II Tim. 4:6-8; Phil. 1:21-24
Paul loved sports.
He talked about boxing, ìIíve
fought a good fight;î
Running, ìIíve finished my
courseî (II Tim. 4:7);
Wrestling, ìwe wrestle not
against flesh and bloodî (Eph. 6:12).
He loved competition.
But he always competed for
Christ.
When he wrote his letter to
the Philippians, he was in prison;
Awaiting trial;
Chained to a Roman soldier;
Sick;
Not sure whether he would
live or die.
But he wouldnít give up.
He kept preaching, witnessing
and writing letters to the Churches.
He told the Philippians, ìFor
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.î
He was saying, ìJesus is my
Coach.î
ìEvery day I live-----Iíll
live for Jesus.î
ìEverything I do-----Iíll do
for Jesus.î
ìAnd when I die, Iíll be
better off.î
I believe ______________
lived for Christ.
_______ accepted Jesus as his
Saviour;
Attended Church regularly;
Was an officer in the Church;
A prayer warrior;
A Sunday
School teacher.
But he was more than that.
He was a man who demonstrated
his faith in Christ at work, in his community ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
and everywhere he went.
He shaped the character of
multitudes;
Helped multitudes develop the
attitudes, habits, skills and values they needed ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
to succeed
in life.
He labored to see that his
students got a good formal education.
But he wasnít just concerned
with their formal education.
He was also concerned with
their moral and spiritual values.
He wanted his students to
develop basic values that would remain with them
all the
days of their life.
He lived for Christ.
And now the Great Referee has
blown the whistle.
______________ has stepped
out of this life.
But I believe _______ would
say, ìThe gameís not over.î
ìIíve just moved to the other
end of the court.î
Thatís what I want to talk
about today: ______________ benefits at the other ÝÝÝÝÝÝ
end of the court.
King David said, ìBless the
LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his Ý benefits.î
_______________ 1st
benefit is a new body.
Paul said, ìWe know that if
our earthly house of this tabernacle [this body] ÝÝ
were dissolved, we have a
building of God,î
ìAn house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavensî (II Cor. 5:1).
Someone said the human body
is the most wonderful machine ever built.
It is wonderful.
But itís not a machine.
Our body starts as a one cell
organism.
It grows into trillions of
cells with bones, muscles and nerves;
A brain that remembers and
thinks, a heart that pumps, lungs that breath, a ÝÝÝ
stomach
that digests food.
We can feel, hear, see, smell
and taste;
Dribble a basketball, block
shots. grab rebounds and pass off;
Run up and down the court;
We can switch from offense to
defense.
The Psalmist rightly said,
ìWe are fearfully and wonderfully madeî (Psa. ÝÝÝÝÝÝ
139:14).
Itís difficult to imagine a
body thatís better than the one we have.
But the Bible says
______________ will receive a better body, a new ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
glorified, resurrected body;
A body like the one Jesus had
when He was raised from the dead.
John said, ìWe know that when
he shall appear, we shall be like him
(I Jn.
3:2).
Other passages show that
Jesus could appear and disappear;
That people could recognize
Him;
That His
body was not subject to disease or sin.
Thatís the way we will be.
Paul said, we will be ìsown a
natural body and raised a spiritual bodyî (I ÝÝÝÝÝ
Cor. 15:50).
He said, ìour mortality will
put on immortalityî (I Cor. 15:52).
We wonít sin.
We will have the spiritual
understanding of Jesus;
Live in the presence of God.
We cannot imagine how
wonderful that will be.
But thatís what the Bible
says.
The resurrection of Jesus is
the greatest news ever heard.
Itís also proof that God can
raise ______________.
Godís people have believed
this since the beginning of this Creation.
And Paul said if itís not true,
the disciples lied, and preaching and faith are ÝÝÝ
vain.
_______________ 2nd
benefit is a mansion in heaven.
Jesus said, ìIn my Father's
house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
would have
told you. I go to prepare a
place for you.î
ìAnd if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again, and receive you ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be alsoî (Jn. 14:2-3).
Paul was talking about us
when He said, ìEye hath not seen, nor ear heard, ÝÝ
neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath ÝÝ
prepared for them that love himî (I Cor. 2:9).
He was talking about the
heroes of faith when he said, God ìhath prepared Ý
for them a
cityî (Heb. 11:16).
John said, ìI John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husbandî (Rev. ÝÝÝ 21:2).
So God has prepared a
place for ______________.
Iíve been tempted to smile
and say, ìIt will be a big gymnasium in the sky.î
ì______________
gone to a big gymnasium in the sky.î
ìOr it will be another Spring Hill School.î
Ý
ì______________
gone to another Spring Hill School.î
But I honestly donít know
what _______ prepared place is like.
I just know that Jesus
promised ______________ a mansion.
And it will be better than
anything we can imagine.
_______________ 3rd
benefit is attendance at the Marriage Supper of the ÝÝÝ
Lamb.
I almost ignored this benefit
because other benefits seem so much more ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
important
than this one.
But God put it in the Bible.
And that means it shouldnít
be ignored.
Jesus said He will eat with
us in the Kingdom of God
(Luke 22:16-18).
John said we will eat from
the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 2:7; ÝÝÝ
22:2, 14).
He said, ìBlessed are they
which are called unto the marriage supper of the ÝÝ
Lambî (Rev.
19:9).
This tells us something about
our heavenly body.
Weíll be like Jesus who ate
fish and honeycomb with His Disciples after He Ý
was raised from the dead
(Luke 21:41-43).
We will attend great buffets;
Great
celebrations in heaven.
Jesus said, ìmany shall come
from the east and west and shall sit down with
Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob (Matt. 8:11).
______________ attended great
buffets and celebrations at home, at Church ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
and here at Spring Hill.
He will do it again in
heaven.
He will sit down with his
family;
Former Church members;
Some of his coaches and
teammates in high school and college;
Some of his former teachers,
students, basketball players, cafeteria workers Ý
and
custodians.
I can almost hear ______________
talking about some of those basketball Ý
games;
About some
of his former basketball players and students.
Iíve heard him talk about
some of you.
I donít remember enough to
repeat it here.
But he loved you.
And many of you have
demonstrated your love for him.
Some may think heaven will be
boring.
But I think it will be more
exciting than a championship game in overtime;
More exciting than a last
second shot from the far end of the court;
More exciting than anything
we can imagine.
_______________ 4th
benefit is a grand reunion with _______ loved ones.
Paul said, ìthe Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first:î
ìThen we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the airî (I Thess. 4:16-17).
He assured us that this is a
revelation from God.
He said, ìThis we say unto
you by the word of the Lord.î
Some people call this the
Rapture.
Dr. Oliver B. Greene called
it Godís ìgreat elevatorî to heaven.
The Church sings about it.
One song calls it ìthat great
meeting in the air.î
Another song says:
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ
shall rise,
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ And the glory of His resurrection share;
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ When the chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the
skies,
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ And the roll is called up yonder, Iíll be there.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee
speculated that, ìIt will be a very orderly procedure.î
He said, ìThe dead in Christ
will rise first.î
ìHere comes Stephen out of
the grave.î
ìIt may be that he will lead
the procession since he was the first martyr.î
ìThen there will be the
apostles and all those millions who have laid down ÝÝÝÝ
their lives
for Jesus.î
ìFinally, if we are alive at
that time, we will bring up the rear of the parade.î
Shakespeare wrote about it:
He said, ÝìSo part we sadly in this troublous
worldî
ìTo meet
with joy in sweet Jerusalem.î
A grand reunion is part of our
Christian hope.
Death separates us, but our
separation is just temporary.
_______________ 5th
benefit is what some preachers call the ìno-mores.î
John said, ìthere shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither Ý
shall there
be any more painî (Rev. 21:4).
No more hunger, thirst,
curse, and night.
Rev. Ron Ritchie said, ìWe
mourn for our dear ones who have died because ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
we loved them, and now we
miss them.î
ìBut I am convinced from the
Scriptures that if we were to ask them, ëDo ÝÝÝÝ
you want to come back and be
with us again?íî
ìThey would say, ëAre you
serious?íî
ìI like you.î
ìBut leave the King of kings
and Lord of Lords,î
ìLeave my new body,î
ìLeave a place where I donít
cry or get sick,î
ìLeave a place where I can eat
and eat and eat and never have to go on a ÝÝÝÝÝ
diet?î
ìCome back?î
ìNo!î
Iím just speculating, but I
believe ______________ would say, ìLeave a ÝÝÝÝ
place where thereís no more technical fouls and bad calls?î
ìLeave a place where thereís
no more unsportsman like conduct.î
ìNo!î
ìI love (name of community).î
ìI love (name of Church).î
ìI love you.î
ìI want to see you again.î
ìBut I want you to make your
salvation sure.î
ìAnd join me in heaven when
your time runs out.î
Thereís a reason why I say
this.
Iíve had Church members who
had life after death experiences;
Church members who said they
went to heaven.
And they didnít want to come
back.
_______________ 6th
benefit is attendance at heavenly worship services.
________ enjoyed attending
Church.
Thereís no doubt that _______
attended some great worship services here
on earth.
But John describes a future
heavenly worship service like this,
ìI beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of all ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
throne, and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, and palms in ÝÝ
their hands;î
ìAnd cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
the throne,
and unto the Lamb.î
ìAnd all the angels stood round
about the throne, and about the elders and the ÝÝÝÝÝÝ
four beasts, and fell before
the throne on their faces, and worshipped Ý Godî
(Rev.
7:9-11).
This will be a service of
praise and worship with God and Jesus occupying ÝÝ
the throne.
The crowd will be too great
to number.
Everyone will be standing.
The angels;
The four living creatures;
The twenty-four elders;
And the Tribulation Saints
will be there.
This may well be the greatest
worship service ever.
______________ will join in to
glorify God the Father and our Lord Jesus.
_______________ 7th
benefit is _______ heavenly reward.
John said, ìI heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are ÝÝ
the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth:î
ìYea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;î
ìAnd their works do follow
themî (Rev. 14:13).
Write it down.
The dead in Christ are
blessed.
John didnít say everyone is
blessed.
He said the dead in Christ
are blessed.
What the Christian has done
for God will be remembered in heaven.
God will say, ìPay my servant
_______ hire.î
Crowns will be handed out:
The Incorruptible Crown for
those who master the old nature.
The Crown of Rejoicing for
those who win souls for Christ.
The Crown of Life for those who
endure temptation and are faithful unto ÝÝÝÝÝ
death.
The Crown of Righteousness
for those who love the Second Coming.
And the
Crown of Glory for faithful preachers and teachers of Godís Word.
Iím not the Judge.
But it seems to me that
______________ falls into several of these ÝÝÝ
categories.
And one thing that I want you
to remember is that thereís a Great ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
Scorekeeper.
The Great Scorekeeper is good
and generous.
His scoreboard never fails.
His scoreboard is never
wrong.
He knows the difference
between air balls, free throws and three pointers.
He will reward His people,
according to their works.
Thatís what Jesus said.
ìBehold, I come quickly; and
my reward is with me, to give every man ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
according
as his work shall beî (Rev. 22:13).
ìBeholdî means pay attention.
Jesus will reward His people.
What do we need to do?
We need to accept Jesus as
our Saviour;
Those who are ìin Christî are
those who have done that.
We need to be careful how we
live (Eph. 5:15);
Make the most of our opportunities
to serve God (Eph. 5:16);
Learn Godís will for our
life;
Act on Godís will for our
life (Eph. 5:17);
Be filled with the Spirit
(Eph. 5:18);
Be sincere when we worship
(Eph. 5:19-20);
And serve God with enthusiasm
(Eph. 6:5-8).
______________ did it.
And _______ would want all of
us to do it.