Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Hello everybody, this is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I'm really glad you're here. Today we're continuing our series from Psalm 23 called Living in the Goodness of God. It's all about how God's goodness meets you right where you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. And right now, here's part three of a message called Heaven: God's Eternal Goodness to You.

Pastor Rick Warren: What are we going to do in heaven? I can't go into everything but let me mention three things. These are very important things you're definitely going to do in heaven. You might write these down. The first thing that's going to happen in heaven is this: we're going to be reunited with our loved ones who love the Lord. Those who love Jesus, who are in the family of God, they're all going to be there and it's going to be one big reunion.

Only God's children who love him are going to be in his home, get to live in his home. But the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17—I love this in the Message paraphrase—he summarizes it: "there will be one huge family reunion with the Master." Can you imagine how emotional that's going to be?

The more of my family and friends that are on that side of death, the dearer heaven becomes to me. My mother is in heaven. My father is in heaven. My older brother Jim is in heaven. My youngest child Matthew is in heaven. I have many dear friends over 38 years in this church who are now on that side of death. They're in heaven. And the more of my friends who get there, the more dear that becomes to me.

I remember when I was a young person, I didn't really think about heaven that much. First, it seemed so boring the way the world describes it. Second, it seemed like a long way off. And third, I didn't have anybody there that I knew. But I know a lot of people who are in heaven now and I can't wait to get there and be with them. And the Bible says there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. And by the way, the next verse in the Bible underneath that says, "So reassure one another with these thoughts." We're to encourage each other that when somebody dies who is a friend of yours and they love the Lord, that's not the end. It's a transfer, but you're going to see them again.

I often want to play the game with people: who would you like to talk to first in heaven? Okay, let's say you go say hi to God. You talk to the Lord. Who would you like to talk to? Would you like to talk to Moses? You could. Or Abraham. How about Mary? The scared young peasant girl who gave birth to Christ. How about Joseph? How about the wise men? Who would you like to talk to? Or famous people throughout Christian history, scientists and leaders that are going to be there. You're going to have all of eternity to talk with them. We're going to be reunited with those who love Jesus.

The second thing we're going to do in heaven is we're going to be rewarded for our faith and our hope. We're going to be rewarded for our faith and our hope and our love. Jesus talked about rewards an awful lot. Many of his stories, his parables, are about the rewards you're going to receive in heaven. And the Bible tells us that you will be rewarded in heaven and that you'll be rewarded for your faith, you'll be rewarded for your hope, your love, and your service.

Jesus said even if you give a cup of cold water to a little child and you do it in the name of the Lord, you're going to get credit for that in heaven. Let me explain. Salvation in heaven and rewards in heaven are two different things. Salvation is by grace. You can't earn your salvation. You can't work your way into heaven. The only way you'll ever get into heaven is through the grace of God. Put your faith in God's forgiveness, his goodness, his grace.

But the rewards are the things that God's going to give back to you for the things that you earned for doing good things in life, that you made your life count. You see, you can waste your life—and there are a lot of ways to waste it—or you can spend your life—and there are a lot of ways to spend it—or you can invest your life. The greatest use of life is to invest it in that which will outlast it. And that's called living in light of eternity. I'm going to do a message on that later on.

I want you to understand that rewards come because of something you did. When you helped someone, when you were generous with someone, when you were kind to someone, when you shared your faith with someone, when you were helpful to someone, or sympathetic or empathetic. The Bible says you're going to be rewarded for the things you did because you love Jesus Christ, because you love God.

Let me just show you some verses. We'll go through these pretty quick. Up here on the screen, John chapter 12 verse 26 says this: "The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me." This is in heaven. Did you know that when you get to heaven, you're not just going to be there? You're going to be honored. You're going to be honored and you're going to be rewarded. Some of you are going to be rewarded a lot, some of you are going to be rewarded a little, because it depends on how serious you were about serving Christ. If it was just an offhanded thought, you may not have that many rewards.

You'll be in heaven for eternity, you'll be glad the rest of eternity, but the Bible says you will be honored and you will be rewarded for your work in Christ. Let me show you some other verses. Hebrews 10:35 says this: "Do not throw away your confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens." In other words, you're going through a tough time, you start having doubts, you start giving up—don't throw away your confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it will bring you.

You're going to be rewarded in heaven for the times you wanted to give up but didn't. You wanted to give up on your marriage, but you didn't. You wanted to give up on your job, but you didn't. You wanted to give up on your faith, but you didn't. You wanted to give up on doing the right thing, but you didn't. The Bible says you will be rewarded in heaven for your endurance, for your resilience, for your determination and your diligence. He says don't throw away your confident trust. Remember the great reward it will bring you.

But the Bible also talks about not just rewards you're going to get in heaven, but there's another thing you're going to get in heaven and that is called your inheritance. You know what an inheritance is. It's when parents pass on possessions or wealth to the next generation. It could be property, it could be all kinds of things. You inherit it from people before you. Your father or your mother passes on their inheritance to you.

Because God is a good God, your heavenly Father has an inheritance for you in heaven. And that inheritance has been building interest for a long, long time. Let me show you some scriptures. The Bible says in Colossians 3:24: "Know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward for serving Christ." Where? That's in heaven. You're going to be given an inheritance. You're a child of God, a child of the heavenly Father. You're in God's family and God gives an inheritance to his children when they finally arrive at the home that he created for them. Heaven was created for you.

He says there will be this great inheritance. What kind of inheritance? Look at this verse. 1 Peter chapter one verse four: "God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children, and it is kept in heaven for you." It's bigger than any IRA or retirement payout you could possibly have here on earth. When you get to heaven, you're not just going to get there. You're going to be honored, rewarded, and you're going to receive your inheritance based on how you lived your life for Christ.

Let me show you one more. Matthew 25 verse 34. Jesus is speaking. He says: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." Look at that verse closely. God knew before he created the universe that he was going to create you. And God knew that you would be one of the ones who chose to love him, to trust him, to put your faith in him. God knew that way in advance. That's called foreknowledge. And God planned your inheritance before he even created the world. That's a long time ago. So your inheritance has been collecting interest for a long time.

This is a retirement package you've never heard of. It is an inheritance that has been set aside for you since before he created the world. He thought you up. God created the universe because he wanted a family and he wanted you to be a part of that family. You chose to be a part; you got adopted in, you got born again into the family. Why in the world would God do that? Why wouldn't God just give you a good life on earth and just let you die?

Because God is a good God. No man will ever love you like God does, no woman will ever love you like God does. He is a good God and he doesn't want to just be good to you for 90 or 100 years on earth. He wants to be good to you for all of eternity. We're going to be reunited with those we love, rewarded for our faith, our hope, our love, and our service.

Here's the third thing that you're going to do in heaven: we're going to be assigned work that we enjoy doing. We will be assigned work that we will enjoy doing because God understands your shape better than you do. He knows what makes you tick, what you love to do, and what you can't stand to do. He knows what turns your crank and what bores you to tears. And you will be given assignments in the kingdom of God.

The difference is this isn't going to be frustrating work, it's going to be fulfilling work. Matthew 25:21, Jesus tells a parable, and he ends with these words: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things. I will now put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master's happiness." If you're taking notes, I want you to circle the phrase "put you in charge." I want to talk to you about that for just a minute.

It says that when you get to heaven, God is going to put you in charge of something. But it's going to be based on how well you managed what you were given here on earth. He says if you're faithful in the little that I gave you on earth, I'm going to give you a whole lot more to be in charge of in heaven. If you were faithful with the little bit of talent I gave you here on earth, I'm going to give you more talent in heaven. If you were faithful with the little bit of possessions here on earth, I'm going to give you more in heaven.

If you were faithful with a little bit of influence on earth, I'm going to give you more in heaven. If you were faithful with a little bit of your time here on earth, I'm going to give you more in heaven. Whatever you are a good manager of here on earth, you're going to get more of in heaven. On the other hand, anything you did not manage well, you're not going to get more of in heaven.

This life is a test. You are being tested every day. Why didn't God just create you and take you to heaven in the first place? If heaven's the ultimate goal, why did he put you here for 90 years? This is a test. Life is a test, a trust, and a temporary assignment. This is not the real story. This is only going to last 90 or 100 years. This is the preschool before the real thing begins. This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal before the real story begins. It's the first lap around the race before the actual race begins.

That's why this is not a perfect world. People always expect heaven to be on earth. It's not on earth. Why? This is the testing ground. And God is testing: will you be faithful when it's not easy? Will you obey me when it's unpopular? Will you trust me when it looks like there's no reason to trust? Will you be faithful with your money or do you spend it all on yourself? Will you be faithful with your time or do you squander it and waste it? Will you be faithful with your body, with your health? Will you be faithful with your mind? Do you use it for God's glory or do you waste it? How are you using what God has given you?

God says if you use what I gave you on earth well, then guess what? In heaven, we're going to give you more. If you've been faithful in little, I will put you in charge of more. That's why you're here right now. This is a test. Unfortunately, most people in the world are failing it. They're living totally for themselves, not thinking at all about heaven. They're living 100 percent for the here and now, when the here and now is going to be over in a matter of minutes compared to the trillions of years in eternity.

If we took a rope and stretched it from California to Tokyo and that represented all of eternity, your life on earth would be less than one little teeny tiny millimeter. It's nothing. The Bible calls it a shadow, a breath of air, a moment in time. We act like this is all there is. It's true that you only go around once in this life, but this is not the end of your life. God has long-range plans for you.

You were made to last forever. God made you to last forever, not just for 100 years. And so we're going to be given assignments in heaven to do things, and you're going to be put in charge of things depending on how well you managed what you have here. God doesn't care how much money or wealth you've got here on this earth. What he cares about is how well you managed what he allowed you to have.

God doesn't care whether you've got a lot of talent or a little talent here on earth. What he cares about is, did you use what you've got for him? And God doesn't care whether you've got a lot of energy or little energy. God wants to know: are you using whatever energy you've got in the best way? Every decision you make of every moment of your day has eternal implications, either making eternity better or not as good for you.

When it says here, "if you've been faithful with the few things I gave you on earth, I will put you in charge of many things," that phrase "in charge" the Bible calls "ruling with Christ." It also calls it "reigning with Christ." The Bible says that God is going to use you to rule and reign with him in eternity. His children are going to share in the responsibilities. 2 Timothy 2:12 says: "If we endure hardship for Christ, we will also reign with him." What a good God.

Guest (Male): What a special message from Pastor Rick. And now let's hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

Pastor Rick Warren: Today I want to introduce you to Agatha, who's translating Daily Hope into German for her husband. She writes: "Pastor Rick, your preaching is bringing many souls to God. My husband, who is an unbeliever, is drawing closer and closer to God. Every day I translate what I hear on Daily Hope into German because he can't speak and understand English. Pastor Rick, your teaching has changed his life and I can see his progress and eagerness to follow Jesus."

Well, Agatha, thank you so much for sharing your story with me. This is a wonderful story to hear that you're translating what you hear on Daily Hope for your husband and that he's drawing closer to Jesus. I'm so happy for that. We're always looking for translators to help us in new languages as we take the message of God to more people around the world. Keep praying for your husband and keep praying for us that God allows us to take the good news of God's hope all around the world.

Guest (Male): If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast has blessed you, he would love it. Please feel free to send him an email at Rick@PastorRick.com. That's Rick@PastorRick.com. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.