Heaven or Hell
2 PETER 3:8-13 NLT
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A DAY is like a
THOUSAND YEARS to the Lord, and a THOUSAND YEARS is like a
DAY. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some
people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want
anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to REPENT. But the day
of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens
will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements
themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it
will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is
going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should
live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that
day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away
in the flames. But we are looking forward to the NEW HEAVENS and
NEW EARTH he has promised, a world filled with God’s
righteousness.
• 74% of Americans believe in a biblical heaven.
• 59% of Americans believe in a biblical hell.
“For every American that believes they are going to hell, 120 believe
they are going to heaven.”
MATTHEW 7:13-14 NLT
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The
highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who
choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road
is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
“God has been reduced to a sympathetic humanitarian.”
MATTHEW 25:41 NKJV
“… ’Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels …’”
Hell:
- Total darkness (Matthew 22:13)
- No rest or sleep (Revelation 14:11)
- Alone and forgotten (Isaiah 26:14)
- Hopelessness (Isaiah 38:18)
- Consumed with fear (Psalm 73:18-19)
- Eternal torment (Mark 9:44, 46, 48)
- Final separation from God (Revelation 20:11-15)
Questions About Heaven:
• Where is heaven?
• What will people be like in heaven?
• Will we look similar to ourselves?
• What age will we be?
• Will we wear clothes?
• What about food? Will we literally eat and drink?
• Are we still going to be learning?
• Will we have individual homes?
• What about sleep? Work?
• What about relationships?
• Will we know each other from Earth?
• Will we be reunited with loved ones?
• Will we still live with a purpose?
1 CORINTHIANS 2:9-10 NKJV
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have
entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
“If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for
this present world were just those who thought most of the next.”
— C.S. Lewis
Two Heavens:
- Present heaven
- Eternal heaven (New heaven)
LUKE 16:19-26 NKJV
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine
linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.
Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the
beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The
rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades,
he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and
cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said,
‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are
tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great
gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot,
nor can those from there pass to us.’”
REVELATION 21:1-8 NLT
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and
the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a
loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among
his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God
himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and
there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these
things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said,
“Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write
this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also
said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning
and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of
the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings,
and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But cowards,
unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice
witchcraft, idol-worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake
of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Two Judgments:
- Judgment of Faith
- Judgment of Works
1 CORINTHIANS 3:14-15 NKJV
If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a
reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself
will be saved, yet so as through fire.
New Heaven and New Earth:
- You will have a resurrected body with no time and space
limitations. - You will have a God to worship and serve in whatever way God
purposes for you in eternity — work to accomplish, friends to enjoy,
an eternity of learning and discovery. - Every day will be filled with the presence of God and what is
wonderful. (Take your best day in life and magnify it thousands of
times over, and imagine every day like it or better!) - No marriage to a person; now married completely to Jesus, but you
will still have relationships and will probably recognize people you
were with on Earth. - Everything you need is provided for you.
“We have become ‘bent’ (sinful) versions of what God intended. Your
deceitfulness, laziness, lust, deafness, disability and disease are not
the real you. They are the temporary perversions that will be
eliminated. They’re the cancer that the Great Physician will surgically
remove. His redemptive work is such that never again will they return.
When you’re on the New Earth, for the first time you’ll be the person
God created you to be.” — C.S. Lewis