Basics with Beth Jones

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Good morning, everybody, Good morning, Welcome to church. Always great
to be in the House of the Lord. And we
are going to wrap up a series today called Liar, Liar,
Pants on Fire talking about the lies of the enemy,
and then how you and I take up the armor
of God that we've been given to take up our
offensive weapons, the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith,

(00:36):
among other things, and just really get getting a hold
of some tools and some equipping to live this Christian
life He's called us to live. I'm going to wrap
it up today talking about lies the enemy tells us
and tells people about Heaven. Two lies, two big lies.
The enemy likes to perpetuate line number one. Heaven is
going to be boring. He wants us to think and

(00:57):
wants people to think, you don't want to go to heaven.
It's just going to be so boring. What are they
gonna do sit around on clouds and play harps and
be cherubs. What are they gonna do? Worship and sing
for eternity? And of course the other lies, the one
we talked about last week. I'd just rather go to
hell and party with all my friends. So that's a lie.
That's a big lie, big myth about what heaven and

(01:18):
eternity will be. Like lie number two that we're going
to talk about today is everyone goes to heaven, no problem,
no worries, mate, everybody goes to heaven. But we're gonna
find out that's also a lie. And we'll see what
Jesus said about it, what the Bible says about it.
And I give everyone an opportunity. If you're here today
and you've never personally invited and come into a relationship

(01:39):
with Jesus Christ, that you don't know one hundred percent
in your own heart. You do not know one hundred
percent at this very moment that if you were to
die today and stand before the Lord, you're like, I
don't know where I would go. I hope i'd go
to heaven, but I can't honestly say that I know
because I know, because I know that I will have
eternity with God. By the end of today's service, you'll

(02:02):
have an opportunity to know for certain that you'll be
spending eternity with God in a place called Heaven. And
I think after you hear a little taste of heaven today,
you're gonna for sure want to be there, and all
the people said. A friend of ours is a missionary,
and he and his wife have been missionaries in Zambia
for many, many, many years. But he said something. I
just thought it was astounding, based on hell, based on

(02:25):
what we talked about last week, we put out a
post that said, you know, why is it there's a
stairway to heaven and a highway to hell. Hope that's
not an indication of the anticipated traffic. So he made
a comment, and it's been just brewing in me all week.
I've been pondering it all week because I just think
it's so profound. Missionaries in Zambia their whole life, left family, friends,

(02:46):
the comforts of home here in the States and moved
over there decades to go to minister to people. They
love the Zambians, they love what they're doing. But here's
what he said. I doubt I would be a career
missionary if I did not believe in hell. In other words,
why would you if there was no such thing as hell?

(03:10):
And if everybody goes to heaven anyways, well then let's
just be nice people. Why would you do what Jesus said,
go ye into all the world and preach the gospel?
Why would you except for the belief, the strong belief
according to God's word about heaven and Hell. And so,
like I said, we talked about hell last week. Today
we're going to talk about heaven. Here's some stats that

(03:31):
LifeWay put together based on some surveys concerning the afterlife.
Here's what people's response was. Heaven is a place where
all people will ultimately be reunited with their loved ones.
When they did that survey, sixty percent of the people
thought that was true. Three different responses here, everybody's going
to heaven. Sixty percent think that's true. The second one

(03:53):
is only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as
their savior received God's free gift of eternal salvation, salvation
through Christ alone, fifty four percent half of the population
surveyed believe that. And then finally, by good works that
I do, I partly contribute to earning my place in heaven.
In other words, it is partly conditional based on my

(04:14):
good works. And that survey also said fifty percent of
the population thought that was it was true for them
when it was when they were asked about hell, forty
percent agreed with this statement. Hell is an eternal place
of judgment where God sends all people who do not
personally trust in Jesus Christ. Well, that's what the Bible
says is the case, but only forty percent of the

(04:37):
population believe it. In other words, all that's to say,
our work here is not yet done. Our work's cut
out for us. These are many different people in church,
which is a bit sobering. If it's true, if what
Jesus said is true, if there's a heaven to gain,
a hell to shun, if that is legit, then we

(04:57):
have a lot of work to do, not just the preachers,
all of us is the body of Christ as followers
of Jesus. We have a lot of work to do.
And all the people said, here's a couple of scriptures,
then let's talk about heaven. The Bible doesn't tell us
a ton about heaven. We get glimpses in the Book
of Revelation, chapter twenty one and twenty two, we get
probably the most information about heaven, and then we get

(05:19):
little pieces throughout scripture about what heaven's going to be like.
But here's a couple that we'll look at first, Corinthians two,
nine and ten. And while you guys are getting there,
let me pray, Father, thank you so much for your word,
thank you for these people, thank you for hungry hearts. God,
I pray that you'll just open up our eyes, help
us to get revelation and to see the things we
need to see, to know the things we need to know.

(05:42):
And God, that with our heart we will just recommit
ourselves to knowing Jesus and to spreading the good news.
In Jesus's mighty name. We pray, and everybody that agreed
said amen. First Corinthians two nine and ten, the apostle
Paul said this, I has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor has entered into the heart of man, the things
which God has prepared for those who love him. But

(06:06):
God has revealed them to us through his spirit. He's
telling us. Our eyes, our ears, our minds cannot even comprehend.
We can't even get our heads wrapped around what God
has prepared and is preparing for who for those who
love him. We can't even comprehend it. I mean, Jesus said,

(06:26):
we'll look at this verse a little bit later. But
Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you
so that where I am you can be. God is
preparing something so incredible that our eyes and our minds
and our ears can't even get a grip on it.
We can't even we have no reference point. And we,
all of us, we've seen some pretty amazing sights here
on earth, haven't we. We've seen a beautiful sunset, We've

(06:47):
seen beautiful mountains, beautiful lakes. We've seen God's creation by
looking in the stars in the skies. But he says,
I has not seen you haven't seen it. Whatever we've
all seen, ha's been a It doesn't even compare to
the things which God is preparing for those who love him.
But his spirit reveals a little bit of it to us.

(07:12):
We don't see at all, But by his spirit he
gives us a glimpse into some of these things. Well,
the apostle Paul himself had a visitation and went to heaven.
The Bible says he went to the third heaven, and
he saw unspeakable things. He saw incredible things. So at
times God gives people an opportunity to see some things
and some revelation. Go over to Colossians chapter three, Colossians

(07:37):
three one through three. He said, since then you've been
raised with since then you've been raised to new life
with Christ. Set your sights on the realities of heaven,
where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place
of honor and power. Let Heaven fill your thoughts. Do
not only think about things here down here on the earth.

(07:58):
He's just telling us, be heavenly minded. That's your sights
on things above, not just on the earth. We all
deal with earth and stress and pressure and deadlines and things.
But he's trying to help us. He's trying to say,
you can live above that. You can live with your
mind set on things that are eternal, things that are heavenly. Now,
sometimes back in the day, there used to be a
phrase that people would say, oh, they're so heavenly minded,

(08:19):
they're no earthly good, meaning they have their heads up
in the clouds thinking about Heaven and God and all
this Bible stuff all the time. They're no earthly good,
no common sense, not very responsible. But right on the
other hand, then people would say, oh, they're so earthly minded,
they're no heavenly good. They're so concerned with earth and

(08:40):
the things of earth, they have no awareness of heavenly
and eternal things. So who knows. Somewhere in between those
two is probably where we're supposed to live. But if
you're going to air, then according to the scriptures here
we should definitely err on the side of being heavenly minded,
be thinking about eternal things, because whatever we think about
is what ultimately we do, and it'll motivate us and
help us in our relationships with people and in the

(09:02):
work that we do in our mission here and so on.
So heavenly minded things. Now, here's the thing. There's a
phrase out there, live your best life now. You live
in your best life, Live your best life now. But
the truth is the only people that are living their
best life now are people that we would be spending

(09:24):
eternity in hell. Because this is as good as it gets.
For those not going to heaven, this is as good
as it gets. Earth is as good as it gets,
which hopefully puts a little compassion in us to go. Man,
I want to reach as many people as I can then,
But for the Christian Earth is as close to Hell
as you'll get. It only gets better from here. So

(09:48):
even though we have these present sufferings, the Bible says,
even in light of these present sufferings, they are not
worthy to be compared to the glories that shall be revealed. Amen.
So just have the perspective. Have the perspective on eternal things,
all right. Two lies lie number one. Heaven will be boring.

(10:09):
Lie number two. Everybody goes to heaven, So will heaven
be boring? Absolutely not. It is a city, and there
are cities. Heaven is a place of activity. There's a
lot going on in heaven. Millions upon millions upon millions
of people are already there from all of time, all
the Old Testament saints. We talked about it last week.

(10:30):
When Jesus was resurrected and ascended up on high, the
Bible says he led captivity captive, all those Old Testament
people that believed in God, that lived righteous lives went
to be with him in heaven. All the New Testament
people that have passed on since Jesus has come, that
have believed in him, received him, become children of God.
They're in heaven. So you think about the millions upon

(10:53):
millions of people in heaven. It's a big place. There's
a lot of activity. They're not sitting around twiddling their thumbs.
They're not sitting on clouds all learning how to play
the harp. There's a lot of activity happening. Here's what
it says. In Hebrews twelve, verse twenty two. It says,
but you have come, speaking of heaven. You've come to
Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God, the

(11:15):
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. Some versions
say millions upon millions, just of angels, to the general
Assembly and the Church, the Church that Jesus is building,
and the gates of hell will not prevail against the
Church of the first Born, who are registered in Heaven,

(11:36):
to God the judge of all, to the spirits of
just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of the
New Covenant, and to the Blood. I think it's interesting
there's a couple of little phrases in there, to those
who are registered in heaven, those who are who's going
to be in heaven? What's it going to be like?
What's going on? To those who are registered? So the

(11:57):
question is have you registered? Have you all registered y'
for heaven? Have you filled out the registration form? Have
you got your name in the Lamb's Book of Life.
That's how you get in, That's how you'll be certain
you'll be there. You've made a reservation and you know it.
You've got your name registered. And then notice what it
says to the spirits of just men, mankind men and women,

(12:19):
the spirits of just men. What's going to be happening
in heaven? Physically, We're not going to be in these
bodies that as we know them. Our bodies will be
glorified bodies, resurrected bodies. But the real you, the person
behind your eyeballs, the spirit man that you are that's
been justified through the Blood of Jesus, that person that

(12:41):
you and I are, the real us in our glorified bodies,
we're going to be the ones in heaven. That's what
he said, the spirits of just men made perfect through
Jesus and through the Blood. Revelation twenty one. Let's look
at a couple others, and I got some more videos
to show you. Revelation twenty one. Here's what the Bible
says about heaven, about the new Heaven and the new
Earth that is to come. Jesus told us about I

(13:02):
saw Heaven and Earth new created, gone, the first Heaven gone,
the first Earth gone, the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem,
new created, descending resplendent out of Heaven as ready for
God as a bride for her husband. I heard a
voice thunder from the throned. Look, look, God has moved
into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women.

(13:23):
They're his people. He's there. God. He'll wipe away every
tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good, tears gone,
crying gone, pain gone, all the first order of things gone.
The enthroned continued, Look, I'm making everything new. Write it
all down, each word, dependable and accurate. Then he said,

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it's happened. I'm a to z, I'm the beginning. I'm
the conclusion from water of life. Well, I give freely
to the thirsty conquerors inherit all this. I'll be God
to them. They'll be sons and daughters to me. But
for the rest, the feckless, the faithless, degenerates, murderers, sex
peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. For them, it's

(14:12):
like a fire and brimstone. Second death. Well, he says
a lot there about heaven. What it's going to be like.
Some things we can expect. He mentions, he'll wipe away
every tear. There'll be nothing to cry about in heaven.
There'd be no tears, meaning it'll be joy, unspeakable and

(14:32):
full of glory, laughter, joy. Other places tell us no
more tears, no sorrow, nothing sad no sadness. You know,
for some people they live their whole life with a
sense of even Christians live their whole life with a
sense of sadness, a broken heart. We all go through
hard times in life, we all go through difficult things

(14:53):
and painful things. But in heaven, all that's gone. There
is no sorrow. You know. You think about people that
are in heaven and that you knew, and maybe family,
loved one's friends, whatever, and maybe like the relationship on
earth wasn't the greatest, but in heaven everything is made new,
and so that relationship will be nothing but joy, unspeakable love,

(15:19):
no tears, no sorrow, no hatred, no bitterness, no resentment,
no anger. All pain is gone, no more pain. Some
of you have lived in pain for a lot of
your life, physical pain, emotional, mental, and so on. But
in heaven there's no pain, like it can't exist. There's

(15:41):
no death, which of course is sort of obvious. But
even like in the space, there's no death. The blades
of grass, the flowers, the trees, it's filled with life.
In fact, several people that describe their experience talked about
how it almost seemed as if like the water was breathing,
which is so interesting because it's called the river of life.

(16:02):
One guy I read after In fact, this guy wrote
a book. It's really it's a fun read. It's called
My Time in Heaven by Richard Sigmund and he says
a number of things, but he basically died. Doctors pronounced
him dead. He'd been dead for eight hours. They were
rolling him to the morgue. They were talking about how
he's dead, and they're taking him to the morgue, and

(16:23):
on the way he piped up and said, I'm not dead.
Can you imagine being the orderly? I think that would
become the disorderly. So he wrote this book, My Time
in Heaven, and it's really it'll thrill your it'll thrill
your soul and it'll thrill your spirit. You'll just be
so happy that you're going there and that you know

(16:45):
people that are there. But he said, I can't explain it.
I can only tell you what I saw, and language fails.
It really is indescribable. The sights, the sound, the sizes,
the colors, several people talked about in heaven, there are
colors that we've never even seen here on earth, the colors,
the smells. How can one describe a place called heaven.

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He went on to say this, The things that I
saw related and ministered to me, like he saw things
that the Lord knew would minister to him. He said,
I believe they will also minister to those who read
this book. Jesus told me, don't ever forget how much
I love you and what I have done for you.
Never forget how much I love those whom you are
going back to, and the place I have prepared for them,

(17:27):
and how much I love them. Everybody that talks about
Heaven talks about how much God Jesus loves us. They
say his eye, they said, you look into his eyes,
It's like looking into liquid love. He looks at us,
even those of us on earth. But in those that
have experienced the heavenly experiences, that everything is saturated in

(17:50):
God's love, and some of us we just need the
revelation of God's love here on earth. And sometimes the
people that have had these experiences come back to say,
the Lord told me to tell you how much he
loves you. He's for you, He's on your side, and
so on. Here's a passage Jesus mentioned this John fourteen.
Jesus that in my father's house are many mansions. If

(18:14):
it were not so, I would have told you I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to myself. That where I am,
there you may be also. And where I go, you know.
And the way you know, Jesus said to them, I
am the way and the truth and the life. No

(18:38):
one comes to the Father except through me. Well, God's
preparing indescribable things for us. What I hasn't seen, mind
hasn't conceived, ear hasn't heard. Is preparing all of this
for those who love him, including your mansion, including your
dwelling place, including things that we can't even get our
heads wrapped around. Last lie the enemy tells us is

(18:58):
everybody goes to have. And you guys have been around
here long enough, you know what the Bible says about that.
But let me just read you this verse first on five,
verses eleven through thirteen, And this is the testimony God
has given us eternal life. And this life is in
his son. He who has the Son has life. He
who does not have the Son of God does not
have life. These things I have written to you who

(19:20):
believe in the name of the Son of God, that
you may know that you have eternal life, and that
you may continue to believe in the name of the
Son of God. God wants you and I to know
we have eternal life. He who has the Son has
the life. If you're here this morning, you're watching online

(19:42):
or on television, and you're like, I don't know. I
don't know where I'm going when I die, I hope
it's heaven, But I can't honestly say that I know.
You can know. He who has the Son has the life.
You have it, you'll have eternal life. He who does
not have the Son of God does not have the life.
So if you've never received Jesus as Lord, today's your day.

(20:04):
Today's your day to get your reservation in, get registered.
As we mentioned, to invite Jesus to be the Lord
of your life. It's as simple as opening up your
heart and saying, Jesus be the Lord of my life.
Jesus said this. Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men him

(20:26):
I will also confess before my father. But whoever denies
me before men him, I will also deny before my father,
who is in heaven. You said, Jesus, I want you
to acknowledge me. I want you to recognize me at
the pearly gates. I want to have a relationship with
you that goes into eternity. Whoever confesses me before men.
In other words, you make a public declaration. If you will,

(20:49):
You're not hiding it. It's not your private, little secret
Christian life. It's like, no, I'm proud to be a Christian.
I'm happy to confess Jesus is the Lord of my
life in front of whoever wants to hear it or
doesn't want to hear it. That's your heart. Your heart
is like no, I'll make a public confession. Are you
kidding me? Yes, I'll confess that Jesus Christ is my lord,
and Jesus promised that I will confess you before my

(21:11):
father in heaven. Thanks for watching today's show. We hope
this message helped you to get the basics, live the life,
and do the stuff. Be sure to set your DVR
so that you never miss an episode. For more of
the basics with Beth Jones, or to watch programs on demand,
visit the basics withtheth dot TV