Preparing to talk about the End of the World
Heaven, Hell and End of the World • Sermon • Submitted
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Happy Mother’s Day! So this morning we continue in this series of Eternal Realities.
This morning I want to take some time to prepare us for the upcoming weeks. We will be talking about the end of the world but before we talk about the end of the World we need to take some time to prepare our hearts to even talk about this.
We first need to pause
We first need to pause
We need to recognize that so much of what we spend our time on today will not matter 10 years from now.
I have good childhood memories of playing sports. The games that meant so much to me then do not matter to me anymore. One of my friends was a farm girl and she played baseball for as long as she could against the boys. I remember many nights at the ballpark at the age of 8 or 9 that her mother would bribe me to lose games and if I would lose she would by me something at the concession stand.
Today I have a hard time remembering if we won or lost some of those games and I can’t even remember if she ever got me something from the concession stand.
The point is that what we spend our time on today much of that will not matter in 10 years.
What does matter is the things that are Eternal. Heaven, Hell and the Gospel. These things matter. Eternity is at stake for everyone in our community and this matters.
“Let no one apologize for the powerful emphasis Christianity lays upon the doctrine of the world to come. Right there lies its immense superiority to everything else within the whole sphere of human thought or experience. When Christ arose from death and ascended into heaven He established forever three important facts; namely, that this world has been condemned to ultimate dissolution, that the human spirit persists beyond the grave and that there is indeed a world to come .... e church is constantly being tempted to accept this world as her home, and sometimes she has listened to the blandishments of those who would woo her away and use her for their own ends. But if she is wise she will consider that she stands in the valley between the mountain peaks of eternity past and eternity to come. e past is gone forever and the present is passing as swift as the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz. Even if the earth should continue a million years, not one of us could stay to enjoy it. We do well to think of the long tomorrow.” A.W. Tozer
“Let no one apologize for the powerful emphasis Christianity lays upon the doctrine of the world to come. Right there lies its immense superiority to everything else within the whole sphere of human thought or experience. When Christ arose from death and ascended into heaven He established forever three important facts; namely, that this world has been condemned to ultimate dissolution, that the human spirit persists beyond the grave and that there is indeed a world to come .... The church is constantly being tempted to accept this world as her home, and sometimes she has listened to the blandishments of those who would woo her away and use her for their own ends. But if she is wise she will consider that she stands in the valley between the mountain peaks of eternity past and eternity to come. The past is gone forever and the present is passing as swift as the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz. Even if the earth should continue a million years, not one of us could stay to enjoy it. We do well to think of the long tomorrow.” A.W. Tozer
The baseball and softball games we play today will not matter in 10 years or a million years. It is the Gospel. It is teaching about grace, forgiveness, patience, love, joy, and the resurrection of Jesus that matter.
“Let no one apologize for the powerful emphasis Christianity lays upon the doctrine of the world to come. Right there lies its immense superiority to everything else within the whole sphere of human thought or experience. When Christ arose from death and ascended into heaven He established forever three important facts; namely, that this world has been condemned to ultimate dissolution, that the human spirit persists beyond the grave and that there is indeed a world to come .... e church is constantly being tempted to accept this world as her home, and sometimes she has listened to the blandishments of those who would woo her away and use her for their own ends. But if she is wise she will consider that she stands in the valley between the mountain peaks of eternity past and eternity to come. e past is gone forever and the present is passing as swift as the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz. Even if the earth should continue a million years, not one of us could stay to enjoy it. We do well to think of the long tomorrow.” A.W. Tozer
We are going to think about the long tomorrow.
We need to listen and discuss with humility.
We need to listen and discuss with humility.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Let’s minimize the thoughts of man and magnify the truth of God.
Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son— if you know?
No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven —the Son of Man.
The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven
For anyone who truly believes the biblical record, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that these modern testimonies—with their relentless self-focus and the relatively scant attention they pay to the glory of God—are simply untrue. They are either figments of the human imagination (dreams, hallucinations, false memories, fantasies, and in the worst cases, deliberate lies), or else they are products of demonic deception.
Last week, Alex Malarkey himself weighed in with a short open letter.
We know this with absolute certainty, because Scripture definitively says that people do not go to heaven and come back: "Who has ascended to heaven and come down?" (). Answer: "No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man" (, emphasis added). All the accounts of heaven in Scripture are visions, not journeys taken by dead people. And even visions of heaven are very, very rare in Scripture. You can count them all on one hand.
trend away from biblical authority was even noted by a secular reporter in The New York Post. Consider the implications of this quotation:
Last week, Alex Malarkey himself weighed in with a short open letter.
Lynn Vincent, who ghost-wrote "Heaven is for Real" on behalf of the young boy Colton Burpo and his father, said that she was initially reluctant to include Colton's description of people in heaven having wings. "If I put that people in Heaven have wings, orthodox Christians are going to think that the book is a hoax." She did and they didn't.
Alex Malarkey himself weighed in with a short open letter.
An Open Letter to Lifeway and Other Sellers, Buyers, and Marketers of Heaven Tourism, by the Boy Who Did Not Come Back from Heaven
Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short.
I did not die. I did not go to heaven.
I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible.
It is only through repentance of your sins and a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died for your sins (even though he committed none of his own) so that you can be forgiven may you learn of heaven outside of what is written in the Bible . . . not by reading a work of man. I want the whole world to know that the Bible is sufficient. Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough.
In Christ,
Alex Malarkey
The biblical authors are all fixated on God's glory, which defines heaven and illuminates everything there. They are overwhelmed, chagrined, petrified, and put to silence by the sheer majesty of God's holiness. Notably missing from all the biblical accounts are the frivolous features and juvenile attractions that seem to dominate every account of heaven currently on the bestseller lists.
Lay aside our traditions and submit to God’s Word.
Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,
“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”
He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition?
For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.
But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”—
he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have revoked God’s word because of your tradition.
Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,
“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”
He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition?
For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and, The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.
But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”—
he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have revoked God’s word because of your tradition.
Dr. Rapinchuk messing with my traditions and proving that we bring things with us to scripture.
As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.
They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be:
As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.
They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be:
Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left.
Matthew 24:
Matthew 24:37
Let’s leave room for disagreement over second (and third) doctrines while celebrating agreement on primary doctrines.
Let’s leave room for disagreement over second (and third) doctrines while celebrating agreement on primary doctrines.
Let’s leave room for disagreement over secondary (and tertiary) doctrines while celebrating agreement on primary doctrines.
Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love,
diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.
There is one body and one Spirit —just as you were called to one hope at your calling—
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Christians divide from non-Christians over primary doctrines, and
Christians divide from non-Christians over primary doctrines, and
Christians are willing to die for these doctrines.
Churches separate themselves from one another over
secondary doctrines, yet they partner together around primary
doctrines.
Christians in the same church disagree with one another over tertiary
doctrines, but it does not in any way decrease the
intimacy of their fellowship with one another.
Guiding Principle ...
• in essentials, unity.
■
• in non-essentials, liberty.
• we need to live with .
Live with urgency
Live with compassion that compels us to lay down our lives for the lost.
I speak the truth in Christ —I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit —
that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart.
For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood.
Romans 9:
Jewish people who are persecuting Paul. They had beaten him and left him for dead and Paul says this about them.
Live with courage that defies death in this world.
May loyalty to God be more important to us than life itself.
Old Testament Saints...
These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.
Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return.
But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:
Women received their dead—they were raised to life again. Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection,
and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated.
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised,
since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.
New Testament Apostles
But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.
Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name.
Every day in the temple complex, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,
except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.
But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.
Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Martyrs
“Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia. Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece. John was put in a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos. Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward. James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem. James, the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club. Bartholomew was flayed alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died. Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded. Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica. Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.” Author Unknown
“No one makes us afraid or leads us into captivity as we have set our faith on Jesus. For though we are beheaded, and crucified, and exposed to beasts and chains and fire and all other forms of torture, it is plain that we do not forsake the confession of our faith, but the more things of this kind which happen to us the more are there others who become believers ... through the name of Jesus.” Justin Martyr
“ The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Tertullian
“Never did the church so much prosper and so truly thrive as when she was baptized in the blood. The ship of the church never sails so gloriously along as when the bloody spray of her martyrs falls on her deck. We must suffer and we must die, if we are ever to conquer this world for Christ.” Charles Spurgeon
“We do not know the value of Christ, if we will not cleave to Him unto death!” Robert Murray McCheyne
Words of Jesus
“Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known.
What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim on the housetops.
Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
May the mission in the world be more important to us than maintenance in our churches.
Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We need to pray
When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.
Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Matthew 9:
Our lives are at stake for eternity.
Our lives are at stake for eternity.
Others lives are at stake forever
Others lives are at stake forever
Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works.
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.