Dr.
Gary VanDeWalker
Evangelical
Free Church
Of Mount Shasta
Fall
2009
Week
One:
What is Eternity like right now?
Week
Two:
What is Eternity like in the New Earth
And Heaven? (Part One)
Week
Three:
What is
Eternity
like in the New Earth and Heaven? (Part Two)
Week
Four:
Tough
Questions about Eternity: Pets,
Babies,
and Hell
Week
Five:
What difference does Eternity make to my today?
Week
One:
What is
Eternity like right now?1. The Seven Wonders of
Sassafras Springs
2. There is a promise, John
14:1-3
.
a.
The
early church was preoccupied with Heaven as seen on tomb
inscriptions:
In
Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives
One
who lives with God
He
was taken up into his eternal home
b.
Paul’s
thoughts on Heaven
Philippians
1:21, 23; 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8
3. God has never given up
on His original plan
for humans to live on
earth.
a.
Heaven
is not an ethereal place of disembodied spirits.
b..
We
are each born with a terminal disease of mortality.
3
people die every second; 11,000 die every hour
250,000
people a day go to either heaven or hell.
c.
Our lives are a breath Psalm 39:4-5
d.
Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander
the Great, commissioned a servant to stand in his presence each day and
say,
"Philip, you will die."
e.
France's Louis XIV decreed that the
word death not be utter in his
presence.
f.
There
should be no fear of death, but people are unprepared
g.
Hebrews
2:14-15; 1
Corinthians 15:55
h.
Florence
Chadwick and swimming in the fog.
4.
You are about to be given a whirlwind
tour
a.
"The man who is about to sail for
Australia or New Zealand as a settler, is naturally anxious to know
something
about his future home, its climate, its employments, its inhabitants,
its ways,
its customs. All
these are subjects of
deep interest to him. You
are leaving
the land of your nativity, you are going to spend the rest of your life
in a
new hemisphere. It
would be strange
indeed if you did not desire information about your new abode. Now surely, if we hope to
dwell for ever in
that 'better country, even a heavenly one,' we ought to seek all the
knowledge
we can get about it. Before
we go to our
eternal home we should try to become acquainted with it." J.C. Ryle
b.
Some people are depressed when they
think of heaven.
c.
"Nearly every Christian I have
spoken with has some idea that eternity is an unending church
service....We
have settled on an image of the never-ending sing-along in the sky, one
great
hymn after another, forever and ever, amen." John Eldredge
d.
"I pity the man who never thinks
accurately about heaven."
J.C. Ryle
e.
People's
views of heaven mostly comes from popular culture.
f.
Some
people only believe what they can see.
5.
Is Heaven beyond our imagination?
a.
What
about verses that say we can't know about heaven?
1
Corinthians 2:9 God's spirit reveals
Deuteronomy
29:29, God reveals the secret things
2
Corinthians 12:2-4 Paul is silenced, John is told to tell
b.
Set
your mind on heaven
Colossians
3:1; Hebrews 11:16
c.
"If you read history, you will
find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just
those who
thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the
conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle
Ages, the
English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark
on
Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians
have largely ceased to
think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will
get earth 'thrown
in': aim at earth and you will get neither."
C.S. Lewis
6.
Is
heaven our default destination?
a.
Romans
3:23 Heaven is not
our default
destination
b.
Can
you know you're going to heaven?
.
c
"Soon
you will read in the newspaper that I am dead.
Don't believe it for a moment.
I
will be more alive than ever "
D.L. Moody
d.
Indiana
cemetery tombstone:
"Pause, stranger, when you pass
me by:
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so you will be.
So prepare for death and follow
me."
Scratched
underneath
"To
follow you I'm not content,
Until I know which way you
went."
e.
1
John 5:13
f.
Some
people spend more time planning a trip to Disney World
7.
Understanding
the Intermediate Heaven
a. 1
Thessalonians 4:13, 17-18
b.
The intermediate heaven is where
Christians go when they die
c.
This location is temporary.
d.
Heaven is not a place where God must
dwell, it is where He
chooses to
live.
e.
God
created heaven, it is not infinite nor is it changeless.
f.
Air
Force One is the plane the President is on.
g.
People often use the word heaven to
speak of the intermediate heaven and the new heaven God is creating.
h.
Revelation
21:1-3
i.
Heaven
and earth will be merged.
j.
God will live in a realm He creates
for us, John 14:23.
k.
We
will remain conscious after death.
Luke
16:22-31; Luke
23:43; Phil. 1:23; 2
Corinthians 5:8
Revelation
6:9-11
l.
Sleeping
involves a physical body, soul sleep makes no sense
m.
Our faith determines whether we go to
the intermediate hell or heaven This is not the final
judgment.
8.
The
Intermediate heaven is a physical place.
a.
God
is spirit, John 4:24.
b.
This
doesn't mean that heaven is spirit.
c.
It
is a Platonic view that heaven is spirit alone
d.
God
does not need a home
e.
Heaven
is full of physical things
Revelation
15:8; 7:9; 8:6; 8:13; Hebrews
8:5;
Revelation
6:9-11
f.
Earth
is the shadow lands
Hebrews
9:24
g.
We
reason from earth to heaven. We
should
reason from heaven
to earth.
h.
Luke 16:19-31 seems to indicate some physical nature
i.
There
may be an intermediate body, but the scriptures are
unclear
9.
Life
in the Intermediate Heaven
a.
Revelation
6:9-11 teaches: People who die are relocated to heaven
They
have the same identity as they did on earth;
They
remember their lives on earth
They
can express themselves
They
have emotions and reason
They
are conscious and aware
They
can speak to God
They
can ask questions and learn
They
are aware of what is happening on earth
They
are concerned for justice
They
wear robes, and have some type of physical form it seems
They
exist in time
b.
Hebrews
12:1, we are being watched
c.
Some
worry that this will make heaven a less happy place.
d.
Heaven will not make you less
compassionate, you will want to know.
e.
The intermediate heaven is not the heaven
without sorrow
f.
The intermediate heaven is not God’s
final home for you