July 23, 2025 • 31 mins
Rev. Chuck Rains opens 1 Peter 1 to offer a rich and hope-filled message on the believer's inheritance in Christ. In a world marked by trial and impermanence, we are reminded that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees a living hope—an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven. This episode explores what truly matters: not earthly possessions, but our eternal relationship with Jesus. Be strengthened to walk through trials with faith, knowing that joy, peace, and eternal glory await all who are His.
📋 Show Notes:
- Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 1:3–9, John 14, Revelation 1 & 3, 1 Thessalonians 4
- Key Themes:
- A living hope through the resurrection
- Our eternal inheritance in Christ
- Joy in trials and the purpose of suffering
- The return of Jesus and eternal relationship with Him
- Invitation to receive the water of life freely
- Highlights:
- Why you can rejoice even during hardship
- The nature of heavenly inheritance vs. earthly possessions
- God's purpose in your trials: for His glory and your growth
- The joy of knowing and being known in eternity
- A call to invite others to drink from the water of life
If you have questions or comments, please send them to legacybiblepodcast@gmail.com
check out the website at www.legacybiblepodcast.com
Fellowship Bible church website at www.fbcjoliet.com
Thanks for listening and please subscribe
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, podcast listeners and welcome back.
(00:14):
This is the legacy Bible podcast, a place where you were here, audio from the Tape archives
of the Fellowship Bible Church in Joliet, Illinois.
My name is Marcus Onate.
Today I will be bringing you another one from The Archive of the Fellowship Bible Church.
(00:37):
This is from February 24, 1991, and it's titled, A Living Hope,Our Heritage in Christ.
And it is kind of a continuation of the one from last week where we covered Job.
It starts off with the first Peter and it's covering the same, how do we deal with trials
(01:01):
in our life?
So that's a good one to listen to.
So let's listen to it.
So take it away, Pastor Raines.
Look with me at 1 Peter, chapter 1, where Peter speaks to us that have never seen the
Lord.
(01:23):
He says something about his return.
Of course, in the book of 1 Peter, Peter is speaking to people who are under trial, who
are having difficulty in this world, in this life.
(01:46):
He speaks, well, I'll start at verse 3 of chapter 1, about the glory of God and the
inheritance that we have in him.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy, it's begotten us again and do a lively or living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead.
Our hope of having eternal life centers on this great victory of the resurrection.
(02:14):
Because God has raised Jesus from the dead, he's given us the hope that we can expect
to be raised from the dead.
Our Savior has had victory over death, so we can have victory over death.
We have what he has.
We have what he has because we're in him.
If he has victory over death, if he has a resurrected body, then we have victory over
(02:37):
death and we have a resurrected body.
When he has begotten again, begotten is to give birth to you.
Begotten again is to give birth to again or to be reborn or to be born again.
God has let us be born again and given us this living hope.
(03:03):
He has given it to us through raising up the Lord Jesus from the dead.
But we can expect that our Savior will come again and give us victory over this body and
over death and over the grave.
And he has given us something else to an inheritance in corruptible and undefiled that
faith is not away reserved in heaven for you.
(03:26):
When we leave this earth, it's true we leave everything behind.
That's of the earth.
When we leave behind the stuff that moth and rust corrupts and where thieves break through
and steal, we leave all that behind.
You can't take your gold and silver to heaven.
Job says, naked came my forth from the womb and naked I will return.
(03:57):
Basically he's saying, I came into this world without anything.
I'm going to leave this world without anything.
And that really is as far as the stuff of the world is concerned, you can't take it
with you.
You ever heard that phrase?
You can't take it with you.
But the stuff that you do have in eternity is called an inheritance.
(04:19):
It's incorruptible.
That means it can't rot.
It can't moth can't get at it.
Rust can't corrupt it.
It can't rot.
It's eternal.
It lasts forever.
It's therefore not made of this world.
The reason that people over the centuries have regarded things like gold as very valuable
is that it doesn't rust.
(04:41):
It doesn't rust.
But even gold can't make it out of this world.
The inheritance that we have is far more enduring than gold or platinum or the stuff
for this world that doesn't rust.
We have an inheritance in Christ.
Now an inheritance is a different kind of treasure.
(05:03):
Remember that.
An inheritance is something that somebody gives you when they die.
Something that somebody gives you, something of their wealth, something of their possessions
that they give you when they die.
That's an inheritance.
It's something that you get through a grant from somebody that passes on.
(05:26):
Now what do we have in a way of an inheritance?
Well the one who has died, the Lord Jesus, has also been raised again.
But through his death he has given us an inheritance.
On the inheritance the wonderful thing is the inheritance isn't in this world.
(05:50):
The inheritance is in eternity.
It's in heaven.
That's where our treasure is.
That's where the stuff is that doesn't rot in heaven.
Now God doesn't go into it in great detail as far as pointing at things and describing
(06:11):
things in a physical way.
Not very much is said in the scriptures about what you have there in your inheritance.
You know what God centers on and what he tells us about heaven, about eternity and what we
have there?
He centers on ideas, not so much pointing at physical things and trying to describe
them and he isn't saying, oh you have a certain house and this is the way it looks
(06:36):
and here's how its windows are and it has this gold fluff carpet and he doesn't go into
that kind of stuff.
Not at all.
And he talks about himself.
He talks about his relationship with us.
He talks about the works of the spirit that we know down here that will be perfected there
(07:02):
like joy and peace and love, the fellowship that we're going to have there.
He talks about relationship.
Do you know what your greatest treasure in heaven is?
Jesus.
That's your greatest treasure.
It is.
(07:23):
Think about it.
What is most precious in this world?
In this world.
Okay, just among human beings then.
Among human beings, what's most wonderful?
Yeah, but among human beings, you're right.
That's absolutely the foundation and that's the answer to him even in this world.
(07:44):
But among human beings, between human beings, what's most precious?
Children.
What?
Think about that.
Relationships with others in love.
Relationships with others in love.
Now there are different levels of those and the highest level by God's creation is a
(08:08):
murder love, isn't it?
And there is a love of children.
There is the love of parents.
There's the love of parents for their children, children for their parents.
There is that kind of love.
There's a love of friendship.
These are different levels, but a love relationship, don't you think, would be the greatest treasure
that God has given to us and the highest treasure of all of those is our love relationship,
(08:32):
our relationship with him, with our Lord himself.
You know, that's your greatest treasure in heaven, your Lord and your relationship with
him.
He's really all that counts.
You won't, but it's not possible you get to heaven and say, well, Lord, is that the only
(08:53):
role by God?
Man, look at my harp.
It's not anything like that one over there.
You know, my glow is not quite as bright as sister so-and-so's over here.
(09:15):
And Lord, that emerald floor in my little room is just not quite as, you know, that's
nonsense.
That's nonsense, isn't it?
Why, what's going to really count for us?
One, he is our treasure.
(09:38):
And so Peter says, oh, by the way, there's all, aren't we going to have relationships
with all the saints?
Sure, we will.
Every one of them, somebody asked me last week, well, I'll tell you, it was last Monday
night and we were, Dale, Erickson and I had gone to visit a family and we were having a
(09:59):
talk with them and I was trying to show them the plan of salvation from the scriptures.
And this one fella had a lot of questions and he asked an interesting question.
He said, now, when we get to heaven, I guess he was counting, I get to heaven, he didn't
receive the Lord, but he asked this question right anyway.
He says, well, when we, when we get to heaven, will we know everybody?
(10:26):
I said, yes, we'll know everybody.
Oh, he said, you think so?
I said, yeah, I think so.
I think we'll know everybody.
Remember that scene in the model transfiguration where Peter, James and John were up there
(10:47):
and they looked over and what did they see?
They saw Jesus talking with two people, Moses and Elijah.
They knew Moses and Elijah, but they'd never talked to them before, never seen them before.
God had given to them that kind of knowledge that we're going to have in heaven.
Immediate recognition.
And you know, we're not only going to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, you're going
(11:10):
to have a relationship with Moses and Elijah and Abraham and some widow from China that
used to pray in her little hut with the shutters closed so nobody could know what
would truly love the Lord, whose name you probably couldn't even pronounce if you did
(11:32):
here at once or twice.
There's maybe been dead for 200 years.
I don't know.
You're going to know her and you'll have a wonderful relationship with her, but your
greatest treasure is your Lord and your relationship in him.
And he says, who are kept by the power of God through faith and the salvation ready to
(11:54):
be revealed in the last time.
We're going to greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be or in heaviness through
manifold temptations.
You can have joy even though right now you have to go through a lot of trials.
That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold or perishable though
it be tried with fire might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
(12:15):
of Jesus Christ.
Your faith, see there's purpose in this thing of going through difficulties in this life.
If as you face your difficulties, you trust in your Lord, he is glorified.
He gains honor through that.
He gains praise through that and that trust that you have in your Lord to allow him to
(12:36):
give you the grace to deal with your problems.
Now get this, the fact that you look to him and trust in him does bring glory and honor
to him and will be remembered in eternity.
I don't want to slip past it.
I want to say it again.
Think of it this way.
When you have a problem, usually you think of it this way.
(12:57):
I need to go to God and ask him for help because I want to get out of this thing if possible,
but I certainly want to get through it.
And I need the grace to get through it.
In other words, you look at your problems through your eyes.
Now will you look at it through God's eyes because this helps you see it through God's
eyes.
(13:18):
Here's God's vision.
I'm going to let that person, one of my children, have a problem so that they call out to me
and I get to give them grace to go through this thing.
And by them allowing me to give them grace, I will work on their behalf and it will glorify
me.
So God gets glory out of being able, being allowed to do that for you.
(13:44):
Now if you see it that way, you'll understand why he allows these things to happen.
Why he wants you to stay in the place where you have to keep asking and keep asking.
And you know when all that glory is going to be revealed, all that has brought glory
to God is going to be revealed?
When is that going to be evident?
(14:05):
At the coming of the Lord Jesus.
When he comes, it will be made evident.
So at the appearing of the Lord Jesus, home having not seen you love in whom though you
know you see him not yet believing you rejoice with joy and speakable and full of glory.
So he's coming.
He's coming.
(14:26):
John's gospel, chapter 14, tells us I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14, too, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
unto myself that where I am there ye may be also is the promise of the Lord's return.
(14:56):
There it is.
And whether I go, you know, and the way you know, that he says in six, I am the way,
the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
You want to go to where Jesus is, then you're going to have to like these prisoners, you're
going to have to go on the road that is provided and you don't want to walk where the road
(15:19):
isn't because it will blow you to bits.
There is a way and that way is the Lord Jesus Christ and you don't want to there step
any other place that is the only way open.
He is the way, the way there is only one.
(15:41):
Now once you have walked on the road, once you have gotten through the minefield, once
you have trusted in Christ, you can rest assured in this as his, once you have trusted
him, you're his, you can trust in this.
He has gone to prepare a place for you.
By the way, here's those, I'm sure some of those prisoners are going to think they have
(16:04):
almost got to heaven when they get to that POW camp because there is a POW camp already
built in Saudi Arabia to house 100,000 prisoners.
They have stocked up food, cuts, blankets and clothing and medication for 100,000 prisoners.
(16:25):
I think after having been almost deprived, they've been living on, I'm told, half a
cup of water per day in the desert.
I mean you have no idea how dehydrated you can get in the desert and half a cup of water
is not going to do it for you.
(16:47):
Three to six tablespoons of rice per day.
That's what they've had.
No other food, many of them.
And they've been, some of them have been dug in the sand, down in holes, day after day,
(17:10):
week after week, month after month, living in a hole in the sand with a little bit of
water and rice.
Man, are they glad to get out of there.
And when they get to that POW camp, what are they going to have?
They're going to have clean clothes, cuts to lay in, three meals a day.
I mean, some of them are going to say, well, don't worry, don't hurry the negotiations
(17:35):
to send us back.
I mean, we'd like to get back to our families, but this isn't bad.
It really is going to be better than those holes in the sand.
I liked what one commentator said.
He said they had a picture of the, I'll tell you, there must have been hundreds of these
(17:56):
men in a line walking across the desert giving up.
He said, look at them.
They're waving their arms, all of them are waving their arms because they had their white
flags.
They're all waving their arms and walking, which is an indication that they are not wounded.
They have not been fired upon.
We didn't have to fire on them.
(18:18):
They're not limping.
They're not carrying one another.
They're not bringing along the wounded.
They are coming out without being fired on.
Just a few shells lobbed over there and they all waved their flags and out they came.
I'm not saying that the whole operation is going to go that way.
Maybe that's the only certain segments of the battle.
They're glad to get out of there.
(18:43):
Listen, this world, we've adjusted to it.
We know we'll have troubles and problems.
All of our loved ones as wonderful as they are aren't perfect.
You have trouble with them.
All of your friends as perfect as you may think they are at times and other times you
(19:07):
realize they also are a pain in the neck.
Kids as wonderful as children are.
I'll tell you, they are Roxanne.
You have to take that by faith.
They are wonderful.
But I don't think any parent has ever had a child that hasn't said it times.
What a pill.
(19:29):
There are just times when you say, this one is a real, real burr.
A real thorn.
A real heartache.
But we love them.
It's that way among Christian brethren.
It's that way in the church.
It's that way anywhere in this world.
(19:51):
We're not yet in a perfect place.
It isn't as it will be.
But one day soon these events tell us, look, we better look up our redemption draw at night.
These things will be taken away and all things will be made perfect.
(20:13):
In glory, all of these troubles and trials will be gone even in our relationships, even
in our love relationships, they're going to all be made perfect.
And he's gone to prepare a place for us, where he is, there we may be also.
Here's the shout, 1 Thessalonians 4, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
(20:38):
that's our victory in His resurrection, you know, as it's displayed, the victory came
at the cross.
There's proof is in the resurrection.
And so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1 Thessalonians 4, 15.
Now, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain
until the coming of the Lord shall not prevent means go before rise up first, not go before
(21:05):
them which are asleep or dead.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
Here it is with a shout.
With the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall
rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
(21:26):
to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
That's our hope.
And if you love him, you can't wait to see him.
Revelation chapter 1 gives a vision of Jesus.
1, 13.
And in the midst of the seven candle six, one like unto the son of man clothed with the
(21:48):
garment down to the foot and gird about the paps with the golden girdle, his head and
his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire.
Now, I grant you when you see this picture of Jesus, it's not a very appealing one.
It's not one that you really want to get close to.
(22:09):
But it all has purpose in this description of the Lord Jesus.
And his feet liken to find brass as if they burned in a furnace in his voice as the sound
of many waters and he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth when a sharp
two-edged sword in his countenance was as the sun shined in his strength.
(22:32):
And of course it says, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet, his dead.
Because when you see Jesus this way, this is a purging kind of vision.
This is a vision that's showing you righteousness and calling you to deal with your sin.
I'll show you that Revelation chapter two verse one, because here's how he appears in
(22:55):
the vision to the church of Ephesus.
He said, these things set he that hold at the seven stars in his right hand and walk
in the midst of the seven golden candle sticks.
Now here he is in verse eight.
And another way to Smyrna, these things set the first and the last which was dead in his
alive.
Here he is in verse 12 now to Pergamos.
(23:18):
These things set he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.
And over here in verse 18, here he is to Thigh Tyra.
These things set the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire in his feet
are like fine brass.
And here he is in chapter three to the angel of church's sartis.
(23:39):
These things set he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
And down here to Philadelphia in verse seven, these things set he that is holy, he that
is true, he that hath the key of David, he that opened it, and no man shut it, he that
shut it, no man opened it.
And here he is to lay it a seeah.
(24:00):
Chapter three, verse 14.
These things set the amen, the faithful and true witness to the beginning of the creation
of God.
Now every one of those references to Jesus calls people into account.
Whether it be by his word, the two-edged sword, whether it be by his eyes as a flame
(24:23):
of fire, because they can see everything, whether it be the brass feet, because brass
or bronze speaks of judgment and feet of course, tramp out in judgment.
Whatever feature it is, whether it's the sevens of full spirit of God, you can read
that in Isaiah 11, how the seven primary qualities of the Holy Spirit of God are at work in
(24:44):
this world, first in the Lord Jesus and then in us, through us in this world, that this
is a picture of the Lord Jesus that calls for cleansing, calls for purity.
But for those that are clean, for those that are clean, another vision, last chapter of
(25:07):
the book of Revelation, he is coming.
Verse 13, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the first and the last, blessed are they
that do his commandments and that they may have the right to the tree of life and may
enter in through the gates into the city.
(25:31):
Is the Lord Jesus your first and your last, your Alpha and Omega your all in all?
When he is.
When he has for you are blessings, you have to fear him.
When he has for you in blessings, you can enter through the gates of the city and he
is talking here of heaven, New Jerusalem, the city that we enter into.
(25:58):
There he is.
We can go right into his presence and dwell there.
In peace and joy.
Here is the invitation for right now to the church.
I am far through the church and through the spirit, to the world.
(26:21):
Verse 17, the spirit and the bride, the church, say, come, that is our invitation to the
world.
Come, don't be afraid of Jesus.
Sure he is righteous.
Sure in his presence you are going to have to fall at his feet.
But he would cleanse you and he would touch you like he did.
John, like he did to the apostles there in the mouth, he would say this, don't be afraid.
(26:49):
If the world would let him cleanse them, they don't have to be afraid.
Don't be afraid.
Come and let him that hear us say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever
will let him take the water of life freely.
That is the invitation of the Lord Jesus.
Without money, without price, that is a loving invitation.
(27:10):
It is a joyful thought that he is going to return for us.
Yes, we have trials right now.
Peter tells us about that.
But we love him and we love his appearing.
This I hope would be a week for you of looking up and dealing with any sin that is in your
(27:34):
life.
Don't carry along with you.
Deal with it.
We shared 1 John 1, 9 this morning.
Deal with it.
Let God cleanse it from your life so you can walk into joy of the Lord.
Go through the days with joy looking up.
We are not to be filled with terror but with joy.
(27:59):
Wait for his appearance.
He is coming.
Coming soon.
He is our joy.
Especially if we can just go along in the joy of the Lord every day, rejoicing in him,
casting our burdens on him, trusting him for the grace to go through whatever trials we
have, singing the songs of praise, delighting in him and telling others, saying to them,
(28:22):
come, come, drink of the water of life freely.
It's for you.
Now that's a loving invitation.
They are so thirsty.
Look, they are in the desert.
They are not even getting half a cup of water a day.
(28:45):
They are getting nothing out there.
They are going to take a drink.
Offer them to Lord Jesus.
Would you?
I know they won't all take it immediately.
They just can hardly believe that it would be for them.
Some of them just think they are afraid to lose what they have, their security.
(29:11):
Maybe they won't stay in their hole in the desert.
But if they could just see that there is a better place and there is a joy and there
is a fulfillment that is waiting for them out there, if they just come, give them the
invitation.
And do it and show them your joy as you do it.
(29:35):
Father, thank you for this promise of the Lord Jesus' soon return.
Thank you, Lord, that He has given us this glad message.
We can look up and with joy expect His soon coming.
My pray, Lord, it might be even soon, though we do pray too, that we might have every
(29:58):
opportunity to bring the gospel to all those around us.
Lord, we squander it.
Help us use our time better in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you, Pastor Raines, for another message from the Word of God.
And thank you to the people of Fellowship Bible Church for allowing me to bring you
(30:23):
these recordings from their tape archive.
So come back next week, we'll have more.
And if you really want to help out, you can subscribe.
Everything really helps the podcast either on your audio podcast listening app or YouTube.
That would be good.
(30:45):
Comment and left to hear comments.
I want to hear who it is that's out there and where you're from and where you're listening
at.
I'd really like to know.
So please comment and let's see.
What else?
Oh, yeah.
Make sure you read your Bible.
That's for one thing.
So read your Bible along with listening to the message.
(31:09):
That would be a even better thing.
So you can do that.
So come back next week.
We'll have more from the tape archives of the Fellowship Bible Church.
And until then, have a great day.
See you next week.
Hello, podcast listeners and welcome back.
(00:14):
This is the legacy Bible podcast, a place where you were here, audio from the Tape archives
of the Fellowship Bible Church in Joliet, Illinois.
My name is Marcus Onate.
Today I will be bringing you another one from The Archive of the Fellowship Bible Church.
(00:37):
This is from February 24, 1991, and it's titled, A Living Hope,Our Heritage in Christ.
And it is kind of a continuation of the one from last week where we covered Job.
It starts off with the first Peter and it's covering the same, how do we deal with trials
(01:01):
in our life?
So that's a good one to listen to.
So let's listen to it.
So take it away, Pastor Raines.
Look with me at 1 Peter, chapter 1, where Peter speaks to us that have never seen the
Lord.
(01:23):
He says something about his return.
Of course, in the book of 1 Peter, Peter is speaking to people who are under trial, who
are having difficulty in this world, in this life.
(01:46):
He speaks, well, I'll start at verse 3 of chapter 1, about the glory of God and the
inheritance that we have in him.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy, it's begotten us again and do a lively or living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead.
Our hope of having eternal life centers on this great victory of the resurrection.
(02:14):
Because God has raised Jesus from the dead, he's given us the hope that we can expect
to be raised from the dead.
Our Savior has had victory over death, so we can have victory over death.
We have what he has.
We have what he has because we're in him.
If he has victory over death, if he has a resurrected body, then we have victory over
(02:37):
death and we have a resurrected body.
When he has begotten again, begotten is to give birth to you.
Begotten again is to give birth to again or to be reborn or to be born again.
God has let us be born again and given us this living hope.
(03:03):
He has given it to us through raising up the Lord Jesus from the dead.
But we can expect that our Savior will come again and give us victory over this body and
over death and over the grave.
And he has given us something else to an inheritance in corruptible and undefiled that
faith is not away reserved in heaven for you.
(03:26):
When we leave this earth, it's true we leave everything behind.
That's of the earth.
When we leave behind the stuff that moth and rust corrupts and where thieves break through
and steal, we leave all that behind.
You can't take your gold and silver to heaven.
Job says, naked came my forth from the womb and naked I will return.
(03:57):
Basically he's saying, I came into this world without anything.
I'm going to leave this world without anything.
And that really is as far as the stuff of the world is concerned, you can't take it
with you.
You ever heard that phrase?
You can't take it with you.
But the stuff that you do have in eternity is called an inheritance.
(04:19):
It's incorruptible.
That means it can't rot.
It can't moth can't get at it.
Rust can't corrupt it.
It can't rot.
It's eternal.
It lasts forever.
It's therefore not made of this world.
The reason that people over the centuries have regarded things like gold as very valuable
is that it doesn't rust.
(04:41):
It doesn't rust.
But even gold can't make it out of this world.
The inheritance that we have is far more enduring than gold or platinum or the stuff
for this world that doesn't rust.
We have an inheritance in Christ.
Now an inheritance is a different kind of treasure.
(05:03):
Remember that.
An inheritance is something that somebody gives you when they die.
Something that somebody gives you, something of their wealth, something of their possessions
that they give you when they die.
That's an inheritance.
It's something that you get through a grant from somebody that passes on.
(05:26):
Now what do we have in a way of an inheritance?
Well the one who has died, the Lord Jesus, has also been raised again.
But through his death he has given us an inheritance.
On the inheritance the wonderful thing is the inheritance isn't in this world.
(05:50):
The inheritance is in eternity.
It's in heaven.
That's where our treasure is.
That's where the stuff is that doesn't rot in heaven.
Now God doesn't go into it in great detail as far as pointing at things and describing
(06:11):
things in a physical way.
Not very much is said in the scriptures about what you have there in your inheritance.
You know what God centers on and what he tells us about heaven, about eternity and what we
have there?
He centers on ideas, not so much pointing at physical things and trying to describe
them and he isn't saying, oh you have a certain house and this is the way it looks
(06:36):
and here's how its windows are and it has this gold fluff carpet and he doesn't go into
that kind of stuff.
Not at all.
And he talks about himself.
He talks about his relationship with us.
He talks about the works of the spirit that we know down here that will be perfected there
(07:02):
like joy and peace and love, the fellowship that we're going to have there.
He talks about relationship.
Do you know what your greatest treasure in heaven is?
Jesus.
That's your greatest treasure.
It is.
(07:23):
Think about it.
What is most precious in this world?
In this world.
Okay, just among human beings then.
Among human beings, what's most wonderful?
Yeah, but among human beings, you're right.
That's absolutely the foundation and that's the answer to him even in this world.
(07:44):
But among human beings, between human beings, what's most precious?
Children.
What?
Think about that.
Relationships with others in love.
Relationships with others in love.
Now there are different levels of those and the highest level by God's creation is a
(08:08):
murder love, isn't it?
And there is a love of children.
There is the love of parents.
There's the love of parents for their children, children for their parents.
There is that kind of love.
There's a love of friendship.
These are different levels, but a love relationship, don't you think, would be the greatest treasure
that God has given to us and the highest treasure of all of those is our love relationship,
(08:32):
our relationship with him, with our Lord himself.
You know, that's your greatest treasure in heaven, your Lord and your relationship with
him.
He's really all that counts.
You won't, but it's not possible you get to heaven and say, well, Lord, is that the only
(08:53):
role by God?
Man, look at my harp.
It's not anything like that one over there.
You know, my glow is not quite as bright as sister so-and-so's over here.
(09:15):
And Lord, that emerald floor in my little room is just not quite as, you know, that's
nonsense.
That's nonsense, isn't it?
Why, what's going to really count for us?
One, he is our treasure.
(09:38):
And so Peter says, oh, by the way, there's all, aren't we going to have relationships
with all the saints?
Sure, we will.
Every one of them, somebody asked me last week, well, I'll tell you, it was last Monday
night and we were, Dale, Erickson and I had gone to visit a family and we were having a
(09:59):
talk with them and I was trying to show them the plan of salvation from the scriptures.
And this one fella had a lot of questions and he asked an interesting question.
He said, now, when we get to heaven, I guess he was counting, I get to heaven, he didn't
receive the Lord, but he asked this question right anyway.
He says, well, when we, when we get to heaven, will we know everybody?
(10:26):
I said, yes, we'll know everybody.
Oh, he said, you think so?
I said, yeah, I think so.
I think we'll know everybody.
Remember that scene in the model transfiguration where Peter, James and John were up there
(10:47):
and they looked over and what did they see?
They saw Jesus talking with two people, Moses and Elijah.
They knew Moses and Elijah, but they'd never talked to them before, never seen them before.
God had given to them that kind of knowledge that we're going to have in heaven.
Immediate recognition.
And you know, we're not only going to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, you're going
(11:10):
to have a relationship with Moses and Elijah and Abraham and some widow from China that
used to pray in her little hut with the shutters closed so nobody could know what
would truly love the Lord, whose name you probably couldn't even pronounce if you did
(11:32):
here at once or twice.
There's maybe been dead for 200 years.
I don't know.
You're going to know her and you'll have a wonderful relationship with her, but your
greatest treasure is your Lord and your relationship in him.
And he says, who are kept by the power of God through faith and the salvation ready to
(11:54):
be revealed in the last time.
We're going to greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be or in heaviness through
manifold temptations.
You can have joy even though right now you have to go through a lot of trials.
That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold or perishable though
it be tried with fire might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
(12:15):
of Jesus Christ.
Your faith, see there's purpose in this thing of going through difficulties in this life.
If as you face your difficulties, you trust in your Lord, he is glorified.
He gains honor through that.
He gains praise through that and that trust that you have in your Lord to allow him to
(12:36):
give you the grace to deal with your problems.
Now get this, the fact that you look to him and trust in him does bring glory and honor
to him and will be remembered in eternity.
I don't want to slip past it.
I want to say it again.
Think of it this way.
When you have a problem, usually you think of it this way.
(12:57):
I need to go to God and ask him for help because I want to get out of this thing if possible,
but I certainly want to get through it.
And I need the grace to get through it.
In other words, you look at your problems through your eyes.
Now will you look at it through God's eyes because this helps you see it through God's
eyes.
(13:18):
Here's God's vision.
I'm going to let that person, one of my children, have a problem so that they call out to me
and I get to give them grace to go through this thing.
And by them allowing me to give them grace, I will work on their behalf and it will glorify
me.
So God gets glory out of being able, being allowed to do that for you.
(13:44):
Now if you see it that way, you'll understand why he allows these things to happen.
Why he wants you to stay in the place where you have to keep asking and keep asking.
And you know when all that glory is going to be revealed, all that has brought glory
to God is going to be revealed?
When is that going to be evident?
(14:05):
At the coming of the Lord Jesus.
When he comes, it will be made evident.
So at the appearing of the Lord Jesus, home having not seen you love in whom though you
know you see him not yet believing you rejoice with joy and speakable and full of glory.
So he's coming.
He's coming.
(14:26):
John's gospel, chapter 14, tells us I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14, too, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you
unto myself that where I am there ye may be also is the promise of the Lord's return.
(14:56):
There it is.
And whether I go, you know, and the way you know, that he says in six, I am the way,
the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
You want to go to where Jesus is, then you're going to have to like these prisoners, you're
going to have to go on the road that is provided and you don't want to walk where the road
(15:19):
isn't because it will blow you to bits.
There is a way and that way is the Lord Jesus Christ and you don't want to there step
any other place that is the only way open.
He is the way, the way there is only one.
(15:41):
Now once you have walked on the road, once you have gotten through the minefield, once
you have trusted in Christ, you can rest assured in this as his, once you have trusted
him, you're his, you can trust in this.
He has gone to prepare a place for you.
By the way, here's those, I'm sure some of those prisoners are going to think they have
(16:04):
almost got to heaven when they get to that POW camp because there is a POW camp already
built in Saudi Arabia to house 100,000 prisoners.
They have stocked up food, cuts, blankets and clothing and medication for 100,000 prisoners.
(16:25):
I think after having been almost deprived, they've been living on, I'm told, half a
cup of water per day in the desert.
I mean you have no idea how dehydrated you can get in the desert and half a cup of water
is not going to do it for you.
(16:47):
Three to six tablespoons of rice per day.
That's what they've had.
No other food, many of them.
And they've been, some of them have been dug in the sand, down in holes, day after day,
(17:10):
week after week, month after month, living in a hole in the sand with a little bit of
water and rice.
Man, are they glad to get out of there.
And when they get to that POW camp, what are they going to have?
They're going to have clean clothes, cuts to lay in, three meals a day.
I mean, some of them are going to say, well, don't worry, don't hurry the negotiations
(17:35):
to send us back.
I mean, we'd like to get back to our families, but this isn't bad.
It really is going to be better than those holes in the sand.
I liked what one commentator said.
He said they had a picture of the, I'll tell you, there must have been hundreds of these
(17:56):
men in a line walking across the desert giving up.
He said, look at them.
They're waving their arms, all of them are waving their arms because they had their white
flags.
They're all waving their arms and walking, which is an indication that they are not wounded.
They have not been fired upon.
We didn't have to fire on them.
(18:18):
They're not limping.
They're not carrying one another.
They're not bringing along the wounded.
They are coming out without being fired on.
Just a few shells lobbed over there and they all waved their flags and out they came.
I'm not saying that the whole operation is going to go that way.
Maybe that's the only certain segments of the battle.
They're glad to get out of there.
(18:43):
Listen, this world, we've adjusted to it.
We know we'll have troubles and problems.
All of our loved ones as wonderful as they are aren't perfect.
You have trouble with them.
All of your friends as perfect as you may think they are at times and other times you
(19:07):
realize they also are a pain in the neck.
Kids as wonderful as children are.
I'll tell you, they are Roxanne.
You have to take that by faith.
They are wonderful.
But I don't think any parent has ever had a child that hasn't said it times.
What a pill.
(19:29):
There are just times when you say, this one is a real, real burr.
A real thorn.
A real heartache.
But we love them.
It's that way among Christian brethren.
It's that way in the church.
It's that way anywhere in this world.
(19:51):
We're not yet in a perfect place.
It isn't as it will be.
But one day soon these events tell us, look, we better look up our redemption draw at night.
These things will be taken away and all things will be made perfect.
(20:13):
In glory, all of these troubles and trials will be gone even in our relationships, even
in our love relationships, they're going to all be made perfect.
And he's gone to prepare a place for us, where he is, there we may be also.
Here's the shout, 1 Thessalonians 4, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
(20:38):
that's our victory in His resurrection, you know, as it's displayed, the victory came
at the cross.
There's proof is in the resurrection.
And so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1 Thessalonians 4, 15.
Now, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain
until the coming of the Lord shall not prevent means go before rise up first, not go before
(21:05):
them which are asleep or dead.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
Here it is with a shout.
With the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall
rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
(21:26):
to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
That's our hope.
And if you love him, you can't wait to see him.
Revelation chapter 1 gives a vision of Jesus.
1, 13.
And in the midst of the seven candle six, one like unto the son of man clothed with the
(21:48):
garment down to the foot and gird about the paps with the golden girdle, his head and
his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire.
Now, I grant you when you see this picture of Jesus, it's not a very appealing one.
It's not one that you really want to get close to.
(22:09):
But it all has purpose in this description of the Lord Jesus.
And his feet liken to find brass as if they burned in a furnace in his voice as the sound
of many waters and he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth when a sharp
two-edged sword in his countenance was as the sun shined in his strength.
(22:32):
And of course it says, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet, his dead.
Because when you see Jesus this way, this is a purging kind of vision.
This is a vision that's showing you righteousness and calling you to deal with your sin.
I'll show you that Revelation chapter two verse one, because here's how he appears in
(22:55):
the vision to the church of Ephesus.
He said, these things set he that hold at the seven stars in his right hand and walk
in the midst of the seven golden candle sticks.
Now here he is in verse eight.
And another way to Smyrna, these things set the first and the last which was dead in his
alive.
Here he is in verse 12 now to Pergamos.
(23:18):
These things set he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.
And over here in verse 18, here he is to Thigh Tyra.
These things set the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire in his feet
are like fine brass.
And here he is in chapter three to the angel of church's sartis.
(23:39):
These things set he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
And down here to Philadelphia in verse seven, these things set he that is holy, he that
is true, he that hath the key of David, he that opened it, and no man shut it, he that
shut it, no man opened it.
And here he is to lay it a seeah.
(24:00):
Chapter three, verse 14.
These things set the amen, the faithful and true witness to the beginning of the creation
of God.
Now every one of those references to Jesus calls people into account.
Whether it be by his word, the two-edged sword, whether it be by his eyes as a flame
(24:23):
of fire, because they can see everything, whether it be the brass feet, because brass
or bronze speaks of judgment and feet of course, tramp out in judgment.
Whatever feature it is, whether it's the sevens of full spirit of God, you can read
that in Isaiah 11, how the seven primary qualities of the Holy Spirit of God are at work in
(24:44):
this world, first in the Lord Jesus and then in us, through us in this world, that this
is a picture of the Lord Jesus that calls for cleansing, calls for purity.
But for those that are clean, for those that are clean, another vision, last chapter of
(25:07):
the book of Revelation, he is coming.
Verse 13, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the first and the last, blessed are they
that do his commandments and that they may have the right to the tree of life and may
enter in through the gates into the city.
(25:31):
Is the Lord Jesus your first and your last, your Alpha and Omega your all in all?
When he is.
When he has for you are blessings, you have to fear him.
When he has for you in blessings, you can enter through the gates of the city and he
is talking here of heaven, New Jerusalem, the city that we enter into.
(25:58):
There he is.
We can go right into his presence and dwell there.
In peace and joy.
Here is the invitation for right now to the church.
I am far through the church and through the spirit, to the world.
(26:21):
Verse 17, the spirit and the bride, the church, say, come, that is our invitation to the
world.
Come, don't be afraid of Jesus.
Sure he is righteous.
Sure in his presence you are going to have to fall at his feet.
But he would cleanse you and he would touch you like he did.
John, like he did to the apostles there in the mouth, he would say this, don't be afraid.
(26:49):
If the world would let him cleanse them, they don't have to be afraid.
Don't be afraid.
Come and let him that hear us say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever
will let him take the water of life freely.
That is the invitation of the Lord Jesus.
Without money, without price, that is a loving invitation.
(27:10):
It is a joyful thought that he is going to return for us.
Yes, we have trials right now.
Peter tells us about that.
But we love him and we love his appearing.
This I hope would be a week for you of looking up and dealing with any sin that is in your
(27:34):
life.
Don't carry along with you.
Deal with it.
We shared 1 John 1, 9 this morning.
Deal with it.
Let God cleanse it from your life so you can walk into joy of the Lord.
Go through the days with joy looking up.
We are not to be filled with terror but with joy.
(27:59):
Wait for his appearance.
He is coming.
Coming soon.
He is our joy.
Especially if we can just go along in the joy of the Lord every day, rejoicing in him,
casting our burdens on him, trusting him for the grace to go through whatever trials we
have, singing the songs of praise, delighting in him and telling others, saying to them,
(28:22):
come, come, drink of the water of life freely.
It's for you.
Now that's a loving invitation.
They are so thirsty.
Look, they are in the desert.
They are not even getting half a cup of water a day.
(28:45):
They are getting nothing out there.
They are going to take a drink.
Offer them to Lord Jesus.
Would you?
I know they won't all take it immediately.
They just can hardly believe that it would be for them.
Some of them just think they are afraid to lose what they have, their security.
(29:11):
Maybe they won't stay in their hole in the desert.
But if they could just see that there is a better place and there is a joy and there
is a fulfillment that is waiting for them out there, if they just come, give them the
invitation.
And do it and show them your joy as you do it.
(29:35):
Father, thank you for this promise of the Lord Jesus' soon return.
Thank you, Lord, that He has given us this glad message.
We can look up and with joy expect His soon coming.
My pray, Lord, it might be even soon, though we do pray too, that we might have every
(29:58):
opportunity to bring the gospel to all those around us.
Lord, we squander it.
Help us use our time better in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you, Pastor Raines, for another message from the Word of God.
And thank you to the people of Fellowship Bible Church for allowing me to bring you
(30:23):
these recordings from their tape archive.
So come back next week, we'll have more.
And if you really want to help out, you can subscribe.
Everything really helps the podcast either on your audio podcast listening app or YouTube.
That would be good.
(30:45):
Comment and left to hear comments.
I want to hear who it is that's out there and where you're from and where you're listening
at.
I'd really like to know.
So please comment and let's see.
What else?
Oh, yeah.
Make sure you read your Bible.
That's for one thing.
So read your Bible along with listening to the message.
(31:09):
That would be a even better thing.
So you can do that.
So come back next week.
We'll have more from the tape archives of the Fellowship Bible Church.
And until then, have a great day.
See you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com