Title: Set Eternity In Our Hearts Lord!
Text: Matt 13:44-52
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Pray!!!
Introduction:
- Today’s message is an introduction to this evenings message.
- Tonight is part 6 in my prophecy series called Reigning with God in the Millennium.
- It will be like Heaven on earth, when the presence and knowledge of God fills the whole earth.
- The only way a person can get into Heaven is to accept Christ as Lord and Savior and live for Him, but there is another way to get to Heaven, did you know that.
- Listen this story:
The pastor was talking to a group of young children about believing in Jesus and going to heaven.
At the end of his talk, he asked, "Where do you want to go?"
"Heaven!" they all piped up.
"And what do you have to be to get there?"
"Dead!", one boy yelled.
- But a lot of people don’t believe that they must accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in order to get to Heaven. Listen to this statistic from George Barna research.
There is a growing tendency to believe that all good people, whether or not they consider Jesus Christ to be their savior, will live in heaven after they die on earth. In 1999 the public is almost divided on the matter: 53% agree, 40% disagree. This represents a significant change since 1992, when 40% agreed with this notion and 1994 when 46% agree, 47% disagree.
Half of all adults (51%) believe that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a place in Heaven.
Of those who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ: (1999)
63% believe that they will go to Heaven when they die because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as their savior.
11% believe that they will go to heaven because basically they are a good person.
10% do not know what will happen to them after they die.
7% believe that they will go to Heaven because God loves all people and will not let them perish.
5% believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they have tried to obey the 10 commandments.
2% believe that when they die they will not go to Heaven.
- If you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior the Bible says you are going to Heaven, listen to this scripture: (Read Rom 10:9-14)
Transition:
Now that we know how to be saved, why are people not accepting Jesus into there lives?
- For many reasons:
- Don’t want to change lifestyle
- Don’t understand how to get to Heaven
- People think that being good, is enough.
- But I think there are 3 reasons that Jesus gives from our text that show us why Heaven should be considered.
Point 1: Jesus Shows Us That Heaven Is Worth Giving Up Everything
- The man in Jesus parable found a field and a priceless treasure in that field.
- When he uncovered the treasure, he saw the treasure was worth giving everything up, so he went back home and sold everything he had to obtain the treasure.
- The moral of this part of the parable is that Heaven is worth giving up everything.
- In light of what we are giving up in this life, is nothing in comparison to the life after.
- When we rule and reign with Christ in the Millennium we are going to be thankful that we gave all of our lives to Christ in order to obtain Heaven.
- The truth is we must give everything over in order to obtain Heaven, listen to this quote: Andrew Murray: The truth is this - pride must die in you or nothing of heaven can live in you.
- In our text Jesus is not only emphasizing that there is joy in giving up everything to obtain Heaven, but that it is a requirement.
- This does not mean we go and sell everything, but that we give all our lives, our emotions, our dreams and give them to Jesus.
- Jesus says when mankind does this, they will go away joyful.
OPRAH MAKES IT TO HEAVEN
Forget her TV rankings. Among a group of 15 prominent figures, Oprah Winfrey is a winner in the biggest rating game of all. In a recent survey, 66 percent of Americans said they believe that the popular talk show host is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to go to heaven. Others:
Mother Teresa - 79%
Michael Jordan - 65%
Colin Powell - 61%
Princess Diana 60%
Bill Clinton 52%
Al Gore and Hillary Clinton 55%
Newt Gingrich 40%
Pat Robertson 47%
Dennis Rodman 28%
O.J. Simpson 19%
Those surveyed (on their chances) 87%
- Anyone of these people can make it to Heaven, granted that they accepted Jesus into there hearts and gave up there lives for the sake of serving Jesus.
- If they have not done that they are not saved, nor would they go to Heaven no matter what they have done to help people.
- So Heaven is worth giving up everything is not only a joy, but also a requirement.
- Selling all means that we must transfer our whole heart from other interests to the one supreme interest, Christ.
Rom 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, bothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Point 2: Heaven Is Worth Pursuing After
- The man was searching for the perfect pearl, so when he found one of great value, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.
- Heaven is worth pursuing after; its worth investigating and looking into it if you are skeptical.
The hope of heaven is a powerful strength for godly living that many people virtually ignore it in their daily lives. It was Myrtle Erickson who wrote:
Think of stepping on a shore and finding it heaven
of taking hold of a hand and finding it God’s hand
of breathing new air and finding it celestial air
of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality
of passing from storm and tempest to unbroken calm
and looking up and finding it home!
- Heaven is what people are looking for, and God being a gracious God will help us find it.
- God will bring every person to a place in life where they will have to chose either Heaven or Hell.
- Christians today, are going through difficult times and situations, but let me encourage you, that Heaven is worth pursuing and straining for.
I love auction sales, yard sales and estate sales. I love looking for things that I think are of value. They may not be valuable to someone else, but they are valuable to me. I love old signs that advertise coke, pepsi, gas stations etc, and so I go looking for those items. When I find it, I am joyful because I have found what I am looking for. It’s the same with Heaven, God is the reason we exist, He gives us purpose in life, and when people are looking for something to fulfill them, they are searching for God. When they find God, they are joyful because they have found what they are looking for.
Point 3: Heaven Is Worth Living For
- There will come a day when God will separate the saved and the unsaved.
- Call it whatever you want, good fish from bad fish, wheat and tares, sheep and goats.
- The point is very clear, there will be a separation, and all those who have rejected Christ as Lord and Savior will spend eternity in hell.
- Now living for Heaven is in essence living for the Lord. No one wants to go to Hell, and everyone wants to go to Heaven
- Only those who receive Christ into there lives and put there life into God’s hands will be saved.
- It’s worth serving the Lord now, because Jesus said when we sell everything there is great joy!
- The world does not know true joy, but rather pain.
- There is a choice, but it will mean denying yourself, picking up your cross and following the Lord.
- Serving the Lord is not easy, but Jesus says, there will be a joy the Christian has never experienced.
- Listen to this story that tells a true story of what people think they can do to get into Heaven and still keep there sin.
Ivan the IV of Russia was such a cruel man that they called him "Ivan The Terrible." He married 7 wives & abused them all. He was immoral & violent. He used to throw animals off the Kremlin Walls just to watch them die.
But when he died in 1584, historians record that they shaved his head & dressed him for burial in the robes of a monk, hoping that God would think that Ivan the Terrible was a monk, & thus allow him into heaven.
Is that how you get into heaven - by disguising yourself & hoping God will think you are someone else?
- Also listen to this story of someone who still has the same attitude of getting to Heaven without confessing sin and living for God
Ted Turner, founder of Turner Broadcasting (TBS,TNT,CNN) blasted the Christian faith at a speech to the National Press Club.
"Remember, heaven is going to be perfect. And I don’t really want to be there... Those of us that go to hell, which will be most of us in this room, most journalists are certainly going there... (Laughter). but, when we get there we’ll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess. And heaven is perfect. Who want to go to a place that is perfect? Boring, boring." (Laughter).
Also in late 1989, Turner told Dallas Morning News that "Christianity is a religion for losers." Christ died on the cross, but Mr. Turner said He shouldn’t have bothered. "I don’t want anybody dying for me. I’ve had a few drinks and a few girlfriends and if that’s gonna put me in hell, then so be it."
Hell makes people uncomfortable to the point of ignoring, rejecting or mocking its very existence.
Conclusion:
- In conclusion Jesus was saying 3 things to His audience then and to us today:
A. Heaven is worth giving up everything (The person who finds the treasure in the field)
B. Heaven is worth pursuing after (The man who finds the pearl)
C. Heaven is worth living for (The fishermen who bring in and separate the fish)
Lets Pray!!!
(Illustrations came from SermonCentral.com)
