The Best Is Yet To Come Series

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

S: Heaven

C: A great future

Th: Heaven Can’t Wait

Pr: WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT A GREAT FUTURE AWAITS US.

?: Why? Why can we be confident?

KW: Realities

TS: Our study of Scripture will reveal five realities that demonstrate why we can be confident of our future.

Type: Propositional, Topical

The ____ reality is…

I. NEW (Revelation 21.5)

II. HOME (John 14.2-3)

III. RIGHT (Revelation 21.4)

IV. IDENTITY (I Corinthians 15.44)

V. PRESENCE (Revelation 21.3)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Prepare and be ready for the future to come

• Have a loose grip on the temporary

Version: ESV

RMBC 03 June 07 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Heaven (H)

One of the Baptist pastors here in the area was eating over at Brennan’s restaurant, and to his surprise, he found three of his deacons lined up at the bar, and obviously a little too happy if you know what I mean. And this particular church was really a non-alcohol church, so for the pastor, this situation was quite disconcerting.

So the pastor walked up to the first deacon and said, "Do you want to go to Heaven?"

The man said, "I do Pastor."

The pastor said, "Then stand over there against the wall."

Then the pastor asked the second deacon, "Do you want to go to Heaven?"

"Certainly, Pastor," was the man’s reply.

"Then stand over there against the wall."

Then the pastor walked up to third deacons and said, "Do you want to go to Heaven?"

And the deacon said, "No, I don’t Pastor."

The pastor said, "I don’t believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don’t want to go to Heaven?"

To which the deacon responded, "Oh, when I die, yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now."

Well, what about you…

Are you ready for your entrance into heaven?

When it is time to make that transition, will you be ready?

TRANSITION:

This morning…

1. We are starting a study of future matters, aka eschatology.

Eschatology is the study of what is going to happen in the future, and there is a broad range of subjects.

They include the Second Coming of Jesus, which involves the rapture, the tribulation and the millennium.

There is also the study of God’s judgment – which includes rewards and punishment.

And then the topic of our studies for the month of June – our eternal destinations.

Our theme for the month is “Heaven Can’t Wait.”

It is a play off the old movie, “Heaven Can Wait” (1943 & 1978).

It is interesting that in a survey reported in Newsweek in 2002 that 76% of Americans believed in heaven.

Also in the same survey, 75% believed that their actions on earth determine whether they will go to heaven.

The problem, though, is there are a lot of myths about heaven.

The majority of people may believe in heaven, but their belief is full of misconceptions.

Some people understand heaven to be a place where little angels with halos play harps as they float about.

Others think it as an unending church service, or singing hymns for all eternity.

Some believe it to be some sort of a celestial retirement center.

These concepts seem so unreal.

No wonder so many people have come to the conclusion that heaven is a place of numbing boredom and secretly say to themselves, “Is that all there is?”

Let me state outright that here at Randall…

2. We believe in the reality of heaven and hell.

Our updated doctrinal statement (which will be presented for an official vote this year) states:

We believe that all will be judged by God, which will result in the eternal state of blessing for the believer and eternal punishment for the unbeliever.

Somehow, through the years, the doctrine of heaven and its accompanying rewards has become less important to us.

Certainly, our current affluence is a problem.

For affluence has given us in this life, what former generations longed in anticipation of heaven.

We have come to the conclusion that this is the best there is, that the best life has to offer is found in the things of this world.

This, of course, is the lie of hell.

Satan would have us believe that heaven is boring and the real fun is found in the things of the world.

I don’t think there is another modern writer that has understood heaven better than C. S. Lewis and I highly recommend The Chronicles of Narnia and The Great Divorce as a way to expand your understanding of how great heaven is.

ILL Heaven (S)

In C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair, Eustace, Jill, Prince Rilian, and Puddleglum are trapped beneath Narnia in the land called Underworld. The Queen of Underworld, who is really a witch, has thrown a green powder into the fire that produces a sweet and drowsy smell. In this enchanting haze, she convinces the group that Narnia does not exist – like the sun, moon, and Aslan, the great lion, Narnia is all a dream. The children try their hardest to describe the things they are certain exist. Yet with each argument the Witch makes it all seem more and more foolish.