September 11, 2025 • 27 mins
Are you ready to meet God? Message of hope given on September 16, 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi there.
This is Lon Solomon, and I'dlike to thank you for joining us
today.
You know, God has blessed us andallowed us to be on hundreds of
stations around the nation,declaring the uncompromising
truth of his word.
What a wonderful privilege andhonor it is to do that.
And I want to thank you for yourgenerosity because only with
(00:25):
your hell are we able to stay onthese stations and hopefully go
on more stations with enoughgiving by our partners and our
friends.
So go to laun Solomonministries.com and everything
there you need to know is onthat website.
And now let's get to the word ofGod.
(00:50):
You know, I remember when I wasa child growing up and my
parents and my grandparentswould talk often about Pearl
Harbor.
And I remember they would alwayscomment that they knew exactly
they remembered exactly wherethey were when they heard the
news.
Pearl Harbor had been attackednow as a child, I couldn't
really relate to that until thatis 1963, November the 22nd,
(01:13):
1963, to be exact.
I was sitting in health class,just outside the gymnasium in
Woodrow Wilson, high school,Portsmouth, Virginia.
I remember the desk I wassitting in.
It was around one o'clock in theafternoon when over the
loudspeaker came, theannouncement that president John
F.
Kennedy had been shot and killedin Dallas, Texas long as I live,
(01:36):
I'll never forget where I was atthat moment.
I can see it in my mind thispast week, we, as the American
people have experienced atragedy just as serious as the
attack on Pearl Harbor or thedeath of president Kennedy, none
of us will ever forget where wewere the morning of September,
the 11th, 2001.
None of us will ever get out ofour minds, those horrible images
(01:58):
of the trade towers fallingdown, or the Pentagon being on
fire.
Our generation has justexperienced a tragedy.
So mammoth that it will beimprinted on the American psyche
for the rest of our lives andbeyond.
And yet we dare not forget myfriends that in every one of
these events that we talk about,every one of them involved, the
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lives of real people, peoplelike you, people like me, people
who each one has their ownunique and special story, how
they ended up as part of theevents of last Tuesday.
I think of Barbara Olson, wifeof us, solicitor general,
Theodore Olson, also a CNNcorrespondent and author in her
(02:41):
own, right?
And many of you know, her story,she was laid to rest here in
Washington yesterday, but shewas scheduled to fly to Los
Angeles on Monday the 10th ofSeptember, but Tuesday was her
husband's birthday.
And so she decided to stay andpostpone her trip for a day.
So she could have breakfast withher husband and celebrate his
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birthday before she left, whichis why she ended up on American
flight, 77, Tuesday morning,that left Dallas airport at
eight, 10, and ended up crashinginto the Pentagon, killing her
and everybody else on board.
Of course, our sympathies go outto Mr.
Olson.
Many of us know him, his family,but this is just one of hundreds
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and thousands of stories of reallife.
People who were just going abouttheir business mind and you know
, their own business doing theirdaily routine.
And because of some littledecision they made, they either
were or were not in harm's wayon Tuesday morning.
Now, what are the lessons welearned from all of this?
I mean, our sympathies go out asmuch as we know how to these
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people, but there are lessonsfor us.
What are, what are the lessonsfor us?
Well, I've been thinking allweek, God, what do we learn from
all this?
Because there are lessons ineverything and I don't have time
obviously to go through themall.
There are many lessons.
So I've just picked one to talkto you about today.
And we kind of find this lessonvery well summed up in Proverbs
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chapter 27, verse one.
Here's what the Bible says donot boast about tomorrow for you
do not know what a day may bringforth.
James said it the same way inthe new Testament.
He said, James, four 14.
We are a mist that appears for alittle while and then vanishes
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away while we don't even knowwhat will happen to us tomorrow.
And in light of this, becausethis is true.
It led the old Testament,prophet Amos to give us a piece
of advice.
It's a good piece of advice.
Here's what he said, Amos four,12.
He said, be prepared to meetyour God.
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Be prepared.
You know, I was riding with my16 year old son, Jonathan,
Tuesday afternoon, all theevents had basically taken
place.
And as we were riding in thecar, we got to talking about
what it must've been like to bein one of those airplanes.
As you realize suddenly what wasabout to happen to you.
And John said to me, I'll neverforget it.
He said, you know, daddy said,if I were in the plane, I
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wouldn't have wanted to die.
He said, but I know I'm ready.
So it would have been okay.
He said, I could have been ableto relax because I know I'm
ready.
Well out of the mouths of babes,huh?
Teenagers, all my son John'sreally saying is that he's taken
Amos's advice that he he'sprepared himself for whenever
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eternity hits and folks, theresults of being ready like this
are staggering.
It means that we can faceanything.
Even eternity.
That life brings along with ourfear.
This is where God wants you tobe my friend.
Be ready to go into eternity ata moment's notice because the
truth is that's all, any of usmay get Billy Graham who spoke.
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I saw him speak down at thenational cathedral on Friday.
And here's what he said.
He said, and I quote, this eventreminds us of the brevity and
the uncertainty of life.
I doubt if even one of thosepeople who walked into the world
trade center or the Pentagonlast Tuesday morning ever
thought it would be the last dayof their lives.
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We never know when we two willbe called into eternity.
And that's why each of us needsto be ready.
Now, this is what we want totalk about today.
We want to talk about how youand I can be ready for eternity.
I mean, what if you or I weresitting in the trade towers last
Tuesday morning, and suddenlyyou looked out the window and
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here comes this airplane, rightfor your floor.
What if you had been sitting inthe Pentagon and you looked out
the window of your office andhere comes this airplane headed
right for your office.
What have you been on one ofthose airplanes?
What would it have taken for youand me to be able to face death
on afraid?
But let's talk about that.
The Bible says that for us to beready, to meet eternity for us
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to be ready to face God, aperson needs to have in their
possession, eternal life.
And I say, what do you mean tohave in our possession eternal
life?
I thought he turned a life wassomething you get when you die.
I mean, you die.
You get eternal life.
No, no, no.
That's not what the Bibleteaches at all.
As a matter of fact, the Bibleteaches the opposite.
The Bible teaches that eternallife is something we either
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possess, or we don't possessright here in this life right
here on earth.
And that heaven is merely aplace where people who already
have eternal life go.
When they leave this world,listen to what Jesus said, John
five verse 24.
He said, I tell you the truth.
Whoever hears my words andbelieves in me has present tense
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right now, eternal life, John 647.
I tell you the truth.
The person who believes in mehas present tense right now,
eternal life.
First John five, verse 11.
And this is the record that Godhas given us eternal life.
And that life is in his son.
He who has the son of God haspresent tense right now.
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Eternal life folks, possessingeternal life is the key issue as
to whether a person is ready foreternity, ready to meet God.
And every one of us can havethat eternal life right now.
Right?
As we sit here, first, Johnchapter five, verse 13, these
things I write to you whobelieve in the son of God, so
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that you may know, look at that.
So you may know that you've goteternal life.
We can know we have eternal lifewith just as much certainty
sitting here today, as we knowwhat our name is that you may
say, Lord, you know what I gotto tell you?
I think that's a pretty arrogantstatement.
I think that's pretty Hardy towalk around and say, well, I
know I've got eternal life.
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Well friends.
That's what the Bible teaches.
It's not Hardy or arrogant.
It's what God wants us to have.
God's not trying to make youturtle life, a mystery.
God's not trying to make eternallife a secret.
God wants us to know.
We have it to enjoy possessingit, to build our hope on it, to
draw comfort from it.
And he says, you can know you'vegot it right now.
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And the way we acquire eternallife is by coming in to a
personal relationship with JesusChrist.
Eternal life is a gift that Godgives everybody who comes into a
personal relationship withJesus.
Look what Jesus said, John 17three.
Now this is eternal life.
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I don't know how you're going tosay it.
Any simpler than that.
This is eternal life.
What does Jesus say?
That people know in a personalway that they know you?
The one and only true God andthat they know me, whom you have
sent.
Let me repeat.
Eternal life is a gift that Godgives every person who comes
into personal relationship withJesus.
(09:51):
And so, as we close thismorning, the question we got to
ask is how do you do that?
How do you come into a personalrelationship with Jesus?
How do you establish this kindof personal connectedness?
So God gives you eternal life.
We want to answer that.
And I ask you to turn to Luke23, where we find one of the
most famous stories, anywhere ofsomebody doing exactly that
(10:15):
we're going to look at somebody,come into a personal
relationship with Jesus and geteternal life.
Now we don't know the person'sname, but we do know their
crime.
They were thief and they werehanging on the cross next to
Jesus.
This man was so let's look atthe story, Luke 23, verse 38.
And there was a written noticeabove Jesus.
As he hung there on the cross,which read, this is the king of
(10:38):
the Jews.
And one of the criminals whohung beside him, hurled, insults
at him and said, aren't you theMessiah, save yourself if
they're Messiah and save us too.
He, this one thief joined inwith all of the others.
They're mocking Jesus andridiculing Jesus.
But look what the other thiefdid first 40, but the other
thief rebuked dispread we arehere being punished justly.
(11:01):
He said for, we are getting whatour deeds deserve, but this man,
Jesus, he's done nothing wrong.
And then he turned to Jesus andsaid, Lord, please remember me.
When you come into your kingdomnow, what are the two things
this thief did to God hear me?
Eternal life.
That God him a personalrelationship with Jesus.
Well, it's real simple.
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Number one, the first thing heoffered Jesus, that accomplished
that is he offered Jesuspersonal repentance.
Repentance is a word that throwsa lot of people off because we
make it far more complicatedthan it really is.
Repentance is really verysimple.
Repentance simply means aaccepting the full
responsibility for your ownactions and be in your hearts,
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wanting to U-turn that's all itmeans.
Sincerely wanting a U-turn.
Did the thief do that?
Well, sure.
He did what he say.
He said, it's our fault.
We're here.
We are justly accused.
We're dying for the stuff thatwe did.
It's not anybody else's fault.
He didn't make any excuses.
He didn't make anyrationalizations.
He didn't say, look, I couldn'thelp it.
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It was my parental upbringing.
It was my socioeconomiccondition.
No, no, no, no, no.
He said, it's my fault.
I'm up here.
I deserve what I'm getting.
And Lord, I want to make aU-turn repentance Lord.
I need to change.
That's the first thing heoffered.
Jesus.
And the second thing you offeredhim was just a simple, personal
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faith.
The key word here is the word.
Lord, Lord is a word of faith ofbelief of surrender of reliance.
He says, Lord, I believe you'rethe Messiah.
Like you say, Lord, I believewhat you're doing on the cross
is for me, Lord.
I want to be in your kingdom.
I know I'll never get there onmy own.
And Lord, would you have mercyon me?
Would you have mercy on me?
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I know I don't deserve it inlight of my actions, but would
you show me mercy?
Anyway, this is the second stepto coming into personal
relationship with Jesus Christ,faith in who Jesus says he is
personal repentance, personalfaith.
And you know, what's interestingis that all these hundreds of
people standing around the crosswatching Jesus didn't have a
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thing in the world to say to anyof them.
But he had something to say tothis guy, look what he said for
verse 43, Jesus answered him andsaid, I tell you the truth.
Now friends, when Jesus saysthat you can take it to the
bank.
I tell you the truth today.
Look at this today.
You will be with me in paradise.
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Why did Jesus say today?
Well, because the thief neededit today.
He was going to die today and hedidn't need it tomorrow or next
week he needed it today.
And Jesus said, today you'vecome into personal relationship
with me today.
I have given you eternal life asa result.
And today when you die on thiscross and leave here, you're
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going to heaven with me today.
This is a wonderful story.
And it shows us that in order toget a personal relationship with
Christ in order to get eternallife, no human works.
No religious activity isnecessary.
I mean, look at this guy, he gota personal relationship with
Christ.
He got eternal life, but he wasnailed to a cross.
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I mean, he couldn't go sing inthe choir, put money in the
offering plate, attend church,or be baptized.
He couldn't count the rosaryfast for Yom.
Kippor make a pilgrimage toMecca or bathe in the Ganges.
He couldn't go repay the moneyhe stole stole.
Do community service become anEagle scout or recycle.
This guy was nailed to a cross.
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And if there had been any kindof religious activity, any kind
of human works that werenecessary to get eternal life,
this guy is up to cross withouta paddle.
Couldn't do it.
Isn't it wonderful that Jesussaid today, you're going to be
with me in eternity becausefriends, it's not about human
works.
It's about religious activity.
It's about what the thief did.
(14:54):
What did he do?
He gave Jesus repentance and hegave him faith.
And that's what gets us eternallife.
That's what gets us a personalrelationship to what God it for
him.
It's what will get it for you?
You know, I go to a gym here inWashington, uh, three days a
week.
I work out and I know it showsso thanks.
I appreciate you all sayingthat.
(15:15):
But anyway, and I've been goingthere for years and years and
years to this gym.
And so I've kind of become theunofficial chaplain of the gym,
sorta.
They all know who I am.
And let me tell you what itmeans when you're the chaplain
of a gym.
It means that most of the time,nobody wants to get near you.
But then when they get introuble, they want to talk to
(15:36):
you.
That's what it means to be thechaplain of the gym.
So I was riding the lifecycle.
This is about a year ago, maybea little more.
And this guy came up to me andwe started chatting and he said,
you know, my life's really awreck.
I need some help.
He said, could, can people likeme come to your church?
I said, well sure.
He said, I think I'm going tocome to your church.
He said, cause I really need toget some religion in my life.
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I said, we know I need to tellyou this, but, but we don't
offer religion at McLean Biblechurch.
He said, why?
I said, no, no, no we don't.
We don't do religion.
We don't give out religion atMcLean Bible church.
He said, of course you do.
He said, of course you do bars,sell beer.
You give out religion.
I is just the way it is.
What are you talking about yourchurch?
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And you don't give out religion.
I said, no, no, no.
Religion is a bunch of rules andregulations that man's made up
to try to figure out some way towork his way to God.
The Bible never offers that toanybody.
We don't offer that to anybody.
What we offer people is apersonal relationship with Jesus
because that's what the Bibleoffers them.
Now, if you come into personalrelationship with Jesus, God
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will give you eternal life.
Forgive your sins, move intoyour life and start changing you
from the inside out.
If that's what you want, we helpyou with that can help you with
religion friend.
If you're here and looking forreligion, came to the wrong
place.
God doesn't offer anybodyreligion.
He offers people, Jesus, apersonal relationship with
Jesus.
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And when we come into thatrelationship as a gift, God
gives us eternal life and yougot it right now.
As much as you're ever going toget you got it.
And when you know you got it,then you can face anything
including death without fear.
One other thing I love aboutthis story is that it reminds us
it's never too late to do this.
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Never too late.
You may think you've done toomuch messed up too bad.
You've committed things tohorrible nonsense.
This guy's being executed.
He's been executed for what hedid and it wasn't too late for
him.
Jesus, didn't turn to him andsay, well, you know, you ought
to thought about that for theyattacked you up here on his
cross, man.
No, no, no.
What did Jesus say to him?
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Jesus said today, you'll be withme in paradise folks.
If you've got blood goingthrough your blood and you got
air coming into your lungs, itis not too late for you to turn
to Jesus.
And he's there for you.
He was there for the thief.
He's there for you.
He said, well, I got one lastquestion and that is, are you
telling me?
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This is the only way I can geteternal life.
Are you telling me this is theonly way I can get into heaven?
Because if that's what you'resaying, I got to tell you
something.
I don't like that.
That's narrow-minded that'sparochial.
That's exclusionary.
I don't like that.
Well let's let Jesus answer thequestion.
Shall we?
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John 14, verse six.
I am the way Jesus said thetruth and the life.
Here's our key word.
Nobody.
There's our key word.
Nobody gets into heaven unlessthey come by way of me.
So I don't like that.
Well, all I know how to say isfriends.
Guess what?
You're not running heaven andneither am I.
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And if this is what the personrunning heaven says, it really
doesn't matter that much.
Whether we like it or not smartpeople don't argue with the
person in charge, smart people,figure out what the person in
charge demands.
And they do it now, friends, Ithink the same principle is
true.
When it comes to going toheaven.
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Jesus is the one in charge,smart people don't argue with
him, tell him they don't likehow we set up the system.
I mean, you can do that.
If you want to smart people,figure out what he demands.
And then we do it.
Jesus has told us today what hisdemands are, what the conditions
are.
It's easy.
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And if we're smart, we'll do it.
Billy Graham, as I watched himcome down the aisle there at the
national cathedral.
So feeble so frail, I reallydoubted the poor man was even
going to get to the rostrum totalk.
The boy had God give him power.
And here's what he said.
He was reflecting on theassurance, the confidence that
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comes into our lives.
When we know we have eternallife and here's what he said,
and I'll close with this.
He said, and I quote, I'vebecome an old man now.
And the older I get, the more Iclean to this hope that I
started with many years ago.
Many of those people who diedthis past week are in heaven
(20:11):
right now.
And they wouldn't want to comeback.
It's so glorious and wonderful.
And that's the hope for all ofus who put our faith in Christ.
I pray that you will have thishope in your heart or friends.
That's what I pray.
And that's what God wants.
And if you need this hope inyour heart, we're going to give
you the chance right now to getit.
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So let's bow our heads together.
Shall we?
With our heads bowed and oureyes closed.
May I say that?
You know, many of you who'vecome here for quite a while.
Some of you may be new with us,but if you've come for while,
you know, we talk about having arelationship with Jesus every
week, but we don't try to closethe deal every week.
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We're happy if you want to kickthe can down the road a little
bit every week.
That's great.
But folks, there comes a pointevery once in a while, where
it's time to decide whetherwe're ready to tie the knot in
the bag.
This is one of those moments.
So if you've been thinking aboutit, talking about it, praying
about it, and you're ready toclose that deal with God to give
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your life to him and let himgive you back among many other
things, eternal life.
We want to give you the chanceto do that, right?
Where you sit today, you don'thave to raise your hand.
You don't have to get out ofyour seat and go anywhere, right
where you sit and here's howwe're going to do it.
I'm going to pray a prayer.
And I'm going to ask you if youwant to do this to pray silently
one phrase at a time right afterme, right where you sit and
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let's give Jesus the same thing.
The thief gave him repentanceand faith, and he'll give us
back.
He turned a life.
So if you're interested in doingthis, you pray silently one
phrase after me, right?
Where you sit, here we go, LordJesus.
I come to you today because Ineed help.
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I need to know that I haveeternal life.
I need to know that I'm ready tomeet you whenever that might
happen.
And so today I admit to you thatI've done wrong.
I admit to you that it's my ownfault.
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I'm in the situations I'm in.
I admit to you that I need aU-turn in my life.
I also tell you today that Ibelieve you are who you said you
were the Messiah of Israel, thesavior of the world who died on
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the cross to pay for my sins andwho rose from the dead to prove
you were telling the truth.
And so today I invite you tocome into my life, to be my
personal savior, to forgive mysin and to give me eternal life,
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to begin changing me from theinside out Lord have mercy on
me.
Like you did on that fif inJesus' day, father, I want to
pray for the folks who prayedthis prayer that you would
confirm in their heart and intheir mind right now, right as
they sit here that a greattransaction has taken place.
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That is the Bible says they'vepassed over from death to life,
eternal life.
And Lord, I pray that you wouldconfirm in their hearts that the
deal is done.
The contract is sealed and theynow belong to you.
Laura, thanks for offering us aspeople away to face eternity on
afraid Lord, we were sograteful.
(23:51):
You've done that for us.
We love you for that.
And our prayer is that everyperson here would leave today,
either being absolutely certainthat they have eternal life and
they're ready to face youwhenever it happens or
determined that they're going tothink about it and that they're
going to move towards the pointwhere they make a decision, help
(24:14):
us be smart people.
God, and we pray this in Jesusname.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
You've been listening to.
So what with Dr.
Lawn Solomon.
So what is an outreach of lawnSolomon ministries to listen to
today's message or for moreinformation, visit our website,
Lon Solomon ministries.org.
Thank you for your support.
If you would like to contact us,please visit our website or call
(24:44):
us at(866) 788-7770.
We hope you will join us nexttime when lawn seeks to answer
one of life's most importantquestions.
So what.
Hi there.
This is Lon Solomon, and I'dlike to thank you for joining us
today.
You know, God has blessed us andallowed us to be on hundreds of
stations around the nation,declaring the uncompromising
truth of his word.
What a wonderful privilege andhonor it is to do that.
And I want to thank you for yourgenerosity because only with
(00:25):
your hell are we able to stay onthese stations and hopefully go
on more stations with enoughgiving by our partners and our
friends.
So go to laun Solomonministries.com and everything
there you need to know is onthat website.
And now let's get to the word ofGod.
(00:50):
You know, I remember when I wasa child growing up and my
parents and my grandparentswould talk often about Pearl
Harbor.
And I remember they would alwayscomment that they knew exactly
they remembered exactly wherethey were when they heard the
news.
Pearl Harbor had been attackednow as a child, I couldn't
really relate to that until thatis 1963, November the 22nd,
(01:13):
1963, to be exact.
I was sitting in health class,just outside the gymnasium in
Woodrow Wilson, high school,Portsmouth, Virginia.
I remember the desk I wassitting in.
It was around one o'clock in theafternoon when over the
loudspeaker came, theannouncement that president John
F.
Kennedy had been shot and killedin Dallas, Texas long as I live,
(01:36):
I'll never forget where I was atthat moment.
I can see it in my mind thispast week, we, as the American
people have experienced atragedy just as serious as the
attack on Pearl Harbor or thedeath of president Kennedy, none
of us will ever forget where wewere the morning of September,
the 11th, 2001.
None of us will ever get out ofour minds, those horrible images
(01:58):
of the trade towers fallingdown, or the Pentagon being on
fire.
Our generation has justexperienced a tragedy.
So mammoth that it will beimprinted on the American psyche
for the rest of our lives andbeyond.
And yet we dare not forget myfriends that in every one of
these events that we talk about,every one of them involved, the
(02:20):
lives of real people, peoplelike you, people like me, people
who each one has their ownunique and special story, how
they ended up as part of theevents of last Tuesday.
I think of Barbara Olson, wifeof us, solicitor general,
Theodore Olson, also a CNNcorrespondent and author in her
(02:41):
own, right?
And many of you know, her story,she was laid to rest here in
Washington yesterday, but shewas scheduled to fly to Los
Angeles on Monday the 10th ofSeptember, but Tuesday was her
husband's birthday.
And so she decided to stay andpostpone her trip for a day.
So she could have breakfast withher husband and celebrate his
(03:01):
birthday before she left, whichis why she ended up on American
flight, 77, Tuesday morning,that left Dallas airport at
eight, 10, and ended up crashinginto the Pentagon, killing her
and everybody else on board.
Of course, our sympathies go outto Mr.
Olson.
Many of us know him, his family,but this is just one of hundreds
(03:22):
and thousands of stories of reallife.
People who were just going abouttheir business mind and you know
, their own business doing theirdaily routine.
And because of some littledecision they made, they either
were or were not in harm's wayon Tuesday morning.
Now, what are the lessons welearned from all of this?
I mean, our sympathies go out asmuch as we know how to these
(03:43):
people, but there are lessonsfor us.
What are, what are the lessonsfor us?
Well, I've been thinking allweek, God, what do we learn from
all this?
Because there are lessons ineverything and I don't have time
obviously to go through themall.
There are many lessons.
So I've just picked one to talkto you about today.
And we kind of find this lessonvery well summed up in Proverbs
(04:03):
chapter 27, verse one.
Here's what the Bible says donot boast about tomorrow for you
do not know what a day may bringforth.
James said it the same way inthe new Testament.
He said, James, four 14.
We are a mist that appears for alittle while and then vanishes
(04:23):
away while we don't even knowwhat will happen to us tomorrow.
And in light of this, becausethis is true.
It led the old Testament,prophet Amos to give us a piece
of advice.
It's a good piece of advice.
Here's what he said, Amos four,12.
He said, be prepared to meetyour God.
(04:46):
Be prepared.
You know, I was riding with my16 year old son, Jonathan,
Tuesday afternoon, all theevents had basically taken
place.
And as we were riding in thecar, we got to talking about
what it must've been like to bein one of those airplanes.
As you realize suddenly what wasabout to happen to you.
And John said to me, I'll neverforget it.
He said, you know, daddy said,if I were in the plane, I
(05:08):
wouldn't have wanted to die.
He said, but I know I'm ready.
So it would have been okay.
He said, I could have been ableto relax because I know I'm
ready.
Well out of the mouths of babes,huh?
Teenagers, all my son John'sreally saying is that he's taken
Amos's advice that he he'sprepared himself for whenever
(05:29):
eternity hits and folks, theresults of being ready like this
are staggering.
It means that we can faceanything.
Even eternity.
That life brings along with ourfear.
This is where God wants you tobe my friend.
Be ready to go into eternity ata moment's notice because the
truth is that's all, any of usmay get Billy Graham who spoke.
(05:52):
I saw him speak down at thenational cathedral on Friday.
And here's what he said.
He said, and I quote, this eventreminds us of the brevity and
the uncertainty of life.
I doubt if even one of thosepeople who walked into the world
trade center or the Pentagonlast Tuesday morning ever
thought it would be the last dayof their lives.
(06:14):
We never know when we two willbe called into eternity.
And that's why each of us needsto be ready.
Now, this is what we want totalk about today.
We want to talk about how youand I can be ready for eternity.
I mean, what if you or I weresitting in the trade towers last
Tuesday morning, and suddenlyyou looked out the window and
(06:34):
here comes this airplane, rightfor your floor.
What if you had been sitting inthe Pentagon and you looked out
the window of your office andhere comes this airplane headed
right for your office.
What have you been on one ofthose airplanes?
What would it have taken for youand me to be able to face death
on afraid?
But let's talk about that.
The Bible says that for us to beready, to meet eternity for us
(06:57):
to be ready to face God, aperson needs to have in their
possession, eternal life.
And I say, what do you mean tohave in our possession eternal
life?
I thought he turned a life wassomething you get when you die.
I mean, you die.
You get eternal life.
No, no, no.
That's not what the Bibleteaches at all.
As a matter of fact, the Bibleteaches the opposite.
The Bible teaches that eternallife is something we either
(07:20):
possess, or we don't possessright here in this life right
here on earth.
And that heaven is merely aplace where people who already
have eternal life go.
When they leave this world,listen to what Jesus said, John
five verse 24.
He said, I tell you the truth.
Whoever hears my words andbelieves in me has present tense
(07:42):
right now, eternal life, John 647.
I tell you the truth.
The person who believes in mehas present tense right now,
eternal life.
First John five, verse 11.
And this is the record that Godhas given us eternal life.
And that life is in his son.
He who has the son of God haspresent tense right now.
(08:04):
Eternal life folks, possessingeternal life is the key issue as
to whether a person is ready foreternity, ready to meet God.
And every one of us can havethat eternal life right now.
Right?
As we sit here, first, Johnchapter five, verse 13, these
things I write to you whobelieve in the son of God, so
(08:25):
that you may know, look at that.
So you may know that you've goteternal life.
We can know we have eternal lifewith just as much certainty
sitting here today, as we knowwhat our name is that you may
say, Lord, you know what I gotto tell you?
I think that's a pretty arrogantstatement.
I think that's pretty Hardy towalk around and say, well, I
know I've got eternal life.
(08:47):
Well friends.
That's what the Bible teaches.
It's not Hardy or arrogant.
It's what God wants us to have.
God's not trying to make youturtle life, a mystery.
God's not trying to make eternallife a secret.
God wants us to know.
We have it to enjoy possessingit, to build our hope on it, to
draw comfort from it.
And he says, you can know you'vegot it right now.
(09:07):
And the way we acquire eternallife is by coming in to a
personal relationship with JesusChrist.
Eternal life is a gift that Godgives everybody who comes into a
personal relationship withJesus.
Look what Jesus said, John 17three.
Now this is eternal life.
(09:28):
I don't know how you're going tosay it.
Any simpler than that.
This is eternal life.
What does Jesus say?
That people know in a personalway that they know you?
The one and only true God andthat they know me, whom you have
sent.
Let me repeat.
Eternal life is a gift that Godgives every person who comes
into personal relationship withJesus.
(09:51):
And so, as we close thismorning, the question we got to
ask is how do you do that?
How do you come into a personalrelationship with Jesus?
How do you establish this kindof personal connectedness?
So God gives you eternal life.
We want to answer that.
And I ask you to turn to Luke23, where we find one of the
most famous stories, anywhere ofsomebody doing exactly that
(10:15):
we're going to look at somebody,come into a personal
relationship with Jesus and geteternal life.
Now we don't know the person'sname, but we do know their
crime.
They were thief and they werehanging on the cross next to
Jesus.
This man was so let's look atthe story, Luke 23, verse 38.
And there was a written noticeabove Jesus.
As he hung there on the cross,which read, this is the king of
(10:38):
the Jews.
And one of the criminals whohung beside him, hurled, insults
at him and said, aren't you theMessiah, save yourself if
they're Messiah and save us too.
He, this one thief joined inwith all of the others.
They're mocking Jesus andridiculing Jesus.
But look what the other thiefdid first 40, but the other
thief rebuked dispread we arehere being punished justly.
(11:01):
He said for, we are getting whatour deeds deserve, but this man,
Jesus, he's done nothing wrong.
And then he turned to Jesus andsaid, Lord, please remember me.
When you come into your kingdomnow, what are the two things
this thief did to God hear me?
Eternal life.
That God him a personalrelationship with Jesus.
Well, it's real simple.
(11:21):
Number one, the first thing heoffered Jesus, that accomplished
that is he offered Jesuspersonal repentance.
Repentance is a word that throwsa lot of people off because we
make it far more complicatedthan it really is.
Repentance is really verysimple.
Repentance simply means aaccepting the full
responsibility for your ownactions and be in your hearts,
(11:45):
wanting to U-turn that's all itmeans.
Sincerely wanting a U-turn.
Did the thief do that?
Well, sure.
He did what he say.
He said, it's our fault.
We're here.
We are justly accused.
We're dying for the stuff thatwe did.
It's not anybody else's fault.
He didn't make any excuses.
He didn't make anyrationalizations.
He didn't say, look, I couldn'thelp it.
(12:05):
It was my parental upbringing.
It was my socioeconomiccondition.
No, no, no, no, no.
He said, it's my fault.
I'm up here.
I deserve what I'm getting.
And Lord, I want to make aU-turn repentance Lord.
I need to change.
That's the first thing heoffered.
Jesus.
And the second thing you offeredhim was just a simple, personal
(12:26):
faith.
The key word here is the word.
Lord, Lord is a word of faith ofbelief of surrender of reliance.
He says, Lord, I believe you'rethe Messiah.
Like you say, Lord, I believewhat you're doing on the cross
is for me, Lord.
I want to be in your kingdom.
I know I'll never get there onmy own.
And Lord, would you have mercyon me?
Would you have mercy on me?
(12:47):
I know I don't deserve it inlight of my actions, but would
you show me mercy?
Anyway, this is the second stepto coming into personal
relationship with Jesus Christ,faith in who Jesus says he is
personal repentance, personalfaith.
And you know, what's interestingis that all these hundreds of
people standing around the crosswatching Jesus didn't have a
(13:08):
thing in the world to say to anyof them.
But he had something to say tothis guy, look what he said for
verse 43, Jesus answered him andsaid, I tell you the truth.
Now friends, when Jesus saysthat you can take it to the
bank.
I tell you the truth today.
Look at this today.
You will be with me in paradise.
(13:28):
Why did Jesus say today?
Well, because the thief neededit today.
He was going to die today and hedidn't need it tomorrow or next
week he needed it today.
And Jesus said, today you'vecome into personal relationship
with me today.
I have given you eternal life asa result.
And today when you die on thiscross and leave here, you're
(13:51):
going to heaven with me today.
This is a wonderful story.
And it shows us that in order toget a personal relationship with
Christ in order to get eternallife, no human works.
No religious activity isnecessary.
I mean, look at this guy, he gota personal relationship with
Christ.
He got eternal life, but he wasnailed to a cross.
(14:12):
I mean, he couldn't go sing inthe choir, put money in the
offering plate, attend church,or be baptized.
He couldn't count the rosaryfast for Yom.
Kippor make a pilgrimage toMecca or bathe in the Ganges.
He couldn't go repay the moneyhe stole stole.
Do community service become anEagle scout or recycle.
This guy was nailed to a cross.
(14:33):
And if there had been any kindof religious activity, any kind
of human works that werenecessary to get eternal life,
this guy is up to cross withouta paddle.
Couldn't do it.
Isn't it wonderful that Jesussaid today, you're going to be
with me in eternity becausefriends, it's not about human
works.
It's about religious activity.
It's about what the thief did.
(14:54):
What did he do?
He gave Jesus repentance and hegave him faith.
And that's what gets us eternallife.
That's what gets us a personalrelationship to what God it for
him.
It's what will get it for you?
You know, I go to a gym here inWashington, uh, three days a
week.
I work out and I know it showsso thanks.
I appreciate you all sayingthat.
(15:15):
But anyway, and I've been goingthere for years and years and
years to this gym.
And so I've kind of become theunofficial chaplain of the gym,
sorta.
They all know who I am.
And let me tell you what itmeans when you're the chaplain
of a gym.
It means that most of the time,nobody wants to get near you.
But then when they get introuble, they want to talk to
(15:36):
you.
That's what it means to be thechaplain of the gym.
So I was riding the lifecycle.
This is about a year ago, maybea little more.
And this guy came up to me andwe started chatting and he said,
you know, my life's really awreck.
I need some help.
He said, could, can people likeme come to your church?
I said, well sure.
He said, I think I'm going tocome to your church.
He said, cause I really need toget some religion in my life.
(15:59):
I said, we know I need to tellyou this, but, but we don't
offer religion at McLean Biblechurch.
He said, why?
I said, no, no, no we don't.
We don't do religion.
We don't give out religion atMcLean Bible church.
He said, of course you do.
He said, of course you do bars,sell beer.
You give out religion.
I is just the way it is.
What are you talking about yourchurch?
(16:19):
And you don't give out religion.
I said, no, no, no.
Religion is a bunch of rules andregulations that man's made up
to try to figure out some way towork his way to God.
The Bible never offers that toanybody.
We don't offer that to anybody.
What we offer people is apersonal relationship with Jesus
because that's what the Bibleoffers them.
Now, if you come into personalrelationship with Jesus, God
(16:41):
will give you eternal life.
Forgive your sins, move intoyour life and start changing you
from the inside out.
If that's what you want, we helpyou with that can help you with
religion friend.
If you're here and looking forreligion, came to the wrong
place.
God doesn't offer anybodyreligion.
He offers people, Jesus, apersonal relationship with
Jesus.
(17:01):
And when we come into thatrelationship as a gift, God
gives us eternal life and yougot it right now.
As much as you're ever going toget you got it.
And when you know you got it,then you can face anything
including death without fear.
One other thing I love aboutthis story is that it reminds us
it's never too late to do this.
(17:22):
Never too late.
You may think you've done toomuch messed up too bad.
You've committed things tohorrible nonsense.
This guy's being executed.
He's been executed for what hedid and it wasn't too late for
him.
Jesus, didn't turn to him andsay, well, you know, you ought
to thought about that for theyattacked you up here on his
cross, man.
No, no, no.
What did Jesus say to him?
(17:42):
Jesus said today, you'll be withme in paradise folks.
If you've got blood goingthrough your blood and you got
air coming into your lungs, itis not too late for you to turn
to Jesus.
And he's there for you.
He was there for the thief.
He's there for you.
He said, well, I got one lastquestion and that is, are you
telling me?
(18:02):
This is the only way I can geteternal life.
Are you telling me this is theonly way I can get into heaven?
Because if that's what you'resaying, I got to tell you
something.
I don't like that.
That's narrow-minded that'sparochial.
That's exclusionary.
I don't like that.
Well let's let Jesus answer thequestion.
Shall we?
(18:23):
John 14, verse six.
I am the way Jesus said thetruth and the life.
Here's our key word.
Nobody.
There's our key word.
Nobody gets into heaven unlessthey come by way of me.
So I don't like that.
Well, all I know how to say isfriends.
Guess what?
You're not running heaven andneither am I.
(18:46):
And if this is what the personrunning heaven says, it really
doesn't matter that much.
Whether we like it or not smartpeople don't argue with the
person in charge, smart people,figure out what the person in
charge demands.
And they do it now, friends, Ithink the same principle is
true.
When it comes to going toheaven.
(19:07):
Jesus is the one in charge,smart people don't argue with
him, tell him they don't likehow we set up the system.
I mean, you can do that.
If you want to smart people,figure out what he demands.
And then we do it.
Jesus has told us today what hisdemands are, what the conditions
are.
It's easy.
(19:27):
And if we're smart, we'll do it.
Billy Graham, as I watched himcome down the aisle there at the
national cathedral.
So feeble so frail, I reallydoubted the poor man was even
going to get to the rostrum totalk.
The boy had God give him power.
And here's what he said.
He was reflecting on theassurance, the confidence that
(19:49):
comes into our lives.
When we know we have eternallife and here's what he said,
and I'll close with this.
He said, and I quote, I'vebecome an old man now.
And the older I get, the more Iclean to this hope that I
started with many years ago.
Many of those people who diedthis past week are in heaven
(20:11):
right now.
And they wouldn't want to comeback.
It's so glorious and wonderful.
And that's the hope for all ofus who put our faith in Christ.
I pray that you will have thishope in your heart or friends.
That's what I pray.
And that's what God wants.
And if you need this hope inyour heart, we're going to give
you the chance right now to getit.
(20:32):
So let's bow our heads together.
Shall we?
With our heads bowed and oureyes closed.
May I say that?
You know, many of you who'vecome here for quite a while.
Some of you may be new with us,but if you've come for while,
you know, we talk about having arelationship with Jesus every
week, but we don't try to closethe deal every week.
(20:56):
We're happy if you want to kickthe can down the road a little
bit every week.
That's great.
But folks, there comes a pointevery once in a while, where
it's time to decide whetherwe're ready to tie the knot in
the bag.
This is one of those moments.
So if you've been thinking aboutit, talking about it, praying
about it, and you're ready toclose that deal with God to give
(21:18):
your life to him and let himgive you back among many other
things, eternal life.
We want to give you the chanceto do that, right?
Where you sit today, you don'thave to raise your hand.
You don't have to get out ofyour seat and go anywhere, right
where you sit and here's howwe're going to do it.
I'm going to pray a prayer.
And I'm going to ask you if youwant to do this to pray silently
one phrase at a time right afterme, right where you sit and
(21:41):
let's give Jesus the same thing.
The thief gave him repentanceand faith, and he'll give us
back.
He turned a life.
So if you're interested in doingthis, you pray silently one
phrase after me, right?
Where you sit, here we go, LordJesus.
I come to you today because Ineed help.
(22:01):
I need to know that I haveeternal life.
I need to know that I'm ready tomeet you whenever that might
happen.
And so today I admit to you thatI've done wrong.
I admit to you that it's my ownfault.
(22:22):
I'm in the situations I'm in.
I admit to you that I need aU-turn in my life.
I also tell you today that Ibelieve you are who you said you
were the Messiah of Israel, thesavior of the world who died on
(22:44):
the cross to pay for my sins andwho rose from the dead to prove
you were telling the truth.
And so today I invite you tocome into my life, to be my
personal savior, to forgive mysin and to give me eternal life,
(23:07):
to begin changing me from theinside out Lord have mercy on
me.
Like you did on that fif inJesus' day, father, I want to
pray for the folks who prayedthis prayer that you would
confirm in their heart and intheir mind right now, right as
they sit here that a greattransaction has taken place.
(23:28):
That is the Bible says they'vepassed over from death to life,
eternal life.
And Lord, I pray that you wouldconfirm in their hearts that the
deal is done.
The contract is sealed and theynow belong to you.
Laura, thanks for offering us aspeople away to face eternity on
afraid Lord, we were sograteful.
(23:51):
You've done that for us.
We love you for that.
And our prayer is that everyperson here would leave today,
either being absolutely certainthat they have eternal life and
they're ready to face youwhenever it happens or
determined that they're going tothink about it and that they're
going to move towards the pointwhere they make a decision, help
(24:14):
us be smart people.
God, and we pray this in Jesusname.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
You've been listening to.
So what with Dr.
Lawn Solomon.
So what is an outreach of lawnSolomon ministries to listen to
today's message or for moreinformation, visit our website,
Lon Solomon ministries.org.
Thank you for your support.
If you would like to contact us,please visit our website or call
(24:44):
us at(866) 788-7770.
We hope you will join us nexttime when lawn seeks to answer
one of life's most importantquestions.
So what.
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