# First five minutes in eternity

Key Passage: 2 Corinthians 5
Date: June 7, 2024

Second Corinthians, if you would please. Second Corinthians chapter number five. Second Corinthians chapter number five. And two Sundays ago, on Sunday morning, we talked about your first five minutes in eternity, first five minutes after death for a born-again Christian. And just kind of…

Oh, very quickly covers some of the points and they get to new material tonight, just a little bit about heaven. But I thought this would be fitting. It was two 90-year-old men. Jerry and Chris had been friends all their lives. When it was clear that Jerry was dying, Chris visited him every day. One day, Chris said, “Jerry, we both loved playing softball all our lives. We played all through high school. Please do me one favor when you get to heaven. Somehow you must let me know if there’s softball there.”

Jerry looked up from his deathbed and said, “Chris, you’ve been my best friend for many years. If it’s at all possible, I’ll do this favor for you.” Shortly after that, Jerry died.

At midnight, a few nights later, Chris was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to him. “Chris, Chris, Chris!” Who is it? He’s sitting up. “Who is it?” “Chris, it’s me. It’s Jerry.” “You’re not Jerry. Jerry just died.” “I’m telling you, it’s me. It’s Jerry,” insisted the voice.

“Jerry, where are you?” “In heaven,” replied Jerry. “I have some really good news and a little bad news.”

“Well, tell me the good news first,” said Chris. “The good news is that there is softball in heaven. Better yet, all of our old buddies who died before us are here too. Better than that, we’re all young again. Better still, it’s always springtime, and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play softball all we want. We never get tired.”

“Man, that’s fantastic,” said Chris. “It’s beyond my wildest dream. So what’s the bad news?”

“You’re pitching Tuesday.”

Amen, amen. Second Corinthians, chapter number five, if you would please. And talking about heaven for just a little bit. It’s a wonderful truth, not just a thought, it’s the truth. And aren’t you glad this world is not my home? I mean, I’m just passing through. And all these people that want this world and they want the political scene and all that, they’re going to have it. And they’re not going to like it for a while there in the tribulation period for sure. But our home is a whole lot better. And just for a little while, we’re going to focus on this thing of our home.

Second Corinthians chapter number five, by the way, if you weren’t here two Sundays ago on Sunday morning, I’d advise you go back and listen to it later on. And I’ll kind of catch you up on where we’re at tonight. We’ll just briefly kind of review a little bit at the beginning. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together? Second Corinthians five, verse number one.

And he says, “Therefore we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with a house which is from heaven. Brother Frank with a sore back is groaning a real lot about that right there, you know. If so be that being clothed, we should not be found naked.” That’s the lost. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." That’s the down payment. When you get saved, he puts a down payment on you and you go to heaven. That’ll be the full purchase, redemption, if you will. Verse number six, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we’re absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

And would you pray with me that God would just encourage our hearts as we focus on heaven a little bit tonight? Would you do that? Lord, we come to You, Father. Lord, would You make heaven real to us? Lord, would You just take a simple preacher, Lord, trying to make real some truths You showed in Your word? Father, use that to get our hearts and our minds set on things above. And Lord, encourage Your people by that. We’ll thank You and praise You for what You do, Lord. And help me to be essential to what You want, Lord. We’ll praise You for it in Jesus’ name, we ask. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

We used Miss Tabitha. I asked her husband if we could do it, but we used her passing as an illustration. And we had the memorial service yesterday, October 5th. It was very late. It was actually that Tuesday morning, not Monday, we think Monday night, but it was Tuesday morning about 1:45 a.m. She’s at Stonecrest Rutherford. And she took her last breath here. And many of you’ve seen it, they’re kind of struggling. And then at the end, they’re just so, you know, they’ll take that. And then you just wait, and it’s almost like a relief when they take another breath. And then that last one, the next one will come. And somewhere along there as that soul or that spirit leaves that body—that’s what death is. It’s a separation. The soul, by the way, our body is just the shell. It’s just the house. But when that soul leaves that body, the Bible tells us over in Luke 16 that the angels come and they take that soul with them to a place called heaven. Now, those angels carry that, and it’s actually a place. Jesus said over in John 14, “I go to prepare a place.” So it’s not a state of mind, an imaginary place. No, it’s an actual, physical place. It’s somewhere in the north, where the Lord is in the third heaven, the throne of God. The Bible tells us that’s north. There’s a universal north. We talked about the empty place that science tells about, and they call it the cold spot. We talked about that a couple weeks ago, all those things.

And the first thing, I believe you see when you go to heaven, what does the Bible say? We just read it, verse one: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” So she saw Jesus. I mean, she was present with the Lord. Now, so much happens there, we don’t know everything about it, but we know a couple different things. We know Revelation 4 when the door was opened in heaven and John went to heaven, and the Lord was on His throne in that instance. We know also when John the Revelator, he saw the vision of Jesus at Revelation 1. And what did he do? The first time he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. I tend to think we’ll fall at His feet when we get to heaven. Here’s the wonderful thing about it: If you read over in Revelation 1, and he fell at His feet, Jesus reached down with His right hand and He touched him. It’s a wonderful thought to think of Jesus. We see Him. We’re absent of the body, we’re present with the Lord. And that’s a big thing, seeing Jesus. And we fall at His feet. And just imagine Jesus reaching down and putting His hand on you. First thing He said to me, “Fear not.” You can imagine Jesus giving you words of encouragement. And He laid His right hand on him, and He says, “It’s going to be okay.” Can you imagine Jesus doing that with you?

Here’s just an amazing thing. We discussed these so much more in detail two Sundays ago. But the Bible—let me just read it before. This is one of those I would not believe if I had not read it: John 12:26, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.” Can you imagine if the Father comes? That’s how you’ve been serving My Son for years, and He honors you. It was just an amazing thought. The Bible backs it up. It’s a wonderful thing.

Now let’s just kind of go on a little bit. We’re just saying Tabitha is there and she’s before Jesus. He’s the big thing about heaven. He put His right hand on her and said, “It’s okay.” She gets honored for serving the Lord. And I think maybe somewhere along there, I’m not sure, but maybe somewhere along there, she looks around at herself. Would you go back to the passage we just read? Would you look at that first verse there in 2 Corinthians chapter number 5, and that verse number 1 right there? Would you notice that verse again? He says, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,” speaking of our body here—man breathed into Adam and became a living what? Soul. We’re not living bodies, we’re living souls as a house. This body is just our house; the real person lives inside. “If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

A couple things about it. He describes our earthly body or house as a tabernacle, a tent, if you will. Tents or tabernacles are temporary. I mean, you shouldn’t live in a tent long-term. Some of these cities have got tent cities; that’s not normal. That’s not the way it should be. When we were younger, we liked to camp in tents. We’d do it for a while, we married couples and all that, but nowadays—my wife’s shaking her head—we don’t want to do it at all. Maybe a night, if that, you know, in a tent. But it’s a temporary deal. And it’s talking about your body. It’s a temporary deal. That’s why the older you get, the more things wear out, because it’s temporary. I think we ought to take good care of the temple of God, but some have spent hours and hours and hours of life on this temporary body. It’s just a temporary thing. No matter what they do to it, and how much they work out, and how much they exercise, and how much they eat healthy—and all those things are good, wisely doing those things—but no matter how much they do all that, it’s still temporary. This house, this body, isn’t going to last forever. And that’s what he’s saying there. He’s calling it a tabernacle. It’s just temporary.

Now the heavenly body, he says we have “a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Our body we get there is an eternal body. I won’t remember the whole deal properly, but Brother Frank was with one of his granddaughters several years ago now, and they were doing something—I’m not sure, I think maybe swimming or something. And he was talking about getting old or something like that. I’m not sure. And she’s a little girl, and she’s like, “Well, I can go, go, go,” type thing, you know, and she said, “Because I have new parts,” you know. But here’s the good thing: In heaven, our parts never wear out. There are always new parts. It’s not a temporary body; it’s an eternal body. It’s one that will last forever. I mean, it’s just kind of, it’s got the Duracell battery; it keeps going on and on. It’s just an eternal body.

Now, here’s another thing how God describes this body there in heaven. Notice what he says in the latter part of that verse: “not made with hands.” I think of God’s creation. Man can make some beautiful things, beautiful buildings and whatnot, and those are wonderful, but they never even come close to comparing to God’s creation. That’s just beautiful. Brother Joel sent me a picture a couple of weeks or so ago about the sunrise. Man, it’s just—He’s the best artist there is.

I took my brother, my younger brother, oh, about a month or so ago, out to a hunting preserve down around Chattanooga. And we went to some overlooks, and we rode a motorcycle and followed out in the woods. And he’d come to these—these very high up, and you’re just at beautiful scenery. The Tennessee River is flowing there. One of them, it kind of flows into where you’re at and around; you can see both ways. And the other one is kind of circling around this point you’re at. I never took my brother—we never did anything like that together, I guess, for years and years—and so I wanted him to like it. I was wondering what he would think of it. So we went to one of the overlooks, just scenery out in the middle of the woods, just beautiful. It was where the Tennessee River came like this, and you can see the mountains just for miles, literally, like this. It’s just a beautiful place. And I wondered what David would think of my younger brother. We got out there, and we were right down trails. You finally get out there, and we walked out on this big rock outcropping. And at one point, you can kind of see the birds soaring below you, but in the top of the trees. And this one here, we came out, just beautiful scenery. And David kept saying what he got—he said, “Man, it’s so beautiful. This is beautiful. This is beautiful.” I was happy. I wanted him to like it and enjoy it. He just kept saying, “Man, this is beautiful.” It’s God’s creation. I think that’s how I was describing this eternal body. It’s made without hands.

You look at this new body, and I think Tabitha starts looking around October 5th, and she says, “Wow, this is beautiful. Man, I got a—this is amazing.” It was for me, not talking about her, but for me, man, I’m fat and old. Yeah, look at this. I got a beautiful body now. This is amazing. That’s where heaven will be. You got a body made without hands. He’s talking about God’s creation. And it’s such a beautiful—nothing like that, nothing this world can compare to the body you’ll have in heaven. One day it’ll be like Jesus Christ. But you have this body; it’s eternal, it’s made without hands, and you have a body that’s an eternal body in heaven. I think when you get there, pretty quick into it, you’ll be like, “Wow, now look at this body.” Brother Frank would be able to move, and he’d say, “Wow, I don’t hurt anymore.” What about that, you know? And that’ll be a new body in heaven. That’s a house not made with hands.

A couple other things about this passage here. Would you go back to that verse number one here, verse number one? And I want you to notice how many times God uses this plural word of “we.” Would you notice that? “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this, we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” Jump down to verse number eight, if you would please. “We are confident, I say, willing rather to be absent from the body and be present with the Lord.” Now, I’m emphasizing this “we.” This chapter, 21 verses, 26 times, it’ll use this word “we,” the plural—God’s people, the church, saved people. He’s using us together, “we,” somewhere on the line.

Yes, absent of the body, present with the Lord. And somewhere along the line, you recognize, man, I got this beautiful, eternal body. And then you start realizing the people around you—“we.” I talked to Brother Justin about Miss Tabitha. He said, “I think the first person after Jesus, she’ll want to talk with her mom and dad.” And the “we” of going to heaven starts to become real. I want to go visit my dad, talk to my dad for a while. I want to go see Brother Larry for a while, what an encouraging man he was for so many years. And all of you, you’ve got so many that you love, and so many widows and widowers in our church. We’ll go talk to Miss Aretha for a while. She’ll talk about Kentucky basketball, I’m sure. And so many that you can think of that used to be sitting here. And the fellowship we’ll enjoy in heaven—that’ll be a part of heaven. Well, in the last year and a half, how we’ve lost—it’s a temporary loss—but we’ve lost such good people in our church. Brother Busho, Moses. By the way, we’ll see Moses, Brother Richard’s brother, and Ruthie’s son. He’ll have a brand new body. It’s autistic, they say sometimes they’re kind of bound in their body, and they have thoughts and feelings, but they can’t get it out. They’re just kind of a—they can’t communicate it. And he’ll be able to communicate then. We’ll be able to sit down and talk with these people. The “we” of heaven will become real. We’ll enjoy the fellowship of heaven.

Would you look over in Matthew chapter number 8, if we’re just very briefly? Matthew 8 and look in verse number 11. Matthew 8 and verse number 11. It’s trying to get our minds, our hearts going towards heaven tonight. Matthew 8, verse number 11, he says, “And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” Now notice that “sit down.” The church can be busy, and that’s why a New Testament church ought to be busy for the Lord—occupy till I come, just busy doing things for God. A couple years back, I was getting just a little weary for a while, and I spent some time alone with the Lord, and I felt like the Lord told me, He said, “Paul, resting comes later on. It’s working time right now.” And in heaven, we’ll have plenty of time to sit down. Notice it uses that term in the Bible: “you’ll sit down.”

And yesterday I enjoyed the memorial service. We were kind of—you know, family was leaving whatnot—and I sat down to eat. And my wife, we ate together a little bit, but then she was busy kind of doing some things, the PA booth, computer, and all that things. And I just sat down and got to talk with Mary Dips here for a while. And we haven’t got to sit down and talk in a while. And we’ll talk about each other a little bit when we shake hands, whatnot, but we just got to sit down and talk. And I enjoyed that. And I haven’t been able to do that for a while. And look, in heaven, you’ll be able to sit down and just enjoy looking at all eternity. And he’s talking about some of these great Christians of the Bible, Abraham and Isaac and whatnot. We’ve been doing this study for over a year now about David. I’m looking forward to sitting down with David one day. So David and I, portrayed you like this on that Wednesday night Bible study was accurate and all that. Now I want to talk with him for a while. Now I want to see my Granny Lee. Granny Lee, boy, when I was a teenager, I was pretty busy a teenager, but I would go to Granny Lee’s house, and everything just stopped. And we would sit on her front porch in rocking chairs. And we had a very active thing. We would actually watch cars as drive by and drink sweet tea. Somebody say amen right there? Myself, Granny Lee, and Uncle David. And I look forward to sitting down with my Granny Lee again.

And we’ll have time to sit down. We won’t be so hustle and bustle. We’ll have time just to sit down and enjoy. You know, one of the people I’m looking forward to seeing is a man in the Bible called Onesiphorus. I preached on him twice over the years, but he was just an encourager. And he would look up Paul when Paul was in prison and go and encourage him. I want to sit down with that man because he’s an encourager. I think it would be probably one of the most pleasant conversations you’ll have with Onesiphorus. All those people you have time to sit down and talk with, just enjoy the fellowship. And you’ll be able to sit down, and you’ll have all eternity. That’s part of the joy of heaven.

I think about when the Bible talks about the rapture, and it’s described over there in 1 Thessalonians 4, and he said, “The Lord will…” I’ll jump down, verse number 17, “…and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.” Them? Who’s with them? With those people from heaven? Now the big thing is to meet the Lord in the air, but he even puts that when he’s talking about the rapture. There’s going to be a grand reunion day. We sit down and we enjoy the fellowship, and we have a wonderful time. Yes, I think somewhat talking over old times. Now later on, later on, the former things are no more. Well, that’s even after the millennium reign, see. But we’ll enjoy the fellowship.

Let me just give you a couple random facts about heaven. I say we’ll sit down and enjoy, and yes, the Bible uses that terminology, but we’ll be busy. I’m the kind of guy. I like to take trips and take vacations and get away for a little bit, but if it’s too long, I can’t sit around and do nothing. I’ve got to have something to do. Would you look over in Revelation? Would you look over Revelation 22, if you would please? Revelation 22. And… Revelation 22, he’s talking about a little bit later on, if you’re far in a timeline here, the new heaven, new earth, the New Jerusalem. But I want you to notice what he says over here, Revelation 22. Would you look at verse number three? Revelation 22 and verse number three. When you’re there, would you say amen? Revelation 22, verse number three, “And 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.”

One of the joys on earth is being able to serve the Lord. And you won’t lose that joy. It’s very interesting. Before the curse came, when God put Adam in the garden, He gave him a job. It wasn’t just supposed to sit around and do nothing. He was to dress it and to keep it. Why? Because mankind needs something. They need—we need—something that drives us and moves us. I mentioned, I mean, if I’m just sitting around too long, well, in December, I think it was, my wife had COVID, and so I stayed home and quarantined for two weeks. Man, it would drive me crazy. I got the shuttle bus, and I painted the shuttle bus when I was too—well, because I was doing it? Yeah, it needed to be done, but I just had something to do. I mean, I got to do something. And we won’t just be sitting around doing nothing in heaven. We’ll have things to do. We’ll be serving just like you can serve. I’m not saying the exact same things, but like you have the privilege of serving God down here, you’ll have the privilege of serving Him there. You’ll have tasks and things God wants you to do, and you’ll be able to serve the Lord in heaven. It’ll be enjoyable work. I always feel like if the Lord uses me a little bit, that brings joy to me. Money can’t buy those things. And not just if you’re busy, but if you feel like the Lord used you to help someone, to be encouraged, that gives you joy. And you’ll be able to have those things in heaven: to serve Him.

We’ll serve it. Mankind needs that. You remember when Adam sinned, Adam and Eve were saying, and God, He said, “Look, by the sweat of the brow,” He said, “for thy sake.” Work’s a good thing. That’s why these people that are just giving everything to them by our government and they’re not working—that’s miserable. Man, you go and government-subsidized buildings; typically, those are the worst, and those are such messed-up lives. Why? Because we need something to do. A man needs to have to work and provide for us. He needs that. See? And we’ll have that in heaven: to serve Him in heaven. We won’t just sit around and have nothing to be bored to death for all eternity through. We’ll be able to serve Him. See? They’ll be serving the Lord in heaven. It’ll be the most enjoyable work you’ve ever done. I see Brother Dillon down here, and just Brother Dillon pastored for years, pastor of three different churches, and did such a wonderful job. And at his age and his body, he often, when we get to talk personally, he’ll say, “Man, I want to do more. I want to do more.” And I love it. He wants to serve the Lord. It’s wonderful. He’ll be serving the Lord for all eternity. When he leaves here, it’s not done. He’ll still be serving the Lord. And for all eternity, we’ll be able to serve the Lord. That’ll be part of heaven: serving the Lord.

Here’s an interesting thought. Look over in Revelation 19:14. Just an interesting thought in some of these—just giving some miscellaneous facts beyond the first five minutes after we die, but just some different things about heaven tonight, trying to get our mind going there. Revelation 19 and verse number 14. He’s talking about the Battle of Armageddon when we come back with our Savior. But I want you to notice, Revelation 19:14, “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,” plural, “clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” Notice the armies of heaven followed upon white horses. It’s not just talking about the Lord being on a white horse, but you’ll be on a white horse. Now, some of you say, “I don’t know about riding a horse.” I used to like riding horses till I messed my back up. I don’t like riding horses anymore. I mean, you know, when that horse is going up, I’m going down. And, well, that’s not good for a back. You understand what I’m saying there, you know? But here’s what I’m getting at about this: We’ll be riding on white horses. Now, I don’t know everything, but I know there’ll be some animals there. There are horses. Not just one, as many of them, because we were coming back on white horses from heaven. I tend to think there will be some animals in heaven. Look, some of the joy of God’s creation. The other day, here lately, a little bit more in our backyard, the horses—one of the horses has died, and they’ve taken the other horse away, so we’ve been seeing more deer coming in the back pasture where our neighbor owns. It’s just beautiful. And look out there and see those deer and just God’s creation, beautiful. And the animals are a wonderful part of it. Some people say, “Well, I don’t want to go to heaven where there’s going to be a mansion and streets of gold. I want to be out in the country somewhere,” you know, and just enjoying. And I always say, “Hey, I want to say, ‘Hey, big dummy, who do you think made the country?’ He’s the same one that’s making heaven. He’s the one that made the beautiful animals in the country.” I understand what they’re saying, but heaven will be that and so much more. I believe we’ll have some animals in heaven. There’s going to be horses there. And you’ll be able to have those beautiful scenery and much, much more in heaven. There’ll be animals there. I don’t know exactly all of them. There will be a river. I tend to think maybe there will be fish. I’m not sure. New Jerusalem will have a river. But animals—and what a wonderful thing. The animal is part of God’s creation.

Now look at Matthew 6, if you would please. Matthew chapter number 6, just a couple thoughts about heaven tonight. Matthew 6. He said, “Set your affections on things above.” I can hear my dad saying, “This is just a drop in the bucket. This is a getting ready place.” And we’ll be home one day in heaven. It’s a place in the north. Jesus has been preparing for us. Matthew 6. Look at verse number 19, if you would please. Verse number 19. Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven; where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Now here’s the thing: there’ll be treasures. Lay up for yourselves treasures. I don’t understand exactly what all that is, but the Bible tells us, lay up for yourselves treasures. Treasures can be such a wide array of things.

At my mom’s house, there’s a trunk, an old trunk, and we’ve got all kind of old things in there. When we were young, we had a Volkswagen van. It was painted psychedelic with all those flowers, but it was an old Volkswagen van like that. And I think my dad overhauled the engine that thing three times—a little different in those old Volkswagens. Some of you mechanics don’t talk about it, but it did. And we had that Volkswagen van for years. I’m talking about we broke down that van, I don’t know how many times—a lot. A lot of memories in that van. I remember riding up Lookout Mountain in that old blue Volkswagen van. And we were always thinking, is it going to make it up this thing or not? I mean, that old engine would just barely putt, putt, try to get up there, that old van. One time, we were traveling churches—Dad was like a… He didn’t never preach much at all, but we’d go to small churches about a year and a half, and we’d just try to build those churches up. We’d stay there for a month or two and get a bus ministry started or a Sunday school program started, just try to build small churches, and we would do that for a year and a half or so. We had that van, and we would pull the van behind a camper, and one time the hitch on the van broke, and it came loose. And we’re riding on the interstate in our motor home, and all of a sudden we see our van pull up beside us, literally. And God hopped in that van, if you really—and He drove in it, and literally He just kind of pulled that van over to the side of the interstate. It hit a rail just a touch and just stopped it on the side of the interstate. We backed up and tried to get the—well, we took it and got the hitch fixed, but not. But there’s so many memories. And here’s the thing: I sell that and say, in that trunk is the gas pedal out of that old van. And if me and my siblings, we argue over anything, sometimes it’s about, “Have you been in the trunk? Did you steal anything out of the trunk?” Well, Mom passes, Dad’s already in heaven. Mom passes. There’s going to be a little bit of an argument, I’m thinking, about some of the items in that trunk. Praise the Lord, my wife already went there. She snuck in there and got the pictures, and she scanned them onto the computer, so we’re already good, all right, whatever they take. We’re prepared for it. We’re good, you know. But for some people, that doesn’t mean anything in the world—those old pictures, an old gas pedal out of his psychedelic Volkswagen van, you know what I mean? But for us, there are treasures there.

But there’ll be treasures in heaven. Now, that can mean a lot to you. For some, and I don’t use this wrong or bad, but some you’ve been paying on that house for a long, long time, and you’ve got it paid off, you’re about to get it paid off, and that’s a little bit of treasure there. I’m not saying that bad. But there’ll be treasures in heaven. He said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures.” You’ll treasure those things. And some of those things are rewards that you served the Lord all these years, and He gives you treasures in heaven. You’ll have treasures there. You’ll love them. You’ll value them. You’ll enjoy them for all eternity—treasures. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” They’re eternal. They won’t rust. I pulled up today, riding in church this afternoon, beside a Corvette. He was on my left-hand side, and of course, my eye went over to the Corvette. I couldn’t help it, you know. And it’s a little dirty. And, you know, those Corvettes, they don’t run forever. I’ve learned something: It doesn’t matter if it’s a Chevy, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, whatever—they all break down, friend. That’s just the honest truth of it. It doesn’t matter. They all just break down. They just all do that. But those treasures in heaven, moths can’t break in there, and they don’t rust. Those treasures will last for eternity—treasures. You’ll have treasures in heaven for all eternity. Just some things about heaven: I believe animals will be there. We’ll serve. We won’t just be sitting around like a bump on a log. We’ll be able to serve the Lord in heaven.

Now just a couple of the folks, and we’re done about heaven. Friend, what we do down here is preparing us for there. I trust that you have trusted in Jesus Christ to be your Savior, so you’re headed there. And if we’re not careful, we’ll get so—the Bible uses this word—we’ll get entangled in this world. I mean, we just get caught up in the here and now. Friend, this is just temporary. The Bible says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” There’s no comparison there. We’re living for the Lord right now, but for all eternity, we’ll rejoice in it. We’ve been so busy the last week or two, and I had just been so proud of our church family. You just worked so hard the last two weeks, and I mean that. My mind, heart’s been going there so much lately, and I’m so glad for that. Sometimes you almost can feel bad, we’ve got so much going on, but on the other hand, you won’t regret it for all eternity. My house busy serving the Lord, laying up treasures in heaven.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? We won’t be long tonight. Just a wonderful thing of heaven. I hope your heart, your mind goes there. Maybe the Lord just used this to encourage you to think about it. Maybe you’re here tonight and you say, “Preacher man, I just need to thank God for heaven. I just need to—praise the Lord, I won’t suffer the fires of hell for a second. I’m just grateful. Praise the Lord God has given me a home in heaven. I just want to rejoice in that tonight. Don’t let this old world beat you down. Praise the Lord, we’re on the winning side, we’re going home to heaven.” God, God just encourage me. I need to think of this thing of heaven. I want my heart and my mind to go there. I want my heart and my mind to go there. I need to get my heart and my mind set on things above. Praise the Lord, this world is not my home. I’m just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. Heaven awaits, friend.

Maybe here tonight, you say, “Preacher, I want to be busy living for the Lord till then. I mean, I’m kind of getting caught up so much in things here, and I don’t want to lose sight. I want to lay up treasures in heaven.” God spoke to my heart. “I want to be busy preparing for my eternal retirement.” God spoke to my heart about that. That’s you tonight? You slip a hand up, friend. That’s me. I want to be busy preparing for eternity, preparing for heaven, living for the Lord. Oh, you won’t regret that. You won’t regret that. Thank you so much, my friend, for that. Lord, speak to your heart.

Would you please stand? Would you please stand? We’ll have a word of prayer. Let’s just spend some time. “Thank you, Lord, I’m going home to heaven. Help me to spend my life living for Thee, living for Thee.” Tell Him that. Father, thank you so much that You give us a glimpse. Lord, Your word is wonderful, and we’re so thankful that You opened the door several times of the Bible to heaven. You let us look in. Father, would You make it real to Your people? Encourage, challenge, motivate us. Help us to set our affection on things above. We thank You, Lord, for what You do. Send Jesus in God. Amen. Would you spend some time to the Lord as we sing? Would you do that?

Original File: 5 Minutes after Death for a Christian - Part 2 - Pastor Paul Chisgar 102421