LIVE Sagemont Church, 8/22/21 Sunday 11:15 am Service

good morning sagemon church we are so excited that you are joining us here this morning we're hanging out in the worship center getting ready to go it is buzzing behind us y'all it's promotion sunday it is promotion sunday all of our children and students have promoted up a grade and i heard that student ministry was packed and that's so exciting that they're all coming back getting plugged in ready to go if you have children we'd love for them to come up and join us for student ministry or children's ministry either one also very exciting this last week we started demolition on the buildings that need to come down for the new student building to go up and so it was really neat to get to see that happening we've been praying for it for a while and i'm so excited that that is happening if you get a chance come drive by the church you'll see the big fenced off area and there is movement there are some buildings coming down there in the process continue to pray for that as we move through this process of having to tear down some buildings to make room for new buildings it's an exciting time here at sagemont but around the world there's hard things you're right i'm sure you guys already heard about the news in afghanistan you know we believe in a god that is so he is eternal guys like our eternity is determined by him right um speaking of eternity yes pastor matt carter is continuing on his three-week serie on heaven and hell yeah and so if you guys if you guys were with us last week um he was talking about hell and what it was like giving us scriptural evidence so if you guys haven't seen that i i highly recommend you guys go back and check it out because today he's going to talk about what satan does not want us to know about heaven um and so you know we're really really excited for that very interesting topic i can't wait i cannot wait you guys definitely do not want to miss out on it's going to be really good really excited also this week this wednesday fall midweek kicks off so back up here at the church 6 30 to 8 30. there are so many different things you can choose from on wednesday nights children is going students are going pastor steward in wednesday in the word in the hra we have a women's bible study we'd love for you to come to there's men's groups there's support groups financial peace university is also starting this wednesday we're talking about our new student building we raise all the money completely debt free before we build or do anything here at sagemont and if you're interested in learning how that can be part of your story or just what god says about finances sign up for financial peace join them this wednesday night you can go to sagemontchurch.org backslash midweek and see all the different options that are available for midweek this coming wednesday we'd love for you to come join us on wednesday night yeah and guys mark your calendars yes on september 12th which is three sundays away from now um we're gonna have a hymn sing in our church in our worship service right here guys so if you guys are into you know the classical hymns you know we're going to have books sing from sing the hymns sunday the 12th at 3 p.m come it is going to be so fun we have a special pianist let me say your name lou varel griffin some of you might know her she's going to come play the piano and we're going to sing hymns i can't wait that's how i grew up flipping through hymnals so come and join us at the him sing on september 12th also if it's your first time joining us online or if you just haven't ever taken a second to fill out a connect form to let us know that you're joining us online would you please do that for us today we want to know you we want to know who you are see where you're at and we want you to continue to be able to get to know us in sagemont church you are part of our church family and we want to know you and we want to pray for you there's places you can put your prayer requests we want to pray with you we have people right now that are sitting waiting for your prayer requests and they will pray right now for you so we love getting to be a part of your life and you're joining us this morning so we hope you have a great morning worship's going to be wonderful i'm so excited it's always a great morning hopefully when you're at your house or wherever you are watching you really take time to just worship and sit and be filled with god's word this morning it's gonna be a great morning it's gonna be a really really great morning i'm really excited for it guys you guys we're gonna we're probably gonna end it up right here and give it over to the worship worship team guys we're really excited to have you guys with me joy it is going to be so fun have a great morning and a great week good morning hey church buddy come on hey church body my name is chuck davenport i'm the college minister on staff here at sagemont church if you're a guest with us today we're super happy that y'all chose to worship with us on this sunday morning this is zachary hickerson we have the opportunity to baptize this morning what it is is it's in [Applause] this this is an outward expression of an inward change that zach has submitted his life to christ as lord and savior and so zach i have two questions for you today do you commit to follow jesus for the rest of your days yes do you proclaim that he is lord and savior of your life yes it is with that proclamation my brother that i baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] good morning church family my name is cody wowtucky i'm the student pastor here at sagemont church and we have five more this morning that are coming to be baptized church family this is miss gail and i got to hear her story just a few minutes ago let's go you take a couple more steps there you go miss gail trusted in jesus as her personal lord and savior as a child and recently the lord laid upon her heart that she hadn't been baptized and she needed to take care of that this morning and so we're excited to get to celebrate this moment with her [Applause] miss gail have you trusted in jesus as your personal lord and savior thank you then it's because of that profession of faith my sister i baptize you now in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] church family this is ryan yeah there you go ryan's got some love too let's move on ryan trusted in jesus within this past month he grew up in the church kind of told me cody i i had a prodigal son moment for a good good while and i recognized it was time for me to come home so he trusted in jesus recently and is coming this morning to be baptized and so ryan asked you this morning have you trusted in jesus as your personal lord and savior then it's because of that profession of faith my brother i baptize you now in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] church family this is kelly she is mama to one of our students and kelly shared with me backstage um that she was watching the documentary on netflix uh american gospel and that the lord moved in her life while watching it and so last october last november she trusted in jesus in her living room her bedroom wherever she was watching that and so god is good and this morning she's coming to be baptized and so kelly i ask you this question have you trusted in jesus as your personal lord and savior then it's because of that profession of faith my sister i baptize you now in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] church family this is ashley and ashley shared with us um right before service that this past year was just a trying year i think we all kind of know that in many ways shapes or forms but that she recognized this year that even through the trials that god was moving in her life and that she trusted in jesus and so she is coming this morning to be baptized and so ashley i ask you this question have you trusted in jesus as your personal lord and savior yes then it's because of that profession of faith my sister i baptize you now in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] church family this is my friend tara i've known her since she was a young whippersnapper we've had chipotle at her house and everything and she's awesome and so uh recently the end of july tara trusted in jesus as her personal lord and savior and is coming this morning to be baptized [Music] standing up can we give a mighty shot of jesus this morning yes that's so crazy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i give you glory for all you bro and now i'm ready for whatever you wanna do i'm moving [Music] forward and now i'm ready for whatever you want to do come on your presence is an open door [Music] is together [Music] to [Music] [Applause] the is [Music] [Music] why don't you begin to praise him thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i know a breakthrough [Music] i know a breakthrough is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] your praising is an open door we want you lord like never before come on sit i'll declare your praising [Music] subtle praise amen [Applause] it is so good to see the students right here hallelujah [Music] when sorrow comes to steal the joy i hold when brokenness and pain is all i know oh i won't be ashamed no i won't be shaking come on my fear doesn't stand a chance when i stand in your love my fear it doesn't stand a chance when oh the chain no longer has a place to hide [Music] i'm not afraid to leave my past behind no i won't be shaking come on [Music] [Music] [Music] come on there's power [Music] there's resurrection [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it doesn't stand a chance [Music] [Music] when i [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm [Music] we're gonna continue to worship and god we worship you because it's in your love and it's only through you that we don't have that fear yet not i not i but christ threw me christ in me lord be with us today my gift of grace is jesus my redeemer there is no more for heaven now to give he is my joy my righteousness and freedom my steadfast love my deep and boundless peace to this high hold my hope is only jesus for my life [Music] and is i can sing all is [Music] [Applause] [Music] the night is hard but i am not for safe for by my side the savior he will stay i labor on in weakness and rejoice for in my [Music] deepest valley he will be [Music] amen what has christ brought you through this week what could you not have done on your own what did christ do through you let's listen to these words [Music] the price it has been paid for jesus [Music] is [Applause] [Music] hit me [Music] with every breath i long to follow jesus [Music] i know [Music] my hope is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] but through christ in me [Applause] [Music] [Music] and righteousness i did not trust the sweetest faith but holy trust in jesus name hallelujah [Music] my hope is built on earth [Music] in jesus name come on every foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] come on [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] trumpets mercy it out [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] jesus you are a rock the cornerstone [Music] god things that are not built in you god they're just sinking sand through you jesus we are saved we have hope [Music] and god we thank you this morning we thank you for what you've done we thank you for what you're doing today god and we thank you for what you will do god may that be your anthem this morning god god we love you god we worship you god we give you praise and we pray that you will have your way in afghanistan right now god save every taliban everybody in that country may this be the perfect time the mighty name of jesus christ we pray and we believe amen [Applause] good morning my name is sharon bouvier i'm a longtime member here at sagemont church a really long time especially when i look out over this crowd my husband james and i have been here at sagemont this year marks our 50th year our family uh a son and wife and grandkids all attend and serve here and we're so thankful for that over the years i've served in many areas in sagemote currently i just wanted to share a few things that i'm certain places where i'm serving now i'm greeting working in the bookstore volunteering with ladies night out also our eye connect class plugged in i serve as outreach leader for the class my husband teaches our newest endeavor in serving is the discovery stop luncheons and that's really really been an eye opener for james and i we've only done it a couple of times we've loved every minute of it and i know many of you out here have been in those classes the enthusiasm the excitement that you bring it's absolutely contagious and we love it we love getting to know you as new members so if you're one of the new members that's recently been in one of these classes or if you're a member that's been at sagemont for many years i would encourage each one of you to find a place where you can serve where god can use you and believe me there's a place for you here at sagemot and you'll be blessed because of it i just wanted to reflect is just a minute when i think about all of these places of service i come back to one thing and that is what sagemont stands for all of these places of service mean something to god and something special to sagemont sagemont has always always always all these years that we've been here stood for one main thing and that's keeping the main thing the main thing and that's jesus the scripture i'd like to share with you today is from colossians 3 1-2 it'll be from the esv translation if you have been raised with christ seek the things that are above where christ is at the right hand of god set your mind on things that are above not of things on this earth thank you thank you so much sharon it's good to be with you today sagemont um sagemont students thank you guys for leading worship this morning you did a great job excited that you guys are there in the front uh i want you to open up your bibles today to the book of colossians chapter 3. verse 1 colossians 3 1 will be there in just a second excuse me um a few verses before we get there but that's where we're going to be digging in we're continuing our series we're calling heaven and hell last week we looked primarily at the words of jesus where he gave a very graphic description of hell that he believed was a very real place if you missed last week strongly encourage you to go listen to that it's a good foundation for what we're talking about now next week we're going to be preaching on heaven what heaven's going to be like and what we're going to be doing when we get there it's going to be a lot of fun it's going to be super encouraging so be sure and come next week for the end of our series but today i'm going to just jump in and tell you what our topic is kind of the main point of the sermon this week and it's this i want you to walk out of here today with this thought that i need to spend more time in my life thinking about my death and thinking about eternity that's it you see it's very biblical but the concept today is this that i need to spend more time in my life thinking about my death and thinking about eternity and that's it that's part of the message today one of the things we talked about last week is how we've stopped doing that that as a generation we've stopped thinking about the doctrines of eternity which is a very different story than generations that have gone before us i give you guys a quote from the great theologian jonathan edwards from the 1700s let me give you one more of his quotes today actually i think i have two i can't remember a lot of jonathan edwards quotes over this series but anyway he was awesome but it says this it says it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven to which we subordinate all other concerns of this life let me read it again he says it becomes a suspend this life only as a journey towards heaven to which we subordinate all other concerns of this life and so his point is this if we're going to live 50 60 70 maybe 80 years 90 if we're really really blessed and then eternity starts now get your mind around that word eternity forever trillions of years if we're going to spend 50 60 70 80 years on this earth and then forever his point is that it behooves us to invest every single day of this life into the coming eternity y'all with me that's what he's saying but honestly how many of us do that how many of us do that how many of us could honestly say that we live our lives only as a journey to heaven in which we subordinate all other concerns of this life i think the truth is is that most of us live in this life like the next one doesn't even exist another thing i talked about last week is one of the reasons that i think that's happening that most of us live in this life like the next one doesn't exist it's for for a lot of reasons pastors have quit teaching on the doctrines of heaven and hell in eternity so i want to read to you a quote from a sermon from charles spurgeon now charles burgess is one of my heroes he was probably the greatest preacher to ever live outside of jesus pastor in the 1800s in england it's this this uh this quote that i'm going to give you this was just a normal sunday for him this wasn't like a series that he did where he got a graphic slide you know hey guys we're going to talk about hills so put your seatbelt on this is just a normal sunday for charles but i want you to listen to this this is intense i'm going to read it to you he was preaching and he says there was a dreadful dream in which a righteous mother once had and she told it to her children she thought the judgment day had come and the great books were opened and they all stood before god and jesus christ and god said separate the chaff from the wheat but the goats on the left those are non-believers but the sheep on the right those are the believers and the mother dreamed that she and her children were standing just in the middle of the great assembly and the angel came and said i must take the mother for she is a sheep she must go to the right hand but the children are goats they must go to the left her children clutched her and said mother must we part mother must we be separated she then put her arms around them and seemed to say my children i wish if it were possible to take you with me but in a moment the angel came and touched her her cheeks were instantly dried and now overcoming natural affection being rendered sublime resigned only to the will of god she said my children i taught you well i trained you up and you forsook the ways of god and now all i have to say is amen to your condemnation therefore the children were snatched away and she saw them in perpetual torment while she was in heaven and then he ends this illustration by talking to the young men of the congregation he says young men what will you think when the last day comes and you hear christ say depart you cursed and there will be a voice just behind the throne shouting amen and when you inquire from whom the voice came you will find it was your mother we don't preach that way anymore do we that's pretty intense we don't preach that way anymore but here's the crazy thing is that every single thing that he just talked about every single principle that he just preached is remarkably biblical when you look at it and so he preached on the subjects of heaven and hell he preached on them regularly and the reason that he preached on them regularly is because listen don't miss this because he knew the power and he knew the impact that you thinking about your eternity would have on your ability to make a difference in this world for the gospel in this life he knew the power and impact of you thinking and setting your mind on eternity would have on your ability to live this life for the glory of god that's why i did it so why don't pastors preach that way anymore well i think there's a couple reasons but one of them is they're scared to death to preach the difficult things of scripture because they're scared to death to offend you because if they offend you then you might leave their church and why would people leave the church for a pastor teaching on some of the difficult things in the scripture it seems like to me that if there's some difficult things that are said in here and this is the truth which i believe it is that you don't want to hear it but why why are people like man i don't know if i can handle that well in second timothy 4 3 watch what paul says he says for the time will come when they those are people in the church from time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires paul's saying there's coming a day which i'm convinced is probably already here when people will no longer tolerate the difficult things that this book that i'm holding my hand says but what they're going to do is they're going to gather for themselves teachers that will tell them not what god wants them to know but what they want to know because they want to live their life the way they want to live not the way that god wants them to live and so they'll find a teacher that will tickle their ears the scripture says now here's the deal just so you know where i'm coming from on this honestly guys i love you but i'm going to say this anyway i would rather offend you and you leave the church knowing the truth hold on i'm being honest i'm not trying to be mean or just saying i would rather teach to you the whole counsel of this book and you get offended and leave knowing the truth and for you to sit in this church your whole life hearing a bunch of nonsensical fluff and die a happy church attender and go to hell that that's what and so we're going to teach the book and there's some hard things in the book but we don't talk about them anymore okay here's another reason we've stopped talking about the doctrines of of heaven and hell and it's this guy satan knows his time is short the battle's already been won at the cross and the resurrection and we're waiting on the return of christ which we're going to talk about next week satan knows his time is short and so the last thing he wants in this short window of time is for you to be a person that subordinates all the concerns of your life for the pursuit of your heavenly journey he doesn't want you to live in that way satan's goal is to get you so focused on this life your marriage your school your relationships your fun your hobbies your stuff your house your 401k he wants to get you so focused on this life that you're not even thinking about the next one and so how's he going to do that how's it going to get you so focused on this life that you don't think about the next one which is really important going to find out here in a minute and here's one of the ways he's going to do he's going to lie to you he's going to lie to you turn there john 8 4. i want you to listen to how jesus describes the character of satan it's in john 8 4. jesus is speaking and he says you are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father's desires he was a murderer from the beginning he does not stand in the truth now watch this jesus said because there is no truth in him when he lies he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies and so jesus says hey guys there's something you need to know about satan and his character he's a liar he lies jesus as a matter of fact there is no truth in him and so if something's coming out of his mouth you can take it to the bank that what's coming out of his mouth is a lie and so listen in order to keep you from being a christian that subordinates every concern in your life to the pursuit of the heavenly journey which god's calling us to do satan's going to lie to you now what's he going to lie about what's he going to lie about don't turn there listen revelation 13 6. revelation 13 6 is describing uh this satanic beast i won't get into all the details of that but the satanic beast and the writer of revelation john tells us what satan lies about revelation 13 6 it says it that's satanic beast opened its mouth to utter blasphemies as falsehoods against god blaspheming his name and his dwelling now that's interesting jesus tells us satan's a liar if he's speaking he's lying and what the scripture says in revelation is one of the things that satan's going to lie about is god's name now what does that mean why in the world would satan lie about god's name well here's what that means throughout the scripture your name was synonymous with your character and so what that's saying is that satan is going to lie to you about the character of god he's going to lie to you about the nature of god why because he wants you to believe wrong things about god we said that from the very beginning god created out the god of eden he put adam and eve in it and he looks at him and he says hey you can eat anything you want but don't eat this one tree and what does satan do he rolls up and he starts lying he's like hey adam and eve did god really say you couldn't eat that tree like did he really say that did he really say that you're gonna die it seems like a little bit of an exaggeration you're not gonna die you see what he's doing he's lying about the character and the nature of god trying to get adam and eve to think that god's word isn't true from the very beginning is a liar so he lies about god's nature and his character but look at this next part of the verse it's really interesting revelation 13 6 it says he opened and opened its mouth to utter blasphemies or falsehood against god blaspheming his name and his dwelling so the next thing satan lies about and that's really interesting is he lies about the dwelling of god where is god's dwelling that's not a trick question it's in heaven it's one of the things the scripture teaches us in revelation is that one of the things that satan's going to lie about is heaven he's going to try to get you to minimize its importance in your life he's going to try to think get you think that it doesn't exist it's going to try to get you to not even think about it it says he lies about the dwelling of god now it makes sense that satan would lie about the character of god but why in the world would satan lie about heaven why would he lie about heaven so here's what i'm gonna do the rest of my time together today our time together i'm gonna give you three reasons why satan lies about heaven and why he does not want you spending time thinking about heaven in this life okay that's it and we'll be done reason number one that satan does not want you thinking about heaven by the way this sermon is called heaven and hell what satan does not want you to know about heaven okay reason number one saying done once you're thinking about heaven is because to think about heaven and think about it often is a command of scripture sagemont did you know that did you know that to think about heaven and to think about it often is actually command of scripture on your life as a believer we see that in colossians 3 so let's check it out together colossians 3 1. paul says if then you have been raised with christ seek the things that are above where christ is seated at the right hand of god it's command of scripture he starts off by saying if you've been raised with christ and so here's what that means he's just saying hey if you've been saved if you're a person that's been given a new life in christ jesus and he's like all right everybody if you've been given a new life in christ about to put a command on you if you've been given a new life in christ for your christian there's something you need to be doing what are we doing he says if then you've been raised with christ seek if you're a person that's been raised with christ given a new life in christ you're supposed to be seeking something now that word seek is important it's a present tense active verb in the greek so he tells us that we're to seek it's a present tense active verb and a present tense active verb is something that you do right now check this out right now every day continually and diligently that's what a present tense active verb means it's something you're doing right now every day continually and diligently okay so if you're a person that's been raised with christ you're supposed to be seeking something right now every day continually and diligently so what church are you and i as people have been raised with christ supposed to be right now seeking every day continually and diligently he tells us in colossians 3 1. he says if you've been raised with christ seek active tense active present tense if you've been raised with christ seek the things that are above where christ is seated at the right hand of god hey guys where is christ seated at the right hand of god it's in heaven now here's what the scripture just commanded us to do he said if you've been raised with christ you are to right now every day continually and diligently seek heaven that's what that says it's a command now what does that look like what does it look like for me to every day continually seek heaven well in the next verse he tells us kind of practically what that looks like for you and me look at colossians 3 2. next verse he says set your minds set your mind fix your mind on things that are above not on the things that are on the earth and so the holy spirit inspired word of god guys it couldn't be any clearer that as a believer as a christian right now every day continually and diligently you are to set your mind on heaven it's a fascinating verse because seriously how often do you guys think about heaven how often seriously how often do you think about it i don't know about you but i think about it in two places i think about it in heaven and funerals three funerals when i gotta preach on it and during a worship song you know we've been there ten thousand years i'm like yeah heaven's going to be awesome it's the only time i think about it but what the scripture is saying is that we're supposed to be thinking about it and actually setting our minds every day on heaven but we don't do that so what does that look like for us i want to give just one practical example of where i've seen somebody do this it's my wife jennifer now this is going to shock you guys but my wife jennifer and i which by the way we've married 25 years last week so happy anniversary baby that's a long time to be married to me i'm just saying [Applause] it's come a shock to you but we get an argument sometimes and and we get in arguments what she'll do sometimes when we're just kind of taking some time out is she'll go into a room and i was listening one time and she was blaring worship music but it wasn't just any worship music it was a playlist of songs that she had made about heaven she called it her heaven playlist it was just a bunch of songs from a bunch of different artists specifically about heaven so she'd get an argument some you know take some time she'd go listen to her heaven playlist and at first it really offended me honestly because i was like like this woman thinks it's so hard to be married to me that she wants to go to heaven right that she's going into her room and praying dear god please take me home so that i don't have to go be married to this man anymore jesus name but i found out that that's not really her heart behind it she'll be the first person to tell you that she doesn't listen she doesn't listen to songs about heaven to escape the world she listens to songs about heaven to endure the world she listens to songs about heaven listen to give her the strength to keep fighting for her marriage in those moments where she sometimes may not want to she sets her mind on things above to remind her and to give her the strength to be a better mom and to be a better friend and to be a better woman of god and a better believer so there's something about reminding yourself that there's only like a few short days so you're going to be in the presence of jesus there's something about reminding yourself about that it's just a few short days so i'm going to be in the presence of jesus that empowers you to endure and walk victoriously through this world and that's why satan doesn't want you doing it that's why satan doesn't want you to do it that's why he hates it and that's why the bible commands it the bible commands it satan hates it because satan knows that if you become a person that sets your mind on things above that you will become a powerful weapon for the kingdom of god right here on earth so that's number one number one excuse me reason number two satan wants you thinking about heaven reason number two to think about heaven and to think about it often produces in us a holy urgency we're commanded to do it but one of the things that it does when we set our minds on things above when we think about heaven we think about eternity we think about the end of our days and the next life that produces in us a holy urgency and if you look at the the last two thousand years of church history here's what you find that people that have the greatest impact for god here on earth were the people that thought the most about heaven and listen this quote by c.s lewis he said if you read history you'll find that christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought the most about the next the apostles themselves who set foot the conversion of the roman empire the great men who built up the middle ages and the evangelicals who abolished the slave trade all left their mark on earth precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven listen carefully this last part he says it is since christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one it's largely because people have stopped thinking about the other world that they've become ineffective in this one which is an interesting quote because it's in direct opposition to a pretty famous quote from here on earth you ever heard the statement she's so heavenly minded that she's no earthly good he's so heavenly minded that he's no earthly good that is one of the most satanic statements that's ever been uttered because what the scripture is telling us guys and what history is telling us is that the people that are the most heavily minded are going to be the ones that do the most earthly good for the name of jesus christ as a matter of fact the scripture teaches us that there's a direct connection between you realizing how short your life is and realize how quickly heaven is coming and setting your mind on that end and the urgency for god with which you'll live your life there's a connection you're realizing the shortness of your life and the urgency with which you'll live your life for the glory of god let me read you real quick psalms 39 4 psalms 39 4. this is david speaking it makes a fascinating request of god david's talking to the lord he says o lord make me know my end make me know my end and what is the measure of my days let me know how fleeting i am it says behold you have made my days a few hand breaths and my lifetime is nothing before you surely all mankind stands as a mere breath that's such a fascinating request that david makes of god he says god will you show me my end basically saying will you show me when i'm going to die you show me how short my life is that it's so fleeting and he says will you show me will you reveal to my heart that my life is just like a hand breath what's a hand breath well you ever breathe on a cold window on a cold winter's day you breathe on it it fogs up boom it instantly goes away david said lord would you reveal to my heart that that's what my life is like that i'm here boom and then i'm gone lord would you show me that and the next verse he tells us why he's asking god to show him his end and reveal that his life's so fleeting he said because most men just walk about like phantoms what does that mean he's saying that most people everybody look at me he's saying the reason i want you to show me that my life is fleeting because most men waste their lives most men waste their entire lives his point is that if you don't spend time thinking about the shortness of your life you don't spend time thinking about your death if you don't spend time thinking about eternity there's a solid chance you're going to waste your life because think about it as you're sitting here today if you think in the back of your mind man i got another 40 years i got another 50 years some of you youngsters i got 60 70 more years 80 maybe more years left and i got all this time in the world you think you've got all this time you're probably not going to live with an urgency for the glory of god every day of your life there's a there's a solid chance you're going to waste a day or two here and there but i want you to think about this what if today at the end of the service somebody walked up to you and somehow let you know tomorrow you're going to die how would it change the way you lived this afternoon and tonight it changed everything if you knew you had a short time left how would it change the way you read the bible how would it change the way you talk to your spouse how would it change the way that you shared your faith how would it change the way that you watch television it would change everything because there's a direct connection and you realizing how short your life is and the urgency with which you will live your life and david saying god i want to live that way listen to the final quote here by jonathan edwards he said i will live every day as i wish i had done when i come to die i want to live every day as i wish i had when i closed my eyes and death here's what that means he's simply saying i want to live every day of my life like it were my last day it would change everything and the way that we're able to do that is to set our mind on things above and satan does not want you to do that he doesn't want you to live that way he doesn't want you to think that way he doesn't want you thinking about your death or the shortness of your life or eternity because he knows if you do you're not going to waste your life pursuing the passing stuff of this world that doesn't matter and it's going to be gone in just a few short years but you'll be one of those rare rare people that changes history because you live with a white hot passion for the glory of god and people like that scare him to death but that's what we're called to to think about heaven and think about it often produces in us a holy urgency last thing reason number three to think about heaven and to think about it often robs you of your fear of death it robs you of your fear of death now young folks here y'all probably don't ever think about death but when you when you get old and bust like me it starts creeping in the back of your mind and we have a fear of it but here's the thing if you become a person that sets your mind on things that are above where christ is seated at the right hand of the father and you start thinking about heaven and dwelling on heaven and thinking about eternity something really powerful is going to happen in your life you're going to lose your fear of death hebrews 2 14 it says then since therefore the children that's us sharing flesh and blood he himself that's jesus likewise partook of the same things that through his death he might destroy the one who has the power over death that's the devil so jesus christ died on the cross in the flesh destroyed the power of death and then watched what he also did the cross and the resurrection he said and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery he's saying that one of the things that satan does and one of the ways that he keeps us in bondage and keeps us is in slavery is our fear of death because we're afraid to die we don't think about our death we don't think about eternity we kind of put it aside and because we're not thinking about eternity you're thinking about our death we don't live with holy urgency let me ask you a question besides jesus what man is i'm really i want you i want you to tell me besides jesus what man in the new testament had the greatest impact for the kingdom of god paul i think it's paul i wish it was peter but probably not i love peter i'm a lot like peter we'll talk about that another day but anyway i think it's the apostle paul wrote most of the new testament shared the gospel everywhere planted churches the gospel spread like wildfire through the the known world because of paul and now listen to me don't miss this maybe one of the primary reasons he was so powerfully used of god is because the man had no fear of death he's like i've been shipwrecked i've been beat down i've been put in prison been put in chains and it was awesome so why why is why is he like that well listen it's really interesting look at philippians 1 21 paul's in prison he's in prison and he's writing to the church in philippi philippians 1 21 he says for me to live is christ and to die is it's gain if i'm to live on in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me now watch what he's saying here we've heard this verse a lot but but tune in he said yet which i shall choose i cannot tell for i am hard pressed between the two but then watch what he says he says my desire is to depart and be with christ for that is far better now listen we've heard this verse so many times lives christ dies again we're not thinking about the unbelievable reality of what he just said he said i got a choice here i can stay and be alive that's one of my choices or the other choice is to die and be with jesus and what he just said guys is that if i had to choose i'd rather die i'd rather die so that i can go be with jesus where he's at and so listen honestly ask yourself the question how many of you could say that now i'm not talking about like you get it cognitively because my guess is that the overwhelming majority of you in here cognitively believe that it's better to be with jesus than live on the planet i'm talking about if you were given the choice if you're given the choice keep on living more christmases more vacations more time with the kids and the grandkids trips to the beach all that stuff or to die and go be with jesus you'd be like man i'm choosing to go be with jesus because that is so much better we don't live that way do we we don't live that way i mean how many of us seriously let me let me say this i'll just tell you one quick story i know i didn't i don't live that way when i got the call that i had cancer at 31 with little babies got calls and says matt we uh we found a 1.9 centimeter malignant tumor and your appendix i'm gonna tell you what i didn't do i didn't hang up the phone and go whoa yeah praise god that just made my day i'm gonna die that's not what we do it's not how we respond but listen paul did now listen listen why why was he able to say that with so much conviction that if you give me the choice between living and dying i would choose to die and to be with jesus for that is far better everybody look at me the reason that he was able to say that is because the man saw heaven i'm convinced not only did he see jesus on the road to damascus that's part of it but we find out later the dude actually saw heaven with his own eyes let me read this to you he talks about it ii corinthians 12 2. he says i know a man in christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven whether in the body or out of the body i do not know god knows and i know that this man was caught up into paradise whether in the body or out of the body i do not know god knows and he heard things that cannot be told which men may not um utter now paul was being really humble here but he was talking about himself and here's what he's saying he was like well i was having a quiet time one day and was apparently a really good quiet time because i got caught up into and he calls it paradise for you to use that word it's got to be pretty solid place see i got caught up in a paradise whether i was in my body i don't know i don't know if i was in the spirit i don't really know only god knows but he said look it was so incredible and it was so indescribable because i heard things that i don't even know how to articulate to you i saw things with my own eyes that i don't even know how to describe then a few years later he finds himself in a prison in philippi and he starts writing to the church in philippi and he goes hey guys here's my dilemma if it means that i have to stay here in this place so that more people can hear about jesus i'll do it but let me just tell you where i want to be where i want to be is in that place i don't want to be in this place i want to be in that place because i've seen that place and that place blows this place out of the water and so like prison guards do you want to kill me i'm cool with that you want to chop off my head chop off my head if you want to burn me at the stake burn me at the stake because if you burn me at the stake i get to go to that place and i've seen that place and that place is far better than this place so for crying out loud light your fire and burn me at the stake if you need to now here's the question who says that who says that what kind of what kind of man says oh death where is your victory what kind of man says oh death where is your sting what kind of man mocks death he's talking smack to death what kind of man does that it's either a man that's stark raving mad or he's a man that's been set free from the fear of death because he saw heaven and that's why he says hey guys set your mind on things above where christ is seated at the right hand of the father and you won't be afraid anymore so to think about heaven as a command of scripture to think about heaven produces in us holy urgency to think about heaven robs you of your fear of death and if you're a person that will do that you will become an unstoppable force for the kingdom of god and i want to end today i'm not telling you just a quick story and i'm done years ago years ago i read the autobiography of bill clinton and i don't remember really anything about the autobiography but i remember one story and i've never forgotten it kind of talking about this subject clinton was president and billy graham called president clinton one day and said hey my best friend in the whole world i've been friends with for years and years decades he's dying he's dying of cancer he's in his last days and i know i'll never get to see him again so i want to go say talk to him and would you come with me of course clinton president clinton said yes and so the two of them go they go into the room president clinton says hi to the dying man and then goes and sits down into the corner clinton wrote that billy graham went there and stood beside his friend's bed when they talked for a little while then after a few minutes they both got quiet and clinton said that billy grimm leaned down and started whispering in his friend's ear and he said hey i know this is the last time that we're going to see each other here on earth but when you pass i want you to wait for me i'll be there soon and he says this he said i'll meet you at the eastern gate of the holy city and he turned around and he walked out the door he didn't say goodbye because he didn't have to because it wasn't goodbye and i don't know this for a fact but i have a sneaking suspicion that when billy graham came to the last hours and days before his death he was not afraid he'd lost his fear and death his fear of death because he knew when he closed his eyes in death he was going to see heaven this place that he played a role and so many people go into he knew when he closed his eyes and death he was going to see his wife when he closed his eyes and death he was going to see his friend again and more importantly than anything when he closed his eyes and death he was going to see jesus the love of his life i want to die that way i don't know about you but i want to die that way but more importantly i want to live that way the lord wants us to live that way so let's pray let's pray if you're here and you're not a believer there's never been a time where you've trusted in christ as your lord and savior i want you to know that that day that billy graham was describing that's that's coming for you at some point and when that day comes there is one way in which you can enter the kingdom of heaven and that is through jesus christ christ said i am the way i'm the truth i'm the life and no one comes to the father except through me there is no name under heaven which men might be saved but the name of jesus christ and so if you've never trusted in christ as your lord and your savior become a new creation in christ today right now just the best way you know how i want you to now believers with every head bowed and every eye closed i want you to do something for me real fast i want you to think about the moment when you close your eyes in death and you see jesus christ for the first time think about it it's all said and it's all done and there he is it kind of robs you of your fear of death doesn't it so let's pray father i pray by the power of your spirit in our lives that we would be a people that seek the things above where you are seated at the right hand of the father that we'd set our minds on things above not on things here below and god i pray that you would give us through that power did you give us urgency and that you'd rob us from our fear of death so that we would be a generation that uses our short time left here on earth for the glory of your name and so we ask these things in jesus name amen amen church let's stand together let's worship him [Music] so i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me and all my days [Music] oh the goodness [Music] [Music] oh [Music] i love your voice [Music] [Music] i've known you as a father i've known [Music] oh [Music] with every oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] your goodness is is [Music] [Music] is [Music] you have been [Music] and all my life you have been so so good with every breath that i am able i will sing of the goodness of god [Music] oh [Music] oh god yes i'm [Applause] [Music] [Applause] shall ever be is shall ever be [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen amen you guys can have a seat and hey listen i just want to let you know want to warn you in advance next week i'm finishing this thing out we're going to be talking about what heaven's going to be like what we're going to be doing there and then afterwards we're going to throw a party i hadn't told you all yet but we're throwing a party because i don't see how you can talk about heaven and not sort of get warmed up for heaven and so we're going to put the majority of our worship music on the end so we're going to throw down which means that some of y'all need to get ready some of y'all need to start stretching this week and say like some arm curls like that because i don't want you you need to some of y'all need we're not going to be in heaven going marvelous some of y'all might want to like go crazy and go from right here to just like right here and i don't want you like pulling a muscle when you do that or anything and so you y'all need to go stretch out this week and get ready for that hey guys so glad you came today um if you're here and you want to talk to somebody about have a how to have a relationship with christ we've got pastors that would love to talk to you they're right behind us in the connection center which is right behind the sanctuary maybe you need prayer i want to talk to somebody about how to have a relationship with christ have your sins forgiven we've got pastors that would love to talk to you about this your first time and you'd like to meet me my wife and i jennifer are going to be in the welcome center which is to your right immediately following the service we have a gift for you there if you'd like to to join us and then also guys coming up this week is our midweek uh stuff it's starting again students you guys are kicking off your midweed stuff this week we've got all kinds of bible studies uh men's group women's group um support groups uh pornography like freedom fighting stuff we got all kinds of things hey let me highlight one thing for those of you that are interested we're doing a financial peace university which is dave ramsey's his videos about getting out of debt being a good steward of your finances that's being taught by two of just my favorite families here it's the nippers and the will banks well they're both incredible folks and um and so you can sign up for that stuff sagemontchurch.org midweek do that like go check that out go check out what's going on and next week we're having baptism at the cross on sunday night if you're interested in baptism go to the connection center right behind the sanctuary talk to one of the pastors there we'd love to baptize you and then guys again next week we're talking about heaven don't miss it we'll see you next week take care you

Channel: Sagemont Church, Houston

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Id: CybS756TcAI

Length: 84min 19sec (5059 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 22 2021