We are continuing our investigation this morning into heaven and hell after taking a brief break last week. For those of you who haven’t been here or are simply like me and very forgetful let’s just recap what it is we are trying to accomplish in this investigation and what we have covered so far.
We started this whole thing out by saying that we are trying to answer the basic questions that any investigation tries to answer: who, what, when, where, why and how. The first week we answered the question of what makes heaven so wonderful and what makes hell so terrible and again, in case you were not here or you just forgot we concluded that it is the presence of God or the lack of that presence that makes the difference in both places. The next week we answered the question of who determines the eternal fate of each person by saying that although God sits as a judge he merely honors the choices we made throughout our lives and that when the time comes for us to stand before him we will have no one else we can blame should we be cast from his presence for all eternity.
Now, you might have noticed that there are a total of six questions for us to answer in this investigation and we have only covered two of them. Now we will wrap up this series of messages next Sunday so we are either going to have to leave some questions unanswered or we will have to tackle multiple questions on the same day. Next week we are going to spend a great deal of time answering the question of "why" and we said that this investigation was going to be as complete as possible...so today we will tackle the questions of when, where, and how. Specifically, when will all this take place...where is heaven and hell...and how will God bring all this about? We have a lot to cover this morning and since we are answering three questions we are only going to get to scratch the surface because I really want to get into the "why" question and spend all of our time on it next week, so...let’s get after it.
We start this morning with a story...a story of a mistake that...well...you’ll see it’s affects:
A man and a woman decided that they would go away on a vacation to Florida and visit some old friends. It was the middle of January...things were pretty cold back home in Michigan so it seemed like a good time to just get away. There was, however, a problem, the husband wanted to leave on Sunday immediately following church but the wife had commitments that would keep her at home until Wednesday. They decided that he would drive down ahead of her and then she would fly down on Wednesday.
When he got down to Florida he wanted to let his wife know that he made it safe but it was so late that he couldn’t call. So, knowing that she checked her email first thing in the morning he sent her an email. There was, however, a problem. Their email address was Smith12@yahoo.com. His finger slipped on the keyboards and he sent the email to Smith22@yahoo.com.
Now, one wouldn’t think that this would be much of a problem...but it turned out to be a major problem...you see the woman who checked the email on that morning at the address the message was mistakenly sent to was a recently widowed lady. In fact, she had just buried her husband the day before. Is it any wonder her son found her passed out from shock in front of the computer when she received the following message:
My dearest wife:
I have arrived! The trip was not that long and I am getting to see so many of our old friends here! I am looking forward to seeing you in a few days.
Love,
Your husband
P.S. Sure is hot down here.
What a difference one little number makes...now, to my knowledge, the story is completely false. But, besides being funny, it shows a little bit about our ideas concerning the location of these places that we call heaven and hell. The widow in that story...she reads the words "down here" and she automatically assumes that he is in hell. A couple of weeks ago I used the analogies of Louisville as Heaven and Atlanta as hell...not because I dislike Atlanta...but for the directional analogies. To us...heaven has always been up and hell has always been down. This brings us to the first of our questions for today...where exactly is heaven and hell?
We’re going to answer this question by taking a look at a couple of places in scripture...and the first will be in 1 Thessalonians 4. As we turn over there...as always let me set the stage a little bit for you...the church at Thessalonica...they had a lot of questions about the after-life and what would happen when they died...and what happened to those who were already dead...so Paul...he writes them this, starting in verse 13 (end with 16).
Here we find one of the places in scripture from which we get our conclusion concerning heaven being somewhere above us...Paul says that Christ will "descend from heaven."
Once again, as it often is, the key is to get into the original language to discover exactly what Paul is saying here. After all...we read the Bible here...the translation that we have...whether it be the KJV, NKJV, NIV, or even the Message paraphrase...and we read that Christ will come down from Heaven.... but we don’t read all of the particular nuances of that word that we translate "heaven" into English.
The word here is "ouranos" and it appears a whopping 284 times in the New Testament. It is most often translated "heaven" but it has many different meanings. The first most common meaning is the sky and all the things that are visible in it...the stars, the sun, the moon...they are all part of what this word "heaven" refers to...but then there is another meaning to this word...and Strong’s defines it this way: "the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings." So, heaven,... it is above the sidereal heavens. And what in the world are the "sidereal" heavens? Well...that’s just a five dollar word for the stars...so heaven...God’s home...it is beyond the stars...even the stars that we know to be billions and billions of light-years away.
We’re not done yet with this word, though. It is a noun..and it is singular. Now, we all know what a noun is...in grade school we learned that it is a person, place, or thing...so, here we find that heaven...it is an actual place...and it is singular as well. So, there are no different levels of heaven...and there is no heaven for people of one faith and another for people of another faith...the noun here is singular.
This same word is used in Acts chapter one to describe Jesus’ ascension into heaven...the angel in that portion of Acts...he tells the apostles that Jesus has ascended into heaven and the words are exactly the same....so, based on this information we can safely come to the conclusion that since it is a noun..heaven is a real place...since it is singular...there is only one heaven...and based on its definition, especially the second definition...it is beyond the stars...and we typically think of that as being "up" since the sky is above us...but...we know that the Earth has stars below it is space as well...so, I don’t think that we should get to wrapped up to much in the debate as to whether heaven is up or down....the thing that I would like us to take from this conclusion as to the question of "where" is that heaven is in fact a very real place...it is one place and one place only...and it is beyond the stars so it is absolutely impossible for us to reach it on our own...no spacecraft...no bit of human technology can reach it...the only way to reach it is through Christ...but rest assured...heaven and hell...they are both very real places.
We move on to our next question of how...how will God bring all of these things to pass....what will it be like? Again, we stay here in First Thessalonians 4...we’ll reread verse 16 and go on to verse 18.
One of the hottest topics for discussion in Christianity today is how will this ushering in of the kingdom...the return of Christ...how will it take place? This is an area of much disagreement among Christians of all denominations and even amongst those of the same denomination.
The theological term for a person’s view on the events of the return of Christ is eschatology. This word has absolutely no bearing on our discussion today...but it might be the question on Final Jeopardy one day and you might win a lot of money one of these days. So...what is your particular eschatology? What have you been taught...what is it you believe? I can tell you what the traditional view of the Christian Church and the Churches of Christ has been. It is called an amillenial view of the return of Christ.
Now, all of these "major" beliefs are tied to the 1,000-year binding of Satan that is recorded in Revelation chapter 20. Now amillenial literally means "against" or "not believing" in the millennium. The Reader’s Digest version of this view is that this 1,000 year binding of Satan is a metaphor...there will be no Earthly kingdom of Christ...instead he will simply appear...judge those on the Earth and those who are resurrected...and the Earth will be consumed by fire. That is amilleniumism in a nutshell.
The second predominant eschatological view out there is called premilleniumism. If you want an entertaining but lengthy lesson on this theory then the Left Behind fiction series is a great thing to read. There are about 15 books in the series but they are an awesome read. The quick version of this view is that there will be a Rapture of the church...Christ will take all the believers away from the Earth and leave the unbelievers behind. There are several scriptures used to back this belief...one being Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 24. So, the church will be raptured...and those who are left behind will undergo seven years of tribulation...it will bring the rise of the Antichrist...the mark of the beast....and it will conclude with a great battle called Armageddon...with Christ and the armies of Heaven emerging victorious and Christ establishing a 1,000 year kingdom on Earth with Satan being bound during that millennium...after that will be the final judgment and the beginning of an eternity in Heaven or in Hell.
So, Mike, you might ask, which is correct? And my answer to that is I don’t know....there is backing for each view in scripture...it all depends on the way you interpret scripture and your view of prophecy in the Bible...especially the book of Revelation. Some see Revelation as being futuristic prophecy that is still to be fulfilled and others see it as being already fulfilled. Each belief can be defended.
My personal belief is in the amillenial explanation. I base this on two things: First the book of Revelation was written to the seven churches of Asia. John writes in chapter 1:4 of that book that he is addressing this book to them...that leads me to believe that this was a prophecy for them. Now, those who hold a premillenial view would say that this was just "cluing" them in on the end of time much like it is cluing us in...and I concede that point. Like I said, you can defend either belief.
My second reason for my amillenial beliefs are found here in First Thessalonians. We read here that Jesus will descend with a shout and a trumpet. The Greek word used here is keleuma (kel-yoo-mah) and it only appears here...it literally means "command" and it refers to a military command. Now, the guys who have been in the military will tell you...a command given in the military can be heard. Now, one of the cornerstones of the premillenial view of the return of Christ is that the Rapture is done with no fanfare...people simply disappear. To me it is hard to reconcile that with the mention here of commands and trumpets.
Now, this is just a quick and down and dirty scratching of the surface into the question of how...the key thing I want us to get is this: you can defend either of these two views from scripture. Personally I think that the amillenial view is much more likely...but I am not willing to die for it. The key thing to both is that Jesus will return. With the rapture and the tribulation there is the possibility to come to the Lord during this seven years time of hardship...there is a second chance so to speak...but there is also a "first chance" in which you avoid all of the pain of the tribulation. In amillenialism there is only one chance. Now, I realize that I have thrown a lot of long words and terms at you...and I did it to tell you this...we don’t have to be 100 percent correct on this one. I do not believe that we will stand before God one day and be told that because our eschatology was incorrect...because we didn’t have the exact answer here...that we can’t come in. The important thing is whether or not we put our faith and trust in Christ as our Savior...and the sooner we do this the better. No matter which view is correct...after death...there are no second chances.
That brings us to the final question for today and, I think, the most important one...and it is the when question...when will all of this be done. Again, we find our answer here in 1 Thessalonians but we have to go to chapter five...verses 1-11.
Can I sum up this portion really, really quickly....WE DON’T KNOW WHEN THIS WILL HAPPEN AND ANY ATTEMPT TO READ THE SIGNS, TO DETERMINE WHAT STAGE OF THE AGES WE ARE IN AND WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE GETTING CLOSER TO THE COMING OF CHRIST IS FUTILE. There, I had to get that off of my chest. Sorry for the sudden volume change. Need more proof? How about the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25? Jesus says you don’t know the hour that the Son of Man is coming...that means you don’t even know the neighborhood of the time in which he is coming. Here in 1 Thessalonians it is likened to a thief in the night...if you were able to tell a "ballpark" time then you could watch then.... and again in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 Jesus says that even HE DOES NOT KNOW WHEN HE IS COMING BACK ONLY THE FATHER KNOWS.
Why am I so passionate and upset about this? Because I am sick and tired of hearing people on TV, on the radio, and from the pulpit trying to guess when Jesus is coming back. I am tired of people looking at the Middle East and trying to interpret signs from there and use it as a means to say that Jesus is coming back within this generation. I have heard people from the pulpit...live and in person...say that they do not see how God can wait...how this is probably the last generation to live on Earth. That may be true...or this Earth may be here 3,000 years from now. We cannot tell when Jesus will come back...this isn’t a step-by-step plan that A has to happen and then B which leads to C. Can I tell you something...every generation....listen to me...every generation in some shape form or fashion has believed that they were going to be the last generation to live on Earth. Need proof? Look here again at Thessalonians.
We said at the start of our examination of this section that this was a topic that the Thessalonian Christians were very worried about...and we are reminded of this again with the final verse in chapter four and again in the final verse we read out of chapter five...Paul tells them to comfort each other...and that word can also literally mean to console...you see, the Thessalonians...they believed that they were truly going to see the return of Christ and they were getting concerned. People in the church had died...what about them? Would they be resurrected...and Paul he writes them these words to comfort them...that they aren’t missing out....that if they die...they will one day be resurrected.
This is so important for you to get this morning...if you don’t’ take anything out of this today take this...when someone tells you that we are living in the "Last Days" then you agree with them because the Last Days started that one day when Jesus ascended into the clouds. We have been in the Last Days since then....the apostles called the days they were living in the "Last Days" In Acts 2: 17 when Peter is preaching at Pentecost...he says that their speaking in tongues is a fulfillment of prophecy out of Joel where Joel says that "In the last days he will pour his Spirit on all people." Peter says that this prophecy was fulfilled that day! The last days were already there. Unless I missed something Jesus hasn’t come back yet...so we have always been in the last days. In Hebrews 1:2 the author says that God has spoken through his son in these "last days." James writes that those he is addressing in his letter have hoarded wealth and gold in "these last days" in chapter 5:3. Again...unless I missed something....Jesus hasn’t returned yet...so we are still in the last days and have always been there. The point is this: Jesus is no more likely to come back in this generation than he was in the last...oh, make no mistake about it...he is coming back...but there is no special formula we can point to...there is no way we can say that there is no way he can wait much longer...the Father, who knows the time...can wait as long as he wants to wait...the Earth will continue to turn...and we will continue to live as long as he wants us to live...no matter what happens here.
Some people today say that the Earth is so much more evil today than it used to be...and I have to ask...is it? We can’t hang our expectancy of Christ’s return based on the evilness of the world...because ever since that first sin...the world has been evil. Wherever there are humans involved...and wherever we have found Satan...there has been evil...I don’t think we can say that we are any better or worse off then we were 10, 20, or 30 years ago...if anything only our emphasis is different. What do we hear about on the news? We hear about the teenager who gives birth to her baby and then kills it...and we instantly are repulsed. We don’t hear about the woman who can’t have children who takes in the foster babies who need a home. We hear about the gangs, drugs, and terrorism...and we don’t hear about the acts of love and charity that are performed. No, I don’t think we have gotten more evil...just our emphasis has changed.
The truth is...all of us who know Christ...we’re groaning for his return aren’t we? We’ve been groaning since he left. The apostles did...the Thessalonians did...and every generation since has...you see we, as Christians...we are new creations...we don’t want to be in this evil world. We are tired of its snares and pitfalls...we are groaning for his return. Today, we have tried to answer the questions of when, where, and why...or at least admit that we can’t fully answer these questions...but still we yearn for their fulfillment. The old hymn says that this world is not our home...and that is so true. We are precious children of God and each one of us…we haven’t felt at home since we came to him…have we? We may not be able to answer these questions fully…but we know that he is coming back…don’t we. If you don’t know that…then I would ask you to examine yourself and ask if you have ever truly accepted him.
We’re going to wrap up our series next week if we are still around for it. Again, just because I have said that I believe that Jesus is no more likely to come back during this generation than the last…it is entirely possible that he will return this week…we simply do not know when that return will be. Let me ask you…if he came back this week or if you died…do you know that you will be with him in heaven? If you don’t then I am begging you…yes, I am begging you…to come to him today. If you look around at this world today and you think that it is so evil…then you don’t even want to be in hell…because…contrary to what many people say…God is very present in the world today…but in hell…he won’t be. Are you willing to risk that? How long can you put it off? My prayer is that you won’t put it off until it is to late…let me invite, encourage, entreat, and yes, beg you…if you know that you need to make a decision…to make it now.
