Everyone Is Going Somewhere
According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association: There are over 87,000 flights that criss cross the U.S. every single day.
Worldwide: 8.8 billion air passengers in 2018.
June 2019 (XNA) - 91,305 passengers
LAX (2018) - 43,999,258 passengers departed LAX. Everyday…1500 planes take off. That’s an average of 1 plane down a runway every 50 some seconds.
Everyone is going somewhere.
Every plane at the airport has a destination. Every car on the road is going somewhere. Someone is going to work. Someone is going on vacation. Someone is going to the mall. Someone is going to war. Someone is going to school. Someone is going to visit family. Some are going home. Some are just going on a ride. But…everyone…is going somewhere.
Some people want to be going where they are headed…some people don’t. Some are thrilled with the direction they are headed. Others are dreading where they are going. Some have been where they are going before. Some are making the trip for the very first time. The common factor remains: everyone is going somewhere.
?Today…I want to talk to you about where you are going? I want to talk to you for a few moments about eternal destinations. Ultimately…everyone is going somewhere. Do you know where you are going?
Did you know that the Bible teaches us that there will be two resurrections. BOTH the righteous and the wicked will experience a resurrection.
Daniel 12:2 - “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Acts 24:15 - “He will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Jesus believed and taught that there are two possible eternal destinations.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25.
John 5:28,29 - “The time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.”
There is a ressurection unto life. (Heaven)
There is a resurrection unto judgment. (Hell)
“Fiery furnace…where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” - (Matthew 13:50)
“…they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfer…the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night.” - (Revelation 14:10,11)
Everyone is going somewhere.
Where are You Going?
Question: If I told you that I would buy you a ticket to fly anywhere in the world this afternoon…where would you choose?
When it comes to eternal destinations…the choice is yours as well.
Decide Where You Want To Go
God doesn’t send anyone to hell…people choose it. On the same note…nobody arrives in heaven by accident.
Deuteronomy 30:19 - “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your children might live!”
God gave us free will. Everyone’s going somewhere…and we get to decide where that somewhere will be. Have you decided where you want to go?
But deciding you want to go somewhere…in iteself…doesn’t get you there. I have decided I am going with some of you to El Salvador this next summer. Getting there will talke more than “deciding” I want to go.
Reserve A Seat
Earlier in the year…Jennifer and I decided that I should take Parker to El Salvador. This spring…we as a family decided we wanted to go to California to celebrate Jennifer’s parent’s 50th anniversary. Deciding where we wanted to go was the first step…getting there meant reserving a seat…on a plane that would take us to where we wanted to go.
No matter how passionately I declared my desire to go to Los Angeles…if I didn’t reserve my seat…I wasn’t going.
Did you know…people are reserving their seat to their eternal destination every day?
How do you reserve a seat that leads to eternal life?
Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
Romans 10:13 - “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”
John 3:16 - “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
On the contrary…a person reserves a seat that leads to eternal punishment by rejecting Jesus.
John 3:18 - “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:36 - “Anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
Everyone’s going somewhere. Where are you going? Have you reserved your seat?
Pack Accordingly
So…you’ve decided where you want to go. You’ve reserved your seat. Now…it’s time to pack. It’s time to plan ahead…to get ready…to prepare for the time you’ll spend at your destination.
Example: Packing for El Salvador…Packing for Ventura
A rich man once asked the Lord to let him take some of his possessions to heaven. The Lord finally allowed him to take one suitcase. The man decided to fill the suitcase with gold. When he got to the gates, Peter told him he couldn’t take anything with him. The man protested that the Lord told him he could bring one suitcase. Peter said, “Show me what you brought.” The man opened the suitcase and showed Peter the gold. “Well,” Peter said, “I guess you can go in but I don’t understand why you brought pavement with you.”
Your destination determines how you pack. If you’ve decided to make heaven your ultimate destination…you need to pack accordingly.
Don’t pack Tissues…there’s no crying in heaven.
Don’t pack Advil…there’s no pain in heaven.
Don’t pack Snacks…Revelation tells us those in heaven will neither hunger or thirst.
Don’t pack a Hat…there is a Crown waiting for you there.
You don’t have to pack any Toiletries…your body will be incorruptible when you arrive.
Leave your flashlight at home…it’s never night there…God Himself lights the place up.
What about a watch?…nope…time is meaningless where life is eternal.
Don’t pack your Laptop…Heaven is a place of rest from our labors.
You don’t need bring any Money either…money is a tool on earth…not a treasure in heaven.
Heaven is all-inclusive. All your needs are met. Jesus has already prepared a place for you. So…what can or should you bring? Well…we’re in luck…Jesus told us…
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19,20)
You can only take to heaven…what you send there before you arrive.
Everyone’s going somewhere. What are you sending ahead to enjoy when you get there?
So…we’ve decided where we’re going. We’ve reserved our seat. We’ve packed accordingly…not we need to…
Be On Time
Example: Couple in back of line who’s flight to Wichita was already closed.
If you want to make your flight…you can’t afford to dilly dally. You can’t mess around. You can’t put getting ready and being ready off for some later time. The flight is leaving with or without you. It’s up to you…to be on time.
When it comes to where you will spend eternity…Your flight leaves either when you die or when Christ returns. We don’t know the specifics of either. Either could happen at any moment.
Romans 13:11,12 - “Time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here.”
“Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded…He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever He comes, he will reward the servants who are ready…you also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” (Luke 12:35-38,40)
“No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert! The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his employees instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return…in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone, Watch for Him!” - (Mark 13:32-37)
Departure is certain. Time of Departure is not. If you want to spend eternity in heaven…you have to stay ready for an on time departure.
Are you putting His Kingdom first in your life? Are there areas of willful disobedience in your life? Is there unrepentant sin in your heart? Is there unforgiveness in your heart towards another? Everyone is going somewhere. Are you ready?
Board The Right Flight
If I’m not at the right Gate…I will end up on the wrong flight…and I will not end up at the right destination.
(Man praying behind us at LAX) There are two possible eternal destinations. There are a million ways to one and only One Way to the other.
There is only one way to heaven.
John 14:6 - “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 10:9 - “I am the Gate, whoever enters through Me will be saved.”
Jesus warned, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad and its gate is wide for many people choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Matthew 7:13,14)
It’s Possible To Think You’re On The Right Flight When In Fact You’re Heading The Opposite Direction.
I will never forget watching The Tonight Show (1985) and seeing a guy named Michael Lewis tell the story of how he mistook a flight to Aukland for a flight to Oakland. He assumed he was boarding a flight to Oakland (400 miles to the North) but instead he boarded a flight to Aukland, NZ (12,000 miles to the Southwest).
Read Luke 13:23-28 (The Message)
Matthew 7:21-23 - “Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father will enter. On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your Name and cast out demons in Your Name and performed many miracles in Your Name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.’”
As a Pastor…it keeps me up at night…concerned over those who assume themselves saved…yet they are lost.
If we didn’t care for you…we’d never include points like this in our messages. But because we do care…because we want to see everyone of you in heaven…around the throne of God one day…we endeavor to in love…tell you the whole Truth. You are free to take what is declared and agree or disagree…it won’t change whether or not we care for you. But you will never arrive at the throne of God only to find out you’re on the other side of redemption as a result of us not declaring the entire Truth of Scripture.
Why? Because we will stand at the throne of God one day and we will answer for you. If you were on the wrong flight…headed for the wrong destination…and we knew it…and we failed to warn you…we will be held accountable.
Ezekiel 33:3-6 - “When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people. Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die. They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives. But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.”
Somewhere over the pacific…the captain made an inflight announcement and Michael Lewis suddenly realized he’d made a terrific mistake. But it was too late. He’d assumed incorrectly that he had boarded the right flight…but in fact wasn’t headed where he’d hoped at all.
Everyone Is Going Somewhere. Are you at the right gate? Are you certain you’re on the right flight?
CLOSING
Gate 54A (LAX) - This past Wednesday morning around 6:45AM…the lady at the gate kept calling the names of two people who were supposed to be on the flight leaving from Gate 54B. She tried and tried…she announced the soon departure multiple times…all in an effort to give these two people opportunity make the flight and get to where they hoped to go.
2 Peter 3:9 - “The Lord is not late with His promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, His “delay” simply reveals His loving patience toward you, because He does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance.”
There is still time to make sure you’re on the right flight. You’re not promised your next breath and Jesus could return at any moment…but TODAY is the day of salvation. Everyone Is Going Somewhere. Where are you going?
