Higher Aim with Dr. Curt Dodd

Have you ever trained for something before? Maybe you trained to run a race, or to play a sport, or compete in an event. Whatever the case may be, the training most likely wasn’t easy. It was strenuous and difficult, possibly even painful. You had to push yourself further than you thought you could go for the sake of preparing your body and your mind for the upcoming challenge. As believers, we have training to do as well. We have to be prepared spiritually, mentally, and emotionally for all that we will face as we follow Christ. The Christian life is no cake walk. We will face difficulties and obstacles along the way, which is why we can’t skip out on training, learning, and becoming disciples if we want to walk out our faith well. There are several truths that apply to us as followers of Jesus when it comes to the tough times we will face in our lives, and I want us to look at a few of those today.

Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood come from when I played football. I remember being so excited when I finally got the chance to suit up in junior high to play tackle football. But before the season began, I had to make sure I had all of the right equipment. I had to get cleats, shoulder pads, a helmet, a mouth guard. Each piece of equipment was important for success and protection as I played football. In a lot of ways, suiting up to play football is similar to suiting up as believers. The Bible talks about how as followers of Jesus, we are always in the midst of a spiritual battle. We are fighting against unseen forces every day to further the Kingdom of God and push back against the enemy. If we are going to be successful in this battle, it is important that we suit up. And to suit up correctly and effectively, we have to understand where we fit on God’s team. Let’s take a look at three things that are true of us as members of God’s army.

Today, we wrap up our series on Revelation. The last chapter of the book of Revelation is about the final answer, God's final answer. It is His final invitation. So as we go through this final chapter today, I want to extend an invitation to you to respond to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let’s dive in one last time to this incredible book in Scripture.

As we continue to look at the Book of Revelation, we are coming to the end. This is the next to the last sermon on the Book of Revelation series, and today we’re going to keep going in our conversation about heaven and all of the things we have to look forward to in eternity. May this message and this portion of Scripture we’re studying give you hope as you think about what comes after our time on earth is over.

As we start to finish up our study of the book of Revelation, I want us to take a close look at the words in chapter 21. Our key passages in this message tell us about everything that will be made new. We’ve already covered the tribulation, the death, the hardship, and the turmoil that will take place in the last days. But now we get to switch over to talking about heaven, about the new things we will get to experience and enjoy as followers of Jesus as we enter into eternity. Let’s dive in.

Heaven will be an awesome place! As we look at this, it gives us hope. The next thing we should be looking for is what God will do. I really believe it will be the Rapture of the Church. I think we will have another great awakening where God will move across this country and across this globe, maybe one last movement before Jesus comes again. But if He chooses not to do it, (because of the evil that is so prevalent in our culture), God will finally say, “My children, that's enough, come on home.” He will bring us to heaven. We can learn so much about heaven from the last couple of chapters of Revelation. Specifically, there are three glimpses of heaven that John gives us in this book. Let’s look at the first one today.

At this moment in time as we read today’s Scripture passage, all sinful men, the devil, the antichrist, and the beast are all in the lake of fire. The only ones left are the angels of God, the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), and all true believers in Christ. These are the only ones left, and there is a New Heaven and a New Earth. He chose our planet to show His great love with His Son. Now it is all gone. For us, He creates a New Heaven and a New Earth. We don't fully know what it will look like, but we will get a glimpse of the New Heaven in the days to come. That’s what we’re going to look at throughout today’s message.

Today, we are in Chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation, where we will start with verse 7. This is the end of the judgment of God. We have been spending time with the Great Tribulation, seven years after the rapture of the Church. During this period, the wrath of God is poured out on the planet. So in this message, we are going to look at the different aspects of the last judgment and see what Scripture has to say about this crucial time period.

As we continue in our study of Revelation, we are going to begin to break down the 20th chapter of this final book of the Bible. There are several images that are presented in this group of verses, and each one is important for us to take note of and learn about if we want to gain a better understanding of the end times. There’s a lot to unpack in this short passage of Scripture, so let’s dive in.

For the past few weeks, we have been focusing on Revelation chapter 5 because we need to be reminded that the King is coming back for you and me. With that knowledge, we need to be ready, waiting with hope and anticipation of His coming. That also means we need to have the right posture where we are right now. We can learn about what kind of posture we need by reading Revelation chapter 5. So as we close out this mini-series this week, may we take special note of what we can learn from what John describes seeing in heaven so that we may emulate the posture of those worshiping Jesus there while we are still on earth waiting for His return.