FLIGHT TO HEAVEN – TOPICAL STUDY OF 2 PETER 3:13 Our Heavenly - TopicsExpress



          

FLIGHT TO HEAVEN – TOPICAL STUDY OF 2 PETER 3:13 Our Heavenly Father, Creator of all things and Master Teacher, we humbly come into Your presence to seek Your Holy Spirit to open our eyes to these Holy Scriptures. We earnestly pray for enlightenment as we study together, and we ask You, Father, to open our eyes to see the truths contained in these words. Open our minds to comprehend that which we are reading, and open our hearts to receive the message that You have for us. Finally, dear Father, we ask for the strength and courage to live our lives in a manner of the called, constantly giving You the glory, honor, and praise that You deserve. We pray these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. If heaven is real, then that is all that really matters; but if heaven is not real, then nothing really matters at all. It’s all about heaven. That’s not just my conclusion. Inspired by the Spirit, Paul said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (see 1 Corinthians 15:19). The passage before us deals with heaven, even as the events one week dealt with heaven.… A pastor had decided to teach on the subject of the shortness of life to the one hundred or so in attendance at his church’s family camp. So they joined the children of Israel on their camping journey as they looked at Exodus 12–17.… Following their release from Egypt, the first place the Lord directed the children of Israel to stop was Succoth, or “Tent Town”—a place that would have reminded them not to take this life too seriously because they were only passing through. It was at stop number two, Etham, which means “hat Now?” that God told them He would lead them with a cloud by day and a fire by night. Stop number three found them camped between Mount Pi-hahiroth and Migdol with their backs to the Red Sea. It was there that God said, “You might complain and wonder, question and murmur, but I will put you in whatever box you need to be in to let other people see My reality and My power” (see Exodus 14:3). After crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel stopped at Marah, or “Bitter,” where, after drinking bitter water, they were instructed by God to throw a tree into the water—whereby it became sweet. The tree in Scripture being a picture of the Cross of Calvary, this account leads me to say, “Although the situation I’m in might seem bitter presently, I know the Lord will make it sweet eventually.” Stop number five was at Elam, where seventy palm trees and twelve wells provided an oasis for no other reason than simply to bless the children of Israel. Stop number six led from the place of blessing to the “Wilderness of Sin,” from which we get the word “Sinai.” With nothing to eat, the children of Israel murmured and complained, until the Word—the manna—came down and fed their souls. This is a potent reminder that even when we journey through the wilderness, it’s the Word, the Word, the Word that feeds our souls. At stop number seven, Rephidim, a war broke out between the Israelites and the Amalekites. As Moses went to the mountain and held up his hands in prayer, Joshua and the Israelite solders were victorious. But when his hands became heavy, the Amalekites would gain the advantage. So, standing on either side of Moses, Aaron and Hur held up his hands, and the Israelites prevailed. “Life is short,” the pastor said, concluding his teaching that Friday morning. “We’re just passing through. We don’t belong here. We’re going to heaven. And we need one another to hold up our hands along the way.” Five minutes later, they heard the news that in the early morning hours, Kelly—a wonderful brother whose smile lit up any room he entered—had taken off in his plane in order to get home before the predicted clouds rolled in. And twenty-year-old Ryan—an incredibly gifted young man—felt compelled to accompany him. But for reasons unknown, the plane exploded mid-flight. So there they sat—Kelly’s widow and Ryan’s parents—on the bench where the pastor had only moments earlier concluded their time together in the Word. Suddenly, all of the studies he had shared concerning life being short, the mystery of the Red Sea for God’s sovereign purposes and plan, the clouds and the pillar of fire, experiences that could produce bitterness if we allowed them to, and hands that hang down unless propped up in intercession, were no longer theoretical. Driving home through the night with Ryan’s parents, the pastor thought, Lord, what do I say this morning in church to a group of people who are hurting? But as he opened the text, the answer was in front of him, for he realized that in the fire and explosion of the previous night, Kelly and Ryan had simply taken an early flight to heaven. Heaven. Peter tells us we are to look forward to heaven. Yet the Bible doesn’t really say much about it. I suggest a couple of reasons for this.… The strongest instinct in man is survival. But the beauty of heaven can overcome and overpower even that strongest of instincts. Therefore, I believe Christians would be committing suicide, erroneously, to get there if heaven were understood clearly. I believe the second reason the Bible doesn’t speak very much about heaven is because it’s impossible for us to comprehend the fifth dimension (1 Corinthians 2:9). Suppose I gave you a blank piece of paper with a dot on it. How long would it hold your attention? Maybe a second. A dot is boring because it’s one-dimensional. But suppose I make it two-dimensional. Suppose I add a series of circles and lines so that it resembles the face of a man. That would be a little more interesting, but you’d still be bored with that after a short time. But what if I made it three-dimensional, not just a dot or a picture, but a statue—a Michelangelo statue of David. Although that would definitely be more intriguing, you would eventually tire of it. But how much more interesting than three dimensions is the fourth one—time and space. If you could actually talk to Michelangelo, your interaction with him would be infinitely more interesting than any picture or statue could be. But there’s a fifth dimension—a dimension we have not seen, cannot hear, and do not understand. It’s called eternity, and it’s going to make this life look like a dot on a piece of paper. Paul was given a sneak preview of coming attractions. And it was after he was given a glimpse of heaven that he declared, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (see Philippians 1:21, emphasis mine). This one, who had perhaps the greatest command of language in history, was left speechless in his attempt to describe what he had seen there (2 Corinthians 12:4). Therefore, on the basis of the Word of God, I promise you that Kelly and Ryan are not saying, “Is this it?” No, they’re saying, “This is it!” They’re not saying, “Why?” They’re saying, “Wow! Truly, this is the place of righteousness—for this is the right way, the right moment, and the right place for us to be.” Have you prepared yourself for a flight to heaven? Have a blessed day!
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:11:36 +0000

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