Even if there were no heaven to gain
I¡¯d still choose to be a Christian!
I want to get to know you better, so this morning I¡¯ve decided to begin with a couple of questions.
How many of you love Jesus with all your hearts?
How many of you would be here today if there were no heaven to gain? If everything were the same about your Christian experience, however, at the end, there was no reward called heaven, how many of you would be here today?
One day I was driving around with my friend, David, when I was studying religion at Weimar College. David told me that someone had said, ¡°Even if there were no heaven, I¡¯d still choose to be a Christian.¡± It made no sense at all to me. If there were no heaven, I¡¯d go live it up. After all there were so many exciting things I would enjoy doing. Seven years have gone by. I now understand why he¡¯d still choose to be a Christian.
Today I want to tell you why I¡¯d prefer to be a Christian even if there were no heaven to gain. I want to share with you a parable. It¡¯s parable is called the Eskimo Wolf Hunters.
Parable of the Eskimo Wolf Hunters
According to tradition, this is how an Eskimo hunter kills a wolf.
First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer after layer of blood until the blade is completely concealed by the frozen blood.
Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, the wolf licks the blade in the cold Arctic night. Feverishly now, harder and harder, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. His craving for blood becomes so great that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue.
Nor does he recognize the instant when his insatiable thirst is being
satisfied by his own warm blood. His carnivorous appetite continues to
crave more until in the morning light, the wolf is found dead on the snow!
Is the meaning of this parable obvious? Who does the Eskimo hunter represent? Who does the wolf represent? What does the concealed blade represent?
Romans 6:23 says, ¡°For the wages of sin is death¡¦¡± I used to think that death is what you got at the end of your life, or if you were unfortunate it came sooner through an illness or an accident. But the truth about death is that it takes place the moment you begin to sin. The wages of sin is death. Isaiah 59:2 says, ¡°your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you¡¦¡± Sin separates us from God. It separates us from the source of all life, the source of all joy, and the source of all peace.
This parable reminds me about the immoral woman in Proverbs 7:21 (NLT).
¡°So she seduced him with her pretty speech. With her flattery she enticed him. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter or like a trapped stag, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.¡±
For the wages of sin is death! Guys, watch out for the immoral woman. And girls, watch out for the immoral man.
For the wages of sin is death!
John Regier, the founder of a ministry called Biblical Concepts in Counseling is a very successful marriage counselor. His whole ministry is based on using Bible truths. Over his years of counseling, he has discovered that there are 12 consequences to premarital sex. Now what I am about to share with you are the consequences that married couples experience who engaged in premarital sex prior to marriage. Friends, is it God will that we wait until the marriage vows are said? The consequences go like this: Guilt, Blame, Conflict with One Another, Rejection by One Another, Lack of Sympathy, Lack of Respect for One Another, Distrust/Dishonesty, Loss of Communication, Loss of Spiritual Interest, Financial Loss, Inability of Respond Physically in Marriage, and Lack of Fulfillment.
If you don¡¯t believe me, go try it. I¡¯m just kidding. Don¡¯t try it. You don¡¯t have to believe me. I¡¯m wrong. You don¡¯t have to prove anything to me. Just don¡¯t try it.
When the guy says, ¡°If you really loved me, you would sleep with me,¡± know that he¡¯s a fool.
Would you like to know what the Biblical consequences are for using drugs and alcohol? Some of the consequences are plainly stated in the Bible. How about the consequences of pride, rebellion, temporal values, how about the consequences of immoral conduct? Would you like to know the characteristics of a person who is morally impure? After all, we want to avoid the immoral man and the immoral woman, right? You keep coming back week after week and I¡¯ll tell you. Do me a favor and bring your friends with you.
When I was young I used to think, ¡°I¡¯ll just flirt around with temptation, enjoy sin for a time, and then I¡¯ll go ask God for forgiveness. And everything will be just fine. I was dead wrong. Sin messes you up. I¡¯m a really messed up person. I might look alright on the outside, but inside I¡¯m really messed up. I just thank God for what He¡¯s doing in me.
In the book Mount of Blessings p. 139, it says:
It is true that Satan’s path is made to appear attractive, but it is all a deception; in the way of evil there are bitter remorse and cankering care. We may think it pleasant to follow pride and worldly ambition, but the end is pain and sorrow.
Sin may offer you a fleeting moment of fun, but the end is pain and it never satisfies. It doesn¡¯t satisfy, but what it does is create in you an insatiable thirst for more. Just like the wolf who craved more and more, so it will be for one who begins to indulge in sin.
In Proverbs 10:3 (NLT) ¡°The Lord will not let the godly starve to death, but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.¡±
Are you cruel? Do you sometimes think, ¡°if I can just make life hell for that person, I¡¯ll be so happy? You will crave more evil but remain unsatisfied. Are you a greedy person? Do you think, ¡°if I can just get a bigger house than so and so, I¡¯ll be happy? You¡¯ll never be satisfied.
I have friends who buying property, buying offices, buying homes, buying and buying and buying. They are working their butt off. But they are not satisfied.
When John D. Rockefeller, the oil magnate, was once asked, ¡°how much do you need to be happy,¡± he answered, ¡°just a little bit more.¡±
In 1 Timothy 6:9-10 it says, ¡°¡¦those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.¡±
Studies reveal that in the Adventist church the relationship between spirituality and wealth inversely proportional. The richer you get the less spiritual you get.
Proverbs 28:6 ¡°Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.¡± The NLT puts it this way, ¡°It is better to be poor and honest than rich and crooked.¡± I know a lot of rich and crooked people. I know of people who will do anything to get rich. They will cheat on their taxes, they will cheat their clients¡¦
Why is it better to be poor and honest than rich and crooked? Because the honest person who follows after God will be satisfied though they may have only a little. But the crooked rich will never be satisfied no matter how much they have. Does that make sense?
Proverbs 13:15 (KJV) ¡°the way of the transgressors is hard.¡± KJV
One of my favorite preachers often talked about how the party would always come to an end. And he¡¯d feel this emptiness come over him. Then he¡¯d go home, and hug his toilet as if he was hanging on for dear life and go Auggghhhh. When¡¯s the last time you barfed? Did you enjoy it? Was it a pretty experience? Tasted good, right? It depends on what you ate. When I was in Korea, I lived near Yonsei University. Every now and then, they would have these weekend festivals where the university students would be partying on the street near the university. Do you know how Koreans party. They drink and drink and drink until they are looking like complete fools. Now it¡¯s cool to look like a fool, right? At about one or two a.m. when the party is winding down, you see people all over the place puking. You see puddles of puke everywhere. So I¡¯m going home trying to avoid the puddles and avoid having someone puke on me. I can¡¯t remember why I was out at that time of the night.
Pastor Morris Venden wrote in one of his devotionals that it is harder to go to hell than it is to go to heaven. The way of the transgressors is hard.
At Andrews, one of the classes I took was called ¡°Counseling Youth and Young Adults.¡± Do you know how many problems young people have? One of our textbooks was Helping The Struggling Adolescent. I¡¯m going to read to you from the table of contents the struggles that adolescents face. Abuse¡¦
Can you identify with some of these struggles? It was funny when we were in the class when my friends started saying, ¡°I¡¯ve got many problems and I didn¡¯t know about it.¡±
All of the problems I¡¯ve mentioned are merely symptoms. They are symptoms of a deeper problem. And at the core of the problem is sin.
Anybody here suffer from low self-esteem? Anybody have an inferiority complex? Anybody ever feel depressed? Is it God¡¯s will that we suffer from these things? There are so many problems that we invite by the poor choices we make. By the way, I¡¯m not saying that the Christian life is pain and problem free. We will have trials and tribulation. However, there is much pain that we bring onto ourselves that could be avoided.
Friends, God is concerned about our happiness.
In the beginning, on the sixth day of creation God said, ¡°Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness¡¦¡± ¡°And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.¡± Man was created in God¡¯s image. In the book Ministry of Healing p. 415 it says, ¡°Above all lower orders of being, God designed that man, the crowning work of His creation, should express His thought and reveal His glory.¡± What a privilege man was given. Adam in his perfection never experienced low self-esteem, he never experienced insecurity, he never worried, never had a negative thought, he was happy, he was completely satisfied.
In the book Education p 15 it says, "God created man in His own image" (Genesis 1:27), and it was His purpose that the longer man lived the more fully he should reveal this image--the more fully reflect the glory of the Creator.¡± But by disobedience this was forfeited. Through sin the divine likeness was marred, and well-nigh obliterated. Man’s physical powers were weakened, his mental capacity was lessened, his spiritual vision dimmed. He had become subject to death. Yet the race was not left without hope. By infinite love and mercy the plan of salvation had been devised, and a life of probation was granted. To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized--this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life. {Ed 15.2}
God is working to restore in us the image of God.
Do you know what kind of people I respect and appreciate the most? The same kind of people you respect and appreciate. People who are kind, people who are unselfish, people who are patient, people who are generous, people who have integrity, people who are positive, people who are joyful, people who know how to serve. Who am I describing? I am describing Jesus. And I am also describing a person who reflects the character of God. Is it also your desire to become more kind, and unselfish, and generous, and be a person of integrity? Do you want to be like Jesus? Who here doesn¡¯t want to be like Jesus? Who wants to be like Jesus? That¡¯s what Christianity is all about. It¡¯s about becoming more and more like Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Friends, God is interested in far more than just saving us into his kingdom at the end of earth¡¯s history. God wants to bless our lives. He wants to make us whole. He wants to repair our sin damaged hearts.
Do you know why people lash out at others? Do you know why people back stab? Do you know why people gossip? Have you ever been maliciously attacked? Do you know people who always have to go around proving to other people that they know more or are better? Do you know why they do that? It¡¯s because they are hurting terribly inside. Their hearts have been damaged by sin. People who are spiritually healthy and whole don¡¯t do that.
Friends, God is in the business of repairing sin damaged hearts. He wants to fix us up. He says come to me. Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. When Jesus speaks of labor, He¡¯s not talking about back breaking labor like mowing the lawn or taking out the trash under the hot Seattle sunshine. He¡¯s talking about the living the sin filled life. Sin is a heavy burden. It makes life weary. God knows that the way of the transgressor is hard. Jesus wants to take you off that path that makes you weary. He wants to give you rest from that life. Jesus says, ¡°Come to Me, and I will give you rest.¡±
A few months ago, I was at a small group meeting back in Michigan. At that meeting we were asked to share our happiest childhood memory. Well, after that meeting a young lady shared with me that when she was asked to recall her happiest childhood memory, she could not even think of one happy event. For this young lady had grown up in a very dysfunctional home. Her parents struggled financially, and had every other kind of difficulty you can imagine. And so as a child, she was emotionally neglected, and verbally abused. As a result, she was a very depressed child. By the time she was in high school, she desperately wanted to end her life. Her fear that she might not be completely successful in her attempts to commit suicide is what kept her alive. When she was in college, during her fourth year, she was introduced to Christ. And after she met Christ, her life has never been the same. Now she has a reason to live. She has a reason to be happy. Do you know who I am describing? I am describing Liana, my wife. You would never know by looking at her that she has had such a wretched past. For God has healed her. I thank God for what He has done for her. What God has done for Liana, and continues to do for her today is what He desires to do for each one of us.
Friends, Christianity is so much more than just going to heaven. Your religious experience has got to be hell if you are just going through the motions because you think that by doing certain things you will be given a ticket into heaven. That¡¯s like the 25 year old model who marries the 80 year old man because he¡¯s got a billion dollars in his bank account. And she is hoping that one day she will get a chunk of that fortune when the old man passes away. I don¡¯t care about how much money you¡¯d give to me, I¡¯d never marry an 80 year old man or an 80 year old woman. It¡¯s disgusting.
Friends, Christianity is about walking with Christ. It is about experiencing His love and His transforming power in your life.
Jesus says, ¡°Give me your heart. I want to wash it in my blood. I want to make you whole. Is it your desire to give Him your heart? Do you long for a more satisfying life? If that is your desire, would you stand and join me as we sing out closing song.
Prayer - Lord, we come to you, let our hearts be changed, renewed¡¦
