Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/tgc/sermons/73629/heaven-is-for-real/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:14] Years ago, one of America's founding fathers and one of the primary authors of the Declaration of Independence hunched over his desk to work on another document.

[0:25] In one hand, Thomas Jefferson held the pages of Holy Scripture. In the other hand, he held a small pen knife, a folding knife used every day.

[0:42] Anyway, carefully, Mr. Jefferson began slicing the pages of Scripture, cutting out certain verses, and pasting them into another document to create a Bible more to his liking.

[0:57] It came to be known as the Jefferson Bible, a Bible that he could get behind, a Bible that he liked. But what did Mr. Jefferson leave out of the pages of Holy Scripture?

[1:14] Well, he left out everything that didn't align with his worldview. Hell? Not a chance. The wrath of God? No way.

[1:25] The miracles, the supernatural? No room for that either. Christians are, and rightly so, appalled at such arrogance. And no Christian would be so bold to create his own Bible, deliberately omitting whatever he didn't like, he or she didn't like.

[1:42] But if we're honest, we have to admit we too are vulnerable of adhering to a Bible of our own making. We too are vulnerable of cutting out the parts of Scripture we don't like.

[1:57] Whenever we ignore any part of God's Word, whether unintentionally or intentionally, we're guilty of Mr. Jefferson's offense. Oddly enough, one of the portions of Scripture we often ignore is the Bible's teaching on heaven.

[2:16] Now, don't get me wrong. We know enough about heaven to know we don't want to go there to escape. And so we do want to go there. Actually, sorry. We know enough about heaven to know we want to go there to escape the fires of hell.

[2:30] But I fear we don't know enough about heaven to live this life differently than those around us. If we believe in a God who reigns over all and will soon come to take us into the joy of everlasting life, shouldn't our lives look much different than those around us?

[2:51] If we believe in the life to come, how should it change the way we think about who we are and how we look in the eyes of others? If we believe this life is passing away, how should it alter the way we think about priorities and productivity, possessions and politics, suffering and sickness?

[3:06] Most of the smart guys right now, if you're in a university setting, most of the smart guys say we live now in a secular age. What they mean is that there's no widespread belief in a transcendent God, not like the beginning of this country.

[3:20] There's no widespread belief in a transcendent God and no belief in a life to come. All in this age who don't believe are stuck trying to find the meaning of their life here.

[3:33] But that's not us. The old saying says, don't be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good. There's those who dream of heaven so much, conceivably, that they neglect the work of God on earth.

[3:48] But the opposite error is no less serious. Don't be so earthly minded that you're no heavenly good. Well, this morning, we come to a passage that is poised to square us up and set us straight.

[4:02] A passage designed to confront us and spur us on the right way. It's another question of our Lord, which we've seen all throughout chapter 12. But this time, it's the Sadducees who are asking, if you look closely, you might see yourself in the crowd.

[4:19] Look in verse 18. The word of God.

[4:51] And the third, likewise. So much so that, and the seventh left no offspring. Last of all, the woman also died.

[5:04] Verse 23. In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.

[5:14] Verse 24. Jesus said to them, Is this not the reason you are wrong? Because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.

[5:26] For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the passage about the bush?

[5:40] How God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not God of the dead, but of the living.

[5:53] You are quite wrong. So, you know, where we're going is, don't be so earthly minded that you fail to live for eternal good. Don't be so earthly minded that you fail to live for eternal good.

[6:07] I'm going to break this out in two points. Second point is going to have two large sub points. So, that's why it's only two this week. But the first one is the question.

[6:18] So, it's kind of a natural and obvious structure. But like last week, this morning, our passage occurs on Tuesday, the final week of our Lord's life. Tuesday, as we said last week, is question day.

[6:31] It's the day Jesus is the most popular person in Jerusalem on the Passover. And this is the day when all of his enemies seek to unravel his teaching with questions. And seek to bust up this crowd of followers.

[6:45] And this morning, the question comes from a group of people called the Sadducees. Look in verse 18. And the Sadducees came to him, who say there is no resurrection.

[6:57] And so, there's really no break from our Lord. Jesus has just answered the question of the Pharisees and the Herodians. And with no pause at all, the Sadducees rush in to ask their question.

[7:12] To ask their question of this popular teacher. And Mark begins to introduce us to these guys. Now, to most of us, a Jew is a Jew.

[7:24] Most of Mark's readers and most of us, a Jew is just a Jew. We don't know the different groups within Jewish religion. But Mark introduces his readers and us to a specific group called the Sadducees.

[7:36] And he introduces us. Mark tells us the most important thing about them is that they do not believe in the resurrection. Now, from the Bible and also from history, we know a bit more about the Sadducees.

[7:52] The Sadducees were the aristocrats. They were the richest and most powerful Jewish sect, Jewish group. Most of them were priests and focused their time on caring for and on all the ceremonies of the temple.

[8:09] But we also know that they base their theology on the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses. And we'll see this come out in just a minute because Jesus goes straight to those books to defend his cause.

[8:24] So they're known for their adherence to those books, their adherence to the law. They're also known for not believing in the resurrection, but also for not believing in angels or the supernatural or the miraculous.

[8:37] So they would be theological liberals in that day. And not surprisingly, they come to Jesus with a question about something they do not believe.

[8:49] They come to him with this question about a man's brother who dies and leaves a wife but no child. And it keeps going on and on until there's seven brothers who marry this woman.

[9:07] And they ask, whose wife will she be in the end? Now, this question begins and it appears to be an ethical question. You know, ethics is a study of conduct, of right and wrong.

[9:19] So it appears to be an ethical question. They're trying to obey the law, it appears. And they come to ask Jesus how to obey the law of God in this complex scenario. And we can all agree it's very complex.

[9:31] They're asking how to obey a specific law in Deuteronomy 25. One of the first five books of Moses that they follow. In Deuteronomy 25, the law gives direction for how to raise up a family for a husband who died childless.

[9:47] A relative would marry the widow and the first son would be counted as belonging to the former husband, thus preserving his line and his inheritance.

[9:57] That makes sense. And so that child would carry on his wife's first husband's line, if you want to put it that way.

[10:10] And so it appears they're asking about how to handle that. How do we handle this complex scenario where there's seven people that step forward? But as they continue talking, it's clear their question is not ethical.

[10:21] Their question is designed to stump Jesus. Their line of argumentation or questioning is designed to disprove something by showing how absurd it is.

[10:32] Instead of asking Jesus about certain texts of Scripture that appear to teach in afterlife, they ask him a question designed to show how absurd, irrational, and ridiculous the resurrection is.

[10:45] Do you see? See, what they're saying is there's a woman who's married, then her husband dies before they have no kids. So she marries a second husband, then he dies, they have no kids. So he marries a third and a fourth and a fifth and a sixth and a seventh.

[10:56] And we just have to pause. What is going on with this woman? She must have had looks that kill. Sorry, I had to steal that. Go for that.

[11:08] Surprised the guys keep lining up. You know, I would bow out. But as they tell the story, right, and it's building up to this point, they ask, no doubt, to the snickers and smirks of their cronies, who's going to be her husband in the resurrection?

[11:28] Who's going to have her? Which one of the seven is she going to be paired up with? There's no resurrection. There can't be. It'd just be this tangled mess of relations.

[11:41] That make no sense. They assume they had Jesus stumped. In fact, seven is the word, or seven stands for perfection or completion.

[11:54] And so, I think you can argue, they think they have the perfect takedown for our Lord. To show how ridiculous the resurrection is.

[12:07] Point two, the answer. The answer. Jesus, like he often does, does not answer their question right out.

[12:19] You ask Jesus a question, you kind of get what he wants to talk about, not necessarily what you do. So, Jesus does not answer their question right out. They're not reasoning with him. They're trying to make him look ridiculous.

[12:30] So, Jesus goes right at them and tells them they're wrong. Look in verse 24. Is this not the reason you are wrong? Because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. That is a jugular move.

[12:40] You know, he's going straight at the heart. What he's saying, your problem is not ethical. It's not peripheral. Your problem is central to what you believe. Notice, Jesus doesn't tell them they're wrong because of what they don't believe.

[12:54] Jesus tells them they're wrong because of what they do believe. Because of what they do profess to believe. Now, this is a compact section.

[13:06] Bracketing it, he says, you are wrong. Then at the end, he ends with the indictment. You are quite wrong. And then on the inside of this bracket, he works out how they're wrong because of how they don't understand the power of God and don't understand the scriptures.

[13:20] So, we could summarize this in two points for us. Sub point A. Heaven is not more of the good of this life, but a new life brought about by the power of God.

[13:32] Heaven is not more of the good of this life, but a new life brought about by the power of God. You know, underneath their question, their assumption is the resurrection is just a continuation of this life.

[13:46] The relations go on unhindered. Or maybe not unhindered, but they go on nonetheless. Perhaps they assume the next stage will be better, but they assume many things will be more of the same.

[14:00] So, they ask whose wife is this woman going to be in the resurrection? They assume the resurrection will be more, just more, of the good of this life. And if we're honest, many times we assume the same thing.

[14:14] Or nearly the same. One recent study said 75% of people believe, say they believe in heaven. But only 30% of people say heaven is an actual place of rest and reward where souls go after death.

[14:27] So, the majority of people do not believe what the Bible says about heaven. What do we believe about heaven? There is no doubt. The most common belief about heaven is a great reunion with family and friends, a time to play catch up and football.

[14:44] No wonder in a song about heaven, Brad Paisley says, when I get to heaven, I'm going to walk with my granddaddy. And he'll match me step by step. And I'll tell him how I've missed him every minute since he left.

[14:55] And then I'll hug his neck. That's nice. That's great. I have no reason to believe it's not true. No reason to believe we won't have a great reunion.

[15:09] But that's also the reason Kenny Chesney sings, everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to go now. You see, if heaven is just more of the good of this life, then heaven can wait.

[15:21] That's pretty much the common understanding of heaven is just more of this life, just more of the good of this life. Even being reunited with people you haven't seen in a while, but it can just wait. Because I got other good things to do in this life.

[15:35] But Jesus responds, heaven is not more of the good of this life, but a new life brought about by the power of God. Look at verse 25. He says, Now, more than a few people have been a bit disappointed by this description.

[16:02] Angels? I mean, that's why there's all these pictures of people floating around in harps, which is not necessarily biblical. No marriage, more than a few married people have said, No marriage in heaven.

[16:15] I'm not married to my lady in heaven. You know, I don't want to go. Can't you tell us a bit more? Why does Jesus only tell them this about the resurrection?

[16:34] Because he couldn't tell them anything else. Let me explain. How would you tell a tribesman from the South American jungle about electricity? Telephone poles?

[16:48] No. Trees? With snakes between them? I don't know. Something like that. How would you tell someone who's lived on the Arctic tundra their whole life about tropical beaches? You can't.

[17:01] There's nothing you could say that they could understand. And so too, Jesus is saying, he says so little about heaven to them, because there's nothing on earth that compares in a sense.

[17:17] There's nothing on earth that they could immediately understand. But nevertheless, there's enough here to fill us with anticipation. He says we will rise from the dead by the power of God. We will be like angels.

[17:32] We will not be angels. We will be like angels. In that we will be made new. Made in a body that does not destruct.

[17:43] Our imperishable body will take on the imperishable. Our natural body will take on a spiritual body. Scriptures say, and we'll be brought into a new world.

[17:53] Yes, it'll be a world with no more giving and taking in marriage. The reason is that so many of the institutions that are of this world will not remain in the next world. There will be a marriage, but it'll be one marriage between God and his people, Christ and his bride.

[18:08] But it'll also be a marriage in so many ways that we cannot even begin to imagine. A world with no more sickness, sin, sorrow, and shame. No more disease, disability, and death.

[18:21] A world with no more backaches or bitterness or heartbreaks or hurricanes. No more porn or pollution. A world where no one is lonely and no one longs for the old days.

[18:33] Heaven will not be more of the good of this life. Heaven will be a new and unspeakably glorious life brought about by the power of God. What he's trying to help them see, heaven will not be more of the good of this life.

[18:44] Heaven will not even be a nice upgrade. Heaven will not be like going from coach to first class. Or from the ground floor to the penthouse.

[18:55] Heaven will be like a release from a prison. Well-known prisoner of war, Hal Kushner, or Kusher, spent five and a half years in prison in Viet Cong, by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War.

[19:11] In Hanoi. In the Hanoi Hilton, as it was called. Not for its room service. Life in prison was brutal.

[19:25] But in God's kindness, he was released. And I want you to hear his words of what it felt like. Having been moved to the airport in Hanoi after escaping the prisons, he said, they called out names.

[19:44] And I walked into the sunlight. The first thing I saw was a C-47 with an American flag emblazoned on the tail. I was overwhelmed.

[19:55] I almost fainted. I can't describe the deep emotion that I felt when I saw it. You know why? Because there's so many nights you didn't see anything like that. Viet Cong prison guards pushing him around.

[20:07] And there was a table with the Vietnamese and the American authorities on one side. And there was an Air Force Brigadier General in a Class A uniform. He looked magnificent.

[20:19] I looked at him. And he had a thickness that we didn't have. He had on a garrison cap. And his hair was plump, moist.

[20:29] And our hair was like straw. And I went out and saluted him. A courtesy that had been denied us for so many years. And he saluted me. And I shook hands with him.

[20:40] And he hugged me. He actually hugged me. And he said, Welcome home, Major. We're glad to see you. The tears streaming down his cheeks.

[20:51] It was such a powerful moment. And then this officer came out and got me and escorted me onto the C-141.

[21:06] And they had these really wonderful flight nurses in there. And we got on this thing. And we sat in our seats. And one nurse said, We have anything you want. What do you want?

[21:17] And he said, I'll take a Coke with crushed ice and some chewing gum. Heaven will be like that.

[21:32] Not a nice upgrade. Escape from a prison. Into a world where everything is right. How should it change the way we live? If this is true, we should be the most content people in McMinn County.

[21:47] John Newton said, Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his carriage should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way.

[21:58] What a fool we should think if we saw him wringing his hands and blubbering out all the remaining mile. My carriage is broken. My carriage is broken. That's us.

[22:11] This life, after what God has done for us in our hearts, this life is just the final steps before receiving this great possession. What a shame if we spend all the time complaining about things that do not matter.

[22:28] Let's don't kick the dirt. Let's be wildly content. Yeah, swing at me. Take things from me.

[22:42] I'm going there to take possession of this great inheritance. We should live a life that only makes sense there.

[22:55] There's two ways to live. A life that makes sense here, go for it. It's easy. The life that only makes sense there is incredibly hard.

[23:07] Let's get out of the rat race. Let's throw away FOMO and live with JOMO, the joy of missing out. That's what I want, the joy of missing out.

[23:18] That's right. I'm not playing the game. I'm not chasing the house. I'm not chasing the cars. I'm not chasing these. I got JOMO because I have committed my life with heavenly mindedness.

[23:32] That's what I want. I want to win the great reward and enjoy the great possession. So let's get out of the rat race and be so exceedingly generous, so ruthlessly servant minded, so faith-filled that people are left scratching their heads.

[23:43] Let it be said of us, like they said of Richard Sivs, the great Puritan, of that good man, let this high praise be given. Heaven was in him before he was in heaven.

[23:56] The gain, what is Jesus saying? Is the gain, heaven is not more the good of this life. The gain is on the other side. So we should be prepared and prepare others to die.

[24:12] There was a letter I was going to read. Just don't have the time, but the old guys were so much better at this. I'll put it on the blog. There's a letter that Jonathan Edwards wrote his daughter after David Brainerd died in his house.

[24:27] Great missionary, David Brainerd, and how he carefully prepared his daughter to die. You know, our culture prepares us to live for as long as humanly possible.

[24:40] Previous cultures, prepared to die. That's what we need help preparing for and prepare others to die. So heaven is not more the good of this life, but a new life brought about by the power of God.

[24:51] Sub point B, heaven is not an optional extra, but the fulfillment of Scripture's promises to the people of God. Heaven is not an optional extra, but the fulfillment of Scripture's promises to the people of God.

[25:04] they believed, right? They're a sect known for not believing in the resurrection. They believed the resurrection. Heaven was just an optional extra, a customization, an add-on, a supplement, the creatine that some people choose to take and some don't or something like that.

[25:27] but Jesus tells them through one of the most important stories in the Bible that it is not. Look in verse 26. He says, as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses?

[25:39] Remember that book that you like so much in the passage about the bush? I just love the generalness of that. In the passage about the bush, you know, there's only one bush of note in Scripture, how God spoke to them saying, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[25:58] He is not the dead of the living. He's not the God of the dead, but of the living. Do you remember the story about the bush? Last year, I listened to a fascinating interview with Matthew McConaughey after the release of his new memoir.

[26:14] Mr. McConaughey made several comments about his religious background that I found very fascinating, even about parenting, which is interesting. In the midst of them, he said, I know what to do with love, your neighbor, like yourself.

[26:26] I know what to do with some of the Proverbs that I can take into daily practice, but I don't know what to do in my daily life about the burning bush. I think we can all agree.

[26:36] It was interesting. The interview said, the burning bush. What? Obviously, she didn't know or he didn't know that Scripture. Mr. McConaughey was saying, I don't know what to do with the magic or more precisely the miracles or the supernatural in our Bible and the Sadducees.

[26:53] Those are the very things they neglect. And so Jesus takes them straight to a story about this and says, you must take a closer look at what's going on in this story in order to understand what God has promised there.

[27:06] Now, you probably remember a bit about the story. Moses was born in Egypt and the wonderful Hebrew midwives protected his life and then he fled Egypt after somebody got a little upset with him.

[27:16] He fled Egypt for 40 years. He married a local gal and became a shepherd just like her father Jethro. And one day Moses was led around so he's out there shepherding his sheep and he was led by his sheep around and on the backside of the wilderness around to a mountain and there he saw a burning bush and now we often think like the movie versions of this, Charlton Heston or something like that.

[27:42] It wasn't the flicker of an advent candle or a nice big bonfire. Moses said it was a great sight. It was a big roaring fire that he saw from a distance and had to turn aside to see it and so this roaring fire was like any, it was unlike any other fire Moses had ever seen on any other sight Moses said that had ever seen this great sight.

[28:06] Now, every school-edged kid knows a fire needs oxygen, heat, and fuel to burn to build a fire. You need those ingredients and to put a fire out all you need is to stop adding fuel but this fire didn't have any fuel.

[28:19] It was flaming, it was a massive fire but it didn't consume the bush and yet even though it didn't have any fuel it didn't burn out and then Moses is figuring out what's going on now and he hears a voice from the bush Moses, Moses!

[28:37] When God says your name twice he's getting your attention. It becomes clear that he's counting God. He takes off his shoes and then the Lord says I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[28:53] Those are the, that's the very statement that Jesus quotes right here. Then he says he's not the God of the dead but of the living. Now, what does Jesus mean?

[29:06] What, what is he quoting this for? Does, does he mean I was the God of those people who have gone before? I was with them, I never left them, so too I will be with you?

[29:20] Is that what he mean? I mean, surely that's what he means. That's the way we read it. I was, I was their God and, and so too I, I will be your God. I was with them and so too I will be with you.

[29:31] Right? That's not what he means. He says, I am the God of those who have gone before you.

[29:44] Not I was but I am. Now, now we, we have to take this in for a moment. This, this is, and this section is a very important promise in the story of our Bible.

[29:57] After this, God told Moses he was sending him back to Egypt to rescue the people of God. So that's why he appeared to Moses. He says, I got a task for you. I want you to go to Pharaoh and say, let my people go.

[30:08] And Moses is like, what? Not me? Even if, yeah, I'm not going, I'm not doing this assignment. Even if I do go, why would they listen to me? They ran me out of town. Why would they listen to me?

[30:20] And God says, tell them, tell them I sent you. Okay. That's gonna help. And, and Moses comes back. How can, I be sure that you will go with me?

[30:34] Who are you? You know, and one of the most puzzling passages of the Bible, he says, I am who I am. Or better yet, I will be who I will be.

[30:50] Now there's a lot here. We need about 40 more minutes, but I don't have time. That statement's a way of God saying, this is who I am and this is who I will be for you.

[31:04] So it's an incredibly profound, profound statement about the character of God. This is who I am and this is who I will be. This is who I am. This is who I'll be. Moses says, the Lord says, Moses, I am the Lord.

[31:16] This is who I am. I will be with you. I will be for you. I will protect you. I will preserve you. I will provide for you. I will keep you. I will work for you. I will fight for you. I will be for you whatever you need.

[31:27] I will be all this because it is who I am and who I will be for every generation of my people. I am the Lord. I am your God. And the story of Exodus is just the story of God doing that again and again and again.

[31:42] What do we need? We need deliverance to the Red Sea. Okay, I'll do that. And then what do we need? Guidance through the night. Okay, pillar of fire through the night. What do we need? Water from a rock. Okay, water from the rock.

[31:53] Many toils and snares. He takes them all the way through the wilderness into the promised land. And what he is saying, what Jesus is saying by pulling this together is this promise is not just for this life. What he is saying is the promises of God do not come with a lifetime guarantee.

[32:10] The promises of God do not just take you up to death. The promises of God take you over death and through it. The promises of God do not expire.

[32:21] The promises of God are everlasting and will never end. What he is saying is this God is your God forever and ever and ever.

[32:33] Jesus is saying, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I did not guide them through this life merely. I guided them into the next and into eternal rest.

[32:47] And there is a wonderful picture behind one of these words here. Look in verse 26 at opening clause. And as for the dead being raised, Mark uses one word for rising in verse 23 and 25 in the resurrection.

[33:07] When they rise, you see that? Verse 25, when they rise from the dead. But this is a different word. Twice, Mark says, they rise generally as if from an independent observer like my wife rose or she rises such and such hour like you would rise out of bed and I just happen to see you.

[33:36] The other is a description of a participant. Mark says, as for the dead being raised.

[33:50] Now, that is the divine passive which we talked about several weeks ago. That's God. what he's saying is the dead don't just rise as if from a good night's sleep.

[34:08] The dead in Christ are raised. Understand. The resurrection is not an inevitability.

[34:20] The inevitability is death forever. forever. But for all who trust in Christ the dead are raised by the hand of God alone.

[34:34] The resurrection is not an optional extra nor is it an inevitability. It is the powerful and personal work of God for all the people of God forever. Now, Jesus no doubt knew that just in a few days he would suffer in the place of sinner and endure the wrath of God for sin so that he could personally raise up after death everyone who trusts in him.

[34:56] That's why he said in John 6 and I love this I love the resurrection language here he says all that the father gives to me will come to me whoever comes to me I will never cast out and this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing not a single one of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day.

[35:17] That's what's behind this passage this is not the inevitable thing that just happens when we die is if we just go to the great reunion this is the work of God who raises up one by one into eternal life. That's incredible.

[35:34] In God's mercy I was able to visit each of my four grandparents before they died however I'll never forget my last conversation with my papa. Papa worked hard and overcame many obstacles in this life he had an alcoholic father he took a lot of responsibility early he paved the way quit college to join the war he never was able to return worked long hard hours but he was a hard man he rarely expressed love and quickly expressed his opinion a trait sadly close to my own.

[36:12] In his final years we disagreed on some very important things. All that made my last encounter with him most significant and most meaningful.

[36:24] In the spring of 2008 papa was dying of cancer. My wife and I Kim made several final trips to see him on one particular trip after greeting my grandmother I entered his room alone.

[36:36] It was difficult to look at him. Cancer had racked his large body reducing his large frame down to a mere 160 pounds.

[36:51] Pain was eased with the slow drip of morphine but he was out of it. He mostly slept or laid there in silence.

[37:04] After a few minutes the nurse said he needed to be adjusted in his bed. With her help I climbed onto the bed leaned over my papa and pulled his body up staring into his hollow failing eyes.

[37:25] He was dying and I sat in silence. After a while though I asked if I could read him some of the Bible and I flipped to John 11 to reading the story about Lazarus.

[37:43] I recited to him those amazing words forming the very last words I said to him.

[37:55] I am the resurrection of life whoever believes in me shall not perish but have eternal life. I guess they weren't the last words because I did declare the gospel to him and told him that if he had trusted in Jesus Christ he would not taste death only the shadow would fall on him.

[38:13] He said to me I know that story I believe those words. three days later he died. But really he was raised to new life by the same Jesus in that story.

[38:39] These were the final words he said to me I know that story I believe the only question left for us is do we? If you don't know if you believe I have to warn you heaven is a new and unimaginably glorious place but hell is an unimaginably dreadful place.

[39:05] It's not merely the absence of God or his blessing it is the presence of God's wrath being poured out forever and ever on those who refuse to turn to Jesus Christ hell is a most dreadful place and yes we want to escape it to go to heaven we're not told of the Sadducees response the assumption is their response is not mentioned like the Pharisees and Herodians because they did not respond well because they did not respond by bowing their knee and trusting in this Jesus Christ and let that response not be the response of anyone in this room I was reading this week blown away when they came to Lot and to his family and said this town about to burn and his sons in law lingered they lingered to their everlasting peril but let it not be the case for you if you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you will be saved right now just as saved as any man who's walked this earth just as saved as Billy Graham just as saved as anyone else through Jesus Christ so come to him to all who are far off come near do not linger and if you do believe

[40:27] I want to encourage you live like it let's live like it let's live full tilt let's live in total abandon let's live our best life on the other side of the grave don't be so earthly minded that you fail to live for eternal good may God help us Father in heaven we cast ourselves onto you we want to run after you with all our heart soul mind and strength we do not want to play the game we want to follow you so come what may we press on with joy to receive the great reward that awaits those who trust in Jesus Christ let us take heart let us take courage and let us live full tilt we pray in Jesus name

[41:31]  Amen you've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee for more information about Trinity Grace please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com