Keep the fork Part 2 C. A Rejoicing People - (Rev. 4:6-11; Rev.5:9-14) (1Thes.4:13-17) (Rev.22:4) (Phil. 1:21-23) 1. Presence of Messiah - 1 Thes. 4:17; John 14:3 (Ill. All our feeble efforts to describe that city. They all fall miserably short of what that city will truly be like. However, I still want to go there. Don’t you? 2. Loved Ones - 1 Thes. 4:17 3. Holy and Sinless - Rev. 21:27; 1 Cor. 15:42-57 4. Burdens lifted - Rev. 21:4 5. Rest - Job 3:17; Heb. 4:9; 6. Rewards - Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 3:11-15 III.v.4-6 THE PATH TO HEAVEN A. It Is An Obvious Path - (Ill.v.6) Acts 4:12 - Only those who walk this path will enter the gates of that city! B. It Is An Open Path - Matt.28:11; Rev 22:17; Acts 16:31 Isaiah 25:6-9 What would that be like? A meal with your whole entire family with no fighting, no tears, no unforgiveness, no, “did you see what she is wearing?” none of that. Everyone is happy. Everyone is joyful. Everyone is present and accounted for. It won’t matter who you sit next to because everyone is going to be awesome. There will be more than enough food for everyone and I can only imagine that it is going to taste AMAZING. So how do you get an invitation to the meal? 1. Everything you’ve got: That sounds like a big price to pay, but if I really think about it, what is everything I have? Is it my stuff? No. I can’t take any of that with me when I die. Is it my money? No. I don’t have a whole lot of that anyway. Is it my life? Yes. It’s my life, but who gave me that life? God did. So I am only giving back to God what he gave to me. In that sense, it’s a pretty small price to pay for eternity in heaven. 2. Trust & Obedience: Give my life over to God and be obedient to his word – I think I can. I think I can. I think I can…. 3. Respond personally to God’s invitation: Whether you know it or not, God wants you at that party. He is calling you to the supper. He wants nothing more than for you to be there because he made it special just for you. You, me, and everybody has to RSVP to the party. 4. Bring as many folks with you as you can: Once you have accepted the invitation and RSVPed to that greatest party in the history of the universe, you gotta tell people about it. You gotta let people know what they are going to miss. Or, more importantly, how much God wants them to be there. Part of giving our lives to God is sharing his love with other people. It’s the last thing Jesus told us to do before he went up to start preparing for our arrival. What I have said has merely scratched the surface of what Heaven is like. It will be far more wonderful that you or can could ever imagine. That is why you need to keep your fork, the best is truly coming in the future!! So that’s it. There is a big meal being prepared for you. Do you want to go? So, the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you, oh so gently, that spiritually speaking, the “best” is yet to come.