Are You Going to Heaven?
Outline: Three ways to be sure: Be on the right road--Jesus, the only way (no saint or priest needed). Evidence of a changed life because Christ makes one new. Inner knowledge -- witness of the Spirit which gives a sense of belonging and peace. Sums up the message by direct questions to listener.
Script Number: 151
Language: English
Theme: Living as a Christian (Faith, trust, believe in Jesus, Children of God); Eternal life (Heaven, Salvation, Eternal / everlasting life)
Audience: Catholic; General
Purpose: Evangelism
Features: Monolog; Bible Stories; Extensive Scripture
Status: Approved
Scripts are basic guidelines for translation and recording into other languages. They should be adapted as necessary to make them understandable and relevant for each different culture and language. Some terms and concepts used may need more explanation or even be replaced or omitted completely.
Script Text
My friends, I am going to ask you a question that many people cannot answer, but it is a question that everyone should answer. "Are you going to Heaven?" God's Word tells us how we can know.
First, you must be on the right road. The Bible says, "Believe in your heart in the Lord Jesus and confess with your mouth that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved."* Jesus is the way. He said, "I am the way ... no man comes unto the Father but by Me." No other way is possible, for Jesus Christ alone is the way to God. If you have confessed that you were a lost sinner and received Christ as your Saviour, you have a right start to Heaven and are on the right road.
Then there is an outward sign which others should be able to see. That is a changed life. Look and see if your life has been different since you believed. God not only intends to forgive your past sins but He makes you a new person. Many people think that if they add a few religious exercises to their sinful lives, their souls will be insured against punishment. Do not be fooled. Being religious does not save you. Only Christ can save you, and when He does it you are made clean inside. You are changed. You make things right with your neighbor; you have a new conscience, new desires and new pleasures.
The third way you may know you are saved and on the road to Heaven is by an inward sign called the witness of God's Spirit, Who comes to live in your heart. This is very real. You have a sense of belonging to God. There is no loneliness now. You are a child of God. He is your Father. You talk to Him with love and confidence, and can face anything evil without fear. You have comfort and peace. You know that your sins are all forgiven.
Look at your own life and see if you have these three signs that you are on the way to Heaven. Have you started right by asking Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and by believing that He did it? Is your life changed so that you belong to Him, and so that He is now living within you? My friend, if you do not find these signs, come to Jesus now and be forgiven.
The Bible says you should "believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." "Hereby we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us." Jesus said, "Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out." (OR, 1954 ending: He says, "Your sins I will remember no more, forever. I will forgive them freely." Start on the road to Heaven today!)
* OR, "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved."
Refs: Rom.10:9; John 14:6; I John 5:13; I John 3:24b; John 6:37b (Heb. 8:12+)