A SOUND FROM HEAVEN 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 “A sound from heaven” is a type of communication by God, confirming his purpose that He will complete or have you do through the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter and the other apostles had been praying for a sound from heaven to come. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he (Jesus) gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Ac 1:4,5 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives… 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Ac 1:12,14 After much waiting and praying they received their sound, the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated to others in signs and wonders as they preached the Good News to the world. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16,17 God’s purpose or sound for Jesus was to demonstrate God’s love by dying for the world’s sins. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Ac 20:24 For Paul, the task God gave him was to testify to the Gospel. 1The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jnh 1:1,2 For Jonah, his sound was to preach to the Ninevites to repent of their wickedness. He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Gen 15:5 For Abraham, his sound was to believe God’s word that he would be the father of many nations. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” Lk 2:26-32 For Simeon, his sound was to see God’s promise come to fruition with the birth of the Messiah. God’s sound from heaven can come in many different ways. 1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… Heb 1:1,2 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. Ac 2:17,18 God’s final communication of the love he has for us and his desire to have an intimate relationship with each one of us, is through his Son J

Many people believe that If their good deeds outweigh their bad ones they will go to heaven. Being a teacher I know that would be a nightmare trying to set a compassionate passing/failing point. Suppose your spouse had a 50.0% rating, so she gets promoted while your score is 49.9% and since God does not believe in rounding off numbers you end up spending eternity in Hell. Also, is the weighing of deeds by our standard of goodness or by God's? If it is God's, (which it is) the passing percentage is 100% (a sinless life). The Bible tells us there is no one righteous, all have sinned. When Adam sinned God left him leaving him and all his offspring spiritually dead (separated from God's intimacy). That is why all of us need to be born again, a second time (to restore this spiritual relationship). God does not send anyone to Hell (the place where individuals are eternally separated from God's presence). We are already on that road to destruction and if we do nothing to change this, then that's where we will end up. The truth is God has intervened by sending his Son Jesus to pay for our sins to change our destiny. But this forgiveness is only appropriated in Christ. For example, if I put a million dollars into a bank account for you but you did not believe me, the money would be yours but totally useless. Christ's sacrifice reconciled us to God, because it paid in full the penalty for sin which is death. Forgiveness now allows God to be just and accept and receive guilty sinners. Now a spiritually dead person still needs life. By believing in Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, we can receive his spiritual life and thus appropriate total forgiveness for past, present and future sins. This truly is Good News, the Gospel! If God did not provide us with total forgiveness, the first time we sinned after receiving spiritual life, the Holy Spirit would depart from us since the wages of sin is death. Sin caused Adam to die spiritually (he had to leave God's garden and was cast from God's sight) , our sin caused Jesus to die spiritually (his Father had to turn his back on Jesus) but when we receive Christ's resurrected life, sin cannot cause us to die spiritually or for God to turn from us because all sin has been paid and forgiven through Jesus. We can't do anything to earn, keep or lose salvation. All we can do is receive it and spend the rest of this short temporal life thanking God for his provision to keep us from eternal damnation. Take a listen to "He Loves You" . God loves his adopted children unconditionally, he does not love us any more when we do good things or any less when we do bad things. A human mother still loves her son, even if he is a criminal! Would she like to see her son live a good live? Certainly, but that does not change her love for him. God is like no human mother, his love is so much more, perfect.