Is it Real?
The Hope of Heaven • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsThe opening message to a series on Heaven
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Excited
Excited
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
The difference the hope of heaven makes in lives
Concerns
Concerns
Am I Crazy?
Everyone has an opinion they believe to be fact
Not open to talk about possibilities
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—
Paul, John, and Ezekiel
Paul, John, and Ezekiel
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Not a theology on heaven
Not trying to set the record straight
Humble approach something real but hard to understand
My goal is to move us as a church towards being people who have a healthy and visible hope of heaven; that people will see that our belief is reflected in our lives.
Reasons for Our Discomfort with the Subject
Reasons for Our Discomfort with the Subject
The world values religion for morality, raising kids, celebrating life, and comforting death
But the minute you say it is real… the discomfort sets in
morality
1843 Karl Marx Quote - Religions is the opiate of the masses
Religion is false
People who believe are decieved
People who believe are the simple ones
Believers have stopped talking about heaven
Believers have stopped talking about heaven
We want to put it off
We don’t want to miss out on some things in life
We may acknowledge, but we don’t believe
The Church is Best When It Believes
The Church is Best When It Believes
When people know what awaits them in heaven, the greater the contentment they will have at every stage of life.
Helping the sick and dying
Fighting persecution and hate with love (slaves, Roman church, St. Patrick)
Giving up our lives to give life to others (missionaries and apostles)
Pioneer Christians
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 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.
Fighting persecution and hate with love (slaves, Roman church, St. Patrick)
Giving up our lives to give life to others (missionaries and apostles)
Pioneer Christians
What if Karl Marx was right?
What if Karl Marx was right?
Evidence for Heaven
Evidence for Heaven
Unarguable evidence for the reality of heaven - No one disagrees
Death is Wrong
Death is Wrong
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,
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.”
Man was not made for earth
Man was not made for earth
We are unique and vastly different
Art, reason, music, industry, creativity
Humans are the only creatures who don’t settle in to their environment. We change it rather than adapt to it
Genesis 11:4
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
The Word does not satisfy
The Word does not satisfy
Song from the Greatest Showman
We yearn for more. We aren’t satisfied without eternity
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Carl Sagan’s Cosmos
A true materialistic atheist should not be searching for more
C.S. Lewis quote #1
Every Desire has a real object
Every Desire has a real object
C.S. Lewis quote #2
We seek a higher standard
We seek a higher standard
Justice, Equity, Peace.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Romans 2:
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Here is the paradox:
The more we try to make earth into heaven, the farther we get from it.
“What has always made the state a hell on earth has been precisely that man has tried to make it heaven.”
― Friedrich Hölderlin
The attempt to make heaven on earth invariably produces hell.
- Karl Popper
I considered adding another point
Our Heroes are those who lived for something greater than this life.
We seek a perfect relationship
We seek a perfect relationship
to be unconditionally loved and accepted
fully known and understood
Pursued at any cost
Conclusion - Opiate or Blindness
Conclusion - Opiate or Blindness
So who is deceived?
So who is deceived?
Before Karl Marx, there was God
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
Romans gives us a little clear understanding of the motivation to not see the obvious
Romans 1:18-
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Jesus’ Witness
Jesus’ Witness
And none of the evidence takes into account the words of the eyewitness, Jesus.
The life of Jesus was fully pointed to eternal life; he didn’t try to build a kingdom here, but point people to a kingdom that already existed.
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Denial has not ended the search
Denial has not ended the search
People who deny heaven are still looking for it.
The reality of God and heaven is as clear as the nose on their face.
In their pride, they are blind
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Jesus’ Witness
Jesus’ Witness
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
Most aren’t ready to believe
Most aren’t ready to believe
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
You can’t make someone see the truth
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
But what about you?
But what about you?
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
We, who believe in the reality of heaven, cannot let the world shame us into silence.
The greatest argument for the reality of heaven are people whose lives reflect that reality.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”