Heaven and Hell

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, plese turn to Matthew 25:31-46

We are starting a new sermon series titled “Afterlife”

Many people in todays culture believe in an afterlife

What happens when our physical bodies die

Specifically talking about the U.S. - Pew Research Center reports

Without giving a defined definition of heaven - 73% of the adult population believes in it

Without giving a defined definition of hell - 62% of the adult population believes in it

I dont think it is surprising that more people believe in heven over hell

And it may not be surprising that of those adults who identified as being a Christian,

92% believes in heaven while 79% believed in hell

Of those who believe in heaven - 69% say that in heaven people will be free from suffering

62% say that people can meet God

44% believe that the people in heaven can see what’s happening on earth

And 43% beleive those in heaven have a choice to become angels

Of those who believe in hell - 53% believe that the people in hell will experience psychological suffering

53% believe that the people in hell will be able to see the suffering they created on earth

And 49% believe that those in hell cannot have a relationship with God

If nothing else, this shows that many people today are torn or uncertain of heaven and hell

And so today, we will talk about heaven and hell

And what I do love about the survey conducted is that it is asking questions

Because for those who do answer yes, the person is now are faced with the hundreds of questions concerning the existence of heaven and hell

Even those who believe in a “higher or better place” should ask questions about that place and the origin of which it comes

To just say you believe in something and then not even care to understand it or its implications is a lack of faith in what you believe

And for a person to make up their conception of what heaven and hell is can be a good opinion, but it cannot be held as truth

But people should be looking for the truths of heaven and hell and questions should be asked and answers should be sought

What does heaven and hell look like?

What happens there?

Is heaven in the clouds?

Is hell a place of extreme fire and burning?

And then there are questions about how we get there

Does murder assure you a one way ticket to hell?

How does our good deeds coorelate to heaven?

And culture has many many many opinions, ideas, answers, and beliefs to this question

Again, I want to challenge where these opinions, ideas, answers, and beliefs come from

Because what we know is that heaven and hell is not a cultural question

Rather, it is a biblical question

Heaven and Hell isn’t something culture came up with, rather it is known because it is found in the Bible

And so what we need to do is go to the Bible to find the answer to our questions

Contrary to what some may believe, scripture does have a lot to say about heaven and hell and a lot of it comes from Jesus himself

Rather, to look at the concrete truths surrounding them and I may point out some beliefs that can be inferred

And so we are going to be looking at various scriptures that talk about heaven and hell, but our starting point will in Matthew 25

If you are able, I ask that you please stand and follow along as I read God’s Word - Matthew 25:31-46

Matthew 25:31–46 (ESV)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This is the word of the Lord, you may now be seated

Separation

This chapter of Matthew is veiwed differently by many professing Christians who have studied eschatology - which is theology concerning death, judgement, and the eternal state of our souls

However, one thing that each view holds, is that there is a clear separation of people

This section comes after Jesus gives the parable of the talents

That is that a master entrusted money to his servants before he went away

And the first two servants went and invested the money given to them

They worked and used the money given to them and they doubled it

So when the master came back and had seen that their hard work was worked and well managed,

He said to them, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

But there was a third servant, and instead of working hard and mangaing his masters money well, he was lazy and buried it so that it wouldnt get lost

So when the master returned and found that the servant was lazy,

He said, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have recieved what was my own with interest.”

And in todays text, we find that Jesus is the Master

Jesus comes in glory, and comes with angels, and sits upon a throne

And before him will be gethered all the people - all the nations

And he separates the nations - not by gender, not by color, not by ethnicity

But by being a sheep or goat

What we know is that sheep is referred to those whose hearts have been changed and believe in Jesus Christ

The sheep are Jesus’ believers

Just in Matthew alone you can read (9:36; 10:6, 16; 15:24; 18:12)

David Turner and Darrell L. Bock, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 328.

And so if the sheep are his followers then the goats are those whose hearts have not been changed and do not believe in him

And he doesnt allow the two to mingle together, rather he separates them - sheep to the right and goats to the left

And it is no coincidence that the separation happens before the evidence of the actions

Our works have no bearing on wether we are a sheep or a goat, the only bearing is the regeneration of the heart and faith in Jesus Christ

But the actions of the believer will follow the heart change

Colossians 3:12-14 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Our vision for this year comes from this year comes from 1 Peter 3:8-9 “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

As a believer of Jesus, our works are the evidence of our faith, not the cause of it

And so this is what Jesus says to his sheep

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

What Jesus is saying, proceeds from the parable he just told of the talents, he is telling the sheep - Well done my good and faithful servants

Come in and Inherit my Kingdom - I will set you over much in my kingdom!

But to the goats - The goats actions were for selfish gain and they did not feed, give drink, welcome, clothe, care for the sick, or visit the opressed, and so Jesus says, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

And so Jesus is saying to the goats - Away from me you wicked and slothful servants!

‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

And in the parable of the talents, at the end, Jesus as the master says, “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”

What we have is a clear separation of two seperate places

Straight from the mouth of Jesus,

Jesus - the second person of the trinity, being fully God and fully man, the one one who conquered sin and death

Jesus is saying there is a heaven and hell

There is a Kingdom and also a place of punishment

And so, if you are believer in Jesus Christ, if you follow Jesus Christ, if you are a Christian, then you should 100% believe that there is a heaven and 100% that there is a hell

This is the truth - straight from the truth - Jesus Christ

Hell

While many do not want to talk about the place hell, a proper understanding of it humbles us to love deeper and take solice in the beauty of heaven

On earth, even unbelievers experience God’s goodness and grace. This is called common grace.

Common Grace is different from saving grace

While the saving grace of God saves man and reconciles man to him,

The common grace of God is bestowed to all unbelievers whose judgement is delayed

That while on earth, an unbeliever can have riches and enjoy God’s creation, God’s blessings

But after death, in the afterlife, that common grace is removed

We just talked about this with the story of Noah

The Lord gave 120 years of Common Grace - a time for the people to repent

But after the 120 years, the flood came and wiped out the earth

And so, when unbelievers die Jesus just said, the goats, the unbelievers are cast out

They are cast out away from the goodness and joy of God

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 “and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”

The grace is removed and God’s justice is executed

And while the presence of God’s grace may not be there, God’s presence of divine wrath will be

John Piper - All reality continues to say, “In him we live and move and have our being.” And it is still in hell that no one can hide from the Lord or escape the terrible countenance of his anger. So God’s power is present in hell as the one who sustains our being and the one who enforces justice and the one who maintains suffering. He is present in all the ways men do not want him to be present and none of the ways that believers enjoy his presence.

We talked about Adam and Eve and how their first reaction after sinning was to try to run and hide from God

Those in hell will want to run and hide out of his presence but will not be able to escape his justice

And we must keep this in mind, God is just, not cruel

That is to say that each person in hell will recieve their punishment according to their sins

Their punishment will be just and not in excess of what is just

Romans 2:4-9 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

This is scary, every sin committed deserves justice

And every sin left unrepentant from an unchanged soul requires justice

And God will punish each unbeliever according to their sins

And their punishment will last forever

In our text today we find the word eternal, I also read 2 Thessalonians which said eternal,

Mark 9:43 “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.”

Just as God will continue to be good, and gracious, and joyful, and loving - he will always continue to be just

And the weeping and the gnashing of teeth will last for all eternity in hell

So in hell, it is eternal, the people are separated from God’s grace, the presence of God’s wrath is carried out, and the wrath is always just, according to the sins

And again, this is for those whose hearts have not been regenerated, but for those whose hearts have been regenerated, there is the promise of heaven

Heaven

So what is heaven like and what is in heaven?

And immediately from our text the first thing we can find is that it is the place of Christ’s throne

Hebrews 1:1-3 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

Ephesians 1:20 “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,”

Heaven is the place of Christ’s throne and we are in heaven in effect

Just as common grace is in effect for unbelievers until they die, believers have salvific grace that is sure

Ephesians 2:6 “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

Colossians 2:13-15 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

While we have not been physically raised up nor are we physically together with God, we are counted as heavenly residents

And we will be residents

John 14:1-3 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

We must realize that the heaven that we will enter after our death, is an intermediate heaven until the Jesus comes back and the New heaven and the New earth is created

However, we can find commonalities between the two and draw some conclusions

And when we get there, you will be you - you will be recognizable but made holy and righteous

We find that Luke 24:39 “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.””

Jesus did not return unrecognizable, at the same time, Moses and Elijah were recognizable at the transfiguration and they both were mentioned by name

In the early part of revelation there was mention of those in heaven that were martyred and were in the intermediate heaven

We have to be careful with apocalyptic literature as a lot of it is vision or symbolic - but some conclusions can be drawn

Revelation 6:9-11 “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

It is here that we can find talking, questions being asked,

Over and over again we find in scripture that God has a robe and that others wear a robe. While it is clear they do not wear it out of shame, it could be for righteousness

Matthew 22:30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

Being married for 5 months people ask me how is the married life - And I mean it when I say that I wish I would have met marianne sooner so that we could be married longer

Marriage is a beautiful thing!

But our marriage here points to the future marriage with Christ

While there will be male and female, there will not be any marriage to one another

Rather, we will be so satisfied in Christ that we will not need anyone else

There is no doubt I will know and enjoy Marianne in heaven, however the relationship will not be the same as it is now

Lastly, nowhere in scripture does it say that we ever become angels - angels are angels and humans are humans

Jesus said, “like angels”

Now lets talk about the New Heaven

Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

It is clear that there will be no ocean nor will there be any tears

There will not be any death, pain, or sorrow

Further in verses Revelation 21:18-27, you will find that there are walls made of jasper and streats of gold that are as clear as glass

Jewels and pearls will be all over the gates and walls

And there will be no need for the sun because God’s radiance is the light and there will be no need for the moon cause there will never be darkness or night time

No one that is unclean or detestable or false will be in heaven

Application

Do not delay - Dont rely on common grace but rest in God’s saving grace

You can know for sure that you will be in heaven

And for those of us who have accepted Christ, keep your eyes fixed on heaven

Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Keep pressing on for Christ while we wait for his call to take us home

Announcements

Connect Card - Please fill out, we want to connect with you

Canvas the Neighborhood - Creating flyers to invite others to church (Focusing on Deepwater and Dallas (between Burke and Strawberry)

Easter Sunday - April 9th - 2 services 9 and 11am, easter egg hunt after both services

New Day Reading Plan - Mon-Fri - Luke 2- Luke 6.

Please stand and recieve the benediction before we leave -

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen

Thank you, you are now dismissed