Bulletins - Sunnyside Church of the Nazarene

The Lion And The Lamb
Everlasting God
Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)
We Believe
Well, we are 1/3 of the way through our Believe series. Just a reminder, the first 10 are what we believe. The next 10, which starts in January are what we do and then who are we becoming.
Let’s recite together the 10 I Believe statements. Take these to heart ….
1. “I believe the God of the Bible is the only true God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
2. “I believe God is involved in and cares about my daily life.”
3. “I believe a person comes into a right relationship with God by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.”
4. “I believe the Bible is the Word of God and has the right to command my belief and action.”
5. “I believe I am significant because of my position as a child of God.”
6. “I believe the church is God’s primary way to accomplish his purposes on earth.”
7. “I believe all people are loved by God and need Jesus Christ as their Savior.”
8. “I believe God calls all Christians to show compassion to people in need.”
9. “I believe everything I am and everything I own belongs to God.”
And today’s key topic is eternity – and …
10. “I believe there is a heaven and a hell and that Jesus will return to judge all people and to establish his eternal kingdom.”
That last one is a lot to cover in one sermon. How much time you got?
So, what are the essentials to know about eternity?
So what should we know before we go?
This is not a perfect illustration, but let’s imagine that we’re going to take a journey. On this journey we will leave home, arrive at an airport, go on our flight and then return home.
So, here’s what we need to know about this journey:
1) Our journey is not optional, but our destination is
Someday, we will all leave this home - we will leave this earth, this life and this body. Leaving home is not optional.
Hebrews 9:27 NIV
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

I mentioned several weeks ago that only a small minute fraction of people in the world do not believe in an “afterlife” of sorts. It’s safe to say that 99% of the world’s population is in agreement with Scripture - we’re all heading toward an eternal destiny.
Where we disagree, of course is the destination, but the Bible is clear, we choose our destination in this life. For instance, in Matthew 25, Jesus tells what it will be like on the day of judgment. There’s a conversation between the sheep (righteous) and the goats (unrighteous) - it’s is all about past choices while living on earth (when did we see you?).
In verse
Matthew 25:46 NIV
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Again, eternity is not an option, but the destination is.
Matthew 7:21–23 NIV
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Depart from me - continue on the journey you have chosen.”
In a cemetery in Indiana, there is a tombstone well over a hundred years old - it has this epitaph inscribed upon it:
Pause, stranger, when you pass me by:
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
So prepare for death and follow me.
Sounds wise. Until some time later, an unknown person etched these words into the tombstone:
To follow you, I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went.

I mention this because we would do well to remember that this life is not the end – for us or the people around us. There is an eternity - a realm without time or end. We don’t choose eternity, but God gives us the choice where we spend it.
John 3:36 NIV
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Choosing our destination begins now in this life prior to leaving home. Scripture says, “Today is the day of salvation, choose this day whom you will serve” because when that “taxi cab” shows up at your door - the choice has already been made - by you. Choose Christ now.
So, this taxi picks us up and takes us to an airport. One of the most important things that they check at an airport is … identification.
2) Our IDs will be checked
We’ve already read that when we die, we face judgment. We don’t often think of this, but there are actually two judgments. One is immediately after death; the second is sometime later prior to entering eternity. We’ll get to that one in a moment.
The first judgment is a judgment of “identification” - a judgment of faith.
Most of us have probably seen the commercial “What’s in your wallet.” This is critical. We all carry our IDs in our wallets or purses - whatever (navy has man-purses). When we arrive at this airport, the first thing security will ask to see is our ID. So, we pull out our wallet, pull out our ID and hand it over to be checked. I’m telling you, what’s in your wallet is critical.
Now, what is an ID? An ID is proof of who we are. The security guard will look at our ID and look at us and see if the picture matches who we are. Here’s what they see - metaphorically, either a picture of a goat or of a sheep.
Matthew 25:31–33 NIV
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Matthew 25 is not about the initial judgment, but the fact is, each person has already been identified - already seperated. If you were to die today, what’s in your wallet? A picture of a sheep or goat? We’ve already read that not everyone who says I’m a Christian is a sheep. Not everyone who goes to church is a sheep.
(A false sense of security - a fake ID. Nonchalant approach to salvation - I’m good).
This initial judgment is not about what we’ve done or what we said, but about faith - whether or not while in this life we truly believed and received the free gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Did we truly receive His atoning work on the cross (He paid for my sin through His blood) - I received His pardon, His forgiveness? Has His life changed my life?
On occasion, security will ask for a second form of ID.
Sheep will say - “I’ve got nothing. All I have is what I’ve given you. I don’t have anymore proof.”
The goat will say, “Listen here you dimwit security guard, don’t you who I am. Wait until ‘you know who’ gets here. He’ll set you straight, buddy.”
Jesus just happens to arrive. Jesus will say, “Look Mr. and Mrs. Sheep, when you received my gift of salvation, it changed your life. You turned away from a life of sin, you were transformed, and you began to grow in faith, and you began to give back to society, and to the church - you went and did something with your salvation.”
Then Jesus turns to goat. “Listen here, goat-head. You said you believed in me. But I don’t know you. You didn’t do anything with salvation. You didn’t change. You didn’t turn from sin. You didn’t give back. I gave you so much ….”
“Our deeds are not the basis of our salvation, they are the evidence of our salvation.”
Listen, if you think you’re a sheep and you still act like a goat ….
Let’s get back at the airport. Everyone, both goats and sheep will experience a
3) We have a layover
Everyone knows what a layover is. It’s a temporary stop of extended time prior to arriving at the chosen destination. According to our ID, we will be ushered to one of two gates: Gate 1 leads to an intermediate heaven; Gate 2 leads to an intermediate hell.
So there is this intermediate, temporary layover before we enter eternity. In Luke 16:19-26 - can’t read it all today, Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus who both die. Rich man goes to Hades (realm of the dead) where he experiences torment, agony and fire. Lazarus goes to Abraham’s bosom (place of rest).
What can we learn from that story.
Again, there are only two destinations in which we choose while still in this physical realm. Hades and Abraham’s bosom are driven by awareness of time, awareness of self, and awareness of physical and emotional pain or joy. This is not yet what we would call heaven or hell. This is a layover. The rich man is in so much agony, he desires just a little relief with a drop of water. And, he desires someone to go warn his family who is still alive in the physical realm. This is a layover. They are there, while we’re still here carrying on with life.
We all know people who have died. For those that they knew Christ - Abraham’s bosom - paradise. But for those who refused Christ …
2 Thessalonians 2:10 NIV
and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Can’t refuse unless there’s an option.
This layover lasts until Jesus returns to setup His eternal Kingdom. So, the layover is finished, we grab our bags and just before we head out the door to return home, we have to do something that in a real airport, would have been done first, but in God’s reality, it’s done last.
Before we leave the airport - remember, the IDs have already been checked, we’re already separated (sheep and goats). We’ve already passed through the first judgment of faith. Now comes the second judgment. Know this -
4) Our luggage will be weighed
Don’t you hate this part at the airport. I’ve done this on mission trips; I’ve seen this with our Chinese pilots - there’s a bag that weighs too much and you got shuffle things around between bags - it’s embarrassing, underwear falling out … but it won’t be like that here. There’s no shifting of items. What it weighs is what it weighs.
What’s in this luggage? In our luggage will be our deeds that we did for God while on earth. This is the second judgment - a judgment of deeds.
2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

This is where we give an account to God for how we lived. This is where the parable of the talents come in. We’ll be judged - not for how much we did or how much our luggage weighs, but what we did with what we had. Our luggage will not be compared to Billy Graham’s, Charles Spurgeon, King David or Moses.
We will be judged according to our faithfulness and productivity with what God asked us to do with what He had provided.
If God gave us a 75 lb. suitcase, and as we’re checking out it weighs 10 lbs., He’s going to ask some questions? If it weighs 150 lbs, He’ll be excited! Understand,
“Our works do not affect our salvation, but they do affect our reward. Rewards are about our work for God, empowered by his Spirit. Rewards are conditional, dependent on our faithfulness.” ~ Randy Alcorn.
What’s your luggage like?
There will come a time when God unites the physical realm with the spiritual realm and everything will be new. We’ll head out the doors of the airport, for the last time and into our home that’s had a massive makeover while we were gone.
2 Peter 3:13 NIV
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1 NIV
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

That is when we enter eternity.
2 Peter 3:10–12 NIV
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

2 Peter 3:14 NIV
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
What might God want you to do with this information?
- - Hebrews 9:27NLT
- - Matthew 25:46NLT
- - Matthew 7:21–23NLT
- - John 3:36NLT
- - Matthew 25:31–33NIV2011
- - 2 Thessalonians 2:10NIV2011
- - 2 Corinthians 5:10NLT
- - 2 Peter 3:13NLT
- - Revelation 21:1NLT
- - 2 Peter 3:10–12NLT
- - 2 Peter 3:14NIV2011
Soul On Fire

Hebrews 9:27NLT

Matthew 25:46NLT

Matthew 7:21–23NLT

John 3:36NLT

Matthew 25:31–33NIV2011

2 Thessalonians 2:10NIV2011

2 Corinthians 5:10NLT

2 Peter 3:13NLT

Revelation 21:1NLT

2 Peter 3:10–12NLT

2 Peter 3:14NIV2011