Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

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

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?”

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.

Others say, “But the secret things belong to the Lord.”

Yes, but read on.

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.”