00:00:55.263 Well, good morning everyone here at Freedom Church. How we doing this morning?
00:00:59.943 We give the worship team a great big hand.
00:01:02.703 Worship team leading us in the presence of God week after week.
00:01:05.553 We're so grateful for your gifting, for your surrender, to show us what it looks
00:01:09.153 like to be worshipers. So I want to honor you and thank you for that.
00:01:13.083 There are probably some of you guys who've been watching the last several weeks,
00:01:16.473 and you're like, "This doesn't look like the same guy that was on stage last week."
00:01:20.284 And so I'm here to tell you that I am not.
00:01:22.593 Pastor Eric is at home sick right now, and when I tell you that you have the
00:01:28.563 most caring, shepherding pastor who would want nothing more than to be here with
00:01:34.024 you right now, I'm serious. Pretty sure Rachel had to wrestle the car keys out of
00:01:37.143 his hand this morning so that he couldn't come.
00:01:40.113 But he is at home resting, healing up, and extends his well wishes.
00:01:43.923 I'm just grateful for his leadership, for his care, and that he would trust me to
00:01:48.784 deliver the word of the Lord here with you this morning.
00:01:51.723 And so we're going to jump right in.
00:01:53.583 Pastor Eric has taken us through a series about spiritual warfare the last several
00:01:58.024 weeks, and namely last week talking about the reality that as followers of Jesus
00:02:03.964 in this present life, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, and we do wrestle
00:02:08.703 against principalities and powers.
00:02:10.683 So Pastor Eric unpacked some of the reality of angels and demons and the spiritual
00:02:15.573 warfare that we are currently in and really the victory that is ours in Christ and
00:02:20.823 the weapons of our warfare. We see that worship is a great, great weapon of
00:02:24.993 warfare, one that does defeat the enemy.
00:02:27.693 So much so that in the Old Testament, the Israelites when they'd go into battle,
00:02:31.473 God's people would go into battle.
00:02:33.183 They would often enter by playing instruments, by declaring victory in almost like
00:02:38.343 worship and praise before they went in for battle.
00:02:40.893 And so we know that worship is a great weapon of warfare as well as prayer and the
00:02:45.633 word, and Pastor Eric so awesomely explained that, unpacked that with us here the
00:02:50.973 last several weeks. And today, I have the privilege of talking to you guys
00:02:56.583 about the afterlife,
00:02:59.613 the afterlife, and more specifically, heaven and hell.
00:03:03.423 And
00:03:05.103 as followers of Jesus, really, as we begin to know him, as we grow to know him and
00:03:09.543 grow in our relationship with him, we begin to unpack and discover that his mission
00:03:15.243 when he was here on Earth, when Jesus was here on Earth, was to begin to show us
00:03:20.253 what is going on behind the curtain, what's going on behind the scenes, and really
00:03:24.034 begin to unpack the realities of the afterlife.
00:03:27.633 And as Pastor Eric had talked us through the last several weeks, we uncover the
00:03:31.863 fact that we are a spiritual being, right? That we are a spiritual being.
00:03:36.333 That we're not humans having a spiritual experience, but we are spirits having a
00:03:40.923 human experience. We're housed in this physical body. We also have a soul, right?
00:03:45.993 We have thoughts, feelings, emotions.
00:03:48.123 And so how do we navigate this life on this side of eternity as we follow Jesus?
00:03:54.214 Well, one pivotal and important aspect of this is to set our eyes on the afterlife,
00:04:00.093 to set our eyes on eternity, to have an eternal perspective.
00:04:05.343 And so what's fascinating to me is that the afterlife and even the concepts or the
00:04:09.903 discussions, or I should say rather, of heaven and hell, have been debated so often
00:04:15.153 throughout human history. For thousands of years, there has been endless debate,
00:04:20.464 really, on the afterlife. And ultimately, is there an afterlife?
00:04:25.024 You might be here this morning, I just don't know.
00:04:27.543 I don't know if I know there's an afterlife, if I believe in an afterlife.
00:04:31.293 I'm not really sure that I can be sure.
00:04:33.784 My goal this morning is that we would see very clearly through God's Word and by
00:04:38.193 the heart and the words of Jesus, that there is indeed an afterlife and that we
00:04:41.673 play a very significant part both now and into the afterlife.
00:04:47.133 And so first I'm going to open up with actually a story.
00:04:49.893 This is a story that it's funny, I first heard it, Pastor Eric had shared it
00:04:53.643 actually, really not that long ago. So some of you may have heard this before.
00:04:58.443 And so I'm going to read a story of two babies in the womb.
00:05:04.533 And the reason I'm sharing this is I believe it articulates a very parallel picture
00:05:09.723 to some of the discussions, the thoughts, the arguments that we have about the
00:05:14.433 afterlife. And so I'm going to start off here.
00:05:16.053 It says:
00:05:17.703 In a mother's womb, there were two babies.
00:05:20.493 One asked the other, "Do you believe in life after delivery?" The other replied,
00:05:26.553 "Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery.
00:05:30.154 Maybe we're here to prepare ourselves for what will be later." "Nonsense," said the
00:05:35.313 first. "There's no life after delivery.
00:05:38.313 What kind of life would that be?" The second said, "I don't know, but there will be
00:05:43.503 more light than there is here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our
00:05:48.183 mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we cannot understand now."
00:05:53.613 The first replied, "That is absurd.
00:05:55.863 Walking is impossible, and eating with our mouths? Ridiculous.
00:06:00.063 The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need, but the umbilical
00:06:04.413 cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded." The second
00:06:10.173 insisted, "Well, I think there is something, and maybe it's different than it is
00:06:14.553 here. Maybe we won't need this physical cord anymore." The first replied,
00:06:19.833 "Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from
00:06:25.443 there? Delivery is the end of life, and there's nothing after this." "Well, I
00:06:31.413 don't know," said the second, "but certainly we will meet mother, and she will take
00:06:36.154 care of us." The first replied, "Mother? You actually believe in Mother?
00:06:42.147 That's laughable. If Mother exists, then where is she now?" The second said,
00:06:48.388 "She's all around us. We're surrounded by her. We are of her.
00:06:53.938 It is in her that we live. Without her, this world would not and could not exist."
00:07:00.268 Said the first, "Well, I don't see her, so it's only logical that she doesn't
00:07:04.107 exist." To which the second replied, "Sometimes, when you're sitting in
00:07:09.957 silence, and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive her presence,
00:07:16.227 and you can hear her loving voice calling down from above."
00:07:23.638 How many guys know those are some pretty intelligent babies?
00:07:25.646 Some pretty eloquent-speaking babies.
00:07:27.147 I mean, man, they speak a lot better than I do.
00:07:29.638 You know what's really interesting about that, though, is as I'm reading it out
00:07:32.847 loud, as I'm listening to myself read it, there are so many parallels that exist in
00:07:37.977 our reality, in our wrestling with life here on Earth and the afterlife, and it's
00:07:43.317 beautiful. There is some sense of significance that we can have knowing that we can
00:07:49.078 have the optimism, the faith of that second baby.
00:07:52.317 Before I go any further, let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much.
00:07:54.837 I thank you, God,
00:07:57.328 for your truths, Lord God, your word that communicate that you created us on
00:08:01.467 purpose, for a purpose, that you desire a relationship with us, and not just here
00:08:06.627 and now, but forever. Lord, I thank you, Jesus, that you left your splendor of
00:08:11.247 heaven, and you demonstrated your loving kindness as a Heavenly Father by living a
00:08:15.927 perfect life and laying your life down for each and every one of us, that we
00:08:18.987 wouldn't have to be separated from you.
00:08:20.997 We wouldn't have to be unaware of your presence, of your leading.
00:08:24.177 And Jesus, I ask you, help me communicate.
00:08:26.127 Holy Spirit, you've spoken this many, many times.
00:08:29.188 I thank you that you would give me the utterance to speak as you would have me
00:08:32.938 speak this morning. Let every person have ears to hear.
00:08:35.697 I thank you, Lord, for transforming our eyes and our hearts to live with an eternal
00:08:40.197 perspective and have clarity as a result. And it's in your name I pray, Jesus.
00:08:45.867 Amen. And amen, amen.
00:08:49.647 So again, is there an afterlife? Something about myself.
00:08:53.397 Growing up, I was actually raised in the church.
00:08:55.797 My parents had taken me to church really growing up, and by my high school years, I
00:09:00.837 was a professed atheist. I didn't believe in a god.
00:09:04.347 I didn't believe in an afterlife at all.
00:09:06.927 As a matter of fact, I would take it as far as to make fun of Christians, and it
00:09:10.707 was specifically demonstrating animosity to Christians.
00:09:14.847 And just the entire thing seemed like fairy tales, woo woo.
00:09:19.467 There's no substance to it. You can't really prove it. There's no way.
00:09:23.097 And a lot of it, too, is I was wrestling with different bitterness and
00:09:25.857 disappointment in life. But nevertheless, I went out of my way to really begin to
00:09:29.337 research, is there an afterlife? Is there a God? Is he the Christian God?
00:09:34.647 Is the Bible reliable? What other religions are out there?
00:09:37.047 And I began to go down this journey of discovery and really try to figure out, man,
00:09:42.328 like everybody does at times, the secrets of the universe. How are we here?
00:09:46.527 Why are we here? Is this all that there is? When the lights turn off, is that it?
00:09:50.516 Do I just go back into the ground and disintegrate, or am I here for a greater
00:09:55.377 purpose that's far, far beyond me?
00:09:58.647 And so to acknowledge and to begin to unpack the afterlife, first, we really have
00:10:02.547 to take grip of and acknowledge the fact that even if you're here this morning and
00:10:07.647 you don't know if there's an afterlife, there really is one thing that is certain,
00:10:12.057 and that's death.
00:10:15.987 You glad you came to church this morning?
00:10:17.518 We're going to unpack death a little bit because that really is.
00:10:20.607 That's a pivotal part. That essentially would be the doorway into the afterlife,
00:10:24.507 and so we're going to really unpack just how prevalent death is.
00:10:28.107 None of us can escape it. We've all experienced loss.
00:10:30.897 We've experienced heartache and grief in death.
00:10:34.107 And at that time often is when we think about the afterlife the most.
00:10:38.307 And I would encourage us that it is worthwhile for us to, yes, consider death and
00:10:42.658 to really soberly assess it, but also to consider
00:10:47.697 that there is life outside the womb.
00:10:51.147 According to worldpopulationreview.com,
00:10:55.138 just some sobering statistics. There are 174,349 people that die each and every
00:11:00.747 day. That equates to 7,265 every hour,
00:11:06.567 121 every minute, and two people crossing over, breathing their last
00:11:12.658 every single second.
00:11:22.408 Death is prevalent. You can't escape it. It's rampant.
00:11:26.247 It's one of the very few things in life that we do know for certain.
00:11:30.567 The moment we're born, there's a ticking time clock of our expiration that's
00:11:35.697 listed,
00:11:37.377 and we're all going to have a moment.
00:11:38.757 Unless Jesus comes back first, which would be phenomenal.
00:11:40.707 Maybe that'll be our escape. If not, that ticking time clock is tick, tick,
00:11:46.768 tick. We're not getting any younger.
00:11:52.287 And so I know it's kind of a heavy topic, but where else are we going to talk about
00:11:56.427 death? Where else are we going to flesh this out?
00:11:59.277 Where else can we really look to, to have a really anchored grip in reality of
00:12:04.677 death and how we can view death not always as such a sombering, scary thing?
00:12:12.268 There's an
00:12:14.518 English Puritan man, a clergyman by the name of Richard Baxter, a preacher,
00:12:20.757 and there's a quote from him that I actually heard not that long ago, and it really
00:12:24.507 did grip me as far as the urgency
00:12:29.247 of our experience here on Earth.
00:12:32.667 He said, "I preached as never sure to preach again,
00:12:37.617 and as a dying man to dying men."
00:12:41.457 I preached as never sure to preach again as a dying man to dying men.
00:12:51.388 You see, the fact of reality is that I don't know when my time's up.
00:12:55.857 This could be the last time I see you guys, speak to you guys.
00:13:00.117 Just like everybody else, I've suffered grief and loss.
00:13:02.607 I've had young friends pass away unexpectedly, the whole nine yards.
00:13:07.136 And not to put a damper into today's worship time after that great worship time.
00:13:13.438 But there is a sobering reality check that I believe that people so often try to
00:13:17.518 escape and put off and not pay too much thought to when it comes to death, and more
00:13:22.078 importantly than death, the afterlife.
00:13:25.707 And so we're going to begin to unpack that a little bit deeper.
00:13:33.237 Again, even though we know death is certain, people still debate the afterlife.
00:13:35.937 It's one of the most common debates that still exists today. How can one know?
00:13:39.477 How can we be certain? The only thing that we really do know is death is certain.
00:13:43.888 In every moment of every day, we do come closer to our expiration.
00:13:47.248 We come closer to the final moments when we cross over to the other side, or
00:13:52.828 perhaps not, depending on your belief.
00:13:56.187 But here's my challenge to you. Just as something I had to wrestle with as an
00:13:59.787 atheist back in high school is that not every single thing, I don't know about you,
00:14:04.197 but I really do like facts and statistics. I like evidence.
00:14:07.467 I don't believe in blind faith. As a matter of fact, faith isn't blind.
00:14:11.067 We live by faith, not by sight, but it doesn't mean there's not reason, there's not
00:14:13.917 substance to our faith.
00:14:17.727 And so what else in life can you not really scientifically measure that you know is
00:14:23.037 real? I think one example would be love.
00:14:28.587 You can't prove love scientifically, yet you trust it because you've experienced
00:14:32.967 it. You've observed it. You've seen actions that indicate somebody has sincere
00:14:37.557 love, care, and concern for you. But I can't necessarily hook you up to a brain
00:14:43.467 scan and prove love by any real measure, because then the argument could also be
00:14:48.627 held that, well, that's just dopamine. We experience dopamine in other ways.
00:14:51.357 That's a feel-good hormone and chemical that releases in your brain.
00:14:56.397 So we can't really prove love scientifically, yet you trust it because you've
00:15:01.467 experienced it.
00:15:04.467 And in the same breath, oftentimes we find ourselves questioning, wrestling
00:15:08.127 through, curious about
00:15:11.367 the afterlife.
00:15:14.697 How can we know there is an eternity for certain?
00:15:18.177 How do we know
00:15:20.637 there is more on the other side? And really, the better question, what can we learn
00:15:24.477 from the Bible about heaven and hell, about the afterlife, about life eternal?
00:15:31.227 The good news is that God doesn't actually leave us in the dark.
00:15:33.717 He gives us a lot of great instruction, great insight.
00:15:37.407 We're going to begin to unpack just some of it here this morning.
00:15:43.083 Before we address eternity, before we address the afterlife, before we really flesh
00:15:46.683 it out, I think it's really important that if we were to start with the reality
00:15:50.583 that, well, there's a God,
00:15:52.893 and there's the universe around me, there seems to be intelligent design.
00:15:56.404 There's a lot of fine-tuned elements of existence that if one little measure, one
00:16:02.223 little iota or dot was out of alignment, we wouldn't exist.
00:16:06.603 So let's just go off the assumption this morning that there is an intelligent
00:16:10.203 creator, there is a designer, there is a God.
00:16:15.363 And let's begin to really see what are the characteristics, what is the character
00:16:18.813 and nature of this God that we sing about, of this God we say we know, or we want
00:16:24.033 to know, or we're serving. What are some ways that we can identify who God is in
00:16:28.233 his nature and his character? Because the intelligent designer, the creator,
00:16:34.053 reveals a lot more insight and a lot more substance to the creation every single
00:16:40.083 time. You look across the board. In Isaiah chapter 40, verse 28, it says, "Do you
00:16:44.703 not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the
00:16:50.553 creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his
00:16:55.263 understanding no one can fathom."
00:16:58.953 What do we observe about our God is that he's everlasting,
00:17:03.993 that he's eternal, from everlasting to everlasting.
00:17:08.553 Space and time, the construct of time that we live in, the finiteness, if that's a
00:17:14.133 word, of our existence, we're only bound to it. God's not. God's outside of it.
00:17:19.533 He's outside of space and time. He sees from beginning to end and through and
00:17:22.654 through. I've heard somebody say it like this, a little bit of a brain wrestling
00:17:26.673 match here, that God sees everything of all history at all time at the same time.
00:17:33.183 That's how outside of space and time he is. He created it. He's not subject to it.
00:17:36.963 Revelation 1:8 says, " 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, who is
00:17:42.783 and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Who was,
00:17:48.693 who is, and who is to come, the Almighty.
00:17:54.093 1 Timothy 1:17, "Now to the King eternal, immortal,
00:17:59.883 invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever."
00:18:05.943 The eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God receive honor and glory
00:18:11.913 forever and ever. Our King is eternal.
00:18:17.433 If you surrendered your life, you put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ, his
00:18:20.793 work on the cross, his resurrection,
00:18:23.643 you're a part of this eternal kingdom of ruling and reigning with the eternal,
00:18:28.773 immortal, invisible, only God. That's your destiny. That's your purpose.
00:18:34.383 For those of us who want to follow Jesus.
00:18:40.473 It's okay, we established something. We established that God is eternal.
00:18:42.963 God, his character and nature is eternal.
00:18:45.663 There's not a slide for this, but in Genesis, we see that we were created in the
00:18:50.133 image of God from the very beginning. God is spirit. He is eternal.
00:18:54.303 In his image, we are spiritual beings.
00:18:56.522 And our spiritual person within this earthly body will spend eternity somewhere.
00:19:02.493 Just like God is eternal, us, in his image, we are eternal
00:19:08.253 beings. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
00:19:12.483 And when this earthly body shuts down, clocks out, our spirit man will spend
00:19:17.943 forever somewhere.
00:19:20.373 God created and designed us that way.
00:19:24.933 And you know what's really interesting is that even as an atheist back in my day,
00:19:30.693 I began to wrestle with the fact that within my heart of hearts, even all the logic
00:19:35.824 and all the arguments against the existence of any God, let alone a Christian God,
00:19:40.083 in the depth of the core of who I am, I knew that there was something more. I knew.
00:19:45.273 I would deny it. I tried to shove it away.
00:19:47.883 I tried to reason my way out of it, but I knew in my core there was something more.
00:19:52.233 And that's actually a beautiful prime way that God draws us in to begin to seek,
00:19:56.973 search, and find him.
00:20:01.053 Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse 11 actually explains this phenomenon, this
00:20:05.613 reality, that, "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.
00:20:10.263 He has planted eternity in the human heart.
00:20:14.523 But even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to
00:20:19.203 end." You see, the second half of that verse, that we can't see the whole scope of
00:20:22.293 his work from beginning to end. Oftentimes, we wrestle with confusion and perhaps
00:20:26.733 even fear of not understanding, not having the full picture.
00:20:30.813 And so it becomes too confusing. If we're not careful, we'll decide just to tune it
00:20:34.324 all out and we'll figure it out. And so maybe we only talk about, we only process
00:20:38.583 through eternity at funerals in that regard.
00:20:41.853 But if we accept that as a divine invitation of God planting that desire, planting
00:20:46.533 that seed in our heart, he promises to reveal himself, that we would discover
00:20:52.443 and know him. He promises. And that we would begin to understand even our place in
00:20:57.723 the scope of eternity, in the scope of the afterlife.
00:21:03.423 We're eternal, but we cannot see as God sees.
00:21:06.873 I want you to catch this. This is so fascinating to me.
00:21:14.133 He put eternity in our hearts.
00:21:16.923 Take it a step further. He wants to spend eternity with you.
00:21:23.013 Even my wife, who loves spending time with me, at times I'm sure gets sick of
00:21:26.074 spending time with me. Yeah.
00:21:29.583 Don't point fingers.
00:21:33.273 God doesn't just tolerate your existence.
00:21:36.183 He's not just going to, "Oh, yeah, you can come to heaven.
00:21:38.463 You accepted Jesus, but you know what?
00:21:40.443 Your quarters are going to be 100 miles away on this side of heaven.
00:21:44.643 I'll see you maybe once a year." God wants to spend eternity with you, so much so
00:21:49.083 that Jesus said in the Gospel of John that he sent the Holy Spirit to be in us and
00:21:53.404 with us forever.
00:21:55.953 That even that reality of eternity, that scope of eternity,
00:22:00.123 is within our hearts and with us and in us forever. He doesn't just tolerate you.
00:22:04.023 He wants to spend time with you forever. That's good news.
00:22:08.822 The only perfect being that ever existed loves you so much that, "I can't get
00:22:14.463 enough time with you. I want to be with you forever."
00:22:18.183 That's pretty phenomenal. That's pretty cool.
00:22:22.893 Matthew 25:31-33 and verse 46 as well.
00:22:27.093 Jesus paints an illustration, a picture
00:22:31.053 of what it looks like or begins to look like as we cross over to the door of death.
00:22:38.133 He says it like this, "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the
00:22:41.253 angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
00:22:45.453 All the nations will be gathered in his presence.
00:22:48.213 And he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
00:22:53.163 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left." Verse 46,
00:22:57.633 "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into
00:23:03.033 eternal life."
00:23:07.083 You see, heaven and hell are not just ideas, they're destinations.
00:23:14.824 That at the end of time, or when our time is up,
00:23:22.053 door comes knocking, opens up, your time to go. Then comes the judgment, right?
00:23:28.863 And so why is this important? You may wrestle with, I don't know, like, "Ah, it
00:23:32.853 just seems so sad. It's so heavy. I'm sorry I'm coming across heavy.
00:23:35.133 I promise it gets better, a little lighter." But we come to this doorway of death,
00:23:40.863 and we cross over into eternity, into the scope of forever,
00:23:46.023 and we can wrestle with it, and we can especially wrestle with that there could be
00:23:48.633 eternal punishment, separation from God, and eternal fire forever.
00:23:54.843 Am I the only one? Let's be honest, church.
00:23:56.103 Am I the only one who's ever been like, "Why does that have to be a thing?
00:23:57.753 Why is that a thing?" Right? I want you to think about it like this for a moment.
00:24:02.313 At least this helps me.
00:24:04.533 So without Jesus, I'm nothing. I'll just say that first and foremost. Yeah.
00:24:08.433 Without Jesus, I'm absolutely nothing.
00:24:10.143 I really don't have any really good, pure motives in and of myself without his Holy
00:24:14.613 Spirit empowering me, without him helping me along the way.
00:24:18.603 And I'll put it to you like this.
00:24:21.063 If I were to pass away
00:24:24.183 without his forgiveness, without his cleansing, without his body broken and his
00:24:28.833 blood shed, without his Spirit in me and with me, if I were to try to go to heaven,
00:24:34.413 I would ruin heaven for all of you guys.
00:24:38.404 What do I mean by that?
00:24:40.683 I mean that I'm imperfect, and eventually, my selfishness, my imperfection
00:24:46.324 would ruin it for you.
00:24:49.053 It would come out. It would ruin it. Paradise would no longer be paradise.
00:24:53.103 Heaven would no longer be bliss.
00:24:55.593 It would no longer be perfect. We'll get more into what heaven is really like in a
00:24:59.013 moment.
00:25:01.293 But in the same exact way, as we actually began to unpack last week about angels
00:25:05.133 and demons, we see this way that God protects us in heaven and for the
00:25:11.133 kingdom of heaven. Actually, from the very beginning, whenever Satan and his fallen
00:25:16.923 angels decided to rebel against God, I want you to think about this for a moment,
00:25:22.173 and I always put it to you this way. Hell, it's not originally a God idea for us to
00:25:27.154 go to. It was actually assigned as a storing place for Satan and all of the fallen
00:25:32.493 angels, all of the evil spirits, to protect us and to protect the
00:25:38.103 integrity and the perfection of heaven. That's what hell was for. Right?
00:25:44.193 You say, how do you know that for sure?
00:25:46.233 I don't have a slide for this, but Matthew 25:41, "Then the king will turn to those
00:25:51.933 on the left and will say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones.
00:25:55.353 Into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.'"
00:26:01.233 The second half, the eternal fire was prepared for the devil and his demons.
00:26:07.683 God's not willing that any would perish.
00:26:09.513 God is not willing that any one person would ever be fully separated or eternally
00:26:13.503 separated from him. Second Peter 3:9, no slide for it, but I promise.
00:26:18.093 Second Peter 3:9 says that God is "not willing or desiring that any should perish,
00:26:23.103 but that all would come to repentance." His desire is that each and every human
00:26:27.033 being on this planet would know him, would enter into relationship with him, would
00:26:31.173 experience the glory and goodness of relationship with him, and experience the
00:26:35.673 glory and goodness of eternal security with him in heaven.
00:26:39.783 That is what his will is. That's why he left his throne and died a criminal's death
00:26:44.523 on the cross.
00:26:46.773 So sometimes, again, we come, if you're like me, like, "Why is there hell?
00:26:50.643 Why is that a thing?" God's intent and design wasn't for us to be there, but at the
00:26:55.833 same time, he will not violate our free will.
00:26:58.503 If we choose, say, "God, I don't want to spend time with you.
00:27:01.173 I don't think I like it." No. He's not going to force us to spend time with him
00:27:05.883 forever. He won't force eternity with him in heaven with us.
00:27:10.533 You may ask, would anybody really actually reject the offer to heaven?
00:27:17.613 I promise you, there are people that even if they fully saw the glory and goodness
00:27:20.643 of God, they would turn it away.
00:27:24.183 So much so that Satan,
00:27:27.393 closest angel to the throne in eternities past, the worship leader of
00:27:33.213 heaven, beautiful, majestic.
00:27:37.023 Beautiful, majestic because he's by the glory of God. He's by the throne.
00:27:41.433 He's at God's throne in his perfect presence, and he's the worship leader.
00:27:46.593 And you know what he wanted to do? He tried to touch the glory.
00:27:49.203 Said, "You know what? I got a lot going on. I'm pretty beautiful. You see this?
00:27:52.263 You see me?"
00:27:54.543 He's like, "I bet I can rule. I bet I'd be a good ruler.
00:27:57.213 I bet I can reign."
00:27:59.313 God's restraining me, and he severed himself from being in proximity to God.
00:28:03.723 And then he deceives a third of heaven's angels
00:28:07.803 to follow him.
00:28:11.463 Just like they chose to be separated from God, we in our free will are capable
00:28:17.433 of rejecting the goodness of God. I've actually done it plenty of times in my own
00:28:19.923 life, just practically. Knowing God's will, knowing it's best for me, knowing it's
00:28:23.853 goodness, and I go the other way. Thankfully, he's merciful and patient, and he's
00:28:27.273 drawn me back. But it still happens. It's possible.
00:28:30.723 Maybe I'm just thinking out loud with some of my own wrestlings, but I have thought
00:28:35.133 about that, and I've come to that conclusion that's absolutely certain.
00:28:38.853 It's absolutely true, beyond the shadow of a doubt.
00:28:42.633 But what does the Bible really say about hell?
00:28:45.783 You know it's a storing place for Satan and the demons.
00:28:49.743 What does Jesus say about hell? We see in the Gospels he describes hell, and he
00:28:53.253 actually compares it to a real geographical place in Jerusalem by Jerusalem called
00:28:57.873 Gehenna. And Gehenna was a detestable place where people would store trash.
00:29:03.933 They would store the burned carcasses of animals.
00:29:07.023 And even there were some
00:29:10.203 demonic worshiping sites taking place where people would sacrifice their own kids
00:29:14.493 and burn their own kids as a sacrifice to their god, really a demon, really
00:29:20.163 an evil spirit. And then there's all these carcasses just down in this pit, full of
00:29:24.933 filth,
00:29:26.583 just disgustingness.
00:29:29.553 And so Jesus compares it to Gehenna to communicate that it is a wretched,
00:29:34.923 disgusting, filthy place. We know it's eternal separation from God, Second
00:29:40.353 Thessalonians 1:9. Also, outer darkness.
00:29:43.263 There's no warmth other than the pits of the fire that you would burn in.
00:29:48.183 There's really no good warmth. There's no securities. Outer darkness.
00:29:51.574 It's fire and flames,
00:29:54.333 Matthew 5:22.
00:29:58.324 Apart from God, there is no good.
00:30:01.293 Separated from God, the worst of the worst, this is what you're getting.
00:30:05.043 Now, as I say this, geez, Jared, this is heavy. Coming on thick this morning.
00:30:10.953 The good news is for us as Christians, we don't have to fear this.
00:30:13.353 We don't have to worry about it. We know that God sent a rescue plan through his
00:30:19.143 Son to rescue us from this so that we can walk actually in victory and confidence
00:30:22.654 knowing
00:30:26.193 that we have security and freedom
00:30:29.283 from hell as an eternal destination. If nothing else, that's good news.
00:30:33.663 If nothing else, that is good news.
00:30:37.233 So much so that I want you to be so secure in your eternal destiny that you don't
00:30:41.013 even fear death. Now, I'll be honest, if you're like me, I fear how I'm going to
00:30:43.893 die. I want to be really transparent. I hope I die peacefully in my sleep.
00:30:47.554 That would be nice.
00:30:49.324 But if not, it'll be quick, and I'll be over in paradise forever.
00:30:54.574 We don't have to fear hell. We don't have to fear death.
00:30:58.413 We don't have to fear the devil. We can have peace.
00:31:02.043 First John 4:18 says this, "Such love has no fear, because perfect love
00:31:07.864 expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment.
00:31:12.364 And this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love."
00:31:16.983 See, I really sense
00:31:19.743 God wants you to know this. We can be so sure and secure and at peace with his
00:31:23.673 perfect love, with the reality that he loves us so much that he would prefer to
00:31:28.204 spend forever with you. He would choose to do that.
00:31:30.603 And if he had to come to earth to do it only for you, he would do it for you.
00:31:34.114 He would die on the cross for you, only you, because he loves you that much.
00:31:38.554 He desires that relationship, that nearness with you that much, and he wants you to
00:31:42.513 be secure in his love.
00:31:46.173 I can have no fear because he took the punishment on the cross that was due in my
00:31:49.084 name, and he took it, and he rescued me. He forgave me.
00:31:54.873 Now let's talk about heaven. Okay, we're shifting gears a little bit.
00:31:57.033 So all right, I'm glad we're out of that hell box. Let's talk about heaven.
00:32:01.893 Let's talk about the other side of eternity destination.
00:32:04.593 What's awesome is that for believers, for Christians, for followers of Jesus, we
00:32:08.313 have the judgment seat of Christ. And this is so phenomenal because God, as a good
00:32:12.454 and righteous judge, not only does he not hold our sins against us, not only does
00:32:16.443 he spare us and treat us like he would have treated his perfect Son, he also then
00:32:21.723 gives us bonus time here on Earth. From the moment that we surrender our life to
00:32:25.683 him, we're living in bonus time.
00:32:28.834 Any soccer fans in here?
00:32:31.143 It's like bonus time in soccer, right? All the added times.
00:32:33.753 Like you've been saved, now I got extra time to score some points.
00:32:36.603 You got some extra time to rack up some rewards.
00:32:39.334 Second Corinthians 5:10 describes it.
00:32:41.313 It says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each
00:32:46.383 one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad."
00:32:50.824 Now, this is not talking about whether or not you're entering into heaven, whether
00:32:53.973 you're coming through heaven's gates.
00:32:56.253 And truthfully, the bad that Jesus could perhaps have a conversation with you about
00:33:01.593 is more geared toward, "Hey, I had better for you here on Earth.
00:33:05.493 There were some other opportunities.
00:33:06.933 In my perfect will, I had something beautiful for you, and you missed out on it,
00:33:11.973 but I'm not going to hold it against you forever." That's the bad.
00:33:15.753 The good is reward. And I don't know.
00:33:19.353 Jet ski, beach house, whatever the case may be. Heaven is a real place.
00:33:23.913 It's a real destination. In fact, in Hebrews chapter 11, the Hall of Faith, it
00:33:28.683 literally says that God built a city for his righteous ones.
00:33:31.114 So he's building a literal city, a literal dwelling place and ruling place for us
00:33:34.834 to be with him forever in bliss, in paradise.
00:33:39.873 My encouragement to us, those of us in this room that have surrendered our life,
00:33:42.933 that trusted in Jesus' sacrifice and his love, his forgiveness for us,
00:33:48.513 what are we doing with our bonus time? We got extra time. We got extra time.
00:33:54.183 I'll put it to you this way. We can enhance the conversation at the throne.
00:34:00.093 What conversation do you want to have with Jesus at the throne?
00:34:04.188 There's a lot of great, beautiful discussion that can be had at his throne
00:34:10.128 as you look into his eyes and he says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
00:34:14.748 In every moment that we have from now until we cross over into eternity, we have
00:34:19.248 bonus time to enhance that conversation and to get rewarded.
00:34:23.929 Ultimately, the greatest reward is Jesus.
00:34:26.179 The greatest reward is him, in my opinion. It's like, "Bar none.
00:34:28.878 Here's my crown." We're ruling and reigning with him, so he gives us crowns, but,
00:34:32.088 "Here's my crown. You can have it. I can only accomplish anything because you were
00:34:35.628 with me the whole time."
00:34:38.209 That's it. But we have the privilege and the pleasure of stacking up that
00:34:44.808 bonus sheet, stacking up those rewards, right?
00:34:47.478 And experiencing even eternal life and his glory and goodness here now in this
00:34:51.588 life, not just when we cross over on the other side of eternity.
00:35:00.468 What does the Bible say about heaven? Many different descriptors.
00:35:04.278 Since the Steelers have already played, we're going to read all 276 times that
00:35:08.449 heaven is mentioned in the New Testament.
00:35:10.218 We're going to unpack each and every one so you have a very good idea, very good
00:35:12.888 understanding of what heaven's going to be like. Just kidding. We'll mention a few.
00:35:17.418 What's heaven like? No pain, no death, no sadness, no tears.
00:35:22.518 What else? God's perfect, unrestrained, manifest presence.
00:35:28.188 Perfect peace, perfect joy. My goodness, guys. It is going to be a beauty.
00:35:35.028 Just a beauty to experience. Peace like you've never had before.
00:35:38.778 Joy and satisfaction like you've never had before.
00:35:41.868 Realizing just how you love like you've never known before in his presence.
00:35:47.298 That's my favorite one that's listed. A new creation.
00:35:50.118 He's going to create a new heaven and a new Earth.
00:35:52.579 Once it's all said and done, or he's going to at least regenerate it.
00:35:55.308 He's going to regenerate and make a pristine heaven and Earth, which we will rule
00:35:59.658 and reign with Jesus forever, experiencing his glory beyond comparison.
00:36:05.718 Joyful fellowship and worship with him and with other believers.
00:36:10.608 That's pretty cool. We get to talk to the heroes of the faith and ask them like,
00:36:15.018 "Hey, Peter, what were you thinking when you cut off that guy's ear?" I know that's
00:36:19.848 just a fun one I want to ask Peter, but there's a lot better questions than that.
00:36:23.478 Just kind of curious. A lot of questions.
00:36:26.058 We get to have joyful fellowship with one another. Brothers and sisters. Why?
00:36:29.058 It's a family reunion. It's a hey, we're here. We're all here. It's time to live.
00:36:33.498 It's time to party. It's time to have some fun. It's time to rule and reign.
00:36:37.788 That is God's ultimate intent and desire for us.
00:36:39.918 He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance to
00:36:43.758 know him.
00:36:50.058 With what the Bible says, with that in mind, how do we want to live this life with
00:36:53.148 an eternal perspective?
00:36:56.058 See, this life is but one single drop
00:37:01.158 in all the seas, rivers, lakes in this Earth.
00:37:04.668 This moment in comparison to forever, in eternity, just a quick moment, a quick
00:37:08.688 blip.
00:37:10.638 It's a dressing room for eternity.
00:37:15.767 How do we want to live our life with that perspective?
00:37:18.468 I would say, first and foremost,
00:37:20.959 take the benefit now in this life of your inheritance in Christ.
00:37:25.188 What do I mean by that? In John 17:3, Jesus says that eternal life is this.
00:37:31.218 He actually says what eternal life is.
00:37:32.778 Yes, we can assume, oh, eternal means forever. Life is life.
00:37:36.018 Okay, we're going to live forever.
00:37:37.218 Jesus actually says in John 17:3 that, "Eternal life is this, to know God and to
00:37:42.408 know Jesus Christ who you sent." That's what he said it is, to know him.
00:37:47.478 Without
00:37:49.098 Jesus, heaven isn't heaven, right? To know him. It's heaven. It's perfect.
00:37:53.118 It's paradise because he's there.
00:37:55.459 And so we get to get a little foretaste of what eternity, what heaven will be like
00:37:59.239 by knowing him here now, by diving into his word, by having communication with him
00:38:03.709 in prayer, by worshiping him, by having relationships with one another in the
00:38:07.518 family of God. We get a foretaste of what eternal life is like
00:38:13.608 here now.
00:38:16.098 How else might we live?
00:38:19.608 The beauty of it is, is that we are ultimately citizens in heaven.
00:38:22.459 We're just passing through. And God has given us the power, the authority, through
00:38:27.199 his Holy Spirit, through his word, to be ambassadors, to be representatives of him,
00:38:33.318 representatives of heaven everywhere we go.
00:38:37.788 In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 19 through 21. I'll take a quick pause.
00:38:42.798 If you are getting water baptized at this time, very excited to celebrate you guys
00:38:46.158 in a moment. You are released and dismissed to go change and get ready to be water
00:38:51.588 baptized as we celebrate you.
00:38:58.038 2 Corinthians 5:19, "For God was in Christ
00:39:02.898 reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them.
00:39:09.258 And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
00:39:15.079 So we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us.
00:39:19.758 We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God.' For God made Christ, who
00:39:24.768 never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with
00:39:29.959 God through Christ."
00:39:33.468 See, he calls you a son and a daughter, and then he says, "Hey, you got me.
00:39:38.179 I'm going to walk with you. Go represent me. Go be my ambassador.
00:39:41.959 Go be my representative." And how beautiful it is that when we implore others,
00:39:48.018 encourage others, share our faith with others, saying, "Hey, come back to God.
00:39:51.739 God loves you. He wants to spend forever with you.
00:39:53.989 There's so much more than this life. There's so much better for your life.
00:39:57.858 Come and take it."
00:39:59.868 When we do that, God's making his appeal through us to be reconciled and to be
00:40:03.679 restored.
00:40:06.048 There was a thought, a story that kind of came to my head
00:40:11.298 really just the other day, and I share it just to create a sense of urgency in that
00:40:17.179 aspect of, hey, we are making an appeal. Come back to God.
00:40:21.348 And so in comparison, we know that Jesus left his throne, he left heaven, he came
00:40:26.658 to Earth. You see, Jesus had the foresight and the foreknowledge of what was on the
00:40:30.438 other side of eternity. Every moment that he lived here on Earth had the foresight
00:40:35.508 knowing what is on the other side of eternity.
00:40:39.018 And so everywhere he went, he talked about the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of
00:40:43.218 darkness. He talked about heaven, and he talked about hell as real places.
00:40:47.989 He had the foreknowledge of what was going to happen.
00:40:50.418 He had the foreknowledge of the destruction that would ensue if we did not give our
00:40:54.709 lives, we did not turn to God and say, "God, I want you. I need you.
00:40:57.558 I want to be led by you." He knew the destruction that would take place if not.
00:41:06.258 September 11th, 2001. Many of us know about what happened at the World Trade Center
00:41:11.898 in the
00:41:13.848 terrorist attack that ensued on 9/11.
00:41:20.028 If I gave you an opportunity with the knowledge that you have now about that day
00:41:25.758 to go back to September 11th, 2001, and stand outside the World Trade Center
00:41:32.118 as you see men and women coming to work,
00:41:35.538 what would you do?
00:41:38.209 How would you respond?
00:41:41.959 What urgency would you carry
00:41:45.348 knowing what you know about what would later take place?
00:41:52.429 And so I'm not saying that when we call people to be reconciled to God, that we
00:41:58.008 have to-- I don't know about you, but if I'm outside in that moment, I'm wrestling
00:42:01.218 people not to get in. I'm going to wrestle you not to get in the door, to not go
00:42:05.329 inside that building, with intense urgency.
00:42:07.938 And so I'm not saying that you have to get up in people's face and be aggressive or
00:42:11.898 be super
00:42:13.998 combative
00:42:16.728 about the reality
00:42:19.429 of life everlasting. However, I do think, I do believe that there is a great sense
00:42:25.398 of urgency that God would have us walk in as we share his love, his goodness, his
00:42:31.158 truth, the reality of heaven with our friends, our family, our neighbors, our
00:42:36.288 coworkers around us, that there would be great urgency. Why?
00:42:39.199 We have some foreknowledge. We have some foresight.
00:42:41.628 Just as Jesus did, he has now given it to us, and we are now stewards of that.
00:42:47.268 And the good news is, is that often if we are just enjoying our relationship with
00:42:51.168 God, that will overflow, and it will make people curious.
00:42:54.168 Why do you carry such peace in the midst of this ridiculous situation that you're
00:42:57.858 in? Why are you so joyful when everybody at work is always complaining?
00:43:04.398 Why are you always so kind and patient, even when people are spouting off to you?
00:43:09.672 See, that's the ultimate attractor.
00:43:11.592 It's more about living life eternal, living that relationship with Him, than it is
00:43:16.123 about standing on a corner and preaching.
00:43:18.853 Although if God tells you to do that, go ahead. That's great.
00:43:22.302 But with the urgency of the hour, the urgency of Jesus loves you so much, He wants
00:43:26.202 to spend forever with you. Can I share with you what God's done in my life, and how
00:43:30.732 He's transformed my life? That we may live in loving kindness with urgency
00:43:37.272 about what is on the other side, about how good our God is, that wants to spend
00:43:41.112 forever with each and every person that He created with supreme
00:43:46.242 value in His eyes. If you guys could please stand to your feet.
00:43:58.392 I'm going to ask that we close our eyes.
00:43:59.952 Not anything magical or mystical about having our eyes closed.
00:44:03.492 Sometimes it's just about eliminating distraction.
00:44:07.932 You see, we're here this morning, and we have the opportunity to talk about
00:44:13.302 some topics that, quite frankly, aren't always so comfortable to talk about.
00:44:17.142 Some are great. We love talking about heaven.
00:44:18.883 Some, with death and hell, not as
00:44:24.492 easy to wrestle with.
00:44:28.302 But as followers of Jesus, I want to encourage you above all else that the supreme
00:44:32.712 love, the care, the affection that God has for you, that God
00:44:38.322 demonstrated
00:44:41.982 by shedding His blood on the cross for you,
00:44:46.032 that we can walk in peace and security and satisfaction and purpose in this life
00:44:51.373 with that reality each and every day.
00:44:54.732 So maybe we're here this morning, and the goal is, "Jared, I'm just grateful that I
00:44:59.232 get to be called a child of God. I'm grateful that because of Jesus, my eternity is
00:45:03.732 sealed and secure with Him forever." And so heart of gratitude I want to express to
00:45:09.402 God. I would encourage you in this moment to express your gratitude to God.
00:45:12.432 Perhaps you're here this morning, you say, "Jared, I don't know that I pay all that
00:45:17.922 much thought to this." And honestly, this might be the first time you're hearing
00:45:21.702 it, and that's okay.
00:45:24.282 That's okay because that's why God put us here,
00:45:28.992 to show the reality of His love, His goodness, and His kingdom, and His desire to
00:45:34.242 have a relationship with you. That you can walk in the forgiveness and the freedom,
00:45:39.432 the peace and security that comes from knowing Jesus and knowing your sins are
00:45:44.262 forgiven. So if you're here this morning, and you don't know beyond a shadow of a
00:45:48.312 doubt, God forbid anything would ever happen, that you don't know beyond a
00:45:54.133 shadow of a doubt where you may spend eternity,
00:45:57.672 but you say, "Jared, I want to know Jesus. I want to surrender my life to Him.
00:46:01.332 I want to be forgiven, and I want to know Him." If that's you here this morning,
00:46:06.552 with great courage, I just ask you simply slip up your hand so that I can pray a
00:46:11.232 special prayer for you as you would begin your journey in walking with Jesus this
00:46:16.512 morning.
00:46:23.172 Amen.
00:46:26.052 Heavenly Father, we're so grateful. Thank you, God, for paying it all on the cross.
00:46:29.592 We thank you, Lord God, that you haven't left us unaware, you haven't left us
00:46:32.802 without clarity, without some instruction of how we may live this life in the scope
00:46:38.623 of eternity, with eyes set on eternity, Lord God.
00:46:42.253 I thank you, Jesus, that at times life, Lord, sometimes feels mundane, feels
00:46:47.742 tiring, feels confusing. I thank you, Lord, that we would have a great peace and
00:46:51.913 clarity as we move forward, as we follow you, as we trust you.
00:46:56.322 Knowing, God, that you are always with us, that you desire to always be with us, so
00:46:59.232 much so to invite us to spend eternity with you in the afterlife.
00:47:00.822 much so to invite us to spend eternity with you in the afterlife.
00:47:05.292 And Lord, I thank you that you say that the gates of hell will never prevail
00:47:09.163 against your church.
00:47:11.472 That the assignments, the attacks of the enemy stand no chance because of the
00:47:16.272 power, the authority, the love and affection you have for us, Jesus.
00:47:20.112 I thank you that you help us to see that, to walk in it, to harness that
00:47:24.133 relationship with you.
00:47:26.712 Lord, that every person outside these walls, as they see us this week, they would
00:47:31.452 see the marking of heaven, the marking of eternity on us.
00:47:34.873 That's on us because of your Holy Spirit.
00:47:37.722 We thank you that you call us children and co-heirs with you, that you call us to
00:47:41.322 rule and reign with you forever.
00:47:44.083 Thank you so much, God.
00:47:46.572 We love you. We honor you. It's in your precious name that we pray. Amen.
00:47:53.353 You may be seated. Thank you, guys, so much, and thanks, brother.
00:47:56.682 I appreciate that.