Heaven, Hell, and Everything Inbetween

Firm Foundations • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

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“Here lies the body of old man peas, buried beneath the flowers and trees, but peas ain’t here, just the pod, peas shucked out and went to God.” When her husband of 50 years passed, she thought that it would be the perfect poem to recite at his funeral. She stood up and began the poem but as she looked out at the crowd she began to get nervous and it came out like this: “Here lies the body of old man peas, buried beneath the flowers and trees, but peas ain’t here, just the shell……..”and then came the awkward silence

The Moment a believer Dies

The moment a believer dies they are present with the Lord

2 Corinthians 5:8 “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Luke 23:43 “And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

This is immediate. I have been in enough rooms with dying people to assure you that when a believer dies there is peace; there is comfort and all is well in their soul.

This is not our eternal state. Our bodies will be physically resurrected.

Romans 8:23–24 “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?”

Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

Rev 22

Matthew 25 teaches us that there is a great separation and that there are only 2 options. Heaven and Hell.

Heaven

An ad for Heaven based in Revelation 21 reads "Free, beautiful homes to be given away in a perfect city! With: 100% pure water, no electric bills, perpetual lighting, permanent pavement, nothing undesirable, everything new, perfect health, immunity from accidents, best of society, beautiful music, free transportation."

Heaven is a place

John 14:1–3 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Acts 1:10–11 “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.””

Heaven is a real destination where people go. It is not a state of mind, or a way of being on Earth

The Bible speaks of three levels of Heaven- 2 Corinthians 12:2–4“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”

The Bible even gives us a clue of the location of Heaven- Isaiah 14:13–14 “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Heaven is where all that is broken is made whole again

Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

2 Corinthians 5:1–5 “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

The Garden of Eden was Heaven on Earth, and that is restored when Heaven is achieved

Heaven is perfect because God is perfect and Heaven is Gods dwelling place. We must remember that Heaven is made as a place for God and his worship not a place for us and our indulgence.

Heaven is for those who believe in Jesus

John 14:5–6 “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Hell

the word for "hell" is interesting. According to William Barclay, it literally referred to the Valley of Hinnom, to the South West of Jerusalem. William Barclay says "It was notorious as the place where Ahaz had introduced into Israel the fire worship of the heathen god Molech, to whom little children were burned in the fire. ... (2 Chronicles 28:3). Josiah, the reforming king, had stamped out that worship and had ordered that the valley should be forever after an accursed place. ...(2 Kings 23:10). In consequence of this, the Valley of Hinnom became the place where the refuse of Jesusalem was cast out and destroyed. It was a kind of public incinerator. Always the fire smouldered in it, and a pall of thick smoke lay over it, ... So Gehennah, the Valley of Hinnom, became identified in people’s minds with all that was accursed and filthy, the place where useless and evil things were destroyed. That is why it became a synonym for the place of God’s destroying power, for hell

created for the devil and the angles who rebelled Matthew 25:41 ““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Hell, too, is a real place

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Revelation 21:8“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

Hell is an eternal place

Matthew 25:41 ““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””

Mark 9:47–48 “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’”

Hell is not eternal because sin is eternal, but God’s offense to it is….

Hell is a place of punishment outside of the presence of God

Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, definesthe place of hell as “Hell is a place of total, conscious, eternal separation from the blessings of God. And there’s a sense in which hell is people getting exactly what they want which is eternal separation from God because they chose to go their entire lives and into death rejecting God

Luke 16:22–24 “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’”

2 Thessalonians 1:9 “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”

Lit: not in the face of God

This is not about doctrine, it is about destinies.

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