Claiming Your 10: The Assurance Easter Offers to Everyone

If you had to pick a number between 0 and 10, and 10 meant I know for sure when I die, I will go straight to heaven. And zero meant I know for sure when I die I will go straight to hell. What number do you think you would be? Well, on today's broadcast, I'm going to tell you how to be a 10. Welcome to Becoming Wiser with Dr. Robert A. Rome, author and world renowned public speaker as he shares stories and involving his experiences and lessons learned in a good spirited, positive and fun way. Here's Dr. Robert A. Rohm. Hi, I'm Dr. Robert Rome and it is Easter week. It's the week we commemorate and remember that it was on this week that Jesus came into the city. We just celebrated Palm Sunday a few days ago and during the Holy Week almost overnight went from being very popular and accepted and praised to being turned against, lied about, put on trial, found guilty and killed all in the same week. And then we remember Easter, the day he was found to have arisen from the dead. Here's what I would like for you to do, if possible, put yourself, if you could, in the frame of mind of just listening for a few minutes. I realize religion is a very touchy topic for many, many people and I want to share with you something that I think will be very helpful. This podcast is not about religion. This podcast is not about trying to figure out who's right and who's wrong. And more than anything this podcast I want you to know at the very outset, I do not want anything from you. I don't want your money, I don't want you to do something for me. I don't want you to have any obligation at all. I'm not selling anything. We're not offering a club, a membership, a denomination, nothing. All I'm asking is this week for Easter, would you listen to the podcast just for a few minutes? My background is pretty unusual. I started out being a youth director in a church, but I quickly got tired of that and became a schoolteacher. And after I was a schoolteacher for several years, I became a school administrator and that was pretty interesting. I was in way over my head. But after about 10 years in the field of education, I just felt God tugging at my heart that I wanted to learn how to do ministry. So I went to seminary and took my family at the time, a wife and four children. It was kind of a tough road there for a period of time. We moved to Dallas, Texas and I went to Dallas Theological Seminary, which is a non denominational seminary in other Words. I'm not promoting Methodist, Baptist, Catholic or anything else. All I was trying to do was learn a little bit more about what does the Bible teach and why do we believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world? So it took a little while for me to begin to learn some things, and I sure would. If you will allow me to share something today, I think that will really, really, really help you and give you peace in your heart. I shared the concept I'm about to share with you recently at a marriage conference, and I had a gentleman come up to me afterwards and he said, you know, when you asked us that question, I gave myself a two. He said, that's not very good, is it? He said, but by the end of your time with us, I have news for you. I'm now a 10. Well, I don't know what your number is, but I want you to just play along with me. If you would just listen. You can delete this podcast, you can throw it away. You can say, it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. All I want you to do is just listen. Not from a religious standpoint, not from a denomination. It doesn't matter to me whether you're Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Jew, Pentecostal, Holiness, Muslim, or anything else. That's not the point. All I want you to do for a few minutes is just listen to a concept that I think is going to make a lot of sense to you. So let's get back to our number. 10 is I know for sure without a shadow of a doubt when I die, I'll go straight to heaven. 0is I know for sure without a shadow of a doubt, when I die, I'm going to go to hell. So get a number and think about it. You might say, well, maybe I'm about a 5. I got about a 50, 50 chance. Or I had a really good week. My family's doing well. I made some pretty good money. My job seems to be pretty secure. I think. I think I'm about an eight. No, man, I had a really bad week. I got involved in some stuff. I know I should. I know I shouldn't have done some things. I knew at the time I shouldn't have done it, but I did them anyway. I'm about a 2 or 3. Just get your number, okay? Keep it to yourself. You don't have to email it to me or text it to me or send it to me. It's your personal, private business. But get your number. You got it. Just get a number in your head and hold on to it, because I'm going to reveal something to you. I think you're really, really going to like. Got your number? All right, here we go. I'm going to give you the answer. You ready? It was a trick question. You say, what do you mean is a trick question? There's only one answer. The only one answer as to whether or not you can know for sure when you die you'll go to heaven is 10. And here's why. Listen carefully. If you got any other number, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0. If you got any other number, you're not thinking about this, right? And let me explain. You see, if you got any number other than 10, you must believe you have something to do with getting yourself into heaven. You must think, if it is to be, it is up to me. You must think, well, if I go to church and if I'm baptized, and if I take communion, and if I'm a pretty good person, I. I probably may be 8, 9. And if I'm lucky, I'll be a 10. But you see, the reason you're thinking about it all wrong is the number one sin that God hates above all sins is the sin of pride. Pride is a I did it. Give me the glory. Give me the credit. I earned my way into God's favor. I worked my way into heaven. I was good, I went to church, I was baptized, I gave money, I helped other people. I, I, I, I I. And do you hear who your focus is on? It's on yourself. And I have news for you, friends. The reason I know for sure when I die I'll go straight to heaven is because I didn't do anything to earn it. I didn't do anything to buy it. It is a free gift. The Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son his only begotten Son. In the Greek language, it's monogeneis and it means totally unique. There was never one like him before, and there'll never be one like him again. He gave his totally unique Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So you see, I know for sure I'm going to heaven because salvation is wrapped up in who I believe in. It's not wrapped up in what I have done. It's not wrapped up in who I am. It's wrapped up in receiving a free gift that I did not earn. I that's why I said at the very outset, I don't want anything from you. I Don't want you to send me any money. I don't want you to tell me how good you are. I want you to tell me your denomination. I don't want you to tell me anything you've ever done because you are in the same boat that I'm in, and it's a sinking boat. We're in trouble because the Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Do you realize, get this. This is going to shock you. In order to go to heaven, you have to be 100% perfect. No, I didn't say real good. You have to be perfect. And you say, well, nobody's going to heaven because nobody's perfect. Well, actually, there was one. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life. He died on the cross. And even as he was dying, one of the thieves on the cross next to him said, we deserve to die, but this man's done nothing wrong. Pontius Pilate said, bring me a bowl of water. I'll wash my hands of this man. I find no fault in him at all. And the Roman soldier that led the crucifixion said, truly, this man was the son of God. So you see, when you put your faith and trust in Jesus, guess what? You get to be a 10. You know why he paid your way? You see, if you and I were going out to eat and we had a nice dinner and I paid for it, and we got ready to leave the restaurant, and they stopped us and looked at you and said, wait a minute. You can't go. You. You. You have to pay. And I said, oh, no, no, no. I paid for their dinner. I paid for it. All they did was accept it and say thank you. Dinner was free for you, but it wasn't free for me. I had to pay for both of us. And that's what God did. God paid your way into heaven, and it has nothing to do with you other than you saying, I receive that as a gift. Thank you. I believe that Christ died, paid for my sins, and arose again from the dead. And my Trust in faith 100% is in him. Now, that begs the question. Had a friend of mine say to me recently, he and his son were having a conversation, and his son said, basically, well, why? Why is Jesus the only way? I mean, how do we know that's right. And here's how we know that. That's right. I have studied, when I went to seminary, every religion in the world. That's part of the training that you go through. And here's the thing that was so amazing to me. Are you aware that there is not any other religious leader in the world that has ever promised to forgive your sins and to give you eternal life except Jesus Christ? There has never been. You can study it all you want to Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, Dr. Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, the Pope, Mary, or anybody else who is a famous one world religious leader has ever promised to do two things for you. Number one, they would forgive all of your sins. They would never bring them up. They would be washed away forever. And number two, give you a home in heaven, give you eternal life. The only person that has ever made that promise to you is the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do we know that he's right? Because they killed him. And he told before he ever died, if you take my life, I will rise again in three days. And in three days they didn't even have a comprehension of what could that possibly mean. He made this statement one day in public, if you destroy this temple, I will build it back in three days. They thought he was talking about the temple where they worshiped. They thought that he was talking about a physical temple, but he was using metaphorical language. He was using a parable or a story because he was explaining to them, if you destroy me, I will come back in three days. And he did. The reason we know that Jesus is totally unique, the reason we know that Jesus is the only savior of the world, the reason we know that he is true and right, is first of all, he's the only one who ever said he was. And second of all, this is so powerful. Second of all, the laws of logic apply to reality. I'll say that again. The laws of logic apply to reality. Isn't it logical that you put food in your mouth and you chew it up and swallow it? The laws of logic apply to reality. Isn't it true that you let your eyes guide you when you walk or when you drive? Isn't it logical you get dressed and you put your pants or your skirt on the bottom half of your body and your shirt or your tie or your hat on the upper part of your body? In other words, everything you do, you do because it's logical. When I stop to get gas, I put gas in the gas tank. I don't spray it inside the car on all the seats. When I take out the trash, I put the trash in the trash can. When I park my car, I park it in the garage, not in the kitchen. Everything we do that makes sense is logical. God has created a world where all you got to do is look around and realize, wait a minute. Who made the sun and the moon and the stars and put it into place? Why is the ocean tides exactly where they are and the moon determines that they never cross certain boundaries? Why is it that the sun keeps us warm in the summertime and and cools off, the earth rotates differently, and we have winter in four seasons? And who designed your eyeball? And who created the different sexes, male and female? And who was the one that created everything and makes everything make sense? Where did gravity come from? The scientists call it molecular glue. It holds everything together. The Bible says, by him, all things are held together. You see, if you want to be smart. I have a friend who graduated from Michigan State University, majored in anthropology. He said, I didn't learn anything about mankind by going to college for four years and studying it. But I did learn everything I needed to know by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So here it is at Easter. Let me begin to wrap this up. I'm not trying to promote a religion. I'm not trying to get you to join a church. It does not matter to me whether you ever help another person the rest of your life if you're a good person, bad or indifferent, if you have money or don't have money. It doesn't matter to me if you become the most wonderful person who ever lived and become the mayor of your town, or if you end up in jail. None of that matters. When you stand before God, God is going to look at you and say, why should I let you into heaven? I hope and pray you don't give the rigmarole answer of, well, I was a pretty good person. I went to church. I tried my best. I lived a good life. Remember, God's going to ask you one question. Are you perfect? Because I'm a perfect God and this is a perfect place. And only perfect people go to heaven. And then you're going to say, when God asks you, why should I let you into heaven? Because Jesus was perfect and he paid my way. He paid a debt he did not owe, and I owe a debt I cannot pay. Jesus and I have traded places. He died. He paid for my sins and arose from the dead. I put my faith and trust in him. I get eternal life and he gets all my sins, past, present and future, and he washes them away. When he died for you on Good Friday, I hope you have enough sense to realize he arose from the dead and your salvation is wrapped up in him. If you pray this simple prayer or just have the attitude of faith. God, thank you for Jesus. He died in my place and I want to be a 10. I want to come to heaven on what he did for me and not what I could do for you. The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only unique Son that whoever believes in him and that you, my friend, should not perish but have eternal life. I know for sure I'm a 10. I know for sure when I die, I'll go to heaven because my faith and trust is in the One who promised to wash away my sins and to give me eternal life. I look forward to seeing you in heaven. I want you to come up to me when we're there and say, hey, I listened to your crazy podcast and I asked Jesus to be my Savior. I gave him all my sins and he gave me his eternal life and I became a 10 on Easter of 2024. I trust that will be your story. God. God bless you, my friend. I love you. I look forward to our next podcast together. For more information about this podcast, please visit www.becomingwiserpodcast.com.