The Light of Eternity

THE LIGHT OF ETERNITY LESSON ONE

He was a stranger. Lost in the nether-regions of a South American country. He stumbles into a village where he saw everyone, but none saw him.

He was like the villagers in every way. He looked as they looked. He could speak their language.

But, there was one vital difference – he could see and they could not.

In H. G. Wells story, The Country of the Blind, a man with vision happened upon a group of people who had long since lost their vision.

Vision was not valued.

What was no longer valued was forgotten.

What is not used is lost.

I want to speak of this “lost vision” in this series. It’s a vision once held by the early church.

It was held by previous generations who saw beyond; they saw that beyond great triumph and great tragedy, it’s all about Heaven!

“How do you see?”

That was the question of Jesus to the blind man after he prayed for him. That’s the question I ask throughout this series.

And together, we want to open ETERNITY.

For the most part, we will not speculate.

But, we will allow God’s WORD to illuminate our imaginations.

For regardless of how high or fabulous we make ETERNITY for the believer, it pales in comparison to what it truly is.

Colossians 3:1–4 KJV 1900

1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

The Light of Eternity: Eye’s and Heart Fixed on Heaven

Colossians 3:1–4 The Message

1 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. 3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

Colossians 3:1–4 GNB

1 You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right-hand side of God. 2 Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory!

Introduction.

When Marco Polo returned to Italy from the court of Kublai Khan, his eyes had seen a country that few knew. When he tried to describe the world he had seen, his audience had to see it through his eyes – because they themselves may never go there.

Our view into the other world does not come from pop stars or pop psychology. It does not originate in the latest “I’ve been to Heaven” book that hits the bookstore shelves. No, it comes from the only reliable source we have in this matter. God’s Word.

Some who look into God’s Word see supposed reasons why we should not examine our future. They cite Paul’s words that our eyes haven’t seen, our ears haven’t heard, and that our minds can’t conceive all God has prepared for those who love Him (I Cor 2:9). And say, “Why study it?”

1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

If they read on just a bit farther they would also find this phrase, “But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.” The revelation mentioned here is God’s Word.

1 Corinthians 2:10–12 NKJV

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Others say, “But the secret things belong to the Lord.” Yes, but read on.

Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

It says, “But the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” God has chosen to reveal heaven to us. That must mean it belongs to us and to our future generations.

Some say, “But it’s too hard to understand.” They get caught u p in Ezekiel’s vision as he gropes for words and reference points to try to describe what he was seeing. And they say, “It’s easier to stay practical. Let’s stay away from the ethereal.” Oh, but I say the hope of heaven is one of the most practical things we can possess. Scripture calls it an ANCHOR. And for these troubled times, we need an anchor.

Hebrews 6:18–20 (NKJV)

18 that … we, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Finally, a few others quote God’s Word to say, but “God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. As high as the heaven is above the earth…”

Yes, but God’s thoughts are to be meditated upon, studied, appropriated into our daily lives.

When you think God’s thoughts…you see through His eyes. You gain His perspective on things.

You push beyond the veil of self – through the curtain of carnality – And you gain a glimpse of another country….

A forgotten country.

II. Speaking Points.

A. Adopt The Heavenly Gaze

Our text commands us to Set our affections – set our hearts – on things above where the throne of God is. Set your hearts on heaven.

(Skiing in the fog in Switzerland, longing to be back with the group, especially back with my son; overhead voices guided, comfort in knowing there was a ski lift above, although completely invisible.)

We must adopt the reality of what only comes by revelation...

To long for Christ – is to long for heaven.

To lose sight of Heaven is to lose sight of the Lord.

And we are left on our own. Unable to come home.

The Greek Word for “Set your affections on” is ZETEO – which means “man’s general philosophical search or quest.” The same word is used in Luke to describe the “Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” The same word is used for the woman searching for a lost coin, a shepherd looking for a lost sheep, a merchant looking for the pearl of great price – it is a diligent, active, single-minded investigation.

Paul was saying, “Diligently, actively, single-mindedly pursue the things above.”

The tense of the verb zeteo – also means ongoing. Keep seeking heaven. It doesn’t mean think about it at the New Year, church services, or funerals.

It means spend a lifetime seeking heaven. Anticipate it. Prepare for it. Look for it.

A Historical World-tour of contemplation on the afterlife:

The aboriginal people of Australia pictured heaven as a distant island beyond the setting sun.

The early Finns thought it was an island beyond the rising sun.

The peoples in ancient Mexico, Peru and Polynesia believed they journeyed to the sun or the moon after death.

Native Americans believed that in the afterlife their spirits would hunt buffalo in a spiritual hunting ground.

Ancient Babylonians believed they would rest in a place with a tree of life.

Egyptian pyramids were filled with the remains of royalty who believed they would journey to the future world.

The Romans believed they would feast on the Elysian fields. Seneca, the Roman philosopher, said “The day thou fearest as the last is the birthday of eternity.”

And we could go on and on….

Beliefs differ but one thing remains the same… There is something beyond this life.

There is an upward call.

Think about Roman catacombs were early Christians were exhiled:

Places where the bodies of martyred Christians were buried. Inscriptions on those tombs read like this….

“In Christ, [here lies] Alexander who is not dead, but lives. One who lives with God. He was taken up into his eternal home.”

Pictures on the catacomb walls portray Heaven with beautiful landscapes, children playing and people feasting….

In AD 125 at the height of Roman persecution, 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.”

--Aristides, AD 125

“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.”

—The Martyr Cyprian, Third Century

Paul agreed with that. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I desire to depart and be with Christ which is better by far.

As long as we are at home in this body we are away from the Lord. We prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

The writer of Hebrews adds: Heaven is a far better country.

Hebrews 11:15–16 NKJV

15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

That sounds foreign to us today. Christians don’t talk about a future home. We talk of this world as if its our home.

We speak of successful techniques for living abundantly – but we are silent on living eternally.

The moment matters – not the eternal.

B/ Heaven Is The Forgotten Country.

For this reason the apostle Paul adds in our text: “Set your affections on things above and not on things on this earth.”

We have forgotten about heaven.

From John Calvin onward, Christianity turned its back on Heaven.

In his lengthy Institutes, Calvin devotes little time to the subject of Heaven.

In Niebhur’s Nature and Destiny of Man, he says nothing about Heaven.

In Shedd’s 3 volume Systematic Theology, 87 pages can be found about eternal punishment. 2 pages can be found on Heaven.

In his 900 page book, Great Doctrines of The Bible, Lloyd-Jones devotes less than 2 pages on Heaven.

Berkhof’s classic Systematic Theology gives 38 pages to Creation, 40 pages to baptism, but only 1 page on Heaven…page 737. The soul of man lives shortly on this earth, but eternally somewhere. But, only page 737 talks about it.

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. The certainty of judgment, the longing for heaven, the dread of hell: these are not prominent considerations in our modern discourse about the important matters of life. But they once were.”

J. Conyers, The Eclipse of Heaven

We have forgotten about heaven. Why?

First, we misunderstand heaven. John Eldredge said in his book, “The Journey of Desire,” “Nearly every Christian I have spoken with has idea that eternity is an unending church service. We have settled on an image of the never-ending-sing-along in the sky. And our heart sinks. 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.”

In his Far Side comic strip, Gary larson shows a a man with a halo and angels wings sitting on a cloud doing nothing. He looks forlorn. The caption reads, “Wish I’d brought a magazine.”

Mark Twain describes Miss Watson telling Huck Finn about what heaven was going to be like. “She said all a body would have to do there was go around all day long with a harp and sing….So I didn’t think much of it.”

Didn’t think much of it. Yes, that’s a reason people forget about heaven. It doesn’t appeal to them.

But, what would people think if they knew that we would live in a resurrected body that would never die…that could eat…that could walk and talk..that could travel through a new heaven and a new earth at will. Yes, that appeals….

We misunderstand our lives. We adopt an epicurean philosophy of eat, drink, be merry for tomorrow we die.

We don’t recall that God breathed into us His breath of life. And like it or not, we are eternal beings.

The flesh – is like a tent that will be folded up and put away. But, that God-breathed part lives forever.

The most important reason, however is that we are in love with this world.

Our faith is weak. We hold to what we can see, touch, and hold. We cling to this world.

We value it.

We hold it precious.

But, as surely as the flood destroyed the earth – and only the ark survived… As surely as fire destroyed the cities of the plain – and only Lot survived.

This world will not soon be with us any longer.

II Peter 3:11-14

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12 Looking for and hastinga unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Not as Lot’s wife – who looked back.

Not as the inlaws of Moses’ sons who refused to get on the ark.

In the story the COUNTRY OF THE BLIND, the man who happened upon a village filled with people who could once see but did no longer, he could have turned and left the village at any time. There were no visible chains, but there soon came some invisible ones.

He fell in love with a woman in the village. Hour after hour, day after day he spent with her. Finally he came to the place that he loved her so much that he never wanted to leave.

To stay meant he would lose his vision. His eyes would be removed. He would forever be in darkness.

It is a love issue. It’s who you love.

I John 2:15-17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

C/Choose Heaven!

We hope to make heaven so real to you in this series that you will choose Heaven. That you will choose the world to come over this present world.

It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven…to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our

proper end and true happiness?

--Jonathan Edwards, Puritan Preacher

This was not the product of a man closer to grave than the cradle. It was a lifelong quest with Edwards. As a young man he resolved that he would “endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can.”

The other world.

Seek happiness in the Lord. Seek bliss in heavenly places.

It’s a side affect of preaching heaven. Some people get depressed.

They don’t want to think about heaven. They cling to this life as if it is all there is.

Philip of Macedonia – the father of Alexander the Great – had a man who did nothing all day but stand before him and remind him that this world was not his home. That one day he would die.

Contrast that with Louis XIV who lived in the Versailles palace. He would not allow anyone to speak of death. He had a chapel in the palace and preachers were never allowed to mention the word death….

Oh, my first breath in Heaven will be the life for which I was born….

As Christian, in the Pilgrim's Progress drew near to the Heavenly City, he saw the gates opened to receive others. "I looked in after them," he says, "and, behold, the city shone like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold, and in them walked many who had crowns on their heads and palms in their hands and golden harps to sing praises withal. There were some that had wings, and they answered one another without intermission, saying 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!' And after that they shut up the gates; which, when I had seen, I wished myself among them."

But, it will take more than wishing…

We must make our calling and election sure….. We must LAY HOLD on those heavenly things….

But, preacher, I’m focusing on winning the world.

C. S. Lewis noted that the Christians who did most for the present world were those who though most of the next. The reason modern Christians have been so ineffective in this present world is because they have lost sight of the world that is to come. “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you will get neither.”

AIM for Heaven…. III/CLOSE

In 1952, young Florence Chadwick stepped into the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island determined to swim to the shore of mainland California. She had already mastered the English Channel both ways.

The weather was foggy and chilly. She could barely see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam for 15 hours.

Finally, she stopped and begged to be taken out of the water.

Her mother came up in a boat alongside and said, “Florence. You are very

close. You are very very close to making it. You can do this.”

But, Florence gave up. She was pulled out of the water. Within a few hundred yards from shore.

At the conference the next day, she gave her reason for giving up: “All I could see was the fog….I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”

That’s what we’re trying to do. We want you to see the shore

For the final stretch – if we can help clear the fog.

If we can show you that what you think is real – is nothing but mist. What you cannot see is what you’re living for.

We want to help you remember the forgotten country. Set your affections on Heaven.

And when Jesus comes – you will be with him in glory.