Introduction
I believe that few Christians give serious thought to heaven. I am sure that we would think about heaven if we were close to death, or we might think about heaven if we are attending a funeral of someone. But, in our day to day lives, with the rush pace of life that we live under, I don't believe many Christians give heaven much thought.
Phillip Yancey, who is a well-known Christian author, wrote, "Although [most] of us believe in an afterlife, no one much talks about it. Christians believe we will spend eternity in a splendid place called heaven . . . isn't it a little bizarre that we simply ignore heaven, acting as if it doesn't matter?"
The truth is the more you know and think about heaven the more it will influence how you live your life on earth. There lived a king named Solomon who was known for his wisdom everywhere, and he says this in Ecclesiastes 7:2 (NKJV) 2 Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart.
And what Solomon is telling us is that what is one the other side of this life should be shaping our lives now. We ought to give serious thought to heaven; and if we do, it will change how we live our life on earth.
And so, for the next few minutes, I was to give some serious thought about heaven.
Point #1
Thinking about heaven ought to remind us that we are not going to live here on earth forever.
Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV) 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
How do you feel when you come across a Scripture like "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass"? Or, how about this Scripture from the Epistle of James. "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." And here is my favorite: Psalm 39:4 (NIV) 4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
There can only be two responses when I discover that life is short.
I can set out to waste my life. And let me tell you how you waste your life. You do everything that God tells you not to do. During Jesus' earthly ministry, He told us what He considers wasting your life knowing life here on earth is short.
Working your whole life storing up treasures on earth and neglecting storing up treasures in heaven. Let me put this in the simplest of terms: if you are letting your work interfere with your relationship with God, you are wasting your life. I don't believe in all my years of ministry that I heard a person on their death bed tell me: I wish I could put in another 20 hours of work before I go. I have heard, I wish I had done more about my relationship with God while I had the opportunity.
Spend your life seeking the praise of men rather than the praise of God. In John's Gospel, Jesus made an example of the Pharisees as people who sought out the praise of men rather than the praise of God. They would have bells on the bottom of their garments so they could be heard going to make their offering. Jesus says those who are serious about the praise of God don't make public display of what they are doing for God. It is a private matter between them and God.
Allowing your possessions to control you rather than God being in control of your life. Jesus told a story about a farmer who had a bumper crop. This farmer's field yielded so much produce that he had nowhere to store it. So, he decided to build bigger barns. And Jesus says about him that man is a fool because today God requires his soul. And let me tell you from personal experience your possessions can control your life. How many of you have missed church, missed a family gathering, or fail to show up on time for an appointment because one of your possessions required your attention?
2. I can set out to make my life count for Jesus. Simply put living a life that counts is living the way that God instructed us to live from His Word. And if I do that, people will see Christ in me which Paul says should be the goal of every Christian. Philippians 1:20 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
So let me ask you the question; in light of heaven reminding me that life is short, do I waste my life, or do I make it count.
Point #2
Thinking about heaven ought to remind me that hell is real.
A survey by Lifeway Research at the end of 2014 says that 67% of Americans believe in heaven. But what is interesting is that only 53% of American believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. My Bible tells me that there is no other name by which a person can be saved other than Jesus Christ. So, we got a problem here.
The survey went on says that 61% of Americans believe that hell is a real place. But only 18% of Americans believed that just one sin without knowing Christ as your Savior would send a person to hell for eternity. My Bible tells me for the wages of sin is death. One sin without Christ would send a person to eternity in hell. So, we got a problem here also.
So, you and I who know Jesus Christ as our Savior have two problems as I see it. We have an urgency problem, and we have a getting out the truth problem.
How urgent is the urgent problem? Well, the last words of Jesus recorded in the Bible is found in Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Jesus says that He is coming quickly. And John's response is: Come, Lord, Jesus. And I am sure that across this world there are prayers being lifted to God begging Him to make today the day of His return. It is urgent because Jesus says it is urgent.
It is also urgent because life is like a vapor. We don't know if we have this evening much less tomorrow. The uncertainty makes it an urgency problem.
So, we are fighting the clock, which is ticking away to the end, but we are also fighting a problem that are family, our friends and our co-workers may not know the truth. Now the truth is not the truth because I say it is the truth. Nor is it the truth because the Southern Baptist Convention says it is the truth. If it does come out of the Holy Bible, it is not truth. But if it is written in God's Holy Word, it is truth. Jesus plainly tells us My Word is truth. And it is our job to show those without Christ the truth from the Bible.
And it my job because heaven reminds me that hell is real so I must get the Words of the Holy Bible into the ears of our family, our friends, and our co-workers.
Are you living with that sense of urgency? Are you living with the boldness to tell those you love the truth? I cannot think about heaven being a real place without thinking about hell being just as real, and I want to do all that I can to keep people I love out of hell.
Point #3
Thinking about heaven reminds me that I can put in the proper perspective the things that I endure or watch my Christian family endure.
I am always asked as a pastor and a Christian counselor: "why did a loving God let me go through that horrible tragedy, or why did God allow me to witness a horrible tragedy in the life of someone I love. Most of the time, God does not answer the "why", but He certainly don't mind you asking, nor does He mind you expressing to Him how you feel about the situation.
But my answer usually goes something like this: God has told you about heaven and He has even made you some promises about heaven so that we can put in perspective the "why" of suffering.
If there anyone who would need to put suffering in perspective, it was the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians Paul says that he was beaten three times, with rods, once he was stoned and left for dead, three times he was shipwrecked, and he spend a day and a night in the deep.
The Apostle Paul — who got a glimpse of heaven in 2 Corinthians 12 says this about what he had to endure.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
He calls all those things that he endured as light affliction. If Paul did not have the perspective of heaven, he probably would have called them horrendous difficulties I endured. Heaven changed his perspective.
At funerals, there is a marked difference between the funeral of someone who knew the Lord and someone who did not know the Lord. It is because thinking about your love one in heaven puts things in the proper perspective.
We need to learn to put our lives under the perspective of heaven.
Conclusion
How we wait for our first day in heaven to arrive" — whether with a life that counted or with a wasted life, whether with a life of urgency and boldness for the truth or a life of not caring, whether with a life that has put our troubles under a heavenly perspective, or we could not see past our pain all depends on what I think about heaven.
Let us pray!
