “It is finished.” (John 19:30).

Jesus meant the payment for you was completed. He had fulfilled the mission He had come to perform, and He had satisfied God’s requirement for you. When you believe this, you are marked “PAID IN FULL”, ready to stand before a holy and righteous God, confident of God’s Word that says, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34).

PLEASE! Don’t put your decision off. It truly is a matter of life and death........

YOURS!