The Next Chapter: The Truth About Heaven and Hell, Part 2

Today on planet life with Jeannie Greer. John includes in his final vision, a glimpse of the other destination we ignore to our peril. See most people think the default destination is heaven miserable bingo you don't really mess up. You'll really screw up and go to heaven but my lectures as Bible teaching ministry religion Jeannie Greer. As always, I'm your host Molly events okay let the week feeling a little bit uncomfortable what you say never pleasant subjects, but in the back of all of our minds. We all know that it's eventually coming right so what happens after we die is having a real place or more pressing for some of us is hell today. Pastor Jenny talks about the two possible internal destinations that we are each destined for.

He titled this message the next chapter, the truth about heaven and hell. If the very last sermon in our overview of the Bible, titled the whole story. If you've missed any part of this life changing perspective teaching series. You can hear every message free of charge Greer.com right now let's dive on Revelation 21 verse one John said that I saw a new heaven and a new for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. So the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them now and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away and he who was seated on the throne said, behold I make all things new. Also, he said to me write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end to give you five words that describe the vision that we see of heaven in these last few chapters. Five words all start with our first word is renewal renewal verse one John describes a new heaven and a new earth British theologian NT Wright says that we get a glimpse of this in the resurrection of Jesus. A glimpse of our future. It was a glimpse of the world's future antibody that you could see and touch and antibody that people recognize the newly was the eight food yet. His body did not have the same limitation of the flies around. At one point he operates in her room.

NT Wright says one day God is good with the entire cosmos what is already done with the resurrected Jesus. Jesus resurrection was the appetizer to the full course meal restoration.

There was a trailer to the blockbuster film of redemption. In other words, it's everything that we loved about the old creation minus the curse of sin.

Number two is renewal number two reunion reunion. That's verse three.

Heaven is where God and his people are reunited together in heaven were to be reunited with all of our loved ones and friends who died in Jesus here. This is heaven's greatest joys reunion in the greatest reunion is reunion with God himself and there we will enjoy his eternal and loving and omnipotent companionship forever and ever and our hearts will be so filled with love and delight and joy. Know how to containment number three release release verse four he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more need to.

Shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore, for the former things are passed away.

What it means is that he transforms our pain into joy. Paul uses two images to talk about how will think about our pain in heaven verses in Romans eight and it's the image of giving birth is a life now is like being in labor the pains of labor that are very painful but there almost forgotten about the moment that you hold that new child in your arms.

That's the first image the second image Paul uses is in first Corinthians 15 he says death death in that day is swallowed up in victory that works what would you swallow something becomes part of you in the same way Paul says our experiences with pain and death make the end product sweeter and even more beautiful than if we had not gone through them.

Number four for reassignment. Look at how heaven gets described in chapter 22. They are his servants will serve him. God is going to assigned to us each a very fulfilling work in heaven. You see, God is how your shape. He knows how he designs you knows what you love to do for the first time some of you are going to know what it means to live according to your calling because you get to experience it here on earth.

Maybe life maybe bad decisions of yours or maybe just the way life went your job, you'll never be in a job or your real potential is released.

They are going to worry about not finding that on earth because their God will have you working at your fullest potential will be reassigned. Number five last one rain range of 20 verse five. There they will reign forever and ever.

I'm not exactly sure whom we ran over how we rain, but I am looking forward to finding out the point I want you to take away from this is, you are destined to be royalty destined to be an insignificant groveling peon with no importance or no responsibility God created you to be a reigning prince or princess start acting that way renewal reunion release reassignment rain before I conclude this section will meet with draw just a handful of things I think this means for us to reflect on it with you is A put up your bucket list is a bucket list all the things you want to do before you die because you assume you'll never have a chance to do them again. That's not true for a Christian when Jesus says he's making all things new, would not include all the mountain stars, rivers, oceans, planets, animals, cultural arts, music, architecture, and even extreme sports that you never got to experience on earth is all means all Revelation 2126 even says that we will bring into heaven the glory and honor of the nations which were scholars say means the best of culture.

There's only one thing that we can't do there that we can do here tell people about Jesus. That is the one thing we will not get a chance to do their so why not give your life to pursuing that instead of some silly bucket list item. You can experience a better version of in heaven. Anyway, put winning people to Jesus on your bucket list to make the last chapters of your life about pursuing that not pursuing something that you get a better version of in heaven. Your site 1B stop being depressed about aging summary really bothered by this.

It depresses you to watch beauty say what your body decline your excitement right is not pretty to watch a fight of his refinement. I did it. I'm 43 years old now.

I'm already filamentous.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning sore and all I did the night before was sleep Mike sleep. He made me sore somehow one from this position, the deposition strain my body so I can walk straight for the next six hours brothers and sisters. I got good news I got a glorified version of this body waiting on me to stop being depressed about passing your peak.

You never pass your peak yet a better version of your mind, your muscles in your beauty that is awaiting you there.

C let's teach our kids to look forward to this, he said them, teach them that for all my love on earth and have a better and heavenly version of a bear when they're going down a water slide don't say what you better enjoy now. His reign will be no water in heaven teach them.

They have a heavenly father of endless goodness and endless creativity.

Help them imagine what's what's cotton candy good taste like you have. Let's teach our kids that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift and that I has not seen or is your noise even in the heart of a child what God has prepared for those you love him and that we have a heavenly father who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and they can trust him in life as well as in the next life and death and never let go of his and night D use of more than you need to understand what your longing for you to understand what your longing for CS Lewis once said that the fact that we long for something beyond the grave is a strong indication that that thing actually exist uses the analogy of a face. He said the fish complain because the wet fish like feel constrained in the sea.

He said if they felt constrained in the CMA didn't like being wet. That would be a strong argument that they were not designed to be or destined to be aquatic creatures. Many says this way along as humans to step out of the sea of time and onto the land of eternity does not show that were created for eternity if I find myself a desire which nothing in this world can satisfy the best argument is that I was created for another world missing some of you will struggle to believe I know your spiritual seekers your doubters or agnostics you want to believe that you struggle with it. I want you to wrestle with the fact that there is something in you that knows you were created more for more than simply getting a job and procreating that love that you feel the longing for meaning that you have.

These are not just illusions created by chemicals in our brains program by evolution and survival mechanisms that help us propagate our DNA to the future faster than our neighbor did quit telling yourself that it's courageous to embrace that life is meaningless and realize that it's not so much courageous as it is unnatural and counterintuitive. You long for meaning and eternity because you were created with meaning by an eternal God, and you're never going to find yourself fulfilled in life are satisfied until you're in right relationship to him. If I find myself I desire which nothing in the world can satisfy the best argument is not that my my my my particular chemical makeup has created an illusion of consciousness. The best argument is out is that I was created for another world was much as I want to love in the message. Rather, I would like braille school is my guess what I wanted and not because I'm tired.

But this is theologically what I wanted but I can't do that because John includes in his final vision, a glimpse of the other destination. Now we ignore it to our peril. See most people think the default destination is heaven visible bingo you don't really mess up you really screw up. Then you go to heaven but the Bible actually presents a different picture.

Let's go back to where we left off in Revelation 21. Listen to what John says there per se, 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 as I get into this just for a couple minutes or few minutes here as I wrestle with this this week up all the words of Charles Spurgeon that these are such weighty things such that when I dwell upon them. I feel more inclined to sit down a week that I do, to stand here and speak to you whether in here for a reason.

There are three things about hell that we learn from his last two chapters number one Hell is a place of eternal torment. The images are awful fire burning sulfur eternal death. There is some question as to what is metaphor in Revelation was literal billing also told you a few weeks ago. Even if these things are symbols.

They point to a terrible reality in the book of Revelation. The reality is always more terrible than the symbol. The symbol is just the closest earthly representation of the awful reality. So whatever they're pointing to is unspeakably awful people.

So was it really eternal. My have to assume so because the same word that's used for everlasting life is used for everlasting death. This is the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. Jonathan Edwards the 18th century American theologian, the city taken seriously. Here's what you have to think about imagine yourself cast into a fiery oven, glowing with heat and imagine that your body was going to lie there for quarter of an hour full of fire inside and out, feeling every fiber of it the whole time, what horror would you feel at the entrance of such a furnace, and how long with 1/4 of an hour seem to drag on to you if you were measured by an hourglass house slowly with the time seem to go in after you had endured it for one minute. How overbearing would it be for you to think that you had another 14 minutes left. But what if you knew you must lie there and during that torment in its fullness for 24 hours how much greater.

Even if you knew you must endure for a whole year. How much greater. Still, if you knew you must endure 5000 years.

What happened to your heart if you knew you must bear in forever and ever, that there would be no in that upper millions and millions of ages your torment would be no nearer to Anand than before and that you should never never be rescued at your torment in hell will be immeasurably greater than this.

How utterly inexpressible and inconceivable how your heart and soul would sink in such a case, it will sometimes hear them say, but how is that fair eternity in hell for only 70 years of sin told you before that sin gained its wickedness by the one by the majesty of the one against whom it is committed to punch a wall that's a bad thing. You gotta pay for the wall you punch a dog that's an even worse thing you punch the lady in the line of the rooster next to you and you want to jail. You walk up to the present United States. The Queen of England and try to punch him or something worse in jail is going to happen to you sin against an infinitely holy God is infinitely wicked sin against the eternal God wants eternal punishment. It's not the duration of the crime is the dignity of the one against whom the crime is committed, that determines the severity of the punishment, he said, why can't I just let it go because God is just injustices the foundation of the universe and justice demands restitution in some way we hate it when we see justice aborted. Do we not I don't you hate it when you win when you see somebody get away with not only hate it when we see a court decision. We really disagree with somebody gets away with gross injustice for some of you that might be O.J. Simpson brothers of you might be George Zimmerman. God will ultimately right all wrongs and restore justice to the universe.

And that's what hell is he so why doesn't God do something about it as they put on Jesus the full punishment for your sin. He took every single ounce of it, so none of it will be left for you but if you don't receive it from him. If you offer that you what else can he do this is only two ways to pay for Sam eternal son of God Tempe fort on the cross, or you can pay for yourself eternally and help if you don't receive what he is offered to you and what other choices you have. You see, you either say to Jesus in this life. I will be done early says to you in eternity but I will be done.

Which leads me to number two, hell is a door lock from the inside held the door lock me inside through the angel said or notice when the angel says about hell in Revelation 22 verse 11 go this might be one of the most illuminating verses in Scripture about hell let the evildoer still remain evil, but the filthy still remain healthy, filthy, and the righteous still do right and always still be holy. This, in the lesson people eternity don't change the people in hell don't repent. They remain filthy they remain depraved they remain evildoers, they remain resistant to the authority of God they don't like his rule. They remain unbelieving, their hearts remain unjust and corrupt that it is a door lock from the inside. Yes, they hate the torment, but they hate the authority of God even more. Some theologians have said that this is what is being communicated by the image of eternal fire and the worm that never dies. Fire represents insensible desire to leave the fire and checked and it continues to grow into a burn down everything. That's what sin is like if we don't receive exhibit Jesus invitation to save us again. Syphilis clearly describes he said. Hell begins with a grumbling mood inside you that's always complaining, always better always blaming others and at first it feels like it's going to stink from you. It's sort of like something you can control that you like about yourself that you're trying to get over exhibit left unchecked, it grows and grows until it consumes you until becomes an inextricable part of your personality you become your grumbling hell is where the sins that you wouldn't repent of on earth consume you burning like a never ceasing fire in your heart, you become your jealousy and insecurity you become your selfishness and materialism become your racism, your hate, your pride, your bitterness or dishonesty, your suspicion, your lack of trust in your fear, though, since you would not repent of on earth grow and grow until they consume you and they just will, you only Jesus can remove the curse of sin from your heart, and he does it when you turn to him in repentance and faith in grout for healing to death present this.

Once you cross over it. You will remain fixed in the state that you are and you cannot repent of your sin and you wouldn't want to even if you could let the evildoer still do evil in the filthy still be filthy by the way. That's why God can't let centers in heaven. God let people in heaven with sin. We then leased the destructors destructive powers of hell thereto. Soon heaven will be filled with rape and pride and violence and dishonesty and treachery and cruelty we would turn heaven and hell. That's why hell exist because it is the natural fruition of our sin and those people who refuse to repent of their sin, and separate themselves in there since there is no other choice, and that they go to the place that they have chosen for themselves. That's the end of salmon people who will not repent of it. Number three hell not heaven is our default destination told you. Most people believe that heaven is the default that along you'll mess up really bad you to go to heaven but that is not true.

Scripture presents the opposite is true that God did not create you for hell he created you for heaven but see you when I are part of a race that has rebelled together against God, and we have set out to be in charge of my life, rather than God. And because of that we are all sinners and because of our sin.

We are all headed to where our sin is taking us. Notice the brats of who is described as going to hell in verse eight. You see it back to 21 verse eight you got the ones in that list you expect murderers, sorcerers, but includes a lot of people that listen to this could be found in the church. The cowardly those who would never stand for Jesus in front of their friends. Those who would not confess Jesus for others they wanted to keep their relationship with Jesus in private thing, but they never had the courage to actually obey him, this the faithless. That's those who went along in the church would never really trusted God enough to actually obey him in these areas. For example, the finances mailed to sing songs in church with a never obeyed God with their relationships with their finances. They were faithless idolaters, those who would put God first in their lives while they may church a regular part of their schedule. But God was never really first and there are liars. Those who came to church but whose submission to God was not sincere into the relationship with God. They portray busted an audience like this one is different from the relationship God actually have.

There is not one of us who has not been found in Ms. list at some point, which means that every one of us by default is headed for hell, but it doesn't have to be that way for you as a lookout shot into the book mobile Revelation answer by saying the spirit of the bride say, come. You don't have to go to hell when you hear say come let the one who is thirsty, but the one who desires the water of life without price. You see Jesus Christ suffer the full penalty for your sins or that you would have to not enforce it on you.

You have to come you have to receive it. He paid it all. Message of the book of Revelation tells you that the last voice your hearing is Jesus Christ saying you don't have to do this I died. I suffered every bit of your sandwich. You have got repent of it and you got to receive me as your Savior. So here's the way I want to in the whole store. The whole sermon series is one question that you personally receive Jesus as your Savior bottoming you go to church to meet your parents. Christians how to meet you read your Bible, sometimes but had you ever surrendered your heart to Jesus Christ and acknowledge that he is the Lord of your life and receive the gift of salvation that he offers. You have to receive it personally. Are you sure that you received because these are such weighty matters. That makes me want to wait now to make you sit up and asked this question.

Are you sure that you have trusted Christ personally, as your Savior.

Trust in Christ is twofold repentance and faith, repentance means you surrender control of your life. Faith means you receive the gift that he offers you is your own.

If you know you need to receive Jesus or you're not sure if you ever have you do it right now in this very moment by simply surrendering control of your life to Jesus and receiving him as your Savior that would sound like this you can even use the words of the prayer I'm going to give you sound like this, Jesus you're the Lord, not me. I surrender to you right now to say that so many are Jesus you're the Lord, not me.

I surrender my life to you, Jesus.

I receive you as my Savior to pay for my sin and take me to heaven so I receive you as my Savior to pay for my sin and take me to heaven just prayed that prayer render to God theory first time we'd like to pray with you and help you take the next apps get in touch when you visit JD Greer.com or give us a call right now at 866-335-5220 you're listening to Senate life Bible teaching ministry of JD Greer's message is a conclusion of a study that we've been in for the past few months called the whole story we've gone from Genesis to Revelation were discovering how every page tells the story of the gospel. We are trusting this series has been a blessing and a point of significant growth for you in your walk with the Lord.

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