Slides: Why Eternity Matters Now

Why Eternity Matters Now
Colossians 3:1-4

 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Why eternity matters now: Ten words ending in Y

1. Bravery
2. Reality
3. Prosperity
4. Generosity 
5. Purity
6. Dignity
7. Unity
8. Urgency 
9. Priority  
10. Energy

1. Bravery

• What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Cor 15:32)

• Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. (Heb 11:35)

• Braving birth pangs for joy of child. (John 16:21)

• “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot)

2. Reality

“Welcome to the real world.”

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

3. Prosperity

• Investing in a winner

• For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:25)

• Rich farmer’s retirement (Luke 12:16-21)

• Treasure in heaven (Luke 12:43)

• Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

4. Generosity

When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:12-14)

Use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you may be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)

5. Purity

• When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

• You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming… in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:11-13)

6. Dignity

• Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? … Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! (1 Corinthians 6:1-3)

• To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne. (Revelation 3:21)

• You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)

• They will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

7. Unity

• “To dwell above with saints in love—oh, that will sure be glory. To dwell below with saints we know—well, that’s another story.”

• All races: “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes.” (Revelation 7:9)

• All Christ-exalting, Bible-believing churches

8. Urgency

• Eternal banquet (Matt 22:1-14; Luke 14:16-24)

   -Accept invitation without delay or excuses.

   -Be sure to accept and put on the wedding clothes Christ provides.

• Urgent to trust the Savior yourself.

• Urgent to help others meet the Savior.

• Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 15:50)

9. Priority

• College students might like partying better than studying. Is college the ultimate, or is it mainly preparation for what comes after?

• Athletes train in order to pursue the prize: Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:25)

Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

10. Energy

• I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus… Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:14,20).

• They were longing for a better country—a heavenly one (Heb 11:16).

• We have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven (2 Cor 5:1).

Why eternity matters now: Ten words ending in Y.

1. Bravery
2. Reality
3. Prosperity
4. Generosity 
5. Purity
6. Dignity
7. Unity
8. Urgency 
9. Priority  
10. Energy