Sermons

Summary: A study on eternal rewards and ranking.

Will There Be Sergeants In Heaven?

The toughest subjects to talk about are Heaven and eternity. This is because the Bible tells us very little. Actually, it talks more about Hell and money than it does about Heaven.

Why? The Bible is our instruction manual for this life. It teaches us how to know who God is, who we are, why we need a Saviour and how we should live until we die.

It is an eternal book (Matt 24:35), but it deals primarily with temporal issues. What went on in Heaven before Creation is only told us to help us understand who Satan is and what was involved in the creation and fall of man. Other than that what did God do? We have no clue because he did not tell us. We know angels were created at some point and that God has always been and the Trinity has always been one and in constant communion as they made plans for man and all creation.

Foreknowledge and the fact that God is in eternity past and eternity future as we are in today made it possible to formulate a plan of redemption and the ultimate passing away of this Heaven and earth into the new Heaven and earth. These things are very general in their revelation to us. Those who love details are very disappointed in these areas.

Deut 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (KJV)

From the beginning, the only thing man has ever really wanted is what he cannot have. A plethora of trees in the Garden and what did our first parents just have to do? They had to eat from the one tree they were not supposed to have. God never meant that we should know evil. He was going to let us only experience good if we chose to trust Him with that secret. I sure wish that He could have kept that secret.

Since then humans have always wanted to know the unknown. In some ways, that has been good. We would not be in America and vaccines and other marvelous discoveries would have never been made if someone had not the itch to know something new. However, because we have the ability to desire to know good and evil too many have had the itch to know things God wanted us to be ignorant of forever and we have had much misery and pain because of it.

I say all that to emphasize that when we delve into areas that God has not given us a detailed revelation of we must take care not to speculate wildly or make demands of God to reveal His secrets. At times, He does reveal secrets. (Dan 2:22)

Acts 1:7-8

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (KJV)

At other times as Acts says, He says, "It is none of your business. (Vs. 7) Pay attention to what is your business and I will take care of the rest." (Vs. 8) If we were to do that, we would not have all the bogus date setting for His return and weird leaders taking folks to Garland, TX to meet Him.

When our jobs transfer us to a distant city or country, we have an advantage that we do not have with eternity. We can call the Junior Chamber of Commerce or an embassy and get maps, newspapers, guidebooks etc to help get a picture of where we will live. We can call our future coworker or boss and get a feel for the working atmosphere and clarification of our duties. We can take business language courses and study local customs and attire to make our transition into the new culture easier and faster.

We have an idea of the living conditions in Heaven or do we? Jesus tells us in John 14:2 that we will have a mansion. That word conveys to us a picture of an antebellum plantation or Bill Gates’ multi-million dollar home. The Greek word actually means an abiding or a place to stay. Some have suggested that these are apartments. Some may think them to be sometime like a motel room or a bed and breakfast. The campers among us may have it made. The ancient Hebrews lived in tents. Maybe He has many campsites to pitch our tents like the KOA. Whatever He has will be just wonderful, but I would not be looking for chandeliers and baby grand pianos.

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