Heaven: God's Eternal Goodness to You - Part 3

0:27 Now, what are we gonna do in heaven? Well, I can't go into everything, but let me mention three things. These are very important things you're definitely gonna do in heaven. You might write these down. The first thing that's gonna happen in heaven is this. We're going to be reunited with our loved ones who love the Lord. Those who love Jesus, who are in the family of God, they're all gonna be there, and it's gonna be one big reunion. now as I said only God's children who love him are going to be in his home get to live in his home but the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4 17 there will be I love this in a message paraphrase he summarizes it there will be one huge family reunion with the master can you imagine how emotional that's going to be you know the more of my family and friends that are on that side of death the dearer heaven becomes to me my mother is in heaven my father is in heaven my older brother Jim is in heaven my youngest child Matthew is in heaven I have many dear friends over 38 years in this church who are now on that side of death they're in heaven and the more of my friends who get there the more dear that becomes to me I don't know when I was a young person I didn't really think about heaven that much.

1:57 First, it seemed so boring, the way the world describes it. And second, it seemed like a long way off. And third, I didn't have anybody there that I knew. But I know a lot of people who are in heaven now. And I can't wait to get there and to be with them. And the Bible says, there will be one huge family reunion with the master. And by the way, the next verse in the Bible underneath that says, so reassure one another with these thoughts. We're to encourage each other. that when somebody dies who's a friend of yours and they love the Lord, that's not the end. It's a transfer, but you're gonna see him again.

2:33 I often wanna play the game with people. Who would you like to talk to first in heaven? Okay, let's say you go say hi to God. You know, you talk to the Lord. Who would you like to talk to? Would you like to talk to Moses? You could. or Abraham? How about Mary?

2:56 A scared young peasant girl who gave birth to Christ. How about Joseph? How about the wise men? Who would you like to talk to? Or famous people throughout Christian history. Scientists and leaders that are going to be there. You're going to have all of eternity to talk with them. We're going to be reunited with those who love Jesus. Second thing we're going to do, this isn't important, second thing we're going to do in heaven is we're going to be rewarded for our faith and our hope. We're going to be rewarded for our faith and our hope and our love. Now, Jesus talked about rewards an awful lot. Many of his stories, his parables, are about the rewards you're going to receive in heaven. And the Bible tells us that you will be rewarded in heaven. And that you'll be rewarded for your faith, and you'll be rewarded for your hope, you'll be rewarded for your love, you'll be rewarded for your service.

3:59 Jesus said, even if you give a cup of cold water to a little child, and you do it in the name of the Lord, you're gonna get credit for that in heaven. Now let me explain. Salvation in heaven and rewards in heaven are two different things. Salvation is by grace. You can't earn your salvation. You can't work your way into heaven. The only way you'll ever get into heaven is through the grace of God. Put your faith in God's forgiveness, his goodness, his grace. But the rewards are the things that God's gonna give back to you for the things that you earned for doing good things in life, that you made your life count. You see, you can waste your life, and there are a lot of ways to waste it, or you can spend your life, there's a lot of ways to spend it, or you can invest your life. The greatest use of life is to invest it in that which will outlast it and that's called living in light of eternity.

4:56 I'm gonna do a message on that later on but I want you to understand that rewards come because of something you did. When you helped someone, when you were generous with someone, when you were kind to someone, when you shared your faith with someone, when you were helpful to someone or sympathetic or empathetic. The Bible says you're going to be rewarded for the things you did because you love Jesus Christ, because you love God. Let me just show you some verses. We'll go through these pretty quick. Up here on the screen, John chapter 12, verse 26 says this. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. This is in heaven. Did you know that when you get to heaven, you're not just gonna be there, you're gonna be honored. you're going to be honored and you're going to be rewarded some of you are going to be rewarded a lot some of you are going to be rewarded a little because it depends on how serious you were about serving christ if it was just an offhanded thought you may not have that many rewards you'll be in heaven for eternity you'll be glad the rest of eternity but the bible says you will be honored and you will be rewarded for your work in christ let me show you some other verses. Hebrews 10.35 says this. Do not throw away your confident trust in the Lord no matter what happens. In other words, you're going through a tough time. You start having doubts. You start giving up. He says, don't throw away your confident trust in the Lord.

6:25 Remember the great reward it will bring you. You're going to be rewarded in heaven for the times you wanted to give up but didn't. You wanted to give up on your marriage but you didn't. You wanted to give up on your job, you didn't. You wanted to give up on your faith, but you didn't. You wanted to give up on doing the right thing, but you didn't. And the Bible says you will be rewarded in heaven for your endurance, for your resilience, for your keeping on, keeping on, your determination, your diligence. He says don't throw away your confident trust. Remember the great reward it will bring you. But the Bible also talks about not just rewards you're going to get in heaven, but there's another thing you're going to get in heaven, and that is called your inheritance. Now, you know what inheritance is.

7:19 It's when parents pass on to the next generation possessions or wealth or whatever. It could be property. It could be all kinds of things, and you have an inheritance, and you inherit it from people before you. and your father or your mother passes on their inheritance to you. Did you know that because God is a good God, that your heavenly Father has an inheritance for you in heaven? And that inheritance has been building interest for a long, long time. Let me show you some scriptures. The Bible says in Colossians 3.24, Know, you can know this for a fact, not wish or hope, know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward for serving Christ. Where?

8:12 That's in heaven. You're gonna be given inheritance. You're a child of God. You're a child of the heavenly father. You're in God's family. And God gives an inheritance to his children when they finally arrive at the home that he created for them. It's created for you. Heaven was created for you.

8:33 And he says there will be this great inheritance. What kind of inheritance? Well look at this verse. First Peter chapter one verse four. God has reserved a priceless inheritance. It's bigger than any IRA or retirement payout you could possibly have here on earth. God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children and it is kept in heaven for you. I don't know if you knew that or not. But when you get to heaven, you're not just gonna get there, you're gonna be honored, you're gonna be rewarded, and you're going to receive your inheritance based on how you lived your life for Christ. Let me show you one more.

9:15 Matthew 25, verse 34. Jesus is speaking. He says, come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance. The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Look at that verse closely. God knew before he created the universe that he was gonna create you. And God knew that you would be one of the ones who chose to love him, to trust him, to put your faith in him. God knew that way in advance. That's called foreknowledge. And God planned your inheritance, he says, before he even created the world. Friends, that's a long time ago. That's eons ago. So your inheritance has been collecting interest for a long time.

10:07 This is a retirement package you've never heard of. It is an inheritance that has been set aside for you before even he created the world. He thought you up. He thought me up. He thought us up. God created the universe because he wanted a family. And he wanted you to be a part of that family. And you chose to be a part. You got adopted in. you got born again into the family. Why in the world would God do that? Why wouldn't God just give you good life on earth and just let you die? Boom, that's it, it's over. Because God is a good God. And as I've said before, no man will ever love you like God does. No woman will ever love you like God does. He is a good God, and he doesn't want to just be good to you for 90 or 100 years on earth. He wants to be good for you for all of eternity. because God is a good God.

11:03 So we're going to be reunited with those we love. We're going to be rewarded for our faith and our hope and our love and our service. And here's the third thing that you're going to do in heaven. We're going to be assigned work that we enjoy doing. We will be assigned work that we will enjoy doing because God understands your shape better than you do. He knows what makes you tick. He knows what you love to do and what you can't stand to do, what turns your crank and what bores you to tears. And you will be given assignments in the kingdom of God. Now the difference is, this isn't going to be frustrating work, it's going to be fulfilling work. Matthew 25, 21, Jesus tells a parable, a story, and he ends with this. This is the words of Christ. Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things.

11:56 I will now put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. Now if you're taking notes, I want you to circle the phrase, put you in charge. Would you circle that? I'm gonna talk to you about that for just a minute. It says that when you get to heaven, God is gonna put you in charge of something, but it's gonna be based on how well you managed what you were given here on earth. he says if you're faithful in the little that I gave you on earth I'm going to give you a whole lot more to be in charge of in heaven if you were faithful with the little bit of talent I gave you here on earth I'm going to give you more talent in heaven if you were faithful with the little bit of possessions here on earth I'm going to give you more in heaven if you were faithful with the little bit of influence on earth I'm going to give you more in heaven if you were faithful with the little bit of your time here on earth I'm going to give you more in heaven If you were, whatever you are a good manager of here on earth, you're going to get more of in heaven.

13:00 On the other hand, anything you did not manage well, you're not going to get more of in heaven. This life, friends, is a test. You are being tested every day. The whole purpose of God, why didn't God just create you and take you to heaven in the first place? You ever thought about that? if heaven's the ultimate goal why didn't he just create you and automatically take you to heaven why does he put you here for 90 years this is a test you need to go back and read I think it's chapter 4 in purpose driven life life is a test, a trust and a temporary assignment this is not the real story this is only going to last 90, 100 years this is the preschool before the real thing begins. This is the warm-up act.

13:52 This is the dress rehearsal before the real story begins. This is the first lap around the race before the actual race begins. This is the pre-band before the stars come out and do the concert. It's the warm-up act. That's why this is not a perfect world. People always expect heaven to be on earth. It's not on earth. Why? This is the testing ground. And God is testing. Will you be faithful when it's not easy? Will you obey me when it's unpopular? Will you trust me when it looks like there's no reason to trust? Will you be faithful with your money or do you spend it all on yourself? Will you be faithful with your time or do you squander it and waste it? Will you be faithful with your body, with your health? Will you be faithful with your mind? Do you use it for God's glory or do you waste it reading trashy novels and watching stupid TV shows.

14:47 How are you using what God has given you? God says if what you use, what I gave you on earth, you use it well, then guess what? In heaven, we're gonna give you more. And if you've been faithful in little, I will put you in charge of more. That's why you're here right now. This is a test. Unfortunately, most people in the world are failing it.

15:12 They're living totally for themselves. they're not thinking at all about heaven they're living 100% for the here and now when the here and now is going to be over in a matter of minutes compared to the trillions of years in eternity if we took a line and stretched a rope from California to Tokyo and that represented all of eternity as a span of line your life on earth would be less than one little teeny tiny millimeter It's nothing. The Bible calls it a shadow. The Bible calls it a breath of air, a moment in time. We act like this is all there is. Well, you only go around once in life. You better go with gusto. It's true. You only go around once in this life, but this is not the end of your life. God has long-range plans for you.

16:04 You were made to last forever. God made you to last forever, not just for 100 years. And so we're going to be given assignments in heaven to do things, and you're going to be given and put in charge of things depending on how well you manage what you have here. Now listen, God doesn't care how much money or wealth you've got here on this earth. What he cares about is how well you managed what he allowed you to have. And God doesn't care whether you've got a lot of talent or a little talent here on earth. What he cares is did you use what you've got for him. and God doesn't care whether you've got a lot of energy or little energy, God wants to know, are you using whatever energy you've got in the best way? Every decision you make of every moment of your day has eternal implications.

16:59 Either make an eternity better or not as good for you. Now, when it says here, if you've been faithful with the few things I gave you on earth, I will put you in charge of many things, that phrase in charge, the Bible calls this ruling with Christ. It also calls it reigning with Christ. And the Bible says that God is gonna use you to rule and reign with him in eternity. His children are gonna share in responsibilities. Let me show you some verses up here on the screen. 2 Timothy 2.12. If we endure hardship for Christ, that means here on earth, you put up with the crazy looks in the office when you don't listen to the dirty joke or when you don't go get drunk at the party or when you turn down somebody's proposal to have an affair. If we endure hardship for Christ, we will also, look, reign with him. What a good God.

17:58 What a special message from Pastor Rick. And now let's hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners. Today I want to introduce you to Agatha, who's translating Daily Hope into German for her husband. She writes, Pastor Rick, your preaching is bringing many souls to God. My husband, who is an unbeliever, is drawing closer and closer to God. Every day I translate what I hear on Daily Hope into German because he can't speak and understand English. Pastor Rick, your teaching has changed his life, and I can see his progress and eagerness to follow Jesus. Agatha. Well, Agatha, thank you so much for sharing your story with me. This is a wonderful story to hear that you're translating what you you here on Daily Hope for your husband, and that he's growing closer to Jesus. I'm so happy for that. We're always looking for translators to help us in new languages as we take the message of God to more people around the world. So you will keep praying for your husband, and you keep praying for us that God allows us to take the good news of God's hope all around the world.