Sharing the Gospel at a Local College | Ep. 5

Opening Questions About the Afterlife

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Maybe this woman right here.

Yeah.

I have.

Is that your girlfriend?

Yeah.

That's my girlfriend.

Okay. Cool.

Cool.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, um, now you've told me, and I'm not judging you, but Elijah, you told me that you're a lying, blasphemous, um, adulterer at heart. Now, we didn't go through all ten commandments, but just those three, we went through three out of the four, you admitted to breaking three of them.

Yep.

Now, if God were to judge you based on that, his moral law, would you be innocent or guilty?

All right.

My name is Tim, and we're going to be sharing and preaching the gospel, Ray Comfort style, at RCBC, Rowan at Arlington County College. So, we will talk to whoever is willing to talk and whoever the Lord leads us to.

Um, but hey, why don't we start with a word of prayer. Father God, thank you so much for this opportunity to preach your word that saved us. We pray that the soil is good and that we can, um, plant some seeds today and people would repent, turn away from sin, and believe in your son, Jesus Christ.

Amen. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hey, what's up guys? You guys, uh, busy right now, or?

Not really.

Just going quick.

Okay.

So, we're going around asking some people some questions.

All right.

Um, this may or may not be on YouTube, would you guys be okay with that?

Yeah, no problem. Okay. All right.

So, my name is Tim, and I'm here with?

Giuseppe.

Giuseppe, and?

Matt.

Matt. Okay.

So, the first question I want to ask you guys is, uh, what do you guys think of the afterlife? I'll ask, I'll go to Matt first.

Um, I believe the afterlife could be many different things, but I believe that there's a higher power, such as a God, and I think that we all will go somewhere strong after this life.

Okay. All right.

How about you, Giuseppe?

Um, I think that there is an afterlife. I'm not, I don't have my mind set on what that might be, but like you said, I do believe there's a higher power, like a God, and I do that. I do believe there is something after death, not just darkness and the abyss.

Okay.

But, yeah, I do think there is something.

So, do you guys think maybe like a heaven or hell?

Um, I would go with that maybe, and I also believe, I want to believe reincarnation is real, because I think it'd be cool to like, you know, turn into something else or live another life after this.

Okay. Okay.

Giuseppe?

Um, I think heaven and hell is probably the most accurate.

Okay.

Heaven, Hell, and Who Goes There

Okay.

All right.

So, who do you think, if, say there's a heaven or hell, who do you think would go to heaven, who would go to hell? We'll go back to Giuseppe.

So, well, so I always grew up on Christianity and the Bible and all that, so obviously if you're saved and you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, no matter what sins you commit, you're going to heaven, and if you don't...

Okay.

So, I'll go back to Matt. What do you think about, do you think...

I truly believe that if you're a good citizen and you do everything right, and, I mean, I believe that murderers and people that do commit serious crimes don't deserve to go to heaven, that's on my end.

Okay.

Okay.

So, heaven or hell, let me ask you guys, do you guys think you are good people? Do you think you're a good person that might go?

Yes, I think I'm a great person.

Okay.

So, let me ask Matt. Matt, how many lies do you think you've ever told in your life?

Um, probably a lot.

Probably a lot?

Yeah.

Okay.

Matt, let me ask you another question. Have you ever stolen anything?

No.

No?

Okay.

Okay.

Have you ever looked at a woman with lust in your eyes, or in your heart?

What's lust mean?

I'm sorry.

Like, strong sexual desire. You see an attractive woman walk by, you look at her?

No.

No?

Really?

No. Okay.

Okay. Wow.

How about you, Matt?

Have you done that?

Um, probably, yeah.

Yeah, it's okay, to be honest. I'm guilty of it, too. How about, um, have you ever used the Lord's name in vain?

Yes, I have.

Yes? Okay.

Have you ever used the Lord's name in vain?

Yeah.

You ever tell a lie before?

No.

Okay.

How about, have you ever hated your brother?

Yeah. Okay.

Not hated, but, you know.

How about hated another person?

Sure. Okay.

Have you ever hated someone?

Yeah, hate is a strong word.

Yeah, it's a strong word.

So, I don't, I'm not sure.

Okay, well, so Jesus, he says that if you have hate in your heart for your brother, you've already committed the deeper meaning of murder, which you already said murder is punishable, maybe even hell worthy.

So, I asked you guys some of the Ten Commandments, um, in the Bible, and if God were to judge us based on the Ten Commandments, if he were to judge Matt, would you be innocent or guilty on the Ten Commandments?

I'd be guilty.

Guilty, okay. So, if you're guilty, would that mean heaven or hell?

It would mean hell.

Oh, yeah, it would mean hell. So, do you agree?

Yeah.

Yeah.

The Law as a Mirror and Christ’s Substitutionary Death

So, but, Giuseppe over here might understand what God did for guilty sinners like us. So, the law, the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, you look at it and it's actually a mirror. You look at it and you see, you know, you look in a mirror, you know, you have something in your face, you fix it, right?

You look at a mirror against the Ten Commandments, God's law, you look at it and you see how messed up you are on the inside. So, you realize you're a guilty sinner that needs a savior. So, what God did is that he sent his son, Jesus Christ.

Have you ever heard of him before?

Yeah.

He was born of what? A woman named….

Mary?

Mary, who was a virgin, right? And he lived a perfect life. You know, we've all sinned, we've told lies before, we've sinned against God, but Jesus, he was different from us. He was innocent, completely innocent, never did a sin like us, and he lived a perfect life and became the perfect sacrifice on the cross.

Have you ever heard of him dying on the cross?

Yes.

Do you know what him dying on the cross means for us?

He died for our sins.

He died for our sins. So, when God punished Jesus on the cross, he took our sin away. It should have been me on the cross, I'm guilty, but Jesus stepped in and paid my debt on the cross, and God punished him, his own son.

But, I'm sure you know what happened. He was buried and then three days later….

Um, I'm sorry.

He rose from….

Yeah, he came back.

This guy knows, he rose from the dead. Yeah, he rose from the dead. And anyone who's in Christ, believing in Christ, him coming, living a perfect life, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead, is in Christ.

And those of us in Christ, death will not hold us either. So, Jesus conquered something that all of us humans have a problem with. I don't know if you've noticed, 10 out of 10 people, 100 out of 100 people, 1 ,000 out of 1 ,000 people out there will die.

So, Jesus came and he conquered death and rose from the dead. So, the same spirit that's in Jesus is now in those of us who believe the gospel message. Those of us who repent…. Do you know what repent means, Matt?

No, I do not.

Okay, repent means….

Repent means changing your life to Christ.

So, repent means turning away from sin, changing your mind, and trusting in Jesus Christ. Because, the work that we do obviously isn't good enough. We've all lied, we've all done bad things. If God were to punish us, we're guilty.

You know, if God were to judge us, we're guilty and deserve punishment. But, those of us who put our faith in Christ…. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, he's the only way, putting our faith in Jesus, the only good one. He gives us his righteous life, his perfect life. It's like the switcheroo, the ultimate switch of him taking my sins and him giving me his perfect life.

So, anyone who repents and turns away from sin and trusts in Christ, their life changes. The old has passed away, the new has come. So, what do you think? Do you believe this?

Yeah, I do.

What about you, Matt? What do you believe?

Yeah, I believe it.

So, when are you going to repent and trust in Jesus? When do you think that's a good time?

Um, I trust in Jesus and I think it would be a good time to start soon.

Start right now, right?

Yeah.

Would you mind if I prayed with you?

Sure.

Yeah. Father God, thank you for Giuseppe and Matt here. We pray that we know that you are good enough and you died on the cross. And, we know that we're not good enough and we sinned against you. And, we're sorry for our sins.

But, we accept Jesus as the God of this universe who came and took on flesh. Who is the fully God and fully man who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. We believe that in our heart.

And, I pray that we would repent and turn away from sins and trust in you. So, we thank you for salvation. We thank you for saving us, Jesus. We ask that you would save us, save Matt, my friend here. And, that we would experience eternal life.

And, that you would rescue us from the fire of hell and the judgment that is to come. So, we thank you in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen.

All right. Any questions or comments before we go?

Not for me.

Not for you, Matt.

Nope. I just appreciate it.

All right. Thanks, man. Yeah. Thanks for coming on.

Thank you.

Matt. Yep.

What's your name again?

Tim. So, do you guys have a Bible or anything?

I do in my house.

You do?

Have you guys ever read the Gospel of John before?

No, I haven't.

All right. I want to give you, Matt, a Gospel of John.

Thank you.

You grew up in the church. Do you still want a Gospel of John?

Sure.

I read this book and it changed my life. The Gospel of John. So, I pray you guys read it. And, you'll find Jesus to be the perfect Savior. And, you'll start living your life for Him. That's what I did.

And, I don't regret it. I put my faith in Him when I was 22. I'm 29 now. And, He hasn't let me down. And, even though hard things come in life, I always have Him to fall back on. And, I know that He has a plan for my life.

So, it's very comforting. And, you know, Jesus loves me more than anyone has ever loved me. He gave His life for me. So, my allegiance is with Him. And, not with the world. So, I pray, you know, it seems like you might have already been saved.

But, I pray that, you know, maybe this conversation could be life-changing for you, brother.

Thank you. You're welcome.

All right, guys. Thanks.

See you later.

Yeah, you too.

A Conversation About Heaven, Hell, and the Moral Law

Howdy, sir. How are you? Would you like to be on our YouTube podcast?

Yeah.

Yeah?

Okay. We're asking people. It's not for a class, but we're asking people about what they believe happens to you after you die.

I believe in heaven and hell, sir.

Okay.

Do you have five minutes to talk about it, or you got to get going?

Five minutes. Let's go in the sun.

Do you mind if we go in the sun?

What's your name? John. John, nice to meet you. I'm Joe. And, that's Tim. Nice to meet you.

All right. You can sit down if you want, John.

All right.

All right, I'm Tim. I'm here with John. We asked him what he thinks about the afterlife, and he told me that he believes in heaven or hell. So, my question for John is, who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, John?

Well, according to the Bible, because I'm a Christian.

Okay.

The righteous go to heaven and the unrighteous go to hell.

That's right.

Depending on, you know, not these, but more of what you did while you were in post-mortem to be the deciding factor.

All right.

I like what John said. Let me ask him a few more questions. John, have you ever told a lie before?

Yes, I have.

How many lies do you think you told?

Over a million, probably.

John, have you ever stolen anything? You can be honest.

I have.

Okay.

Have you ever looked at a woman with lust?

Okay.

Have you ever used the Lord's name in vain, John?

I have, but I'm trying to stop that.

Okay.

And John, I'm not judging you, but based on what you told me, you told me that you're a lying, blasphemous, adulterous at heart thief. Would you agree with that?

Based on what I said, yes.

All right.

So, if God were to judge you based on the Ten Commandments, and you just broke four of them of what you told me, do you think you would be innocent or guilty?

I mean, six out of ten, that's not really like a good fraction, so nah, I don't think so.

So you would be guilty, right? So would it be heaven or hell?

For me right now, it would be hell, which kind of hurts, but that's the sad truth.

Right.

So do you know, yeah, that you're looking at the law, right, and we're told in the Bible that the law is like a mirror. When we look at the law, it's supposed to expose on who we are on the inside. You know, look, you look at a regular mirror at home, you know, you brush your teeth, you know, do your hair, whatever it is, you can see something wrong and you change it.

You know, the law of God, we look at that and it's supposed to change us on the inside and show us who we really are, which is actually not good, right? We're bad people, we're sinners.

By nature.

Yep, so do you know what God did for guilty sinners like us?

Umm, Jesus died on the cross, I know that.

That's right, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come and He wasn't like us, right? He was perfect and you and I, we sin, we break God's law, but He kept it perfectly and was innocent, but do you know what His main reason was to come?

And I think you said it was to come and die.

Right.

I don't know if you noticed, 10 out of 10 people out here in this world are going to die, right?

Yeah.

So Jesus came to die and He was buried and 3 days later, you probably know what happened.

He rose, right?

He rose. Now do you know why Jesus had to die on the cross, what the purpose was?

Umm, for our sins.

Yeah.

He seemed to like to pay for it.

That's right, Jesus, yeah, John is right. He died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, the sins like for me. It should be me on the cross, God should be punishing a sinner like me, a sinner like you.

But Jesus loved us so much that He Himself laid down His life for us and God punished His only Son on the cross in place of us. So, what Jesus does is He gives us His righteous, perfect life and He takes all of our sin and God looked at Him, and really the way He should have looked at us, and punished His own Son.

But, death could not hold Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead and any of us who believe the Gospel message that He did die on the cross and rise from the dead, do have the Spirit of God and the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead will raise us from the dead.

So, death will not hold us and that we could receive eternal life and forgiveness of sins and make it into that after life called Heaven to be with Jesus forever. Do you believe that's all true?

Yeah, sure.

Alright.

Have you personally repented of your sin, turning away from sin, and trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, trust in God's Son, Jesus?

I trust in Him, but repent for me means, like, be forgiven and try not to do the same sins again. And, you know, it's really hard, I'm going to be honest, you know. So, I'm like halfway in terms of repenting.

Yeah, so when you think, so if someone repents, turns away from sin, it means they change their mind. They start living a different lifestyle. The old has passed away, the new has come. Have you ever heard the term born again?

Right, right, right. That's when you get baptized.

Yeah, so born again is when you get baptized by the Holy Spirit.

Right.

By believing in Jesus Christ and then dying on the cross, God gives us His Spirit and we're, the old has gone away, the new has come, we're new creation. So, the Bible tells us that we're spiritually dead and if we remain spiritually dead, we're going to see the second death, which is the lake of fire.

Have you ever heard of the lake of fire before, John?

Yeah, sure.

So, instead of receiving the second death, we can receive the second birth for believers. Have you received the second birth, you think?

Second birth meaning baptism or?

Second birth meaning that the old has passed away, you believe that Jesus did die on the cross, you believe that He rose from the dead and that you changed, you were changed by that message, that you did repent and you trust in Christ.

I have, yeah.

Okay, alright. Say it loud and clear, right, because if you're a born again Christian, you can't be ashamed of Christ, right? We have to be, you know, for me, John, my allegiance is with Jesus Christ because Jesus loved me more than anyone in this world could possibly love me and has loved me.

He gave His life for me, so my allegiance is with Him and He says, He who loved me will keep my commandments and He gives a new commandment of love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.

Love others as yourself. So, as Christians, it's tough to do that, right? We all fall short, but by believing in Christ's work, Jesus still accepts us and Jesus is even a mediator between us, between God and man right now.

So, repenting is a one-time thing, but also we have to repent every day, turn away from sin, take up our cross daily and follow Christ. Do you agree with all that?

Yes, sir.

Alright, so do you think, if someone asks you, are you a born again Christian, what would you say?

I'd say yeah.

Yes, yes, because it's not up to us or our work, but it's up to whose work?

God, Jesus' work.

Yeah, Jesus Christ. Say it loud, John.

Jesus Christ's work.

Amen. Alright, John, well thanks for talking.

No problem.

Do you have a Bible at home?

I do, yeah.

Do you think it's important to read the Word?

Of course.

That's how you grow a relationship with God, by reading the Word. You know, Him revealing stuff to you, things that you're going through, it's all in there.

Does this conversation that we had kind of make you want to go pick up your Bible again and start reading the Word and following after Him?

Yeah, I do now, but this just kind of reinforces it.

Alright, thanks for talking with us, John.

No problem.

Oh, what you got to eat, sir? Grilled cheese. Oh, man. You want to let us interview you? You can sit and eat your grilled cheese over here. You want to be on our podcast? Just a video podcast?

I could try.

Alright.

I'm going to go ahead and eat inside because it's a little bit too cold in here.

Oh, you're going inside?

Yeah.

Oh, go inside then. I don't want your food to get cold. We're going to ask you about where you think people go after they die.

Heaven, obviously. I mean, I don't know if it's true or not because I never died before, but I think it's heaven.

Alright.

Depending what the actions done or what they did in their life, it depends.

You think it's based on their good works?

Not necessarily good works. I would just say, like, what have they done wrong? Because I know God really doesn't really choose on your good actions. He chooses, like, you know, you did this, explain that, explain that.

He judges you based off that and what your intentions behind it.

So how good do you have to be to get in?

Look, you don't have to be pure, like, pure of heart.

No?

I mean, as long as you don't, like, commit any...

So you're okay with being on the... I'm already taking a lot of video. I didn't get your permission to be on YouTube. You're fine? Or any other media?

Like, if you're not, like, any... what is this? Any...

So we're interviewing people for a podcast.

Rape.

Okay. About what?

So, like, on a scale of 0 to 10, like, 0 being totally depraved, like, hate off Hitler. Or, you know, 10 being, like, Mother Teresa. Where do you got to be on that scale in order to get into heaven?

At least a 6.

You got to be a 6?

At least a 6.

Okay, okay.

A 6 is like, uh... Who's a 6?

Man, I'd hate to be a 5 .9. That would really be rough.

I know, right? If it's a 5 point system, then you're off by a bit. Yeah, but... I'm trying to think of, like, who's great but not good.

Yeah. Like...

Is this a hard... I would say Biden. He's not great, but I know he's good at heart.

Yeah.

Where do you think you are on a scale of...

I'm probably, like, at least a 6.

You're just a 6?

At least a 6. At least. I have not done anything wrong.

So you're, like, sweetening on your backside.

But I'm not afraid to admit that I did some... Not crazy stuff, but stuff that's like, okay, you did this, but...

Are you a 6 .1?

I'm, like, at least a 6 .9.

So does that make you nervous that you might fall down to 5 .9?

No, I'm good. 5 .8? As long as I'm not crazy enough to, like, kill somebody or rape somebody. Nah, I'm good. I'm good. I'm chilling.

Would you be surprised if I told you none of us are good? According to the Bible, no one is good. Not even one. That's Romans 3 .10, I think.

Really?

Yeah. No one.

Then you go back to the Bible.

We're all zeros.

I mean, if God's criteria was, like, you've got to go to church every day.

That's his criteria.

Well, no, no. Not going to church. Don't hear what I'm not saying. I didn't say that. But none of us are good enough to get to heaven because we've all fallen short of the standard because the Bible says that the standard is perfection.

Oh!

Yeah!

How about that?

Nobody's perfect.

Your 6 ain't going to work now.

My 6 ain't working. I guess I need an 11 out of 10.

But let's ask you, let's see if you really are 6. You familiar with the thing called the Ten Commandments?

Um, a little bit. A little bit.

A little bit.

No sin, greed.

So, yeah. So the first, well, the first commandment is, do you love God with all your heart, mind, and soul? Do you do that all the time? That's a no.

All right.

So number two is graven images. Is there any idols? Do you lift up anything in your life more than God? Are there things that are more important to you than God in your life?

My mother.

Your mother?

Yes. Okay.

So you broke that one, too.

I'm at 8 right now.