Realizing Our Destiny Pt.1 1-5-2020

HEAVEN - SEEING THE UNSEEN HEAVEN - REALIZING OUR DESTINY Sunday January 5, 2020 Scripture Reference: John 14:1-3 Intro. A. Welcome to this first Sunday of what I think I can safely say, based on your comments to me is a long-awaited series on Heaven. I will say this one more time and then I will try not to say this again, but this series is not about prophecy, it is not about trying to predict the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. This series is about what our lives will be like when we leave this temporary life on this earth and enter into our eternal reward, we call Heaven. 1. Let's look at the scripture I want to use for the next few weeks. It is one that is very familiar to most of us. John 14:1-3 "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." John 14:1-3 (NLT) B. The sense that there is something beyond this life has been a part of our human nature almost sense the beginning of time. Even people who don't really profess a faith talk about heaven. 1. Early Christians anticipated Heaven. Here are a few examples. In AD 125, a Greek named Aristides wrote to a friend about Christianity, explaining why this "new religion" was so successful: "If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby." Alcorn, Randy Heaven (Alcorn, Randy) Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. In the third century, the church father Cyprian said, "Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us from this place and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom. Anyone who has been in foreign lands longs to return to his own native land.... We regard paradise as our native land." Alcorn, Randy Heaven Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 2. The scriptures also point us to Heaven. Paul said, "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better." Philippians 1:21 (NLT) In 2 Corinthians he said "6So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NLT) Of course we could go on and on but it is safe to say that the Word of God tells us about a place called Heaven. B. The fact is we all have a terminal disease called "mortality". The death rate among every living thing, plant, animal or human is still 100%. 3 people die every second, 180 every minute and 11,000 every hour. This means that very day 250,000 people are either entering Heaven or Hell. It is a pretty sobering thought. 1. Psalms 39 says "4"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered- how fleeting my life is. 5You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT) The sad reality is that most people live unprepared for death. Frances Louis the XIV decreed that the word "death" would never be uttered in his presence. [] It reminds me of my own father. For years my mom tried to get him to make a will, but he didn't want to because having a will draw up meant he was going to have to think of his own mortality and in those days, he did not know Christ. We do not have to be afraid of death in fact Jesus came to deliver us from this fear. The Bible says "14Because God's children are human beings-made of flesh and blood-the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying." Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT) I believe the reason people fear death is because they don't have assurance of what lies beyond the grave and if you believe the Bible then it is only by putting our trust in Jesus that we can know what lies for us beyond our last breath. C. When you think about Heaven what do you see? Most of us here today have a mental picture of what Heaven will be like. As I know we will see as we move through this series a lot of those ideas and concept are not really grounded in the teaching of the Bible. Have you ever heard or possibly used this phrase or one like it "They are so Heavenly minded they are of no earthly good"? I will confess that I have used this before and sincerely believed it, but I am glad to admit today that I was wrong, very wrong. In fact, I will go as far as to confess that what I think was really the case for me is that I wasn't of much earthly good because I wasn't heavenly minded enough. As we will all see in this series it is just not possible to be truly heavenly minded but of no earthly good. 1. In 1952 Florence Chadwick attempted to swim from Catalina Island to Long Beach. For 15 hours she swam in waters that were cold and she was surrounded by a dense fog. She was exhausted and asked her mother who was in a nearby boat to help her out. Her mother assured her that she was so close that she couldn't give up so tried to go a little further. Finally, totally exhausted she was lifted out of the water less than a mile from shore. Later she said, "All I could see was the fog.... I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it." I think that for a lot of people there is a fog that is obscuring their view of Heaven. For some it is just all the cares, burdens, worries and concerns of this life. We are so overwhelmed with what is happening right now we can't see what lies ahead. I sincerely hope that this series will help you if that is where you are to keep going. I hope that I can help you have a correct picture of what Heaven is really like based on what the Bible tells us. I hope that we will all become so heavenly minded that we will be of much earthly good. D. Let me share a little of my own personal journey regarding Heaven. I promised not to talk about this again but here I go. I know there is a lot of interest in end time prophecy. There are plenty of books written on the subject and there are a lot of conferences you can attend that address this subject, but how much time do we spend talking or thinking about Heaven? Yes, we mention Heaven a lot especially when we are at a funeral, but how much attention does Heaven get in our normal everyday life? You see this goes back to that false notion I had that I can be so heavenly minded that I am of no earthly good. The fact is the more Heaven occupies our minds the more we will deepen our own personal faith and obedience to God. I would suggest to you that the more heavenly minded I become the more I will become passionate about God's purposes which is the mission of this church. 1. I spent four years in Bible College getting prepared for ministry. I studied a lot of different things and I know there is no way for a school to fully prepare you for what lies ahead as you enter your given profession, but it never struck me until I began this study that I did not have one class that dealt specifically with the subject of Heaven. Certainly, heaven was mentioned but there was not one class dedicated to this very important subject. I think that says a lot about where Heaven is in our thinking. When was the last time you ever heard a message preached specifically on the subject of Heaven? I know that if you have sat under my ministry for these past 23 years you had not heard that message until back in 2015 when I first started this series, but never finished which I might add was foolish on my part. We have probably heard a lot of sermons warning about Hell but how many sermons have we heard about getting ready for the joys of Heaven? For the next six months and possibly longer I am going to work on changing your answer to that question. 2. Now let me be clear that I do not stand before you today as the expert on Heaven. I am still a learner as you are, but I do believe that what I am going to be sharing with you will help all of us better understand what awaits us after we die. I also hope to create in you a deep longing and anticipation for the home God has created for us. Now we will have to do some speculation as we study about Heaven because there are some things that are just not clear about every aspect of Heaven, but I want to ask you to consider this information in the light of the scriptures we do have and to also know God has given us the ability to use common sense and reason to think about this place God has created for us. Trans. Now I have spent a lot of time today introducing this subject and I feel it was all necessary. What I want to do with the rest of my time and next week is to help us answer this question. I. ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAVEN? Now I realize that might seem like a ridiculous question to ask but based on some of the things I have just shared I am not sure how many that call themselves Christians are really looking forward to Heaven. Again, we will talk a lot about Heaven when someone dies, but how much does Heaven occupy our minds in daily life? Honestly, I believe that the failure to follow Christ in daily discipleship reveals we are not really all that interested or excited about Heaven. The fact is there are many unbiblical views of Heaven. A. Our Unbiblical Views Of Heaven. 1. Sadly here was one pastors view of heaven, "Whenever I think about Heaven, it makes me depressed. I'd rather just cease to exist when I die." "I can't stand the thought of that endless tedium. To float around in the clouds with nothing to do but strum a harp... it's all so terribly boring. Heaven doesn't sound much better than Hell. I'd rather be annihilated than spend eternity in a place like that." Here is what one youth pastor's wife said. "When I was seven, a teacher at my Christian school told me that when I got to Heaven, I wouldn't know anyone or anything from earth. I was terrified of dying. I was never told any different by anyone.... It's been really hard for me to advance in my Christian walk because of this fear of Heaven and eternal life." Did you hear what this lady said? She was "afraid heaven and eternal life" and she was a pastor's wife! A Christian writer named John Eldredge said this, "Nearly every Christian I have spoken with has some idea that eternity is an unending church service. We have settled on an image of the never-ending sing-along in the sky, one great hymn after another, forever and ever, amen. And our heart sinks. Forever and ever? That's it? That's the good news? And then we sigh and feel guilty that we are not more 'spiritual.' We lose heart, and we turn once more to the present to find what life we can." 2. What is your view of Heaven? I will tell you that I have believed for years that I will be a spirit that I will not have a physical body and that heaven will be one big long (eternal in fact) worship service. Now don't ask me whether it would be all hymns or choruses LOL. Here is a far side cartoon that explains some people's view of Heaven (show cartoon). B. Is Heaven Off Our Radar Screens? 1. I have mentioned this but let's talk more about the fact that for even a lot of Christians Heaven is really off the radar screen. It is not something that really gets a lot of our attention. The George Barna group which is a well-respected Christian research group said this, "They're (speaking of the general population including Christians) cutting and pasting religious views from a variety of different sources-television, movies, conversations with their friends." Look at the movies and books that are written about this subject that are completely emotionally or experienced based and have little to do with what the Bible teaches. It is very clear that most Americans believe in Heaven but what they believe is the important question. 2. In The Eclipse of Heaven, theology professor A. J. Conyers writes, "Even to one without religious commitment and theological convictions, it should be an unsettling thought that this world is attempting to chart its way through some of the most perilous waters in history, having now decided to ignore what was for nearly two millennia its fixed point of reference-its North Star. C. Where Do Our Misconceptions Come From? 1. Where do these ideas we have about Heaven come from that tell us it will be a boring place, a place we ought not to be looking forward to, where do all these distorted ideas come from? I have only one explanation and that is that these come from the enemy of our souls, the Devil. If you think about it this only makes sense. Does Satan want you thinking about Heaven? Does he want you contemplating the fact that you have family and friends that will spend eternity separated from God unless they repent and turn to Jesus? Here is what the Bible says, "He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven." Revelation 13:6 (NIV) Notice the three things Satan attached, God, His Name and His dwelling which of course is Heaven. Randy Alcorn said "Satan need not convince us that Heaven doesn't exist. He need only convince us that Heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence." Consider this, it must drive Satan crazy to think that you and I through what Jesus did for us on the cross are now entitled to the home he was forever kicked out of. If Satan can rob us of our joy and anticipation of Heaven then he can get us to focus on this life and what we can get here and now and isn't this where a lot of people, even a lot of professing Christians are right now? Everything is about getting all the gusto out of this life because there is nothing to look forward to in the next. 2. Consider this, if we really believed that money and the stuff, we can buy with it is not all that important then why do we cling so tightly to it? Why aren't we doing more of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:20-21 (NLT) Trans. Let's try to answer another question. II. CAN WE IMAGINE WHAT HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE? The Bible paints a picture of Heaven for us using a lot of different words and word pictures. The verses I shared as we began are verses we use a lot when we talk about Heaven. We talk about the mansions that God has prepared for us, so are we actually going to have one of those big houses we can only look at from afar now? We talk about a great banquet in heaven so is God preparing a banquet room to hold millions of people? One of the questions I think we have about Heaven is "Will we have physical bodies in Heaven, or will we be spirit beings like angels? The fact is God has made us both as physical and spiritual beings, but you need to understand we are not capable of fully imagining a non-physical world. One of the verses we like to use when we talk about Heaven says this, ".."No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT) This verse is not telling us we can't use our imaginations when we think about Heaven it simply tells us that our minds will not be able to fully comprehend what God has in store for us. Here is; A. Why Our Imaginations Are Important For Thinking About Heaven. 1. How are we to desire or anticipate what lies beyond this life for us unless we can use our imaginations? Whether the things the Bible tells us about Heaven, like the things I mentioned were just allegories why would God give them to us unless He wanted us to be thinking and imagining what Heaven will be like? I sincerely believe that God wants us to use the gift of imagination when we think about Heaven. Yes, we need to be careful not to exaggerate and make things up but as we will see moving through this series there are plenty of things the Bible says about Heaven to spur our imaginations without being weird or crazy. 2. Here is something that I think can really help us as we begin to imagine what Heaven will be like. Here is what I want us to begin doing and we can do this right now, right here in this sanctuary. I want you to imagine what this world would be like without the curse of sin. Think about this because this is absolutely critical in our gaining a real understanding of what Heaven will be like. a) We need each other, right? God said it was not good for us to be alone, we need people in our lives, but how many of you know that while people can be a great source of joy in our lives, they can also be a great source of pain. Come on now this is just the truth. The fact is even pastors do stupid and hurtful things. I know I have hurt people during my 34 years of ministry. Most of the time it was done unintentionally, but I will confess sometimes I did it purposefully. If you are sitting next to your husband or wife, imagine what your marriage would be like without the curse of sin and how it messes us up. b) I remember a few years back when I was up near Mammoth mountain. If you have been up in that area you know it is very beautiful, but while I was up there a fire was burning on the other side of the mountain and the smoke was blowing over to where I was and I had to keep the windows shut in the house because it smelled like someone was having a campfire next door. Then one day I got up early to go fish at a lake called Convict Lake and while I sat there fishing, we had an earthquake and I was just a couple of miles from the very center of it. Imagine enjoying this beautiful world God created with never having to worry about fires, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, droughts, floods, disease, and on and on the list goes. Folks would you not describe such a place as "Heaven"? 2. Here is what the Bible tells us about this. "Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things." 2 Timothy 2:7 (NLT) Here is a great scripture to pray as we enter this series, "Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions." Psalm 119:18 (NLT) I hope the next time you hear someone say, "I can't imagine what Heaven will be like" you will respond "I can". Conclusion A. I have so much more I need to share about Realizing Our Destiny so I am going to take up part two of this message next week. What I want to do today as we close is simply to ask God to help us see the unseen. God gave us the gift of thought and imagination and I want our minds to be sanctified so that we can see as God wants us to see. I want us to see in a way that excites us and inspires us and causes us to hunger for heaven, but more importantly to see the people around us who are not going to enter this place unless they respond to God's gift of love in Jesus Christ. That they need to not just say they want to go to heaven, but they want to live in such a way here and now that when they enter Heaven very little will have to change. Remember as we so often say, "This life is preparation for the next." How well prepared are you to enter Heaven? 9