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INVESTING FOR ETERNITY
Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer
Autumn Ridge Church, Rochester, MN
MAY 2-3, 2015
No. 4:
Scripture:
Investing 101
Matthew 25:31-46
Prayer for Illumination
Lord God, by your spoken word you created everything that is.
By your incarnate word you redeemed us.
By your comforting word you are with us still.
Prepare us now to hear your word to us this day.
Open the scriptures that we might see Jesus and meet him face to face. Amen.
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A surprising word captured the world’s
imagination at the 2000 Olympic Games in
Sydney, Australia.
When the Olympic torch was lit during the
opening ceremony, a massive sign on the
Sydney Harbor Bridge was illuminated and
people around the world saw what God has
placed inside each of us.
The word was Eternity.
The Aussies chose Eternity because the word is rooted in the history of their island
continent.
Back in November 1932, an Australian First World War veteran named Arthur Stace
was homeless and hopelessly addicted to alcohol.
His life of gambling and petty crime had only worsened his poverty and driven him
to suicidal despair.
Having failed at everything he could think of to
fill the aching cavity in his soul, he stumbled
one night into a church.
In God’s providence a man called John Ridley
was preaching. He spoke on the subject of
eternity.
Ridley said, “You’re on your way somewhere
brother!
And God made you to long for the place you’re headed for.”
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Ridley eloquently described the destination of every human being with the word
eternity, repeating it again and again. Eternity, eternity, eternity!
Those eight letters gripped Arthur Stace’s mind and demanded a major course
correction to his life.
As Ridley described each person’s march toward eternity, and the only gospel that
prepares a soul for that inevitability, the God of the universe invaded Arthur’s
heart. Conquered by the message of Christ’s provision for his own eternity, Arthur
dedicated the rest of his life to doing what he could to help people find the Savior
who had found him.
So every day for more than thirty-five years Arthur rose
before the sun, and after a cup of tea and a few moments
of Bible reading, he’d go out into the streets of Sydney
with a piece of chalk and write the word eternity. Over
and over again, thousands of times, Arthur wrote eternity
in the same beautiful script.
As the city awoke, people would see eternity everywhere.
Eternity was on the sidewalk outside a coffee shop.
Eternity was on the back of a street sign.
Eternity was on the cornerstone of a building.
Eternity mysteriously appeared all over town.
Somehow, instead of being insulted by this spiritual message, people reported
feeling strangely encouraged. From all walks of life, Sydney citizens were
stumbling upon eternity scrawled in the most surprising places.
Until 1956 no one knew who was doing this.
Eventually they finally found Arthur Stace.
No one demanded that he stop his daily discipline. Instead they supported, even
celebrated, his graffitied message about the life to come.
Arthur Stace died in 1967 at the age of 83, but he left an impact that will last long
after every chalk mark has faded.
His gravestone reads:
“Arthur Malcom Stace – Mr. Eternity,” a word he
had written more than five hundred thousand
times.1
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Thirty-three years after Arthur’s death the host country chose the word eternity to
express the longings of the world at the first Olympics of a new millennium.
Eternity is a powerful word that penetrates deep into the soul of every human
being, and every time we make a choice that detours our search for fulfillment,
eternity shouts to us “You are getting colder!”
We are in a series called INVESTING 101.
We are learning how to invest in those aspects of our life that bring the greatest
return.
Today we are going to consider INVESTING FOR ETERNITY.
Augustine wrote that “The sole purpose of life in time is to gain merit for life in
eternity.”
Now what is eternity?
Eternity means “infinite time” or “time without beginning or end.”
Eternity means “everlastingness.”
A man came up to me after a service and said, “John, I didn’t know what eternity
was until I heard you preach. You went on and on and on.”
Whatever it takes, we all need a concept of eternity.
In the early years of the last century Billy Sunday led evangelistic meetings here in
Rochester. Billy loved to talk about eternity.
On one occasion he said, “I stand on the shores of eternity and cry out ‘Eternity,
eternity! How long are you?’ Back comes the answer, ‘How long? When ten
thousand times, ten thousand times, ten thousand years have passed, eternity will
have just begun.’”
Eternity is the grand climax of all history. Eternity is the age to come when every
person will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Eternity will bring to this world all God
desires for us. For in eternity sin will have been judged and banished. Life will
continue with new meaning and perfection.
But eternity is hard for us for we live in days when we are captivated by short-term
returns. That is fine if we only are destined for a short existence.
Jesus told the story of a farmer who had this short-term perspective. One year he
had a great harvest that brought him a lot of money. His response was summed up
by the attitude “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:19)
That philosophy makes perfect sense if death is the end of us and there is nothing
beyond. If that’s the case we should just enjoy ourselves while we are here.
But God says to this wealthy man, “You fool! This very night your life will be
demanded from you.” (Luke 12:20)
The farmer’s mistake was that he had invested his money but not his life.
The reality is that death is not the end. For we are eternal creatures.
We know this just by examining our own souls.
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Solomon tells us “God has set eternity in the human heart.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
C.S. Lewis called this “the inconsolable longing.” Lewis writes, “There have been
times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself
wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have desired anything else…
It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable
want.”
We long for more than transient things because we are eternal beings.
That’s why it is essential that we invest for eternity.
But practically how do we do that?
Scripture suggests four ways in which we can invest for eternity.
First we invest for eternity BY KNOWING THE ETERNAL GOD.
One of God’s great attributes is his eternality.
We find this described throughout scripture.
Deuteronomy tells us “The eternal God is your refuge.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Isaiah writes that “The LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.” (Isaiah 26:4)
Jeremiah declares “He is the living God, the eternal King.” (Jeremiah 10:10)
Because of this “God’s kingdom is an eternal kingdom.” (Daniel 4:3)
And “His ways are eternal.” (Habakkuk 3:6).
So the Psalmist sings “Your throne was established long ago; you are from all
eternity.” (Psalm 93:2)
God’s eternity means that he has no beginning and no end. He has always been
and always will be. Critics may claim that God is dead but that is a theological
impossibility.
So how can we know this eternal God? God has revealed himself in three main
ways.
First, in creation. We look at the world and we see order and design and that
points us to God the creator.
Second, God reveals himself in our conscience. We have a sense of right and
wrong. Who put that there? God did.
Third, God supremely reveals himself through Christ who is the eternal Son so that
Jesus is able to say “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”
(John 14:9)
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The most important search any of us can be
engaged in is the search for this eternal God,
whom to know is life eternal.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne loved to tell his Scottish
congregation, “Live near to God and all things will
appear little to you in comparison with eternal
realities.”
A second way we invest for eternity is BY HAVING ETERNAL LIFE.
When we enter into a relationship with our eternal God we receive eternal life.
This is the great theme of the New Testament.
Jesus tells us “Everyone who believes may have eternal life.” (John 3:15)
John adds those familiar words “God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Of all the gospel writers, John loves this promise of eternal life. He goes on to
explain “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects
the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:36)
Paul helps us to understand how we can receive this eternal life when he tells us
“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
That means we cannot earn eternal life however good we are. Eternal life is a gift
from God that we receive when we trust Christ as our Savior.
With this great gift comes two brilliant benefits.
First when we possess eternal life we will enjoy an eternal future.
Scripture describes this fantastic future for us.
Listen to David: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal
pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)
Paul tells us “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we
have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human
hands.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)
Peter gives us this good news “You will receive a rich welcome into the
eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:11)
This means that those who live in the Lord never see each other for the last time
for we are going to an eternal kingdom.
A second benefit of eternal life is that we will escape eternal punishment.
When we die we will continue to live on. The question is where?
Will it be in God’s presence or away from it?
We heard earlier the parable of the sheep and the goats. It describes the coming
day when Christ returns and every person will be summoned before him.
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As a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats, so the King will separate those
who have served him from those who have not.
To the righteous Jesus will say “Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of
the world.” (Matthew 25:34)
To the others Jesus will say “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)
It is an extraordinary parable because Jesus rewards people based on whether they
have fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, and visited the
prisoner.
Jesus is not denying the importance of faith in his story. He has spoken about faith
earlier in the gospel.
What Jesus is doing is explaining that living faith results in a changed life.
It is not simply enough to say we have faith. If there is no change in our behavior
we are deceiving ourselves. That is why it is so important that our faith is genuine
and real.
Last week we had two counterfeit $100 bills in the offering. They look like the real
thing but they are worthless. They are like phony faith. It seems alright from a
cursory glance, but it cannot save us.
True faith transforms us from being selfish people into unselfish people.
The Holy Spirit gives us a God-given desire to share what we have and to help
those in want. So it becomes natural for us to want to feed the hungry, welcome
the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoner.
Now eternal punishment is not a subject we like to think about, but we must.
Hebrews tells us that all of us are going to die and after we die we will face God’s
judgment (Hebrews 9:27)
But we can escape that judgment by trusting Christ and receiving his eternal life.
The third way we invest for eternity is BY ENJOYING THE ETERNAL WORD.
There is a lovely story about an elderly lady who was always reading her Bible.
One day her grandson asked, “Grandma, why have you always got your nose in
that old book?”
Grandma replied, “I’m studying for my finals.”
She understood the Bible is the book of eternal life.
It prepares us for our heavenly home.
The longest Psalm tells us about the wonders of the word of God.
It declares “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”
(Psalm 119:89)
Jesus told us “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never
pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
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Nearly everything on this planet will one day cease to exist in its present form, but
this Bible will endure for all time.
We will be reading this and rejoicing in it for all eternity. There aren’t many things
like that. People are eternal. The church of Jesus Christ is eternal. The work we
do for God is eternal. And the word of God is eternal, and that’s about it.
Scripture is eternal because it deals with eternal issues like salvation, heaven and
hell, the church, and the Trinity. The Bible also teaches us about love, which is an
eternal virtue.
Paul calls love “the most excellent way.”
As we develop in our love for God and one another here on earth we are practicing
for eternity which will be a place of perfect love.
That’s why at Autumn Ridge we encourage you to read your Bible and memorize
your Bible and study your Bible. One of the great values of small groups is that
they are a place where we can share our insights on God’s eternal word.
The men’s small group I am part of met last Wednesday night. It was a wonderful
time. We studied two chapters in Genesis. From the other men I heard truths that
I have never read in a commentary and others I had never thought about before.
I was reminded that I am an eternal being. If I had stayed away I would have
missed a marvelous spiritual meal.
Peter told Jesus “You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)
The Spirit of Jesus is the author of scripture so when we read our Bible we are
investing for eternity.
A fourth way we invest for eternity is BY MAKING ETERNAL FRIENDS.
Jesus tells us “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that
when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9)
We can’t take our money with us but we can send it on ahead.
Jesus is telling us that we should make use of the money God has entrusted to us
to help those in spiritual need so that in the future they can welcome us into
heaven.
A practical example of this is our support of
missionaries.
Later this year Niles and Rachel Batdorf and
their two lovely daughters will be moving to
Cameroon where they will be serving at Mbingo
Hospital.
We have the happy privilege of helping the Batdorfs to go. Most of us will never
travel to Cameroon ourselves, but through the ministry of the Batdorfs,
Cameroonians are going to come to know the eternal God. They will receive eternal
life and start enjoying the eternal word.
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Those dear people will be among that great multitude of nations around the throne
of God. When we get to heaven those people will say to us, “Thank you for sending
Niles and Rachel. You made it possible for me to hear the good news about Christ
and I am so grateful.”
Are we making friends for eternity?
Martin Niemoeller was a Lutheran pastor in Germany
during Hitler’s rise to power.
He tells how God had to speak to him in a dream to make
him aware of his responsibility for making friends for
eternity. Martin was imprisoned by the Nazis for eight
years for defying Hitler. He said he felt no obligation to
witness to his Nazi guards. They had treated him so
badly he couldn’t wait for them to go to hell.
But all that changed the night of his dream.
For in his dream he saw Hitler pleading his case before the judgment seat of God.
Hitler’s excuse for his sins was that he had never heard the gospel.
Then Martin Niemoeller heard God speaking to him, “Martin, were you with Hitler a
whole hour without telling him about me?”
When Martin awoke he remembered that indeed he had been alone with Hitler for
an entire hour but he had not witnessed to him. He now saw clearly that it was his
duty to witness to everybody, even his despised guards, for God had called him to
make friends for eternity.
Last week I went to visit our oldest church member.
His name is Bob Bigelow.
Bob is 102. He has attended this church since he was born
as his mother was a member here.
We had a fascinating chat. Bob told me about having
breakfast with the Mayo brothers and meeting President
Franklin Roosevelt when he came to Rochester.
I asked Bob how I could pray for him. He immediately replied, “Ask God to give me
the words to speak about Jesus to the people in the nursing home.”
He didn’t ask anything for himself but rather for others. At 102 Bob Bigelow is still
thinking of making eternal friends.
Robert Moffat, the pioneering missionary to
South Africa, challenged missionary
candidates with these words:
“We have all eternity to celebrate our
victories, but only one short hour before
sunset in which to win them.”
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This weekend Warren Buffett is hosting 50,000
shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha,
Nebraska.
He is going to tell them where his company is
going in the next 50 years.
Warren Buffett’s wise investments have made him one of the wealthiest men in
America. He has observed that the problem with many companies is that they
focus on the short-term. They are only concerned about the next quarter’s financial
report. Warren Buffet’s secret has been to invest for the long-term.
I agree with the Oracle of Omaha, and more importantly, so does God.
John Tillotson said “The person who
provides for this life but makes no care for
eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool
forever.”
Let us not be fools but rather invest for eternity.
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This story is told in Vertical Church by James MacDonald.