Future Glory
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Anonymous writer, about an American tourist's visit to the 19th century Polish rabbi, Hofetz Chaim:
Astonished to see that the rabbi's home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench, the tourist asked,
"Rabbi, where is your furniture?"
"Where is yours?" replied the rabbi.
"Mine?" asked the puzzled American. "But I'm a visitor here. I'm only passing through."
"So am I," said Hofetz Chaim.
Heaven and our future glory a subject that we love to hear and read about but for some of us it is just a nice story and for some of us in modern evangelicalism we are just hoping that it is true. It will be nice if it is true. This is one area that we see obvious signs that we are lying to ourselves. Do we really believe that there is a heaven and a future glory with our Lord? We do hope that it is true and because of it we tend to not want to put all our eggs into this basket. We are not willing to give it all up here on earth in order to have it all in heaven. We are not really willing to abandon all here on earth in order to store up treasure in heaven. In reality for many of us… we hope that there is a heaven and that there is a wonderful afterlife, but we maybe are not sure, so maybe I don’t want to live in a small room with just books with a table and a bench. Maybe enjoy as much as I can here on earth just in case there really is no heaven.
But I do all that I can to live a godly life and to be obedience to the Lord while I’m here just in case there is a heaven. That’s the problem. You have to be assured of heaven and a wonderful afterlife with Jesus before you can truly be obedient and live a life of godliness. You cannot truly be obedient to the Lord is you indirectly believe that He is a liar and His word and promise is not really true. We bring more dishonor to the Lord by trying to love Him even though we believe that He might not be telling us the truth. Believing and declaring His promises are Yes and Amen, but living as if He does not do what he says if He is even there in the first place. Reason for motivation is as important as moving. How we worship God is just as important that we worship God. Let’s take a look.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
Necessary Pre-Condition: Future Glory
The Gospel
The first thing we will look at today is the need for us to believe that our future glory will be real and great in order to live in true godliness. Finally, we will see the beauty of union with Christ by the power of the gospel.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to lose hope in our future glory in pursuit of the here and now, it is the truth of the scriptures and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to see and hope in all the joy that the Lord has set before us.
I. Necessary Pre-condition: Future Glory
- We must believe that we have a future and a great one in eternity.
A. You have heard it said, “You are so heavenly minded you are no earthly good.” You spend so much time with your mind on heavenly things that you neglect all of your earthly responsibilities and duty. But the Bible gives us a very different message. It is more… “You must be so heavenly minded in order to be earthly good. The precondition is… “You have to be absolutely assured that you are going to have a happy eternal future with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth.
B. Again, we have got to understand that church leaders and pastors in our culture today and really always, they are afraid to give any message that could give a person an excuse to not behave as a christian should. Many will assert that if people are one hundred percent assured that they are going to live a winderful life with the Lord in heaven, they will rather live a life of sin and narcissistic, licentious hedonism. Living, doing, believing anything and everything that they want without any fear of consequences. Many teach that the only way to get Christians to do what we are supposed to do is to keep heaven just out of reach with a silent fear that we might not get there if we are not careful to be obedient.
C. When I was in High School my friends mom would always tell us when we went out… make sure you guys behave yourselves and don’t do anything that will keep you out of heaven. One of my teachers used to say… make sure you are not somewhere you should not be if the rapture comes or you might be left behind.
D. But what we do not realize is that all we are doing is creating a sense of insecurity that causes us to doubt the grace and mercy and power of God so much so that it will make true obedience and godly living impossible. It will actually do the exact opposite of what we are hoping to get others to do. This kind of belief will cause us to even reject Jesus. It will cause us to become hardened. It will cause us to become disillusioned. It will cause us to be sad you see.
for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these.
E. We understand that the Sadducees denied the supernatural, angels, the soul or spirits, the resurrection of the dead, the existence of an after life. The ancient Nihilist. The philosophy that denies the existence of genuine moral truths and asserts the ultimate meaninglessness of life or of the universe because there is nothing more after death.
F. It is inevitable… there is really nothing else that we will realistically turn to. If we are not sure about a wonderful afterlife we will end up believing that following God and his directives are in vain. Whats the point? None of this is gonna matter anyway. Why am I suffering and going through all this misery if its not gonna matter in the end? When I die it will be just the ceasing to exist… there is nothing more. It is because of our insecurity of not knowing is what is causing us to want to get the most out of this life in the here and now just in case there is nothing after death. If we are not sure, we will not go all in. If we are not sure, we will not surrender all. If we are not sure, we will not truly obey.
G. This is one of the big issues today… if we were truly confident and assured that our life after death will be amazing and more than we could ever ask for, would we not be ok with a room, a table, a bench, a bed, and all we can eat SPAM. What we got to ask ourselves honestly today… do we really believe that there is life after death and that it will be a wonderful one with the Lord.
H. The scriptures acknowledge this as well.
And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
I. So you see… it is natural and sensible for us to live in lecivious hedonism if there are doubts about heaven and the future glory with Christ. So if we see a
consistent compromise of the law of God and a consistent alignment with the ways and ideals of the patter of this world, we gotta ask outselves those very important questions… Do I even want to obey God and follow His truth? Are we assured that we are truly forgiven by Christ, covered by the blood, and are truly reconciled to the Father because of what Christ has already done? And now… Do we really believe that there is a heaven and a wonderful life with Christ? Ask these because if we are truly honest and not lying to yourself and you say no, there is the reason. Don’t lie to yourself today, this is all showing you that there is a serious problem… a very serious one. Is you salvation sure? Do you know why it is?
I. Another thing we see in the scriptures is since the fall the Lord uses the sure hope of eternal life to be a motivation for obedience to Him. Even Christ himself...
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
J. Again it is because of this assurance of the future glory with the Lord that will cause us to see the reality of the eternal love of God and it will cause us to prefer the Lord above the flesh and the world causing our motivation to be for the Lord and for the Lord alone. And let me say a very puritan thing to say… God would be dishonored if we loved Him without understanding that he has prepared a place for us.
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
K. When we desire a better place. When we desire a heavenly place. The place that God prepared. In other words… God is honored when we desire the place that he has prepared for us. This is the amazing power and beauty of our obedience and good works as a result of our desire and assurance of the wonderful place that the Lord has prepared for us.
CS Lewis writes, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
II. The Gospel
- The way the truth and the life.
A. It is all about the words and work of Christ. It is our hope in that we are united with Christ. We are united with Christ when we receive the means of grace. We receive the means of grace when we come to fellowship. And one of the graces we receive is the wonders that come when we hear the gospel as Christ is proclaimed. We are united with Christ as His because of the work that Christ had done when he came. The Bible is clear that were alienated from our heavenly father with a nature that makes us children of wrath. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins.
B. We can have hope and assurance today even in light of all this horrible info… Why? Because Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and He was buried and He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
C. This is the wonders of the gospel and the promise from our Lord who cannot lie… 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. Do not let your confidence and assurance be thrown today. There is a heaven, there is a hell, and the gospel assures us that Jesus has saved us from hell and have given us life and life more abundant with Him forever in eternity. Aim for heaven and earth is thrown in… aim for earth and you get neither.
