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I’m Pressing On The Upward Way (539)
I’m Pressing On The Upward Way (539)
INTRODUCTION: Read ,
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
1. Paul proclaims to the Philippians that they are not citizens of earth but of heaven.
2. They will be equipped to be citizens of that city.
3. The Savior is coming with the power to transform.
4. Words such as these have excited us for 2000 years. They make us long for our home.
5. They make us “press toward the mark.” (v. 14)
6. They make us want others to go too.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
DISCUSSION: I want to go to Heaven because…
I. HEAVEN IS MY HOPE.
I. HEAVEN IS MY HOPE.
1. Is it really there? Jesus says it is.
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
How to Lay Hold of God
How to Lay Hold of God
It means bank on that hope. Trust in it. Feel secure in it. Be satisfied with it. Long for it the way you long for the coming of the dawn after a long, dark, scary night. There are at least five practical things you can do to move your heart toward “laying hold of your hope.”
Meditate from the Bible on how sure your hope is in the presence of God.
Pray earnestly that God would open your mind and heart to this greatness and this certainty and incline you to hope in him.
Consider how much Christ has suffered for your hope.
Consider Christians like yourselves who have laid hold on hope in Christ. For example, in 1934, when twenty-eight-year-old John Stam, missionary to China, was being led away to execution by the communists with his wife Betty, someone on the road asked, “Where are you going?” John laid hold on the hope set before him and said, “We are going to heaven.”
Help each other do all these things in your small groups. Exhort each other every day to lay hold on hope.
2. What would you expect of a man that claimed to know things no other man knew? . Raise the dead? . Heal the sick? . Calm the seas? . Walk on water? . Cast out demons? . Calm humanities deepest fears? . Rise from the dead? .
3. Is it really offered? ; ;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Heaven Holds All to Me (884)
Heaven Holds All to Me (884)
II. HEAVEN IS MY HAVEN.
II. HEAVEN IS MY HAVEN.
II. HEAVEN IS MY HAVEN.
II. HEAVEN IS MY HAVEN.
1. A place of refuge or rest, a sanctuary.
2. This life is full of trouble.
“Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
3. Simply by the way this world operates we can expect pain and suffering. Laws of gravity, motion, etc.
4. Suffering is compounded by sin in the world. We recall the madness of Hitler’s Germany and Imperial Japan. We remember the purges of the Soviets and Communist Chinese. We know of the millions of our youth who have been sacrificed on the altar of convenience in their mother’s womb. Imprinted on our mind is the scene of terror from the sky. We are vulnerable to a madman with a weapon. We feel the onset of age and disease. We suffer the heartache of death and betrayal in the home.
5. Heaven is a haven free from trouble. ,
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
6. This haven is a place of rest. . Make sure there are labors to rest from.
“And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
No Tears in Heaven (882)
No Tears in Heaven (882)
III. HEAVEN IS MY HOME.
III. HEAVEN IS MY HOME.
1. We are strangers (foreigners) here. . Obey its laws, be loyal to the King. . (Dickson: “citizenship”).
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
2. I want to go home, but it’s better for you if I stay. .
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.
But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
3. There is a place prepared. .
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
4. It’s where my treasure is. .
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
5. It’s where my Father is. .
And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
This World Is Not My Home (957)
This World Is Not My Home (957)
CONCLUSION:
1. To go home you must be part of the family. To be part of the family you must be born into it. Ye must be born again.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
2. To be part of the family your sins must be washed away. ; ; ; ; ; .
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
“Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.
but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Each Step I Take (415)
Each Step I Take (415)