06-08-08 #Disciple Bible Study titled: “Hoping For Heaven Changes Your Life”

[Disciple]

“HEAVEN-A TRAVEL GUIDE”
“Hoping For Heaven Changes Your Life”
Ephesians 1:18-21

Intro.
I saw a commercial the other day and it was advertising a product that said if I began taking the pills daily, that it would change my life. I would have more strength and stamina and energy. The effects of the natural aging process would be slowed down and I would be more healthy. I almost bought the product on the spot. I have hopes that that things are going to get better for me.
When there is hope our life indeed is changed. I like what E.M. Bounds wrote about heaven in his book- “Heaven: A Place, A City, A Home”
“How heaven ought to draw on our hearts and lift us above earth! How it should fill our thoughts and brighten our hopes! Heaven ought to assuage our griefs, banish our fears, lift care from our hearts and make us immune to the ills of this life.
Jesus was ever lifting His eye and heart to heaven, ever speaking and thinking of His Father in heaven, ever looking at heaven, that supported by its sight and joy, He might ‘endure the cross and despise the shame.’ He made much of heaven. So also ought we to make much of heaven.
It ought to be the land in which we live, its atmosphere should surround us, its glories allure us and its deathless beauties fill eye and heart. It should be the aim of our lives, goal of our ambition, the stimulant of every exertion. Our names should be written there, our treasures laid up there.”
Let’s consider now how hoping for heaven changes our lives.
I. It Makes Us Joyful
What does it take to make you really joyful? Sadly many times we appear to be more joyful over physical blessings we receive than we are over the prospect of dwelling forever in the house of the Lord.
Even the disciples seemingly had their joy focused on the wrong things. Listen to Jesus’ words to them on the occasion of their being sent out.
Luke 10:17, 20
Far too often we have allowed the cir***stances of our lives to rob us of joy. What about us individually?
Do we allow the cir***stances of our life to keep us from being joyful? Have we forgotten the joy of being saved and the joy of being on our way to heaven because we have allowed Satan to blind us so that all we can focus on is the negative things happening around us?
Have we become such a gloom and doom people that if we smiled or laughed our face would crack? Have you forgotten the joy of being saved? Are you unhappy and miserable in your Christian life? Focus on heaven and it will bring joy to your life.
II. Hoping For Heaven Makes You Steadfast
No doubt you have seen Christians who have been solid and steadfast even though they were suffering some great adversity. It is the hope for heaven that brings about this steadfast spirit.
Hebrews 6:18-19
No, hoping for heaven doesn’t take away the difficulty. Hoping for heaven doesn’t change our cir***stance, but it does keep us firm and secure. It keeps us from allowing the difficult cir***stances to destroy us.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Jesus does not have the answers. He is the answer!” But just what is Jesus’ answer when you are diagnosed with a terminal illness? When death has suddenly and cruelly taken your loved one? Jesus’ answer is the hope of heaven.
Romans 5:2-5
Paul shows us here that hopes makes us steadfast in adversity and that steadfastness in adversity makes hope stronger. Perhaps you have stood by the bed of faithful Christian at the time of imminent death.
Have you heard the saint saying, “Don’t pray for me to get well? Pray that the Lord will take me home.” I know that after death we have the knowledge that our loved one has gone to heaven and that comforts us, but can’t we find comfort and assurance in this place called heaven before death comes?
If there is a place where there will be no more pain, no more crying, no more death, then shouldn’t we be thinking about it now and talking about it now in the time of our difficulty and adversity? Can we today not be like those to whom the Hebrews letter was written?
Hebrews 10:32-34
Do you remain steadfast in the Lord when the worst of cir***stances happen to you because you know you have better and lasting possessions that the worst of cir***stances in the world cannot touch? Hoping for heaven makes you steadfast in your faith in and relationship with Jesus Christ
III. Hoping For Heaven Makes You Victorious
There is a satisfaction that is experienced on in being victorious. In Revelation 2 & 3, we have recorded seven promises to those who ‘overcome’
Revelation 2:7
Revelation 2:11
Revelation 2:17
Revelation 2:26
Revelation 3:5
Revelation 3:12
Revelation 3:21
Why do you think Jesus wanted all of these promises written down? He did it to challenge us to be overcomers. He wants us to be victorious. He wants us to be triumphant.
You can be victorious in a defeated world. You can be clean in a dirty world. You can be selfless in a self-centered world. You can be upright in a crooked world. We can enjoy victory now because we are certain there is victory ahead.
We can turn to the last chapter and we can see that God’s people are the victors. This encourages us and challenges us to become victorious now.
Conclusion
A fierce storm was sweeping across the Great Lakes. A steam tug boat was towing a barge and began to flounder in the swirling waters. The captain and his crew took to a small boat. All night long they were tossed to and fro, every instant their lives were in danger. They were rescued in the morning by a passing ship.
The captain later said that all night long as they were beaten and tossed by the storm there was only one thing that nerved their arms and kept their hearts from sinking. What was that one thing? He said, “Shining through the darkness and the storm we saw the lights of home.”
You and I are sailing on a stormy sea. We are beaten and tossed by the cir***stances of life that seemingly overwhelm us at times. We fear that the storm is too great and we cannot hold on, but the Captain of our salvation has the remedy for us. Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
John 14:1
We think of our home. The Father’s house, we can see the lights of home and we are encouraged and strengthened.
Do you have your eyes on home? Are you ready for home today?