Rick Warren - Heaven God’s Eternal Goodness to You—Part Three

Hello, everybody. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren.

I'm really glad you're here today. We're continuing our series

from Psalm twenty three called Living in the Goodness of God.

It's all about how God's goodness meets you right where

you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. And

right now, here's part three of a message called Heaven,

God's eternal goodness to you.

Now, what are we going to do in heaven? Well,

I can't go into everything, but let me mention three things.

These are very important things you're definitely gonna do in heaven.

You might write these down. The first thing that's going

to happen in heaven is this, We're going to be

reunited with our loved ones who love the Lord, those

who love Jesus, who are in the family of God.

They're all going to be there, and it's gonna be

one big reunion. Now, as I said, only God's chill

who love him are going to be in his home

get to live in his home. But the Bible says

in First Thesalonians four seventeen, there will be I love

this in a message paraphrase, he summarizes it, there will

be one huge family reunion with the Master. Can you

imagine how emotional that's going to be. You know, the

more of my family and friends that are on that

side of death, the dear Heaven becomes to me. My

mother is in heaven, my father is in heaven. My

older brother Jim is in heaven. My youngest child, Matthew,

is in heaven. I have many dear friends over thirty

eight years in this church who are now on that

side of death. They're in heaven. And the more of

my friends who get there, the more dear that becomes

to me. I don't know. When I was a young person,

I didn't really think about heaven that much. First, it

seems so boring the way the world describes it, and

second it seemed like a long way off. And third

I didn't have anybody there that I knew. But I

know a lot of people are in heaven now and

I can't wait to get there and to be with him.

And the Bible says there will be one huge family

reunion with the Master. And by the way, the next

verse of the Bible underneath that says, so reassure one

another with these thoughts for encourage each other that when

somebody dies as a friend of yours and they love

the Lord, that's not the end. It's a transfer, but

you're going to see him again. I often want to

play the game with people. Who would you like to

talk to? First in heaven? Okay, let's say you go

say hi to God. You know, you talk to the Lord.

Who would you like talk to it? Would you like

to talk to Moses you could? Or Abraham? How about Mary,

scared young peasant girl who gave birth to Christ? How

about Joseph? How about the wise men? Who would you

like to talk to? Or famous people throughout Christian history,

scientists and leaders that are going to be there. You're

gonna have all of eternity to talk with them, talk

to We're going to be reunited with those who love Jesus.

Second thing we're going to do this isn't important. Second

thing we're going to do in heaven is we're going

to be rewarded for our faith and our hope. We're

going to be rewarded for our faith and our hope

and our love. Now, Jesus talked about rewards an awful lot.

Many of his stories, his parables are about the rewards

you're going to receive in heaven. And the Bible tells

us that you will be rewarded in heaven and that

you'll be rewarded for your faith, and you'll be rewarded

for your hope. You'll be rewarded for your love. You'll

be rewarded for your service. Jesus that even if you

give a cup of cold water to a little child,

and you do it in the name of the Lord,

you're going to get credit for that in heaven. Now,

let me explain, salvation in heaven and rewards in heaven

are two different things. Salvation is by grace. You can't

earn your salvation. You can't work your way into heaven.

The only way you'll ever get into heaven is through

the grace of God. Put your faith in God's forgiveness,

his goodness, his grace. But the rewards are the things

that God's going to give back to you for the

things that you earned, for doing good things in life,

that you made your life count. You see, you can

waste your life and a lot of ways to waste it,

or you can spend your life. There's a lot of

ways to spend it. Or you can invest your life.

The greatest use of life is to invest it in

that which will outlast it, and that's called living in

light of eternity. I'm going to do a message on

that later on, but i want you to understand that

rewards come because of something you did. When you helped someone,

when you were generous with someone, when you were kind

to someone, when you were when you shared your faith

with someone, when you were helpful to someone, or sympathetic

or empathetic. The Bible says, you're going to be rewarded

for the things you did because you love Jesus Christ,

because you love God. Let me just show you some verses.

We'll go through these pretty quick. Up here on the screen.

John chapter twelve, verse twenty six says this the Father

will honor and reward anyone who serves me. This is

in heaven. Did you know that when you get to heaven,

you're not just going to be there. You're going to

be honored. You're going to be honored, and you're going

to be rewarded. Some of you are going to be

rewarded a lot. Some of you are going to be

rewarded a little. Because it depends on how serious you

were about serving Christ. If it was just an offhanded thought,

you may not have that many rewards. You'll be in

heaven for ettornity. You'll be glad the rest of eternity.

But the Bible says you will be honored and you

will be rewarded for your work in Christ. Let me

show you some other verses. Hebrews ten thirty five says this,

do not throw away your confident trust in the Lord,

no matter what happens. In other words, you're going through

a tough time, you start having doubts, you start giving up.

He said, don't throw away your confident trust in the Lord.

Remember the great reward it will bring you. You're going

to be rewarded in heaven for the times you wanted

to give up but didn't. You wanted to give up

on your marriage, but you didn't. You wanted to give

up on your job, you didn't. You wanted to give

up on your faith, but you didn't. You wanted to

give up on doing the right thing, but you didn't.

And the Bible says you will be rewarded in heaven

for your endurance, for your resilience, for your keeping on,

keeping on your determination, diligence. He says, don't throw away

your confident trust, remember the great reward it will bring you.

But the Bible also talks about not just rewards you're

going to get in heaven, but there's another thing you're

going to get in heaven, and that is called your inheritance.

Now you know what inheritance is. It's when parents pass

on to the next generation possessions or wealth or whatever.

It could be property, it could be all kinds of things.

And you have an inheritance, and you inherited from people

before you, and your father or your mother passes on

their inheritance to you. Did you know that, because God

is a good God, that your heavenly Father has an

inheritance for you in heaven, and that inheritance has been

building interest for a long long time. Let me show

you some scriptures, the Bible says in Colotionals three twenty four. No,

you can know this for a fact, not wish or hope.

Know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord

as a reward for serving Christ. Where that's in heaven.

You're going to be given inheritance as you're a child

of God, You're a child of the heavenly Father. You're

in God's family, and God gives an inheritance to his

children when they finally arrived at the home that he

created for them. It's created for you. Heaven was created

for you, and he says, there will be this great herod.

What kind of inheritance? We'll look at this verse one Peter,

Chapter one, verse four. God has reserved a priceless inheritance.

It's bigger than any ira or retirement payout you could

possibly have here on earth. God has reserved a priceless

inheritance for his children, and it is kept in heaven

for you. I don't know if you knew that or not.

When you get toaven, you're not just going to get there.

You're going to be honored, you're going to be rewarded,

and you're going to receive your inheritance based on how

you lived your life for Christ. Let me show you

one more Matthew twenty five, verse thirty four. Jesus is speaking.

He says, come, you, who are blessed by my Father,

Take your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the

creation of the world. Whoa wha wha, wha whah whah.

Look at that verse closely. God knew before he created

the universe that he was going to create you. And

God knew that you would be one of the ones

who chose to love him, to trust him, to put

your faith in. God knew that way in and that's

that's called foreign knowledge. And God planned your inheritance, he says,

before he even created the world. Friends, that's a long

time ago. That's eons ago. So your inheritance has been

collecting interest for a long time. This is the retirement

package you've never heard of. It is an inheritance that

has been set aside for you before even he created

the world. He thought you up, He thought me up,

He thought us up. God created the universe because he

wanted a family and he wanted you to be a

part of that family. And you chose to be a

part of You got to DoPT it in. You got

born again in into the family. Why in the world

would God do that? Why wouldn't God just give you

good life on earth and just let you die? Boom,

that's it. It's over. Because God is a good God.

And as I've said before, no man will ever love

you like God does. No woman will ever love you

like God does. He is a good God, and he

doesn't want to just be good to you for ninety

or one hundred years on earth. He wants to be

good for you for all of eternity, because God is

a good God. So we're going to be reunited with

those we love. We're going to be rewarded for our

faith and our hope, and our love and our service.

And here's the third thing that you're going to do

in heaven. We're going to be assigned work that we

enjoy doing. We will be assigned work that we will

enjoy doing. Because God understands your shape better than you do.

He knows what makes you pick. He knows what you

love to do, and what you can't stand and do,

what turns your crank, and what bores you to tears.

And you will be given assignments in the Kingdom of God. Now,

the difference is this isn't going to be frustrating work.

It's going to be fulfilling work. Matthew twenty five twenty one.

Jesus tells a parable a story, and he ends with this,

this is the words of Christ. Well done, good and

faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things. I

will now put you in charge of any things. Come

and share your master's happiness. Now, if you're taking notes,

I want you to circle the phrase put you in charge?

Would you circle that? I'm want to talk to you

about that for this minute. It says that when you

get to heaven, God is going to put you in

charge of something, but it's going to be based on

how well you managed what you were giving here on earth.

He says, if you're faithful in the little that I

gave you on Earth, I'm going to give you a

whole lot more to be in charge of in heaven.

If you were faithful with a little bit of talent

I gave you here on Earth, I'm going to give

you more talent in heaven. If you were faithful with

a little bit of possessions here on Earth, I'm going

to give you more in heaven. If you were faithful

a little bit of influence on Earth, I'm going to

give you more in heaven. If you were faithful with

a little bit of your time on Earth, I'm going

to give you more in heaven. If you were faith

whatever you are a good manager of here on Earth,

you're gonna get more of in heaven. On the other hand,

anything you did not manage, well, you're not gonna get

more of in heaven. This life, friends, is a test.

You are being tested every day the whole purpose of God.

Why didn't God just create you and take you to

heaven in the first place? You ever thought about that?

If heaven's the ultimate goal, why didn't he just create

you and automatically take you to heaven? Why does He

put you here for ninety years? This is a test.

You need to go back and read. I think it's

chapter four and purpose driven life. Life is a test,

a trust, and a temporary assignment. This is not the

real story. This is only gonna last ninety one hundred years.

This is the preschool before the real thing begins. This

is the warm up act. This is the dress rehearsal

before the real story begins. This is the first lap

around the race before the actor race begins. This is

the pre band before the stars come out and do

the concert. It's a warm up back. That's why this

is not a perfect world. People always expect heaven to

be on earth. It's not on earth. Why this is

the testing ground and God is testing? Will you be

faithful when it's not easy? Will you obey me when

it's unpopular. Will you trust me when it looks like

there's no reason to trust. Will you be faithful with

your money or do you spend it all on yourself?

Will you be faithful with your time or do you

squander it and waste it? Will you be faithful with

your body, with your health? Will you be faithful with

your mind? Do you use it for God's glory or

do you waste it reading trashy novels and watching stupid

TV shows? How are you using what God has given you?

God says, If what you use what I gave you

on earth, you use it, well, then guess what in

heaven We're going to give you more? And if you've

been faithful and little, I will put you in charge

of moreth That's why you're here right now. This is

a test. Unfortunately, most people in the world are failing it.

They're living totally for themselves. They're not thinking at all

about heaven. They're living one hundred percent for the here

and now. When the here and now is going to

be over in a matter of minutes compared to the

trillions of years in eternity. If we took a line

and stretched a rope from California to Tokyo, and that

represented all of eternity as a span of line. Your

life on earth would be less than one little, teeny

tiny millimeter. It's nothing. It's The Bible calls it a shadow.

The Bible calls it a breath of air, a moment

in time. We act like this is all there is. Well,

you only go around once in life. You better go

it with gusto. It's true, you only go around once

in this life. But this is not the end of

your life. God has long range plans for you. You

were made to last forever. God made you to last forever,

not just for one hundred years. And so we're going

to be given assignments in heaven to do things, and

you're going to be given and put in charge of

things depending on how well you manage what you have here. Now, listen,

he doesn't God doesn't care how much money or wealth

you've got here on this earth. What he cares about

is how well you managed what He allowed you to have.

And God doesn't care whether you've got a lot of

talent or a little talent here on earth. What he

cares is did you use what you've got for him,

and God doesn't care whether you've got a lot of

energy or little energy. God wants to are you using

whatever energy you've got in the best way. Your every

decision you make, of every moment of your day has

eternal implications, either making an eternity better or not as

good for you. Now, when it says here, if you've

been faithful with the few things I gave you on earth,

I will put you in charge of many things. That

phrase in charge, the Bible calls this ruling with Christ.

It also calls it reigning with Christ. And the Bible

says that God is going to use you to rule

and reign with him in eternity. His children are going

to share in the responsibilities. Let me show you some

verses up here on the screen two Timothy two twelve.

If we endure hardship for Christ, that means here on

earth you put up with the crazy looks in the office,

when you don't listen to the dirty joke, or when

you don't go get drunk at the party, or when

you turn down somebody's proposal to have an affair. If

we endure hardship for Christ, we will also look reign

with him. But a good God.

What a special message from Pastor Rick, and now let's

hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here's Rick

with a letter from one of our listeners today.

I want to introduce you to Agatha, who's translating Daily

Hope into German for her husband. She writes, Pastor Rick,

your preaching is bringing many souls to God. My husband,

who is an unbeliever, is drawing closer and closer to

God every day. I translate what I hear on Daily

Hope into German because he can't speak and understand English.

Pastor Rick, your teaching has changed his life and I

can see his progress and eagerness to follow Jesus. Agatha, Well, Agatha,

thank you so much for sharing your story with me.

This is a wonderful story to hear that you're translating

what you hear on Daily Hope for your husband and

that he's growing closer to Jesus. I'm so happy for that.

We're always looking for translators to help us in new

languages as we take the message of God to more

people around the world. So you will keep praying for

your husband and you keep praying for us that God

allows us to take the good news of God's hope

all around the world.

Hey, if you'd like to let Rick know how this

broadcast has blessed you, he would love it. Please feel

free to send him an email at Rick at pastorick

dot com. That's Rick at pastorick dot com. Be sure

to join us next time as we look into God's

word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by

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