Seven Myths About Heaven
Someone sent me this in an email this week . . .
A Michigan couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 35 years earlier.
Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules, so the husband left Michigan and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email. Meanwhile, somewhere in Texas, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called ho me to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.
The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived.
Date: October 16, 2004
MESSAGE: I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. It’s stinkin’ hot down here
ARE YOU GOING TO THE ETERNAL HOME YOU THINK YOU SHOULD?
1. Heaven, like church is going to be boring.
a. Matthew 22:2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
Wedding Banquet – Not a Funeral.
Billy Joel sang a song that said, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints – the sinners are much more fun . . . only the good die young.”
Do you know why most people don’t like church? Either they showed up at the wrong one or they just don’t know the reality of salvation!!! Church gatherings should be a celebration.
No offense, but some come to church like it’s the dullest thing on the planet.
Like church should be, Heaven is a party! God’s place is not a black tie affair. At a funeral – what do you have – quiet, people wearing black, long drawn faces, solemn, “sorry for your loss”, boring, long, sad. Too many churches are like funerals! And too many Christians act like church is a funeral. Not here! We understand that the kingdom of heaven is an exciting thing.
In Jesus’ time, this was a 7, yes 7 day celebration. This would be a party of immense proportions.
Do you know the happy couple?
I’ve learned why some receptions are boring. The fun you have at a wedding is directly proportionate to the level of friendship you have with the happy couple. The best weddings are the ones where you know the most people.
Do you know God’s people? Do you know His Son?
2. Heaven has no food or dancing – just singing saints playing the harp.
a. I’ve never been to a wedding were food was not involved.
Can I tell you something? God, who created the Earth and the Universe, knows a little something about throwing a party!
A few years ago, the world was dazzled by what has been called the “Wedding of the Century”. The wedding of Donald Trump and Melania Knauss was one of the most grandiose weddings that the world will ever see.
The guest list for the wedding and reception only contained 350 names but those invited were of the highest in social standing. The list contained members of Royal families around the world, high profile Hollywood actors, former Mayor of New York, Rudy Juliani, and Regis Philbin.
The bride was given a diamond studded platinum wedding ring that was worth about $1.5 million. Her wedding dress was made of white duchesse satin, had a 13-foot long train and was crowned by a 16-foot long veil. It took 1000 hours of labor from 28 seamstresses to put it together including 550 hours spent in embroidering more than 1500 crystal rhinestones and pearls in swirl patterns that covered the dress. That dress cost around $200,000. Then there was the cake. It was seven tiers high, 32 inches in diameter and weighed 50 lbs and was topped by 3000 white icing roses. The wedding’s final cost is unknown but it was certainly well into the millions of dollars. The cheapest thing that was listed on their gift registry at Tiffany’s was an $8500 porcelain fruit basket. There was only one thing that was done to save a few dollars. Mr. Trump did his own hair.
Today, we are talking about a different wedding celebration – it is the celebration that God is going to hold. A heavenly celebration that will not be the wedding of the century – but rather the wedding of the universe.
Heaven will not be boring.
Often times when Jesus used a parable to describe heaven, it had a party in it:
- A woman finds her lost coin – throws a party.
- A prodigal son comes home – Father throws a party.
- A parable about a wedding feast thrown by a King.
There will be singing – but it will be great singing. When we sing – we should be warming up for heaven.
3. I have plenty of time to get ready for heaven.
a. The invitation went out – but the people ignored it – and paid the price.
b. They didn’t recognize the urgency in the invitation.
c. Can I suggest to you that today is the time to think about heaven.
Notice the mistakes of the people in the story:
The First Group – Refused
Refers to the Jews –
Jesus, the Bible says, “Came unto his own people, and His own people did not receive Him.” John 1
The Second Group – Ignored
This refers to the busy, the hurried, the caught up in this life people. People who have made time for:
Kids, College, Career, Mates, Past times, Fun, Hobbies
And in their increase and successes – they neglected the God who gave them the ability to increase and succeed.
VERSE 5b, “one went off to his field, another to his business.”
These people invited figured they had better things to do.
Are we the same?
• Consumed by consumption? Super sized and paralyzed by the present prosperity?
• Busy with Busy-ness?
4. Heaven is only for “good” people.
a. Verse 10: “both the good and the bad.”
b. The invitation went out to all
Consider:
Manuel Noriega
Son of Sam – David Berkowitz – leads a men’s bible study – denied himself the opportunity for parole because the victims families suffered too much for him to be released. – a model inmate.
Jesus said, “There is only One who is good, that is God.”
5. I can get to heaven on my own terms.
a. We are a people of options.
b. We like options.
c. Man without wedding garment.
Jesus ends this story with a strange occurrence. There is a man in the crowd without the wedding garments on. It was typical protocol for weddings that everyone be outfitted with a garment provided by the king so that all the subjects would look the same and only the bride and groom would stand out.
This man had believed his garment to be adequate and fine enough – so he refused the kings garment and wore his own.
Have you ever been underdressed for something?
BANK – totally dressed down. Then they made us get up in front of everyone and introduce ourselves.
What this man believed was the false assumption of too many people. You can be good enough to enter heaven.
This is the devil’s best and most destructive deception.
6. When I get to heaven, I will be able to explain myself to God.
a. Pearly gates idea & Saint Peter.
- “I’m a good person, I know God will let me in.”
- “When I see Saint Peter, I’m just going to explain myself.”
- “I’ve never killed anyone, hell is only for those who have killed people, like Hitler, or Charles Manson.”
- “I’ll just tell God that I did my best.”
b. When the man was in front of the king – he was speechless.
c. Matthew 22:12 ’Friend,’ he asked, ’how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
d. This man never bothered to make the proper preparations for his entrance into the banquet.
Down here on Earth – we are so brazen with God. But in heaven, on judgment day – it’s going to be a different story. If you think you are going to tell God about why you belong in heaven – you might have the wrong idea about the situation – like I did with Bank of Boston.
The Bible says “there in none who are righteous who do what is right. All of us like sheep, have gone astray, each has gone his own way.”
Some say, “God knows my heart – He knows deep down I’m a good person.”
And the Bible says this:
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
It is the evil we see in the world today – the selfishness, the depression, the destructive behavior of our families and our own bodies. Adultery, fornication, addiction – all come from within our own hearts!
7. Only heaven exists in the afterlife.
a. The man was cast into the outer darkness.
b. Matthew 22:13 "Then the king told the attendants, ’Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
c. Today the idea that there is a hell is considered absurd and mythological.
d. Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about heaven.
e. Hell was prepared for the rebellious angels.
f. But those people who reject God’s invitation to heaven – are destined for hell as well.
g. Rich Man and Lazarus:
i. Luke 16:27-28 "(The rich man) He answered, ’Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, [28] for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
