Download - New Living Trans- lation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by ... · A key to the success and longevity of the Roman Empire was an expansive system of roads. The rst proper Roman road,

Transcript
Page 1: New Living Trans- lation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by ... · A key to the success and longevity of the Roman Empire was an expansive system of roads. The rst proper Roman road,

A key to the success and longevity of

the R

oman

Em

pire w

as an

expansive system

of

roads. The

rst proper

Rom

an road,

the A

ppian W

ay, w

as constructed

in 312

BC

to

provide fast,

reliable com

munications and supply links, in

wars w

ith the well arm

ed Sam

nites.

Historian Logan Thom

pson states, �“This route follow

ed a remarkably

straight, direct,

well-drained

122 m

ile course,

rmly

topped w

ith neatly fashioned blocks of volcanic lava. It is com

mendable that R

oman

engineers and surveyors managed,

with

their rst-ever

route, to

incorporate most of the construction

principles so closely followed during

the next 700 years. Thereafter, route netw

orks constantly

expanded in

every direction,

like the

spokes of a w

heel, with R

ome as a hub.�”

The phrase developed, All roads

lead to Rom

e. Today it can mean

that the route or method one takes

to get somew

here isn�’t important,

as long as the journey reaches the sam

e destination.S

adly, when it com

es to the subject of

making

Heaven

one�’s eternal

home, this philosophy is not valid

because God has speci cally told

us, in the Holy B

ible, His guaranteed

way or plan for us to get there.S

aul of

Tarsus, later

know

as P

aul the Apostle, w

rote over half of the N

ew Testam

ent part of the B

ible. He w

as a Rom

an citizen w

ho had

a personal,

life chang-

ing encounter with G

od. Afterw

ard, he w

as taught about heaven and the supernatural w

orld by a divine revelation of Jesus C

hrist (see Ga-

latians 1:12). By w

ay of a vision, G

od took Paul to heaven w

hile he

was still alive (see 2 C

orinthians 12:1-7). P

aul had this to say about his w

ritings:...w

hen you received His m

essage from

us, you didn�’t think of our words

as mere hum

an ideas. You accepted w

hat we said as the very w

ord of G

od�—w

hich, of course, it is. �– I Corinthians 14:37 Paul

traveled to

Rom

e by

ship, and w

alking along the Appian Way.

He

wrote

a letter

to the

people he planned on m

eeting there. By m

aking a compilation of verses from

that letter, a road m

ap to Heaven is

formed.

1. In God�’s system

of justice, none of us, by hum

an effort, can get to heaven because no one, on his ow

n m

erit, is right with G

od.

No one is righteous�—

not even one.�– Romans 3:23

2. We have lost our ticket to H

eaven because w

e sinned against God by

breaking His Ten C

omm

andments.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall

short of God�’s glorious standard.

�– Romans 3:23 3. This disobedience to G

od has a present and eternal consequence�–a broken relationship w

ith God now

, and

being banished

from

God�’s

home hereafter.

For the wages of sin is death,

�– Romans 6:23a 4. There is a w

ay out! God loves us

so much, that H

e came to earth in

the Person of Jesus C

hrist. Jesus perfectly

pleased H

is H

eavenly Father. H

e became the only m

an w

ho deserved

to go

to H

eaven. H

e died on a cross in our place to pay the penalty (debt w

e each ow

e to God) for our sin, m

akingheav

en a

vaila

ble

to u

s.B

ut G

od s

how

ed H

is g

reat

love

for

us

by

send

ing

Chr

ist

to d

ie f

or u

s w

hile

we

wer

e st

ill s

inne

rs. �–

Rom

. 5:8

5.

Now

, co

mpl

emen

ts

of

Jesu

s C

hris

t, G

od o

ffers

us

Hea

ven

and

eter

nal l

ife a

s a

free

gift!

...bu

t th

e fre

e gi

ft of

God

is e

tern

al

life

thro

ugh

Chr

ist J

esus

our

Lor

d.�–

Roma

ns 6

:23b

6. R

econ

nect

ing

our r

elat

ions

hip

with

G

od,

and

mak

ing

a re

serv

atio

n fo

r H

eave

n fo

r ete

rnity

, isn

�’t an

aut

omat

-ic

x.

God

req

uire

s ou

r re

spon

se b

y do

ing

two

thin

gs.

If yo

u co

nfes

s w

ith y

our

mou

th t

hat

Jesu

s is

Lor

d an

d be

lieve

in

your

he

art

that

God

rai

sed

Him

fro

m t

he

dead

, you

will

be

save

d. F

or it

is b

y be

lievi

ng in

you

r he

art

that

you

are

m

ade

right

with

God

, an

d it

is b

y co

nfes

sing

with

you

r mou

th th

at y

ou

are

save

d.

�–

Roma

ns 10

:9,10

Firs

t, w

e m

ust b

elie

ve th

e hi

stor

ical

fa

cts

abou

t Je

sus

Chr

ist

foun

d in

G

od�’s

Wor

d, t

he B

ible

: Je

sus

died

on

the

cro

ss f

or o

ur s

ins,

and

God

ra

ised

Him

from

the

dead

, giv

ing

Him

an

im

mor

tal

body

, th

e ki

nd H

e ha

s pr

omis

ed to

giv

e us

whe

n H

e re

turn

s fro

m h

eave

n to

rule

the

earth

.S

econ

dly,

God

wan

ts e

ach

of u

s to

m

ake

a co

nfes

sion

with

our

mou

ths

(out

lou

d) t

hat

Jesu

s C

hris

t is

our

pe

rson

al L

ord

and

Sav

ior,

and

one

day

He

is ta

king

us

to H

eave

n.Th

is is

acc

ompl

ishe

d by

pra

ying

the

follo

win

g pr

ayer

:D

ear

Jesu

s, c

ome

into

my

hear

t. Fo

rgiv

e al

l m

y si

ns.

Was

h m

e in

yo

ur b

lood

. W

rite

my

nam

e in

you

r B

ook

of

Life

. Fi

ll m

e w

ith

Your

H

oly

Spi

rit,

so

I ca

n se

rve

and

obey

You

. In

Jes

us�’

Nam

e, A

men

.

7. O

ur a

ssur

ance

of m

akin

g H

eave

nou

r ete

rnal

hom

e is

bas

ed o

n G

od�’s

ab

ility

to

keep

His

Wor

d (H

is B

ible

pr

omis

es).

Eve

ryon

e w

ho c

alls

on

the

nam

e of

th

e LO

RD

will

be

save

d. �–

Rom

10:13

Als

o, w

hen

we

pray

ed a

nd a

sked

Je

sus

to c

ome

into

our

hea

rts, G

od

the

Hol

y S

pirit

cam

e to

live

in u

s as

an

inw

ard

witn

ess

that

we

are

now

a

part

of th

e fa

mily

of G

od.

For

His

Spi

rit jo

ins

with

our

spi

rit to

af r

m th

at w

e ar

e G

od�’s

chi

ldre

n.

�– Ro

mans

8:16

Scrip

ture

quota

tions

are

take

n fro

m the

Holy

Bibl

e Ne

w Liv

ing T

rans

-lat

ion, c

opyri

ght ©

199

6, 20

04, 2

007

by T

ynda

le Ho

use

Foun

datio

n. Us

ed b

y per

miss

ion o

f Tyn

dale

Hous

e Pu

blish

ers,

Inc., C

arol

Stre

am,

Illino

is 60

188.

All ri

ghts

rese

rved.

Desig

ned b

y HIS

Prin

t Med

ia Mi

nistrie

s www

.trac

ts4u.c

om

FREE

TRA

CT S

OCIE

TY 60

12 Yo

rk Bl

vd. �•

P.O.

Box

5053

1Lo

s Ang

eles,

CA 90

042 �•

Los A

ngele

s, CA

9005

0Th

is mi

nistry

is m

aintai

ned b

y the

gifts

of G

od�’s

peop

le.