WHY ARE WE NOT IN HEAVEN?
Proverbs 11:30
INTRO: We are fit for heaven from the day of our salvation. We can’t improve upon our fitness, so why aren’t we already in heaven? Why doesn’t God take us on to heaven when we receive Jesus?
I. SUPREME INTEREST OF GOD.
God has a desire that everyone be saved. We have the responsibility and privilege of sharing the Gospel with lost people. If God did not choose to use mankind as His instrument, we could go to Heaven immediately after we are saved.
A. God came to “seek and save that which was lost.”
B. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction into the world.
C. Come with me on a journey to the three inhabited worlds.
II. HEAVEN ABOVE (Luke 15).
Every time a lost person is saved in this world, Heaven rejoices. To think that you and I have a part in seeing a lost person come to Christ. We would miss this blessing if we wer already in Heaven.
A. A rejoicing in heaven over one lost sinner saved.
B. Woman finding lost coin.
C. Bells are rung in heaven by soul-winners not by angels.
III. HELL BELOW.
There is not a single lost person in Hell that wishes that anyone would come to that place of torment. This is evidenced by the rich man’s desire for someone to go tell his lost family members of his torment (Luke 16:19-31). If we were in heaven, we would not have that opportunity.
A. Rich man.
B. Jesus’ warning about Hell (Mark 9:42-50).
C. Hell is a place prepared for Satan and his angels.
IV. WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE.
As we get closer and closer to the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ, we are seeing a rapid deterioration of spirituality in our world. God desires for us to be busy sharing the Gospel.
A. People witnessing for God.
1. Missionaries.
2. Christians in our church.
B. The condition of our world is one step above hell.
C. Go back to heaven or hell. Nothing can be done any place except here on Earth.
CONC: Many people believed because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman (John 4:6-39).
