Living On Earth, Longing For Heaven
Philippians 1:21-26
Just a few weeks ago our church said goodbye to one of our faithful members. This man had fought a long hard battle with his health and spent months in the hospital. I visited with him several times and was amazed at his positive outlook on life even while his health rapidly deteriorated. At his funeral I shared his last Facebook post, which reads as a testimony. Listen to what he said -- I have been left on earth 5 times by God. Dec. 18, 2016 I asked the Lord Jesus Christ into my life as my personal Lord and Savior, one of the prayers I asked during my stay in the hospital, and since I got home was, If he left me on earth to be an ambassador to him, or either took me to be forever with him in eternal life, either is fine. The way I see it......win/win
What a testimony! Whether Tim knew it or not, his desire was the same as the Apostle Paul. Here in our selected text Paul describes his great dilemma, he greatly desired to go and be with Christ his Savior, but he also knew that there was still a great work for him to do here on earth.
This is an issue for many born again children of God. When we look at what is waiting for us there is a great desire to go to be with the Lord. I am not referring to suicidal tendencies... I am talking about being homesick for our Heavenly Home. We long to be reunited with loved ones who have already gone to that place. There are troubles, trials and tribulations that we long to escape. But greater than that those things that are in Heaven and greater than what will not be in Heaven is the fact that when we leave this walk of life we will forever be in the presence of God our Father and Jesus our Savior.
Though Heaven is enticing we must not forget that we are on Earth for a reason. In fact, the reason that you are still on this earth is because God is not finished with you yet! There are people all around you who could (and should) benefit from your life for Christ. There are lost people who need to hear about salvation through Christ and there are saved people who need to be mentored, encouraged and discipled. So, just like Paul... many of us find ourselves in a dilemma. We are Living On Earth, but Longing For Heaven. That is the subject that I would like to consider today. Let's walk through Philippians 1:21-26 and consider some desires of those who are "Living On Earth, Longing For Heaven".
As Paul struggled with this great dilemma, he had several different desires.
1) He Had A Desire To Leave
2) He Had A Desire To Live
3) He Had A Desire To Labor
For many of us who are born again we have those same desires simultaneously. Look with me to verses 21 & 23 as we see that:
I. THERE IS A DEIRE TO LEAVE - v21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.......v23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better
It is clear that Paul greatly desired to leave this walk of life and enter into eternity with his Savior. This is understandable considering the struggles that he had endured. He described some of these difficulties in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. He states that he had been in and out of prison, whipped time and again, five separate times he had received 39 lashes, many times he had faced death. On 3 occasions he was beaten with rods, he had been stoned, shipwrecked and lost at sea. He had traveled many weary miles, been robbed and beaten, he was persecuted by Jews, Gentiles and hypocrites. He encountered danger in cities, deserts and on the sea. He did without food when he was hungry and sufficient clothes when he was cold. Along with all of this he carried a heavy burden for all of the churches. It is no wonder that Paul was homesick.
The Apostle had had faced even more hardships since he had penned those words in II Corinthians. In fact the words we read in Philippians were written while Paul was bound in a Roman prison. Not only was he imprisoned, he was getting older and his health was failing. Though his body was deteriorating, his soul was getting stronger and every day he longed for Heaven more and more. The same is true for many of us... we look at the troubles of this life and we get homesick for Heaven!
Listen to the words of an old song:
"I'VE GOT A LONGING, I'M HOMESICK TO GO".
"TO A LAND WITHOUT HEART-ACHES, NO SORROW OR WOE."
"THERE'S NOTHING BUT TROUBLE, IN THIS WORLD BELOW".
"I'M HOMESICK FOR HEAVEN I'VE GOT A LONGING TO GO."
There are several reasons that we are longing to leave. One reason is that:
A. We Are Going To A Place With No More Sorrow - Through God's Word we are told of a place where "God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." - (Revelation 21:4)
This life is filled with sorrow. But in Heaven we will never sit in a hospital room and watch our parents suffer. Never again will we see our children hurt and struggle. We will not have to stand beside a casket and shed a tear at the loss of a spouse. There will be no more bad news from the doctor. In fact there will not be any doctors there. We will not have to deal with Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Arthritis, Strokes, Alzheimer's, or any other ailment.
In that place there will be no more hospitals, nursing homes or funeral homes. We will not have to deal with these old broken down decaying bodies, because there we will have a new, eternal glorified body! That alone is enough to make us long for Heaven! The reason for all of the problems and sorrow that we face in this life can be traced back to sin. But praise God.....
B. We Are Going To A Place With No More Sin - Notice what the scripture says in - Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into (that place) any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination...
How great to know that sin cannot follow us to that wonderful place. I for one, am sick and tired of sin. I am tired of struggling with sin. I am tired of seeing sin. I am tired of the consequences of sin. I am tired of living in a world of sin. I am glad that we have already been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, and when we get to heaven we will be delivered from the very presence of sin!
Heaven is a place with no more murder, adultery, homosexuality, covetousness, jealousy, greed, pride, anger, hate, war or any other transgression. That is reason enough for us to long to leave. But it gets even better:
C. We Are Going To A Place With No More Satan - Satan desires to defeat and destroy the children of God. He is very powerful and will do all that he can to see you suffer and fail. Peter tells us in - 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
When we seek to live a life that is Holy and pleasing to God our Adversary will do all that he can to get us to fall. But when we get to that Promised Land, never again will we have to deal with Satan. We have confidence in this fact because of what the Bible says in - Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
- That is just one more reason that we Desire To Leave. But with all of the benefits of leaving this walk of life and gaining our promised reward, there is also a desire to remain here on earth. Let's look to verses 21 & 22 and examine the fact that:
II. THERE IS A DESIRE TO LIVE - v21 For to me to live is Christ .....v22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
Here Paul states that for him, living means living for Christ. Though he faced extreme difficulty and suffered great hardships and even though he knew that a better place was waiting for him in Heaven, he had an intense desire to live.
There is a natural desire in every human being to continue to live. I have stood by the bedside of many people who were at the point of death. In every instance those individuals had a natural desire to live one more day. I have held the hand of people who had dealt with cancer for years. Their bodies were ravaged by the disease and the attempted cure. Radiation and chemotherapy left them as mere shells of what they once were. Their pain was excruciating and unbearable. Even in those instances those individuals continued to fight to take just one more breath.
Many of you would like to live as long as possible. This is why you exercise, eat right and take care of yourself. If you are diagnosed with a serious disease you are willing to do whatever it takes to try to beat that diagnosis. There is a natural desire to live.
But I want you to consider for a moment your motivation for living. What inspires you to keep pressing on?
Some want to get through college and begin a career. Those who have a career want to climb the corporate ladder. Others are hoping to reach retirement age so that you can "enjoy life". There are others who are hoping to fall in love and get married. Some who are married look forward to having children. Some want to live long enough to see their children grow up and have a family of their own. Then when this happens they want to stick around long enough to see their grandchildren grow up and graduate high school and then college. Then they want to see them have a family of their own.
There is nothing wrong with having these desires. There are many things that I would like to see before my time comes. I want to see my children grow. I want to help them be successful. I like the idea of growing old with my wife. I want to see what God is going to do here in this church. Though these desires may be honorable, they should not be our supreme motivation for living.
Paul did not just desire to live out of a fear of dying. He did not desire to remain just to see how things turned out. His desire was to live but ultimately he desired to live for Christ. And this should be our hearts desire as well.
There Is A Desire To Leave, There Is A Desire To Live and we also see in this passage that:
III. THERE IS A DESIRE TO LABOR - v24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; 26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
Though Paul possessed a desire to go and be with Christ, he realized that it was more important that he remain and finish the work that had been assigned to him. He didn't know it, but at this point in his life he had 4 or 5 years left before Christ took him home to glory. What he did know was that there was still work to be done and he was ready and willing to serve his master. The Apostle wanted to reach people with the gospel. He wanted those converts to be discipled. He wanted the churches to be strengthened.
What is your supreme motivation for living? Is it to fulfill your dreams? It is to mark items off of your bucket list? Is it to make as much money and buy as much stuff as possible? Are you living each day building your Kingdom or His? In the kindest way possible let me say... if you are not living every day for Christ, you are wasting your life!
Do you spend your days working for the Savior? Are the things that you are focused on things that will last throughout eternity? Remember what Jesus said in - Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
The ultimate goal of your life should not be to leave your family a great monetary inheritance when you die.
- Maureen Ebel, 60, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is a widow who was left millions by her husband. But she lost over 7 million dollars in Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. Listen to this quote from her in the Philadelphia Enquirer - "This is my fate, I was married, had a fabulous marriage to a man I loved and worshipped, a physician. We travelled. We had a very fine life. And he's dead. He died, and every penny I had in the world has gone." Ebel now spends her days cleaning other people's houses to make ends meet. Her husband thought he would be able to care for his beloved wife even after his death and look at what happened.
- Country singer Conway Twitty left a great fortune to his children in his will. But for years his children and their stepmother fought a lengthy court battle over his estate and the lawyers ended up getting most of what he left behind.
Many other individuals have spent a lifetime earning untold millions and buying everything that their hearts desired and when they died they could not take one thing with them! Some men have neglected their families building a great business. Their intention was to leave that company as a legacy for their family. Many times before they are even cold and in the ground that business is sold to the highest bidder.
You can spend this life seeking to attain material wealth, but in the end the things of this world will pass away. But it is possible to leave a legacy that will last throughout eternity! When you live your life for Christ you can indeed store up treasures in Heaven.
I do not have much in this life. God has blessed me but I am far from what this world considers wealthy. My newest vehicle is 10 years old, the other is over 20 years old. I live in a house that I do not own. My retirement fund grows at a rate that will allow me to stop working when I am about 135 years old. My house is furnished with hand-me-downs. For the most part we live paycheck to paycheck. There always seems to be more month at the end of the money. But I am happy, blessed, thankful and rich!
Through God's Word I know that there are treasures waiting for me in Heaven. I have been promised Crowns from my Savior. I have a mansion waiting for me in Glory. One day I will literally walk on streets of gold. Because of this, I have A Desire To Leave. But even with this great promise, I have A Desire To Live.
Though Heaven is waiting, there is still work to do here on earth! But my Desire To Live is coupled with A Desire To Labor. More than anything this world has to offer, I want to live this life having an eternal impact. When I take my last breath and step into eternity I want to know that my precious wife is going to spend eternity in Heaven. I want to know that my children know Jesus as their personal Savior. I want my extended family to have assurance that Heaven will be their home. I want my friends to experience God's saving grace. I want to tell strangers about salvation through Christ. And I want to do all that I can to help those that are saved to grow in their walk with Jesus.
I can honestly say, I have A Desire To Labor! Can you say that? Do you have the same desire that Paul had? Do you want to live your life laboring for the King? Ask yourself... "what am I doing with the life I have been given? Are you being a good steward of your time, talents and treasures? Do you realize that you will one day stand and give and account to your Savior? - 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Will you stand there and watch the efforts of this life burn up as wood , hay and stubble? Or are you storing up gold, silver and precious stones that will be the basis for your reward? Do you have a desire to leave? Do you have a desire to live? Do you have a desire to labor?
Paul faced a dilemma he desired to be with Christ in Heaven and to serve Him here on earth. Somewhere around 57 AD Paul mentioned his desire to leave and be with Christ. This is seen in - 2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Then five years later in 62 AD Paul still had that same desire - Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Fast forward another 4 or 5 years and we here some of Paul's final words in - 2 Timothy 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
When time came for him to leave, Paul could do so with confidence. If you were to find yourself on your deathbed this week, will you be able to say "I have done what I was called to do". If not, there is still time to change that fate. You can come and repent of your idleness, fully surrender your all to Him and make the rest of your days the best of your days.You can leave here with a focus and determination to live and labor until it is time to leave.
Maybe you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. Perhaps you have never been born again. Because of this you fear eternity. That too can change today. Why don't you come and surrender to the Lord. Confess that Jesus is Lord, repent of your sins, trust in Him to save you. If you will, then you too can be "Living On Earth, Longing For Heaven".
