Foundations Of The Faith: The Eternal State

FOUNDATIONS OF THE FAITH:

OUR ETERNAL STATE

REVELATION 21:1-27

I WAS IN MY OFFICE THIS PAST WEEK AND HAPPENED TO LOOK AT THE CALENDAR FOR UPCOMING EVENTS AND REALIZED THAT THANKSGIVING WAS ONLY THREE WEEKS AWAY.

I THOUGHT BACK TO THANKSGIVING AT MY HOME WHEN I WAS A CHILD. THOSE WERE SPECIAL TIMES AND HAVE GIVEN ME MANY SPECIAL MEMORIES.

THANKSGIVING FOR US WAS ABOUT THANKSGIVING DINNER, AND MY MOM WAS A GREAT COOK. MANY TIMES RELATIVES WOULD COME AND JOIN US. IT WAS A GREAT TIME AROUND THE DINING ROOM TABLE.

WE ALL SAT AROUND THE TABLE AND IT STARTED WITH A BIG BOWL OF ROLLS. THEY WERE NICE AND BIG, AND GOLDEN BROWN ON THE TOP. MOM MADE WHAT I LATER FOUND OUT WERE CALLED CLOVERLEAF ROLLS. THE DOUGH WAS ROLLED INTO THREE BALLS AND PLACED IN A MUFFIN TIN AND WHEN THEY WERE BAKED THEY LOOKED LIKE A CLOVERLEAF. SHE WOULD HEAT THEM UP TO SERVE AND YOU COULD OPEN THE CENTER OF THEM ON THE PLATE WITH A BIG PIECE OF BUTTER THAT WOULD MELT RIGHT INTO THEM. OH THEY WERE SO GOOD.

DAD WOULD BRING IN THE TURKEY AND CARVE IT. THE TURKEY WAS ALWAYS BIG AND COOKED TO A GOLDEN BROWN. IT WAS SO MOIST YOU COULD ALMOST RING IT OUT. THERE WAS ALWAYS A BIG LEG FOR ME. MOM AND I WOULD SHARE THE TURKEY NECK, AND MY SISTER AND I WOULD ALWAYS FIND THE WISHBONE.

THERE WOULD BE A BIG POT OF MASHED POTATOS ON THE TABLE. MOM WOULD PUT A DOLLOP OF BUTTER ON THE TOP OF THEM, SHE PUT BUTTER ON EVERYTHING, AND IT MELTED RIGHT IN. THEN CAME THE VEGETABLES, PEAS, CARROTS, SQUASH.

THERE WOULD BE A BIG BOWL OF HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE, AND DRESSING THAT JUST MADE THE WHOLE ROOM SMELL SO GOOD.

WE ATE AND ATE THAT DAY. IT WAS SO GOOD. EVERYTHING WAS SWIMMING IN GRAVY THAT WAS SO THICK AND HOT, THAT MY ARTERIES ARE HARDENING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.

AND JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT WE WERE SO FULL THAT WE COULDN’T EAT ANYTHING ELSE, SHE BROUGHT OUT THE PIE.

OH THAT PIE WAS GOOD. FRESH BAKED APPLE, PUMPKIN, AND LEMON. SHE WARMED UP THE APPLE AND PUMPKIN BEFORE SERVING AND OF COURSE THEY WERE SERVED WITH A GENEROUS PORTION OF VANILLA ICE CREAM, AND YOUR CHOICE OF TEA OR COFFEE.

THE OTHER GOOD THING ABOUT THANSKGIVING DINNER WERE THE LEFTOVERS. WE WOULD ALWAYS HAVE HOT TURKEY SANDWICHES THE NEXT DAY. MOM WOULD MAKE HOMEMADE BREAD, SLICE IT, AND SMOTHER THE BOTTOM PIECE WITH GRAVY. THEN SHE WOULD PUT ON THE DRESSING AND TURKEY FROM THE DAY BEFORE. SHE WOULD THEN PUT ANOTHER PIECE OF HOMEMADE BREAD ON THE TOP AND A DOUCING OF GRAVY SO THICK AND HEAVY THAT THE PLATE WOULD NEED SIDEBOARDS.

SAY ARE ANY OF YOU HUNGRY NOW. WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO BE PART OF A DINNER LIKE THAT? IT’S CERTAINLY NOT HARD TO IMAGINE HOW GOOD IT WAS IS IT?

HERES THE POINT OF THE STORY. WE DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM USING OUR IMAGINATIONS TO PICTURE SOMETHING THAT’S GOOD, AND WE CAN BE VERY GOOD AT USING OUR IMAGINATION, YET WHEN IT COMES TO DARING TO USE OUR IMAGINATION TO THINK ABOUT HEAVEN, WE FEEL THAT WE ARE SO INFERIOR THAT WE CAN’T AND EVEN SHOULDN’T TRY TO IMAGINE WHAT IT IS LIKE.

THE BIBLE DOES SAY:

1 CORINTHIANS 2:9: “HOWEVER, AS IT IS WRITTEN: "NO EYE HAS SEEN, NO EAR HAS HEARD, NO MIND HAS CONCEIVED WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM"—”

THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS VERSE THAT SAYS WE SHOULD NOT TRY.

CONSIDER WHAT VERSE 10 SAYS:

1 CORINTHIANS 2:10: “BUT GOD HAS REVEALED IT TO US BY HIS SPIRIT. THE SPIRIT SEARCHES ALL THINGS, EVEN THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD.”

WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT GOD REVEALS SECRETS OF THE SCRIPTURES TO US, ONE OF WHICH ARE GLIMPSES OF WHAT HEAVEN AND OUR ETERNAL STATE WILL BE LIKE.

AS WE GO THROUGH THIS STUDY TODAY, I WANT YOU TO USE YOUR SPIRITUAL EYES TO ENVISION SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF HEAVEN, AND WHAT OUR ETERNAL STATE WILL BE LIKE. I ALSO WANT TO SAY THAT AS WE DO THIS THAT NO ONE IS AN AUTHORITY ON THE ISSUE. MUCH OF WHAT I AM GOING TO SUGGEST TO YOU TODAY IS ARRIVED AT BY SUPPOSITION AND NOT DIRECTLY STATED. WE COULD BE RIGHT, WE COULD BE WRONG, BUT IT MAKES ME EXCITED THINKING ABOUT HEAVEN AND WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE.

POINT ONE: HEAVEN IS A PHYSICAL PLACE:

I BELIEVE THAT HEAVEN WILL BE A PHYSICAL PLACE. JESUS TOLD THE DISCIPLES:

JOHN 14:1-3:

“1 ¶ "DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUST IN GOD; TRUST ALSO IN ME. 2 IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ARE MANY ROOMS; IF IT WERE NOT SO, I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. I AM GOING THERE TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. 3 AND IF I GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME THAT YOU ALSO MAY BE WHERE I AM.”