I WANT TO TALK TO YOU TODAY ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF ETERNITY. NOW I KNOW THAT'S A SUBJECT THAT BOTHERS SOME, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, IT ENCOURAGES SOME OTHERS. ETERNITY IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT'S IN EVERYBODY'S FUTURE, BUT NOT EVERYBODY LIKES TO THINK ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF ETERNITY. BECAUSE YOU SEE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT ETERNITY AND YOU THINK ABOUT THE END OF THIS LIFE AND ENTERING INTO ANOTHER LIFE. NOW, I NEED TO STOP HERE JUST LONG ENOUGH TO HELP SOME FOLK TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING. THESE BODIES ARE NOT ETERNAL. YET, THE SPIRIT THAT INHABITS THESE BODIES, IS ETERNAL. NOW THAT MAY BE A LITTLE HARD FOR SOME FOLK TO UNDERSTAND. BUT IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT MANKIND IS MADE UP OF, SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY, THEN WE CAN UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT OF GOD'S INTENTIONS FOR OUR LIVES. BECAUSE THIS BODY IS MORTAL. THAT'S WHY PAUL THE APOSTLE WOULD WRITE, "THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY." THIS BODY, AS YOU KNOW, YOU CAN TELL EVEN BY LOOKING AT YOUR OWN LIFE, THIS BODY AS IT AGES, BEGINS TO BREAK DOWN. AND THERE WILL COME A POINT IN EACH AND EVERYONE OF OUR LIVES WHERE THIS BODY WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO SUPPORT LIFE. BUT DON'T BE DISCOURAGED BY THAT TODAY. BECAUSE IT'S AT THAT MOMENT THAT GOD HAS PROMISED HE WOULD GIVE US A NEW BODY, AS WE ENTER INTO THE GATES OF HEAVEN. LET'S READ A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT TODAY. I WANT US TO TURN TO THE 1ST BOOK OF THESSALONIANS AND THERE I WANT US TO READ OUT OF THE 4TH CHAPTER, SOME VERSES OF SCRIPTURE THAT I HOPE WILL BE AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOUR LIFE TODAY. I KNOW A LOT OF TIMES THAT THESE SCRIPTURES ARE READ AT A FUNERAL SERVICE. BUT ITS USUALLY BECAUSE WE WANT TO BRING A MESSAGE OF HOPE INTO THAT SERVICE THAT IS FILLED WITH SORROW. SO TODAY, THIS MESSAGE OF HOPE, EVEN THOUGH WE MAY NOT BE FILLED WITH SORROW, THIS MESSAGE OF HOPE CAN STILL BRIGHTEN OUR FUTURE. AS WE THINK ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR US. IN 1ST THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 4, BEGINNING WITH VERSE 13. PAUL WRITES HERE, "BUT I WOULD NOT HAVE YOU TO BE IGNORANT BRETHREN, CONCERNING THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP. THAT YOU SORROW NOT, EVEN AS OTHERS WHICH HAVE NO HOPE. FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, EVEN SO THEM, ALSO WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS, WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM. FOR THIS WE SAY UNTO YOU BY THE WORD OF THE LORD. THAT WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD, SHALL NOT PREVENT THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP. FOR THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCH ANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMP OF GOD. AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST. THEN WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD." AND THEN PAUL WRITES IN THIS LAST VERSE, SOMETHING THAT I HOPE YOU'LL HEAR TODAY. HE SAYS IN VERSE 18, "WHEREFORE, COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS." "COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS." WHAT WORDS, THIS MESSAGE OF HOPE THAT PAUL IS CONVEYING TO US THAT THIS WORLD AND THIS LIFE IS NOT THE END. HOW DISCOURAGING IT WOULD BE, TO THINK THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO TOIL AND LABOR ALL OF OUR LIVES AND AT THE END, JUST LAY THESE BODIES DOWN AND THAT WOULD BE IT. I CAN TELL YOU TODAY, THAT IF THAT'S ALL THERE WAS TOO IT, WE WOULDN'T HAVE SUCH A GREAT NEED FOR JESUS. BECAUSE IT REALLY WOULDN'T MATTER. THESE LIVES THAT WE'RE LIVING REALLY WOULDN'T COUNT FOR A WHOLE LOT, IF THAT'S ALL IT IS. JUST A LIFE THAT IS, A LIFE THAT WAS, AND A LIFE THAT IS NO LONGER. BUT YOU SEE, BECAUSE OF THE ETERNALNESS OF OUR LIVES TODAY, OUR LIVES DO MATTER, THEY DO COUNT AND IT IS EVER SO IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE JESUS AS A PART OF OUR LIFE. TODAY, I'M ENCOURAGED TO KNOW THAT THIS WORLD IS NOT ALL THERE IS, THAT THIS WORLD IS ONLY A TASTE OF WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR US. WE DON'T DENY THAT GOD HAS CREATED SOMETHING OF GREAT BEAUTY. WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE BOOK OF GENESIS AND YOU READ HOW THAT IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS NOTHING. AND THEN GOD BEGAN TO SPEAK THE WORD, THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH CAME INTO BEING. AND THE LAND WAS SEPARATED FROM THE WATER AND LIFE BEGAN TO APPEAR ON THAT LAND AND IN THOSE BODIES OF WATER. AND HOW THAT GOD CREATED SUCH A MARVELOUS WORK OF BEAUTY, AS HE CREATED THIS EARTH THAT WE'RE LIVING ON. AND THEN THE LAST WORK OF CREATION WAS THE CREATION OF MAN. NOW WHEN YOU LOOK AT MAN, YOU BEGIN TO SEE, HOW DIFFERENT MAN CAN BE. AND YET GOD, CREATED ALL THAT WE SEE IN MANKIND. YOU TODAY, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU THINK YOU'RE A THING OF BEAUTY OR NOT, YOU TODAY, ARE A REPRESENTATION OF GOD'S CREATIVE WORK. GOD MADE YOU THE WAY YOU ARE. OH, THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES THAT I FUSSED A LITTLE BIT AT GOD, I WISH THAT I COULD BE ABOUT 6 INCHES TALLER. I WISH THAT MY VOICE COULD BE A FEW OCTAVES LOWER. AND I WISH A LOT OF THINGS ABOUT ME MIGHT BE DIFFERENT. BUT, I AM WHAT I AM. AND SO I'M NOT GOING TO FIND FAULT WITH GOD, I'M JUST GOING TO BE SATISFIED THAT THIS IS THE WAY IT IS. AND THAT GOD MADE ME THIS WAY FOR A REASON. AND I REJOICE AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE AS HE CREATED YOU AND HE CREATED ME. BUT DON'T FOR A MINUTE THINK THAT GOD DID ALL OF THIS JUST SO THAT SOMEDAY WE COULD BE PUT IN THE GROUND, GO BACK TO THE DUST THAT WE CAME FROM AND THAT BE IT. TODAY, ALL OF THIS TOIL, ALL OF THIS LABOR, ALL OF THIS BURDEN THAT WE ARE CARRYING. ALL OF THIS MATTERS BECAUSE ONE DAY WE'RE GOING TO LEAVE THIS EARTH AND ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHEN HE SAID "COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS," I BELIEVE THAT PAUL UNDERSTOOD THAT WHEN WE BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT THE HOME THAT IS WAITING FOR US ON THE OTHER SIDE OF GLORY, THAT WE WILL COMFORTED KNOWING THERE'S SOMETHING FAR BETTER AHEAD OF US. TODAY, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU REMAIN FAITHFUL AND TRUE TO THE LORD. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOUR SINS ARE WASHED AWAY BY THE SHED BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD. WHEN JESUS DIED ON THAT OLD RUGGED CROSS, HE DID SO THAT YOUR SINS COULD BE PLACED UNDER HIS BLOOD AND YOU TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEM, NO MORE. THAT PURCHASES YOUR ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN. BUT WHILE YOU REMAIN ON THIS EARTH ITS IMPORTANT THAT YOU LIVE, THAT YOU WALK, THAT YOU BREATHE IN THAT SALVATION. SO WE STRIVE ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES TO LIVE IN THE WAY AND THE MANNER GOD HAS COMMANDED US TO LIVE. SO THAT WHEN WE DO LAY THESE BODIES DOWN WE HAVE A GREAT HOPE. THAT HOPE IS, THAT WHEN THE SPIRIT LEAVES THIS BODY, THE BIBLE SAYS, "TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY IS TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD." THOSE LOVED ONES THAT HAVE ALREADY DIED IN CHRIST, THEY ALREADY STAND BEFORE GOD. THEY'RE ALREADY ENJOYING THE SPLENDORS OF HEAVEN. I'VE THOUGHT SO MANY TIMES OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS OF FAMILY MEMBERS THAT I'VE SAID GOODBYE TO FRIENDS THAT I'VE SAID GOODBYE TO. AND I THINK ABOUT HOW I MISS THEM AT TIMES. YET, AS I THINK ABOUT THAT, I'M ENCOURAGED TO ALSO KNOW, THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN THEM FOR THE LAST TIME. THAT SOMEWHERE, OVER THERE ON THE BANKS OF GLORY, THERE IS A WAITING COMMITTEE THAT'S JUST WAITING FOR US TO ENTER THE GATES OF THE CITY CALLED HEAVEN. SO WE ARE COMFORTED, WE ARE ENCOURAGED, WE ARE STRENGTHENED AS WE THINK ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS WAITING FOR US. TODAY I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO REMEMBER, I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND. THAT GOD HAS PREPARED A PLACE FOR YOU, IN THAT PLACE CALLED HEAVEN. AND IF YOU'LL ALLOW HIM, HE WILL HELP YOU TO ARRIVE THERE ONE OF THESE DAYS. MAYBE BY WAY OF THE GRACE, MAYBE BY WAY OF THE RAPTURE. HOWEVER GOD CHOOSES TO DO IT, IT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME. AS LONG AS I CAN LEAVE THIS WORLD KNOWING THAT I'M ENTERING THAT PLACE THAT HE HAS PREPARED. SO I AM COMFORTED BY THE THOUGHT THAT JESUS IS COMING AFTER US, SOON, ONE OF THESE DAYS. MAYBE EVEN BEFORE THIS DAY IS THROUGH. WHO KNOWS, TODAY MAY BE YOUR DAY MY FRIEND. ARE YOU READY TO MEET HIM? ARE YOU READY TO ENTER THE GATES OF HEAVEN IF YOU LEAVE THIS WORLD TODAY? YOU CAN BE IF YOU DESIRE TO BE, ALL YOU'VE GOT TO DO IS PRAY WITH ME RIGHT NOW. HEAVENLY FATHER, I ASK YOU TODAY AS YOU LOOK UPON EACH OF OUR LIVES, PLEASE TODAY, FORGIVE US OF OUR SINS, MAKE US READY FOR HEAVEN I PRAY. SO IF YOU WERE TO COME RIGHT NOW, WE WOULD ARISE TO GO TO WHERE YOU ARE. HELP EACH ONE NOW I PRAY, IN JESUS' NAME WE ASK IT, AMEN.