Pray that you would bless this sermon now.
Not going to be the same as what we just heard, but Father, I just pray that you would use
it in a great way somehow and that Holy Spirit, you would please fill me as I preach and use
this sermon in the hearts of every single person that's here, dear God, in Jesus' name
I pray.
Amen.
Now the part of this chapter, the whole chapter kind of emphasizes one thing, but there's
one particular part that I wanted to focus in on and that's the part in the Lord's Prayer
in verse number 9, commonly known as the Lord's Prayer.
When Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray.
But there's a whole theme in this chapter, let me show you what it says here in verse
number 9.
After this manner therefore pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, and here's the title of the sermon, In Earth As It Is
In Heaven.
In Earth As It Is In Heaven.
All throughout this chapter you'll see an emphasis from the beginning where God is saying
don't do your righteousness before men to be seen of them.
He says otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
See there's an emphasis all throughout this chapter from the beginning to the end about
heaven, about living for the world to come and not for here the present right now, but
looking for a reward that's in heaven.
But think about what God's saying there in verse number 10, thy kingdom come, thy will
be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Ephesians 5 17 reads, wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of
the Lord is.
What is the will of the Lord?
Well the will of the Lord is that things will be done on earth the same way that they're
done in heaven.
That's what God's will is.
What's God's will for your life?
It's that you would live now like you're going to be living in heaven.
He says thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Turn in your Bible to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3.
Go forward in your Bible, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, in the New Testament,
the book of Colossians, look at chapter 3 verse number 1.
You see if you want to know the standard for how to live your life, and I'm going to show
you this from the Bible, if you want to know the standard for what right and wrong is,
if you want to know the standard by which to measure your life and your lifestyle, understand
that God's will, God's perfect will is the way things are in heaven and that's the way
that he wants you to be living right now.
Look at verse number 1.
If you then be risen with Christ, if you're saved, if you're born again, if your spirit
has been resurrected from the dead, if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth, for you are dead and
your life is hid with Christ in God.
Now flip over to Revelation, I'm laying the foundation for the sermon, Revelation 21.
Say, good night, Revelation, that's all we listen to on Wednesday night.
Look at Revelation chapter 21 and let's see what it's like in heaven a little bit, shall
we?
Look at Revelation 21, since this is the standard, since this is God's perfect standard and you
just have to understand that when God created man, he didn't just put him in the earth to
run loose, he put him in the garden of Eden which is just like heaven.
You notice the similarities between heaven and the garden of Eden?
The garden of Eden had gold and precious stones, the garden of Eden had beautiful trees and
a river of life and the tree of life in the midst, it's exactly the way the Bible describes
heaven and so God's will for man was always that he would be living a life reminiscent
of what it's like in heaven where God lives but look at verse number 21 of chapter 21
and the 12 gates were 12 pearls.
Every several gate was of one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold as it were
transparent glass and I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in
it for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof and the nations
of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth do
bring their glory and honor into it and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day
for there shall be no night there and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations
into it and listen to this last verse and there shall in no wise, no way he's saying,
none, there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination or maketh a lie but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Remember what it said in Colossians 3, 1?
Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth.
Remember he said, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God and so when you get to heaven, my friend, if you're risen with Christ, if
you're born again, say, risen is past tense, you've already been risen with Christ.
Hey, Christ has risen from the dead to die no more.
Don't tell me you can lose your salvation.
Once you're risen with Christ, my friend, you've already been dead and trespassed to
sin, you've been risen from the dead, you have immortality like Jesus Christ has immortality.
Is Jesus Christ going to die again?
Wouldn't that be ridiculous?
I mean, he dies, he's buried, he raises again and he dies again.
You believe that?
No.
Once you've been risen with Christ, once you're saved, well look, you're going to go to heaven
one day, right?
Jesus said in my Father's house or many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you,
I go to prepare a place for you and so on.
Now when you get to heaven, you're going to get there and you're going to say, wait a
minute, this is supposed to be a perfect, wonderful place, this is just what I've been
waiting for my whole life to get to heaven, it's going to be so great.
You walk in and you're going to be looking for your favorite rock music CD and you can't
find it.
Because remember the Bible says right here, there shall not enter in anything that defiles,
nothing that makes a lie.
And so there's going to be no rock music in heaven, agreed?
I mean, there's definitely going to be no television.
You think you're going to walk into the gates of heaven and the choirs of angels sing and
the four beasts like we learned about on Wednesday night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty.
And you know, some saint of the past, some saint who's been in heaven for hundreds of
years is going to say, hey, come on over, man, Steve Anderson, glad you could be here.
Come on, sit down with me, come watch this with me.
Is that what you think it's going to be like when you get there?
Hey, come on, come watch the Super Bowl with me.
Yeah, we're going to watch the Prince perform at halftime.
Sit down, buddy.
Hey, you want some popcorn?
Hey, this is heaven.
We never work.
This is what some people think heaven's probably like, you know, you never work, you just sit
around, you just eat, you just watch TV.
It's great.
You just do whatever you want.
Come on, pull up a chair, Steve.
Let's sit down and watch the game.
Hey, let's sit down and watch some television.
No, my friend, there's not going to be anything that defile it.
There's going to be no rock music, no television, no movies.
You say, good night, I love the movies.
No, sorry, no movies.
No alcohol's going to be there.
You say, oh, I like to have a little drink now and then, sorry.
No more.
No cigarettes.
And you say, good night, if I went to prison, I'd have cigarettes and cable TV.
Good night, if I went to prison, I'd have a cable TV in my own cell, I'd have, I'd have,
I could buy cigarettes, I could, I could do whatever, you know, this is worse than prison
going to heaven.
Well, you know what?
Maybe if you think it's worse than prison going to heaven, it's because your affections
are in the wrong place.
You need to adjust your affections where you start loving what God loves and start loving
the things that God loves because one day you're going to be living with God and it's
going to be his rules, it's going to be his entertainment, it's going to be his fun, it's
going to be what he likes.
You say, good night, I would hate for Pastor Anderson to be my dad, you know, I'd hate
to live in the house of Pastor Anderson and, you know, it's like, can't have all this worldly
stuff.
Hey, how would you like God to be your dad?
How would you like to live in the house with Jesus Christ?
You wouldn't be able to get away with anything, right?
You couldn't watch anything.
You couldn't listen to anything that you want.
Hey, my friend, that's the way it's going to be in heaven for all eternity.
Why don't you just get used to it now?
Why don't you just start adjusting your taste buds to the things that God likes?
Why don't you just start liking his kind of music?
Why don't you start liking his kind of fun?
Why don't you start liking his kind of entertainment?
You know, some people, when they get to heaven, literally, people that are saved, but they
have not adjusted their life, you know, they're not walking in the Spirit, they're not following
the Bible, they're not in a fundamental Baptist church that rips and screams and yells about
sin, and so they just live however they want, they live exactly like the world, they live
exactly like the unsaved guy down the street, they're going to have a major transition as
soon as they get to heaven.
I mean, they're going to have to change a lot.
All of a sudden, okay, they're going to get to heaven and, you know, they're going to
get there and they're going to have to change all their clothes that they've been wearing.
They're going to have to wear totally different clothes.
They're going to have to start singing totally different music.
They're going to have to start acting and talking totally different as soon as they
get to heaven because there's no sin allowed, my friend.
I was thinking about this, one time a friend of mine went to a restaurant and it was his
in-laws or something, they took him out to a fancy restaurant and he got to the restaurant
and he was dressed nice, he was wearing a pair of slacks, he was wearing a button-up
shirt tucked in, and he walked into the restaurant and they said, you can't eat here dressed
like that, okay, this was a really fancy restaurant, and so what did they do?
They gave him the house tie and the house coat.
You ever heard of that before?
Have you ever eaten at a really fancy restaurant?
They have the house tie and the house coat because you cannot eat at this restaurant
without a dinner jacket.
Then I was thinking about back when I was in school, there was a dress code at the school
and girls couldn't have short skirts and they couldn't have indecent clothing, whatever,
and so here's what they had.
They had the house skirt at the school and it was the most hideous, ugly skirt you can
imagine because they don't want to make it too desirable.
Well, I don't have anything to wear today, I'll just wear something kind of sleazy
and then I'll put on the skirt that they have, it's a nice skirt anyway.
So it was just the most hideous, I mean it looked like something that some transient
would be wearing, you know, the bag lady or something, and so it was just this hideous,
ugly skirt that went, you know, but it was modest, okay, and it went way down, it was
just all crinkled up and it looked horrible.
And so girls would come, their skirt would be too short, you know, they have to kneel
on the floor, they measure it out and it's too short and then they'd have to wear this
hideous skirt for the rest of the day and everybody's laughing at them and they look
like an idiot, you know.
I was thinking about this, what if you get to heaven and you walk in and you're dressed
totally worldly, you're dressed like the world, you're dressed like Hollywood and you're dressed
like a bunch of freaks out of Hollywood and a bunch of rock and roll stars that are a
bunch of sodomites and you walk in the door and God just says, you know, I'm really glad
you're here, I'm sorry, but you're going to have, I'm sorry, you're going to have to put
on the house coat, my friend, or, you know, ladies are going to walk in, they're going
to walk in and girls are going to come in a pair of pants, right, you know, the rapture
occurred and they're wearing a pair of pants or they died in a pair of pants, they're going
to get there and they're going to be wearing a pair of jeans and God's going to say, no,
I'm sorry, you didn't get this on earth, you didn't get what I said about the woman shall
not wear that which pertaineth to the man, but up here in heaven, my will is done all
the time, you know, all, yes, all the time.
That's why, remember the, remember the Lord's prayer that they used to hear sometimes in
churches where it said, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, see the standard
for my will being done is in heaven where my will is always done and so every woman
in heaven dresses like a woman, every woman in heaven wears skirts and dresses, every
man in heaven wears, wears a pair of pants that's not low rider pants like he's some
kind of a, a girl or something, hey, every man in heaven dresses in manly clothing, it
doesn't look like one of these sissies out of Hollywood, hey, every man dresses like
a man, every woman dresses like one, my will is done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but
don't worry my friends, it's not so bad to obey God as you thought it was when you were
back on earth, it's not so bad to just dress the way that I want you to dress, come on
in and let me show you the glories of heaven and you're going to see how stupid it was
the way that you lived on earth and you're going to see who cares about putting on what
I want you to put on, who cares about singing the songs I want you to sing, this is the
greatest place in the world, it's heaven and you're going to love it, but put on the house
coat, put on the house skirt and come on in because you're not going to come in here looking
like that, okay, that's what God's going to say and obviously I'm being a little bit facetious
but look if you would at Romans, turn to Romans 1 because that's where we're going to be next
and so just for sake of time turn to Romans 1, but you know people, have you ever heard
people say well you can't take anything with you, have you heard people say that you know
you can't take it with you, you can't take it with you, you know I don't think that's
true at all because I'm going to take a lot of stuff with me to heaven, I'm going to take
my Bible with me to heaven, I'm going to have the same Bible in heaven that I got right
now, I'm going to have all the same songs in heaven, I'm going to be singing the same
songs, I'm going to be having the same kind of Bible, I'm going to be having the same
kind of preaching, I'm going to go to church in heaven, the Bible calls it the church of
the firstborn, the general assembly in heaven, I'm going to have church, I'm going to have
the same Bible, I'm going to have the same music, I'm going to be dressed the same way
I'm dressed right now, I'm going to walk into heaven and it's going to be great and I can
take all kinds of stuff, you know I'm going to take my family with me, think about all
the stuff I can take with me to heaven, I can take my music, I can take my preaching,
I can take my Bible, I can take my family, I can take my church, I can take my friends,
I can take my loved ones, I can take everything that matters to me right now in my life, I
can take it with me when I go to heaven, isn't that great? But I hate to be living a life
filled with a bunch of stuff that I'm going to have to leave behind, some big music collection
that's all going to be left behind, some big DVD collection that I'm so excited about,
it's all going to be left behind, I'm never going to see it again, a bunch of worldly
unsafe friends that I'm never going to see again, I get all attached to them and love
them, hey I'm never going to see them again, wouldn't that be terrible? I'm so glad that
my life consists of things that I can take with me to heaven, that's the happy life
my friend, and look at you at Romans chapter 1, and remember we talked about setting your
affection, now what does affection mean? Affection means love, affection is when something affects
you, it makes you feel love towards something, that's what affection is, and if you think
about the famous verse of course in 1 John 2.15, love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world, if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,
for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life is not of the Father, but is of the world, and listen to this, and the world passeth
away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever, you see that,
the will of God abideth forever, he that doeth the will of God abideth forever, so when you
get to heaven, you're going to be living in God's will, because it's going to be in earth
as it is in heaven, and so when God is saying to set your affections on things above, that's
the antithesis of the verse where he's saying, love not the world, do love the things that
are going to be in heaven, don't love the worldly things, but yes have affection for
the things that are above, look at this verse in, we'll start reading in verse 28 of Romans
chapter 1, the Bible says, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers,
back fighters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection,
unlookable, unmerciful, who knowing the judgment of God, listen to this, who knowing the judgment
of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same,
but have pleasure in them that do them. I don't want to take pleasure in people that
are on this list here, and I'm going to tell you something, that list is a snapshot of
the Hollywood crowd, that list is a snapshot of what you see when you turn on your television,
that list is a snapshot of the things that are worldly and ungodly and wrong, look at
chapter 2 verse 1, therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for
wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doest the same
things. He says, don't condemn somebody for cursing, if you watch the television and take
pleasure in somebody who curses. Huh? Don't go around saying women wearing pants is wrong
and then you take pleasure and some woman poured into a pair of pants, it looks like
she was poured into it like a mold, like somebody pouring concrete, it's so tight on her body.
Hey, don't say anything against rock music if you take pleasure in it every time you
watch your television. Hey, don't say anything against the queers when you take pleasure
in watching some queer on the TV. You say, I don't watch the movies that have a queer
character, I don't watch the television shows that have a queer character. The actor himself
is a stinking queer, did you know that? It doesn't matter whether he's depicting a queer
in this particular role. Did you know that Keanu Reeves is a queer? Did you know that?
Did you know that Leonardo DiCaprio is a queer? Huh? You don't know what these, these bunch
of perverts. Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, posed nude in
a queer magazine back when he was a body builder in a magazine called After Dark, a magazine
for sodomites? He posed nude. Hey, they're all a bunch of queers. They're all a bunch
of homos. Why are you taking pleasure in the people that are on this list of being the
most wicked, ungodly people in the world? Why would you take pleasure in them? God says,
if you take pleasure in them, don't point your finger and judge anybody, because you're
guilty of the same thing, because you're taking, you not only do those things, but you take
pleasure in them to do them, and therefore, thou art inexcusable, oh man, whosoever thou
art that judges another. You see, we've got to stop the hypocrisy of saying, I don't live
that way, I don't do those things, I'm a Christian, I live for God, but let me turn on the television
and watch people who do. See how hypocritical that is? Let me laugh at people who do. Let
me have the fun of vicariously enjoying what they do that's wrong. I'm not gonna do, hey,
I'm not gonna lie, but I'm gonna watch somebody on TV tell me lies. Hey, I'm not gonna commit
adultery, but I'm gonna watch a TV show where somebody commits adultery. Hey, you're just
enjoying the pleasures of sin without you actually doing it. You don't want to face
the consequences. You don't want people to look down on you. What are you gonna do? You're
just gonna sit back and enjoy and take pleasure in somebody committing the sin for you. You're
inexcusable. You're condemning yourself. That's what God says. And so, don't take pleasure,
don't love the things that are not in this world. I was thinking about this, another
person that I talked to one time. A guy said to me, he said, I'm giving up all my rock
music. He said, I'm getting rid of all my rock music CDs. And I was really surprised
because this was a guy who really listened to a lot. I mean, he's like me, like I used
to listen to all kinds of bad music. I used to listen to it 24 hours a day practically.
And he listened to all this music and I was really surprised when he said, you know what?
He said, I'm getting right with God on this thing. He said, I'm getting rid of all my
worldly music. All the CDs, all the rock music CDs. And I said, wow, I mean, that's
great. Fantastic. I said, what made you decide that you're gonna get rid of it? I mean, what
made you do it? I mean, it's great. What brought you to that conclusion? This is exactly what
he said. He said, you know what? I just sat down and thought about it. I just realized,
yeah, I just realized none of this is gonna be in heaven. That's what he said. I mean,
he just said, I realized this music is not gonna be in heaven. So I might as well just
quit listening to it now, cause I'm gonna quit listening to it when I get to heaven
anyway. And boy, he really got this. I mean, he understood what I'm saying right now. Because
I'm gonna tell you something, you too is not gonna be in heaven. And Sting and Phil Collins
and these bands, they're not gonna be in heaven. Do you think that Jennifer Lopez is gonna
be in heaven? You think Garth Brooks and Travis Tritt and George Strait are gonna meet you
at the gates of heaven? No, my friend, they're gonna be burning in hell and their music's
gonna be burning in hell, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Saved, born
again Christians, you say, well, why did the Bible say that nobody who even tells one lie
is gonna go to heaven? Because that's the truth, nobody who tells one lie. Everybody
has told a lie before, but that's why when you get born again, God wipes away all your
sins and makes you a brand new creature. And the moment that your spirit leaves your body
through death or the rapture, your spirit, the brand new creature, will get a brand new
body and you'll be living for God and you'll never sin again. That's why you're even allowed
to go into heaven. You'll be doing God's will all the time from then on. But number two,
so number one, realize about this thing in earth as it is in heaven. Doing God's will
in earth as it is in heaven. Living a life in earth as it is in heaven. Number one, set
your affection, get your love off of the things of this world and get your love, your taste
buds, your affection on things that are above, on things that you're still gonna have in
heaven. But look at you at 2 Corinthians 5 and number two I want to say, get used to
working. Get used to working like you're gonna work in heaven. You say, what? I'm gonna have
to work in heaven? Come on Pastor Anderson, don't tell me we're gonna be working in heaven.
Well I was thinking about this, when I was a teenager, I think I was about 17, this girl
told me, we were in a youth group or some kind of a church or whatever, and this girl
came to me and she said, man, she said, this is what I'm gonna have when I get to heaven.
She said, I'm gonna have my own snowy mountain, like snowboarding mountain, okay? She said,
when I get to heaven, I'm gonna have my own snowboarding mountain. She's gonna snowboard
just all day. That's what I'm gonna do. That's what, that's gonna be my heaven. And she actually
believed that. Like she thought that heaven is just like whatever you want. Like you just,
you die and it's like whatever you want, you just do it all day, you just have everything
you want. I mean, she thought literally that her eternity was gonna be spent snowboarding,
just, cause that's what she wants. And if she wants to do something else, she'll do
something else. But like God's gonna ask her when she gets there, okay, let me just give
you whatever you want for all eternity. You know, you wanna snowboard all day? Let me
give you a snowy mountain, you can just snowboard all day for the rest of eternity. Now, that's
kind of a dumb existence. It's gonna get old after a while, snowboarding anyway. But people
have this idea, I mean, isn't that kind of a warped view of what heaven is? Well, let
me read this for you. You're in 2 Corinthians 5, but the Bible says in Revelation 22, 3,
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it, and his servants shall serve him. Did you hear that? His servants shall serve him.
So what are we gonna be doing in heaven? Serving God. That's what the Bible says. Revelation
7, 14, we're gonna be in Revelation 7 this Wednesday, so I'm stealing my own thunder.
But in Revelation 7, 14, it says, And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest, and he said to
me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, what's the therefore? They've made
their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, are they before the throne of God
and serve him day and night. Did you hear that? They serve him day and night in this
temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Look at 2 Corinthians
5, 1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle, we're talking about
our body, if this earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,
an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desire
to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed we
shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened.
Boy, that's all the physical ailments that people have, you know, groan being burdened.
Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. That mortality might be swallowed up
of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the self the same thing is God, who also hath
given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident. You say, Do you know
for sure if you die today you go to heaven? Yes, I'm always confident. Yes, I'm always
confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord, for
we walk by faith not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from
the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, wherefore we labor that
whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him. See, whether you're present or absent
you're going to be laboring, my friend. You're going to be laboring on this earth and then
you're going to be laboring and serving God when you get to heaven. We'll work till Jesus
comes, then we'll be gathered home. How about this? We'll work till Jesus comes and then
we'll work some more. And we'll just keep on working. Work, work, work. You say, What
about rest? There remaineth now a rest to the people of God. Let me tell you something.
The rest is Jesus Christ. And when you get to heaven and the Lamb is feeding you, as
it says in Revelation 7, and when the Lamb is leading you to rivers of living water,
when the Lamb is dwelling among you, then the Bible says you're never going to be tired,
you're never going to be fatigued, you're never going to sorrow, you're never going
to be upset, you're never going to have any pain, you're never going to have any suffering,
you're going to be living a life with Jesus Christ working. I don't know about you, but
I like working. Do you like, I hope you like, okay. You know, I don't like working. Alright,
stay away from this guy. He doesn't like to work, he might not. Hey, I love to work. I
like working. Now, not all work is as enjoyable as other work, but I think the work that we're
going to be doing in heaven is going to be very enjoyable. Type work. Hey, there's going
to be work to do. There's going to be something to do that's worth something. Not just entertainment.
Not just snowboarding. Not just lollygagging around. You know, I love skiing. I don't do
snowboarding. You know, there's a thing about, you either ski or you snowboard and you hate
each other. You know, like, you go out on the slope and the skiers hate the snowboarders
and that's the way it is. And vice versa. But no, it's not about skiing and snowboarding.
It's working, it's serving God, it's doing something with your life. It's accomplishing
something. First Thessalonians 2, 9. You don't have to turn there, but this is what
Paul said. For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail. Travail is a word that's
used about a woman giving birth. It's just a word to denote just really hard work. For
you remember, brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night and day, because we would
not be chargeable unto any of you. We preached unto you the gospel of God. Second Thessalonians
3, 8. Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labor and travail
night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not power,
but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you,
this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. This is what
Paul says. He's talking about a man working. Now what about women, though? Should women
be working? Absolutely. Now should they be working in a job out in the field? And if
you work in a job because you have to, because you don't have a man that's paying your bills
for you, hey, I'm not preaching against you at all. But you know, in God's perfect world,
my friend, and in my house, where I'm trying to bring the will of God from earth as it
is in heaven, you know, down to earth, and so I'm saying in my house, you know, I go
out and pay the bills. But do you really think that my wife doesn't work? Now she doesn't
work for a paycheck. She doesn't go work for some other man. She works for her own husband
right here in this house. And you know, she works very hard. I venture to say she probably
works a lot harder than people that work a job. I mean, she works sometimes till twelve
and one in the morning. Slaving and work. I mean, there's all kinds of work. Having
all these kids. Yeah, maybe if you have like one kid or two kids and then pump yourself
full of a bunch of dope so that you don't have any more. Yeah, maybe you might be able
to relax and sit around if you're a stay-at-home mom. But I'm going to tell you something.
A stay-at-home mom and a housewife is a lot of work, hard work. Just like you take care
of your mom and dad. It's work, right? I mean, it's a lot of work. Taking care of elderly
parents. You know, you're taking care of your mother. It's work. You know, there's work
around the house that you do. Hey, everybody works. Don't be idle. I-D-L-E is a word in
the Bible. It talks about idleness, sitting around. Hey, don't sit around. Don't be lazy.
Get up and work. Work. Work. Get things done. Hey, do something. You say, well, I can't
work. Hey, then read the Bible. Then get on your knees and labor and prayer. Hey, do something
with your life. Don't waste your life. Say, what's wrong? Why are you always preaching
against the television? Hey, you know what? I got rid of my television before I even thought
it was wrong. Before I even thought it was a sin to watch television, I got rid of my
television because I realized that it was wasting my time. Literally. I mean, I was
listening to all kinds of rock music. I have no problem with worldly things. When I got
rid of my television, I mean, it's a long time ago. And I just said, you know, I'm not
going to let this thing suck up my time. I want to work. I want to work, work, work.
I don't want this thing to waste my time. I want to get something done. And if I have
spare time, I'm going to spend it training my children. I'm going to spend it fellowshiping
with my wife. I'm going to spend it talking to people that I love. I'm not going to
waste my time in front of the TV. It's a sin to waste your time. Don't waste it. Use
it. Work now like you're going to be working in heaven. You're going to be in for a shock
if you're lazy when you get to heaven and God puts you to work. Yeah, kid, man, I'm
not used to this. I'm not used to this schedule. I'm used to just, you know, sitting
around, you know, punching in at my job at the, you know, sitting around at some reception
desk and then going home, popping down in front of the TV. It's not what it's going
to be like in heaven. You're going to be serving God day and night. You'll be wondering
when the break, break time is. It says no break time. And don't get me wrong, I'm
not saying it's a bad place. It's a wonderful place. It's a great place. You're going
to learn, you're going to learn that the people who like to work were actually a lot
happier than you were not working. That's what you're going to find out. You're going
to find out when you get to heaven. At first it might seem like, you know, was I saved?
Here I am. Is this heaven? Hey, you're going to realize that it's a lot happier. You know,
you'd be there for a couple of days. You're going to say, well, this is great. What was
I doing sitting around all day when I was on earth? I should have learned to work like
I work in heaven. I should have learned to love these things. I mean, they're so great.
Why didn't I love these things when I was on earth? Why was I living such a worldly
life when I could have been living in earth as it is in heaven? And so number one, set
your affections on things in heaven. Number two, hey, work like you're going to be working
in heaven. Be in training for heaven. Live like you're going to live in heaven. Work
like you're going to work in heaven. But number three, you know, invest in the eternal
in heaven. Put your investments in the eternal in heaven, not in the temporary things of
this world. Why would you want to invest in something that's going to be gone? Look
if you would at 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3, right toward the end of the Bible, just a few books
before Revelation, a few short books. Look at 2 Peter 3. That's what we read a lot
about in Matthew 6 when we read the whole chapter in Matthew 6. We didn't really dwell
on it, but a lot of it was just saying, hey, take heed that you do not your alms before
men to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Hey, don't you want to get your reward in heaven? You want the accolades and the applause
and the fame right now. Oh, wow, look how spiritual so-and-so is. Or do you want to
walk into heaven and have those accolades for all eternity from the person who really
matters the most, who's the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that was kind of what that whole chapter
is about, getting your reward in heaven. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth
where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves
do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also. You get your treasure in heaven, your affections will be on the things in heaven.
Are you talking about putting all my money in the offering plate, Pastor Anderson? Can
you pass the plate one more time? No, that's not what I'm talking about. That's not the
rewards in heaven. Dump all your money in the offering plate. You won't get the rewards.
You'll get the rewards when you're a soul winner, is what the Bible teaches. And I've
shown that from the Bible. Hey, you'll get the rewards when you're turning many people
to righteousness, when you're taking somebody who's saved and getting them to live for God
and do right, when you take somebody who's unsaved and you preach the gospel to them
and get them saved. Hey, that's the reward. That's the blessing. That's the biggest blessing.
But 2 Peter chapter 3, look at verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein there shall
be burned up. Seeing then, listen to this, read this carefully, seeing then that all
these things shall be dissolved. Everything you see right now is going to be dissolved.
This house, my vehicle, your vehicle, these chairs, these books, everything will be dissolved.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you
to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing
that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace without
spot and blameless. Hey, look, it's all going to be dissolved. It's all going to be wasted.
I've thought about this so many times. People always talk about retirement. People always
talk about putting away money for retirement. I'm not saying that's wrong to do that. Although
I do say the Bible does say, lay not up for yourselves treasures in heaven. You know,
that shouldn't be your emphasis, you know, amassing wealth. You know, Donald Trump had
some big thing at the Point South Mountain right across the street. I got this thing,
two free complimentary tickets, VIP. You, Steven Anderson, yes, yes, you are being invited
personally by Donald Trump. Wow. I didn't even know that he knew who I was. And he says,
you, Steve, can come here and Donald Trump will teach you the secrets of his success,
of how he's amassed this great real estate fortune. No, I won't be there because you
know what? I consider that like a church service. That's a church service to mammon is what
it is. I'll tell you that right now. This is a church service to Jesus Christ. That's
a church service to money. And God says, you cannot serve God in mammon in Matthew chapter
six. My goal in life is not to lay up a bunch of money for myself. The Bible says in Proverbs
chapter 30, the Bible says, remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty
nor riches. Lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor
and steal and take the name of my God in vain. He says, feed me with food convenient for
me. Just give me enough. Just give me my needs. I don't want to be rich and I don't want to
be poor. I just want to have what I need to just live through, through life and make it
through this life. Hey, that's all I want. I don't want to be rich. Labor not to be rich.
The Bible says cease from night on wisdom. And so what God is saying here is that seeing
that all these things are dissolved, don't worry so much about retirement. And what I
was saying about retirement, I lost my train of thought. But people worry so much about
retirement, but when do people retire? Usually when they're like 65, right? About 65 is when
they can retire. And boy, they work so hard to set it up so that kind of like the snowboarding
mountain, when they're 65, they're just going to play golf all day. You know, they're going
to have it set. They're going to live in Phoenix somewhere, you know, some warm climate or
Palm Springs, California or Phoenix, Arizona. And they're going to have the golf courses.
They're going to have their little golf cart. They're going to have their little swimming
pool. They're going to be up at Sun City or something. No work. Just play, play, play.
How long is it really going to last? What's the life expectancy for a man? What, 73? Right?
I mean 73, 75? Isn't that so stupid? You work your whole life till you're 65. You spend
eight years driving around a stupid little golf cart, wearing a stupid pants and having
your socks pulled up too high. And then you die eight years later anyway. Well, wasn't
that great to work your whole life so you could play golf for eight years? It's dumb.
But think about this. Think about this. You know, some people retire at 55, right? Some
people retire at like 52. Okay. Some people retire a little earlier. But some people say,
no, you know, I'm going to retire when I'm 65 because I really want to, it's going to
be like the longer I wait to retire, think about this, the longer they wait to retire,
the more money they're going to have laid up, the fancier, man, they can really live
large. Well, think about this. I'm going just a little bit further than that. Like instead
of retiring at 55 or 65, I'm retiring at about 75. Okay. Just a little long, I'll wait a
little longer, but then I'm going to be living it up way bigger than they're living it up.
I'm going to make Donald Trump, you know, look like some, some derelict in the ghetto
because I'm going to be living it up much larger up in heaven. Hey, I have to wait another
10 years except my retirement's going to last for all eternity. You see that? It's
so, it's so foolish to work for things that are on this earth that are so temporal. And
what about the man in Luke chapter 11 where he laid up all these treasures for himself
and he said, I'll, I'll build another barn. I'm going to fill my barns with plenty and
I will say to my soul, soul, God's much good laid up for many years. Take thy rest, eat,
drink and be merry. And God said to him, thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required
of thee and what shall become of all thy goods. What a sad story. What a tragic story. A man
who worked his whole life to amass wealth to himself. And then the same day that he
retired, I mean, isn't that horrible? I mean, come on, God, keep the guy afraid. You know,
the same day that he retired, he sat down in his lazy boy recliner and said, I've got
it all laid out. Here I am. I'm retiring. I'm set for life. It's going to be great.
It's going to be golf. It's going to be snowboarding. And God said, you're a fool because right
now I'm going to squeeze the life out of your body. You know that God holds the breath of
your body in his hand. The Bible says in the book of Daniel, anytime you can just go and
your life's over, it's gone. God controls. If you're alive right now, it's because God
is keeping you alive. If you die, it'll be because God made you die. My friend, because
God said, I kill, I make alive, the Lord is my name. And so God can keep you alive.
And if you're alive, there's a reason why you're alive. God has something for you to
do. When you're done, he'll take you out of this life. He'll retire you. But can you imagine
the person who works and works for nothing? That's why Solomon, who had all the money,
who had all the retirement, he said, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. He said, what
profit hath the man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth
away and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever. He said, what's the
point of it all? He said, and he talks all throughout the book of Ecclesiastes about
building this great kingdom, and he said, I'm going to turn it over to somebody else,
and I don't know whether he's going to be wise or a fool. What was the purpose of my
life? And he gets to the end and just says, you know what, fear God and keep his commandments.
This is the whole duty of man. He said, that's what really matters, is the life to come.
And so don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Don't do your righteousness before
men to be seen of them. Hey, get the reward in heaven. So number one, set your affection
on the things in heaven. Love things that you can have the same love for now as you're
going to love when you get to heaven. Number two, what was number two? Just give me that.
I'm going to turn it back. I got the outline. Okay, relax. Number two, hey, get used to
working, like you're going to be working in heaven. And number three, hey, lay up the
treasures in heaven, not on the earth. I love this verse in Philippians 3 17. I'll
just, you don't have to turn there. Brethren, be followers together of me and mark them
which walk so as you have us for an ensemble. For many walk of whom I've told you often
and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose
end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things. You hear that? Who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence
also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that
it may be fastened like unto his glorious body. See, my conversation's in heaven. I
don't mind earthly things. I don't worry about it. Hey, my conversation's in heaven. And
so let me close with this thought to you. If heaven's such a wonderful place, if heaven's
the place that all throughout the Bible, hundreds of times, God is telling you how great it
is going to be. I have not seen nor you heard. He says, you can't even imagine how wonderful
it is in heaven, God says. You can't even imagine the beauty of heaven. You can't even
imagine how great it's going to be when you get to heaven. Paul was caught up to the third
heaven. He said, I can't even describe to you what it was like. Words can't even express
to you what it's like. If heaven's such a wonderful place, then let me ask you this.
Do you think that if you live the heaven way now, or the world's way, which way do
you think you're going to be a happier person? I mean, think about it. Why can't you have
some of that happiness, say, oh, it's going to be so great when I get to heaven. Hey,
why don't you bring a little bit of that happiness into the present? Why don't you, instead,
well, won't it be such a wonderful, what a day that will be. Hey, what a day it's going
to be today if you start living like heaven today. That'll be the day. Hey, what a day
that will be when you decide to get right with God and throw out all your worldly trash
and start living a little bit more like heaven. What a day that will be when you throw out
your DVD and your CDs go in the trash and you burn your last pair of pants, ladies.
What if all is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore? What a day, glorious day that
will be when you come to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. When you
throw out your music and start singing out of the hymnal. Hey, what a day that'll be,
won't it? What a day it'll be when you can bring, you say, wait, that's negative preaching.
That's not, that's negative preaching to tell you that you're going to have the glories
of heaven now. Hey, that's a positive message, my friend. Hey, I'm one of those positive
type of preachers. Hey, your best life now. That's what the title of the sermon, I'm changing
the title. It's not as it is in heaven. It's your best life now. Move over, Joel O'Shea.
I'll give you your best life now if you start living like you're going to live in heaven
right now today. What a day that'll be when we all get to heaven. Hey, start living like
heaven now. You're going to have some of the enjoyment now. Why wait? Why not bring it
into the present? Hey, why not feast on the manna from above that you're going to be eating
in heaven? Why don't you start eating it right now? Pick up the Bible and eat it. Why don't
you start chewing on it throughout the day, day and night, meditating, having the word
of God in your mouth? Why don't you get rid of the worldly junk, which, I'll be honest
with you, is the cause for most of your unhappiness, your worldliness, your sin, the unguidance.
Get rid of it. Clean it out. Get this good stuff in there. Start working. Start doing
something with your life. Quit sitting around, and I'm going to tell you something. The glories
of heaven will be yours today. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank
you so much for not only preparing a place for us, a wonderful place in heaven for the
future. But God, I also thank you that we can have a piece of heaven now, to the degree,
whatever degree we want to. Whatever degree we want to live for you now, and obey you
now, and follow your rules now, and enjoy the things that you've provided for us now.
That's the degree that we can enjoy heaven now. And so God, let me just pray like you
instructed us to pray thousands of years ago in the Bible in Matthew, chapter 6. Let me
just pray that prayer right now. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven.