When I began working on this message, the Wall Street Journal reported that the entire world had come under a great cloud of fear. People in all nations are now paralyzed by world events. Immediately, my thoughts turned to our parishioners at Times Square Church. They show no such fear. Instead, while we all have a great soberness about these times, we also have a deep, abiding joy.
We don’t hear many sermons on heaven these days. That may seem strange, since it is every Christian’s joy to ponder being with the Lord for all eternity. The promise of heaven is at the very core of the gospel we preach.
Yet there is a reason why we don’t hear much on this joyful subject. The fact is, the Bible doesn’t say much about what heaven is like. Jesus never sat down with his disciples and explained the glory and majesty of heaven. He did say to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” but he didn’t say what it would be like.
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Here is very simple instruction from the apostle Paul. He’s telling us in plain terms, “If the Holy Spirit is living in you, let him have full control of your life. We are all to be led by the Spirit.”
The Holy Ghost was sent to be our constant, infallible guide, and he abides in all who confess Christ as Lord and Savior. The Spirit claims our bodies as his dwelling place, reigning in residence in our hearts.
As Jesus spent his last hours with his disciples, he said to them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23). Then he told them, “Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (16:24).
On Thursday, September 20, 2001, the President of the United States gave a powerful speech to a joint session of Congress. He warned America that we are now at war against worldwide terrorism. The President called this war a battle between freedom and religious terrorism. The terrorists we're warring against seek to impose their religious beliefs upon the entire world.
That truly is the admitted goal of all Islamic extremists. They want to replace the Bible with the Koran. And they seek to impose a single religion upon the earth: Islam.
Second Kings 2 contains one of the most spectacular passages in all of the Old Testament. This chapter tells the miraculous story of the aging prophet Elijah and his servant Elisha. When we pick up the tale, God has informed Elijah that his ministry on earth is over. Now he is to cross the Jordan River and go to a certain place, where a heavenly chariot will pick him up and translate him to glory.
I believe there is nothing more dangerous to a Christian than to carry around a resentment against God. Yet I am shocked by the growing number of believers I meet who are peeved at the Lord. They may not admit as much - but deep inside, they hold some kind of grudge against him. Why? They believe he's not interested in their lives or problems! They're convinced he doesn't care - because he hasn't answered a particular prayer or acted on their behalf.
God the Father appointed His Son Jesus to become a High Priest for us in glory. Indeed, Jesus is in glory right now — as both Man and God — on our behalf. He is arrayed in the garments of a High Priest — and He stands before the Father interceding for us, even as I write!
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications:
"And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" (Zechariah 12:9-10).
I am going to make a very shocking statement, and I mean every word of it: I really do not know God! That is I don't know Him in the way He wants me to know Him.
How do I know this? The Holy Spirit told me. He whispered to me, lovingly; "David, you really don't know God in the way He wants you to. You really don't allow Him to be God to you."
