Full Circle

As we approach chapter 23 of Matthew, there is a significant change in Jesus’ tone. In the sermon recorded in Matthew 23, Jesus goes from teaching to preaching. He moves from grace to judgment.

In Roman’s chapter 4 Paul tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. God’s grace and mercy are a great motivation to lead a person to receive salvation. But later Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians that some are “saved by fire”. In other words, some people have to be confronted with the sure damnation of hell and judgment in order to come to a decision about Christ. That may be why, in the last sermon that Jesus gives to the crowds in Jerusalem, just days before His death on the cross, Jesus preaches hellfire and judgment to the religious leaders.

But there is another interesting facet of this sermon; Jesus seems to be coming “full circle” in His ministry. In the beginning of His ministry, Jesus taught eight blessings on the form of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). Here as He approaches the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus presents the religious leaders with a set of eight ‘woes’. Interesting how they parallel.

Join us Sunday as we dive into Matthew chapter 23!

Till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

The Greatest Question

"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

After being grilled by the religious leaders, Jesus asks this question of them. It’s a simple question: Who do you say that Jesus is? Was He a prophet? A great teacher? A good man? A person who died for a cause? If you ask ten different people, you might get ten different answers.

But the answer to the question lies not in what the Pharisees held, but what do YOU say about Jesus? How you answer the question, will determine your eternal destiny.

Join us Sunday as we finish Matthew 22, and answer the question “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

Till the whole world hears...

Pastor Clay

The Greatest Commandment

“What is the greatest commandment?”  Many have asked the question, and thought perhaps that there would be a deep theological answer.  Or maybe a long list of things that we have to do to please God.  But the fact is, Jesus made it really simple:  

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. Matt 22:36-38

Hmm… love God?  So what do I do with that?  How do I accomplish that? Obey all of his laws?  Follow perfectly the sayings of Christ? Go to church every Sunday?  Then Jesus goes on…

“And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matt 22:39-40

So how do I love my neighbor as myself?  Does that mean I have to love myself first?  Do I give him all my stuff?  Why am I so confused?  Well, let me tell you that Jesus doesn’t mean to confuse us, but He does want us to understand His meaning.  Join us Sunday as we explore the greatest commandment.

Till the whole world hears...

Pastor Clay

Animals in Heaven

After Sunday's message, I received several inquiry's from people asking whether their pet will be in heaven. 

Many people who love animals have wondered “will my cat/dog be with me in heaven?”  Unfortunately this is one of those topics where the bible does not give us a clear answer (…thus saith the Lord, thine cat will comfort thee…  !), but there are several scriptures that indicate that there will be animals in heaven:

Elijah was taken into heaven in a chariot with horses of fire…

Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
2 Kings 2:11

Isaiah describes heaven with animals existing without their predatory instincts…

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
Isa 11:6-9

*Note – this verse may be referring to the 1000 year millennial reign.

Zechariah describes horses in heaven…

In that day"HOLINESS TO THE LORD" shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. Zech 14:20

And finally, John describes a white horse carrying the Lord Jesus Christ out of heaven…

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. Rev 19:11

These verses certainly indicate that some animals will be in heaven, so one could make the assumption that their pets could be in heaven also.

Psalm 37 promises us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  Perhaps if you need for your beloved pet to be with you for heaven to be heaven, the Lord will give you the desire of your heart.

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Ps 37:4


Hank Hanegraaff, the well known apologist for Christianity, makes in interesting case (see below).
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Pets in Heaven
by Hank Hanegraaff

"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than most humans." ~ James Herriot

Scripture does not exclusively tell us whether our pets will make it to heaven. However, the Bible does provide us with some significant clues that animals will inhabit the new heaven and the new earth.
First, the Garden of Eden was populated by animals, thus there is a precedent for believing that Eden restored will also be populated by animals.

Furthermore, the Scriptures --from first to last-- suggest that animals have souls. Both Moses in Genesis and John in Revelation communicate that the Creator endowed animals with souls (see Gen. 1:20, 24; Rev. 8:9). Throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, as well as humans, have souls.

Finally, while we cannot say for certain that the pets we enjoy today will be resurrected in eternity, I am not willing to preclude the possibility. Some of the keenest thinkers --from C.S. Lewis to Peter Kreeft--are not only convinced that animals in general, but that pets in particular, will be restored in the resurrection.

Dr. Kreeft, for example, is convinced that animals will exist throughout eternity. "Are there animals in Heaven? The simplest answer is: Why not? How irrational is the prejudice that would allow plants (green fields and flowers), but not animals into Heaven." Regarding pets, he writes: "Would the same animals be in Heaven as on earth? 'Is my dead cat in Heaven?' Again, why not? God can raise up the very grass; why not cats?

Though the blessed have better things to do than play with pets, the better does not exclude the lesser."
One thing is certain: Scripture provides us with a sufficient precedent for suggesting that animals will continue to exist after the return of our Lord. Isaiah 11:6-9 provides a particularly stirring image.

"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different." ~ Hippocrates

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson