Video Transcript: Why Eternity Matters Now

And church growth experts will sometimes advise pastors, to provide guidance for people now, and practical ideas for people to have a better life. 

Now, one of the bestselling religious books is your best life now. Well, if your best life is now, then Christianity should be tossed. Because Paul said, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. 

I want to deal though with the question, Why does eternity matter? Now even though it's kind of putting things backward? I think the better question is, why would now matter in light of eternity, in light of the possibility of an eternal destiny, of suffering and horror, and being cut off from everything good forever, or else a destiny of delighting in the direct presence of God and the joy of God and perfect fellowship and love, and absolute pleasure and delight, and that lasts forever. 

So the future can hold either everlasting wonder and love and delight, or everlasting Harbor, the question almost becomes, why would now matter, compared to forever. But having said all that, I'm going to get into why eternity matters now and to show you that isn't if your concern was, how to be practical now. And make your life the best. It could be now and count for the most, you have to always keep eternity at the forefront of your thinking, the least practical thing you can do is to get practical and think only about right now.

Why does eternity the matter? Now I want to look at 10 words, 10 words ending in why, just as eternity ends in why. And we're asking why. So here are 10 words ending in why, that show why eternity matters. Now, eternity is the key to bravery, to the correct sense of reality, to real prosperity and understanding what prosperity is even in this world. It's the trigger for real generosity, it's a great incentive for purity. Eternity is the source of our ultimate dignity as humans, it's a place to discover full unity and anticipating eternity can build unity right now. 

It gives a sense of urgency to all that we do, and to being ready for it already in this life. It helps us to arrange our priorities, if you're going to have a good sense of priority, one that is based on how things ought to be, you better be thinking of eternity. And finally, eternity gives us energy to make it through this life. 

Those are 10 key things for having your best life now. And in order to have that life now, and what it's meant to be. You have to keep your focus on eternity to keep your mind on things above where Christ is seated that the right hand of God and not just on earthly things. And when you have your mind on things above and on eternity, it'll transform your approach to earthly things as well.

First of all bravery. Paul asked this question, what do I gain if humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus it goes into the arena where they're killing Christians. Why would he go out there? If there's no eternity, If the dead are not raised? Let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Have a blast while you last. That's the only sensible thing to do. If there is no eternity, why would you sacrifice anything? If you're just going to be dead at the end of the day? Some were tortured. 

Some Christians have been tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. These people were just stupid. If there is no better life waiting, some of them were sawed into some are tormented, some were burned. All sorts of clever ways of torturing and killing people have been devised.

And Christians have borne those things and endured them because they expected to rise again to a better life. Jesus said a woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you now is your time of grief. But I will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take away your joy. 

So Jesus is saying, living in this painful world, as a Christian is kind of like being a woman who's going into labor. You're living in those last days between Jesus first coming in The Second Coming, the world is groaning in pain as Romans eight says, in the end the labor pain of giving birth to a new and better world. And one reason you can put up with that pain is you know that the baby is going to be born. And when that new world is born, you're gonna forget the anguish because of the joy. Jim Elliot, was martyred as a missionary he went to an area of the world that he knew was dangerous. He went to a people group that he knew was murderous. And why did he go? 

Well, here's one statement from Jim Elliott, he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose, you're gonna die, we're all gonna die. Do you want to die for something worth dying for? The key to bravery, to being willing to even lay down your life is to know that eternity is worth dying for that you might live again. A second reason why eternity matters now is it gives you a sense of reality. You can live in a very unreal sense of how things are, unless you're aware of eternity, we sometimes say, Welcome to the real world. And oftentimes, we say that when something bad has just happened, or when somebody has been really cruel, or nasty, or life has gotten really ugly, and we say, Welcome to the real world, is that the real world, the Bible teaches that from all eternity, God has existed as a union of love of the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the eternal God is a union of love and perfection and beauty. 

And the destiny of all of God's people, is to be caught up into that love and joy and beauty. That is the ultimate reality. It is not a problem when children are sheltered from what we call the real world of wickedness and vile temptations and all of that garbage. The problem is that so many people are sheltered from the real world of love and encouragement and beauty. We say that somebody is sheltered, if they don't know all the garbage, I say they're being sheltered in the wrong way, when they don't know all the beauties, and all the promises of God, and the reality of eternity. Scripture says, 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 the things that are unseen. 

For the things that are seen are transient, they're temporary. But the things that are unseen, are eternal, they last forever, when you fix your eyes on the unseen realities that are coming. And on eternity, you realize, that's the real world, the real world is one where Satan and sin are cast down, where Jesus is triumphant, where a new heaven comes to a new earth, and all things are made perfect. And when you arrive there, maybe one of the things that Jesus will say to you is welcome to the real world. And in the meantime, live in light of that reality. Don't think that what some people call the real world here and now with all of its ugliness, and nastiness is what you got to do. And you got to just do whatever it takes to get ahead and be nasty, because that's the way life is in real living in the real world. That is an unreal thing. And the Bible says all of that is going to vanish, like a bad dream, as though it almost had never been real at all. And the solid things the eternal things are what is real and lasts forever.

A third reason to keep a focus on eternity, even in this life, and the way that it transforms our life in this world is it gives us an accurate sense of what prosperity is. Jesus says don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal and stock markets crash and, and things can go bad and you can lose everything. store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal For where your treasure is there. Your heart will be also you are not prosperous unless you have treasure in heaven. You don't have real prosperity. 

If you don't have eternity. Jesus told the story of a rich farmer who planned for everything. He was an expert financial planner, he made a raft of money. He was very prosperous, he had made his retirement plans and now the time has come to retire. And he said to himself, self. You've laid up plenty of goods for years to come. take life easy Eat, drink and be merry. And God said yes, you are an excellent financial planner. You are a very wise man. 

Now what did God say? You full tonight, your soul is required of you you're going to die. Then who's going to get all that stuff that you start up? An awful lot of people in this world are really worried about their retirement accounts. They save up they scrimp they do what they need to do. And to me, it's fine to plan for retirement. But why would you plan for those few years after the age of 65 or so? And forget about the unending years of forever. Jesus told another story about a rich guy. And this rich guy had everything you wanted. And there was a poor beggar at his Gates who had nothing. And you'd say, yeah, that rich guy, he was prosperous. And that poor guy, Lazarus, oh, man, do I feel sorry for him? Jesus gave a little different perspective. They both died. The rich man got a fancy burial and Lazarus didn't. But the rich man ended up in hell, suffering and the torment of the flames forever. And Lazarus was in the place of the blessed forever, who was more prosperous, the one who had a few years of poverty on Earth, but joy forever in eternity, or the one who lived like a fat cat on earth, and then roasted in hell for eternity. prosperity has to be understood in life of eternity. 

Jesus asks, What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? That's the prosperity question what good is it if you get everything he ever wanted, and you didn't want the right thing, the one thing you needed eternity with Christ. Generosity is also defined and inspired by eternity. Jesus said, When you give a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, less, they also invite you in return and you'd 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. 

Now, that's a funny way of saying things Jesus, oh, you wouldn't want to invite the relatives and, and the rich business associates because they might pay you back Oh, horror of horrors, you wouldn't want to be paid back, you wouldn't want to get a delicious meal back, you wouldn't want to have a business deal, pay you back for the lunch that you had to gather, you got to find somebody who can't pay you back. And Jesus odd way of arguing is you want to find people who can't pay it back, because then the only one who can pay you back is God at the resurrection of the righteous. And that's where the big payoff comes. Jesus says, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, you may be welcomed into eternal dwellings, you've only got money and stuff for a few years. 

So use what you've got to bless other people. And then when you go to glory, those people you've blessed with your substance will welcome you and rejoice with you. When you give to missions, and are generous in your giving to missions, and someday you go and enter eternity, and you find people who were brought to salvation in Jesus Christ because of donations you gave, or people where you gave of your time. And if you're allowed to help them, and it drew them to Christ, and you've got friends for yourself, there are when there are fellow believers whose lives you touch, and whom you encourage, you bear fruit for eternity, when you're generous with them. If you're just looking out for me, myself and I, what a tragedy. That would be. And those of us who are called to be leaders in the church, are called to show people what generosity accomplishes and what kind of generosity can really bring eternal benefit. It's okay to have your friends and family over and to feed them just don't expect too much eternal reward for it. That's just common decency. That's just, you scratch my back, I scratch yours, we're nice to each other. Jesus says Be nice to those who can't be nice back and it'll bring some eternal benefits for you as well be generous. 

Purity depends to a great degree on your view of eternity. Jesus tells us through his Apostle John that when Christ 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. Keeping your body pure for the Lord, avoiding sexual immorality. This is often inspired by a desire for God and for eternity and for knowing that our bodies belong to him. Some of the most immoral people in history who were religious were people who were part of Christian cults that abandoned Christianity, they were sometimes called Gnostics, and they didn't believe in the resurrection of the body. So they thought that you could do whatever you wanted with your body and it had no relevance because it was just your spirit that was going to live on. And John said those things were false that Jesus came in the flesh that Jesus came in the body, that your body is resurrected. And when if Jesus is purer than you want to keep yourself pure, so that you may see him then to you want to live holy and godly lives, says Peter, as you look forward to the day of God and speed, it's coming in keeping with his promise we're looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of what? 

The home of righteousness. If eternity is the home of purity, the home of righteousness, the home of love and godliness, then, as we anticipate eternity, as we look forward to our eternal home, we become more and more pure and righteous ourselves. And we have the drive and incentive to do that.

Dignity is built up by an awareness of eternity. The Apostle says, Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more than matters pertaining to this life? He's speaking, by the way in the context of people suing each other? Who are Christians, and he says, you silly Christians going to court with secular judges? That's nuts you are going to be judging the world someday. And here you're taking your arguments in front of unbelievers over piddly little stupid matters like money. 

Don't you know who you are? Don't you know who your fellow believers are, you are people who are going to reign with Christ, who are going to be exalted higher than angels, act like it early start acting like it a little bit. There's dignity that comes from knowing our eternal destiny. If you knew who you were someday going to become in eternity, you would consider so many things just beneath you, that are so foul and wicked, that you wouldn't even want to bother with them and other things, so trivial, that out that they aren't worth your time, and your attention, because you're above that you're beyond that. 

Now, you're never beyond serving others, and doing lowly things to love them and help but that's not beneath your dignity, because then you're being like Christ, but to sin, or to swallow up all your life on small, unimportant trivial things, when you are going to be so great is a waste and think of the other people you're going to be dealing with if you if you knew that a young man that you knew, or a boy that you knew would someday be President of the United States, how would you treat him? Okay, think about that for a minute. If you knew that somebody was going to be really great, and it was going to rule even if they were kind of obnoxious right now, even if they weren't very impressive, right now, if you just had an ability to see into the future and see how great they would be, would that influence you, you see, a young girl with her runny nose and not looking too good. And her hair's a mess. And yet you have this picture, and you knew for a fact that she was going to be justice on the Supreme Court, you would not want to be one of those in her background, who was a jerk to her with you. 

So if you if you knew that this person was going to be a president, or that one was going to be a Supreme Court justice, or somebody else is going to be somebody great, even if they weren't there yet, even if there were some kind of messy and not impressive things about them now, you deal with them in light of what you knew they were going to become. The fact is, every believer, you know, is destined to reign with Christ. So start treating them that way, even now, in light of what you know, they're going to become someday and start acting a little bit more yourself as a dignified person of God who, who doesn't have to respond to every insult, but doesn't have to fight back to everything because you know who you are. You know what God has in mind for you. And you don't have to keep pumping up your own self esteem or defending your own dignity, which often just lowers you and gets you into fights that you'd be better off avoiding. Jesus says to him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne. 

Now, you could just skip lots of lectures, and skip a lot of other stuff. And think about that sentence for a while. To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne. Have you thought about sitting on a throne alongside of Jesus Christ? If not start thinking about it. It's the source of the greatest dignity possible that you can conceive, says you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Human dignity, your dignity and the dignity of others is most clearly seen when you know the eternal destiny of people. And even those who aren't destined for glory. Just think of it this way. 

Some may be destined for hell, but do you want to be the one who helps them or nudges them or pushes them along that road to hell? As CS Lewis put it everybody we deal with is either someday going to be a beam that if we could see them now as they will be, we'd be either tempted to fall down and worship them, or else they'd be worse and more miserable than anything we've imagined in our darkest nightmare. So look at people in light of eternity and say I want to be helping people on the road to glory. I want to be people be treating people who are destined for Heaven as the great persons they are someday going to be. And those who might be on the wrong road right now I want to witness to them while there's time. And I want to do all I can to attract them to the love and the truth of Jesus. They will reign forever and ever. That's kind of a summary ending statement of the Bible on the dignity of the people of God. And next comes unity.

Now unity comes kind of hard, among many Christians nowadays. And sometimes even knowing about eternity, we don't pay quite enough attention to the unity that Jesus prayed for among his people that we would be one, as he and the Father are one, to dwell above with saints in love, oh, that will surely glory to dwell below as saints we know. Well, that's another story. You know, I've been talking about the dignity and the wonders of eternity. And meanwhile, you got a few bozos in your circle of believers, people in your church that you really can't stand very much, and they don't like you too much, either. Well, it's time to start getting over it, and to seek the unity that Jesus paid for, and prayed for. And he paid that we would forgive one another as he has forgiven us, he prayed that we would be one, as he and the Father are one. 

All races in the vision of heaven, are a unity 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. I was part of a broadcast ministry for a lot of years. And its theme song was by the sea of crystal saints in glory, stan, myriads in number drawn from every land, and that vision of people from every nation drawn to Jesus Christ, is a wonderful part of the unity of Christians. And here again, we've got to have that vision of eternity of different people groups brought together and then take that as a powerful weapon, against racism, against discrimination, against feeling superior to people of a different culture, or background. And instead have that vision of all nations and tribes and languages who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ united, and standing before His throne and rejoicing in him forever. And this also means that we should get rid of many of the divisions that exist between Christians and between different churches, and different denominations. And maybe you've heard the story of an angel giving someone a tour of heaven, and they visited various sites. And then they came near to a particular group of people who were together, and the angel says, SHHH! Don't make any noise. And don't let them see you. 

So They sneaked around that particular group and didn't make any noise and lay low until they were past them, and then moved on and, and then the person getting the tour asked the angel as well, well, who were those people and, and the angel says, well, we didn't want to make any noise because they think they're the only ones here. Well, of course, that's, that's just a story. But sometimes you can be part of a, of a denomination, or of a group of people where you act. And think as though you're the only ones who are going to make it. Now when you see the vision of people from so many different people groups, and from so many different backgrounds who love the Lord Jesus Christ united than eternity gives you an inspiration and energy for unity right now. It also gives a sense of urgency. 

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus says, you cannot see the kingdom of God, unless you are born again. Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God, unless you have the life of God in you now, you will not have the life of God in you for eternity, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And that means we have a pretty small timeframe, to be born again ourselves, and to bring the new life and the message of new life and of rebirth to other people. In a church I served there was a young man who gave his mom a packet. And he told his mom that this was a packet of Wonder seeds. And if you just plant them, and put them in a window, within a couple of days, you'll have a plant and it'll already be flowering. Well the mom took that packet from her son and and put it in some nice black dirt and in a pot and put it in the window there in March and let the sun pour in on that plant. And nothing happened. She waited a few more days, nothing happened. week or two went by Nothing happened. Nothing was going on with those wonder seeds. Well, her son showed up and it was April one on that day and he said April Fool's mom.

They weren't really seeds. They were the little tips of Turkey beaks that he had gotten from the nearby turkey farm. And he had pretended they were seeds. Now a turkey beak He is not going to grow into a flower, because it does not have a flowers life in it. And a person who is not reborn by faith in Jesus Christ is not going to inherit the kingdom of God, because you don't have that kingdom of light that kingdom life in you. And if you have that kingdom life, you've got to get the good news of Jesus Christ to others, Jesus spoke of the eternity in terms of an eternal banquet. And he said that there are people who are gonna have all kinds of excuses for putting it off, and not accepting the invitation. And those people were going to miss out completely. And there were others who might listen to the invitation again, I want to do that. 

But then when they got inside the wedding hall, they weren't clothed rightly even though they had been offered the right clothes for the wedding feasts. And the master comes and throws the person without the right clothing into the outer darkness. So those who declined the invitation, and those who thought they could skate by on an invitation without accepting the robes of Christ's righteousness, miss out on the eternal banquet and get eternal hell instead. And knowing this gives us a sense of urgency that we must work while it is day, we must work. While it is time that we must make the best use of the time, because the days are evil. It's urgent to trust Jesus, yourself, of course. And even though I may be speaking to Christian leaders, people who are leaders in the church don't just take that for granted. 

There have been many phony leaders, or even people who wanted to do good things, but who had never experienced rebirth, the new life of Jesus Christ. And then it's also of course, important and urgent, to help others meet the Savior, and to receive His Holy Spirit and to be born again through new life in him. And this fact, also, this focus on eternity helps us get our priorities straight. If you've got some college students and they think the most important thing about college is the college experience, that partying and having a good time is what colleges are for. They're going to miss out on the main point of college. Now, it may be okay to have fun with friends and do some things that are part of a college experience. It might not be all work all the time and being grim. 

But if you never study, if you don't learn a single thing in college, if you exit College, having learned nothing to prepare you for the rest of your life, and have learned no marketable job skills that you blew college, you missed the main point. College is not ultimate in and of itself. You understand what college is for, when you understand it as preparation for what comes after. And you understand what life is for when you know that it is preparation for what comes after. And our life now matters not just for its own sake, but because it's leading up to another life. And so you put your priorities on training for that life, athletes train in order to pursue the prize, they know that they've got to train in order to compete successfully and to run well. The Apostle Paul says 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. We need to train and discipline ourselves in godliness, and in walking with the Lord, because our highest priority is on pleasing the Lord and on seeing him and living with him forever. And we want to train ourselves in godliness. Train yourself to be godly for physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise, both for the present life and the life to come. You can commune with God and have more of the delight of eternity in your life right now. When you make a priority of focusing on God, and on the liveliest promise in the future, it will shed more light and more joy right now into your life. And of course it will prepare you for that life to come. Either when you die or when Jesus Christ comes back again, you get your priorities straight, when you have eternity on your mind. 

And finally, I want to talk about the energy that comes from the awareness of eternity. Paul says, 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. It's easy to get tired. It's easy to feel like packing it in when you're a Christian and especially when you're a leader in Christianity when you're leading other people and you get discouraged or just tired and worn down. Or when you're trying to witness other people and win them to Christ and you're not having the success you'd like and who you just you just feel like your energy is running down. And when you think again, of the goal of the heavenward calling that you have, you get a new burst of energy Archie, Scripture speaks with people who are longing for a better country, a heavenly one. And they lived by faith. And this faith in things that lay ahead in things that were not yet seen, inspired them in this life to be the great heroes of history, the great heroes of faith, it energizes them. 

We have a building from God, and eternal house, in Heaven, we have a home, waiting for us. And when you know what home is waiting for you, it makes all the difference. Jesus said that he has gone to prepare a home for us and what a blessing it is to know that our life as we live for Christ is headed toward home. So those are 10 reasons why eternity matters. Now, keeping your eye on eternity inspires bravery gives you a sense of reality, and puts you in touch with the real world helps you to know what real prosperity is, it just store up treasure in heaven makes you generous with those who can't pay you back because God pays you back at the resurrection of the righteous inspires you to purity because you want to see Jesus and you know He's pure, gives you dignity in knowing that your reign with Christ and helps you to recognize dignity and others who are going to be reigning with Christ gives us a vision of unity, and to fight against racism and needless division among the people of God, a sense of urgency, that we must be born again. And we must help other people to know the way to be born again in Jesus Christ. It helps us to have the right priority and to realize that this life is preparation for the life to come. And it gives us energy, it energizes us knowing what awaits us. When I was a boy, we had a pony, and his name was frosty and frosty was a cagey old pony. 

In fact, he was a lot older than I was at the time, and he did not really like to be ridden. And so when I would go out to saddle him up, he would be kind of ornery, and I'd climb on and the first thing you do is try to rear and dumped me off the back when that didn't work, then he would just stand there and not move and stamp stock-still because he didn't want to do any work. Then finally, I had to work him a couple of times and dig in my heels. And he'd start to move. And the first thing you do is go to the nearest building, or the nearest post to try to rub me off. Now in all of his efforts to get out of going for a ride had failed, then we would head off down the trail, and we would go a while and suddenly, ooh! the poor animal, frosty would suffer a crippling injury, and he would limp, and the limp would become more severe, and then more severe. And finally, my heart could take no more. And I would turn frosty around because I didn't want to cause further injury to his damaged limb. And as soon as I turned around, that horse was instantly healed. He was filled with energy, it was a miracle. And he would run like the wind, all the way home. When we go through life, and we think that all that's ahead of us is getting older, declining health, and then death. We don't look forward to it. And our energy declines and our  verb for life seems to diminish because it's just all downhill. But when we look forward to the future that God has in store for us, we're like that old pony. Knowing where he's headed is at home. And all of a sudden, what you thought hurt doesn't hurt so much. All of a sudden that energy you didn't have is doubled, because you are headed for home. Maybe that's the best thing of all that can be said about eternity. And maybe the biggest reason why eternity matters even now. It's home.