So this morning as always. So I picked a topic to speak on today. Nice simple topic. And you know, I just want to talk about this first slide for a minute.
I find that in creation. God often gives us snapshots in nature of his truth, different aspects of his truth. So this is a picture from somewhere in Saskatchewan. I don't think there's any place on earth that better demonstrates eternity than the Canadian prairies.
So I thought that was a fitting picture. I just want to open in prayer before we can do God. I thank you for bringing us together again today. Thank you for giving us your words.
I pray that it would be your words spoken through me, and that you would open people's hearts to hear it, and be receptive to it. I pray you would bless our time together this morning. I pray this in Jesus name, amen. So eternity.
It is a big topic to say the least. It's a topic I might as well admit I don't understand it. I don't think anybody in this room really can understand it. People have studied this topic for thousands of years.
But our understanding of eternity is limited in this life. There's a lot of mystery. Hang on one second. This isn't working.
There we go. So I want to start in Genesis here. There is something unique about us as creations. There's something that sets us apart from the rest of God's creation, and we'll find it here.
Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 to 27, then God said, let us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in the sky over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his image. In the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them. It's frozen here.
So this is what sets us apart from the rest of creation here. What sets us apart from the animals, from the plants, and all other living things. It's found in Ecclesiastes 3, verse 11. He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the beginning to the end. So a couple things here. First off, God is the only true eternal being, the only inherently eternal being, the only one with no beginning and no end, the only one who was not created. He was from the beginning.
He created all things, was before all things and created all things. We humans are finite beings created by God. We were created in God's image, but we were created from the dust. Our bodies will return to dust.
But there is something that sets us apart from the rest of creation. That God has imparted or programmed eternity into our souls. However, in this life, our understanding of eternity is limited. We don't see the whole picture here.
It's just a sample. It's like my dad spoke about in the first service. We're in the airport right now. It's just a sample size of what we can expect.
I believe that eternity is a larger picture. Eternity is our true state. It is something greater than we understand now. When we die, we don't go to sleep.
We wake up to a reality. This life is just a sample of that reality. We wake up to reality, something that we were destined for and we were created in God's image. I don't believe for the record that there is truly such thing as an atheist.
I think this last point, in this verse, it ecclesiastes, eliminates the possibility of a true atheist. I said this to somebody one time. I thought I was going to get beat up. But every person, every person has eternity in their heart, in their soul.
Every person has some knowledge of our creator, of our God, programmed into our being. So Jesus spoke about eternity. He spoke about the purpose of this life, as he often did, using a story. This is found in Matthew 25, verses 1430.
For it, the kingdom of God, will be like a man going on a journey who called the servants and entrusted to them his property. To one, he gave five talents. To another two, to another one. To each, according to his ability.
Then he went away. He had received the five talents, went at once, and traded with them. And he made five talents more. But he who had received the one talent, went on and dug in the ground, and hid his master's money.
Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, master, you delivered to me five talents. Here, I have made five talents more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant.
You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward, saying, master, you delivered to me two talents here.
I have made two talents more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master. And he who received the one talent came forward, saying, master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not so and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground.
Here, you have what is yours. So as master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I have not zoned and I gather where I have scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming, I should have received what was mine with interest.
So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. For to everyone who has more will be given. And he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servants into the utter darkness in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So life on earth is a gift from God. Let me jump the gun a little bit. Life on earth is a gift from God. Everything we enjoy here, every person that has created to some degree enjoys the goodness of God in this life.
Everything we have here. Now, how we invest the time we have been given on this earth, the blessings that God has given us in this life will have a direct impact on eternity. Those, the scriptures speak of the richness of God's grace. Those who accept, receive, the riches of God's grace, more will be given in eternity, much more.
But those who choose to reject the riches of God's grace, those who do not take this life this opportunity and use it wisely, use it for their eternal good, those people that reject Christ, reject God's gift of salvation, they will have everything taken from them one day. They will be removed from God's presence in eternity. So I saw this billboard. I don't know much about the group that puts these things up, but these words are very true.
When you die, you will meet God. That is the first reality of eternity. After you die, you will meet God. Now, for me, this reminds me of my childhood a little bit.
Every day, when I was growing up, my father would have turned home from work, around six, six o'clock around there. Now most days, I look forward to my father coming home from work. Maybe I built a lego set that I couldn't wait to show him. Maybe I did well on an ass test.
I believe that probably happened at some point. But I typically, I look forward to seeing my father. He would call my mom. He was on his way.
And I look forward to seeing him. Now, there are some days, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this. I did not look forward to my dad coming home. I would hear that phone call.
And I knew I would go and I'd stand in the living room window and I'd watch and I'd wait for that car to come up the hill. And I knew that in a few moments, I'd have to stand in front of him. He was 12 feet tall back then. I'd have to stand in front of him and I'd have to give an account of what I said to my mom or what I did to my brother or what I did to his TV.
Maybe all three. There were a few days it was all three. But I dreaded those days. There were two sides to that relationship.
There were two sides to that relationship. There was when I did the right things, I look forward to enjoying that relationship. But if I was, if I got on his bad side, it's not something I look forward to. The same is true for us.
The same is true for all of us. All of us will stand before God. And an account will be given for how we chose to use this life. Hebrews 927, it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment.
It is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment. Every person will give an account. An account will be given for their actions. They're sinned.
Everything they chose to do and use this life for will be put on display and judged. And so we get to the two sides of eternity that I want to cover. Two sides of eternity, eternal death and eternal life. This is sort of an old fashioned gospel message because there are two groups of people that need to hear the gospel.
One of course being non-believers. The other being believers. We believers need to hear the gospel. We need to be reminded of God's goodness to us and the promises we look forward to.
Two sides to eternity. Heaven and hell, eternal life versus eternal death. These two sides to eternity, they are not myths. They're not simply states of mind.
They are places, they are realities. They are states. We talk about the eternal state, the eternal reality. Every person will have an eternal reality or an eternal state.
When you pass from this life, it enter the bigger picture, the eternal state, the eternal reality. So I want to break down these two sides of eternity. The outer darkness that is mentioned in our passage in Matthew 25. The outer darkness.
So what is this outer darkness? What is hell? There seems to be an effort nowadays in many churches, many believers to censor the word of God, to soften the message of sin and death and hell. My friends, as evangelists, the cruelest thing we can do is to downplay the consequence of sin, to soften the message of eternal judgment.
It is actually the cruelest thing we can do. John spoke earlier this morning of two young ladies that did not know Jesus, had never heard the gospel. Two young ladies that are headed for eternal judgment and they had no idea. They had no idea what to do about it.
We must be clear and candid when speaking about hell. Lord Jesus Christ was very candid, very clear, very bold and he spoke with a sense of urgency when he spoke about this outer darkness, both hell. So what is hell? What is this outer darkness?
I would define hell or the outer darkness, the eternal reality and the natural consequence of sin. God cannot tolerate sin in his presence. He will not tolerate sin. A loving God cannot tolerate sin.
And so those who continue in their sin, this will be the reality. As we spoke about before, those who reject Christ, even the good things of this life will be taken when they remove from God's presence. Sin, you know, I gotta admit, sin is kind of fun. Sometimes, isn't it?
It's tempting, it's pleasurable. Sometimes it even feels necessary. But is it worth the devastating internal consequences? Is it worth eternity separated from God to enjoy the pleasures of this world?
You know, sin, I would compare it to a credit card. Nothing wrong with a credit card. But I think many of us have probably experienced this, especially now they have the top function. You know, you go and you're spending, you're using your credit card.
You don't see your actual money going on your bank account. You have this card. You're not looking at your statements, you've probably all been there. $10 purchases here and there.
Doesn't even have to be anything big. But man, does it add up. You don't feel it adding up, right? $10 here, $20 there.
And then you look at your statement. That's a big number right there. It's a little blurry, but that's a four digit number. You pull up your statement and you get that four digit number.
How am I gonna pay this? How am I gonna pay this? What am I gonna do? How did I get here?
That will be the reality for those who reject Christ. When they enter eternity and stand before God, their sin will be put on display in front of them and they will feel the full impact of every choice they made, add it up. But there's good news here. There's good news here.
Those who have received Christ, those who have received Christ, myself included it because I received Christ, my sin has already been put on display. My sin has already been put on display. Lord, you just Christ went to trial and answered for my sin. So when an account is given for what I did with my life, it'll be the voice of Christ saying, I paid for him, I paid his debt.
Colossians two, 13 and 14. And you who are dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of death. That big number there is canceled. It's gone.
It's canceled. The record of that death that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. My sin was nailed to the cross with Christ.
It has already been put on display when it was put on him. That is the good news. There was an image earlier that I showed. It was heaven and hell and a bridge, a cross-shaped bridge between the two of them.
Well, there's a reason why I placed this segment where it is between heaven and hell. That's what stands between us, between heaven and hell for us. It's Lord Jesus Christ and what he did for us at the cross. And so now we get to the best part of the sermon.
This is the icing on the cake. This is the chocolate chips and the cookie. It's the best part. What is heaven?
What is eternal life? If I was the eternal reality of sin, heaven is the eternal reality of God's love and grace and his goodness to us. It is the reward for those who seek righteousness through Jesus Christ. Jesus defined eternal life for us, just moments before he went to the cross.
And this is eternal life, John 17 verse 3. And this is eternal life that they know you, the only to God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Eternal life is the full and intimate knowledge of God. It is that relationship with God, that Father-Son relationship.
For the church, it's the husband-life relationship with Christ, a relationship that was bought by Christ blood. There's nothing we did to deserve this. There's nothing we did to deserve eternal life. We deserve eternal death.
But because my sin was placed on Lord Jesus Christ, what a wonderful reward we have to look forward to. This is an, I like this verse in this passage, because to me it's almost like a response to the passage of the Ecclesiastes. Our knowledge of eternity in this life is limited. But here Paul breaks down one of the great rewards of eternal life.
1 Corinthians 2 verses 7 to 16. We declare God's wisdom, a mystery, the right one here. If we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden in that God's destined for our glory before time again. None of the rulers of this age understood us.
For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, is it as written, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him. These are the things God has revealed to us by his spirit. The spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God, for who knows the person's thoughts, except their own spirit within them.
In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God, except the spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the spirit, explaining spiritual realities with spirit taught words. The person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God, but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they're discerned only through the spirit.
The person with the spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for who has the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. In giving us the Holy Spirit, Lord has given us access, Jesus has given us access to the heart of God, to the mind of Christ, so that we can have that intimate relationship with him, so that we can be empowered with the gifts of the spirit, so we can be empowered with the power of Christ, what a gift. It's like, it's a little bit like a video game, how many gamers do we have here? How many people here play games?
Not a lot, but enough to work with. Now, how many have played a video game demo before? Now, I'll explain a little, so a demo for a game is, it's usually free, maybe an upcoming game or whatever. You get a small piece of that game.
You might have one character that you get to use, or if it's a racing game, maybe it's one car, whatever. If one character you get to use, he has limited abilities, you maybe can only go into one level, and there's a time limit, the trial, or the demo expires at a certain point, right? But it's free, it's usually free. But there comes a point, that time is gonna expire, or even the limited access, you have that game, you no longer have it.
But during that time, you can make a decision, do you wanna purchase and thus unlock the rest of the game? And once the rest of that game is unlocked, you get access to all the levels, you get access to all the characters, or maybe you get to add attributes or abilities to your character, you get to explore the full game. And the gift that God has given us, through Jesus, he's unlocked the game for us. He has unlocked eternity for us.
We still need to live in this life on this earth for a little bit, it's like my father spoke about this morning, the airport, right? We're still in the airport right now. We're still in the airport. There are good things and bad things about sitting in an airport.
But that's not the end of the story. You're in an airport for a reason. You're looking into the demo for a video game for a reason, because there's something greater. There's something beyond that.
How foolish to put your full focus on something so limited, sitting in an airport or playing just a small taste of a game or whatever it might be, watching the trailer of a movie, these small tastes, what a waste to invest your time to focus on just this short life. And so this is another key question that would urge everyone to ask today. There's two key questions here today. First off, like we explored, am I on the right side of eternity?
But the second question, especially for believers, is my mind and heart set on eternity? Is my mind and heart set on eternity? So eternal life, it's not just the limited knowledge of God or the blessings of this life. You know, some people will teach.
It's the goodness of God and this life, the Kingdom of God on Earth. And that's true. God is so good to us in this life. He's given us so much.
There's so much to be thankful for. But that's not it. It's really the glorious future for those that choose Him. Eternal life is the glorious future that we have looked forward to, those who have chosen Christ.
This place is not our home. And I have a story about this. Many years ago, my wife and I spent Thanksgiving in the beautiful city of Edmonton, Alberta. We were visiting some friends.
Something happened there. Something happened that maritimeers are not really used to. We got a blizzard in the 1st of October. Thanks, even weekend.
We looked outside that morning and everything was white. It was like October 1st. It was a blizzard. And to say the least, we were not prepared for that.
We had no broader winter clothes. And because we're not prepared, we're not Albertans. We're soft maritimer, we used to warmer temperatures. It was pretty miserable at first.
I just remember looking outside being overwhelmed. It was like a foot of snow. And again, it's the 1st of October. And we're out there.
We're shoveling. We don't have a winter clothes. We're freezing. We both got colds.
My wife at one point dropped her phone in the slush when we went to church that morning. She also had all the contacts. It was her friends. She had all the contacts for what we were doing that day.
So now she had no phone. It was just misery. You could even see the people, the native Edmontonians. We're in a foul mood.
Here we are. The first day of snow. The Oilers lost last night. Everybody's in foul mood.
And as I'm helping, as I'm helping the folks that we're staying with shovel their driveway, something hit me. I got a text from my mom. Hey, call us when you get a chance. I want to see other trips going.
So I called. And I said, well, we had a blizzard. And it's pretty crazy. There's a couple of feet of snow on the ground.
And there's cars on the ditch and everything else. And my mom said, oh, it's unseasonably warm here. It's 25 degrees here in Halifax. We're going to a beach walk later.
Well, let me tell you, I never felt some homesick in my entire life than I did at that moment. I didn't know what homesick this was until I heard 25 degrees. But that's what it hit me. I don't live here.
I don't live in Edmonton. Now, with apologies to those from that area, it actually turned out to be a pretty cool city. People were great. It was a cool city.
It was just a little cooler than I would have liked that particular weekend. But I'm not from here. It's not my home. Halifax and Nova Scotia is my home.
And I'm going to be going there. That Friday, I'm going to get on a plane. And I'm going to fly to beautiful Halifax and Nova Scotia. And if anything happens, when I came to that realization, as we toured the West Edmonton Mall that afternoon, I found myself proclaiming to everyone in the West Edmonton Mall the good news of Halifax and Nova Scotia.
25 degree Halifax and Nova Scotia. You can have Thanksgiving on the beach. It's an amazing thing. When that eternal mindset takes hold, nothing else is important.
Nothing else matters to us. It affects the way we speak. It affects the way we live. People can see it in us.
That is where evangelism starts. It starts with an eternal mindset. How can I speak enthusiastically about something that I myself am not excited about? We are going to go and spend eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We will be with him forever. What a wonderful thing. Paul wrote this. If our hope in Christ is in this life only, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
Now, I referenced first Corinthians 15 in my last term as well. I actually believe it's one of the Golden Passages of the Bible. It's one of my favorites. If we only have hope in this life, we are to be pitied.
But we have that glorious hope of eternity with Christ. What a wonderful thing. Now, here's an example of somebody that had his mind on eternity. This is found in Acts chapter 7.
Now, to set the scene, the church had just started. There was a lot of excitement. Sermons were being preached. The Holy Spirit had descended.
People were doing amazing works. And then this young man, this young energetic man begins to preach. And after he preaches a rousing sermon to the religious leaders that time, the Jewish leaders. Here's what they did.
The Jewish, when they heard these things, they were enraged. And they ground their teeth at him. My brother used to show his teeth at me when he was angry. That's what they did.
They ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, that eternal mindset, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see that heaven's opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, covered their ears, and rushed together at him.
Then they cast them over the city and stolen them. The witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out Lord Jesus, received my spirit. And following to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold the sin against them.
And when he had said this, he fell asleep. It's not an easy thing to read, right? It's not an easy story to read. As a young man, who devoted his life to standing up for the truth, to defending the truth, brutally murders in front of everybody.
If you have an internet connection, this story may even seem familiar this week. But you know what? There was a hope and a purpose in Stephen's death. It's not easy.
When we see believers suffer and even die for their faith for standing for truth, it's not an easy thing. Persecution is here. It is now. It has arrived in our culture.
Christians, the Bible says very clearly, Christians will suffer in this life. We will not have an easy life. People will lose everything. They will lose their freedom.
Some believe in, lose their lives. Many already have. But there is a hope and a purpose. Even in the suffering, even in the death of believers.
There's a hope and a purpose. Stephen, in his short life, was so focused on eternal things. He did not see his accusers. He did not see the rocks flying at his head.
He only saw the glory that awaited him in his final moments. He only saw his glorious future with Christ. My friends, this should give us hope. There's hope and purpose even in this life, even in this struggle.
I want to address especially the younger folks in this crowd. I don't know what's coming. I can't tell you what the future holds. I can't tell you what the future holds for believers.
Know that there is hope and there's purpose in that struggle. That that hope is eternity with Christ, that that purpose is to proclaim his name until the day comes where he takes us home. Precious in the eyes of God is the death of his saints. There's nothing more precious than when Lord Jesus Christ has the opportunity to take one of his servants home, when their work is completed.
We have much to look forward to as believers. And if there's one thing, if there's one thing I wanted to get across this morning, just to encourage every believer in this room, in this congregation, we have so much to look forward to. Know why he's seen, know where he's heard. No human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.
On the other side of it, if anybody here does not have this hope, if anybody here at the thought of meeting God, if there's fear, if there's bread at the thought of meeting God, today is the day, right now, today is the day you are not promised tomorrow. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Today is the day to settle up with God, to repent of your sin, repent of your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the day.
I wanna close in prayer, and then I'd like to sing the song that we will sing for eternity, Revelation song. God, I thank you. First and foremost for your son. Thank you for his sacrifice, for his blood, that has brought our way to eternal life.
Thank you that he took my sin, that he stood and answered for my sin. Lord, if there's anybody in this person who does not know you, who will not know eternal life, who's not destined right now for eternal life, I pray that they would give their life to you, that they would repent, and I pray for the believers in this room, that they would be encouraged, they would go through this week, whatever struggles they face, that they would be encouraged that there is something for greater to look forward to. Thank you for this time together. I thank you for these things in Jesus name, amen.