(pt. 3)
INTRO: “How
might I ascertain the church’s official view of heaven & hell?" To which one notable clergyman in the Church of England offered this pithy one word reply- "Die."
Praise be to God that we do not have to wait until we "cross over the other side" to find out about heaven and hell. Everything we need to know about the future has been preserved in the Word of God. We do not need to read Charismatic books about alleged "out of body experiences" in order to shore up our understanding of the future. In his grace, God has revealed everything we need to know about life and life after death in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:15-17). Any books, testimonies, or articles about heaven and hell need to be evaluated against the perfect backdrop of Scripture.
(Christian)
how much do you know about your eternal home? Is what you believe about heaven and hell
truly biblical?
Why does the apostle John include so many details about the eternal state when writing to the persecuted church in the first century (see Revelation 21:7)? "Those who overcome (true believers) shall inherit all this!" The sights and sounds of heaven should compel us to "keep on keeping on" in the strength of the Lord!
(Three) Heavenly Incentives for Christian
Perseverance:
On 10/28,
we saw:
1) In
heaven, _______________________________________________________________.
(Revelation
21:1; 4)
Last
Sunday, we saw and heard this:
2) In heaven, _______________________________________________________________.
(Revelation
21:2-3; Psalm 16:8-11)
Richard
Baxter- “Doubtless as God advances our senses and enlargens our capacity, so
will He advance the happiness of those senses and fill up with Himself all that
capacity…
We
shall then have light without a candle, and perpetual day without the
sun…”
Revelation
5:8-12, 22:14-17
How
do the “sights and sounds of heaven” help us to lift our eyes off of our earthly
struggles?
Next
Sunday we will “see and hear” this:
3)
In heaven, _______________________________________________________________.
(Revelation
21:4-5)
Holy Spirit help me to be a heavenly-minded
Christian and help us to be a heavenly-minded congregation! Use these glorious truths
about eternity to bolster our faith and to get each one of us across the
“finish line! For the glory of Christ we ask these things. Amen!”
For Further Reflection/Application:
We
must be doers of the Word and
not merely hearers
God
in His grace has told us everything we need to know about eternity in His
Word? How is this an important and
practical truth? Christian don’t fall
prey to books like “Heaven is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His
Trip to Heaven and Back.” Sadly, many
undiscerning believers undermine the sufficiency of Scripture when they promote
this sort of charismatic/experience stuff.
See Eph. 4:11-16.
How
much do you really know about heaven and hell?
Do you have any beliefs about the future/eternity that are sentimental,
but not biblical? How do you know?
We
should talk with non-Christians about important things like “life after death,”
right? Hebrews 9:27; Acts 17:16-34. Name three things about heaven than
unbelievers often believe that are not true.
A
practical word of wisdom. Even some
Christian authors are overly dogmatic about details related to heaven that are
not clearly revealed in Scripture. “Be
cautious of authoritative
speculations into mysteries not yet revealed.”
When
studying the subject of future things (including heaven), have you ever felt
like a child at the beach? It’s like
trying to capture the ocean in a sand bucket.
Why should this encourage us rather then discourage us?
Just
because you cannot understand something exhaustively does not mean that
something is not true (or important or knowable). This is true of God (and of heaven and hell).
Every
facet of glory that Jesus reveals to John in Revelation 21 and 22 is intended
to strengthen your Christian faith (resolve).
See Revelation 21:7.
The
Christian life is a marathon not a sprint.
How are heavenly promises used to help us cross the finish line? Provide a few biblical proof texts to support
your answer.
Which
of the three heavenly incentives for Christian perseverance resonates most with
your soul because of what you’ve been going through lately? Talk about it with another Christian this
week (encourage one another- 1 Thess. 4).
How
often do you meditate on the glories of heaven?
How often do we sing about eternity?
What can we do to live more heaven-focused lives when we are not at
church singing God’s praises and listening to sermons on Revelation 21-22?
Richard
Baxter- “Doubtless as God advances our senses and enlargens our capacity, so
will He advance the happiness of those senses and fill up with Himself all that
capacity…We shall then have light w/o a candle, and perpetual day w/o
the sun…”
Read
Psalm 16:8-11. Memorize Psalm 16:11 and
write down three of the practical implications of this verse. Revelation 4 and 5 provide a sneak peak of
what heavenly worship looks like.
Heaven
is not everyone’s final home. Do not
lose sight of what we talked about in Revelation 20:11-15.
Related Praise Songs: Theology
fuels Doxology! We dig deeply in order
that we may go high!
One
Day (When We All Get to Heaven)- Matt Redman
By
Faith- Keith and Kristyn Getty
Glorious
Day (Living He Love Me)
Is He
Worthy- Andrew Peterson
Light of Heaven- Fernando Ortega
Beyond the Sky- Fernando Ortega
Hallelujah What A Savior- new lyrics by Austin Stone
When the Roll is Called Up Yonder
Great is Thy Faithfulness
All That Thrills My Soul is Jesus
A City Called Heaven- Jubilant Sykes
Majesty of Heaven- Chris Tomlin
This We Know- Kristian Stanfill
Amazing Grace-
Eternal Praise- Enfield
Your Mercy is More- Matt Boswell and Boyce College Choir
It is Well with My Soul
Related Scripture
Passages: Search the Scriptures to see if these things be so.
Revelation 21:1-4; 5:8-14; 20:10-15; 22:3, 14-17; Psalm
16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 5:7-8; Hebrews 11; 1 John 3:2
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