Heaven - Who Goes There? Part One
The name of God Almighty Father Son and Holy Spirit. I mean, it's quite sad but as a visiting point tonight for the last 30 years the 100 100 200 300 400,000 Angleton Seafood account me what the number is now but at least people who affiliate directly with it, but one of the things that hasn't really changed and amongst all of that decline across most of the religious movement is a belief in some kind of awful I even if you were here today and it kind of like I'm just because this is a this is a history of chances are there's some part of you that when or even if it just comes off at funerals this some kind of thing in you that has a gut instinct that says, you know this something new and chances are that you Make the assumption that you'll go in there. Might be wrong but chances are you probably believe it's some sort of human with your life. Like what we might label even and chances are you've got Instinct of your general feeling about it is that you were going there now if I see it, but what about here is what about this a little bit that you probably say something like that. That's not my problem that your problem. I just think that there is that you will probably only have that belief and it's in reality is that it's a belief that pretty much universally held to some extent or another there is every cultural for the moment moment in history every people with a history this some kind of stinks of afterlife now, you can make lots of arguments about why that is that one of the key ones. I think it's affected our experience of life and its peculiarities. So I love with and family and relationship is just so powerful that we cannot imagine an ending and it's just too hard to comprehend. And so we we have this stinks orbit. Illogical psychological partake in some way or another that there's this thing called Haven Funeral assumptions about heaven are often a little bit off one of the things I often hear from people and also to sit with people and they might be talkin about the family particularly or people who haven't come to church with me for Christians. This is a challenge people who are not part of the church will the Sons and Daughters of grandchildren who have been should have picked up the fight they seem to say all but I know I know it don't even know something like that and there's a small part of me. I'd leave aside out loud because it's a horrible possible Instinct and how do you know that that we are or are not going to heaven and one of the reality is that we tend to associate going to heaven with being good. Today, I'm going to take me to punch out to that idea. But this is a few reasons why that's a good thing. Right? It seems to be a real reason why we have that now it makes sense. If humans kind of considered this reward this wonderful Paradise that we're going to go to it makes sense that you should get it as a reward for living in this world. Right? Right, but that seems Josh that seems to be a bit also in addition to that. It does seem to be the assumption that not everyone can be wrong. And that seems to be the general consensus of of the global religious movements it how you live in this life determines what happens to you in the next one in one form or another different sort of understanding but similar results are there was this kind of understand thing as a good God now there a lots and lots of theology that in the world but there are very few see ology which is so to study of who God. Is it speak of a bad guard in the beginning? God created the world horribly or the evil God created the world that I think of God is good. And he wants people to dwell with him in the bay with him or here have been understanding that I going to be righteous like going to be good. That's all sort of makes sense. The problem is when you think about it for more than a few moments. And that's what I'm going to make it through today and I'm probably going to leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of it that encourages you to get a second pot. But I'm going to try and go to heaven one of the reasons that it's a bit of a problematic idea of a bit of a difficult idea who they hit determines. What good is the reality is that there is no universally accessible universally defined universally agreed-upon definition of good and fake hit his slaves go to bed at 5.
Most of you know, that's a pretty evil thing. So if that's not a good thing as finding a slave if we believe it Dignity of human being to let some stuff. No one went to heaven except for the slaves until about the 1600. So no one got to Heaven because that's not very good. What about at? This is contentious A Woman's Place is in the kitchen. And women are second-class as servants. They should submit all of those ideas. That was once pretty universally held. Only by a very small minority.
Very few people would hold to that and yeah, if we say that, you know, it's a good it's the right thing to acknowledge the quality of the jingles and that you don't even date for good. Then chances are not many men with the human until like the 1950s when we think about it relatively logically this idea of good people going to heaven is a bit difficult cuz there's no University to find gold would have to show up in every single generation to be on a month or twice a year that update the rule book because honestly when when Jesus came that we want to go with little give a kind of thing there was no international flights you didn't have to deal with different cultures. You don't have to deal with different religious beliefs particularly. You just hit the people around you you aren't used to You don't have half the challenges we have now will they go different sort of challenges and as culture shift in a debt than moving. This is challenge of what is right and wrong now how much of its colorful God would have to show up episode 24 would have to have to review and turns of the handbook that you were given when you are born to do the right thing. Then there's some questions about percentages, right? How good do you have to be seen as a 20% and how do we know? What legal where at least I never giving up the date of the exam or that mocking criteria or even giving us any notes. We don't know and and the and he's the darkest that you might be too light. Yeah, you might not have enough time with than you life to make up for all the bad stuff you did at which point you'll be in good for nothing. And then and then there's the problem of and this is the one that terrifies me cuz I have to sit on the Auntie not whiny lion for quite a long time with people who she might miss out on human because you are a little bit grumpy with a customer service lady old man. That sort of thing start to pull apart this idea that we go to heaven because we good. Because there has been no and there is no universally defined given permanent seat of rules about what it looks like to be good. The problem with all of that is if you still accept the idea that God I make sick people into human who are good. You're almost by definition. If you're flying in that game. God is not good. If that's the rules God is not good. God is a bad teacher if we play by that rule because he has given you no reading material noticing some ideas of right and wrong and then he stayed at East on a day that you weren't prepared for it and it died. You wouldn't hold the piece was coming. So there are some fundamental failures and if we really think about it when we have this idea that going to heaven is at all tied with you being good. Now could even assuming this so that's why I think most of you Beyonce there anyways to go to heaven and take many people. If you have this conversation with them, they might say something along the lines of well, you know, I follow the I try and follow the ten commandments, right? That's the sort of statement you might get back from people. I live according to Mom at 10 a.m. What are the team? You trying to leave by then and you sign your eternity depends on them, but most the time we wouldn't even a mortal teen of them are in addition to that just more logical that scene of Rose appears in the book of Exodus in the book of Exodus. Even Stevens is Army even used to define the kind of heavenly spices in which God lives and it stinks of a physical space is not talking about eternal life about what we mean when waiting to speak of Heaven There is not in the Bible A Link Between The Ten Commandments and eternal salvation. There is no link between the Ten Commandment and going to heaven it is about how to live in this life. In fact in the Old Testament, there is very little to no Theology of an afterlife. There is very little in the way of Heaven in the Old Testament. Does the word Shield which basically means the ground you going to the ground and then something happens as a saintly the Old Testament Theology of Dee that kind of you know a few of them that the Pharisees and others. It's not at the heart to believe that the other might be some kind of Resurrection that follows that but not all of them agreed on that they was show so, you know, if you if you had lost a loved one and you went to a rabbi or went to a religious teacher in Judaism. That's I will never and she'll and what does that mean you said? Well, I don't know why you way more teaching about human. But if you want to draw out how to get to Hebron from the New Testament. You shouldn't cuz you're not going to go. If you look to the New Testament as a as a tool box or an instruction manual of how to live in this world in order to achieve, even you are going to quickly realize if you actually read it, but you not going to go. Because the standard is insane. You come to the seminar on the mounts and Jesus is teaching about the Ten Commandments. Even you know, you should use you say I haven't committed adultery, but Jesus looked at a woman and a man lustfully. You're just as convenient. Jesus it's an expectation in the same amount that even the Pharisees and the Beast little keepers of the Old Testament could never reach He doesn't deliberately because if you're trying to use Jesus's teaching to justify the idea that good people go to heaven. You have missed a major Steve because they have nothing to do with each other. Jesus does not take the good people go to heaven. He infects teaches the opposite and many cases. We hear that today and I finish reading the criminal just like candy and hanging on the cross next to him. I will see you in Paradise. So when we come to this idea of of good people going to heaven you need to let go of Jesus cuz Jesus doesn't endorse it. He takes you something quite different now again. The same and just realized some of you will think of me not come back in a couple of weeks to hear the rest of it. I'll try and I'll try and print out the rest of it so that you can come and get this food weight Commandments and how they relate to this but so get to the details when you go to the teaching of Jesus and and don't take me here as making the case that this is definitely true. I'm just saying this is what Jesus teaches us something you need to reason with and yourself, but when Jesus stops to talk about heaping about that the promise of eternal life that's the reality of this eternal being with the father being in heaven. He initially he is down the Pharisees to think that got me white it and Lindsey teams to fold back to a few take dreams that basically say the only way to do it is to follow me. And in the Saints what that means is that gold has not had to give himself to us and the rule book form every generation or every three years is not dated version with version 2.0.1 333 all of those things. God has given himself to us once And it has nothing to do with a rulebook. It has everything to do with a piston. And it has everything to do with people which is what we talked about the next time I do this but it has everything to do with Jesus. The one we are called to follow the one who stood in the Assembly of people and see one of the most Blasphemous things you can advise moving like cursing God is saying something bad against daughter with with basic of claiming to be God. He said I am the way the truth and the life.
No one comes to the father except through me. In the context of that moment in history. Wow, just follow me. I'll get you to heaven and watch TV with scarf and justifiably point on a different kind of reason it's of the Jesus doesn't talk a lot about human the New Testament talks a lot about it. Jesus doesn't talk a great deal. When we do encounter. The Lord is in the New Testament writings of the Apostles in some of the leaders to the church has particularly. I want to emphasize to today from John and one of the most famous words of the Gospel in a nutshell John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he died. Gave his only son not to condemn the world. But to save it now John is a really interesting person. I talked about this before but John was very much. When he first met Jesus, he would have stayed when we die. We go to Scholl and then we kind of talked to the Beast would even might happen. God might do it. What are you up to? I don't know you said this is the man who kid for Jesus's mother Mary until who dese likely around the area of emphasis. So probably another 10-15 years. We don't know exactly living was the mother of Jesus and you guarantee that he had some good questions. Like what was he like as a ten-year-old and when is a fierce will to say stuff like this so you can put a tight a little bit of trust then in terms of his understanding his reflection in his words off of God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish which really does mean Funny memes but have eternal life and it goes on the fears, which is really important to save it as a really important understanding it. So the first part of us that you need to take away is According To Jesus is teaching you alright with God. So when it comes to those moments of you having to reflect on where am I going? Where is where is my my son or daughter going? We are my family going. If you can trust in Christ, you are made right with God. If it was respecting anything here, I was reading an article about what people who don't have a fight say they should say to pick thickly children about dicks in her. I'll come back to it when it comes to children and you lie. If you don't have a fight that is you lie to them. It's like even because he even helps them to come to comprehend and to Greco was the immensity and the end the profundity of what it is to die. Not if we can take Jesus's words seriously in the woods John reports of Jesus. Seriously, you don't have to lie. Because we hear those words from Jesus himself. If you had fights in May if you trust in me, it will work out you will be right it is not the thing you need to worry about. That is a really abbreviated version of what I'm going to do a couple of weeks just for those of you who who might not come back.
But if we come to comprehend our idea of heaven, I'm just drawn back to one of the realities of my job is I do a lot of funerals and there is a reality about when you do a Christian funeral when you when you take a funeral for someone, you know has live faithfully and has that seems like there is morning. There's no doubt about it. There is sadness and despair and and morning, but there is hope in a way that just cannot be captured because we know that this enemy that has taken this person is defeated. But they're awesome graveside funerals. I've taken the Russell Funeral Home funerals. I've taken there are some like that we all it is is great.
And it's just grief because that hope just cannot be comprehended. Partly because I don't believe that good enough because people like me has been centuries telling them. They're not good enough because it used to get them to the church. But now I just
the heart of that face is not that you are going to be good enough. The teaching of a scriptures and a Pulpit should never be pull yourself up by your shoelaces and start working harder. It is simply that God so loved the world that he gave.
He has given a gift. All we have to do is trust.
So he goes to heaven.
Keep talking about it in a couple of weeks. I mean
