Why I believe...heaven and hell
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Everything we have studied so far in this series is leading up to this.
If resurrection isn’t real, then our whole faith is worthless. We serve a risen savior
If the Bible is false, how can we know anything is real. What is absolute truth?
The Bible tells us of heaven and hell. If it’s true, the afterlife MUST be true.
Have you thought much about what happens after you die?
Maybe not…it’s kind of super depressing
Maybe youve seen movies of what happens after you die
Maybe you’ve seen soul. I haven’t seen it. I doubt it tells the truth about what happens
What about coco?
I have seen coco…that Doesn’t really paint an encouraging picture of the afterlife
What about heaven is for real? Could you think of a worse torture than God allowing you into heaven and sending you back to earth? God would never do that…ever!
The afterlife is something many people think about, wonder, and worry about.
Most people have a wrong view or a super depressing view
However in the Bible, i think we get the clearest view of what heaven will be like. And also what hell will be like
In the Bible we see glimpses of Heaven…and it is magnificent, undeniably beautiful, and perhaps too much for words to describe
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 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. And you know the way to where I am going.”
having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
No doubt heaven will be an incredible place, but God’s majesty, beauty, sovereignty, power will be the best thing about heaven.
We are running for that, and not for these other things
unfortunately, we also get vivid pictures of hell in the Bible
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
This dichotomy of two incredibly different places leads to many questions, some concerns, but if we can believe in what the Bible says, it will ultimately lead to great hope!
How can we know the afterlife is true, let’s look at some evidence besides what the Bible says
Justice/God’s beauty
Justice/God’s beauty
Theodicy=a vindication of the attributes of God in spite of evil within the world.
The age-old question *How can a loving God send people to hell*
There are a lot of false answers we see when trying to wrestle with this difficult question
Theological liberalism- They try to make a new god. One that would fit their own ideas, values, morals, etc. This god is not the god of the Bible, but rather crafted from their own insecurities.
Process Theologians- They would argue that evil, and sin would mean that God is imperfect. His power must be limited in some way. He is unable to deal with the problems in this world. They would say he in the process—getting better as He gets more information.
Open Theism— this would postulate that the future can’t be known by GOd. THeir god would guess possible outcomes, wait to see what occurs, and then react accordingly.
These all deal with man centeredness and how their view of God cannot offend what they think to be right and good. It’s idolatry of themselves.
4. Metaphysical Theodicy— Good exists so evil must exist.
Every yin must have its yang
They would say good and evil have always existed
This simply cannot be true
Evil is not an eternal reality
It did not exist until God’s creatures rebelled against their creator
Also, evil will be overthrown in the end
5. Autonomous Theodicy— We have autonomy to choose (Partially true)
This doesn’t solve the problem with theodicy—that God still created us to choose knowing that we would sin
The answer is justice and God’s beauty
We serve a God who is totally free from sin
We serve a God who cannot be in the presence of sin
His justice demands punishment (just like our courts)
We see all of these ideas would fall short in some way.
No answer really seems adequate enough until you see how God is trying to show himself in light of these evils
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
- “God determined to demonstrate for Himself.” God demonstrates His attributes for the sake of His own glory.
- Without sin, God’s wrath would never be on display.
- Without sinners to redeem, God’s grace would never be on display.
- Without evil to punish, God’s justice would never be on display.
- And He has every right to put Himself everlastingly on display in all the glory of all His attributes.
Meaning
Meaning
Everyone is trying to find meaning in something
Job, relationships, money, power, fame, video games, etc.
We have this inherit desire for something more.
This includes the afterlife
What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
-Live it up while you’re alive, because this is all there is.
- Your entire life, all of your successes and failures, ultimately mean nothing.
Desire
Desire
CS Lewis makes an argument for Desire
Humans experience hunger and thirst—satisfy by eating
What about our deepest desires for something the world cannot satisfy?
Lewis thinks this is evidence that we were made for another world
This world is temporary, we are temporary, and we feel incomplete
Only if there is another life can we fulfill our deepest longings and desires
Afterlife according to the Bible
Afterlife according to the Bible
Movie Flatliners where 4 medstudents kept flatlining eachother to see what happened after death.
This is stupid to do, but many people are wondering what happens after death
This is why those books, movies have been peddled so hard in our world today
Books like heaven is for real
90 minutes in heaven
23 minutes in hell
my time in heaven
A journey to hell, heaven, and back
Dying to meet Jesus
I will see you in heaven
etc.
These books propagate a false view of heaven and hell
None of these are true
They are hallucinations, false memories, demonic deception, or at the very worse lies.
For anyone who truly believes the biblical record, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that these modern testimonies — with their relentless self-focus and the relatively scant attention they pay to the glory of God — are simply untrue
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
You may be thinking “if no one has ascended how do we get biblical passages we referenced earlier”
God gave dreams to 4 individuals (Ezekiel, Isaiah, Paul, John) about heaven
In al of these dreams we don’t see continued references to angels who have wings or the pearly gates.
Rather we see men who were so awe-inspred by God’s presence and His glory that they were quiet, awefilled, fearful even
These visions were not near death experiences, but rather divine visions given by God that focused on God’s glory. Not Heaven’s good
The resurrection of Jesus tells us that there is an afterlife. But according to the Bible, what specifically happens when we die?
Consciousness
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
When we die, we don’t go into a soul sleep
We don’t become one with the universe
We are conscious of where we are. Either heaven or hell
We are going to be concious of the fact of God’s glory surrounding us
His power consuming us
It’s going to be overwhelming
2. Judgment
When we die we’re going to be judged
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
If you have lived in sin, you will be judged by God and your sentence has already been made
- Those who place their faith in Christ will gain eternal life because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
3. Eternal life or death
Those who put their faith in God will receive eternal life. Those who put their faith in themselves will receive eternal death
Matthew 25:34, 41, 46
English Standard Version Chapter 25
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
English Standard Version Chapter 25
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
English Standard Version Chapter 25
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
Application
Application
Focus on what matters
Life is short…eternity is long. Which matters most to you
What are you focusing on more. Where are you stroing up treasures
Share your faith
Go and make disciples of all nations
If you didn’t know the truth, wouldn’t you want to know?
Stand strong For what is right
Christians have suffered throughout histroy
It is coming again
CHristians before were killed for what they beleived in
Are we willing to stand up to anyone for what we believe in?
What’s the worst they can do to us
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.