Don’t Forget About Heaven
Matthew 6:19-21
7-7-02
I. Importance of Anticipating Heaven
1. Ever notice in the Bible when people get visions of Heaven?
a. Ezekiel saw the heavens when he was at the banks of the river Chebar.
He was working there as a slave to Nebuchadnezzar. (1)
b. Stephen saw into heaven when he was being stoned by an angry crowd. As he was dying he looked up into the heavens and said:
“I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Acts 7:56
c. John was on the Isle of Patmos –persecuted, exiled, and isolated.
There he received the marvelous visions recorded in the book of Revelation.
2. A Revelation of heaven seems to come to those who need it most.
a. When people are living in affluence and prosperity their minds tend to dwell on temporal matters-
-getting the kids to their ball game on time
- paying the bills
-putting up with a demanding Boss
-trying to get a little better education –house –car
-trying to lose weight & get in shape
Those are Valid Concerns—issues we live with on a daily basis.
b. But what about the End of the Matter?
Am I living my life in the light of Eternity? –in the hope & anticipation of Heaven?
OR
Am I just surviving like all the other Rats in the Rat Race?
3. In Ps 90:10-12 Moses Prayed
“The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 12So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. NKJV
The Ability to “number our days” (to live life in anticipation of Eternity)
Is a Gift from God
Is something God must Teach us to do!
“So, teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
4. James asks the probing question: “What is your life?” Then he quickly gives the Answer in (James 4:14) “It is even a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
Why does James ask that Question?
He is trying to get Christians to view life different from way ungodly view it.
5. The Epicurean Philosophy of life = to simply live for one’s own pleasure. (2)
(Once it’s over, it’s over—so you had better enjoy what you can.)
(Give as little as possible—take as much as you can.)
That philosophy prevails in America.
We are bombarded with it every day in the media and in work place.
If not careful will think like that.
But for the Christian, life = an Investment in Eternity.
6. That’s why Jesus said in Matt. 6:19-21
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
“For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
My Affection, my love will Gravitate toward my Investment!
If I invest all my earnings in Race horses I will likely become very, very interested in race horses.
If I invest heavily in a particular Stock I will watch closely how that stock does in the market.
(It will capture my time & attention.)
Jesus is saying—Invest yourself in eternity –and eternity will capture your Heart.
Every Choice we make takes us in some direction.
Every Investment we make directs our hearts somewhere.
Prov 4:23 “3Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
7. This Morning I want to talk about Heaven. I want to Encourage you to Anticipate Heaven, to set your Course toward Heaven.
As Paul says in Col. 3:2 “Set your affections (mind) on things above, not on things of the earth.”
8. I believe the devil would love to steal our anticipation of Heaven--Get us so caught up in earthly things that we don’t live in joy of our future.
A couple of weeks ago, I used the rescue of the survivors of the Indianapolis to illustrate what brings joy & happiness.
A man is floating in shark infested waters—hungry and thirsty. His circumstances are terrible.
He looks up & sees a rescue plane with a man waving at him. THAT, he said was the “Happiest Day” of his llife. (3)
What made him Happy? He was still in the same miserable set of circumstances.
ANTICIPATION made him happy – the expectation of rescue (of better days ahead) made him happy.
Hope brought joy to his soul.
9. What are you looking forward to? “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”
If all we’re looking forward to is what this world has to offer we have no more cause to rejoice than the world. (4) Our hope is not found in the systems of this world, our kingdom is not of this world- our hope is in God and what He has prepared for us.
10. Abraham & Sarah lived their lives looking for something that could never be found in earthly realm.
Hebrews 11 tells us they looked for “ a city whose builder & maker is God.”
Why would they forfeit the comforts of the city (Ur of the Chaldeans) and live as nomads with no permanent dwelling?
Heb. 11:16 says they desired something better than what world has to offer- “ a heavenly country”.
Then the scripture adds this comment: “Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
11. Can we translate that to our current life situation?
You & I make choices every day that deal with same issues.
Will I take easy road-flow with crowd-seek own comfort & ease? Or will we do the will of Father?
Our Ability to choose wisely has lot to do with our perspective on life.
What is life really about? Why am I here? Is God really a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?
Will I make decisions in the context of eternity or with a temporal, “Epicurean” mindset?
That’s why this sermon is so important.
May God give us wisdom to Number our days and Invest our lives wisely.
What will heaven be like? There is much about heaven that we don’t know. But we know enough to make us want to go there. Is there anybody here that doesn’t want to go to heaven? Here are a few-
II. Reasons for Anticipating Heaven (5)
1. We all get a Complete body Make-over!
It’s called a glorified body. It’s not too fat; it’s not too skinny. It has no aches or pains
We will never be too tired to do the things we want to do.
When I play racket ball in heaven my body will actually do what my mind tells it to do and I will return the serve.
The latter part of I Cor. 15 answers the question: What kind of body will we have?
It will be incorruptible, not corruptible. It will be glorified flesh and bone not flesh and blood.
It will be a body perfectly suited to our spirit. It will be a body like the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. John wrote in his 1st epistle, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:1-2 NKJV
In I Cor. 15:41 Paul says, “…one star differs from another star in glory…” I personally believe that indicates there will be varying manifestations of glory in resurrected saints. We will all be glorified,
but the degree of glory God will manifest will depend upon our yielded ness to the Holy Spirits work in the here and now. But for every believer the will be a complete body make over.
2. The Food Bar will be out of this world—very nutritious and very tasty.
Have you noticed in life there are two kinds of food—the food that tastes good and the food that is
good for you—and they are never the same food. Well in heaven they are the same.
In Matt 8:11 Jesus said, “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” NIV
When you have guys on staff like Joe Dan Vendelin and Jay Bean you find out where all the good eating places are in town. These guys are the experts and we enjoy some great buffets in Springfield.
But think about heaven. It’s all you can eat. It’s really good. And all the calories have been supernaturally removed.
3. Our Victory will be Complete!
We will be perfected in holiness. The Tempter will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
(No temptation, no inclination toward sin, no struggle with sin)
There is something in the heart of the true child of God that does not want to sin—even in the midst of failure. Yes, he responsible for his choices and will experience the consequences of those choices.
But sin is contrary to his nature—and it can not be comfortable to him.
I once heard that illustrated this way. A sheep may fall down in the mud, and when he does he gets filthy. But he can not really enjoy it—His nature tells him to get out.
A pig has a different nature. When he falls into the mud he is in his element. He wallows in it and enjoys it. That’s the difference between a Christian sinning and an unbeliever sinning.
In Romans 7 Paul talked about his struggle with covetousness. We have the flesh trying to rise up and lead us into transgression—we have the Spirit calling us to holiness—and sometimes in this life we experience a struggle. But in heaven there will be no such struggle. Our delight will be to serve our Lord and we will do it without distraction. I want that. Don’t you?
4. In heaven Everything will make Sense!
Do you have anything going on in your life that simply does not make sense? God, Why is this happening? And the more you analyze it the less sense it makes. That’s why the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith”—not reasonings but a steadfast trust and confidence in the goodness and faithfulness of God.
Years ago we sang the song “We’ll understand it Better By and By”
Everybody seemed to get a little pitiful and whiney when we sang that song. But it is true, we will understand it better by and by.
1 Cor 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” NKJV
The “now” is in this life. The knowing as I am known comes in the perfection of heaven.
5. We will Come to Know God more and more and more.
As Christians we are now living in eternal life and we are now getting to know God. But in heaven the veil will be pulled back and we will see God face to face. Isn’t that an awesome thought?
The greatest joy of heaven will be getting to know God and because God is eternal in His nature, there will always be more to know. Heaven will not be boring because God is there. Heaven will be heaven because God is there.
Rev 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” NKJV
6. The Worship in heaven will be Awesome!
We will do it in glorified bodies so everybody will be on key. We will do it in a perfect atmosphere of love, so everybody will have a part.
In the Bible, when we look into heaven we see worship. I believe that worship will be inspired by fresh revelations of God. With every unfolding of the glories of God will come a spontaneous response of worship—“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come.”
With every revelation will come a “new song” to sing unto the Lord. Because of on going revelation we will never, never tire of singing our God’s praises.
Heaven will be fun because,
7. Old Acquaintances will be Renewed.
Our loved ones who have gone before us will be waiting. With a far greater capacity to know than we have now—we will know one another. We will celebrate together the victory of our great King.
The old Hymns of the past were filled with songs about heaven. Songs like “When we all get to heaven,what a day of rejoicing that will be.” Songs like “I’ll meet you in the Morning.”
I would love to see some new songs emerge in this generation about the joyous expectation of heaven.
Those song remind us that there is more to this that what we are experiencing right now.
Old acquaintances will be renewed. There will be new acquaintances as well. We will sit down with Abraham and Jacob and will know them. I think they will know us too. Remember when Peter, James,and John were on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. When Moses and Elijah appeared they knew who they were—supernaturally.
The God-given need in each of us to know and be known will be fully satisfied in heaven.
Heaven will be wonderful because of
8. The Absence of Certain Things- things that make life less than perfect now.
I don’t know what frustrations you may have experienced this week with people or with things— but I’ve got good news—it won’t be frustrating in heaven. Murphy’s Law does not operate in heaven.
Romans I talks about the groaning in creation and sometimes in us as we wait for the completion of our redemption and the glorious liberty of the children of God. Let me share a little secret with you— to expect that perfection is now is a fast ticket to frustration. Salvation is a process and at this point in the process everything is not going to be perfect. If we expect it to be perfect we will be very, very frustrated in life. Yes, God will answer prayers—God will be with us through difficult times—but God will not exempt us from the human experience. So sometimes we just have to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” and stay faithful to what God has told us to do.
One day old things will pass away and all things will become new.
Rev 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their 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.” KJV
Rev 21:8 lists eight kinds of people who won’t be in heaven.
1. Cowardly (Fearful) – Did you know that some people won’t be in heaven because of fear?--Afraid of what people might think if went forward at an altar call—Afraid of what God might ask them to do if they commit to Him. “God has not given us the spirit of fear but of love and of power and of a sound mind.” (6) Notice what the scripture contrasts with fear: love, power, a sound mind.
2. Unbelieving – Unbelief is not an intellectual issue. It is a Moral Choice! People choose
to believe God or choose not to put their trust in Him.
3. Abominable – those Polluted with Evil (Not washed from their Iniquities)
(Not washed in the blood of the Lamb)
4. Murderers – those who destroy the lives of others
(Regardless of age or stage of development of person being murdered)
(Regardless of how socially acceptable it becomes)
5. Sexually Immoral – Greek word here is “pornos”. (7) We get our English word “pornography
from it. The Bible teaches that sex is to be between a husband and wife in covenant with one another before God. Sex outside that marriage covenant is sexual immorality. God’s judgment on these matters is not ruled by society’s opinion. God is not bound by society’s definition of morality.
6. Sorcerers – the Greek word is “pharmakeus” (7) We get our word pharmacy from this word.It has to do with drugs and witchcraft.
7. Idolaters – When we hear that word we usually breathe a sigh of relief. Well at least I don’t have to worry about that one. I don’t worship a totem pole or some statue of Buddha. But what does the Bible say about covetousness? Col. 3:5 says it is idolatry. That sheds a whole different light on the subject.
8. ALL Liars - Smart ones as well as dumb ones. Those who get caught and those who don’t.Those who “lie” for an easy living. Those who live a double life.
Why will these not be in heaven? Rev 21:8 says they “…shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Well, it’s good news that all that wickedness will not be in heaven. In fact, heaven would not be heaven if it were there. But it breaks God’s heart when people choose those things rather than Him. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and have everlasting life.
Conclusion:
If your life is characterized by one of those descriptions you have a choice. You can continue in that iniquity and allow it to become more and more a part of who you are—
allow it in the end to define you. Or you can turn your life over to Christ and He will deliver you from the dominion of those iniquities. There is no sin that the blood of Christ can not cleanse. There is no sinner that Jesus cannot save. His sacrifice on the cross is sufficient for you—if you will surrender your life to Him. At the end of this service I will be here to pray with you if you want to make that choice today.
To those who are living for God—do it with joy! How can we do that? By putting all the frustrations and disappointments we may experience in perspective.
Rom 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” NKJV
God has prepared a marvelous future for those who love Him—live in the joyful anticipation of that future.(8)
Notes:
(1) Great Preaching on Heaven, compiled by Curtis Hutson , Sword of the Lord Publishers, Murfresburo, Tn page 62 Sermon by T. DeWitt Talmage entitled “A Highway from Earth to Heaven”
(2) Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, also see Acts 17:16-34
(3) Sermon entitled “Christian Optimism” preached June 23, 2002
(4) I Corinthians 15:19
(5) Sermon entitled “Top Ten Reasons Why Heaven Is Going To Be A Blast” by Steve Malone at Central Christian Church in Lawrenceville Georgia.
(6) II Tim. 1:7
(7) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
(8) C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
