ABC recently had a TV show called FlashForward as one of its regular programs. The show started off with everyone on the earth blacking out. During this global blackout each person had a FlashForward six months into their future. In the FlashForwards that people had they either saw nothing (meaning that they wouldn’t be alive), saw things they didn’t like, or things that they did like. Throughout the rest of the show we find that people are trying to either stop their FlashForwards’ from coming true, or doing everything possible to make them happen. In Philippians 3:13-14, the Bible tells us to “strain forward to what lies ahead”. As Christians we must concentrate on the future. What does your future hold? Where will you be in 20 years? What will your Christian life be like? What are you doing to get it to that point? Philippians 3 tells us that if we want to make our “citizenship in Heaven” we must :
1. Press on towards the Goal (v.14).
2. Imitate other faithful Christians (v. 17).
3. Don’t imitate those walking as enemies of Christ (v.18).
4. Keep our minds off earthly things (v.18).
The Ultimate FlashForward will take everyone to one of two places; Heaven or Hell. The Bible describes Heaven as a beautiful place.
1. The Bible tells us that Heaven will have no wickedness (Rev. 21:8,27).
2. The Bible tells us that Heaven will have no death, sorrow, crying, or pain (Rev. 21:4).
3. The Bible tells us that Heaven will be a beautiful place that is built out of pure gold (Rev. 21:18), will have the “glory of God, and its radiance will be like a most rare jewel “(Rev. 21:11), a place that has beautiful jewels all around it (Rev.21:18-21).
4. The Bible tells us that Heaven will have no temple because the Lord God is the Temple (Rev. 21:22).
The Bible also gives us a description of Hell:
1. The Bible tells us that Hell will be hot (Rev. 21:8).
2. The Bible tells us that Hell will be a place of torment (Rev 21:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:6, Luke 16:22-24).
3. The Bible tells us that Hell will be a place you don’t want your family to go (Luke 16:28).
4. The Bible tells us that Hell is a place that will be away from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
We have seen where you will be if you get to Heaven, and we have seen a description that the Bible gives us of Hell. You have thought about what you want your life to be like in the future but what are you going to do about it? You have seen it! It is not too late to change. How can you get to Heaven or Hell?
How to get to Hell:
1. To get to Hell you MUST disobey God’s commandments. After all this is what Satan wants (1 Peter 5:8).
2. To get to Hell you MUST never become a Christian. (2 Thessalonians 1:8)
3. To get to Hell you MUST disregard those around us. (2 Thessalonians 1:6)
· Forget Kindness (Gal 5)
· Forget Service (John 13)
· Forget Love-( 1 Cor. 13:13)
4. To get to Hell you MUST ignore Evangelism.
5. To get to Hell you MUST just do the minimum. (Rev. 3:15-16)
Obviously I would hope that nobody would want to go to Hell, and that all would want to go to Heaven instead. If want to get to Heaven we must do they opposite of what it takes to get to Hell. C. S. Lewis was told about a gravestone inscription that read; “Here lies an atheist – all dressed up and no-where to go.” Lewis quietly replied, “I bet he wishes that were so.” Heaven and Hell are real places. The question is:
Where will your Ultimate FlashForward take you?
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