Greg Laurie - How Eternity Brings Focus to What Really Matters (07/31/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie shares how an eternal perspective, drawn from Revelation 4 and Colossians 3, sharpens our focus on what truly matters—glorifying God through worship and holy living—rather than earthly pursuits, urging us to think heaven now so our lives reflect heavenly priorities.
Looking Back with Gratitude and Forward with Eternity in View
The title of my message is "How Eternity Brings Focus to What Really Matters". And so we are going to be looking at Revelation chapter 4 and Colossians chapter 3. So Mark both of those and that is where we are going to land. Revelation 4 and Colossians 3. And let us start with a word of prayer.
Father we want to thank You for Your faithfulness to us and to our church in this last year. We thank You for every one of those folks that made a profession of faith. And we know there are many others that have come to believe in You through other outreaches that we have done. And we just pray that they will be seed sown on good ground and would bring forth fruit that would remain. And now as we have come to the end of one year and we are ready to move forward in this next one we pray that we will live our lives with an eternal perspective. So speak to us from Your Word we would ask now in Jesus' name. Amen.
2014. That sounds so futuristic, doesn't it? I read an interesting article in the paper this last week about some predictions made by scientist Isaac Asimov. And he wrote an article in 1964 about what the world would look like in 2014. So the headline of the article was Isaac Asimov's predictions for 2014 from 50 years ago are eerily accurate. Well that caught my attention. And I had to read his predictions that are 50 years old.
Asimov's Predictions: Hits and Misses
So 50 years ago scientist Isaac Asimov predicted, quote, there would be electroluminescent panels that would be in common use. Well I think he got that one right. We have all the retail displays and signs and of course flat panel TVs are everywhere now. So I think that was a pretty accurate prediction. Number two, communication, says Asimov, will be sight and sound. You will see as well as hear the person you telephone. Well that is clearly true with Skype and Google Hangouts and FaceTime and all the other resources that are out there. Video chatting has become quite common.
Thirdly he said the screen will be used not only to see the people you call but to study documents and photographs and read passages from books. That too was accurate. We have computers. We have tablet devices. Even smartphones now. And so these were some pretty amazing predictions. But there were other predictions he made that didn't quite come true.
Because I read these things and I thought, well I want to read all the predictions he made. So I found the actual document that he wrote, this article. And here are some predictions he made that didn't quite happen. Jets of compressed air will lift land vehicles off the highways. Bridges will be of less importance since cars will be capable of crossing water on their jets. Oh I wish that were true. Have you ever been stuck in traffic and just wished that you could just go... go right out of the top of every one. So that clearly didn't happen. Maybe Isaac was watching too many episodes of the Jetsons. Which was out at the time he made this prediction by the way.
Heaven: Far from Boring – A Real Place of Activity
Also Asimov envisioned kitchens that would produce auto meals. So you wouldn't even have to make your breakfast. Your kitchen would heat water, make coffee, toast bread, scramble your eggs and your bacon. And he also predicted that robots would be doing our yard work. Well I don't know about you but I don't have a robot doing my yard work. However they have these little robotic vacuum cleaners. Have you seen these? They kind of scoot around the floor. So that is fairly close.
And so you know he was a fascinating guy, Asimov. He was brilliant. He wrote hundreds of books. He wrote science fiction books as well. And he also was very wrong on one subject that he thought he knew about. And that was the topic of heaven. Because he was an atheist. Isaac Asimov said of heaven, I don't believe in an afterlife so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.
He could not be more wrong. It reminds me of a Soviet cosmonaut. Yuri Gagarin was the first man in outer space. And he was quoted to say, I saw earth and it was beautiful. But being a good communist he also said, I looked and I did not see God. Oh wow. Insightful. If Yuri would have taken off his helmet for three seconds he would have seen God.
And Isaac Asimov has now entered eternity. And I hope he put his faith in Christ in the last moments of his life and he could see how glorious heaven is. The last thing heaven is is a place of boredom. In fact heaven is a place of bliss. We are not going to sit around as the caricatured version suggests. On big billowy clouds. Strumming harps and taking long naps. Though that probably appeals to some people.
But actually according to Scripture heaven is a real place for real people who do real things. The Bible is very clear in pointing out heaven is a city. Heaven is a country. Heaven is a garden. Heaven is a paradise. Heaven is a place. It is where we will be reunited with loved ones who have preceded us. Heaven is a place of activity and building and eating and worshipping and much more. And the Bible teaches that one day heaven will come to earth.
Thinking Heaven: How Eternity Shapes Our Daily Lives
So when we say I am going to die as a Christian one day and go to heaven and live there forever that is not completely accurate. Because one day heaven and earth will become one. And so we think a lot about the afterlife. And so we should. Or maybe we don't think enough about it. And I think we need to give a lot of thought to what is going to happen later. And it will affect us in the life we are living now.
Listen. Your belief in the afterlife has everything to do with how you lived and the before life. Because you might say, well what does it matter what happens in heaven? That is a long ways away. Well you don't know that. You want to think deeply about this. Now I am a student of heaven. I am certainly not an expert on the topic. But I am a student of it. And I have become more of a student of heaven in recent years for obvious reasons. Our son went to be with the Lord five years ago. So I find myself often just thinking about heaven. Trying to imagine heaven. Trying to wrap my mind around heaven. It is a fun thing to do. It is not an easy thing to do.
And you know there is a lot of books out on the topic of heaven. And many of them are written by people that claim to have been there and have returned. And I am just going to be up front with you and tell you that I do not immediately believe someone when they say they have been to heaven and come back. Okay. Because the only way I know of knowing what heaven is like is by going to an authoritative source. I only know of one person who has been to heaven and come back and has told me about it. And that is Jesus Christ. And He says in John 6:38, I have come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of Him who sent me. So He is the expert on heaven.
But I am a student of heaven. And I have preached a lot of sermons on heaven. And now I have joined the gang. And I too have a book on heaven. Shameless promotion. Right here. It is called As It Is in Heaven. How Eternity Brings Focus to What Really Matters. And here is the reason I wrote this book. Because I want to bring the idea of how our belief in heaven should affect us while we live on earth.
You know it is sometimes said, Oh you are so heavenly minded you are no earthly good. My greater concern is that I would be so earthly minded I would be of no heavenly good. I think our belief in the afterlife has a lot to say in how we live in the before life. How we live in the here and now. The way we view the by and by affects us in the here and now.
Set Your Mind on Things Above – Colossians 3
And that brings us to a text that I want to look at with you that tells us what our focus as Christians ought to be. Colossians chapter 3 verses 1-2. Let's read that. That is one of the passages we turn to. Paul writes, Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above not on earthly things.
Now what does that mean? This phrase set your minds speaks of a diligent, active, single minded investigation. Have you ever concentrated your energies on a single thing? Researching something? Wanting to learn as much as you could about some place perhaps you were going to go visit? That is what we should do with heaven. It is a place we are going to one day go visit. It is a place we are going to one day go and live in. So we should be actively thinking about it.
Another way you could translate this phrase that Paul gives us here is think or have this inner disposition. A way to simplify it is think heaven. And by the way the verb used in this verse is in the present tense. So it would say keep thinking heaven. Or another way to put it. Keep seeking heaven. So put it all together. Here is what Paul is saying. Constantly keep seeking and thinking about heaven. I like that. Our feet must be on earth. But our minds should be in heaven.
But sadly many of us will go a day, perhaps even a week, without a single thought of heaven. Ian Bounds put it this way and I quote, heaven ought to draw and engage us. Heaven ought to fill our hearts and our hands and our conversations and our character and our features so all the world would see that we are foreigners, strangers to this world. He goes on to say, the very atmosphere of this world should be chilling to us. Noxious. Its sun's eclipse and its companionship dull and insipid. Heaven is our native land and it is home to us. And death for us is not the dying hour but the birth hour. End quote. Well said.
As Warren Wiersbe put it, Heaven is not just our destination. Heaven is our motivation. And so we want to think about what heaven will be like and think about its effect on us today. I think that those that think the most about the next life do the most in this life. You say, well why would that be? Well it is because we know life goes on. And life doesn't just stop here. We know there is a future reward. Or rewards I should say. Waiting for the follower of Jesus Christ. And we also know there is a final judgment. A final court of arbitration. We know every sin we have committed would ultimately come out if it is not forgiven by Jesus Christ.
The Purpose of Life: Glorifying God in Heaven's Worship
So our belief in the afterlife affects us in this life and the way that we live and the things that we do. Because heaven and earth are connected. You know we often think of heaven as far far away. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Maybe heaven is just right next door so to speak. Maybe it is just a thin veil that separates the seen world from the unseen world.
There is that story of course of Elisha and his servant Gehazi. And they were surrounded by the enemy armies. And Gehazi saw them. Elisha was sleeping. And Gehazi woke up and was freaking out. And woke up the sleeping prophet. And I love what Elisha said. He said, Lord help him to see that those that are with us are more than those that are with him. And suddenly this man's eyes were opened and he saw a supernatural world of angels all around him.
And right now as we sit here in our comfortable little pews or seats and we hear this message there is an unseen world around us. A world of God and Satan. Of angels and demons. And yes a world of heaven and ultimately hell. I don't know how far away heaven is. But I know that it may be closer than we think. And heaven affects us here.
What did Jesus teach us in the Lord's Prayer. He taught us to pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is clearly telling us that our life on earth is affected by our thoughts on heaven.
So as we come to the end of a year and we are now in the beginning of another we ought to be thinking heaven. You say but Greg why should we do that? Because this could be your last year on this earth. It could be. It is going to be for someone. Now I hope that thought does not frighten or terrify you. The Christian is always ready to go home. Because he has his ticket. And by that I mean that we have our reservation. It is secure. We know what is going to happen. It is not that we have a death wish. But we know we will see God one day. So it is not something we stress about. We just live our lives that God gives to us.
What Will Your Obituary Say? Living with Eternal Purpose
But it could be our last year. And what if it was? Let me ask you this question. If you could read your own obituary today what do you think people would remember you for? What would be written about you? I read an interesting article in the paper about a man named Val Patterson who died last year. And he decided that he wanted to buck the trend and write his own obituary honestly. Right? Because if you have been to some people's services and after you hear them described you will think I don't really know who they are talking about. Because that is not the person I knew.
So this guy decided to write his own obituary. So here is what he said. These are his words. As it turns out I am the guy who stole the safe from the Mortarview Drive-In back in June of 1971. He says I could have left that unsaid but I wanted to get it off my chest. He also admitted to kicking rocks into the old faithful geyser at Yellowstone National Park and also admitted that he was banned for life from Disneyland and SeaWorld for youthful hijinks. I mean honestly I cracked up reading this. I found it kind of refreshing and so honest.
Now I hope you will be remembered for more than this. But at least the man was honest. Listen. I don't determine the date of my birth. And I don't determine the date of my death. But I have everything to say about what happens in between those two dates.
The great evangelist D.L. Moody was asked the question, if you knew the Lord was returning tonight how would you spend the rest of your day? That is a good question. Isn't it? If you knew... Let me ask of you now. If you knew the Lord was returning tonight how would you spend the rest of this day? Moody's response was, I wouldn't do anything different than what I do everyday. And that is the right response from a Christian who is truly heavenly minded.
We want to redeem the time that God has given to us. We don't want to waste it. And we certainly don't want to try to kill it. It has been said that men talk of killing time while time quietly kills them. Now I am not a big one for making New Year's resolutions because I think it is just sort of a waste really. Most of us break those resolutions quickly. But I do think the New Year is a good time to recalibrate. And by that I mean it is a good time to look at one's life and ask yourself the question, how have I done in this last year? Have I moved forward spiritually or have I actually regressed spiritually in this last year? Have I been a heavenly minded person in this year? And do I want to be one in the coming year?
Why Do I Exist? The Answer from Heaven's Throne
Why is that important? Because life comes and goes just like that. Doesn't it? The Bible says it is like a vapor of smoke that appears for a moment and then vanishes away. The Bible says we live our life like a story that has already been told. Then comes the afterlife. And trust me when I tell you. When you get to the afterlife and you look back on the before life you will see things far differently. You will see them from an eternal perspective. You will realize what really mattered in life was not what you bought but what you built. What will matter is not what you got but what you gave. What will matter is not your competence but your character. What will matter is not your success but your significance.
So let's ask ourselves a question. Why are we here in the first place? Why am I taking up space? Why am I breathing air? Why do I exist? Paul was taken among Americans and they were asked that question. And sixty one percent said the main purpose of life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment. So we know that over half the population of our country thinks that life is here. That they are here to simply be fulfilled and enjoying life. Fifty percent of those who call themselves born again Christians said the purpose of life is enjoyment and self satisfaction. Really? Do these Christians read their Bibles? Because if they did they would not come to that conclusion.
Is the purpose of life self satisfaction? Let me tell you something. Living for pleasure is one of the least pleasurable things a person can do. And everybody lives for something. Everybody has something that gets them out of the bed in the morning. Everyone has something that gets their blood pumping. Something they are passionate about. And we often set goals that we want to reach.
A Strange Goal and the True Purpose of Existence
Maybe some of you have set a goal. A lot of times they are goals of losing weight. Right. Getting in better shape. Etc. I read an article this week about a woman who set a goal last year that she was able to reach. Here was her goal. It was to only eat at Starbucks stores. That was her goal. And she was successful. Her name, and I am not making this up, is Beautiful Existence. She must have had hippie parents for sure. Only hippies would name their kid that.
She ate only products made from Starbucks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 365 days. Over the course of a year she spent approximately five to six hundred dollars a month on prepackaged salads, pastries, wraps, and a variety of coffee drinks all from Starbucks. Now when I was reading this the first thought that came to my mind was, Why? Why would you set such a goal? And Beautiful Existence, her name, which I have a hard time believing, gave her response. She said, The reason I did it is because I am fearless. And I want to explore new things in my life. I love to test the water. And each time I challenge myself and I learn a lot.
Okay. Beautiful Existence. Well done. How did you live your last year? What goals did you set? How should I live in this next year? What is my purpose? Why am I here? To get an answer as to how I should live on earth I have to take a quick trip to heaven. So let's do that now in Revelation 4. We are going to read verses 4 to 8. What we are witnessing is a heavenly worship service populated by magnificent and mysterious angelic beings and 24 unnamed elders.
Verse 8. The four living creatures each had six wings. They were full of eyes around and within. And they don't rest day or night. These are angelic beings by the way. Saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.
We will stop there. It is hard to wrap our minds around this. I do not know who the twenty-four elders are. Maybe twelve patriarchs from the Old Testament and the twelve apostles from the New Testament. But clearly these elders are people that once lived on earth who have died and now have gone to heaven. And what are they doing in heaven? They are worshipping.
Worship in Heaven – Our Model for Earth
Why is that important to us? Because Jesus said, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is where? What happens in heaven should affect me on earth. So what is happening in heaven? Well there is a whole lot of worship going on. Thus I should also be worshipping the Lord. They even tell us that in verse 8. You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.
So let me come back now to the question I raised earlier. Why do I exist? Why am I here on this earth? I am here on earth to bring glory to God. It is on the screen. Let us say it out loud together. I am here on this earth to bring glory to God. There it is. There is your marching orders for 2014. I am not here to pursue pleasure. I am here to pursue God. The purpose of the universe is God's glory. Not my personal happiness.
This comes as a surprise to some who thinks the world should revolve around them. They want to rule their own little private universe. They want to be the main character in their novel. But then suffering and pain interrupts their plans and they don't know why. Randy Alcorn writes, and I quote, If we come to see the purpose of the universe is God's long term glory rather than our short term happiness, then we will undergo a critical paradigm shift in tackling the problem of suffering. End quote.
That is a good point. The purpose of the universe is God's long term glory, not my short term happiness. Here is the bottom line. When you seek to fulfill the purpose you were created for, which is to know, glorify, and worship God, you will find the happiness you have been seeking in life. Not from seeking happiness, but from seeking God. The Bible says, Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Psalm 16 says, In His presence there is fullness of joy, glory, and on His right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Yes, God created you for His glory. Isaiah 43:7 says, God speaking, Everyone who was called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made. Ephesians 1:11-12 says, God chose us from the beginning for all things happened, just as He decided long ago God's purpose was that we, who were the first to trust in Christ, should praise our glorious God.
How to Glorify God in Everyday Life
So you say, Well I don't understand what that means. Does that mean that I have to be in a, you know, 24 hour worship service? You know, singing songs to God is not the only way we worship. Let me put it another way. It is entirely possible to sing songs to God and not worship at all. Worship is not just about singing. It is about the movement of the heart to the Lord.
I mean I could sing songs from the sound of music and be about as close to God as some Christians are when they sing praise songs because there is no thought of God whatsoever. But if I am really worshiping the Lord, because what is worship really? When we sing it is prayer set to song. When I am worshiping the Lord that is one way to glorify Him. But there is many other ways to glorify God.
In fact I am told over in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Don't you know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Listen. Whatever you do in life glorify God with it. Be it academics, sports, business, music. You name it. Fill in the blank.
Let me put it another way. If you can't write, Hallowed be thy name over what you are doing, then don't do it anymore. So as we go into the new year I should say, Am I glorifying God in the work that I do? Am I glorifying God in the free time that I have? Am I glorifying God in the friends that I choose to hang out with? Am I glorifying God with my time? Am I glorifying God with my money? Am I glorifying God with my existence? Because that is why I have been put here on this earth.
One of my favorite films is Chariots of Fire. How many of you have seen Chariots of Fire? Quite a few of you. You know go watch that film. I don't know where you can find it. Probably rent the DVD. But it is a great story. And I don't want to get into what it is all about. But it features the character of Eric Little who was a Christian who lived in Scotland. And he competed in the Olympics. He was a great runner. As I said a committed believer. And ultimately went into missionary work.
Finding God's Pleasure in What He Made You For
But this movie is a story of his life contrasted with another runner. And there is a scene in the film where Eric's sister Jenny is sort of chiding him because she feels he is wasting his time racing. You see. She feels he should be out on the mission field doing this work instead of running in these races and so forth. And so she tells him that he isn't doing what God made him for.
And there is a scene in the film where Eric who is Scottish responds. And I will try to do it in my best Scottish accent. He says, I, Jenny, I know. But he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure. That was really bad. I know. But listen. Don't miss what he was saying. When you are doing that thing that God made you to do you can feel his pleasure. Can't you? It is called finding the sweet spot.
If you play tennis you know there is a sweet spot in a racket. And if you hit the sweet spot it gives you maximum impact on the ball. And we have a sweet spot in life. Don't we? Where when you do this one thing for God's glory you just say, Amen. I feel his pleasure doing this. Because you are wired to do that thing. That is why you are here. We are all here to do that.
So I think that we should all consider how well we are fulfilling our purpose here on earth. Because our belief in the afterlife should inform our choices in the before life. What does it mean to be heavenly minded? Okay. Let's go back now to Colossians 3 that we already alluded to. But I am going to read the next verses. Because now we go from the sublime to the practical.
Colossians 3 verse 5. Now therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication and uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. Now you yourselves put these off. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Don't lie one to another since you put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge.
Three Things That Keep Us Earthbound
I want you to notice Paul starts with the word therefore. Whenever you see the word therefore find out what it is there for. Paul is drawing on what he has already said. What did he say? Hey set your mind on things above. Think heaven. Pursue heaven. Now in light of this don't pursue these other things. And he identifies three sins that keep us earthbound if you will. Three sins that keep us from being heavenly minded.
Number one. Sexual sin keeps us earthbound. Paul mentions the word fornication in verse 5. It is from the root word pornea. This speaks of sexual immorality in general. It refers to any form of illicit sex. Extramarital sex, premarital sex, homosexual sex. Let me simplify it for you. God's order for sex. One man. One woman. Monogamous. Married. End of story. That is it.
Now I know that is not politically correct. In this day and age they say it. But it is gospel truth. But this is not just the person who is sexually immoral. But it is a person who fills their mind with this stuff. You know you might pride yourself in the fact that you don't go out and do those things. Well I have never been unfaithful to my spouse. Or I did not have sex before my marriage. Well great. Fantastic. But do you fill your minds with pornography? Do you fill your minds and your lives with all this sexual stuff and fantasize about it all the time? Jesus told us that we look at a woman to lust after her. It is like committing adultery with her. So Paul is saying don't let sex control your life in this way.
Number two. Idolatry keeps us earth bound. Idolatry. He says covetousness which is idolatry. You know a lot of us don't even know what coveting is. It made the top ten. It is one of the ten commandments. Thou shall not covet. I believe that with all of my heart. You shall not covet. What does it mean to covet? I have no idea. But we should not do it. Well the Bible defines it for us. The word covet comes from two root words. To have and more. Basically to have more. It is a person who always wants more.
The covetous person is never satisfied with what they have. They want what someone else has. Does that make sense? And then when they get it they don't want it anymore. It is a thrill of the hunt. If you don't know what I am talking about just get a bunch of kids together and watch them play. I have four granddaughters and one grandson. By the way my grandson holds his own. He is just over a year old. But he hangs in there with these girls that are quite a bit older.
They will set up their cute little dollhouses and all the accessories. And he comes in with a hammer. Now let me explain. I didn't give him a hammer. It is a plastic hammer. From a little toy I gave him where you pound balls into holes. But he is done pounding the balls. Now he wants to pound other things. He comes walking up with a hammer. And here is all the little dolls. Bam! Bam! Bam! Accessories and he is fine. And he just walks off. You know. And I am looking and I am going, Oh yes. He is a boy.
But watch how kids fight over something. One child grabs a toy. Any toy. Then the other child immediately wants that toy. Now they are fighting over the toy. And you say now come on you guys. There is all these toys. They are fighting over the toy. One child, usually the stronger one prevails, gets the toy, walks off, looks at it for a couple of minutes, drops it on the ground and moves on. Because it was never about the toy. It was about getting something that someone else had. I am sure glad we outgrow that. Aren't you? Don't we? No we know. This goes right through life for many people.
And so we are being told don't let that control you. You know you can have a lot and still want more. You have so many things but I want more. More. And some people have very little materially speaking and are completely content. Hebrews 13 verse 5 says, Let your life be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Contentment does not come from what you have. It comes from who you know. And if you like David can say, The Lord is my Shepherd. You will also be able to say, I shall not want. Because your contentment is in your relationship with God.
Contentment, Anger, and Gossip – Barriers to Heaven
Let me turn this around. It is not always bad to want more. And this coming year, I encourage you, want more. More of Jesus. More opportunities to glorify God. More spiritual fruit. More. It is not enough. You want more. That is a good thing.
Finally, number three, anger, meanness, and slandering others keeps us earthbound. Verse 8. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language. Keep it out of your mouth. The word anger speaks of a settled and habitual anger with a thought of revenge. We all get angry at times. We are not human if we don't. That is not what this is talking about. Just, this is a settled anger. This is a person that says, I don't get mad. I get even.
This is speaking of a person that has that deep seated anger. And it also speaks of a person that flies up the handle. But here is an interesting twist that you might not know from reading this translation. The word blasphemy is used. And you think, yeah, don't blaspheme God. Actually in context, the original word that is used is not speaking of blaspheming God. It is speaking of blaspheming or speaking ill of others. It is called gossip.
And by the way our culture trades in gossip. There are websites dedicated to the latest gossip. We hear it. We tweet it. We text it. We email it. We post it on our Facebook page. Is it true? I don't know. But it is juicy. It is fun. Unless you are the person that is being gossiped about. Unless you are the person being lied about.
Here I have an acronym for you in this coming year. An acronym that you could use as a grid to run things through. When you hear something about someone else, before you repeat it, think of this acronym. Think. T-H-I-N-K. T stands for is it truthful? H stands for is it helpful? I stands for is it inspiring? N stands for is it necessary? K stands for is it kind?
Before you repeat that information, are you sure this is true? Is it going to be helpful? Is it going to inspire someone? Is it really necessary? And is it kind? You might respond and say, well Greg if I applied that acronym to my life I wouldn't say anything. Amen. Do us all a favor and shut up if you are spreading that kind of information.
The best way to turn away from one thing is to find something better. As one old minister put it, it is the expulsive power of a new affection. I love that phrase. The expulsive power of a new affection. Coming back to kids. You want to get a kid to let go of something, you get something better.
Think heaven in 2014. If you really start thinking more about and seeking heaven. Which is to say putting the Lord first in every area. From the thoughts you think to the friends you choose to the way you use your time. It will transform you. Listen. You are a child of God if you are a Christian. And that means you are a citizen of heaven. It is time to start acting like one.
Why? Because life comes and goes. So quickly. And before you know it you will be standing before God. But here is the good news. If we have that expulsive power of a new affection. If we put God first in our life we will have very fulfilling lives here on earth. C.S. Lewis said and I quote, aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither. End quote.
Not a great statement. This one girl liked it. Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. You know I am thinking of the Lord. I am focusing on the Lord. And I end up living a fulfilling life. And then life comes to an end. And I am going to tell you something. All the health food solutions are not going to extend your life one day. You can eat your free range chicken. And your organic vegetables. And all the tofu your heart desires. And you are going to live as long as God wants you to live. Because He appoints a day of your birth. He appoints a day of your death. And then comes eternity.
Your Ticket to Heaven – A Final Invitation
And then what happens? Listen. Heaven is not the default destination of every person. Heaven is the destination of the person who has their ticket. I alluded to earlier. You say, what do you mean this ticket? I am talking about you have your reservation. You know you are going there. You put your faith in Christ that you are assured. You will go to heaven when you die.
How do you get this ticket you might ask? How much will it cost me? Oh you couldn't afford it. All the good works. All the religiosity. All the rituals won't get you this ticket. This is a blood bought ticket. Bought with the blood of Christ as He hung on the cross and died in our place and Rose again from the dead. But you know what? He loves to give this ticket out. He loves to extend His forgiveness. It is not like He is holding it back. He said, hey man I want you to take this ticket. It is yours.
I read about somebody who had just found a lottery ticket worth a lot of money. It was just laying under a pile of leaves. I do not know what the person thought. I do not want this. And I am not advocating buying lottery tickets. It is just an illustration. I think it is one of the biggest wastes of your money to buy lottery tickets. But that is another story for another day. And I will do it in a Scottish accent. I promise.
But here is something of great value discarded under a pile of leaves. And that is how the gospel is for many people. There it is. The greatest offer of all eternity. And we go, oh yeah, what is it? Who cares? I will move on. But I will tell you what. When life comes to an end you will realize that is the most important thing of all.
Jesus died on the cross. He Rose again from the dead. He stands now at the door of your life. And if you will hear His voice and open the door He will come in. If you want to know you will go to heaven when you die. If you want to walk into this coming year with the confidence that you can live your life to the best of your ability for the glory of God and be ready to meet Him whenever that date is. Or if you have fallen away from the Lord and you want to come back to Him again I would like you to respond to this invitation.
And I am going to extend as we close now in prayer. Let us all bow our heads. Father, thank You for Your Word to us. Thank You for Your love for us. Now I pray for anyone here that does not yet know You. They do not have the hope of heaven. But they want it. Help them to respond now.
When our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. Listen carefully. If you want to believe in Jesus Christ. If you want to be certain that you will go to heaven when you die. If you want your sin forgiven. Or if you have fallen away from the Lord and you want to make this recommitment to Him at the beginning of this new year. I want you to stand to your feet right now wherever you are. And I am going to lead you in a prayer.
Just stand to your feet. You want Christ to come into your life. You need His forgiveness. You have fallen away. You want to come back to Him. Stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer Where you are going to ask for God's forgiveness. Just stand up. People are standing. By the way, you are not the only one if you are standing. You that are watching on a screen, you stand right where you are. Wherever you are seeing this, stand up. Stand up.
And I am going to lead you in a simple prayer. One final moment. If you want to make this commitment, a recommitment to Jesus, stand up now. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand now. Alright. Now all of you that are standing, if you would, please repeat this prayer out loud after me. Again as I pray, pray this out loud after me. Pray now if you would. Out loud.
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. And I know you are a Savior. And you died on the cross for my sin. And Rose again from the dead. Now come into my life and be my Savior and my Lord. I want the hope of heaven. Thank you for calling me. And accepting me. And forgiving me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.