Title: Heaven and Hell
2010.6.20 Sunday Morning Worship Sermon
Revelation 21:21-27'21. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate was one pearl, and the streets of the city were pure gold like clear glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temples.
23. The city needs no sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 The gates will not be shut at all during the day, for there is no night there.
26. People will come into it with the glory and honor of all nations, 27. No one will enter into it anything unclean or abominable or lying, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life' - Amen.
Heaven and Hell are real, contrary to people's imagination. The Bible says that the eternal kingdom of the afterlife is the final purpose of life.
If you do not believe in this, you are emphasizing that faith itself is futile. How are heaven and hell different?
1. Contrasting light and darkness
When God created the heavens and the earth, on the first day, He created light in darkness. And because of original sin, people fall into a spiritually dark world, and the devil, who is the power of darkness, leads the world, so those who believe in Jesus and come out of the dark world, the Bible says.
Colossians 1:13 “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
1 Thessalonians 5:5 “You are all sons of light and sons of day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
Hell is said to be a dark place.
2 Peter 2:4 “God did not forgive the angels who sinned, but cast them into hell and placed them in pits of darkness to be kept until judgment.”
Revelation 20:14 “Death and Hades were also thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death, the lake of fire.”
Verses 23 and 25 of today's text also tell us that the kingdom of God is a place where there is no darkness and is full of light.
Revelation 21:23 “The city needs no sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
25. The gates of the city will not be shut at all during the day, for there is no night there.”
Therefore, dark thoughts are hell-type and bright thoughts are heaven-type minds. Ever since we met Jesus, we live with patience and hope in the hope of the kingdom of heaven with a bright and clear heavenly mindset.
2. Contrast Blessing and Curse
Human life was originally a person of blessing who could live happily without lack in all things by resembling the image of God, but because of sin, he was cursed and ended up living in a world of suffering.
God gave Jesus Christ, the only one, as a sin offering for us who live in curses and suffering, and restored him as a man of blessing.
Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not with him also gift us all things?”
Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor will there be any more mourning or crying or pain, for the first things have passed away.”
But Hell is a series of suffering far more painful than the suffering suffered in this world. A place where time has stood still, a place cursed for eternity.
Matthew 8:12 “The children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Revelation 20:10 ‘… where… they will be tormented day and night forever and ever’
Mark 9:48-49 ‘48. Where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 49. Everyone will be salted with fire.”
Therefore, even in life on earth, we must have a life blessed with the Lord Jesus. Except for tribulation and persecution, it is right to be able to enjoy grace and to feel the taste of heaven. It is not a normal religion to complain and complain that you are suffering day and night or that you cannot get rest while believing in Jesus.
As a person who will go to heaven and live, we must live with gratitude, and live with patience in the midst of hardship and hope for the afterlife. That's the heavenly mindset.
Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea was no more.”
Remembering the Lord who has prepared such a new heaven and earth and is waiting for us, even if we live on earth, we should aim for a life that longs for the light of the Lord’s truth and looks at the glory of God by following a bright mind and a bright life with a heavenly mindset. . We have to live with heaven-style sociality with the spirit of blessing and receiving blessings and living the world happily.
I pray that you and I will be able to abandon the cursed, hellish way of thinking and enjoy life like the children of Almighty God through faith.