I do want to thank you, Steve, and all the elders for allowing me this incredible honor, incredible privilege. Anytime I'm asked to teach or preach, I find it an incredible honor. So I want to thank you deep from my heart for each of you that have allowed this to happen. I was reading an article a short time ago by Paul Tripp, and his opening statement got my attention. It made me stop and think. He said, and this is how he opened the article, of course you haven't been fulfilled in this world. It's a sign that you have been designed for a world to come. So I read that and I thought, wow, that is so true. We have been designed for a world to come and yet we are caught up with the mess of this world so often. See, the majority of us, if not all of us here, believe that this is not all there is. We believe that there is life after this earthly life, at least I hope you do. Yet we tend to live with the anxiety and drivenness that come when we believe that all there is is this moment. This is all there is. And so we strive for everything we can get. In that same article, Paul Tripp made an incredible statement that I think is very important. He said, here's the real life street level issue. If you don't keep the eyes of your heart focused on the paradise that is to come, you will try to turn this poor fallen world into the paradise it will never be. And that's so true, isn't it? we strive to try to gain as much of this world thinking it's going to give us our satisfaction in paradise and you will come up short every time because this world was not created to give us that paradise and we were created with a longing for that paradise in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11 it tells us that God created us with eternity in our hearts. So we all, we all, even unbelievers, have this longing of that paradise, even if we're not aware of it. Because God created us that way. There's that deep inner longing. And our cries, when we cry out for pain, our cries are more than just cries for pain. They're also cries of longing for more and better than we will ever experience in this fallen world. God designed it that way. When you forget this, you begin to work very hard and you try to turn this moment into the paradise that it will never be. And that's the reason why we have so much frustration in this world. So much anger. Always trying to strive for more. The reality is that your job, your friendships, the world around you will not and cannot deliver paradise to you. Even family cannot deliver paradise to you. When you forget this, you work very hard, and you come up short. If you're God's child, paradise has been guaranteed for you, but it will not be in this world. Right? We have to remember that. Please understand, all of the disappointments we go through in life, big and small, every disappointment are there to remind us that this is not all there is. We long for that paradise that is to come and that is why we're commanded in scripture set your mind on the things above That's the greatest of all realities for the child of god heaven is our greatest and deepest reality And too often we exchange that reality for this momentary life in this world And of course what makes this difficult is that we live in a world that cries out for instant gratification We hate to wait Right? I mean, we hate to wait for the green light, so we race to get the green light because we don't want that red light. I mean, we hate waiting. I know I do. And the mindset of our age is against postponed pleasures of any kind. We want it, we want it now. No, we want it yesterday. And as a result, we forget the ultimate reality and we become deeply attached to this world. And frustration follows. It's very easy. In fact, it's all too easy to become absorbed in temporal things and we neglect and we forget that which is eternal that has been promised to us. Jesus commanded us to lay our treasures in heaven, but too often we're so caught up with this world we focus more on laying our treasures in this world. Having lost sight of the sweet by and by, too many Christians busy themselves with the harried here and now. As a result, many live attempting to make this world to be the paradise that it will never become. And along with that, we lose out on the joy that God wants to give to you and to me. And sadly, we don't see how sinful this truly is. James tells us in chapter 4, verse 4, listen to these words. He says, you adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Note those words, very strong words. Adulterous. Remember back then it was punishable by death. Hostility comes from a Greek word meaning deep hatred. We're enemies of God. We deeply hate God when we are consumed with this world and we forget about eternity in heaven. And so these words should cause us to stop on our tracks and evaluate life. How's my life going? We lay aside the command to set our minds on the things above and we miss out on that joy. John MacArthur gave an incredible testimony of this joy. He said, I once visited an isolated eastern city in the former Soviet Union where I met with 1,500 impoverished Christians. They were the descendants of exiles and they and their ancestors had suffered terribly under Soviet oppression for three quarters of a century. Their poverty was so severe that they had to work hard every day just to put food on the table. The subject that was most on their heart was their future in the glory of heaven. I had the privilege of teaching them that from scripture for several hours and many were so overcome that they wept with joy. Oh, that we would be overcome with such joy as we focus on our eternity. As we focus on heaven. As we focus on the glory of our Lord there. That blessed promise. By the way, that is our true paradise. The only true paradise we have. This world cannot give you a paradise. And the reality is that the hope of heaven should fill us with the joy of anticipation that loosens our hearts from the grip that we have on this transitory world. That we would not be so consumed with this world. That we would not be affected by this world. Because we know where our home is. So this morning I want to share with you about what it means to set our minds and our hearts on heaven. I'm going to look at Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. So if you turn your Bibles over to Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. And as we come to this passage in Colossians, I want you to remember that Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison. So he wasn't sitting on the beach, relaxing and having a great time. He was in prison, chained to a Roman guard. He didn't have freedom. And it's amazing too, because he wrote here not only Colossians but he wrote the other prison epistles and what I love about it is when you read through the prison epistles Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, Philemon when you read through these letters again and again and again he emphasizes joy joy joy how can Paul be in prison be limited in what he could do and still experience such incredible joy in Philippians he says I rejoice and again I say rejoice how can a man that is so persecuted in prison make that statement. It's because of his mindset on heaven. He was so consumed with heaven that he could experience joy even in the worst of times. And also what's significant about these verses here in verse 1 and 2 is that it begins the applicational section of the letter. In chapter 1 and chapter 2 there's deep doctrine, deep theology. Then in chapter 3 and 4 he gets into what does all of this doctrine mean in daily living and he begins this section of application with this command, set your mind on heaven. I find that absolutely significant. If we're going to apply God's word, if God's word is going to live through us it must begin there, that our minds and our hearts are consumed with heaven. We see what Paul commands here is for the believer. It's for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is not for the world. This is not for the unbeliever. Heaven is not a reality for those who have rejected Christ. But for those of us who have trusted in Christ, this is our reality. This is what we should be pursuing. Through our union with Jesus Christ, we believers have died, we have been buried, we have been risen, and we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies right now. That's our reality. That's who we are, in Christ, in heaven, at this moment. And by saving faith we've entered into a new dimension. We now possess divine and eternal life, which is not merely just endless life that includes that, but eternal life is a heavenly quality of life that has been given to us by the Lord. So it's more than just, yes, I'm going to live forever. but it's a quality of life. And thus we are alive in Christ to the realities of this divine realm. And so with all of this in mind, I want us to look at this passage, Colossians chapter 3, verse 1 and 2. And we read here, Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. The first thing I want us to see if we're going to look at these commands that we have to understand is that Everything, everything that is truly precious to us as Christians is in heaven. We have to remember that. Everything that is truly precious, everything that we should be treasuring is in heaven. Note the statement he makes where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. That's where God is, the Father. He is in heaven. In fact, Jesus taught us to pray, didn't He? Our Father who is in heaven. That's where our Father is present. He is on His throne, reigning supreme. in heaven but we also see that jesus christ is there he's at the right hand in fact hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 tells us for christ did not enter a holy place made with hands a mere copy of the true one but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of god for us jesus is in heaven seated the right hand of the father and he intercedes for you and for me And according to His own words in John chapter 14 verse 1 and 2, on the night in which He was betrayed, when He was in the upper room, Jesus said, He's going to heaven to prepare a place for you and for me. So that we can be with Him forever, sharing rich fellowship with Him and worshipping Him. That's our reality. That's what we have to look forward to. Jesus Himself is the glory of heaven. And in his high priestly prayer, the same night, in the Upper Room Discourse, before he was betrayed, in John chapter 17, he prayed for all who trusted in him to spend eternity with him in unbroken fellowship. His prayer, when you read through it, describes the fellowship of future glory, the focus of future glory, the foretaste of future glory. That's where Jesus is. And we also know from Scripture, throughout that the Holy Spirit is present in heaven as well what we have in heaven is our greatest treasure it is the triune holy God the very God that we sing about is there in heaven our greatest treasure and this is why we should be saying along with the psalmist in Psalm 73 verse 25 whom have I in heaven but you and besides you I desire nothing on earth that should be our life right there as we focus on heaven Who do I have in heaven? There's nothing on earth I desire more than you. And I pray that that would be true of my heart and your heart today. But not only that, we also know that our departed loved ones who know the Lord are there too. Think about it. Every Old Testament and New Testament saint is there. We're going to see Daniel. Can you believe that? We're going to see Daniel in heaven. That's not awesome. Abraham. All the New Testament saints, Paul will be there. Loved ones will be there. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 23 says that in turning to God, we have come to the General Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. And to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. So we are going to see saints there. We're going to see other believers there. That's our treasure. Remember, our citizenship is not here. Our citizenship is in heaven according to Paul in Philippians chapter 3. So remember that heaven is where we belong. That's our home. We are heavenly citizens. We are just, according to Hebrews, we're just strangers and exiles on this earth. We don't belong here. We're here temporarily. Our goals therefore should not be to include all of the accumulation of as much as we can. It's not why God put us on this earth. Our real wealth, our eternal reward is in heaven. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says that the only treasure we will possess throughout eternity is there in heaven. So everything we should love everlastingly, everything we rightly value, everything of any eternal worth is in heaven. This is why being consumed with this world has a particularly destructive spiritual bent on believers. It takes the focus off the greatest treasure, which is our ultimate reality, and it places it on that which is transient, that which is temporal, that which is worthless compared to heaven. And it undermines everything that we as a church stand for. So it tears us away from the heavenly moons. It makes us worldly people. So we must never forget that everything that is truly precious to us as Christians is in heaven. We have to come to that realization if we're going to follow the next command here in Colossians. And because it is true that everything that is truly precious to us as Christians is in heaven, then we see that the proper Christian worldview is to relentlessly pursue heaven. We must relentlessly pursue heaven in our lives. Note the two commands that he gives in verse 1 and verse 2. First command, he says, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. The second command, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. Let's look at these commands individually. The first one, keep seeking the things above. That's where Jesus is. This is a present tense imperative. So it means that our seeking the things above is to be ongoing. This is not something that you do once in life and then you're set forever. No. The seeking of the things above is to be a daily, moment by moment, presence in our lives. We are to seek those things above continually. In fact, it's the exact same Greek word that Jesus used in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 when he commanded us to seek first his kingdom. Same word. It is to desire and to strive for heaven It is to see to it that all of our interests are centered on him on his glory heaven So preoccupation with the eternal realities that are ours in christ that is to be the pattern of our lives that is how we are to live To be preoccupied with heaven with those eternal realities now paul is not Advocating here a form of mysticism where we sit in the corner and cover our heads, and that's all we think on That's not what he's talking about here Rather what he desires is that believers preoccupation with heaven govern all of their earthly responses to pursue heaven is to view the things the people the events of this world through the eyes of heaven with an eternal perspective of So with all the stuff that's going on in politics, with all the stuff that's going on in government, we have to view these things in light of eternity, not in the here and now. If that's all you view in politics is the here and now, then no wonder people are frustrated and scared and angry. But we must understand, though the politicians think they're in power, We know who sits on the throne, who reigns over all things. So why would we focus on them when we have this eternal glory to focus on and find great hope and great peace in that? Because I promise you this, your news media and the government politicians will never give you hope. But the King of Glory will. That's who we want to focus on. That's why we want to set our minds on Him. And so to pursue heaven is to focus on heaven over all of these things. Your attitudes, your ambitions, and whole outlook on life are molded by Christ's relation to you. Your allegiance to Jesus takes precedence over all earthly allegiances, including your jobs, and money, and possessions, and so forth. We keep seeking heaven because the triune God is there. There's nothing greater. There's nothing more profound. That's the infinite beauty of heaven. So that's the first command. Keep seeking the things above. The second command, set your mind on the things above. Now this sounds very familiar to the first command, but there is a slight difference here. The first command is that you keep seeking the things above. It's descriptive of the aim. It's descriptive of the pursuit of your life. But the second command, set your mind on things above, refers more to the inner disposition. It's the whole bent of life. It's the mind, what you think on. So you must not only seek heaven, but you must also think heaven. That's the point here. We seek it, but we have to think it. It means see to it that the whole bent of your heart, the governing tendency of thought and will is toward heaven. Toward our eternity. As I said before, it doesn't mean that we withdraw from all the activities of this world. It's not that mysticism. Because the verses that follow, if we had time we'd look at it, but the verses that follow make it clear that Paul expected us to continue on in our relationships. But what he's saying is let your way of seeing the world, let your way of thinking about this world, feeling about this world be shaped and governed by heaven. Not by what the news media is telling you. How you look at this world should be governed by heaven. Jobs, education, finances, spending, everything else must be considered in light of eternity, in light of heaven. So we are no longer to live as if this world is all that mattered. This is not all there is. We are to see this world against the background of the large and glorious world of eternity that is awaiting. Now, I want to say something here that's important. Not all things here are evil, and I don't want to say that. However, even harmless things become harmful when they are permitted to take the place that is reserved for that which is eternal. A great example of this is the story of Mary and Martha. We're familiar with that story. Jesus was invited. He and his disciples were invited to Martha's house where Martha wanted to feed them. And so Jesus is in the home and Mary, the sister, seated at the feet of Jesus, listening. Martha is preparing the meal. I can't imagine. Think about that. In your house, the very one who created the universe, in your house, the King of Glory is seated right there in your house and you're cooking a meal. Now, cooking a meal is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not saying it is. But what happened to Martha? She's cooking up a storm. Got pots going, flowers flying everywhere. She's preparing the food. She's going to town on this. King Jesus is here. But she loses sight of that. And she gets frustrated. She gets angry. And so what does she do? She storms into the room. And think about this now. Think about this. She goes into the room and she confronts Jesus. And says, do you not care? Can you imagine saying to Jesus, you don't care? Now why would Martha say that? Because Martha was so caught up with herself. She was so caught up with this world and the expectations, she forgot who was seated in her home, heaven itself. And she confronted him and said, do you not care that my lazy sister is seated at your feet and I'm doing all of this work myself? Tell her to get up and help me. But I love the grace of Jesus. Martha, Martha, you poor girl, relax. Kick back a little bit. It's not exactly what he says, but he says, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered by many things. Think about that. You are worried and bothered by many things. She took her eyes off of who truly was there, and what happened? She became consumed with all kinds of stuff, and now you find stress, right? You find anxiety, frustration. Sound familiar? That's what happens. Jesus said there's only one thing that matters, and Mary chose the right one. Think about that. When we take our eyes off of heaven, we become like Martha. And how many times have we gone in life trying to accomplish something, what we want, and it doesn't work out, and we strive, and we strive, and it doesn't work out, and we throw up our hands, God, why? Why are you doing this to me? That's exactly what Martha did. I know I've done that before. Why, Lord? Why me? Why does this have to happen? Why does this have to go this way? We act just like Martha. We forget that Jesus Christ is the glory of heaven, and we focus on our own world. That's what happens when we forget about heaven. And it's not just preparing food. It could be anything for us. It could be wealth, worldly honor, power, pleasures, things that are okay, things that are not in and of themselves dangerous, but they can become dangerous because we become consumed with it and we forget. We forget to set our minds on the things above. We forget to pursue heaven. So our whole disposition is to be oriented toward heaven, just like a compass needle is oriented toward the north. No matter where you go, that thing's always pointing north. And for us, no matter where we go, our mind should always be focused on heaven, though we are relating this way. That's what it's called for. That's what the command is here. And so what Paul is calling for here is this relentless pursuit of heaven. And please understand, there's nothing passive about this. You can't sit back and just say, I hope it happens. Boy, I hope it hits me one day. No, it's not passive. No one gains the mindset of heaven passively. We have to seek it, we have to pursue it or you don't have it and you never will. The pathway to the mindset shaped by heaven is relentless, passionate pursuit. Do not be passive or you will never gain it. We have to seek it, meditate on it, treasure it until your whole way of thinking and feeling and responding and acting is shaped by it. That's what Paul desires. And Paul is a wonderful example of the proper biblical perspective between heaven and earth. Think about the overwhelming persecution on earth that he faced. Beaten over and over. In prison when he wrote this. In fact, when he wrote Philippians, he says, I don't know if I'm even going to make it through this. I may die. He went through all of these things and he never lost sight of heaven. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 8-10, listen to these words. He says, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed but not despairing. Think about that. Not despairing. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always caring about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Think about what He is going through. And then He adds in verses 16 to 17, Therefore we do not lose hearts, though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Notice what he calls the problems and difficulties and issues of life. Momentary light afflictions. Think about that. Everything we go through in life, as difficult as it is at times, Paul says it's momentary light affliction. compared to our heaven and what's waiting us. And it's true. When you think about heaven and you compare it to what we're living here, this is so temporary. It's so small in comparison. And so Paul came to this conclusion because he saw all of his life from the perspective of heaven. He set his mind on heaven. He pursued heaven. And he could make that statement. This is momentary light afflictions. Compared to heaven, it's small. Think about some of the most difficult trials you've gone through. Some of the most heart-wrenching times you've gone through. Paul says, when you focus on heaven, those times, though they may seem overwhelming, compared to heaven, they're momentary light afflictions. That's how great heaven is. That's how magnificent it is. To the church in Rome he said, for I consider that the sovereigns of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. That word worthy is actually a balanced scale and what he is picturing here is on one side you put all of the glory of heaven and on the other side you put all of your suffering and he says it's not even worth it. You don't even budge the scale. So when you think about all of the pain that you've gone through When you consider all the suffering and difficulty that you've gone through, maybe you're going through it even now, compared to what's awaiting us in heaven, it's small. It can't even be put on the same scale of glory, because glory is so profound. So whatever we suffer in this life, it can't be compared to that eternal glory that awaits us. In other words, we don't seek to escape this life by dreaming of heaven, but we do find we can endure this life. as we set our mind on heaven. We can find that hope and that strength. Remember, heaven is eternal. Earth is temporal. Very temporal. And the irony is that all the things that we can see and touch in this world are less permanent than the things in heaven, which we can only grasp by faith. You make this comparison, you see it's very minimal and very small. And that's why Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 18-51. He says, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Notice what Paul is looking at? The things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Know what Paul is looking at here. He's not looking at his imprisonment. He's not looking at death. He's not looking at this life. What's he looking at? Things not seen. And notice also that we have a building from God. This is the reality. It doesn't say we will have. This is present tense. We already have. It's already a done deal. We have this building from God, a new body. So right now, at this very moment, as we sit here, there is a waiting for you and for me, a new building, a new body from God, eternal in the heavens. It's ours now. It's there, waiting, if you've trusted in Christ. This should excite us. This is what we should be focusing on, looking forward to that day when we have a new body. I look forward to the time when I can roll out of bed and my bones don't creak and I groan. That's going to be awesome. And it's waiting for me right now. That's what I want to focus on. Because this world can't compare. It doesn't have anything that I can hope in. So this is Paul's mindset. Seeking heaven and thinking heaven. And then Paul goes on to apply this in very practical terms in the same chapter, 2 Corinthians 5, but in verse 6-8. Notice what he says. being always of good courage love that being always of good courage and knowing that while we're at home in the body we are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith and not by sight he repeats for we are of good courage I say prefer rather be absent from the body and to be home with the Lord see this world held no fascination for Paul He longed for home. Heaven was his home. This was his preoccupation in life. And because that was the case, notice, he said, we are of good courage. Even in prison, he is of good courage. Even when he is persecuted, he is of good courage. Why? Because he is looking forward to home. He's looking to heaven. And I believe it's the same for us. We too can be of good courage, regardless of what the circumstances are. when we have this mindset focused and set on heaven. So we should long to be called with our heavenly body, look forward to be absent from this body and present with the Lord, and see how the courage just begins to build up. We should become more preoccupied with the glories of eternity than we are with the afflictions and struggles that we go through today. And we are to pursue heaven. We are to fix our attention there, our affections there. This means that we have to purge all that is worldly in our lives. All those things that take and preoccupy us, we have to purge that from us. We have to wean ourselves from the preoccupations of this life. Whatever it is that grabs hold and drags you down, we have to wean ourselves from those things. Looking ahead to eternity and living in the expectation of a sure and amazing and glorious hope. It means looking away from the mundane and temporal, fixing our eyes steadfastly on Him who is the glory of heaven. See, those who live this type of life, those who have this focus, they live the true abundant life as God intended it to be on this earth. Yes, we can have a heavenly existence here. And this is where it begins, setting our minds and our hearts on Him. Ironically, those who pursue earthly comforts are really the most uncomfortable people on earth. The more we pursue, the more unhappy people are. I see it all the time. They want more, they want more, they want more. I remember when I was in seminary, I worked as a security guard downtown, and it was a big business, company, whatever. I never, I mean we're talking about multi-million, multi-billion dollars, and I've never met some of the most miserable people. It doesn't matter how many deals they've made. It doesn't matter how much money they've made. They need more. They need more. They're never happy. And the reason being is because this world and all that it offers was never intended to satisfy you or me. God alone is the one who must satisfy us. And that's what Paul is claiming here. So then we are to relentlessly pursue heaven. Actively pursue heaven don't be passive about it And because that is true I want us to understand a third point here Heaven is a place of never-ending pleasures, and this is very important that we understand this Unfamiliarity with heaven makes a doll and very worldly Christian God has graciously invite us to sample a little bit of heaven here in this world in our lives and God has given us, you could say, a down payment, if you will, on heaven. Because he has transferred our citizenship there. And we know from Ephesians that we are no longer strangers and aliens, but we are fellow citizens with the saints and of God's household. So we belong in heaven. Therefore, we cannot ignore heaven's glory as if it had no significance. Puritan Richard Baxter said, there's nothing else that is worth setting our hearts on. That's where we belong. That's where we should be. But what's best of this is that we can live today in the glows of heaven's glory here and now, even though we're not already in heaven. It's to say that the Christian life is meant to be, as I said earlier, heaven on earth, so that others may see it and that they would be drawn to it. So we can experience that. We could taste the sweetness of the same heaven, which someday will be that reality forever. praising and loving God with all of our hearts, adorning and obeying Christ, pursuing holiness, cherishing fellowship with the saints when we gather, and singing worship together. All of these things are part of the heavenly life, which we will do for all eternity. And so we could taste it here. And the reason why he gives us to taste so that we would long for it more, that we would desire heaven much more. And those same pursuits and privileges will occupy us forever in heaven. Keep that in mind. But we have to have a proper understanding of heaven. And in my job as a hospice chaplain, it's amazing what I hear about what people believe of heaven. I've heard the family members talk about the loved one that they lost, and they say, oh, now they have their wings, and they can fly freely, and they're watching over me wherever I go. I had one lady, no lie, she told me, she says, you know, I put my phone down the other day, I couldn't find it. And then I found it over on my bed and I know that her husband passed. I know that my husband was here, he moved it. He always played tricks on me. I mean, this is their view of heaven. It's a fantasy world. I went to see a family who lost a loved one. They were a motorcycle family. And she couldn't ride a motorcycle for a while because of her sickness. And they all said, oh, and they're all high-fiving and cheering. Yeah, she's in heaven now. She's riding her Harley. The hair's blowing through her wings. Even Jesus can't keep up with her. That's your view of heaven, riding a Harley? Some talk to me about actually now being able to play a perfect game of golf. And I thought, that's heaven? And they're all cheering and smiling. And I can't. I can't smile. I have to put my head down. And in my heart, I have to be careful what I say. So in my heart, I pray, dear God, open their eyes. It's sad. See, many people believe that heaven exists to gratify earthly lusts. And I've met those who have been very cynical. They have the cynical suspicion that heaven will be unbearably monotonous. It's going to be boring. In fact, I had someone tell me, I'd rather be in hell with my friends partying than in heaven with all those boring church people. This is the view of heaven that is put forth out in the world today. This is what people picture heaven as. See, the deep-seated suspicion that heaven may be an eternal bore, it reflects the sinfulness of mankind because it's hard for people to imagine that you can have any kind of fun without sin. There has to be a little bit of element that is evil in there to have fun. How can you have fun if it's just straight? It's just boring. And mankind today thinks there has to be a little bit of this, a little bit of that, that's questionable, a little bit of sin, because it's joyful, it's helpful. That's the sinfulness of mankind. They don't understand heaven. Please do not get your concept of heaven from this world. Don't learn about heaven from what people are saying out in this world today. Let scripture inform you. And scripture makes clear that we will bask in the glory of God, realizing at last our chief end. And what is our chief end? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We will fulfill that perfectly for all eternity when we are there. Nothing boring and mundane about that. The psalmist writes in Psalm 1611, in your presence is fullness of joy. No, not just a little bit of joy. Fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures for how long? Forever! Never-ending pleasures, never-ending joy in heaven. It's not boring, it's not mundane. There's no such thing as humdrum in heaven. Scripture repeatedly makes clear that heaven is a realm of unsurpassed joy, unfading glory. It's undiminished bliss forever, unlimited delights, unending pleasures over and over. It will be a perfect existence. That's what we look forward to. Life there will be devoid of any sorrows, any cares, any tears, any fears, any pain. The Apostle John wrote in Revelation chapter 21, he got this description from God in heaven. Chapter 21 verse 4 and 5 and says, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall no longer be notice, no more death. There will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. For the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new." Beloved, that's heaven. That's eternity. There's nothing in this world that can compare to that. Think about it. Murphy's Law will finally be nullified. I love this. In heaven, whatever might go wrong, can't. Isn't that awesome? That's heaven. We should get excited about it. It's such a perfect dwelling. The best of our spiritual experiences here are only small samples of heaven. Our highest spiritual heights that we've experienced and the profoundest of all of our joys, the greatest of all of our spiritual blessings in this life, intensified by millions, will be normal in heaven. There's nothing mundane There's nothing boring about that. And so this should fill us with incredible hope. This is what Paul could say in Philippians, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If he's going to continue on living, he's focused on heaven, he's focused on the Lord. But if he dies, it's going to be far greater. The prospect of heaven made him joyful, even in the face of death. He said that he would rather be absent from the body to be at home with the Lord in 2 Corinthians 5. And this was not a morbid death wish on Paul's part. He was not saying he's fed up with living and, man, it's time to die. That's not what he was saying. Rather, he was expressing his confidence that earthly existence is not the end of life at all for the Christian. In fact, he wrote in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, verse 53, for this perishable must put on the imperishable. Get that word. And this mortal must put on Immortality do you realize that today you are immortal if you're a child of God Isn't that awesome? That's heaven immortality Eternity it's a week to have a heart like Paul's yearning to be cold with our heavenly form to exchange this world for eternal joy Without a mindset on heaven we will never have this yearning and joy Please understand Heaven is a realm of unimaginable glory where we will grow Continually and everlasting joy and delight in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 Paul describes our salvation and in the first three verses He describes graphically how hopeless we were We were what dead in trespasses and sins. We were children of God's wrath You know what we deserved apart from Christ God's omnipotent wrath against us. We were dead and hopeless and But then in verse 4, two of my favorite words in all of scripture, but God. But God, being rich in mercy and grace, being rich in love, what did He do? He saved us. He made us alive in Christ. His grace saved us, made us alive and seated us with Him in the heavenlies. And the thought of God's grace reaching out to save us when we deserve the opposite should overwhelm us. But to me, the key verse is verse 7. One of my favorite verses. Because in verse 7, he makes an incredible statement. Notice in Ephesians 2, 7, God saved us for this reason. That in the ages to come, that's eternity, that's heaven. In the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness poured us in Christ Jesus. Note the vivid description here of what heaven will be like. Heaven is a place where the riches of God's grace shine even more brightly than they do here on earth. Every moment that we are there, every moment that we are there, God will pour out the riches of His grace upon us over and over and over again, never ending. Our minds are going to be blown apart because we're going to see the awesomeness of God's kindness and He never ends. Think about it, our God is infinite. How long is it going to take an infinite God to reveal His infinite glory? for all eternity. And so over and over He gives us new measures of His grace continually without end. And we will be stunned, overwhelmed with joy. Whoa! Wow! You know the 4th of July when they have all these fireworks and at the end they have the fast show? You hear people, ooh, ah. Let me tell you something, that's nothing compared to the glory of God in heaven. And the oohs and the ahs in heaven, for all eternity, baby. All eternity. Ooh, oh, wow! And God just keeps pouring it out, keeps pouring it out, keeps pouring it out. That's why He saved us. Because He wants to show how great He is to His children. That's what we have to look forward to. So why would we want to get caught up with this world? That's the point that Paul is making here. Doesn't it just make your heart prefer the riches of heaven rather than these insignificant trinkets of this earth? It's going to be awesome in heaven. So remove worldliness from your life. Become consumed with heaven. Be consumed with that ultimate reality that we have. Heaven is our eternal destiny. And all of that infinite glory, all of that infinite joy, That's ours. It's God's promise. It's waiting for us now. So why would you want to be consumed with the shallow, limited, insignificant stuff of this world? All of it's going to end. What's going on in our government? That's going to come to an end. These people who want to defy God's Word, every one of them will bow the knee. guaranteed they will. So why focus on that? Why get caught up with that? Focus on heaven. Yes, we hear it, we see it, but we should be the ones declaring to this world when people are discouraged, say, you know what? Heaven is my reality. I'm incredibly happy right now because I know where I'm going. It doesn't matter what these people do in Washington. It doesn't affect my life in heaven. Paul was in prison. falsely accused, chained to a Roman guard. How would you like that, being chained to somebody 24-7? And yet he declares he's of good courage. Why? Because he set his mind on the things above, where we should be setting our minds. So I wanna encourage you today, cry out to God to help you to relentlessly pursue heaven. Seek heaven, think heaven. It is hard because the enemy loves distractions, doesn't he? He loves to throw distractions so that our minds are focused elsewhere. Seek heaven. Think heaven. However, as I mentioned earlier, this is only for those who have been raised up in Christ, only for those who have trusted in Christ. If you're here this morning and you've never trusted in Christ, or maybe you're listening or watching, This reality of heaven is not for you. It doesn't belong to you at all. But I would invite you this morning to turn to Jesus Christ. Turn to Him. Turn from your sin. Confess your sin to Him. He promises to forgive. He doesn't want to judge. When you confess your sin, He cleanses. So I encourage you to repent of that. Turn to Him. Trust in Him. When you do, heaven is your reality. And if you're here and you don't know that, or you have questions about it, after this is over, please come forward. Come and talk to one of us. Talk to Pastor Steve, other elders. We would love nothing more than to tell you about this great reality that you can experience now and forever in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Our God, we bow before you in awe of what you have done and who you are. Oh, the reality that you've given to us, that heaven is home, that that which is most precious to us is there, you, the triune holy God present. Lord, we live in a world that is dark, a world that is perishing, but we thank you that in the midst of a perishing world, you've allowed us, you work in us so that we can live a life that is heavenly-minded, filled with joy, of good courage, So I pray for each of these, my brothers and sisters here this morning, myself included, through the power of your spirit, oh God, lift us up to that level where we would be focusing upon you, where our minds and our hearts would be consumed with you, we'd be seeking you passionately, so that the overflow would be joy and delight and that others may see it and grant to us the privilege to share the gospel with them. And Lord, if there's anyone here that may be questioning their salvation, anyone here that maybe does not know you, oh Father, may Your Spirit bring conviction upon them that today would be the day of salvation for them. So Father, thank You for Your precious Word, for the precious promise. In Jesus' name, Amen.