08-05-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: “LIFE: THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY"

[Disciple]

“LIFE: THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY - Do You Have A Destination?”
Hebrews 12:1-3

Intro.

A. You are familiar with “The Game Of Life” – also know simply as “LIFE”
1. I found out some things about this game that I thought to be interesting
a. it was originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley-
b. it was known as “The Checkered Game of Life”- like many other games of the 19th century, it had a strong moral message to it.
c. the original game did not include dice- it used a ‘teetotum’, a six-sided top- dice were considered by many to be wicked items fit only for gamblers.
d. the game board was originally a modified checkerboard-the object was to land on the ‘good’ ****es and collect 100 points.
1. you could collect 50 points toward this goal of 100 by landing on ‘Happy Old Age’ in the far corner of the board opposite ‘infancy’ where you began.
e. in 1960 “The Game Of Life” as we know it was introduced-
2. Today I want to begin a new series, titled, “Life: The Ultimate Journey”
a. as we live our lives, it can easily be thought of as a journey that begins with infancy and takes us through a ‘happy old age’ and into eternity
b. in this message today I want to ask the question, ‘Do you have a destination?’
1. other questions will be ‘Who Are Your Traveling Companions?’ and ‘A Map For The Journey’
3. It is amazing how we travel and move about in this journey of life
a. we start in one place and end up in another place-
4. Today we want to talk about our destination in this ‘ultimate game of life’

I. There Are Two Destinations
A. Every one of us is traveling toward a destination whether we realize it or not
1. And there are only two destinations to which this journey can lead-
2. Jesus talked about heaven and hell- and he spoke about them as being real places where the spirits of men and women will be.
a. Matt. 8:11-12- I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
b. these words of Jesus are describing the eternal destinies of heaven and hell.
c. note the words that Jesus uses to contrast the two places:
1. ‘feast’- heaven is described as a festive place of celebration along side the famous of ancient Jewish history- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
2.. but the words that describe hell are darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth- a dismal place indeed- a place to be shunned.
3. What is your destination? – are you heading for heaven or hell today?
4. I know that many people today do not believe in the literal existence of hell-
a. I know that many people joke about hell- they speak of hell in jest-
1. but let me remind you of something- not believing in the reality of something does not make it nonexistent
b. it has been noted that there are 1,870 verses in the N.T. that record words spoken by Jesus
1. of those 1,870 verses, 13% of them are talking about judgment and hell.
2.. This means that Jesus spoke more about these two subjects of hell and the judgment than any other subject.
3. there are about 50 parables that Jesus told, and more than half of them relate to God’s eternal judgment of sinners.
5. We came to the conclusion from the teachings of Jesus, that heaven and hell are eternal realities.
a. and so I ask you ‘do you have a destination?’-
6. I would encourage you to invest your life today in the reaching the destination of heaven – it will be well worth everything you’ve spent and given here.

Ill- it was only a nickel, but it’s owner retired on it- there were only 5 nickels like it in existences- Ed Lee of Merrimack, New Hampshire, sold his nickel for $4.15 million- it was a 1913 Liberty Head nickel- 1912 was to be the last year the Liberty Head nickel was minted- it was to be replaced in 1913 by the Indian or Buffalo nickel- in 1913 five Liberty Head nickels were minted illegally- Ed Lee knew a valuable coin when he saw it- do you know a good investment when you see it?- there is no better investment than your life given to the pursuit of heaven and eternal life.

II. How Do You Reach Your Destination?

A. Any journey begins with a decision to go
1. It doesn’t matter where you’re going or how long you’re planning to stay
a. you first make a decision that you are going to go
2. The same is true about your eternal destiny-
a. if you are planning to go to heaven, you have made a decision that heaven is where you want to go
1. you also make a decision regarding the eternal destiny of hell-
2. some might be thinking, “I just really don’t understand how anyone can make a deliberate decision to go to hell.”
a. here’s the way that decision is made- if you don’t make your decision to go to heaven, you are deciding to go to hell
ill- Louis Carroll is the author of the great book, ‘Alice In Wonderland’- at one point in the story, Alice comes to a fork in the road and she doesn’t know which way to turn- she sees the grinning Cheshire Cat and asks his advice on which way she should go- the Cheshire Cat replies, ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.’



Ill- someone has said it will- ‘An intelligent plan is the first step to success. The man who plans knows where he is going, knows what progress he is making, and has a pretty good idea of when he will arrive. Planning is the open road to your destination. If you don’t know where you are going how can you expect to get there?’
3. One of the most tragic things I see happening to many people is the failure to plan now and prepare for the eternal destiny.
a. how foolish is it to spend your entire life planning for and working for retirement but never to plan and prepare eternal life?

ill- did you hear about the fellow who was known by everyone in town because of his sinful behavior- he read the newspaper one morning and was surprised to see his name printed in the obituary column- immediately he called his best friend and said, “Did you see the paper? It says that I’m dead”- and his friend answered, “Yes, I read it, and I know where you’re calling from.”

4. If you don’t make any plans to reach the destination of heaven, why would you or your friends be surprised when you reach hell for all of eternity?
5. And what is tragic is that no one has to die and be lost in hell-
a. 1 Tim. 2:4- (God our Savior) who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
b. God wants everyone to be saved and has provided the way for us to be saved by giving Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.

III. Arrival Day Is Coming
A. You can mark it down- the day is coming when all of us will arrive at our destination.
1. If you’ve ever traveled with small children you have experienced the irritation that comes from the often repeated questions, ‘Are we there yet?’ or ‘How much longer?’
2. I can’t give you a definite answer on how much longer it’s going to be, but I can give a definite answer that it will happen
a. Heb. 9:27- Just as man is destined to die one, and after that to face judgment,
b. your death and my death are certain realities- unless we are still living the day that Jesus comes, we are going to die in this life

ill- I like the story of the old gentleman who went to his doctor- he wasn’t feeling well and this was his 5th visit to the doctor, he complained and was irritated because he wasn’t getting better- the frustrated doctor said, “Look, I’m doing everything I can to help you. I can’t make you any younger.” – and the old gentlemen said, “I wasn’t especially interested in getting any younger-I just want to continue to get older.”

3. We want to live a long life- we all want to arrive at the ‘ Happy Old Age’ and have a good journey on the way
a. but be sure that death is going to come to all of us and then we will arrive at our destination-
b. what will it be for you? will it be eternal life in heaven?- will it be eternal condemnation in hell?

ill- Woody Allen, the actor, said, “It’s not that I’m afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”- well, Woody, I’m sorry to disappoint you but you will be there when it happens and if you have not chosen your destination heaven and planned and prepared to get there, you should definitely be afraid of death.

4. 2 Cor. 5:10- For we must all appear at the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
5. The problem that we have with death is that we don’t know when it will come to us-
a. for any one of us, today could be the day of death- I know that we go through life not expecting that this day will be our last day of life but it could very well be

b. what if today is the day you arrive at the eternal destination? – are you ready to depart?


Conc.

This life is the ultimate journey- this life is the time for use to prepare for the life that is eternal-

The author of the Scripture from Heb. 12:2 tells us to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus...’- and that is what we need to do as we travel this journey-

Lloyd Douglas was the author of The Robe- he says that when he attended college, he lived in a boarding house- a retired, wheelchair-bound music professor lived on the first floor- every morning, Douglas would stick his head in the doorway of the professor’s apartment and ask the same question, ‘Well, what’s the good news?’- and the professor would give the same answer every morning- he would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his wheelchair and say, “That is middle C! It was middle C yesterday, it will be middle C tomorrow, and it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs gives flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C.”-

We all need certainty- our relationships change- our health changes- but Jesus never changes- he is the one certainty and constancy we need in this life- our life is constantly changing, but we know that Jesus can always be trusted while we travel this life’s journey

We need to be serious about choosing a destination as we travel this life- what about you? – do you have a destination?- do you know where you’re going?- what are you doing to do about the destination today?