Would You Actually Enjoy Heaven?
Sermon notes from John Stickl at Valley Creek Church on repentance, the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus’ invitation to a good and beautiful life here and now.
Who are you becoming?
Every one of us is becoming the kind of person we will be for all eternity. Do you like who you’re becoming? Are you growing, changing, and becoming someone who can steward the future?
The Sermon on the Mount is not a try-harder, behave-better speech. It is Jesus’ invitation to a good and beautiful life. Anger, worry, judgment, greed, and lying are not the life he created us to live.
Only Jesus can tell us how life actually works. His invitation is to think differently because the kingdom of heaven, the rule and reign of God, is available and accessible.
Two kinds of repentance
Sin repentance: I recognize that I have sinned against the Lord. I change my thinking and turn from my own way toward God.
Revelation repentance: Something previously hidden is revealed. What God shows me changes my thinking, direction, actions, and beliefs.
Last week, as we reached treasure in the Sermon on the Mount, there was a moment when the kingdom felt at hand. Did repentance bring any of that invitation into your life this week?
If God is life, repentance is not a threat. It is an invitation to refreshing. His Spirit brings wisdom and revelation so we can know him better. But we have to be willing to listen rather than assume we already know the good life.
Repentance is never convenient
The ear hears what the mind already believes. Without a renewed mind, we can hear our existing beliefs instead of what God is saying.
When Peter resisted Jesus’ announcement of the cross, Jesus confronted his human thinking. Worldly thinking puts us in agreement with darkness. Repentance brings our thinking into agreement with God.
Felix heard Paul and became afraid, then postponed the conversation until a more convenient time. How often do we do the same?
When I get married. When the kids leave. When the debt is paid. When this storm passes.
Repentance is never convenient, but it is refreshing. Today is the day to receive what God is offering.
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”
23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Quick to repent
At Valley Creek, we want to be Jesus-focused and quick to repent. Whatever Jesus says, we want to change our thinking and direction to agree with him.
Following Jesus is not simply taking a class. It is a life of being formed into the likeness of our teacher.
When was the last time you actually changed your thinking and direction because of something Jesus said?
If I never repent, either I am not following Jesus, I think I know better than he does in that area, or I am already fully formed into his likeness. None of us is fully formed yet.
Godly sorrow produces an earnest desire to respond and make things right. Repentance is not only for the beginning of salvation. It belongs to all of life.
11 Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
A surrendered kingdom and a burning heart
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer of repentance:
- For his name to be honored, mine must be humbled.
- For his kingdom to come, mine must go.
- For his will to be done, mine must surrender.
On the road to Emmaus, two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem, believing Jesus was gone. Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. Their understanding changed, their hearts burned, and they returned to Jerusalem.
That is repentance: revelation changes our direction.
The contrast to a burning heart is a slow heart, slow to believe, agree, and respond. A burning heart trusts what Jesus says because he is life. Revival is not merely waiting for God to break in. It involves responding to the kingdom he says is already at hand.
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
15 And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them.
16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”
19 “What things?” He asked. “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people.
20 Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him.
21 But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place.
22 Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,
23 but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive.
24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
28 As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther.
29 But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
30 While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight.
32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together
34 and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!”
35 Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
Treasure: one throne in your heart
Of the issues addressed in the Sermon on the Mount, treasure is the one Jesus describes in terms of serving another master.
Mammon is the spiritual power behind the love of money. There is only one throne in your heart. You cannot serve both God and money.
Think of a dragon guarding treasure: undisturbed until someone touches what it protects. Our defensiveness around money can expose what rules our hearts.
We would not accept a plan to gradually stop an affair or gradually stop harming a family. Yet with treasure, we say we will obey when circumstances improve.
Treasure is something you pursue, keep, and protect. When Jesus reveals it, the response is not deflection but an honest question: Jesus, what do you want me to do next?
Work this out with the Lord, with fear and trembling. Let Jesus, rather than the voices of the world, define what is good and beautiful.
Would you actually enjoy heaven?
The good and beautiful life is a life of repentance. We repent to enter, grow, and experience more of God’s rule and reign.
A life without fruit raises a question about whether the root has changed. This is not meant to frighten someone who is following Jesus. It challenges the idea that salvation is merely getting a ticket for later and then returning to life on our own terms.
We say we want heaven when we die, but do we want heaven on earth now?
There will be no anger, lust, lying, vengeance, people-pleasing, worldly treasure, worry, or judgment in heaven. If we have no interest in becoming free of these now, why do we think we would enjoy their absence for eternity?
This is not a message about where you go when you die. It is about where you go when you live. The kingdom is here and now.
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Worry: an illusion of control
The order of the Sermon on the Mount matters. Jesus moves through anger, lust, lying, vengeance, people-pleasing, and treasure before addressing worry.
Worry is unhealthy fear that has no power to change anything. It steals hope for the future and joy and peace in the present. We worry because it gives us an illusion of control.
Jesus invites us to trust our Father and seek his kingdom first. He will not always give us what our flesh wants, but he will give us what our spirit needs.
Worry also reveals treasure. Earthly possessions, reputation, success, and our bodies are vulnerable to loss. God’s kingdom, presence, grace, Spirit, and word are unshakable.
Our bodies are to be stewarded and offered to God, not treasured as ultimate. Jesus will give us new, incorruptible bodies.
I am God’s beloved son or daughter, living free in my Father’s unshakable kingdom, creating the future with him.
26 Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
Judgment keeps us distant
Jesus was judged so we would not have to be. We are now God’s righteousness in Christ. His kingdom has no place for criticism, gossip, slander, and trying to shape people for our own good.
We judge to change someone for our benefit or to make ourselves feel better by putting them down.
The plank in our eye is judgment itself. It damages people and keeps us too far away to help with their speck. In a marriage, two people can become like jousters, each trying to change the other for personal benefit.
Remove judgment so you can come close enough to help.
If you are not willing to bear someone’s burden and walk with them toward freedom, do not criticize or coach them. Love is willing to carry the burden.
2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Ask, seek, and knock
The picture of sacred things given to dogs and pearls thrown to pigs is not permission to dismiss people as unworthy. It exposes how we can force supposedly helpful things on people who cannot receive them.
Instead of throwing advice at someone, ask whether you can help. Seek after them. Knock on the door of their heart. Be willing to carry their burden in love.
Treat them as you would want to be treated, not judged, but approached with care.
When Peter asked Jesus about John’s future, Jesus redirected him to his own calling to follow.
Do not become so concerned with whether others are living a good and beautiful life that you abandon it through judgment. Even after progress with anger, lust, treasure, and worry, judgment can become another form of unhealthy, broken living.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
12 In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.”
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”
21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
There is no third road
Jesus is the narrow gate that leads to an ever-widening life. There are two ways: Jesus and everything else. There is not a third road that combines his kingdom with our continued rule.
- Anger or love.
- Lust or love.
- Lying or truth.
- Vengeance or love.
- Performing for people or living for God.
- Treasuring money or treasuring God.
- Worry or trust.
- Judgment or love.
The fear of people can keep us reaching for the wide road because we want acceptance.
But beauty either inspires or offends. Jesus captivated some and convicted others. Some welcomed him; others demanded his crucifixion.
A good and beautiful life will not receive everyone’s approval. Some will be inspired, and others will resist it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
23 “Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
Do you know him?
Your heart leads your life. What is inside comes out when life squeezes you. Good roots produce good fruit.
Jesus also warns that spectacular religious activity is not the same as knowing him. Prophecy, deliverance, and miracles do not replace relationship.
You are not your accomplishments, awards, achievements, success, or appearance. Your life is not grounded in what you have done, but in whose you are and whom you know.
Do you know Jesus, not merely know about him?
He knows everything about you. But have you let him in? Have you allowed yourself to be known through an interactive relationship?
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Build on the rock
Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with obedience. Hearing his words and putting them into practice is building on the rock.
A spirit of repentance changes what we believe about the good and beautiful life and brings us into alignment with him.
The rain, rising streams, and wind come against both houses. The difference is the foundation. A life grounded in God’s unshakable kingdom can stand. A life built on human wisdom and shaky realities cannot.
Love for Jesus takes the form of obedience. If we see God as a taskmaster, his commands sound burdensome. If we believe he is life, we receive them as leading us toward life.
Does Jesus know what he is talking about? If he does, learning to practice what he teaches is worth the pursuit of our whole lives.
25 The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
The kingdom is at hand
Jesus offers this life without forcing us to receive it. We get to decide whether we trust him.
No amount of reasoning can unseat everything that rules our hearts. We need the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. His kingdom is at hand, close enough to receive.
What is the Spirit saying to you? What would being quick to repent look like today and this week?
This is not about trying harder to behave better. It is about thinking differently about God, who he is, what he is like, and what he says.
Prayer
Good and beautiful Jesus, thank you for your words, your kingdom, and your invitation to life. Give us faith through your Spirit to trust, follow, and obey you. Help us turn from the things of this world toward you. Bless us with your Spirit, your word, and your grace as we become who we will be for all eternity. In Jesus’ name, amen.
