[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. I prayed this morning that God would love you through me in this message today and bless you as a family as we join here together.
[0:15] So I'd like to take you to Matthew chapter 6 with me if you would. And I'd like you to go through this passage of Scripture with me, these three truths that come right out of Matthew chapter 6.
[0:26] We will talk about prayer later. Next week, after this matter, therefore pray ye. But today I want to talk about heaven. Today as a church, we grieve the loss of our sister.
[0:40] As we have lost her and also hurt for her family, we must know that the Lord Jesus understands and hurts with us. One of my favorite verses, I wish you'd mark it down maybe in the margin here, is Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 3.
[0:54] Some Christians mistakenly think that we shouldn't hurt when we lose somebody to heaven. Jesus actually wept when Lazarus died. And in Isaiah chapter 53, you should underline here, Jesus is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
[1:11] This chapter is a prophecy about Him, what He would come. And He did come, and He was acquainted with our grief. He understands what sin has done to us.
[1:21] He understands what this world has done to us. And He loves us, and that never was His intention. So today, He hurts with us. He hurts with you. He hurts with me.
[1:32] And that's what's going on in this passage of Scripture. As believers, we trust that God knows what's best for us. That's a hard thing to do.
[1:42] Whenever you go through an issue like what's going on, it's hard to do that. But the Bible says in Romans 8, 28, We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
[1:57] For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. I want you to go back to verse 28 with me.
[2:10] And I want to clarify something for you. A long time ago, as a young guy, not understanding what was going on in the Bible, I would read verse 28, and I would say, Does that really apply to me? Because sometimes I don't think I love God like I'm supposed to.
[2:23] And it says, All things work together for good to them that love God. And I said, Well, maybe I'm not in that group. I love Him, but maybe I don't love Him enough. Do I count? Then it said, To those who are called according to His purpose.
[2:34] I thought, Well, maybe I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do, and so maybe things don't work together for good to me. But let me explain to you, starting in Romans chapter 8, There's therefore now no condemnation in the which you're in Christ Jesus.
[2:47] And so what happens is you are those that love God. If you're a born-again believer, you are one that loves God. You chose God over the world. You chose God over sin. You chose God over yourself.
[2:58] And that's how you got saved. And you are the called according to His purpose because He saved you. He called you, and He called you to be saved, and you trusted Him. So here's a promise for you if you're a born-again believer.
[3:09] All things work together for good. All things work together for good. God is at work in our lives. And in verse 29, He said that God is conforming us to the image of His Son.
[3:20] He is at work making each of us look like Jesus. He's making each of us have the right attitudes. We are growing. None of us are where we're supposed to be yet. God is at work in our lives.
[3:32] As believers, we accept what the Word of God says by faith. We do not have to understand. We do not have to understand. As we get older, it's not really over.
[3:45] As we get older, it's not really over. It's just about to start. I think there's a thought in our minds that death is about an ending. But no matter who you are, it's not really an ending.
[3:58] It's a beginning. If you're a lost person, you will have a beginning and a place of suffering and torment called hell. If you're a born-again believer, you'll be in the presence of God. It's not ending.
[4:08] It's starting. Imagine with me the Garden of Eden. All perfectly made. No sin. No strain. No inferiority complexes.
[4:20] Transparency without embarrassment. Imagine having a completely open relationship with God. Where you talk to Him face to face. Imagine all your needs met.
[4:31] Productive, satisfying work. And life with real meaning. Because that's what you were created for. When God made the human race, that's what He had for us. And by the way, that's not imagination, really.
[4:44] That's what He had for us. And that's what He has for us again. So learn with me from the model prayer some lessons today. There are three of them. Maybe you can jot them down if you'd like to study them later.
[4:56] Number one, heaven's where God is. Heaven's where God is. The Bible says in Matthew 6 and 9, After this matter, therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[5:09] I want you to underline which art in heaven. Old Testament saints knew heaven as His habitation. They knew that heaven's where God lived. Heaven is where God lives.
[5:21] In Deuteronomy chapter 26 and verse 15, The Bible says, Look down from thy holy habitation. Look down from your holy living place. From heaven. That's what it says in the verse.
[5:32] And bless thy people Israel, the land which thou hast given us. For thou swarest unto our fathers a land that floweth with milk and honey. God looked down from heaven. We know you're in heaven.
[5:43] Jesus taught to pray, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Our Father which art in heaven. The chief joy of any believer, according to the Bible, is getting to heaven, to God Himself.
[5:55] The chief joy of any believer is getting to God and to God Himself. Psalm 73, 25, a tremendous verse you might write down. The Bible says, Whom have I in heaven but thee?
[6:07] And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. The psalmist said, God in heaven, it's not about my mama, it's not about my brother and my sister. In heaven, it's about you.
[6:18] You're in heaven. There's nobody in heaven I want more than I want you. There's nobody on earth that I want more than I want you. We love each other and the great pleasures, but most of all, the heart of a believer hungers for God and for heaven.
[6:32] He is the God. He is the secret of our joy. He is the secret of our happiness. He is the giver of every good gift that you have ever received. God in heaven is the giver of every good gift you've ever received.
[6:47] Look with me at James 1.17. James 1.17. The apostle James writes down there, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variable, and it's neither shadow of turning.
[7:04] Every good thing. Every good thing I enjoy. My marriage, a gift from heaven. The beautiful creation, a gift from heaven.
[7:15] Wonderful food, a gift from heaven. Friendship, a gift from heaven. The church, a gift from heaven. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of light.
[7:28] Not darkness, but light. And there is no changing with Him. He's a good God every day, all day, forever. He is a good God.
[7:39] So when I get to heaven, I'll see the one who's been so good to me. If I could tell you of the joys I've experienced in this life, if I could tell you of the joys you've experienced in this life, if we could talk about how good things have been for us and the places you've seen and the places you've gone, if I could take you to any of those places, I'd tell you God's the one that's been good to me.
[7:57] God's the one who's given those things to me. It's God. That means every good thing you enjoy on this planet comes from Him. And you get to go to heaven with the giver of those gifts.
[8:08] You can tell a lot about a person by the gifts He gives. Our God's a good God. He's a good gift giver. The real heart desire of a Christian is to know the Lord Jesus immediately and intimately.
[8:21] Philippians chapter 3 and verse 8. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Paul said in Philippians 3.8, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.
[8:40] If you have your Bible open, I wish you'd underline for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. In other words, I'm going to get to know Him. I can remember in 1973, I had met this girl I was going to marry.
[8:55] And I was so excited. I lived a long ways from her. I wrote her a letter every day. She wrote me a letter every month. I mean, that's the kind of relationship we had. It was every week, maybe. Maybe every two weeks.
[9:07] My letters were long, full of heart. Hers were short. And not much there, you know. She'd just say, Hey, Austin, how are you? I love you. And I'd write a whole lot of business. But I could not wait to get to know her and to spend time with her.
[9:22] And now I've lived with her for 41 years almost. And here's what happens in this verse. He said, Man, I just want to know God. I know He saved me. I know He gave me eternal life. I know that He is the author of joy.
[9:35] I know that He is the wonderful God of heaven. The Bible says in John 10, 10, that the thief comes up for the steel to kill and to destroy. But I am come that they might have life. I am come.
[9:47] The thief came to kill you. The thief was Satan. Jesus came to give you life. But not just give you life, but life more abundantly. Philippians chapter 3, 8 says, I want to know Him, the excellency of the knowledge.
[10:00] In verse 9 it said, And I want to be found in Him. I want to be found in Him. When you and I go to heaven, there's a question. How will God receive me? How will God receive me?
[10:12] Because am I good enough? Have I done what I ought to do? When it's all said and done, will the God of heaven say, Hey, Austin, you're a good guy? Well, here's what it said in verse 9. Paul said, I want to be found in Him.
[10:23] You need to underline that. Found in Him. Put a circle around. In Him. I want to be in Jesus. That's how God receives us. In Jesus. And look what it says. Not having my own righteousness.
[10:34] Not because of the good things I've done, but because of the good things He's done. I won't be bragging about what I did. I'll be bragging about what He did. It won't be my good works. It'll be not my own righteousness, which is of the law.
[10:45] Me keeping the rules isn't what's going to get me there. Me keeping the rules isn't what's going to get me there. But that which is found in the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith. So a true born-again believer today, as you sit here and you wonder, well, I've even had some of you say, will that kind of testimony be mine?
[11:03] When I die, will somebody think all those wonderful thoughts that I heard expressed yesterday about me? Will that be true about me? And I hope it is. But much more than that, the real key is that God will see you in Christ.
[11:17] That's how Allison got to heaven and that's how you get to heaven. That's how we go to heaven. Verse 10, he said, that I may know Him. Philippians 3.10, that I may know Him. I want to know Him.
[11:28] We want to know Him because He rescued us. He saved us from our sins. I see on television every now and then where a fireman rescues somebody, pulls them out of a burning car or a burning building.
[11:41] Somebody does something for them and they want to go find that fireman. They want to say thank you. But can you imagine, this wasn't a temporary pain. This wasn't something that might hurt for a little while. It wasn't even something that might kill you and it'd be over.
[11:53] This was eternal suffering. It was suffering on this planet and suffering for all eternity. I want to know Him. I want to say thank you for saving me. I want to say thank you for loving me.
[12:04] I want to say thank you for all you've done for me. We love Jesus more than we love anyone else or anything else. In Matthew 10, 37, the Bible says, He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
[12:17] He that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. We love Jesus. How many of you love Him? Say amen. We love Him. We love Him. We are hungry to be in His presence.
[12:28] The Bible says in Psalms 42, 1, in Psalm 42, verse 1 says, As the heart as the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.
[12:42] A deer has been running and a deer is thirsty. He can't wait to get to water. And that's how the psalmist approaches it. He says, You know how a deer after he's thirsty really wants to get to the water? That's how I feel about God.
[12:53] I want to get to Him. Verse 2, He said, My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Here's a verse I hope you all memorize.
[13:06] Precious to me, Psalm 1611. There are, I will tell it to you one more time in the message, so if you miss it this time, you'll get another one. But Psalm 1611 says, Thou wilt show me the path of life.
[13:19] In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. If you ever wondered what heaven is going to be like, let me give you some idea of what heaven is going to be like.
[13:29] It's where God is. It's the God who created the heavens and the earth. It's the God who made the Garden of Eden. It's the God who made all the wonderful, beautiful creation you enjoy. In a sin-cursed world, you still get up and say, this is a pretty awesome world.
[13:42] Well, this world only is a shadow of what it was before sin got here. Before sin cursed it. Before sin brought all the wicked things into the world. And the God who created that says, hey, when you get to be with me in my presence, there will be fullness of joy.
[13:58] Now, what does fullness of joy mean? Fullness of joy means like, it's like so much joy is overflowing. It's like unlimited joy and happiness and peace. It's like the greatest day, the greatest minute, the greatest second you ever enjoyed, multiplied by a number so large you can't imagine it, and it's still not that much.
[14:15] He said, I have joy in my presence. And that's where we go when we die. We go to heaven. We go to the place where joy is so great, the only way they could explain it was imagine it full, and then imagine it fuller, and then imagine it fullest.
[14:32] And then when you get all of that, just say, that's what it's like in the presence of our God. And at His right hand, in His place where He is the authority, He said, and I give you pleasures forevermore.
[14:45] That's a crazy word, isn't it? You think that Christianity takes away pleasure, and God says, I think Christianity brings you great pleasure. And I have all of eternity prepared to give you pleasures beyond what you can understand.
[14:58] For God, who is in heaven, our death is precious. Because we're being freed from a corrupt earth, and sin, and pain, and death, and the grave.
[15:11] And we're being taken to His personal presence. The Bible says in Psalm 116.15, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
[15:24] I want you to understand, precious, without value, can't number it, a diamond's considered precious. The death of us as Christians is precious.
[15:37] I have a sister who's now in heaven. At the age of six or so, she got, she had a fever, and I can't remember what the name of the disease, the spinal, and cepillitis, or something like that.
[15:48] She had this, and it really, it cooked her brain. She was a completely normal girl until she had this horrific disease. We all got sick. All four of us had the measles. Something struck her, and for the rest of her life, she would be mentally retarded.
[16:01] She would not be a normal person. Her brain developed maybe to a 12-year-old. By the time she, when she dies, she's in her late 50s, and she has a mind of a 50-something-year-old person, a body of a 50-something-year-old person, a mind of a 12-year-old, and it was going back every year, they said.
[16:17] She believed Jesus. And I can remember her laying in that bed and suffering and hurting, and she'd say, I just want to go to heaven. And I watched her die.
[16:31] And I can tell you that as she took that last breath here, in a sin-cursed world, in a sin-cursed body, she woke up all of a sudden in the most beautiful, wonderful, precious place you could ever imagine beyond anything, and the God of heaven said, come on home, Felicia.
[16:49] I saved you. I'm rescuing you. This is a great day. And your family may stand around crying and hurting, but me and you are about to have the wildest time you've ever imagined because in my presence is fullness of joy.
[17:01] And in my presence are pleasures forevermore. Every Christian ought to understand that's what happens. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 6 says, it's like us going through an open door.
[17:15] 2 Corinthians 5, 6 says, therefore we are always confident. Would you underline the word confident and maybe put an exclamation point after it? We're confident knowing that, we know this, and I'm confident about what I know, that while we're at home in the body, we're absent from the Lord.
[17:33] While I'm here on this earth, I'm not in His actual presence. He's everywhere, but it's not like being at home. It's not like being in His presence. He said, we walk by faith and not by sight.
[17:45] He said, I know this not because I've seen it, but I know it because it's what God says and I believe what God says. I don't see it yet, but I know it because I believe the Bible. How do you believe the Bible? Say amen. Heaven ought to be real to us.
[17:56] In the old days, Christians loved talking about heaven. Loved talking about it. Loved talking about where they were going to go. Loved talking about where their loved ones went. They sang lots of songs about it. Verse 8, He said, we're confident, there it is again, put a circle around that word, put you in exclamation point.
[18:09] We're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent for the body than to be present for the Lord. Now that's a wild thought, isn't it? You see, you are not your body. I am a whole lot better looking than what you're looking at.
[18:21] This is just a house I happen to live in. It's a well furnished house and it's a plump house. But, I am really the person living in it. If you'd have seen me, if you'd seen pictures of me 40 years ago, you'd say, I don't think that's awesome.
[18:34] Because my house is much more well furnished. I was a skinny little guy, had a lot of pimples and Elvis type hair, you know? But the real me is in here. If I lost a kidney, I'm still lost it.
[18:46] I just don't have two filters in my body anymore. And I'm just the same guy. But here's what he said. He said, while you're in that body, you're not with me. But when you're absent from that body, when you step out of that house you're living in, you step into his presence.
[19:01] Absent from the body, present with the Lord, I'm confident of that. That's what the Apostle Paul said. Can you say amen right there? Hey, that's what happens. God said, hey, I'm in my house.
[19:12] I'm in my house. That's when you pray, you remember where I am. And when you die, that's what happens. You come to my house. You step out of your house. My sister's house was a pretty defective house.
[19:25] My sister's house was a pretty defective house. But she wasn't her IQ. And she wasn't her body. She was her. Inside of that. But if you saw her today, you'd realize what a wonderful thing.
[19:37] She's in the very presence of God. Second thing I want you to notice from the passage. You say, that's not really what the passage says. Oh, it is. Because you need to understand what heaven is. He said, our Father which art in heaven.
[19:48] You need to stop and realize what that is. To be in the presence of God. There's no sin there. There's no wickedness there. There's nothing bad going on there. It's all great and wonderful. Our Father which art in heaven.
[19:58] But the second thing I want you to look out at the passage is chapter 6 and verse 10. And I want you to write this down. Heaven is where God's will is done. Heaven's where God's will is done. Verse 10.
[20:09] The Bible said, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Underline, as it is in heaven. earth has been full of men rebelling against God and going their own way.
[20:23] I want you to understand the world you live in is full of willful men doing their own thing and ignoring God. That's what the Bible says. In Isaiah 53, 6, the Bible says, All we like sheep have gone astray.
[20:35] We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. In your Bible, underline this, we have turned everyone to his own way. I live life my way.
[20:45] That's what somebody sings and says. I've done it my way. Well, that's exactly why there's so many wars. I did it my way. That's why so many people kill so many people. I did it my way. That's why there's pedophiles.
[20:56] That's why there's child abuse. That's why there's murder. That's why all these wicked things happen because I did it my way. The world's full of that. But there's a place where God said, No, no, no, no.
[21:07] No, no, no, no, no. Now you don't do anything you want to do. Here you do what I want you to do. This is my place. I'll let you all have your place and do it your own way for a while. But up here in my house, you'll do it my way.
[21:19] God allowed man to choose. You remember the very beginning? God never wanted man to die. We were created to live. God never wanted man to die. We were created to live. God allowed man to choose.
[21:30] He put the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. He puts the tree of life and he puts the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Do you remember what he said? He said, Don't eat that tree. That's all he said. He never said, Don't eat the tree of life.
[21:41] They knew both trees were there. They chose. Man chose to disobey God. Adam and Eve could believe God and what he said or they could believe Satan who told them that God was being deceptive.
[21:51] They chose to do their own thing, make their own decisions and ignore what God had said. And death came into this earth because of sin and rebellion. The Bible says in Romans 5, verse 12, Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for all have sinned.
[22:13] That word sin is really rebelling. You see, some of us got this idea where it's, I don't do wicked sins like others. Sin is just what you want to do. You could actually do good stuff and still be sinning because you'd be doing what you want to do.
[22:26] You could say, I don't want to trust God, but I will be a good guy. Well, that's nice. I'm glad you're a good guy, but the only way you go to heaven is doing it God's way. There are actually going to be people in heaven, or people, excuse me, that are not going to go to heaven.
[22:38] In Matthew chapter 7, they live their entire lives doing real good stuff. And when the judgment comes, God will say, I never knew you. And they'll say, wait a minute, did we not do miracles in your name?
[22:48] Did we not preach? Did we not do good stuff? Matthew chapter 7, did we do all that? He said, yeah, but I never knew you. You talked a good game. You did a lot of good stuff, but you never did my will, which is to trust Jesus.
[23:02] In heaven, as God does His will, He's chosen things that are beyond awesome for us. He's prepared more for us than we could ever imagine. The Bible says in Ephesians 3, 19, and to know the love of Christ.
[23:16] Listen to this. To know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. You can't even grasp this. This is beyond what you can get a hold of, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.
[23:30] Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. Do you get this? Imagine the most you could possibly imagine.
[23:41] Imagine the greatest you could possibly imagine. And God says, ha, ha, ha, such pitiful thinking. I got bigger and better than anything you ever thought of. You put your imagination to work and I will tell you that I am bigger and beyond anything you ever dreamed of.
[23:56] You dream of the most perfect place in the world. And He says, ha, got you a beat on that one. Because I'm God. I do big stuff. It's my house. I do it my way.
[24:08] Pleasures forevermore. By the way, what's wonderful, Jesus is on earth. God in human flesh. And He said in John 14, He would go and prepare us a place. You remember?
[24:18] But I love what He says in John 14, 3. He said, because I want you to be where I am. That's wonderful. The God of heaven looked at us and said, I am perfect.
[24:30] I will not sin while I'm on this earth. I made the world. I'm the creator God. I make things so great you cannot imagine Him. And He looked at pitiful, puny, punky little people and said, I want you to be with me.
[24:42] What a great God. Say amen. That you may be where I am. That where I am, there you may be also. Right there in John 14, verse 3, God wants you.
[24:53] God wants you. I remember asking Betty if she would marry me and in that long silence that waited while I listened to see if she would say yes. She said it was a second or two and it seemed like an eternity for me because I wondered would she say yes.
[25:09] Well, that's what happened. Jesus looked at us and said, I want you. I want you to be with me. Can you imagine the God of all creation looking at you and saying, I like you.
[25:23] I want you. I want you with me. Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. It's done in heaven. Let it be done in earth. He prepared pleasures for us.
[25:37] Here's my verse again. My favorite verse of the week. Psalm 1611. Make sure you got it written down. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
[25:53] He's going to make a new heaven and a new earth for us. We'll enjoy his creation and all that he's done for us while we're in his presence. You do understand that heaven's really a temporary place.
[26:04] It's a place he's prepared for us to go until he redoes the whole heaven and earth and brings it all back down and sets it on. I mean, we're going back to a place better than the Garden of Eden ever was. We're going to be in his presence with all those things he created.
[26:17] All this is happening. You serve a great God. He's going to do his will. Man destroyed it. He allowed man to make his own decisions. He's going to take us to heaven.
[26:28] By the way, we're going to be like him. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 1, the Bible says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.
[26:39] We rebelled against God and yet he says, I'll make you my sons. And therefore, the world knows us not because it knew him not. Look at verse 2, if you would. 1 John 3, verse 2 says, Beloved, now we are the sons of God.
[26:51] It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. You realize what's going to happen somehow.
[27:02] God's going to take this big failure of a person that hasn't done all the things that he should have done, hasn't measured up in so many ways in his life. And God says, I'm going to make you like me. I'm going to make you like Jesus.
[27:13] He's going to transform us. And by the way, if you have that hope, you purify yourself. That's what the next verse says. You're like, good night. You ever notice how girls go on diets right before they get married? Did you ever notice that?
[27:24] Girls are like, man, I'm getting married. I've got to go on a diet. They don't ever eat. You ever notice that before they get married? It's like amazing. They don't have to eat. You go out to eat with them, they don't want anything to eat. And you're like, man, you don't eat.
[27:34] You're going to be cheap. When you get married, you find out that wasn't true. Amen? But here's what he said. He said, man, I've got something special for you. You're mine. I'm bringing you home with me. You're mine.
[27:45] I'm bringing you home with me. And we say, man, I can't wait. I can't wait. He's going to get rid of so many things in heaven. In Revelation 21.4, he said, I'm going to wipe away all your tears.
[27:59] There'll be no more death. No more sorrow. No more crying. No more pain. I make everything new. That's Revelation 21.4 and 5.
[28:09] I make everything new. On earth, God has allowed us to make bad decisions. Our God's allowed the earth to suffer as a result of our sin. But in heaven, His will will be done.
[28:23] By the way, the apostle Paul, who is an apostle who writes the Bible for us, believed that so strongly that he says in Philippians 1, and verse 21 and following, he says in verse 21, dying is gain.
[28:38] We look at dying is loss. The apostle Paul looked at dying is gain. The apostle Paul said, man, if I could die, that'd be great. In verse 23, he said, I have a desire to depart.
[28:51] He didn't look at death as dying. He looked at death as departing. I can remember when we were, and he said that was far better. I can remember when we were going on the airplane the first time.
[29:02] This was back before 9-11. There were about 50 or 60 people in the airport as we were getting ready to fly out to go to Peru. And there were 50, 60 people in there telling us goodbye. And everybody's crying but me.
[29:13] Everybody's hugging. I'm hugging them just like, I can see you, I can see you. And I said, Betty, we need to hurry up. Are you getting us on the plane? All I could think of is I'm going to Peru. I'm going to do the ministry. God, I was so excited.
[29:25] Got on the plane. Everybody's crying. I'm like, yes. See, Paul was like, we're departing. So heaven for him was far better to go to heaven where God is, where God's will is done.
[29:39] Last one, it's time to quit. Verse 13, heaven belongs to God. Heaven belongs to God. God. Verse 13 said, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[29:54] Now I'm going to run through these verses real quickly and finish so I can finish pretty much on time but I want you to know some things. Did you know you were created for his pleasure? Did you know he loves you? And he made you for himself from the very beginning.
[30:08] He wants your joy. I'm a granddad. I cannot explain to you how much fun it is unless you're one of us. If you've joined the elite club of granddaddies you know how fun it is.
[30:20] You know how fun it is to hold your hand and go, don't you laugh, don't you laugh. And I'll do that and Chloe will start laughing. I'll say, no, no, don't you laugh, don't you laugh. And boy, when she laughs I just melt.
[30:32] I mean, it's just granddaddies know about that. If you're granddaddy, say amen if you understand that. Nope, no granddaddies in here. John doesn't even say amen. I'm telling you, Catherine, I mean, I could go to, she'll be sitting on the couch, I get up in the morning, she's kind of got an attitude in the morning.
[30:48] She's got two fingers in her mouth sitting there watching cartoons and I walk in and I say, don't you laugh. And she starts going, and I ain't even close and I get right here on the neck and I tickle her.
[30:59] She starts, well, I love that. I love giving gifts. I enjoy giving gifts. She's my granddaughter. I enjoy giving gifts to my wife. Pleasure. He said in Revelation 4, verse 11, He created all things.
[31:12] For His pleasure they are and they were created. In Colossians 1, 16, all things are created by Him and for Him. He created you, then He purchased you.
[31:24] We belong to Him. Heaven's a place God made for people He loves that He created and that He purchased. We belong to Him. In 1 Corinthians 6, 20, you are bought with a price.
[31:36] Glorify God in your body. And I know that verse has been used against you sometimes and people have said, you've got to start living right. You are bought by a price. But can I just explain to you how beautiful that verse is?
[31:49] That verse is, He went down to the nasty auction place where you were being treated like a slave and being abused and people are checking out your teeth and checking out your muscles. They're going to buy you and sell you and abuse you.
[32:01] And He went down and bought you. And He said, come on home with me. I'm sure you've read the story of somebody who went to buy a slave and as they bought the slave and walked away, they said, hey, you're free. I just bought you so I can set you free.
[32:13] That's what Jesus did when He bought us. He bought us. He made heaven. Heaven belongs to Him. He created me and He bought me and I am His.
[32:26] The verse says, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Everything's about Him.
[32:38] He is our life, our everything. He's a source of our joy and happiness. Anytime you're trying to find happiness is because you do not understand where it is found. It is found in the Lord Jesus.
[32:49] You try to have fun and get what only can be found in Him and what He has for you. It's all about Him. It's expressed beautifully in Song of Solomon 2.16.
[33:00] In Song of Solomon 2.16, the Song of Solomon says, my beloved is mine and I am His. He is mine and I am His.
[33:12] And today I can say, I can say, about the sweet relationship I have with my wife, she's mine and I am hers and I love that but greater far than that could ever be the God of heaven is mine and I am His.
[33:26] He saved me, He bought me, He created me, He's prepared for me, He loves me and I can spend eternity with Him. God created you for life.
[33:38] He hates our horrible enemy, death. He hates our horrible enemy, death. And He has defeated death and hell.
[33:49] He has victory over them and that victory is ours. In Revelation 1.18, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, I know you hear me say that about so many verses, you're like, I think they're all your favorite.
[34:00] They are. But one of them today is Revelation 1.18. And in Revelation 1.18, you see Jesus and He's being revealed and the Apostle John is writing the story and he sees Him coming out and Jesus has His keys tucked in His belt and in His keys and I am He that lives and was dead.
[34:17] Behold, I'm alive forevermore and I got the keys of death and hell. Death has no victory. Hell has no victory. I've been there. I've knocked down the walls.
[34:27] I am in charge. I have victory. And so our great enemy is death. But our great victor has overcome that and we have through Him a prepared place.
[34:38] And if you're His, He has a prepared place for you. But if you're not, you can be. Some of you have not really truly believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior yet. You're not sure you'd go to heaven if you died.
[34:49] You're not sure that He is your Savior. But that's the most important thing of all. You see, the verse started off, Our Father which art in heaven. And we'll look at it another day, maybe next week.
[34:59] But He's our Father. Father, is He your Father? Do you know that He is your Father? Do you know you belong to Him? Do you know that you've sinned against the Holy God, that you've trusted Him and believed in Him, turned from your sin and turned to Him so now you're in the family?
[35:14] Have you? Are you? If you haven't, you can today. Look at your life and say, Man, I have blown it. I have done it my own way, but today I trust the Father. Today I trust Jesus.
[35:25] Today I trust God who did it all. Our Father which art in heaven. Our Father which art in heaven. You know, I need you to understand something. Not everybody goes to heaven.
[35:36] The fact is, according to the Bible, it's a choice few that go to heaven. But it's a choice few who don't choose to trust Jesus. Because many people say, I don't need that religion junk.
[35:48] I don't need that Jesus junk. I don't need to trust Him. I'll do it my own way and I'll get there my own way. That's not how it works. Our Father which art in heaven. Well, you're great.
[35:59] You're big. Hallowed be your name. You're above everybody. You're far greater than everybody and I trust you. That's what's going on in this verse. So this morning I ask you, if death comes knocking and it's coming, we're not going to avoid it.
[36:16] Death's marching towards you right now. Death's coming for all of us. I don't know when I'll die. I have no idea. But I know this death's coming and I want to be able to say, I am not afraid because I know who holds my future.
[36:33] I know who holds my life. I know that I belong to Him. If you don't know that, I want you to know it today. If you're born again, man, I want you to just realize what a great God you're serving. Do you have any idea how good God is?
[36:44] I have only scratched the service and I've done a poor job of that. But the great God of heaven loves you, paid your sin debt, you can be saved, you can know you'd go to heaven if you die.
[36:55] I'd ask you to trust Christ now. Father, as I finish this time with my friends and family today, I ask you to touch hearts. I pray that some might believe and some might be saved today and some might know for sure that they're going to go to heaven when they die.
[37:12] I pray you'd show your power. I pray you'd magnify yourself. I pray you'd save people today. God, I'll give you praise for that. God, I pray you'd comfort your people. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[37:24] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.