Eternity: Heaven or Hell?

This morning, I probably will not be speaking on a subject that is not without question. It seems that when we start to talk about last things, about eternity, there's always more questions than there are answers. So today, I want to just share with you what God has to say to us, and what we do know is for certain because the Bible is true and is without error, without mixture of error. We've already studied that thing as we talk about the Bible and God's Word. So what do we believe in our church and what we believe about eternity is really at the core of about all the other things that we believe. And it's important that we know what we believe about eternity because it's what motivates us. It's what helps us to know the purpose of us being here. Now we as Southern Baptists have our Baptist faith and message, and we have generally a description of what we believe about last things and about eternity. Let's look at it. Let me read it to you here. It should be on the next screen. Here it is. If you can read that, let me read it to you. God in his own time and in his own way will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to his promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. The dead will be raised and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous and the resurrected and glorified bodies will receive the reward and will dwell forever in heaven with the Lord. It's very short, very concise, but generally that's what we as Baptists believe about heaven, about hell, and about last things. Let me expand on that just a little bit. Most of us are familiar with a theologian, a philosopher, a teacher, a revivalist named Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s. During the 1730s, he would be a part of what we would call a spiritual awakening that occurred across the land. Most of us remember Jonathan Edwards as being a fiery preacher, not that we heard him, but we were required to read him or listen to his sermon. You may have heard this in your English class, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, or you may have studied it in history class. I don't know about you, but I was asked to go and read that in a class when I was a pastor and a liberal. I tried to replicate that. There's no way I could just ... If you read the whole thing, it's hard to preach it as fire and brimstone kind of a sermon. The picture I got from my mind about Jonathan Edwards is that he was that kind of a fiery preacher. I'm not sure he was as much as he was just a good preacher who preached the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Obviously, he would try in his very best way to show the world that the wrath of God is a reality. You could not read Revelation chapter 19 verse 15, it says, from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty, which would be the basis of his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The truth is that we don't preach much about the wrath of God. We don't preach much about the judgment of God. We don't preach much about the reality of an eternity in a place called hell. Jonathan Edwards was not afraid to preach about hell, nor am I, and nor should we be afraid to talk about that place. But conversely, I found another quote from Jonathan Edwards. He didn't just preach about hell. He preached about heaven also. Let me read a quote from Jonathan Edwards. He said, God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives or children, or the company of earthly friends are but shadows, but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beans, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean. In his very best way that he could, he tried to express the wrath of God, the judgment in hell, but he also tried to express the glory of God in heaven. Last couple of weeks, I've been in the book of Luke. We're not going to be there today. We're going to talk about it a little bit, but we're going to be in 1 John chapter 5 in just a few moments. But if you remember two weeks ago, we talked about Luke chapter 15. We talked about the sermon of the prodigal son, the lost son. And in that chapter, we talk about the lost coin. We talk about the lost sheep and we talked about the lost son. And then as you move on in to chapter 16, last week, we talked about the parable of the dishonest manager and how God wanted us to manage our resources and be good stewards of our time, our energies, and so that we can reach the lost to come to know God. And then if you continue on in chapter 16, those of us that were in Sunday school, we talked about this story. Also this other parable that is a little bit different than other parables because Jesus uses a name and the name was Lazarus. Lazarus was a poor man. It was probably not the same Lazarus with Mary and Martha's son, but this Lazarus was poor and he would, he would eat crumbs underneath the table and the dogs would lick his sores and, and Lazarus died. And then there was a rich man who died and they both woke up in different places. The poor man, Lazarus woke up right next to Abraham and the rich man woke up in a place full of torment, a place separated from God. And he asked Abraham if, if Lazarus could just dip his finger and come down and touch his lips, Billy Graham would say that what he was really wanting was for him to come and just give him the opportunity to proclaim God and to have a taste of God just for a brief moment that the torment was so great to be separated from God. And then he asked, well, if he can't do that, can he resurrect and go back and tell his five brothers, four or five brothers, I can't remember now, but his brothers, can he go back and tell them about this place called heaven and this place called hell, this and this, this separation so that they don't have to live this torment that I am living. And Abraham said, they have the word of God, just like you had the opportunity to respond. That's all that is needed. And that story tells us several things. Number one, it tells us the reality that there is a heaven and that there is a hell. It tells us that in heaven that we will be with God and there will be much pleasure being in the presence of the one who created us. And in hell, there will be much torment separated from God. This morning, I want you to understand something. You were created on purpose. And God created you for eternity. If you hear nothing else this morning, please hear this. God has created you for eternity. The only question this morning is, where will that eternity exist for you? Will it be in heaven or will it be in hell? Let's pray. Father, this is a serious matter, but it's also a joyful matter, Father, for those who are believers because the certainty of being in the presence of God for eternity is simply amazing. And simply one that we look forward to in being in your presence, Father, to be in the fullness of your love. So Father, today, may you use my words with clarity, Father, I want to be as clear as I possibly can to help people to understand the urgency, the significance, the importance of understanding eternity and that you have created us for that purpose. So go with us, Father. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. First John chapter 5, we're going to read verses 11 through 21. If you want to turn in your Bibles, follow along with me. We're going to be reading from the English Standard Version and then we're going to come back and look at about five quick things very quickly this morning. Let's begin in verse 11 of 1 John chapter 5. And this is the testimony that God gave us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked of Him. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to a death, he shall ask and God will give him life. To those who commit sins that do not lead to death, there is a sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin. But there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourself from idols. I have five quick things and I want to move quickly through them, so let's get right into it. The first thing that I want you to see is that you were created for eternity and either you have eternal life or eternal death. Now let's look at the verse 11 and 12 and verse 16 again. Verse 11 said, And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life and the opposite of that would be death. There is a sin that leads to death. Now we want to talk about those things because it's a little confusing as we look at that passage of scripture. I want to make sure you understand this clearly, what the gospel writer John was trying and the apostle John was trying to tell us this morning about eternal life and about eternal death. One of the best verses that I think explains that, excuse me this morning, I'm struggling just a bit again with my voice, is in John chapter 5 verse 24. I've quoted this passage of scripture to you before, but listen to it again, Verily, verily I say unto you, He that hears my words and believe on him that sent me hath eternal life. Everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life I'm here to tell you that that death is an eternal Separation from God and that life is a forever in the presence and face of God That's eternal life and it all stems upon that Believing and knowing that you have the gift of life through the Son Jesus Christ The one who died on the cross of Calvary so that we might have eternity with God So what is that sin that leads to death? It was sin that Separated us from God in the first place. And if you look at that word sin, it basically means Separation it means that we are Separated from God that whatever that sin is it keeps us from God and this sin that John is talking about It's what we call the unpardonable sin. It is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of God Jesus would talk about it in Matthew chapter 12. He says therefore I tell you in verse 31 of Matthew 12 I therefore I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven and Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come In other words, we can look at it that there are sins. There are moral failures there are sins that you and I commit still on a daily basis because we are moral we People because we we have failures because we make mistakes We call those sins that separates us not only from God at times. It separates us from one another because we sin but the sin that leads to eternal death is that sin of unbelief that sin of not trusting Jesus Christ as your real and Personal Savior that sin cannot be forgiven and it leads to eternal separation I say eternal how long is eternity? forever forever Separated from God and his goodness his mercy and his grace So this morning you either have Eternal life or eternal death You were created for eternity You will exist either with God or separated away from God now That's a pretty hard message to understand, isn't it? Why in the world would anyone want to be separated from God for eternity? I sure don't When I was in junior high I had a friend named Jerry Lawrence Jerry was one of those boys that always got in trouble Would always run away from home And in fact, we thought he would end up and what we would call boys ranch a kind of a reform school For a young man who just couldn't be obedient In the eighth grade one of my other friends named Susie Brawley or named Susie Graves now Still lives in the house that she was raised in Susie came to me Susie came to me. I was sitting up on the top of the bleachers at the gymnasium watching a basketball game and Susie came to me and said Keith Jerry just told me that he's going to hell and he doesn't care After the basketball game I found Jerry we were walking outside and I looked at Jerry and I said Jerry Yeah, I'm an eighth grader You don't have to go to hell You don't have to go to hell I don't care Keith. I'm going to hell and I don't care. I am going to hell Years later, I would find out the kind of life family life and The the things that were going on life was hard for Jerry So we went on through high school. We became somewhat friends. We had a class together. Jerry was an okay guy I liked Jerry Jerry was a friend We we took a business class together and we we had to help each other do some accounting and book work and things like That we were a team and I got along with Jerry After I left and went to college I met Jerry one summer He made sure to tell me he said Keith. I've accepted Christ and surrendered to the ministry I Said praise the Lord We came back and we we did a youth revival in the town that we were both raised and he knocked the door of every House in the city of Stanette and that that's not a huge thing But for the people who saw Jerry they had looked and say who is that young man? And either one that used to run away from home and get in trouble all the time. It's to net high school What's happened to this young man? We both found ourselves a couple years later in South Plains of Texas I was at a church in Idaho, Texas, and he was at a church in Lubbock, Texas seven miles apart But we would often do things together and one day I got a phone call Jerry was in the hospital The doctors had just told him he had six months to live. I Went up to see Jerry that afternoon He told me said yeah The doctors came into my room and said son you only have six months to leave live and I said praise the Lord And the doctor said no, you don't understand young man. You you are going to die in six months at a man That's okay Son, you don't understand the gravity of this you are going to die and he said no doctor. You don't understand I'm just gonna get to go to heaven before you do Jerry didn't go to hell Jerry went to heaven He had accepted Jesus Christ and on his deathbed He invited six unbelievers to be as Paul believe Paul bears because he wanted the gospel proclaimed To his his coaches and some of his best friends who had yet not accepted Christ God has created us for eternity And either you will have eternal life or you will have eternal death The second thing this morning you were created for eternity and you will be assured of eternal life This is such a great doctrine that we have as Baptist Look at verse 13. I Write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may say this with me know That you have eternal life use that say that word again No, I don't know about you, but when we know something we really know something Like I know who my wife is. There is no doubt that my wife is the beautiful Jeanette Bryant I love her. I know her. She's been with me 40 years. Don't understand that but she has been I know her and what the scripture teaches us that when we Know Jesus Christ and we have placed our faith in Him we have an assurity We have a security that I know that I have God in my life and that I have Eternal life no questions asked no doubts about it when I die and this earthly body goes into the grave I won't be there. I'll be in heaven with God wherever that's at and I don't care. I'm gonna be with him and And that's good news This past week I had the opportunity to be a babysitter for my grandkids our grandkids Ten year old and a five-year-old our five-year-old is our only granddaughter and she is a redhead and She is a wonderful gift to us And She is a mama's girl and when mama leaves town life is challenging Mama was in LA at a conference and granddad had come to take care of kids Daddy has to go to work at 5 in the morning He's a coach and they start practice early in the morning And so granddad has to get him up get him fed get him to school And when I take miss Katie to school it came very obvious that she had a great deal of security in her mother Not a great deal of security in her grandfather When we walked in the school I knew it was gonna be problem and we went right by her mother's office and The lights were out and she just kind of stopped and looked like a puppy dog Mommy's not there and So fortunately one of the teachers came up said oh miss Katie. I want you to go with me So the first day was good second day. She found another teacher She ran and clinged to her and that teacher took her that was good third day. There was no teachers around She held on to me because I was her security and I had trouble Letting her go without fears and crying and all those things But eventually a teacher did come and she still had trouble because she wanted to hang on to something that she knew The last night I was there she woke up at one o'clock in the morning Before she went to bed I had told her she could watch two videos but they needed to be short because we were already past bedtime and Finally she picked two long ones and I had to cut the second one off short And then she woke up at one o'clock and she decided that she was going to sleep with pop And so she came down she had changed clothes for some reason and she came down and and got into bed And I said Katie you you need to go back and do some things and and she said no I said well at least go to the bathroom So she went to the bathroom and she came back and we had this restless night of sleeping all night The next day her mother comes home And her mother's talking to her and I'm back here working and doing things and she She said to her mother said Pop didn't follow my rules very good First of all, he didn't let me watch both videos all the way and he made me go to the bathroom at one o'clock in the morning Those are not my rules Here's the point We can have great security In our lord and savior jesus christ that he's going to do what he said. He would do he will save us And we don't have to worry about eternal death When we come to know jesus christ When we come to know jesus christ, we don't live by a set of rules we live by faith That verse of scripture says to you who believe in the name of jesus christ That word believe is the same root word pasties in the greek that we get that talks about having faith In placing our faith in having faith in walking in faith in jesus christ Faith in jesus christ When we have our faith we can in jesus christ we can know That you have eternal life Now, I don't know about you folks, but I really have trouble Thinking that I have to earn my way to heaven because i'll never get there I'll never be good enough. I can never have enough rules to follow To be able to have the security of knowing that i'm going to go to heaven I am thankful for god's grace. How about you? Because I do not deserve heaven And it's only through the blood of jesus christ. Am I seen pure clean holy? Am I able and qualified to be in eternity with jesus christ and god forever? So you can know that you have been created for eternity And know that you're going to live either in heaven or separated by eternal death or secondly You can be assured that you have eternal life by putting your faith in and trusting in jesus christ. Thirdly you can Know that you were created for eternity because sin cannot coexist in heaven This is good news here read verse 18 We know that everyone who has been born of god does not keep on sinning But he who was born of god protects him And the evil one does not touch him On the surface this may seem difficult, but it's really not When we go to eternity when we go to be with God It will be perfect Sin cannot coexist in heaven The root word for sin is separation When you are separated eternally in death you are separated forever because of your lack of belief in Jesus Christ So there is this tension while we live here on this earth with sin and eternity They cannot coexist Heaven is without sin Now what does that mean We live in this world full of sin Our fleshly lives are full of sin, but our soul is full of the Holy Spirit of God That part of us is perfect. It cannot sin. It cannot coexist with sin. It is the Holy Spirit of God therefore we have a License if you will we are already citizens of heaven Because our soul exists with the Holy Spirit of God in our lives That my friends is good news Now what happens is the world will try to tell us That Nothing is absolute That nothing is perfect that there is not truth. But the truth is that God Is holy and he is true with what he says about heaven and about hell So you were created for eternity the fourth point this morning. We're gonna we're gonna move these next two points really quick as Believers we are not under Satan's control it ties to that last point verse 19 we know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of The evil one now now hear this. Please hear this this this is really important to grab hold of Since we have the assurity of Jesus living in our lives and by the power of the Holy Spirit He does live in us. So sin cannot coexist even though we live and influenced by sin by this world Satan has the opportunity to influence our lives he tried to influence Christ's life did he not on those temptations and Christ would constantly come back and with scripture and with the Word of God and say man get thee behind me Even Peter would be influenced by Satan and Jesus would say to him Satan get get behind me. You don't know what you're talking about as believers We will always have that opportunity to be influenced by Satan But you will not be possessed by Satan because you are a believer in Christ Jesus because you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God You are not under Satan's control So stop it Stop it. Stop letting sin influence your belief systems Stop letting sin control you because it's Satan's lies That's trying to teach you from what the scripture teaches us as truth absolute truth and How do we do that with his word? By putting the Word of God in our hearts by believing the Word of God by my memorizing in by sharing it by telling it To the world that Jesus is alive last point You were created for eternity so that you can know the true God and eternal life verse 20 and We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding that we may know him Who is true and we are in him who is true in his son Jesus Christ He is the true God And eternal life and he says don't follow us follow false idols So easy for us to adore other things in this world. We are to adore Jesus Christ and God only the one and true God and eternal life