“Heaven” – Part 3 – Matthew 25:31-46

You know what bugs me?  You know what drives me crazy?  Railroad crossing arms.  You know how it is.  You’re driving along, minding your own business when you come up to a railroad and the crossing arms are down and the lights are flashing and a bell is ringing.  Sometimes there is even a train going by but I can’t go where I want to go because those stupid arms are blocking my way.  Who does the railroad think they are to keep me from going where I want to go, when I want to go?  I’m a licensed driver and I deserve to be able to drive where and when I want to!  Don’t you agree?  No?  Why not?

Those crossing arms are there for a warning, aren’t they?  They are protecting me from being hit by a train and that would sure ruin my day, wouldn’t it?  In fact, if those crossing arms weren’t there, life would be a lot more dangerous, wouldn’t it?  I’m amazed at some of the warning labels I see sometimes.  Everything has a warning label on it.  I saw this one the other day on a child’s sweater.  It says, “Wash in cold water.  Remove child from sweater first.”  I really thought they should have put the second sentence first but what do I know?

Why do we have warning labels and crossing arms and lights and sirens and signs that say, “Stay Out”?  It’s for our protection, isn’t it?  Do you know that the Bible has some warning signs in it?  As we continue our look at what Heaven is like, we have come to an intriguing passage in the Gospel of Matthew that tells us something about Heaven but it also encourages us and gives a warning.  Turn to Matthew 25:31-46. 

We talked last week about the Rapture and what we can expect on that day.  What is the Rapture?  What is the difference in the Rapture and the Second Coming?  In simple terms, the rapture is when we, as Christians, meet Jesus in the air.  He will come back for us but He will not come all the way back to earth.  At the Second Coming, Jesus, along with all the angels and all of us that are with Him in Heaven, will come back to earth after the Tribulation.  That’s the simple difference.

Now, my goal in this sermon series is to see what Heaven is like and what we can expect to find and do and see.  My goal does not include a thorough study of eschatology which is the study of end times.  We did that a while back and we saw what happens when and what happens to unbelievers and so we are just focusing on Heaven for a few weeks so don’t get bogged down in too many details about the stuff that won’t affect us as believers.

But the Second Coming will affect us in that we will be there as Jesus leads us from Heaven back to earth for what is called the Millennium which happens right after the Tribulation.  Make sense so far?  Good.  So, here’s the timeline and a set-up for the passage we are about to read.  The rapture could happen at any second.  All true believers will go to the present Heaven while the Tribulation goes on here on earth.  Then after seven years, Jesus will lead us back to earth at the Second Coming.  That’s what is happening in our passage in Matthew 25:31-46.  Let’s read that now. 

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'LORD, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' ⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' ⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'LORD, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' ⁴⁵"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' ⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Last week I mentioned that there are two ways to get to Heaven, either through death or the Rapture, but either way, there is only one ticket and that is by grace and through faith in Jesus.  There is only one ticket but did you know that ticket is a round-trip ticket?  Yep, we are coming back to earth and that is what this passage is talking about.  But why are we coming back to earth with Jesus?  So He can dole out judgment.

I recently read the story of a woman who walked into a Haagen-Dazs ice cream store in Kansas City.  After she made her selection and received her ice cream cone, she turned around and suddenly found herself face-to-face with the legendary actor Paul Newman.  He smiled and said hello to her, but she froze up and was unable to speak.  The woman finally managed to pay for her ice cream cone, and she left the store with her heart pounding and feeling embarrassed at being unable to speak.

After she regained her composure, she realized that she didn’t have her ice cream cone, so she went back to the Haagen-Dazs store.  As she opened the door, Paul Newman was walking out, and he asked her, “Were you looking for your ice cream cone?”  Still unable to speak, she just nodded her head yes.  He smiled at her and said, “I happened to notice that you put your cone in your purse along with your change.” (Jeff Lasseigne, Unlocking the Last Days, page 74)

Now, can you imagine the look on people’s faces when this day comes and they look up and see Jesus?  Every nation on earth, every city, every family, every person on earth from the youngest to the oldest; every unsaved church member, every atheist, every agnostic, the kings and presidents, the smug and secure congressmen, the filthy singers and entertainers; every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.  But I think at this moment when they all look up and each one recognizes Jesus coming with His bride and the angels; I think the first word that comes to mind is probably going to be… “Uh-oh!”

“Uh-oh, we have made a big mistake!”  But it’s going to be too late.  Jesus will start separating the sheep and the goats, the believers from the unbelievers, those whose names are written in the Book and those whose names are absent.  He will judge right then and there with heavenly, holy and righteous judgment and He will start with the believers.

In the ancient Middle East, as in much of that land still today, sheep and goats were often herded together during the day.  At night, they would usually be separated because they didn’t get along in close quarters because the sheep are pretty much gentle and docile and the goats are rambunctious and unruly.  Similarly, when Jesus comes back, He will separate the believers from the unbelievers by putting the believers on the right and the others on the left.  This, too, is symbolic because the right side has always been a symbol of favor and blessing and the left side of disfavor and rejection.

Now, look at verse 34 again. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  Have you ever inherited anything?  Maybe when your parents passed or some other family member passed, you inherited something from them.  It might have been money.  It might have been bills.  It might be a good name or a bad name but when Jesus tells us to take our inheritance, what do you think it means?

In 1 Peter 1, Peter says our inheritance is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away and reserved in Heaven for you and ready to be revealed in the last time.  That sounds pretty good, right?  It’s kind of vague but sounds nice.  I’m looking forward to it just because Jesus says it’s going to be great and we know that ultimately the inheritance is Heaven.  We will see in more detail in the next few weeks about what that means but here Jesus says that it is the kingdom that has been prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Now, it’s as if Jesus anticipated the argument that we are saved by doing good works instead of by grace and through faith because before He mentions the good works, He stresses that this inheritance is not for doing these good works but was determined at creation.  We do not get there by our good deeds but because we are blessed by the Father.  Typically, a child doesn’t earn an inheritance but receives it on the basis of being in the family.  In exactly the same way, a believer does not earn his way into the Kingdom of God but receives it as his rightful inheritance as a child of God and a fellow heir with Jesus.  (MacArthur Commentary, page 122)

It’s the amount, the size and the prestige of the inheritance that is affected by the good deeds.  I have mentioned before that not everybody’s Heaven is going to be the same.  All believers get to go to Heaven but some people are going to have better experiences – eternally better experiences – than others.  Jesus lists six areas of need.  Do you want to have some idea of your rewards in Heaven?  Do you want some idea of how big your part of the inheritance is going to be?  Then how well do you do in ministering to those with these needs?

Hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and in prison.  You know, I wish I knew of a place that really specialized in ministering to those kinds of people.  I wish I knew where I could go to be part of that kind of ministry because that is how we store up our treasures in Heaven and I don’t have a lot to give but I want my time, talent and treasure to be invested in something that will last forever.  Does anybody know where I can go to find that?

What?  Christ Fellowship?  Why, isn’t that the place that is called to minister to the poor, the addicted and the incarcerated?  Isn’t that the place that the guy in jail once told me is the place that “really cares for people”?  That’s the place that has a food pantry that gets used every week and a long list of inmates that would love an encouraging note.  It’s a church in a community that has lots of people who need a ride to church or to the doctor or to the store.

Now, I know that Christ Fellowship isn’t for everybody.  No church is perfect for everybody. But I believe that one of the reasons that this church stays small is that so many people want to just go to church and blend in to the wallpaper and not have to do anything and not be noticed and be able to get a little pick-me-up on Sunday morning and not show up but once a month and nobody will notice.  That’s not us and I don’t make any apologies for that.

But if you want a place where you can store up real treasures in Heaven; if you want a place where you can serve and make a difference for eternity by ministering to who Jesus called the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick and in prison and who we call the poor, the addicted and the incarcerated, then Christ fellowship is the place to be.

I Corinthians 3:12-15 says God will test our good works by fire.  ^12”If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. ¹⁴If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved-even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

So, if you want to just barely squeak into Heaven with clothes that smell like smoke, then that is your eternal choice, but if you want to really be blessed for all of eternity, then Christ Fellowship is a good place to be a member and a good place to volunteer and serve.  I will quote Ephesians 2:8-9 again.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Good works do not get us to Heaven.  The Bible makes that clear.  But it also makes clear that the evidence for assurance of true salvation is not found in a past moment of decision but in a continuous pattern of righteous behavior. (John MacArthur)

I’ll tell you what fascinates me about this passage.  First off, Jesus calls us “righteous” in verse 37 but then He goes on to list a bunch of common, everyday needs that have been met.  He doesn’t say, “Because you donated the money for the hospital to add on a new surgical wing…” or “because you and Billy Graham led thousands of people to Christ…”  No.  It’s because you had compassion on people who would never be able to pay you back and because you did it without telling anybody else and because you got no earthly glory or reward for it that you will get an eternal reward and eternal glory from Jesus Himself.

I think that is awesome news and a really good deal for us as believers.  But here’s the bad news.  Here’s the warning, the flashing lights and sirens that I told you about.  Look at verses 41 and 45-46.  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' ⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Jesus will turn to the masses on His left and tell them that time is up.  It’s too late.  You had your chance and we know that Jesus doesn’t want any to perish as it says in 2 Peter 3 but He is talking to those who refused to truly believe in Him and trust in Him.  Some of these may very well have been doing these good works that He is talking about.  This isn’t punishment for not doing good works any more than we are saved by doing them.

I’m sure this is painful for Jesus to have to say.  It’s painful for me to say but I have to preach the whole council of God and I wouldn’t be a good shepherd if I didn’t warn the goats along with the sheep about the danger that lies ahead.  Hell is a real place just like Heaven is a real place.  Jesus describes Hell as eternal fire.  It is eternal separation from God.  It is being eternally without His goodness, love, wisdom, patience and forgiveness.

I’m not a “hell-fire and brimstone” kinda preacher but truth is truth and I know that just like the righteous will be amazed at the Lord’s words about Heaven, the unbelievers will be shockingly amazed as well at His words about their eternity. 

Again, just like Jesus rewards the common, everyday good deeds, there is punishment for not doing them.  He doesn’t say, “All you mass murderers, rapists and bank robbers are going to Hell.”  Just like earlier in this chapter the five foolish virgins who had no oil for their lamps were shut out of the wedding feast, not because they were horrible people but because they were unprepared for the Bridegroom.  The reason people go to Hell is not for being bad people, but because of their lack of faith in Jesus as being the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one gets to the Father but through Him.

Heaven is going to be greater than we can ever imagine and Hell is going to be worse than we can ever imagine but you make the choice here in this life and you may not have another day.  Maybe today you feel Jesus drawing you to Himself.  You don’t have to understand everything.  Nobody does.  All you have to understand is that you are a sinner.  Romans 3:23 says we are all sinners.  Romans 6:23 says because we are sinners we deserve eternity in Hell.  All sin will be punished.  Either you suffer the punishment or you accept the punishment Jesus endured on the cross for you.  Make the decision today.

Heaven – Part 2 – 1 Thess. 4:13-18

“It doesn’t get any better than this!”  Have you ever thought or even said those words?  Maybe you were with family or friends.  Maybe in the city or in nature or maybe you were sitting at the dinner table at my Mama’s house.  I would sure believe that!  Maybe it was some chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and gravy.  That’s pretty good right there.

Not long ago, I went with my two sisters and their husbands down to Port Aransas.  We rented a little place not far from the beach and we spent the days swimming and laying on the beach and eating good seafood.  It was so relaxing just watching the waves roll in.  Then in the evenings after dinner we would go back to the hotel and play board games or card games and we would give each other prizes for no good reason and every night we would end up laughing so hard at something or another.  You know, it was the kind of laughter where you can’t breathe and your side hurts and your head hurts and your saying, “Stop it.  Stop it.”

The older I get, the more I enjoy spending time with family and friends just doing nothing but laughing and joking and visiting.  That’s about as good as it gets with me right there.  We don’t have to be spending money.  We don’t have to drink alcohol or do drugs.  All we have to do is be together and we start having fun.  Sort of like the party our church had at the RV park a couple of weeks ago.  I felt like I was hungover the next day just from laughing!

You know, I think God is laughing right along with us at times like that.  I say that because in lots places in the Bible, God is referred to as our Father and is there a better sound for a typical father to hear than his kids laughing?  Sure, God gets glory when we worship Him in church but I think He gets a kick out of watching His kids sing karaoke or play a game that makes them laugh.  He loves us and enjoys it when we are happy because He is a good God.

Now, while we live here on this old earth, God is not as concerned about our happiness as He is about our holiness.  Again, going back to our earthly fathers, does a good parent give his child everything that child wants to try to make him happy?  Of course not.  A parent’s goal is to raise children into fully developed adults capable of making good decisions on their own so that they live happily as adults.  God works in a similar fashion.

He allows or even causes difficult things to come into our lives so that, as James 1 says, we become mature and complete, not lacking anything.  But…can you imagine…when these trials and tests are over…and our work on this earth is done and we finally get to see Jesus and He welcomes us into Heaven with “Well done, my good and faithful servant!  I know it was hard, my precious one, but you did it and I am so proud of you!  Now, let me show you around.  You are going to love this!”

I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a line over here that starts the chicken fried steak buffet with mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits and all the other fixins.  Then over here is the Mexican food buffet and there’s the chocolate swimming pool and the…okay, I need to quit or we’ll spend all morning talking about food.

But when we get to Heaven that’s when we can truly say, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”  But from here, it seems like we are a long way off from that life sometimes, doesn’t it?  Sometimes it’s hard to imagine but God wants us to imagine it.  He gave us information about it in His Word and even commanded us to keep our hearts and minds set on things above, like we looked at last week. Also last week, we talked about how if we were going to go on a trip to Australia or somewhere far away that we would prepare for that trip.  We looked at why we should go and basically how to pack for the trip by storing up our treasures in Heaven.  This week, I want us to think about how we are going to get there.

If you were going to Australia, you would get there by plane, most likely.  I guess they might have a ship that you could get on somewhere but at some point, a plane will most likely be involved.  Well, similarly, if you are going to Heaven, did you know that there are two ways to get there?

Now, these two ways are only for those who have a ticket and our ticket is by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  But once you have that ticket, there are two ways to get there.  Paul tells us about it in a beautiful passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  This passage makes me happy.  It gets me excited so if I get a little loud or do a little happy dance, don’t be surprised.

1 Thessalonians is in between Colossians, where we were last week and, obviously, 2 Thessalonians in the New Testament.  The church in Thessalonica had written Paul because they had some questions for him and he is writing this letter to answer some of those questions.  One of their concerns was about their loved ones who had died.  Paul had taught them that Jesus was going to come back and get them soon and so they expected it to be while they were all still alive but now some of them had died and they were worried that they had somehow missed the rapture that Paul had talked about.

So, let’s read Paul’s response to them as he describes the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who fall asleep, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

All over the Northeast, half a million Adventists -- disciples of New York evangelist William Miller -- awaited the rapture on April 3, 1843. Journalists had a field day. Reportedly some disciples were on mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in union with their departed loved ones. Some high society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God's holy kingdom amid the common herd.

It was to happen on April 3^rd but what do you think happened?  Nothing happened, of course.  April 4^th came and has come and gone many times since.  It’s foolish to try to guess the date when Matthew 24:36 says, ³⁶"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

We don’t know when and we don’t need to know when.  All we need to do is be expecting it.

Paul tells us there are two ways to get to Heaven; either through death or through the rapture.  Now, when I say the word “rapture” you may notice that this is not a word that Paul used.  We get the word “rapture” from the Greek word “harpazo” which means to snatch away. 

Some of you may remember playing jacks as a kid.  I remember you rolled the dice and bounced a ball and before the ball hit the ground you had to pick up a certain number of playing pieces and so you snatched those pieces off the ground real quick.  That’s “harpazo”.  That also makes me sound ancient, talking about playing jacks.  “Harpazo” is the same word used to describe a wolf snatching a sheep in John 10:12. In Acts 8:39 it speaks of Philip’s being snatched away from the Ethiopian eunuch.  It is a strong, almost violent act that is irresistible.

In verse 13, Paul says, “We don’t want you to be uninformed” and I think he is speaking for himself but also for God.  God doesn’t want us to be uninformed so He revealed some things to Paul so he could tell us.  In verse 15, it says, “According to the Lord’s word…” and I believe Paul has been given this directly from God in some way or another.  The Lord has given this to Paul to share with us.  He wants us to know and doesn’t want us to grieve.  So, Paul is saying it but he has the authority of God Himself.

Now, I want to get to the really good stuff.  This passage is used to comfort people at funerals all the time and it is perfect for that but that’s not our focus this morning.  Let me just tell you that we are also not focusing on all the Bible prophecy that is mentioned. This sermon series is focused on Heaven.  We went through a series on Bible prophecy in general a while back and we saw what happens to the unbelievers after the rapture but I’ll be honest.  Most of that stuff is not going to affect us as Christians.

In fact, most of the book of Revelation is not written to us nor will it affect us because I believe that the Bible clearly teaches that the rapture will happen before the Great Tribulation that is so prevalently talked about in Revelation.  We can argue about that later if you want to – and you can be wrong later if you want to - but this series is not meant to deal with all that.  This is meant to help us prepare for the trip.  So, if we are going to be prepared for the trip, we want to know how we’re going to get there.

Paul says in verse 16, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven.” At the rapture, Jesus is coming for us who are still alive.  He is not sending His angels or drawing a map and hoping we get there.  He’s coming to get us.  Now, don’t mistake the rapture for the Second Coming of Jesus.  That comes later.  You can tell the difference because at the rapture, Jesus meets us in the sky and at His Second Coming, He actually comes all the way back to earth but we will talk about that a little later on.

Since His ascension back into Heaven after His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus has been sitting at the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3) but when the Father says it is time, Jesus will leave Heaven with a loud shout; a command like He gave to Lazarus when Jesus stood at the tomb (John 11:43) and called Lazarus out.  When Jesus gives the command it will be like a military commander calling his troops to fall in.            

Now, I wish I could see this.  Can you imagine the scene?  The King of all kings, the Creator of the universe, God the Father is sitting on His throne and one day He is going to look to His right at His beloved Son, Jesus, and say, “It’s time!”  Then Jesus will stand up from His throne and say, “Michael!  Let’s go get my bride!”  Then the archangel will shout the command and a trumpet will echo over all the planets in the universe and at the sound of that trumpet, graves all over the world will burst open and the Christians that have already died will rise first with their glorified bodies joining with their glorified spirits to make them into the image of Christ. (John MacArthur, Jr. commentary)

1 John 3:2 says, “²Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  Romans 8:38 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death.  So, those that have died will go first. 

Now, that’s another picture.  Can you imagine what that’s going to look like?  Some gardener is going to be weedeating around the graveyard and all of the sudden every casket holding a Christian is going to blast apart and the dirt and headstones will go flying leaving those graves empty with just the word of the Father.

Now, let me throw this in really quick.  I know some people are concerned because their loved one has been cremated or they were lost at sea or dismembered in an accident of some kind.  They worry that God won’t be able to put them all back together again at the rapture and I have to say that’s almost funny.  You mean to tell me that you don’t have a problem believing that God can restore to a glorious new body somebody that died naturally and whose body is now dust but since Aunt Becky lost her foot in a car crash, she’s gonna limp for all eternity?  C’mon.

I don’t know how but if God can speak the universe into existence, I’m pretty sure He has this little problem figured out as well.  Philippians 3:21 says, “God will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” and 1 Corinthians 15:52 says we will be changed “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

We will be rescued from Satan and sin and temptation.  We will be snatched up out of this nasty old world and away from all of the greedy and corrupt politicians, the impure and cowardly leaders, the hurt and the pain that so many live with every day physically, mentally and more.  Our lowly, weak and impure bodies will be transformed into glorious bodies in an instant.

Now, let me ask you a question.  How many of you have computers?  Now, on these computers, does there ever come up on the screen a notification that an app or a program or a system of some sort needs to be updated or upgraded?  Sure, those things happen all the time, right?  Now, do you ever wonder while you are downloading that update what the new system is going to look like?  Are you ever afraid that it might not be recognizable or that you aren’t going to be able to use it? 

No, not usually.  Most of the time those programs are updated and the changes are nice.  It may have some new features but the overall system is very familiar and easy to use.  Our glorified bodies will be very similar to getting a much-needed upgrade.  When we get our glorified and resurrected bodies, we will, no doubt, have some unexpected surprises but we will certainly recognize our new bodies as being ours.  (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 116)

Do you know how I know this?  We’re told in scripture that our bodies will be like the glorified body of Jesus.  I read that verse in 1 John 3 that says, “But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him.”  We are also told in several places in scripture what His body was like.  After Jesus was resurrected, it says He appeared to hundreds of people and they all recognized Him.  Mary had a hard time at the tomb for a few minutes but even through her tears she finally took a good look and knew right then.

The disciples saw His scars.  They touched Him and He ate with them.  He called to them and they recognized His voice.  Yes, He walked through a closed and locked door in the upper room and that will be pretty cool if we are able to do that but we don’t know for sure.  We aren’t told explicitly that we will be able to walk through walls but if so, I bet after a few thousand years we will get used to even that.

1 Corinthians 15:49 says, “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man”, (speaking of Adam) “so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” (Speaking of Jesus)  My point is that, while we don’t know everything about these cool and glorified new bodies we are going to get, they will be familiar to us and to others.

Now, with all that being said, “glorified bodies” is not the main focus of this passage.  The rapture, with all its power and glory is going to be great and awesome but bodies flying up and around is not the main point of this word from God through Paul.  Paul tells us at the end that these words should be encouraging and what does he say just before that?  The words at the end of verse 17 are the encouragement.  Look at them again with me, if you would.

“And so we will be with the Lord forever.”  Now, there’s your encouragement!  I don’t know about you but that makes a lot of people say “Amen!”  I don’t know everything about our glorified bodies or everything about what Heaven is going to be like.  We have some ideas and that’s good but this is the best news of all.  We will be with Jesus.  We will share as co-heirs with Him to all the good things Heaven has to offer.  That is truly when we will say, “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

I was driving around the other day sort of in the middle of nowhere when I saw something on the side of the road in the tall grass.  I couldn’t tell at first what it was but it was moving around and so I kept my eyes on it as I passed that spot.  When I got up to it, I saw that it was a young dog laying on his back scratching his back in the grass and just enjoying life to the fullest.

He jumped up about the time I got to him and tried to race me for a second, gave up on that and found something obviously incredible to sniff in the weeds.  It made me laugh at first how much this dog was obviously enjoying himself there on the side of the road with no plan and nobody else around him like only a puppy could do.

Now, being a preacher, everything I see is filed into my “Future Illustrations” file in the back of my mind and so that puppy illustrates so perfectly the typical unbeliever.  They are having fun, running free and wild with no plan for the future and no care about anything but right now and the fun they can have in this field of so-called dreams.

I’ve been there.  I’ve had fun running free and living easy.  The problem is that this is a mean and nasty world and it’s full of problems that hit all of us.  How much is peace and joy worth to you in this world, plus the assurance of eternal life in Heaven if we get hit by a car and die today?

Do you know for sure that if you died that you would go to Heaven?  The Bible, God’s Word, tells us plainly that all we have to do is believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no man comes to the Father but through Him. (John 14:6)  That belief will be proven in our lives by changed lives that every day look more and more like Jesus.

Repent of your sins today.  Turn away from that lifestyle and ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life today and to forgive you of all your sins and He will.  Today is the day of salvation.  Don’t wait.  We aren’t guaranteed another day.

“Heaven” – Part 1 – Colossians 3:1-4

A man died and went to Heaven and when he got there, St. Peter greeted him and asked him what he had done to deserve to get into Heaven.  The man says, "There was this old lady. I came out of a store and found her surrounded by a dozen Hell's Angels. They had taken her purse and were shoving her around, taunting and abusing her.  I got so mad I threw my bags down, fought through the crowd, and got her purse back. I then helped her to her feet. I then went up to the biggest, baddest biker and told him how despicable, cowardly and mean he was and then spat in his face".
"Wow", said Peter, "That's impressive. When did this happen"?
"Oh, about 10 minutes ago", replied the man.

Now, what is wrong with this joke - besides it not being terribly funny?  What is wrong with it theologically?  First, I don’t know where we get the idea that Peter is going to greet us at the pearly gates but even more incorrect is the idea that we have to deserve to get there.  Aren’t you glad we don’t have to be good enough?  Ephesians 2:8-9 says we get to Heaven by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ.  Period.

There are so many misconceptions about Heaven.  Probably the worst misconception is that Heaven is going to be boring or that we are all going to just sit on clouds strumming harps and wishing we had a magazine to read like the old Far Side cartoon showed.  I have been so excited lately studying about what Heaven is going to be like and while we may not know everything, God has told us plainly lots of things that we may not realize about Heaven.

First, did you know that not everybody is going to be there?  Oh, sure we know Hitler’s not going to be there and there’s no way your ex-husband makes it, right?  But I have an idea that there are going to be a LOT of surprised people when they close their eyes that last time on earth and open them up again in the afterlife.  People are going to be surprised at who made it to Heaven and who didn’t make it and the ones that will be most surprised are the ones who consider themselves to be Christians in this life but never actually had a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.

People are also going to be pleasantly surprised when they get to Heaven and see some very familiar people, but also familiar places and things.  Yes, that’s right.  As we study the place of Heaven for the next few weeks, I think you will find that the Bible tells us that we can expect to feel right at home as soon as we get there and that it won’t be scary or boring but a whole lot of fun – yes fun – and a whole lot of enjoyment.

Now, I know that some of you may not think you even care about what Heaven is going to be like.  You say you will be happy just being there and you don’t need to know details since God doesn’t tell us much about it anyhow.  Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines: 


My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim, But it's enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with him.


Nothing wrong about that necessarily.  Plus, it sounds so pious and so very Christian so that’s good.  But I want to know what lies in store for me when I get there and I believe that God wants us to know so we are going to be looking at it for the next few weeks.  We are going to see what Heaven is like according to what the Bible says.


If you were going on a trip to Australia, you would want to know something about it, wouldn’t you?  You would want to know what the weather is like and what kind of hotels they have and what there is to do when you get there.  You wouldn’t say, “Oh, I don’t know anything about it.  I’ll just be happy to be there.” 


Not only that, but did you know that we are told in the Bible to think often about what Heaven is going to be like?  In fact, maybe you remember that we just got through with a sermon series about putting on the full armor of God a couple of months ago.  In that armor is the helmet of salvation and part of putting on that helmet is not just knowing that you are saved but knowing where you are going when you die and thinking about what Heaven is going to be like.  That actually encourages us as we live here on this nasty old earth and keeps us from falling into sin.


There is another fascinating New Testament passage that encourages us – even commands us – to meditate on our future home.  Turn to Colossians 3:1-4 and let’s see what Paul has to say about it.  Colossians is in between Philippians and 1^st Thessalonians and was written in the context of how Christians should live.  In chapter 2, Paul says that since we have died with Christ, we have died to our sins.  It’s what baptism represents.  We are lowered into the water to represent Christ’s physical death and our death to sin. 

Now, let’s see what Paul says about what happens as we are raised out of the water in baptism and raised to a new life in Christ. 

Colossians 3:1-4 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”


That Paul!  I think it’s because he had so much to say that he packs every sentence, every phrase, every word with so much meaning that if somebody wanted to, they could preach fifty different sermons on that one passage.  There’s not a wasted word in there but I want to focus on the overall theme of what he is saying here.  Think about the afterlife.  Think about eternity.  Think about what Heaven is going to be like. 


I know the 70-80 years we live on this earth seems like a long time but several times the Bible reminds us that this life is but a wisp of smoke, a flower quickly fading or a faint breath but forever is forever and we should be more concerned about what life is going to be like for the trillions and trillions of years and then some that we spend in eternity rather than what life is like for the few years we are here.


Jonathan Edwards, the great Puritan preacher, said he resolved to endeavor to obtain for himself as much happiness, in the other world, as possible.  Think about that.  That is exactly what Paul is telling us to do.  We died with Christ to sin and now we have been raised with Christ through His resurrection and we are raised to live a NEW life.  That life is going to last just a short while here but while we are here we need to use this time to get prepared for our eternal lives.


Paul says to set your hearts and minds on things above.  A little girl was taking an evening walk with her father. Wonderingly, she looked up at the stars and exclaimed; "Oh, Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what must the right side be!"  Charles L. Allen in Home Fires.


We are going to find out in the next few weeks more about what the Bible says Heaven is going to look like and what we are going to do there but we first have to overcome our preconceived notions about what it is because too often those ideas are wrong.  We have grown up listening to some hymns that may have been written with good intent but have bad theology when it comes to Heaven.


We watch TV shows and movies that depict Heaven as this vague, boring place that we as Christians are supposed to love but we don’t really know why.  We hear stories from people who have supposedly died and come back and yet all they have to talk about is getting to see Aunt Betty or how Ol’ Red, their favorite dog, was up there.


Cartoons and jokes make Heaven sound foolish and my favorite bumper sticker is written by some genius that says, “Heaven doesn’t want me and Hell’s afraid I’ll take over.”  All of this, our whole society, this whole world wants us to believe that if Heaven does exist, you don’t want to go there.  Do you know where this comes from?  This comes from the prince of this world, Satan himself.  Revelation 13:6 says that the beast was blaspheming God, slandering His name and His dwelling place and those who live in Heaven.


Do you think Satan wants us to know what Heaven is really like?  Do you think he wants us to meditate on it and to put on that helmet of salvation?  Of course not.  Randy Alcorn says that our enemy slanders three things:  God’s person, God’s people and God’s place.  The father of lies was evicted from Heaven so what better way for the devil and his demons to attack us than to whisper lies about the very place that God tells us to set our hearts and minds?


But what does it really mean to set our hearts and minds on things above?  What does that look like?  A Gallup poll showed that 78 percent of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die. However, many of them hardly ever pray, read the Bible, or attend church. They admit that they live to please themselves instead of God. I wonder why these people would want to go to heaven.


In an article title, "Are We Ready for Heaven?" Maurice R. Irwin points out that only 34 percent of the American people who call themselves Christians attend church at least once a week. Daily Bread, July 31, 1992.  Now, let me clarify that setting your hearts and minds on things above does not mean going to church.  But setting your hearts and minds on things above is what true believers do and true believers go to church.  Real Christians read their Bible and pray.  It’s what we do because of who we are.


You can’t say you love Jesus and not really love the bride of Jesus, the church.  If going to church, reading your Bible and prayer are not something you are passionate about then you have a problem with your relationship with the Lord.  You can’t set your hearts and minds on Christ without a relationship with Him so that is the first part of the equation.  True believers love and obey the One in whom they believe.


Now, for a Christian, setting your minds on things above means preparing to live there.  C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.


In the original Greek in which Paul was writing, the phrase “set your hearts on” is one word, “zeteo” and it means a search or a quest.  You know in the Gospels how Jesus describes the shepherd looking for a lost sheep and a woman searching for a lost coin and merchant looking for a fine pearl?  It’s the same word.  “Zeteo” means an ongoing, diligent, single-minded pursuit.


In our diligent, single-minded pursuit of Heaven and the things of Heaven, this pursuit will include the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and not just Aunt Betty and Ol’ Red.  I want to see Betty and Red too and there is nothing wrong with that but there is way more to Heaven than loved ones.


Did you know that not everybody’s Heaven is going to be the same?  In Revelation 22:12, Jesus says, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”  We won’t all get the same rewards or the same amount of rewards and while good works don’t get you to Heaven they are rewarded for eternity!


Oh, but I hear all you holier-than-thous out there.  “I will be glad just to be there.  I’ll be happy to just live in a tent in the presence of Holy God.”  That may be true to a degree but we are talking about rewards from the Creator of the universe for all of eternity and I don’t want you to be disappointed.  And here we go again, I hear you “holy ones” saying you can’t be disappointed in Heaven but I’m not the only one who thinks so.


In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul is talking about these same rewards and says, “the fire will test the quality of each person's work. ¹⁴If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss.”  You will suffer loss in Heaven, Paul says, without those rewards.  Imagine if everybody else’s dwelling place is huge and wonderful and has all the best rewards and you live in a van down by the River of Life.


That would be embarrassing and you would regret it forever but that’s not the worst thing that could happen.  Imagine if God was rewarding everybody with all these great crowns and then they all started placing those crowns at the feet of Jesus?  What do you have to give?  That’s not just embarrassing.  That’s tragic – forever.


Thankfully, the Bible tells us how to prepare for our lives in Heaven.  We get rewards for the good things we do in this short life and we store them in Heaven for eternity.  Matthew 6 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”


I’ve said before that I don’t know what all the rewards are going to be.  I don’t know what the five crowns represent.  The Bible doesn’t specify.  But Jesus said in Matthew 5:12 that our rewards are great in Heaven!  Now Jesus didn’t go around saying too many things were great.  He wasn’t Tony the Tiger saying, “They’re great!” about stuff very often.  But if Jesus says these rewards are great, I believe Him and I want them, especially since they will last forever.


So, keeping our hearts and minds on the things above means thinking about, preparing for and planning on our eternal life in Heaven.  That’s why we are going through this sermon series.  We want to be ready and we want to be biblical.  So, some of you are thinking you might want to start doing that pretty soon, right?  Some of you are thinking that as soon as you get your life in order or as soon as you get that raise or as soon as your kids…


BOOM!  There’s Jesus!  Gabriel is shouting!  The trumpet is blowing and the wind is in your hair as we are raptured away from this world in the twinkling of an eye!  He comes like a thief in the night and it may be before I finish this sentence.  Do you realize that there is no reason it couldn’t happen that way?


There is no other prophecy that needs to be fulfilled.  Nothing else needs to happen.  We are just waiting and expecting so if you are thinking that one day pretty soon you are going to start getting prepared for life in Heaven, it may be too late.  It ought to be in our minds at all times just waiting for Jesus.  Look at verse 4 again. 


“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  Oh, I love to hear my Mama and her sisters sing a song called “Glory For Me”.  “When by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me!” What do you think it means to appear with Jesus in glory?


I was over at my parents’ house the other day and they had been watching TV when I got there and some kind of women’s gymnastics was on.  I was thinking I sure didn’t want to watch this.  This is gonna be dumb.  “Oh, my word!  Did you see what that little girl just did?”  She just jumped up and did some flips and some flying cartwheel things and then bounced way up in the air like she had a trampoline, doing flips and turns the whole time. It was crazy!  It looked impossible.


Part of what it means to appear with Jesus in glory is to have glorified bodies where we will all have bodies like Olympic champions only better.  There are several places in the Bible that talk about our glorified bodies and how they will be like the resurrection body of Jesus.  Our human bodies are described in 1 Corinthians 15:42–53 as perishable, dishonorable, and weak, all due to sin. Our glorified bodies will be imperishable, honorable, and powerful.


Can’t you see it now?  “Hey, where’s Janet?  We’re gonna sing some songs.”  “Oh, she’s out running and jumping and she just climbed that mountain this morning.  She hasn’t been home all day.”  How do you not get excited about that?  How do you not set your hearts and minds on the eternal Heaven when you know just a little bit about it?


No more tears, no more heartache.  In fact, nothing impure will ever enter Heaven (Rev. 21:27).  No more getting tired.  No more sin.  No more greed, or deception.  No lying or sickness, no more theft.  No locks on the doors or PIN numbers for our credit cards.  I sure am looking forward to that.  I’m looking forward to seeing all my loved ones.


When I get there, I know I’ll see my grandparents and my grandmother will probably pinch my cheek like she always did and tell me she baked some cookies for me.  That’ll be great but I’ll tell her, “Grandmother, I’ll be right back for those cookies in a few minutes.”


I’ll see my Uncle DeWayne there and I know he’ll have a great joke to tell me because nobody told a joke better than he did.  I’ll tell him, “Uncle D, I’m anxious to hear that joke.  I know it’s funny but give me just a few minutes and I’ll be back.”


I’ll see King David, my friend, there and I can’t wait to hear him tell about killing Goliath but that can wait a little while.  We have all of eternity.  There’s no hurry for that.  David, save me spot.


I’ll see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that’ll be great.  Elijah, Paul and I will take bald-headed preacher selfies in just a little while but give me a few minutes.  I need to find Jesus.  I told Him when I first got here but I want to tell Him again how much I appreciate His sacrifice for me.  I want to spend some time just worshiping Him and walking with Him and talking with Him.


Can you imagine that?  Having one-on-one time with the Lamb of God Himself?  It reminds me of the song, “I Can Only Imagine.”  I don’t know what I’ll do or say but I can’t wait to spend eternity with Him.  How about you?  Are you sure without a doubt that you will be there?  Again, the Bible is plain about how to be sure.  Repent of your sins, trust in Him and believe then confess with your mouth that He is God and live a new life on this earth until it’s time for the next life.  Be sure today.