Chapter 2, while you're turning
there, after the service, if we could set the tables up for
Vacation Bible School. Some of you men do that. That
would be very helpful. Verse 5. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection
the world to come, whereof we speak." Now, here we have a beautiful,
divinely inspired phrase, the world to come. It's what the Lord Jesus called
life. If thou wilt enter in to life. This is so transient and temporary,
what's going on right now. This is not life. What is it? I don't know what
I would call it, but it's not life. Now this world to come will not
be in subjection to angels, the writer tells us, but to men.
The man, Christ Jesus, and all of his people. Now what
is this world to come that the writer speaks of? It's the better
country that Abraham looked for. It's the better country that
I'm looking for. You know, a lot of people, when
they hear of afterlife, they get kind of bored with it, pie
in the sky, who even knows if there will be one and so on.
But to the believer, they know that God is. And they know that
after this life is eternity. Eternity. A never ending existence. And that is the life that I'm
chiefly concerned about entering in. Look with me in Hebrews chapter
11. Now, this world to come that
the writer speaks of makes a believer live in this world as a stranger
and a pilgrim. And in this world, I'm living
in this world right now as just a temporary resident I'm here
for a while. I know it's not going to be long.
And I live here as a stranger and a pilgrim. Now to the unbeliever,
this is all they have. They love this world and they
can't bear the thought of leaving this world. But to the believer,
I'm just passing through, biding my time, waiting for an infinitely
better world. Verse 13 of Hebrews 11, these
all died just like you and I will die. Might be a couple of weeks,
might be 50 years, I don't know, but it's not going to be very
long. It's not going to be very long. You and I are going to
take our last breath and we're going to die and we're going
to stand before God. And deep down, everybody knows
that. Deep down, everybody knows that. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off
and were persuaded of them and embrace them and confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say
such things declare plainly that they seek a country. of the world
to come, a better country. And truly, if they had been mindful
of that country from whence they came out, they might have had
opportunity of return, but now they desire a better country,
better than anything in this world. You know, there's so much
unrest, right? I mean, it's always been that
way. It's always been a time of unrest. I mean, every generation thinks
it's the worst generation that's ever been. Maybe it is. I don't
know. But I know this. There's so much unrest. There's
so much upheaval. There's no stability. I desire
a better country, that is, and heavenly, where God is not ashamed
to be called their God. Isn't that something to think
of God not being ashamed of you? That's the heritage of every
believer, being perfect in Christ Jesus. God's not gonna be ashamed
to own me as one of his, one of his dear children. He hath
prepared for them a city. Now this city that Abraham looked
for, this world to come that I'm looking for, is the New Jerusalem
spoken of in Revelation chapter 21. We looked at this in Bible
study this morning, but would you turn with me to Revelation
21. John says, And I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were past away. You know everything is going
to be burned. Even the elements, the scripture
says, are going to melt with a fervent heat. The time is coming
when God's going to burn up everything and there's going to be a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now that's
the promise of the scripture. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven." I love the
imagery here. This is the bride of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the New Jerusalem, coming down. Not going up, but
coming down. You see, I'm in the Lord Jesus
Christ now. All of His people are. And we're coming down, descending
with Him, united to Him. I, John, saw the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband." I can't even explain the beauty. I can't even describe the beauty
that every believer possesses in the Lord Jesus Christ. But
prepared as a bride adorned for our great husband. And I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ is with men and he will dwell with them
and they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall 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. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, I make all things new. Look in verse 10. And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain. and showed me that great city,
the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having
the glory of God. Look down in verse 21. And the twelve gates were twelve
pearls, every several gate was one pearl, and the street of
the city was pure gold, and it was transparent glass. And like
I said this morning, that tells you how worthless gold is. They
used to pave the streets with it. It's what men live here for,
to have gold. The love of money is the root
of all evil. And in heaven they paved the streets with it. That's
how how worthless it is compared to spiritual blessings. It paves
the streets. Well, isn't that neat to think
about that street paved in gold? And I saw no temple therein,
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it,
and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to
shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb
is the light thereof, and the nations of them which are saved.
shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do
bring their glory and honor into it, and the gates of it shall
not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there,
and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into
it, and there shall in no wise enter in anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. And He showed me a pure
river of water of life, clear as a crystal, proceeding out
of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the
street of it, on either side of the river, there was the tree
of life, which bared twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month. And the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. There shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And
His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face. and his name shall be in their
foreheads. And there shall be no night there,
they shall need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord
God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.
And he said unto me, these sayings are faithful and true. And the
Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto the
servants the things which must shortly be done. Now this is
this description of this world that is to come. Everything we see is going to be burnt. It's just really not important. You know, the Lord did say, I
read that verse of scripture, what would it profit a man if
he gained the whole world? What if we got everything that
this world considers good and desirable and valuable? What would it profit a man if
he gained the whole world? and lost his soul. What would
a man give in exchange for his soul? The world to come. Eternity. An eternal heaven and
an eternal hell with a great gulf fixed between the two so
that there's no passage between the one and the other And where
you are is where you will spend eternity. Now, of all the subjects
that I probably least like talking about, I least like talking about
hell. I just don't like talking about it. I think it's interesting
that in the writings of the Apostle Paul, he never even mentions
the word hell. He thought it to be so horrible,
I suppose. But you know who talked about
hell more than anybody else, by far? the Lord Jesus himself. He gave many warnings regarding
hell. Now, according to the scripture,
hell is a place of eternal torment, the fires thereof fueled by the
justice of God. And understand me, when we think
that's too harsh, why would God make a hell? All we do is prove
how little we see of sin. Because if we have any idea of
what sin is and how evil it is, we won't ask that question. There is a place called hell. I've heard people say that there'll
be more people in heaven than in hell, but you can't really
get that from the scripture. For the Lord said, straight is
the gate. And narrow is the way that leads
to life, and few there be that find it. But broad is the gate,
and wide is the way that leads to destruction, and many there
be that go in thereat. But in heaven, the better country, it's a place
of no tears, No troubles because there's no
sin. No time. At some point, somebody
here is going to look at their watch while I'm preaching and
say, when's this going to be over? Nothing like that goes on in
heaven. No need of a watch. Eternity has begun. There is no time. And it's a
place where there will be no tears. Turn with me for a moment
to Matthew chapter 13. This is a parable of our Lord
Jesus. In verse 24. Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man
which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his
enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
And when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. And tares look just like wheat.
You can't tell the difference between the two. They look just
like wheat. But when the blade was sprung
up and brought forth fruit, there appeared the tares also. So the
servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst
not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath
it tares? And he said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The
servant said unto him, wilt thou that we go and gather them up?
But he said, nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you
root up also the wheat with them. Let them both grow together until
the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I
will say to the reapers, gather you together the tares and bind
them in bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into my
barn. And here our Lord gives the meaning of this beginning
in verse 36. Then sent the multitude away
and went into the house. And his disciples came unto him
saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. And
he answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed
is the son of man. The field is the world. The good
seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the
children of the wicked one. The enemy that has sowed them
is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world. And the
reapers are the angels. And therefore the tares are gathered
and burned in the fire. So shall it be in the end of
this world. The son of man shall send forth
his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things
that offend and then which do iniquity and shall cast them
into a furnace of fire. There should be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father who hath ears
to hear. Let him hear. James says to all of us, what
is your life? You know, people think they're
so important. People think they're so important. I'll die. My family will mourn
for a bit. A few years on down the road,
they'll still remember me, but nobody else will. And if the
Lord doesn't come back, nobody's going to remember Todd Nyberg.
It's as if he didn't ever even live. What is your life? James says it's even a vapor
that appears for a little while and passes away. Moses said, we spend our years
as a tale that is told. The days of our years are three
score and 10. And if by reason of strength,
they're four score years, yet it's their strength, labor and
sorrow. It shall soon be cut off and
we will fly away. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. if he gained the whole world
and lose his soul. Now, the Bible is chiefly concerned
with the world to come. Not this world, but the world
to come. That's what the Bible is chiefly
concerned with. Now, does that mean that our
life in this present world is inconsequential? Not at all. Not at all. Turn with me to Matthew
chapter 25. I want to look at several scriptures
upon this subject because you think, well, I just need to wait
till this life is over and doesn't matter. I mean, this life doesn't
matter anyway. I'm just waiting for that life to come. Wait a
minute. What you do in this life, how you are in this life will
say a whole lot about the life to come. And let me show you
this in the Scriptures. Matthew chapter 25, verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon
the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered
all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divided the sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on
His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then shall the King
say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Now the thought is not over.
The only people that will be in heaven, though, are the people
for whom it was prepared from the foundation of the world,
the elect of God, those that Christ died for. Nobody else
will even be there. But look what he goes on to say. For I was hungry, and you gave
me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited
me. I was in prison and you came to me. He gave us evidence things
that were done in this life. Turn to first Timothy chapter
six. I want to show you several scriptures
on this first Timothy chapter six. Verse 17, Paul says to Timothy,
charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
high minded nor trust in uncertain riches. They can be taken away
just like that. But in the living God who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy that they do good. that they
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate,
laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the
time to come that they may lay hold upon eternal life. Now,
does that mean our works are the foundation of salvation?
You know better than that. But our works will prove whether
God has actually done anything for us. Works done in this flesh. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse
10. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body, right here, according to that he hath
done, whether it be good or bad, knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord we persuade men. Now, the things done in his body,
in my body, I believe the gospel or I don't. I follow Christ or
I don't. I love Christ or I don't. Things done in my body right
here will prove whether or not I really know the Lord. You know,
I think of that passage of Scripture where we read, Blessed are the
dead. that die in the Lord from henceforth
that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow
them. They don't come before them.
They don't come beside them, but they follow them. as evidence. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8
and 9 says, for by grace, you say, through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. You see, where there is real
faith, there's always works. Faith without works is what?
Dead, being alone. For in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith,
which worketh by love. Now, I guarantee you, somebody's
listening to this and they're thinking, And it's making me
nervous. I don't know if I have works
enough to prove to me I'm a believer. Now, understand this. If you
can come up with enough works about yourself to make you think
that you're a believer, I guarantee you, you're not one. I just guarantee
you. That's not the point. We're not trying to, well, I've
read my Bible so much. I've witnessed so much. I've
prayed so much. I must be a believer. No, you've missed it all together.
You've missed it. Any assurance you get from your
works is a false assurance. And it's also true Every believer
will walk in good works in this life. And if they don't, they're
not believers. What did the Lord give as evidence?
He said, in as much as you've done it, to the least of these,
my brethren, you've done it to me. Now, the people who did these
things, they didn't know they did them. They said, when did
we feed you? When did we come visit you? We
didn't even know we did it. And the Lord said, in as much
as you did to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to
me. But that other crowd, they said, we thought we did. But
he said, in as much as you did it not to the least of these,
my brethren, you've done it not to me. The world to come, Paul
said in first Corinthians chapter 15, verse 24, then come at the
end. when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall have put
down all rule and authority and power for he must reign until
he has put all enemies under his feet. You see the Lord Jesus
Christ will return as a thief in the night and yet like lightning
lighting up the midnight sky and everybody is going to know
him. How? I don't know, but everybody
is gonna know exactly who he is. Every eye shall see him.
Some will be horrified upon his return, but many will rejoice. I love that scripture in Hebrews
chapter nine, to them that look for him, shall he appear a second
time without sin unto salvation. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you appear with him in glory. When
the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of
life that fadeth not away. You know, even the thief on the
cross knew something about this. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come in your kingdom. Even the most immature believer
knows something of Christ's kingship and the fact that He's going
to return in much glory. Now, upon His return, there will
be the resurrection, the beginning of the world to come. Turn with
me to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Verse 24, Verily I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death to life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is when the dead, shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."
Oh, if you ever hear His voice, you'll live. If the only voice
you ever hear is my voice, you're going to remain dead in sins.
But if you ever hear His voice, oh, the power of His voice. For as the father hath life in
himself, so have he given the son to have life in himself.
And he had given him authority to execute judgment because he's
the son of man. Marvel not at this for the hours
coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear his
voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation. Now, we read here of the resurrection
of life and the resurrection of damnation. Those that have
done good. How good have you done? How good
have you done? Now, here's the gospel. I have
done nothing but good because the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
is mine. His righteousness is mine. I'm one of those fellows who
did nothing but good. That's how real union with Christ is.
That's how real His righteousness is. I've done nothing but good.
But what about your sin? It's been put away. There it
is. What sin? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies them.
Who can condemn? It's Christ that died. That's
the only answer I need. And I can look forward to the
resurrection with confidence. I'm one of those folks who have
done good because I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
how I know He died for me. I believe on Him. I trust Him. I'm resting only in Him. I'm
not fearing this. They that have done good under
the resurrection of life and they that have done evil. under
the resurrection of damnation. Eternity begins. The resurrection
of life and the resurrection of damnation. You see, as we
die, that's how we'll live eternally. And let me show you this in the
scripture. Turn to Revelation 22. Verse 11. He that is unjust, unjustified,
still in his sins, let him be unjust still, let him remain
that way. He which is filthy, unholy and
wicked, if he dies that way, when he raises from the dead,
let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, Let
him be righteous still. And he that's holy, let him be
holy still. Now, unbelievers will be raised
to everlasting condemnation. And believers will be raised
to everlasting life. Paul said this corruptible must
put on incorruption and this mortal must put on. immortality. Now, here's what's going to happen.
Now, I can't describe heaven. Can't even begin to. Wish I could,
but it's evidently best that I not. But John did say this. He said, we know this. We know
this. Now, this is something we're
certain of. We're not unclear about this. We know this. That when
he shall appear, we shall be like him. And this is the city
I'm talking about. This is what I'm looking forward
to. I'm going to be perfectly conformed to the image of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, is that a good place to
be? I tell you what, if you're a believer, you long to be out
of this body of sin, out of this body of unbelief. You long to
be done with sin forever and to be perfectly conformed to
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what heaven is. It's being
like Him. It's being with Him. It's seeing
His face. It's bowing at His feet. It's
seeing Him. If I got the last place there,
I'll be awful grateful. And that's the place I belong
anyway. I'm not looking for a better place. I'm looking for the least
place. May God give me the grace always to do that, but just to
see His face. When by His grace I shall look
on His face, that will be glory. Be glory for me. It surely will. Turn to Psalm
17 for just a moment. Psalm 17. The world to come. David speaks of this world to
come here. He says in verse 13, Arise, O Lord, disappoint him. He's talking about the unbeliever.
Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked,
which is thy sword. You're using them. From men which
are thy hand, O Lord. From the men of this world who
have their portion in this life. This life is what they're all
about. Their portion, their happiness, their joy, their aspiration is
all found in this life. And whose belly thou fillest
with thy hid treasures. They're full of children. They
leave the rest of their substance to their babes. But as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. Now, in my body right now, I
can't imagine looking at him without just putting my head
down in shame. But you know, the day is coming.
when I'm gonna look at him face to face in righteousness. David says, I'll be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. Same thing John said. And that is how every believer
will stand before God in judgment. Turn with me to Romans 2. Romans 2, verse 16. In the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men, the stuff nobody else knows about but you
and God. The secrets of men. How would
you like to have your secrets judged? Now, I've used this illustration
before. How would you feel if all your
thoughts in the last 24 hours were put on a screen for everybody
to see? Man, we'd get out of here so
quick, we wouldn't want anybody to see. But you know, my secrets
are going to be put up on a screen for everybody to see. And you
know what's going to be there? Nothing but pure righteousness. Nothing but pure holiness. My secrets will be judged. Now, this is how real union with
Christ is. This is how real His righteousness
is. You're going to look into my
very heart, and my secrets will be revealed. God will judge me,
and I'll be accepted. Isn't that wonderful? You know, we can actually look
at judgment without fear. Now, if salvation is in any way
dependent upon something I do, I've got no confidence, none
at all. I'm scared to death. But if salvation
is what he has done, period, I've got confidence, boldness. on the Day of Judgment. Bold
shall I stand in that great day, for who unto my charge shall
lay, fully absolved from these I am from sin's tremendous curse
and shame. Now, as we are in this present world,
we have this assurance. Our Lord said, in my Father's
house are many mansions. many dwelling places. If it were
not so, I would have told you and I go and prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there you may be also. Now that's where I want
to be. I want to be wherever he is. I want to be in him and
I want to be at his feet. So until that time we wait on
him. Turn to Philippians chapter one. Now, all I need to know about
heaven is this. It's all of grace. And I'm going to be just like
Christ. And I'm going to be with him. I don't need to know anything
else. That's enough to float my boat.
Look what Paul said in Philippians chapter one. Beginning in verse 20. According to my earnest expectation
and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all
boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life or by death, it doesn't matter
to me. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The best day of my life
is the last. Then life begins. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I don't
know. For I'm in a strait between the
two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which
is far better. You know, waiting can be a good
thing. And this is what we're doing right now. We're waiting.
We wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. I'm waiting. I'm a
stranger and a pilgrim here, and I'm waiting for that world
to come. But waiting can be a good thing. This is a trite illustration,
but it means something. Man, when I'm getting ready to
go on vacation, the anticipation I feel for going on vacation.
I love it. You get more excitement almost
out of waiting for it than being on the vacation. You know, you're
waiting on it. You're so excited. Waiting can be a good thing.
What if today you're in debt? Let's say a million dollars in
debt. That would be a crushing debt,
wouldn't it? A million dollars in debt. But what if tomorrow
you knew you were going to inherit 10 million? You get through the day, wouldn't
you? What if today you're sick, but tomorrow you'll have perfect
health restored? You can make it through the day,
can't you? What if today you're in trouble? Trouble, trouble, trouble. serious trouble, but tomorrow,
there'll be no trouble. You'll make it through the day,
won't you? You see, faith is hope. Hope is a confident expectation
toward the future, and it's based upon something that happened
in the past. perfect life and death and resurrection
of Christ. And isn't hope wonderful? We're looking for a better country.
A better country. And every believer in here is
looking for a better country. We can't wait. We anticipate
that. And we know that between now
and then, all things work together. for good. To them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. Now would you
listen to me? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
right now. Don't wait for anything else. You are commanded to believe
on Christ. Don't say, what if I'm not one
of the elect? Don't say, what if Christ didn't die for me?
You don't need to worry about that. All you are to do, you're
commanded by God to believe on Christ. Now, in believing, you'll
find out it's because he chose you before time began. I realize
that, but you don't need to worry about whether or not you're one
of the elect. Your one responsibility is to believe the truth. Is the
gospel true? Then believe it. Believe it. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou, thou shalt be saved. And you will spend
eternity in this glorious world to come. The world that now is,
is just a blip on the screen. but owe the world to come. And
if you don't believe on Christ, you will spend eternity in that
other place. Believe. I can't make you. I wish I could.
I can't make myself, but I do. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. That's God's promise. He said,
In that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. Let's pray together.