Turn your Bibles if you would please to Colossians chapter number 3. Colossians chapter number 3. Find your place there in the pages of God's Word. Colossians chapter number 3. We've been praying and working toward a much anticipated series of messages and that's going to carry us to the first of the year more than likely as the Lord leads. We talk about heaven, our eternal home. Aren't you glad for a place called heaven? Isn't that a wonderful thing? Aren't you glad there's a heaven today? Somebody said, well preacher, that's just pie in the sky, bye and bye. Fred, do you know that you go anywhere in the world, no matter how... what we would consider uncivilized group of people or indigenous people you might find. By the way, civilization is a relevant term, isn't it, based on where you live. But anyway, you could go there and you would find that within them is an innate, that means it is an inward thing. You didn't have to teach anybody about it. You didn't have to educate them about it. They may not understand it in the biblical terminology, but there is some form of afterlife. God has built it into man to realize this matter of eternity. There is within every human being a sense of eternal punishment. There is a sense of eternal accountability. There is eternity in people's hearts. There is within people's mindset a place, whatever they wanted to call it, that would reflect heaven and then there would also be whatever you want to call it by their terminology, a place called hell. We understand that the Bible has given us understanding of two literal places. There is real as London, England, New York City, Charlotte, North Carolina. It's a place called heaven and it's a place called hell. They're real. And by the way, people really live there today. Interesting. And everybody in this room, everybody in the world at some point is going to go to one of these two places. And we want to talk about the place called heaven. Now why learn about it? Why learn about heaven? I mean, how in the world, preacher, does my future in heaven affect my life on earth? Well, you know what, I'm glad you asked that. I really am. Because I look forward to answering it over the next several weeks as we look into these passages. And I'm not going to answer every question a person might have about heaven, but we're going to answer a lot of them. And it's not going to be what I think. It's not going to be what I conjure up. But we're going to look at what God says about this matter called heaven. When I was a young Christian, a young preacher, And going through Bible college and different times, I'd hear people say, well, you know, the Bible doesn't say a lot about heaven. And I would parrot that. I'd say, well, the Bible doesn't say a whole lot about heaven. And then I began to study heaven and realized the Bible has a lot to say about a place called heaven. It says more about heaven than what you and I realize. Now, if you're going to move to another city, another state, or maybe even another country for that matter, wouldn't you want to know as much as you could where you're going to live? I remember in the mid-90s, I took an extended mission trip to Latin America. It might have been the very first trip that I took. I went and spent about five, six days in Mexico City, and we were going to leave there and go to Nicaragua. And on our way, we had a layover in a place called El Salvador. I fell in love with El Salvador. And while I was there, I was moved by the people, the culture, the place. I mean, I just loved it. And I wondered in my mind, God, do you want me to be a missionary here? a missionary to El Salvador. And I remember coming back home and posing that with my wife, Lori, and I said, Honey, wouldn't it be great if God wanted us to be missionaries to El Salvador? And so we began to pray and seek God's will about that matter with the possibility of maybe one day moving and relocating our family to El Salvador. reaching that country with the gospel. And I found out later that God was just burdening my heart for areas of the world. Because one day, I would lead a church that had a Bible college. It would train men and ladies that would carry the gospel to places like El Salvador. and other parts of America. But at that time, I wanted to know, God, do you want me to go? And we wanted to know everything we could about El Salvador. Now I'm going to let you in on a little secret, okay, for people that are our age and up and around in there. It was before Google, okay? Alright? Because today, if you want to know something about El Salvador, you know what they're going to say? Well, Google it. Well, Google it. You know, Google's not my first resource. I don't know why. I guess I didn't grow up in that area. I still think about encyclopedias. Aren't I a dinosaur? But anyway, that's beside the point. Because you can Google anything, but in that day you didn't have Google. And we went down to the public library, began to check out books on El Salvador. You remember that? And we began to read about it and learn all we could about the country's history and geography and the people there and their culture and the food they ate, the work they did for a living, the fun. that they had what they did recreationally. We want to know about the religious beliefs and demographics of El Salvador. And you say, well, why did you want to do that? Because we wanted to know what life was like in El Salvador if we were going to move there. Now let me ask you a question. Doesn't it stand to reason that if one day we're going to live in heaven, shouldn't we know something about our future home, where we're going to live? Wouldn't that make sense? We'd want to know where is heaven. What's heaven like? Who lives there? What do they do in heaven? I mean, preacher, is it just one long church service? And is that what it is? And by the way, if it was, it's a whole lot better than going to the other place. Amen? A place called hell. I'd just say that's all it is, but I can promise you, while we will worship, and it will be a perfect worship of God, and He'll dwell with us, and we will walk with Him and know Him in a way that we can't understand and know the limitations of this life and this world. Friend, it's a glorious thing to think about tabernacling and living where God lives. Isn't that an exciting thought? There's going to be a whole lot to do in heaven. We're going to talk about that. Do Christians immediately go to heaven when they die? What about near-death experiences? What about reincarnation? What about all of these things? We're going to talk about that. Have people really been to heaven and come back to tell us what's there? And that's an interesting subject that we'll look at in a head. But a 19th century preacher, he said this. He said, if you're leaving the land of your birth and you're going to spend the rest of your life in a new hemisphere, it would be strange indeed if you did not desire information about your new abode. He said, now surely, if we hope to dwell forever in that better country, even a heavenly country, we ought to seek all the knowledge we can get about it. Before we go to our eternal home, we should try to be acquainted with it. And folks, we want to acquaint ourselves with heaven, but before we do that, I want to help you understand something that God desires for our lives as it relates to this matter of heaven. You say, preacher, what is it? God wants you and I to live with heaven in mind. You know that J.C. Ryle made this statement back in the 1800s? He said, I pity the man who never thinks. of heaven. Heaven ought to be in our hearts. Heaven ought to be in our minds. We ought to live with heaven in mind. Now why don't you look in Colossians chapter 3. If you don't have a Bible, the text verses will be on your screen. But look at Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 1. Notice the Bible says, If ye then be risen with Christ, that means you're saved. I'm no longer dead in my sins. Friend, a person without Christ is dead in sin, but the moment they get saved, they're risen, they're made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hey, we're made alive and we're going to live forever, and thank God we're going to live forever in a place called heaven. Now here's what he says, if you're saved, seek those things which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection, fall in love on things above and not on things on the earth, for you're dead. Now what does that mean? You just said I was alive. Preacher, now you're telling me I'm dead. Now watch this. Here is the beauty of the Christian life. When I get saved, when I got saved, when you got saved, let me just tell you, here's what's exciting. We died to this world. It speaks of a separation. Listen, this world is no longer my home. I'm dead to this world. I'm alive to another world, a new world, a world to come. Isn't that exciting? God said, your dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. Notice verse 4. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. I want to talk to you about living with heaven in mind. Let's pray and ask God to help us this morning. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your truth. Lord, thank You for a place called heaven. Lord, thank you that my name's written there and I'm a citizen of heaven and one day I'm going to live forever there. Many people in this room can give that same testimony. Lord, maybe someone's not sure if their name's in heaven and if heaven will be their home. I pray that before this service is out, Lord, they'll desire heaven. They'll desire you. Lord, they'll want to be saved. I pray, God, that they would come to know You. Lord, work in our hearts today as we began to, I believe, embark on a study that delights Your heart because You've prepared a place for us. Lord, You want us to be there. And Lord, we look forward to that day when You come and we're there with You. Help us, God, to grow in our understanding and our love and to set our affection on things above. And we'll thank You for it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. God wants us to live with a heavenly mindset. I want to draw your attention to these verses for a moment. I want you to notice the word in these verses. I want you to circle or underline the word above in the middle part of verse number 1. And then he talks about where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and I sort of underline the right hand of God. I'm going to immediately know God is in heaven, and so that's heaven. He's sitting on the right hand of God in heaven. Notice verse number 2, we have our word above again. Set your affection on things above. Look down the last word, last two words of verse number 4, I underline this, in glory. Do you realize that all of those words and phrases are a reference to the place you and I call heaven, the eternal home of the saints of God. Hey, church, it's a reminder. This world is not our home. Hey, I'm just a pilgrim. I'm just passing through. Listen, I'm a citizen of another country, a better country, a heavenly country. And God said, I want you to live with that country in mind. I want you to circle two more words or underline them in your Bible. It's the word SEEK in verse number 1. Notice he said, if you then be risen with Christ, literally, an emphatic sense, since you're saved, because you're saved, seek those things which are above. And then notice in verse number 2, the very first word, SET. Set. God said, I want you to seek and I want you to set. By the way, can I tell you these are divine imperatives. God's not making a suggestion here. He's not saying, I believe this is a good idea. He's not saying that, listen, it would really go well if you did this. No, God's saying, listen, because you belong to me, because you're my child, because I have saved you, I want you to seek and I want you to set. I want you to seek what's above and set your affection on that that's above. That word seek is an interesting word. It means to inquire after. It means to crave, you know? When I think of crave, I think of chocolate. How many say Amen right there? Love it. Alright? The only problem with Thanksgiving, I love Thanksgiving, I enjoy pumpkin and I enjoy sweet potato, but I like it even better when there's chocolate involved with it, you know? And so you crave. It means to eagerly desire. Listen, you know what God's saying? I want you to crave heaven. We don't normally live that way, do we? Uh-uh. We crave here. But God said, you don't belong here. This is not your home. I'm just a visitor here. That's my home. And I need to crave a place called heaven. Notice, watch this. The word set means to direct one's attention toward. It means to fix one's mind upon. It means to fall in love with. Thirty years ago, thirty years ago this month, actually this coming, not this Monday, but the next one, I will think back to the time when my wife and I were married and we said, I do, and you know I met her, On April, I'm not going to say, it's April 1st. It's not April Fool's Day. It's April 1st because she might tell me it's been a joke for 30 years. I'm just kidding. But anyway, she would never do that. But I met her on April 1st of 2000, no. That's not 30 years ago. 1989. And I remember, I'm just preaching, folks. You've got to give me a break, okay? And so I met her then, and at that moment I set my affection on her. I began to crave her attention. I began to eagerly desire life with her. I fell in love with her. You know what? God's saying, I want you to fall in love with me, and I want you to fall in love with heaven. You know what I want to happen before this series is over? I want you to fall in love with heaven. I want you to look forward to that day when we're there. God's saying, this is good for you. God's saying, I want you to do this. The tense of the verb means to seek and to keep on seeking. God's saying, I want you to focus on another world. I want you to live with heaven in mind. One person wrote, the problem with most Christians is not that they think about heaven too much. but they think about heaven too little. He went on to write, if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. And friend, listen, when you and I fall in love with that world, we'll want to take as many people in this world along with us. We'll just want to. We will. It's just natural. When you get excited about heaven, you get excited about other people going there. Isn't that a wonderful thought? Abraham wanted to go to heaven. The Bible said that when he went to the land of promise in Hebrews chapter 11 that he didn't settle down there. He didn't build a house anywhere. No. He sojourned in the land, the Bible said, as a stranger, as a pilgrim. The Bible said he was looking for a city. He went to a land. But God had elevated his vision and he was looking for a city that had foundations. He knew everything in this life was temporary. He was looking for something that was going to last. He had foundations whose Builder and Maker is God. He was looking for a heavenly country. Church, listen, let's look for a heavenly country. Amen? Paul said, I'm in a strait. Philippians 1.23. He said, I'm just in a strait. He said, I don't know which one to choose. He's in prison. He doesn't know the outcome of what's going to happen. He said, I'm in a strait. He said, I don't know whether I want for this to end and me to be a martyr and me to stay here or depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Far better. You know, we don't think that way, do we? We think this is far better. But Paul said, listen, wait a minute. I don't know whether I want to stay here because it's more needful for you, or if I want to go ahead and just go on to heaven and depart and be with Christ, which is far better. He talked about being absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord, and he said, willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He said, listen, that's my preference, to be with the Lord. You believe he lived with heaven in mind? John after seeing glory. Somebody asked, did anybody go to heaven and come back and tell about it? Absolutely. You say, preacher, who was it? It was the apostle John. He told us a whole lot about heaven. We're going to study what He said about heaven. And He came to the end of His description of heaven and the glories of heaven. And He said this, He said, He that testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. And John said, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, I want to go back to that city. I want to be there with you. Isn't that wonderful? Do you know early believers had a longing for heaven? They had a heavenly mindset. If you went to the ancient catacombs where Christian martyrs lived and were buried in ancient Rome underneath the city, there are murals there, big paintings that depict heavenly scenes of beautiful landscapes, children playing, people feasting. The tombs of Christian martyrs are marked with heavenly-minded inscriptions like In Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives. His body's resting in the grave. Boy, he's with the Lord. That's what they're saying. He went to live with Christ is written on one. Another one, in Latin words, he was taken up into his eternal home. You know, you go into a cemetery even today, and you begin to look at headstones, and you can tell many times, believers, by what's written on those stones, are going to be with Jesus. Isn't that a wonderful thought? Gone to heaven. Hey, thank God there's a place called heaven. I'm glad, hey, listen, I'm glad that I have loved ones in a place called heaven. I haven't lost them, I know where they're at today. We're just separated by a little bit of distance, but one day we're going to forever be together. Isn't that a wonderful thought? I sure would hate to be a person who lived an agnostical, skeptical, agnostical, I don't think it's a verb anyway, I just made it up, skeptical life. They have absolutely nothing, nothing to look forward to. Never met a happy atheist. Never have. Met many of them who are drunkards. I met many of them that are addicted to pleasures. I haven't met any happy ones. Don't have anything to look forward to. Christian, you've got something to look forward to today. It ought to rejoice your heart. Preacher, what does it look like when I live with heaven in mind? Well, let me give you a few thoughts. Number one, it reminds you of the brevity of this life. The brevity of this life. Do you realize that life is short, but eternity is long? Do you realize I'm only going to live here for a brief time? You say, well, Preacher, you might live to be a hundred. What's a hundred compared to eternity? What is that? What if I was on this earth a hundred years, but wait a minute, I'm going to be on the new one for the rest of my life, eternity. I wouldn't even call them years, because see, there's going to come a time that we're going to quit counting years, because years aren't going to exist. Time won't exist. We're just going to live forever. Isn't that an exciting thought? Somebody said as human beings we have a terminal disease called mortality. The current death rate is a hundred percent. Do you know the Bible gives about 18 different pictures concerning the brevity of life? The Bible talks about in 1 Chronicles 29.15 our days on earth are as a shadow. You know, shadows just sort of as the sun rises they get smaller and smaller until eventually they're gone. Very quickly they come and go. Job said, My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, a cloud consumed, a flower cut down. The psalmist said, My days are like a shadow that declineth, I am withered like grass. Peter, echoing Isaiah, said, All flesh is as grass, and the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower thereof falleth away. And then James says, For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, that it vanisheth away." Friend, when you think about this life, it is short, it is brief. You say, preacher, a person may live a century. Friend, that's nothing compared to eternity. You realize worldwide three people die every second. Every time I snap my fingers, three people. I can't hardly do it anymore because of hand issues. But listen, every time you snap your fingers, three people window to eternity. Have you ever thought about that? 180 a minute, nearly 11,000 an hour. The reality is more than 250,000 people die every day and they either go to heaven or go to hell. You know, we're not promised tomorrow. A person who's unsaved, their future is bleak. But friend, if you're saved today, your future is bright. You know, I've got good news, friend. Hey, listen, a person may be unsaved, but thank God, in a moment of time, they can be saved and their future go from one of bleakness to brightness. Isn't that a blessing? For the Christian, death is a transfer. It's a passageway from this life into the next. It's our entranceway into glory, since we're going to live in heaven longer than we do on earth. And listen, I'll just be honest with you, I'm not looking for the undertaker. You say, Preacher, why? You just talked about how life is short, and a person lives a hundred years, and you talked about this matter of death. Hey, I'm looking for the upper taker. I'm looking for the Lord to come. Amen? I'm planning on escaping the grave and going to... I like what one preacher, I believe it's Mae Jackson, he said, I'm not looking for a hole in the ground, but a hole in the sky. I like that. Don't you? He can come at any moment. And that next moment, friend, we can be transported from earth to glory. What a wonderful thought. That's what a Colossian said. He said, when Christ who is our life shall appear, that means He's going to appear. And the moment He appears, thank God, we appear with Him in glory. In a moment, the Bible said, a twinkling of an eye and we're translated into heaven. Isn't that a wonderful thought? God said, set your affection on things above. He said, seek those things that are above. Since I'm going to live there longer than I do here, ought not we to live with heaven's values in mind? Shouldn't we bring our lives, our family, our future, our marriages into alignment with heaven's priorities? Listen, dear child of God, let's live as if we're going to heaven, amen? And not like we're going to live here forever. as the needle of a compass points north so our entire lives as believers should point toward the things of heaven. It reminds us that life is brief, eternity is long, and one day we're going to live forever with God in heaven. The saved are going to be there. And friend, listen, I need to live as a citizen of heaven with heaven on my mind. Number two, it will prepare us for when we meet God. Hebrews 9.27, the Bible says, "...his appointed men once to die, but after this the judgment." Do you know every one of us is one day going to meet God face to face? The Bible says in Romans 14.12, "...so then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." Everybody, everybody is going to one day meet God. Everybody. Now the sad fact is the unsaved have an appointment at the great white throne judgment. They're going to stand before God, answer, give account of their life before being cast forever into their final home, the lake of fire. Friend, it's a terrible thing, Revelation chapter number 20. You can't talk about heaven if you don't talk about hell. You wouldn't be telling people the truth. But for the saved, there's the judgment seat of Christ. There's going to be a day that we'll give an account of our lives to the Lord. Let me give you a verse, 2 Corinthians 5.10. You can jot it down. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body, according that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Now friend, listen, at either of those judgments, for the unsaved of the great white throne, for the saved of the judgment seat of Christ, it's not a determination of where we're going to spend eternity. That choice is not made by God in heaven. That choice is made by people on earth. Everybody's going to make that choice. They're going to say yes to Jesus Christ or no to Jesus Christ, and that will determine where they're going to spend eternity. But when we stand before the Lord as believers, one day we're going to give an account for our lives since we've been saved. How we've lived as Christians. The Bible calls it good or bad. That means rewardable or unrewardable. That that's pleasing to God or displeasing to God. You see, everything we do as Christians today matters forever. Can I say that again? Everything we do as Christians today matters forever. It does. Every day matters. Every week matters. Every month matters. Every year matters. How I live my life as a Christian matters because one day I'm going to stand before the One who saved me and I'm going to give an account for how I've lived my life as a believer. How I've lived my life as a Christian. Friend, you know what? To a carnal Christian, that doesn't mean a whole lot right now. Right now, it's this world and everything I can get out of it. But I can tell you, friend, one day when we stand before Him, it's going to matter. It's going to matter. We ought to live every day of our lives with two days in mind, two day in that day. Because one day I'm going to give an account and I want my life to be pleasing to Him. Friend, listen, I can't imagine standing in heaven with absolutely nothing to lay before the feet of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine that? To be standing on the sidelines while other believers are laying their rewards at the feet of the Lord Jesus and I stand there with nothing. There's no wonder that tears won't be wiped away in heaven until Revelation chapter number 21. We're going to talk about that. Thank God they will be wiped away though, amen? But I believe there's going to be some Christians weeping in heaven because they lived for the wrong world. They didn't live with heaven in mind. Not only does it teach us that life is brief, not only does it prepare us to meet God, but number three, it challenges us to live a godly life. I want you to hold your place right here. Turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Would you turn there real quickly? Now, I can't wait to get into the meat and potatoes about heaven, but you know what? It doesn't do me any good to learn about heaven if I don't love heaven. and I'll have a heavenly mindset. That's what God wants us to start with. Live with heaven on your mind. And then when I begin to learn about it, you know what? I'm going to fall in love with it. I'm going to live with heaven's values. But God said that the fact that I'm going to live forever in heaven is not just pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by mentality. It's not just knowing I'm going to go there. No, it should impact how I live here and now. That's what He's saying. Look what happens here. Look if you would please in 2 Peter chapter 3, look at verse number 10. Look there, verse number 10. Notice the Bible said, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away. We're going to talk about that with a great noise. The elements melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Do you know this world is going to pass? Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. Notice what Peter asks under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. What persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation? and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." You know what he's saying? When I live with heaven in mind, it will affect how I live. Listen, realizing that this heaven and this earth as we know it today is one day going to pass away, it's all temporal, It's all going to one day be dissolved and there's a brighter day ahead. He said, what kind of person ought I to be? How should that affect how I live? Friend, listen. Heaven for the saved is their future home. It's a place of righteousness and purity. There's no sin there. There's no defilement there. There's no devil there. It's a place without the spot and the defilement and the shame of sin. As citizens of heaven, we ought to live like it. Amen? I've traveled abroad and preached in about 20 countries. And I realize that as I go there, I'm representing the Lord, I'm representing Calvary Baptist Church, and I represent America. You say, well, why do you represent America? Do you work for the government? Absolutely not. I'm an American. and therefore people judge America by how I live. That make sense? Sure it does. Because if I go there, I don't want to act un-American because I don't want them to think bad about my country. I want to think good about my country. Wouldn't you think that way? Sure. I would think you would. You see, what they know about America, what they think about America, will come from the way Americans live when they travel to their countries. And you know what? The same is true of heaven. Friend, if we can ever understand that heaven is not an extension of earth. Earth is an extension of heaven. Okay? And if we could ever understand and it could ever get into us that we really are pilgrims. We really are strangers. That this world really is not our home. We don't fit here. You were made for another country. Now that doesn't mean that I can't live as an American. That doesn't mean that I can't enjoy life. That doesn't mean I can't have things that the world has to offer. It doesn't mean that. But here's what God says it does mean. That understanding that one day I'm going to live forever and I've got a heavenly country. that I shouldn't get so consumed with this world that I forget about that world. That's what he's saying. And I should live in such a way that people think well of heaven and want to go to heaven. See, I think that the reason why people want to come to America is because many times throughout history of how Americans have represented their country. I want to be that. I want that. You know, I believe you and I can live in such a way that people will want what we've got and they'll want to go where we're going. I believe that. We ought to live like we're going there. Listen to I John 3, 3, "...and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." I realize, and you realize, that perfection is not attainable this side of heaven. I understand that. Notice, he didn't say every man that hath this hope lives perfect. He didn't say that because that's unattainable. Now that doesn't mean we shouldn't shoot for it. Okay? But being sinful creatures, we're not going to be perfect. We won't be perfect till the Lord comes or we get to heaven. And then friend, listen, there's coming a day this robe of flesh I'll drop and rise to receive the everlasting prize and I'll be saved to sin no more. Isn't that an exciting thought? But until then, I'm striving not to get to heaven. Friend, that's settled. I settled that as a 17-year-old boy 35 years ago. I settled that. But no, I'm striving so that in my life that I can be the person that God wants me to be, that I can represent my Savior and my God and my home and my country the way God wants me to represent it as a Christian. And listen, I may not be able to attain perfection and I may never be sinless, but you know what? We sure can sin less. I don't have to live like this world. I don't have to be what I used to be. I don't have to do what I used to do. I don't have to talk like I used to talk. Oh no, I'm a citizen of another country. Friend, I need to live like I'm going to heaven. He hath this hope purified. It's an ongoing process of bringing ourselves in alignment with God's truths and God's commands and heaven's values. And the Bible said that I purify myself even as He is pure. The God of heaven is pure and holy and stainless and spotless and so is His world. Friend, one day I'm going to live in that world. Isn't that exciting? Let me give you the last thing this morning. When I live with heaven in mind, it ought to teach me that life is brief, eternity is long, and I need to have the right mindset because this life is short and that one's long. I need to think about living in the one that's going to be longer, preparing for there. Okay? It prepares us to meet God. One day we're all going to stand before the Lord, and therefore, if I live with a heavenly mindset, I'm going to live in such a manner as one day I have an appointment with God and I want to be pleasing to Him when I see Him as a Christian, as one of His children. You know, I want my Father, my earthly Father, to be pleased and so to speak. You understand what I mean when I say this in a right way, proud of what I've become as one who bears His name. And friend, I bear His name. I bear God's name. I want Him to be pleased at how I wear His name. And then it challenges me to live godly. And then lastly, it encourages me in times of suffering. Job said this in Job 14, verse 1. He said, Job 14, verse 1. I sort of jotted it down. Man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. You know what we say, amen, right there. Few days, full of trouble. Now what does that mean, preacher? That means we all have trials and adversity and problems and pressures, sickness, sorrow, even death. Few days, full of trouble. You know, if anybody's ever had a chronic illness for any length of time at all, that means you've been chronically sick. And even times you just get the flu, you think it's never going to end. But I'm going to tell you, there are people that they have chronic diseases and chronic illnesses and chronic pain, and to them there's no end to it. It's going to go on and on and on and on. I've got good news for you. You say, preacher, what is it? For the child of God, you can rest assured, our trouble and our suffering has an end. If I don't make you shout, to know it has an end. If you have the mindset of the world, this is why assisted suicide That's why that we live in a day where people think that they have a right to take their own life because they have chronic pain, chronic sickness. Somehow they can take the place of God and they have a right to die. Here's the phraseology of the world, die with dignity. There's really no such thing. We all die in the sense that we're sinners and we're all going to die. But I understand that's the terminology. It almost gives it a noble sound. And I die on my terms. That's the way it sounds. You really don't. Because you don't have any control over it. Even though you may take your own life, death still, in that case, takes your life. But that's the mindset. But you know why they think that way? Because in their mind, that's all they've got left to look forward to. That's it. It's the only end they've got. I know we don't like to think this way, but God uses our suffering. He doesn't cause all our suffering, but He does use it. He does. And I can glorify Him and you can glorify Him in the midst of our suffering. And we can live with the reality that suffering has an end. And the reality of it is, listen, I understand the mindset of our world. And you know, I probably ruffled some feathers this morning just even mentioning it. Because if we're not careful, we live with the world's philosophy and not God's philosophy, not God's truth. And I need to decide what I'm going to live by. The world can couch some stuff in some pretty good terms, make it sound really wonderful. But friend, God's the one who has the control of life and death, not man. And I should never seek to usurp that. I've got a whole message on that subject. Didn't intend to even go there today, but we sort of went there. But I really don't have a right to determine that. That's God's business. And if God chooses that I suffer and go through affliction, and by the way, I have been there, and you know that. And I still battle an incurable disease, thankfully in remission. So I do understand what it means to battle and look death in the eye more than once, to go through chemotherapy. I understand that. I get it. But not one time did I think about ending my life. Not once. Because here's what I did, what I said. I said, God, You've brought me into this place for a period of time and God, I'm Yours and You can do with me whatever You want to do. If You want to take my life, God, You can take it. God, if You want to let me live, You can let me live. That choice is yours. But whether you do or don't, whether you take my life or whether you let me live, help me just to glorify you in the midst of my suffering." That was not a part of the message. But to understand that suffering for the Christian does have an end. And it's not at the end of a drip of some kind of medicine that takes my life. It's the fact that when God is ready to transport me to glory on His terms, not mine, because He's God and I'm not. Then when I get there, guess what? It's ended. Because this world, this suffering is going to give way to glory. Now I'm going to give you a Bible truth here in just a moment, okay? And I want you to get it, and I want you to think. If you're wrestling with what I'm preaching about today, I want you to think about what the world says, and I want you to think about what I'm getting ready to tell you what God says. Alright? Listen to 2 Corinthians 5.17. He said, for our light affliction. All you've got to do is go to 2 Corinthians 12 and you'll see Paul's light affliction. Beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, almost drowned. He was eventually martyred for the cause of Christ. He called it a light affliction which is but for a moment. Did you hear that? A moment. We think it'll never end. God said it's for a moment, Christian. Worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen. God said don't live with this world's philosophy and mindset. Don't live by what you see. Watch it now. but of the things which are not seen, what you can't see. For the things which are seen are temporal, they're temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. See, one of the reasons why that we get so discouraged and so down and so depressed and understand being there in the midst of chronic pain and sickness and suffering and impending death is because we don't see an end to it. We think it's going to go on forever, but remember that everything in this life is temporary. That includes trials, that includes trouble, that includes sickness, that includes difficulty, and pressure, and sorrow, and suffering, and pain. All of that is temporary. It has an end, but thank God, I'm going to a place and I'm going to have a body that never has an end. That's what I'm looking at. That's living with heaven in mind. That's the difference. Listen to Revelation 21.4. Now this is exciting. And God shall, this is in our future, wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. He said all tears. Now we're going to talk about when that's going to take place, but the good news is it's going to take place. All tears. Here's what He said. Not some of our tears, Not most of our tears, but those two words means every single tear. God's going to wipe it away. Aren't you glad God's got a hand in my handkerchief? Now here's what I want you to think about. I want you to remember this. God uses suffering to unfasten us from this earth and to set our minds on what lies beyond. I'm going to say that again. And I want you to listen, because this goes against the philosophy and the grain of human thinking. God doesn't cause all suffering. Somebody said, well, my brother-in-law got saved and God gave him cancer. God did not give him cancer. That's poor theology. He would have gotten cancer anyway. Thank God he got saved. See, it's appointed unto men once to die. We're all going to get sick, folks. And one day everybody's going to die if Jesus doesn't come. Because we live in a sin-cursed world. God didn't cause that. Man did. And God has sent a rescue operation called His Son, Jesus Christ, that left heaven and came to earth, suffered, bled, and died, and took our pain and our suffering on the cross of Calvary that our sin, the punishment our sins deserved, and He died in our place. paid forever the penalty of our sin so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be saved, and so that we could live in a heavenly country that doesn't know any pain, and sickness, and sorrow, and suffering. See, man started out in that environment, and he sinned against God, and it changed that environment. And thank God there's coming a day when another man who came, the second Adam, the last man, the Lord Jesus, is going to undo everything that Adam did. And friend, there's another day of coming. And we by faith live and look for that day. And between here and there, there's going to be suffering and trial and difficulty and yes, even death, but just remember all of that is temporary because everything there is permanent and it's forever. God uses suffering to unfasten us from the earth and to set our minds on what lies beyond. Living with heaven in mind gives us a new perspective. The sufferings of this present world will one day give way to the glory of another world. Oh, what a blessed thought. Thank God there's a place called heaven. Thank God there's an eternal home with the saints of God. Thank God, my loved ones that suffered with debilitating life, what we would call terminal illnesses. And I think of my grandfather who I saved and called to preach under his ministry that taught me to love God, taught me the Bible. I remember there as his body was wracked with pain and cancer and it was going to take his life. And the day he breathed his last, I remember that moment as the man filling in at his church whispered in his ear, and he said, Brother Paul, we had a wonderful day at church yesterday. And he began to share what happened. He said, and a little girl came forward and got saved. At that moment, my granddaddy breathed his last breath and went to glory. Last thing he heard on earth was a little girl got saved at the church he started. I guess going on 50 years now. Somebody would say, well, cancer won. Cancer did not win in my granddaddy's life. No. He won. Because he's an overcomer. And the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you're an overcomer. I don't understand all the sickness. I don't understand all the suffering. I don't understand why everything happens the way it does in our lives, and you don't either. But you know what? When we get to looking from heaven's point of view rather than our point of view, things change because we see the underside. If you look at anybody that ever has made a quilt, you look at the underside of the quilt and all the different things and it don't look like the top side. It looks totally different. It sort of looks like a bunch of jumbled threads. It really doesn't make any sense. Boy, you flip that quilt over to the upper side. Man, it's a piece of beauty. And I understand everything that goes on in my life and you don't understand everything that goes on in your life. But just remember, I'm looking at the underside. And he's looking at the upper side. And if I can get heaven's perspective, if I can live with heaven's view in mind, you know what, then I see things as they really are. And I understand that, you know what, whatever's going on in my life right now is just temporary. It may seem like it's going to last forever. It may seem like the pain's never going to end. It may seem like, but friend, can I tell you there's a better day coming for the children of God. Thank God for a place called heaven. It puts suffering in perspective. When you live with heaven in mind, you realize the shortness of this life and the eternity, the length of the next life. When you live with heaven in mind, it prepares you one day. I live with a thought one day I'm going to meet the Lord and I want to be pleasing to Him when I see Him. When I live with heaven in mind, it wants me to be a good representative of a heavenly country. I want to live in such a way that other people think well of where I'm going and want to go there with me. I got some family I thought about and prayed for this morning. They're not going to go to heaven with me right now, but I sure want them to. I sure want them to. I thought, God, help me to be a better witness to my family. I got some family not going to be with me forever. You got some family not going to be with you forever? Won't you think about that this holiday? Maybe you need to give them the best gift you can ever give them. That's the gift. Help them know the way to heaven, how they can have the gift of eternal life. And then I think about suffering. I think about the people that I've loved and pastored through the years that have suffered. People that have went through immense heartache and heartbreak. God calls it, Paul said it, He said for our light affliction. He said when we compare it to eternity and what eternity is going to bring, It's just brief. It's not going to last forever. It has an end. One day it's going to give way to glory. You just hold on, Christian. A better day is coming. And you can rejoice in that. And that will propel you through the suffering and through the hardship and through the pain. I'll never forget a man who served in this church and was a godly man. Brother Vernon wouldn't know exactly. I'm not going to call his name. He was wracked with pain. And somebody went to him and told him and said, I'm so sorry for how you hurt and the pain you're in." This was even before the cancer medications today would alleviate pain. And even then, even today, you know it doesn't take all the pain away from some folk. But they went to him and they said, I'm so sorry for how you hurt. And in the midst of his pain and grimacing, he said, you know what? He said, it's nothing compared to how my Savior hurt. Folks, let's just get things in perspective. Let's live with heaven in mind. It will change how we view this life. It will. And the things of this life we know have an end. And for the child of God, a better day is ahead. Let's live for that better day. Amen. What a wonderful, glorious, grand thought that is. Let's bow our heads in prayer.