We
noted in our study last time – Jesus gave his disciples some troubling News /
Betrayal/ All forsake / Peter deny / Leaving – they couldn’t come
A)Hearts were visibly troubled – Then he looked at
them and said – Let not your hearts be troubled ……..
14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also
B) Jesus was saying The Cure for their troubled
hearts was heaven – Last time We talked about our need to keep heaven in view –
1)Also why heaven can seem so dim
C) But there are those who might ask – Is heaven
really going to be that great – the Bible seems a bit vague –
1)
Eating
/ feasting – Movies clouds and harps – what is going to be so great about
heaven ?
Tonight
– Begin looking at 9 reasons why we should want to go to heaven & why we
should be living for heaven 3 tonight – rest tomorrow
A)Reason#1 – Because Jesus is there and we will see
Him in his glory
Turn to Rev. 1:13-16
B) 1st John sees
Jesus wearing this Long flowing Robe – This Robe speaks
of His MAJESTY & GREATNESS
6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six
wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two
he flew.
3
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy
is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
C) Now as a Pastor I have conducted quite a few
weddings & I have seen some good size Trains on a Wedding Dress
1)
But
Never one that filled the Sanctuary
D)John & Isa. See the Lord – in this Long
flowing robe – Isa. Said His train filled the temple –
1)
Where
ever He went – His
glory was Felt / Majesty was seen
3rd HIS EYES WERE A FLAME OF FIRE
A) Eyes that are piercing and penetrating
Heb.4: 13 And there is no
creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes
of Him to whom we must give account.
1)
But eyes that could also be as warm & inviting
as a fire on a beach on a cold winter night
A) This suggest an image of Strength – He is able to w/ stand the fiery
furnace
B) Jesus w/ stood the fires of hell so that you & I could stand in
heaven w/ Him
1) He
w/ stood the fiery trials of this Life / so that we could walk thru them
leaning on Him !!!
C)
Remember - Shad. Meschech / Abendego- in the fire - …..
4th one in the Furnace who Looks like the Son
of God
1) They came out not a hair on their heads was even singed
Speaks of His voice being a Consuming Voice
A) This isn’t the sound of a little stream – this is the sound of raging River this is a Niagara Falls Kind of sound
B)
If
you have ever been to Niagara falls – or some similar body of water – rushing –
Consuming – All you hear
1) Talk – Hey what do you think of the FALLS ? It is
great !!!!!
Psa.29:
3 The voice of the LORD is over the
waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice
of the LORD is full of majesty.
A)His word is
Powerful & Strong it was a means for battling the enemy !!!!
6th His
Countenance was Like the Sun Shinning in all It’s Strength
A)
This speaks of His Glory
& Brilliance
B) Paul recounting His Conversion to Agrippa
Acts 26: 13 "at midday, O king,
along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter
than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
1) Moses face shinning /
Angels can’t Look
So we
put all of this together to see Our First Motivation for Wanting to go to
Heaven & Live for Heaven – We will see Jesus{ Be Like Him
2nd
Reason: We are going to be rewarded – Crowns from the Lord
A)Never won the race at the track meet – never won
the spelling bee / you didn’t win the beauty contest or the talent show / Chili
cook off
B) Your little sister beats you at Checkers { A-1
loser } Hands
C) Listen you will stand in the winners circle in
heaven
1)
Your
day is coming – what the world has over looked { Your father in heaven has seen
D) What the world has forgotten Your father in
heaven has remembered
Heb 6:10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love
which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the
saints, and do minister.
E) He doesn’t forget and He is going to reward you – What was done in Secret shall be rewarded openly
In 1 Cor 4:5 Paul puts it
this way: 5 Therefore do not go on passing
judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to
light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's
hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.
A)This is awesome to me – that when it comes to giving Praise & honor and Recognition – God doesn’t delegate the Job
B) Pres Bush might Send VP Cheney or Colin Powel or
one of his aids to congratulate someone on a great achievement –
1)
But
God doesn’t send an Angel / Doesn’t send Gabriel { He doesn’t have an angelic
spokes person
C) No according to Paul – God Himself is going to
praise His Children
1)
Jesus
will say – Well done .. Good & faithful
servant – enter into rest
Another
thing to note is that the Praise is personal Paul says God will praise each one
A)Not Praise the team / Jr High VP 4th
Place –
B) God is going to honor each one / Crown is going
to be given to each one – What kind of Crowns –
1)
The
Bible mentions 3
1st is
the Crown of righteousness = Righteousness put simply means Rightness w/ God
A)Now some might wonder – How does this crown of
righteousness differ from the Righteousness that a Christian has now w/ God
B) We have been declared righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ – but the
Righteousness we enjoy now is Positional { God sees me in JC
1)
It
is By Faith in Christ – and it is thru faith that I believe that is the way God
sees me – Sees me in His Son
C) But that is not the way I see myself – { Get up
& look in the mirror{ You are RIGHTEOUS – no You are Ugly
1)
God
says that I am righteous – but I sure don’t’ feel righteous
A)I have bad thoughts / I am insensitive / I get
angry / Impatient
B) Everyday I thank the Lord that He sees me in His
Son – righteous
1)
When
I get to heaven – Crown is given to me – then I will see myself as
righteous
C) I will see myself the way the Lord see me – I
will be Righteous not just Positionally but
Practically
1)
See
in heaven there will be no more sin
Imagine a world
where there is no Sin – No grumbling / complaining / no worry/ No Lies / No
Guilt from sin / No Shame / Bitterness
A) All of those things will be missing in heaven-No
crime / No war / no Strife / No gossip/ No drugs / No babies w/out daddies {
result of sin
B) But those things will be missing in heaven – we will
be people perfectly righteous living in a righteous environment
C) Notice who this crown is for - those who love his appearing { Those who
will be excited to see him
1)
Those
who are excited to see him come back –
D) Vista – Rec – Prize for everything – Just Show up
/ Shoes on the right feet –{ any effort –
1)
The
Lord says – just be glad I am coming again
2nd
Crown is the Crown of Life James 1:12-13
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
A)Listen heaven is going to be wonderful not only
because or what is there – but also because of what is not there!
B.) No more sin – but also – no more tears, sadness,
pain. Big one – no more death!
1)in this life we experience all of those things –
because we are frail - dust not steel
C.) This
life is not crowned with life – but with death
1.) but the next life is different -
D.) Death is
missing – no aging – no time – crowned with life
1.) we experience the ultimate in living
So Crown of Righteousness / Crown of Life -
3rd: Crown of Glory - 1 Peter 5:4 Crown for
those faithful in ministry to love & feed the Flock of God - 1
Thess 2:19-20
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is
it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 20 For
you are our glory and joy.
Crown of seeing all the lives we influenced for the
Lord – many we never knew about!
A.)In the story of Oscar
Schindler – a member of the German Party who had compassion for the Jews
of Krakow Poland
B.)The ones Hitler sought to kill, Schindler sought
to saves
1.) but he
couldn’t save them all – so he did what he could – saved a few – movie Schindler List – saw edited version on a
plane
C.)In the movie – war is over – now the roles will
be reversed – Schindler will be hunted
As Schindler
prepares to slip off into the night – He walks to his car – his factory workers
line both sides of the street
A.)They have come to thank the man who saved
them. One of the Jews presents
Schindler with a card signed by each person documenting his deed
B.) He is
also given a ring, formed out of solid extracted from a workers tooth
1.)on
it is carved a verse from the Talmud
“He who saves a single life
– saves the world entire”
C.)On that memorable night, Schindler is surrounded
by those he helped set free! He stares
into the faces of husbands and wives – parents and children
D.) I wonder
what he was thinking – what was going through his mind
1.) what emotions surface in the heart when
someone finds
themselves face to face with lives they have helped change
2.) you will find
out – lives you have impacted for God’s glory
A)1 Peter 1:8 Talking about the Joy of heaven & seeing the Lord he described it as a Joy that is inexpressible & full of Glory
B)
Psalm 16:11 In his Presence is fullness of Joy
1) Joy is different from Happiness / Happiness is based
on Happenings – What is Happening –
C)
Joy is an inner Peace
/ A Satisfaction/ A Fulfillment
1) I can experience
Happiness in a situation but be lacking in Joy – because although the situation
worked out of me{ Still not Fulfilled / Fully Satisfied
D)
I can get the raise /
therefore I am happy – But I am not experiencing Joy because something is still
lacking in my heart
1) Something the raise / the new House / the Car / the
wife / the Hubby / the ministry cannot fully fulfill
Joy:
That true & lasting Fulfillment comes only from Living in a Relationship w/
the Lord
A)But even in that – it is not complete on earth because we know that it is going to be better in Heaven
B)This earth is as bad
as it gets for us – all upward & Onward from here
1) But in heaven we are going to experience a fullness
of Joy
C)
Joy that is
inexpressible & full of Glory – A joy that is beyond our Human Capacities
to Comprehend & enjoy
A)1st
The Bible describes Hell as a place of
torment ! We get this picture
displayed for us in Luke Ch. 16 story of Lazarus & the rich man
B)
The
rich man finds himself in hell before an eternal fire ! It was so hot there
that he longed for one drop of water for his tongue
1) in hopes of finding some
relief for the anguish he was in !
C) I read this article from a
Christian who was in NY On September 11th
But there is one thing
that is hard to fathom in the World Trade Center attack. After the planes hit
the towers in New York the people in the floors above the fire where trapped.
I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of people jumping out of the upper floors to
escape the fire and smoke. The thing that really shakes me up about this is the
height from which they jumped. I’ve been to the top floor of the World Trade
Center, and I’m not afraid of heights, but it made me feel weak in the knees
when I went up to window and looked down. I can’t imagine anyone jumping from
such heights but the alternative was burning to death. Jesus describes hell as
a place where people burn but never burn up.
Mark 9:48 where "`their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched.’
D) There is burning but you don’t Burn up – Described else where as a place of intense Torment
E) The word used for torment
means : a place of pain, anguish,
suffering & agony / Place of suffering & agony - sounds
serious !
F) Doesn’t sound like he is
playing cards w/ his buddies does it !
But so often that is how we hear those in the world talking about Hell
1) Yea I’ll go to
hell - skiing on the Lake of fire w/ my buddies / we will open a few cold ones
/ going to be one big party !
2nd thing the Bible teaches us about Hell is it
is a place of full memory use !
A)Lk 16:25 –
the rich man is told - remember that in your
lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but
now he is comforted and you are tormented.
B) In other words it
is a place where you are going to be able to remember what your life was like
here ! Parties / selfishness/ everything
C) In fact scripture seems to
imply that you are going to back on your life here & be reminded of every
opportunity you had to receive Christ !
Gift / & refused !
1) Those people will throughout
eternity be thinking I don’t have to be
here I should have listened !
D) The rich man wanted so badly
to go back & tell his family not to make the same mistake that he did –
1)
He
was told it wouldn’t matter – they wouldn’t listen – even if one rose from the
dead – not long after that another Laz was raised
E) The Jews didn’t listen but
instead wanted to kill him to destroy the evidence
1) The greatest prayer meeting in existence is
probably happening in hell tonight -
Lord let me warn my Family
F) if you are here today &
you haven’t received Christ / been wrestling w/ that decision / stop / respond
today !
1)
Families
members who were saved & have died – would say – You don’t want to miss
this –
G) Those not saved – say You don’t want to end up
here
3rd thing the Bible tells us about Hell is it
will be a place of weeping & gnashing of teeth ! Matt 13:50
A) Gnashing that is a great
word ! Thought of it hurts ! What mean ? Webster defines gnashing as when our
teeth meet our teeth & there is constant grinding
B) Boy That sounds good !
/ But I understand this / In this place
of constant memory / looking back on every chance you had to receive JC &
didn’t
C)Filled w/ anguish - weeping / and Anger at
yourself - Gnashing your teeth thinking I
don’t have to be here if I would have just listened !
4th thing about How / we are told in the book of
Rev. Hell is a place of burning sulfur ! Ever smell sulfur ? Rev. 9:17
Brimstone – sulfur smell
A) Webster says concerning
sulfur that when it burns it has a stifling odor !
B) Stifling is too nice of a word ! Sulfur smells like rotten eggs !
1) So Hell is going to be this
place of incredible torment / before an eternal fire
C) It is going to stink like
rotten eggs / constant weeping & gnashing of teeth
5th thing A place of outer Darkness ! Matt 8:12
A) Now I’m not sure how the Lord
is going to do this / where there will be an eternal fire / outer darkness /
B)Outer darkness speaks of being very dark !
1) Some of those rides at
Disneyland / can’t see hand in front of face !
C) So Picture this : Hell is this place of intense
heat tormenting heat / so hot a person is longing for just one drop of water
1) Place that is completely
dark where you can’t see anything but you hear constant screaming weeping &
gnashing of teeth !
C) Man I am glad that I am not
going there ! If I wasn’t saved I sure wouldn’t want to go there !
But there are
those who say – You Know I understand what you are saying Pastor – But it just
seems so far away{ Living for the moment
Suppose
you’re waiting to board a flight to Hawaii , & the pilot walks in, saying,
‘You are going to have the flight of your life.
Smooth sailing all the way!
I
guarantee we won’t hit one pocket of turbulence. You will have quadraphonic
earphones, an Epicurean experience with a seven-course meal, your choice of
first-run movies. There’s only one problem: we haven’t figured out how to land.
We’ve tried it a
thousand times, and everybody dies — but while you’re in the air, I promise
your flight will be smooth and your experience fulfilling.’
Well At this point, a
second pilot enters the boarding area, saying, ‘I can’t promise smooth sailing.
In fact, from here to
Hawaii you’ll no doubt hit some bumps
and some turbelence However, we have a
perfect landing record We haven’t lost a plane yet/ we will get you to your destination safely. Guaranteed.’
Which plane would you board?
A)You would be foolish to Board the first Plane – But
some are doing that today – saying – we want smooth sailing Now
B) I worry about
The Future Later – I am not concerned about the fiery crash – that is coming –
I am just enjoying the ride now
1) Listen this life is short – it is like a 3 hr plane
ride in comparison to what eternity is going to be like
C) Tormented forever – {
3 hrs of pleasure 3 hrs of smooth sailing – Eternity of Pain
The Oakland-Berkeley
fire consumed million-dollar homes, leaving nothing. ‘I not only lost my house,
I lost everything,’ said an elderly man to a reporter. ‘My life’s savings were
in cash which I kept in my home. My wife and I were very careful all of our
years to save our money. We were saving for
a rainy day, never counting on a fiery night.’